17 Days, Family O' 6, $3160.00 Budget**TRIP REPORT on pg 26**@Now with Pics!@

[sln88]

Hi thanks, and I agree I almost never pay full price for anything and I hope that every day I learn more and more! What is mycouponer? I would love to find out more. You sound like a very money wise person!! My Aunt and Uncle live in Wisconsin(Madison). We will hopefully be going for a visit next summer!

Hi
check out mycoupons.com. They have boards where they talk about where to find great deals on groceries, and lots of other things. My grocery bill is about 90% less than it used to be from using coupons and sales. It is a fun hobby! I live in Milw, so don't know too much about Madison. Maybe you can take the kids to the Dells while you are here.

 

[meandtheguys2]

my produce alone each week costs almost $75. We eat a ton of fresh veggies and fruit, very little processed food, lots of fish & chicken and I go broke feeding us at home, let alone on vacation. I do shop for bargains & use local farmer's markets now but that amount for food floored me.[/QUOTE]

We are the same...We always have 2 fresh vegetables with our meals and fresh fruit for breakfast...so my family would suffer if they had to eat bologna or mac and cheese..or even boxed pizza (we make our own)! Our fruit budget alone is $26! [/QUOTE]

Wow! Have you ever looked into buying seasonally? We are big fruit and veggie folks, too, but I buy what is available at the best price per season. Or sale loss leaders. We have a family of 5 and DH is diabetic, so we don't eat processed foods or sweets (often) either. But probably spend 1/2 that on our fruits and veggies.

 

[smfritz03]

I hope you don't think that I am putting you down or criticizing you for your budget. I think it's great if you can do it. I did read the whole thread and you weren't sure about priceline. We've used it tons. Let us know if it works out for you!!

Is Priceline really worth it? I just found out our Hotel rerouted us (they arent finished w/ reconstruction yet) and they booked us in a hotel w/ a standard room (we had a 2 room suite before) and this will in NO way be big enough for my family of 5---is Priceline worth the risk? What should I ask for a room? It only offers 3 star---is their "3 star" equivalent to a 2 star??

 

[welovedis]

Wow! Have you ever looked into buying seasonally? We are big fruit and veggie folks, too, but I buy what is available at the best price per season. Or sale loss leaders. We have a family of 5 and DH is diabetic, so we don't eat processed foods or sweets (often) either. But probably spend 1/2 that on our fruits and veggies.

We definitely eat in season produce but we still spend alot of money on it. Plus, you get really tired of the same things for months at a time. For us, fruit is really expensive too. At the local grocery store apples run $1.39 a pound, oranges are 3/$1.99 or 5/1.99 at best, pears are about $1.29. We are enjoying the first crop of corn here, you can get 6 ears for $1.00 at the market.

We typically go the farmer's market for produce and the grocery store for perishables, grocery items, cleaning supplies and protein (chix, fish, some red meat). Fruits--I eat 1-2 servings a day at most, same for DH, DS eats 2-3 servings. Veggies, I eat 5-6 servings, DH about 4-5 and DS about 3-5 per day so it definitely adds up.

Our store's big loss leaders are milk $1.49/gallon and eggs (I'm allergic to them), peanut butter (ok for DS & DH, but again-allergic) and things like hot dogs or bologna. The cheapest chicken breasts I can find are $1.99 pound (on sale & that doesn't happen often) and the cheapest fish is from the home delivery company called Schwans-they are cheaper than the local fishmonger.

Our biggest market (Wegman's) has some competition from SuperWalMart (where I sometimes go for cleaning supplies and some grocery items, but get frustrated waiting in the lines that have been so long it is ridiculous--I mean 20 mins in line to save $2.00??) The only other competition is a store called Tops & they have horrible produce, a small & somewhat unkept store & high prices (IMO) too. I'm even tried to shop a local Big M market (small locally owned store) but they are 10-15 mins away so I'm not saving much driving there.

They are going to build an Aldi's near me (the closest one is 15-20 mins away) and I have heard that they offer some good deals if you know what you are buying/spending at other stores for the same products.

If you think my family's grocery budget is bad, don't even ask what I spend for food for my daycare center-YIKES!!!! We belong to a co-op for that but it is still expensive!

EDITED TO SAY: I appreciate the advice, I really do, but I can't see where I am blowing the budget each week so the ideas you all are coming up with would work if I wasn't already trying so hard to cut expenses. Perhaps we just live in an area that charges more for food?

BTW-here are the links to my local flyers from the supermarkets:
http://flyer.wegmans.com/wgm/index.html?z=R&s=Brooks-Chili&n=5&ad=dsg843nb84ybw43tjb8233&d=5/29/2005
(ooohh-chicken, milk & lettuce are on sale!)

http://www.topsmarkets.com/shareddev/interactive_circular/circulartest.html

 

[Madi100]

We definitely eat in season produce but we still spend alot of money on it. Plus, you get really tired of the same things for months at a time. For us, fruit is really expensive too. At the local grocery store apples run $1.39 a pound, oranges are 3/$1.99 or 5/1.99 at best, pears are about $1.29. We are enjoying the first crop of corn here, you can get 6 ears for $1.00 at the market.

We typically go the farmer's market for produce and the grocery store for perishables, grocery items, cleaning supplies and protein (chix, fish, some red meat). Fruits--I eat 1-2 servings a day at most, same for DH, DS eats 2-3 servings. Veggies, I eat 5-6 servings, DH about 4-5 and DS about 3-5 per day so it definitely adds up.

Our store's big loss leaders are milk $1.59/gallon and eggs (I'm allergic to them), peanut butter (ok for DS & DH, but again-allergic) and things like hot dogs or bologna. The cheapest chicken breasts I can find are $1.99 pound (on sale & that doesn't happen often) and the cheapest fish is from the home delivery company called Schwans-they are cheaper than the local fishmonger.

Our biggest market (Wegman's) has some competition from SuperWalMart (where I sometimes go for cleaning supplies and some grocery items, but get frustrated waiting in the lines that have been so long it is ridiculous--I mean 20 mins in line to save $2.00??) The only other competition is a store called Tops & they have horrible produce, a small & somewhat unkept store & high prices (IMO) too. I'm even tried to shop a local Big M market (small locally owned store) but they are 10-15 mins away so I'm not saving much driving there.

They are going to build an Aldi's near me (the closest one is 15-20 mins away) and I have heard that they offer some good deals if you know what you are buying/spending at other stores for the same products.

If you think my family's grocery budget is bad, don't even ask what I spend for food for my daycare center-YIKES!!!! We belong to a co-op for that but it is still expensive!

EDITED TO SAY: I appreciate the advice, I really do, but I can't see where I am blowing the budget each week so the ideas you all are coming up with would work if I wasn't already trying so hard to cut expenses. Perhaps we just live in an area that charges more for food?

Just an FYI on your farmer's market. My husband manages a grocery store. He has people come in during the summer to buy stuff for the farmer's market. They buy it from him and turn around and sell it for a higher price. I'm sure not all people do that, but watch your prices. People are willing to pay more because they think they are gettin farm fresh, and it's not always the case.

 

[welovedis]

Just an FYI on your farmer's market. My husband manages a grocery store. He has people come in during the summer to buy stuff for the farmer's market.

Wow-that's weird! I appreciate the tip!

I try to keep a running list of what I'm paying for the staples (lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, etc...until our garden comes in) but if I didn't have a good handle on the prices I might not notice that. Interesting!

 

[HaleyB]

OMG, TOPS... lol, brings back memories to hear that name again. I grew up outside of Buffalo, down the street from the owner of the TOPS stores in our area.

I came to this thread to say I just booked a week long trip for my family of four. Our budget is $2000 for this trip and then we are spending an extra $400 towards our next trip (no expire 10 day passes), so really $2400... so my hats off to you on your budget skills Of course this is not the least we could spend, it is really a splurge vacation because I added the dining plan on to our package.

Last year we went for 20 days and our final expense tally was $3400. We stayed onsite for 5 days at POP, did 2 nights at AKL with an increadible discount, and spent the rest of our time at an off site budget motel (clean and they had beds, what more do you need?). Travel expense was low, we drove up and stayed at a Priceline hotel both ways for $30 a night. We had a picnic lunch on the way up to use up food that would have gone bad from home. In that budget were 3 special meals (CRT, Chef Mickey's,Boma), all about $90 each (but we were all full for a day and a half after those meals) and the rest of the time we got by on peanuts (we brought with us) and Mickey bars and an occasional counter service meal, mostly split and with water not soda. We hit McD's once too, but only the two kiddos ate there.

I didn't break down what we spent on food, but I may some day- I still have my notes.

 

[HaleyB]

Is Priceline really worth it? I just found out our Hotel rerouted us (they arent finished w/ reconstruction yet) and they booked us in a hotel w/ a standard room (we had a 2 room suite before) and this will in NO way be big enough for my family of 5---is Priceline worth the risk? What should I ask for a room? It only offers 3 star---is their "3 star" equivalent to a 2 star??

The whole rating system for hotels is unreliable. The best thing to do is check tripadvisor.com for reviews. I use Priceline all the time, and I have always been happy with 2 and 3 star rooms, it was the 4 star room in San Antonio I thought was over rated. That said, do you know what the stars mean? The only rate a hotel by services offered (like onsite food, room service, etc.) not how "nice" it is. So a dump with room service might have a higher star rate than a really nice place with no room service.

If you go here

www.biddingfortravel.com

and read the Hotel FAQ thread (which teaches you about free rebids, very important for getting the best deal) and then look at the thread for the state/area you need a room for you will find
#1-Stuck to top of thread for each area is a Hotel list, tells you what you might win. I have always gotten a hotel on that list.
#2-exactly what was bid, on what dates, and what hotel they won. It is a good bet that if everyone is wining for $45 on the dates you need, you will too. If you can't find someone who won on your dates (check in date is most important, not length) you will still get a good idea of what is being won and for how much.

 

[Suz D]

I'd like to post a fun money saving idea for tink & everyone else. We eat out quite a bit. We are a family of 3 so it's not a budget breaker when we do, but I'm still pretty aware of what I spend and try to save where I can (I know we could eat at home cheaper but I homeschool, juggle 2 part time jobs, plus we have a very active social life-we just enjoy hopping in the car and going for a meal).

Okay, enough justification...here's the tips...(Tink given the ages of your family members I bet you could stretch these even further)

At McDonald's-my DD (9) loves salad but I'm not about to spend $4-5 for her to have a salad at the arches. Here's what we do . I order her a side salad from the $1.00 menu and a McChicken sandwich without the bun from the $1.00 menu. Then we cut up the chicken and put it on the salad. Wala...chicken ceasar salad for $2.00 (we always order water) and she loves it. I don't want to discourage her love for healthy choices but $4 for a kids salad? Forget it.

Also at McDonald's but not so healthy...she wants a BIG MAC. I order her a double cheeseburger off the $1.00 menu and ask for lettuce and big mac sauce on it. They don't charge for that, and she ends up with a very filling $1.00 Big Mac. I also order lettuce and tomato and no cheese on my double cheeseburger and I end up with a very filling sandwich for $1.00. Our family of 3 can eat for about $6.00 with tax at the Arches.

At Wendy's we do a similar thing. They have a side caesar salad for 99 cents and then we get the 5 piece nuggets for 99 cents and put them on the salad. Again, kiddie caesar.

Also at Wendy's...side salad & side of chili...combine and instant taco salad. I asked if I could buy a bag of the chips that they put on the taco salad and they just gave them to me. You could get 2 taco salads out of 2 side salads and one chili.

The last tip that I have is one that I learned from this board. Bring crystal light along with you for when you do order food at a counter service restaurant or at McDonald's. Just add it to your water and it's a wonderful treat. Tink, I hope you don't take this wrong, but it sounds like your family really enjoys the simple things in life (so much a compliment to the way you are raising them, to know what's important) so I think that getting a lemonaide or raspberry ice would be a real "treat" in their eyes. Again, I'm giving that comment with so much praise for you and your family. I remember when I was young and we'd get something like that...we'd feel like we won the lottery.

Suz

 

[shelly3girls]

SuzD
I love those ideas! It kills me to go to McD's and spend a fortune for our family of 4. My DDs (4 & 6) are thin but big eaters. I used to order a 10 piece nugget and two kids meals cheeseburgers just for the two of them. Now I discovered that they love the double cheeseburgers and it fills them. Little did they know how much money this saves. Now we buy 2 doubles from the $1 menu, one $1 fry and make the chocolate milk at home. We now feed the whole family for $7!!!! It used to cost me close to $20!
We allow them fast food once a week and each time I take the extra money and put it in my budget envelope for WDW. Let's see $13 x 30 weeks til our trip = $390 for doing almost nothing. Keep the tips coming!!!

 

[momxx5]

SuzD -
How smart are you to figure out how to make an inexpensive salad at McDs?

We were there today and I was craving a salad and could not dish out the $5 for it.
What an awesome idea!
Thanks

 

[TNKBELL]

SUZ D....Thanks for the tips!! I don't like to use crystal light because I worry about the nutra sweet in it(it also really bothers my stomach). But I have thought about taking koolaid and premixing it with sugar and using that. Yes you are right that is a special treat to my kids who have juice with breakfast and usually just water or milk with thier other meals. I am just used to spending 75.00 a week so it doesn't seem so different to me. I do use coupons when something is on sale so that gives a double discount. Last week I purchased 90.00 worth of groceries for 14.00.This isn't typical most weeks I can just save 50-75%. Many of the items were free after coupons. I learned a lot tips from this book "Shop, Save and Share". There are actually 2 books from this author,can't remember the other title though. Both are equally helpful.
HALEYB.....You did way better than I'm doing,please do tell!!!Love to hear more!!!!

 

[robinb]

Oh, and the Kids meal vouchers at AK are the best deal. Adults can use them also - exact same personal pizza. And considering how much you get - y'all will probably use 4 vouchers for your whole family - with includes a snack later on.

I've seen more than one person mention this. Unfortunately, Pizzafari no longer offers pizza as a kids meal. Kids meals are now PB&J or chicken strips.

 

[disneymom3]

We did a 10 day trip with DD6, DS2 and DS1. So, the boys were free at any buffet or family style meal and that definitely saved our budget. In that 10 days and including food on the road driving from MN and back home again, we spent $350 on food. We went to CRT, Chef Mickeys and one other sit down that I am not remembering. We ate at several offsite restaurants. Our fav was the Uno Pizzaria on 192 which at that time and again another time since then, they had kids eat for a penny a pound. My boys could really eat and at 28 cents and 36 cents each that was quite a deal!!

In my $350 I did include the money I spent at Publix, but not the food I brought from home. We had some fun vacationy food as well as food that was easier to prepare than I would normally buy at home. We also had several counter service meals and several stops for popcorn and ice cream.

Tnkbell you are my hero! I know you can do it and I think it is awesome that you are not letting a tight budget detract from giving your kids great memories and having a wonderful time as a family!!

 

[MrsPete]

SuzD
I love those ideas! It kills me to go to McD's and spend a fortune for our family of 4.

This isn't particularly helpful for a Disney trip; it's more of a general comment:

Don't forget to pay attention to the nights when fast-food places have their kids-meal specials. Tonight was McD's .99 cent Happy Meal night. I went through the drive-through and bought four -- dinner for my whole family for 4.24 (hamburger happy meals only, no special prices for the other types). Chick-fillet does the same thing once a month.

 

[Southern4sure]

When ground beef goes on sale for $.99 I buy 30-40 pounds. Steak I only buy at B1G2 Free etc.

For .99 a lb I'd buy 30-40 lbs also. Im real lucky if I can get ground beef on sale at $2.29 a lb and then I usually buy 10 - 15 lbs. The average is $2.79. I have yet to find a store that doubles coupons here in the Tampa area. It sure would help. I have watched alot of shows that people walk out with several hundred of $'s in groceries for under $50. There is no way here with no double/triple coupons. I have never seen coupons on meat. Another poster mentioned milk at $1.59 gallon....Here is is $3.59 a gallon.

I love to cook from scratch and this is a way to help make our food budget work but I cannot for the life of me get out of the store under $125. There is 4 of us including 1 teen age boy with a bottomless pit for a stomach. Is there any hope for us cost concious moms/dads who cannot double/triple coupons and all the deals I see mentioned on this thread?

 

[MrsPete]

This is totally off topic, but how can you feed a family of six (including diapers and dog) for $75 per week. I am frugal, but I can't get below $100 for a family of 4 (no diapers but a cat).

I can easily feed my family for $75/week (though I don't need diapers any more). Here are my three best suggestions:

1. Pay attention to your beverage costs; if you're average, they make up about 30% of your weekly food budget. Most beverages are a choice, not a nutritional need -- juice, soda, bottled water, alcohol. Especially if they come individually packaged, beverages are expensive! Consider limiting sodas to meals only, or -- completely opposite direction -- consider making meals water-only. Personally, I find that if I start my day drinking water, I want more, more, more of it -- it tastes so good to me. On the other hand, once I have that first soda, I seem to have a taste for sugary drinks for the rest of the day, and water just doesn't cut it.

2. Search for non-grocery store options. The grocery store is convenient because you can get everything in one stop, but you're paying for that convenience. Warehouse-stores like BJs or Sams offer some good deals (and some rip-offs -- beware). Farmers markets can offer superior-quality seasonal produce for the same price as grocery stores. Salvage stores are great; I can always buy meat for $1/pound. Bulk-packaged spices at the health food store are only about 10% the cost of those little yellow boxes at the grocery store.

3. Eliminate snacks. Often snacks are more expensive than meals! Chips, cookies, etc. offer little nutritional value, and pound-for-pound they often cost more than steak or boneless chicken. If cutting out snacks doesn't sound realistic, at least don't buy them pre-packaged -- that's highway robbery! Instead, bake a dozen cupcakes (no icing --it's not mandatory, you know) from a .50 cake mix; you'll have four times as many snacks as that package of Little Debbies. Whip up some Rice Krispie treats (from store-brand Krispies, of course).

 

[madge]

Is this for police officers, firefighters,etc or military?

not sure if this has been answered yet....who is eligible

Armed Forces Vacation Club (for the military/DoD)

 

[Nicolepa]

For .99 a lb I'd buy 30-40 lbs also. Im real lucky if I can get ground beef on sale at $2.29 a lb and then I usually buy 10 - 15 lbs. The average is $2.79. I have yet to find a store that doubles coupons here in the Tampa area. It sure would help. I have watched alot of shows that people walk out with several hundred of $'s in groceries for under $50. There is no way here with no double/triple coupons. I have never seen coupons on meat. Another poster mentioned milk at $1.59 gallon....Here is is $3.59 a gallon.

I love to cook from scratch and this is a way to help make our food budget work but I cannot for the life of me get out of the store under $125. There is 4 of us including 1 teen age boy with a bottomless pit for a stomach. Is there any hope for us cost concious moms/dads who cannot double/triple coupons and all the deals I see mentioned on this thread?

We don't have any stores here that double either. I just watch the flyers really closely, only buy on sale, and stock up when it goes to my rock bottom price. I already talked about meat, juice I will not pay more than $1/64 oz, oj no more than $2 and only because my son won't drink milk and I can get the extra calcium OJ. Bread I get $3/1.00 on sale and freeze. Milk I won't pay more than $2/gallon (again I stock up and freeze, but usually it goes on sale often enough I don't have to).

Also there are very few items that I have brand loyalty and forget store loyalty. There are 4 stores that I shop at. I take the flyers from each figure out which has the most items on sale and that is where I shop that week. Sometimes I will do 2 stores if they have good meat sales.

So yes I do think there is hope, it takes a lot of learning and a lot of patience. I have been trying to cut my food budget for 6 years and it wasn't until about a year ago I started watching the meat sales. That finally got me under $100/week.

 

[Suz D]

I order her a side salad from the $1.00 menu and a McChicken sandwich without the bun from the $1.00 menu. Then we cut up the chicken and put it on the salad. Wala...chicken ceasar salad for $2.00 (we always order water) and she loves it. Suz

Okay, I discovered another tip from my own post. We order the McChicken without the bun, but if you were a larger family or if my DH was extra hungry that night we could order the double cheeseburger and take one of the patties off and put it on the bun from the McChicken patty that went on the salad.

Back to the old "2nd bun" thing that I wasn't sure if I'd feel comfortable doing. I guess what goes around comes around LOL!!

Suz