A nosy grocery question!

[aprincessmom]

Kristy I was looking at your list and laughing because it was pretty similar to mine when my ex lived with us.

It was me, my ex and a toddler and we'd go through 4 gallons of milk a week, 2 gallons of ice cream, 6 liters of soda, 3 big bags of chips, etc. I'd buy a nice over roaster chicken (about 7 lbs.) and maybe get 1 meal out of it and a sandwich for me the next day. All family sized packs of meat were gone in one sitting. It was amazing.

But he was 6'3", 235 lbs. and worked physical labor 6 days a week so he worked it off each day and then some.

Now with just DD and I it's far, far less. One gallon of ice cream lasts much longer now and we don't buy any soda at all A lot more veggies and much less meat. To go from almost $200/week to about $55-60 (including paper goods and cleaning stuff) was a huge jump down for us.

 

[TerriP]

I haven't got a clue what I spend on groceries each week (I'm ashamed...you are all so good with your budgets). There are only two people in our household so we really don't need much. Neither of us drink milk so I never buy it (at Christmas I'll buy half a gallon for baking but usually I get too lazy to bake so even that gets thrown out! ). I buy one loaf of bread every other week or so. We do go through about two packs of chicken breasts, a bag of frozen broccoli & green beans, and half a pound of lunch meat each week. Add in some mac & cheese and frozen pizza and we're set for a while! Additionally, we eat out Friday & Saturday nights and at least one night a week we get pizza or fast food.

So, on groceries I probably spend less than $50 a week, but add in the times we eat out and it goes up significantly. We average $60 for dinner for two so that adds up quickly.

Kewl thread!!

 

[piratesmate]

Originally posted by Mishetta
Don't tell me I'm the only one who has kids that pretend they are dinosaurs eating trees when they eat fresh Broccoli??? (I guess, whatever works, huh??)

LOL - I know quite a few people who do that....and they tell them that cauliflower is "flowers." (I still don't like that. )

DS would eat just about anything when he was younger, but never broccoli. Since it makes me ill - literally - I never pushed it. DD on the other hand says it's her favorite veggie - she's now 12. Sometimes you just "luck out" in an area I guess.

 

[my3kids]

Yep on the broccoli trees...but no dinosaurs. They do the seasons. Starting with summer, then nibble some "leaves" off and it is fall or spring. Bite all the "leaves" off and have winter. Most other vegetables are routinely discected with surgical precision. Sugar snaps are cleanly opened to find how many peas are inside. (I guess the one with the least is considered the winner!) Lettuce is merely a vehicle to get obscene amounts of ranch dressing to ones mouth. An egg roll would be picked through like it was evidence on CSI. And don't even get me started on the "Why have I got 1/16 of a centemeter longer carrot than he does???" argument!

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

This is a fun thread!! But I am amazed at the amount of milk consumed.

For us, me, DH, DD 6 DD 4 DS 2...........and on wednesday's my stepson 16


1/2 gallon milk
4 lbs chicken
1 flank stank
2 lbs ground beef
1 pack turkey sausage
1 jar pb
1 jar jelly
1loaf wheat bread
1loaf cinamon bread
2 lbs pasta
3 heads lettuce
4 cucumbers
2 blocks cheddar cheese
10 containers of stoneyfield yogurt
fresh fruit varies
1/2 gallon ice cream
pillsbury chocolate chip cookes (kids think I'm the best baker!)

1 lb starbucks coffee
2 quarts coffee mate

 

[sharbear]

I think it's interesting what people go through. I have 1 DS 15 and DD almost 14, DH and me. My kids eat everything I am very lucky and my 15yo eat everything in sight I think.

We usually go through
2 gallons of milk (not that much now because they are limiting their dairy intake because of Cross Country)
1 loaf of bread (if that, we are not big sandwich eater's)
1 bag of apple
1 bunch of banana's
1 bunch of grapes
1 bag of carrots
cauiflower, green beans, or broccoli, vary's from week to week
frozen vegtables
1 bag of lettuce (I'm lazy, if I buy the bagged lettuce we eat salads)
2 tomatoes
Soda (lots, my DH lives on diet coke)
Gatorade during cross country season
1 whole chicken
1 roast
3 lbs ground beef
2 lbs chicken breasts
1 bag potatoes
1 bag potato chips
assorted snacks and breakfast food
granola bars

other things vary depending on what we eat and what's going on that week, I just listed the things that I buy every week. We eat in almost every night and I cook. We rarely go out to eat. Noone eats lunch at home except for me, excluding the weekends.

 

[cardaway]

Originally posted by DocRafiki
Yes, what's the big deal? All of us "regular" folk are very interested in what the special people are buying, so back off!

Anybody who has followed Kristy's posts knows full well what "regular" means.

Let's see...

Six kids
One of them has downs
Last pregnancy ended in tragedy yet she went on
Current pregnancy has met with scares and complications

And likely other things she probably hasn't had enough time to share.

So yeah, I think I know what "regular" means and I hope things can continue to be more regular for her in the future.





Oh, and I think hse should be buying more green veggies but as my Grandma once told my Mother, "It doesn't matter what the eat, only that they eat."

 

[Mishetta]

Wow! Can you all believe how long this thread got???!!!

 

[dtuleya]

Originally posted by FOJMO
No offense, but I think you already know that not many of us are going to be purchasing anywhere near the amount of groceries you do with such a large family.

I think you already know too that you're going to get a good amount of shock value responses from several people because of the amount of groceries you took the time to list.

Yours is not necessarily a nosy question -- just curious as to why you would ask...

I'm not the OP, but offense taken. It's just a thread asking a simple question. Seems like Kristy's intent was to compare what her larger family eats in a week compared to the average family of four. It wasn't posted on the debate board, so I don't think we have to argue the validity of the post or whether Kristy intended to shock us or not. Even so, what does it matter if she did. No skin off my back.

Now Kristy, to answer your question...I went to the grocery store last night and ended up with a $323 bill. That's after taking $90 off in coupons and bonus buys. That should last us about 2-3 weeks. I buy everything at the grocery store though (shampoo, detergent, etc.). DH and I didn't buy too much meat though. We'll probably head to the farmer's market on Saturday and buy some farm fresh stuff. My boys are 15 and 10 and eat non-stop! We do buy quit a bit of snacks, but it's usually good stuff like ice cream, pretzels and popcorn. They do eat alot of baby carrots, apples, oranges and yogurt as snacks too, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Our typical two week trip consists of...

2-3 gallons of milk
2 gallons of OJ
3 loaves of Italian bread
5 lbs. of baking potatos
Peanut Butter/Jelly
1 lb of cheese
1-1/2 lbs of deli meat
pork loin
3 steaks
eye of round roast
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 lean hamburger patties
4 pork chops
2 lbs. of pasta (spaghetti, ziti, etc)
grapes, apples, oranges, carrots
4-6 1/2 gallons of ice cream
6-8 bags of premade salad
frozen french fries
pretzels, popcorn
1 doz eggs
fresh broccoli and asparagus
yogurt
3-4 boxes of cereal

God bless ya girl, you must feel like you're cooking and shopping for a small army.

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

I have exactly $143 per month to spend on groceries. I usually stretch it out in 2 trips.(one major and one smaller) I pretty much use a coupon for just about everything that I buy. (I have even gotten some for meat) I also take advantage of rebates and such, and if I find something that says send this in to get a free item or something I do it. I often print coupons and rebates off the itnernet too. In fact I have 3 going on right now! And it's for stuff that I use too!
I have often had my coupon total be as close as $50 dollars. I usually do my grocery shopping at superwalmart. I find that stuff there with a face value coupon is better than the grocery stores which do the double coupons up to 99 cents. (their regular prices are higher than SW)

Now for the other stuff like cleaning supplies and paper products, thats a whole other ballgame! I do however use just as many coupons and rebates there too.

 

[torismom]

We are a family of 4. Myself, DH, Dd (5), DS (2). I spend 350-400 a month on grocires, household items,diapers and wipes. Sometimes it is much less. I stock up and keep a well stocked pantry and freezer. We do not eat a lot of starches. We go through 5 gallons a milk a week, 5, 12 packs of diet coke a week. We eat mainly meats, veggies and fruits.We keep cheese and yougrt in the frig at all times. I do have snack stuff for the kids. What I buy varies each week depending on my menu and etc

 

[becka]

I also thought this was an interesting thread. I do my grocery shopping a little weird. I will do a big trip one week and then a medium trip the next week and usually 1-2 smaller trips over those 2 weeks to pick up stuff I forgot. I know that I spend way too much for just 3 of us because I am lazy and don't do coupons but I do pay attention to store sales.

For my big trip I usually buy:

1/2 gallon whole milk for DS
1/2 gallon skim milk
1 box of cereal (Special K, Raisin Bran, Life, Crispix, etc.)
2-3 lb. hamburger
4-6 lb. boneless chicken breasts, tenders, etc.
3 pork chops
an occassional roast
Shake n' Bake
rice (regular or Rice-a-roni)
pasta
jar spaghetti sauce
Easy Mac mac & cheese (DS loves it)
Ragu pasta express (another big DS fave)
2 cans carrots
2 cans green beans
2 cans corn
bag salad or sometimes the actual salad fixins' (lettuce, tomato, green onion, etc)
4 individual serving size cans of mixed fruit
2 bunches of bananas
1 other fresh fruit (plums, oranges, apples, peaches, etc)
frozen pancakes
frozen waffles
raisins
24 pack of Diet Pepsi (I can't live without it)
2-3 frozen Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine meals
Usually 4-5 items that are just needed for certain recipes (cream of chicken soup, sour cream, shredded cheese, marinade mix, etc.)


I don't usually buy bread unless I have a specific need for it. The same with potatoes although I do pick up boxes of scalloped or au gratin potatoes on occassion. Occassionally I also pick up some apple juice or OJ. DH and I like juice but DS doesn't so I don't keep it in the house. I only usually buy eggs when needed for a recipe. We also eat out usually twice a week. I just don't enjoy cooking enough to do it every night of the week.

 

[wilderness01]

Thanks for the great thread. I did not take any offense at your question and have often wondered the same thing. We have 3 children and spend $800 to $1000 per month. Those kids sure can eat! It makes me feel better to see that others spend alot as well. I do shop sales and use coupons when I have them. Best of luck with your pregnancy.

 

[minniecarousel]

I am one of eight children - growing up, I don't know how my folks managed to feed us all! I should really pay attention to how much I spend. It's me, DH, DM & DS. We buy non-fat milk in quarts & bread goes moldy here. DS & I are considering going on the South Beach Diet - so I'm going to have to adjust my shopping list again (I'm currently doing Atkins - he is currently WW!)
I love going to the Farmers Market that is downtown every Saturday morning - we're lucky that it is year-round and it's fun to see the seasonal offerings. We rarely open a can of fruit or veggies here, except that Mom likes the jarred fruit - a luxury she never had when she had all those kids to raise!
As for coupons - no one around here doubles coupons, so they don't mean much if the "store" brand is cheaper than the one with the coupon.
Yikes - Kristy - watch out when those kids get older! Talk about a food bill

 

[jipsy]

I just spent $99 at the grocery store for two people. I tend to buy everything there, I don't really have time to go from store to store looking for the best bargains on shampoo, etc.

I bought:

Roll of paper towels
Dozen eggs
Two pkgs of chicken breasts (B1g1F)
New dish scrubber pads (2)
Shampoo
Conditioner
Face cloths
Quart of milk
4 bottles seltzer
5 cans soup
1 can baby corn
1 can crushed tomatoes
Quart of apple cider
Face powder
Top round steak
Pkg of bacon
Loaf of bread
1/2 lb. deli cheese
1/2 lb. italian roast beef
Spring mix salad
Two yams
Bunch of carrots
Butternut squash
Cantaloupe
Red bell pepper
Cukes
Green beans
2 tangerines
2 oranges
Bundle of asparagus

Other than the veggies (we eat alot of them and we like them fresh) that should last for a week-week and a 1/2.

I buy my meat when it's B1G1F, so my freezer is pretty stocked already, which is why I only bought the chicken today.

And I used a 55 cent coupon, which they doubled.



This summer, when my BF's two sons were here, I spent about $200-$250/week. Growing boys eat alot