Grocery Budget for 2 - How are we doing?

[4HppyCamprs]

I'd say it's not bad considering you don't eat out a ton. We spend around a $100 per week and DH eats out for all of his lunches at work. He also will not eat leftovers. We eat out a lot too. Someone just asked us on Sunday how often we eat out per week and he replied two to three (in all seriousness), when in reality we had ate out five times just that weekend.

DH spends nothing on anything else, not video games or tech junk, nothing. His one splurge is eating out. We are DINKs so it's not a problem. I'm getting off topic but if you enjoy eating what you want, buying what you want I wouldn't worry about it unless you NEED to cut back.

That the thing if your fine with what you spend that is great but my feeling is that a person wouldn't come to a budget board to ask about their budget if this was the case.

My parents eat out when they feel like it. They buy what they want at the grocery store and my mom spends on a couple bags of groceries what I spend for all of us. It is okay it is her money.

That said I budget because I hate spending money on disposable stuff. To me being frugal means getting what I want for the best price not just eating crackers 7 days a week and saying I spend 25.00 to feed a family of 5. We get good food, healthy food at the best prices I can find. Why would I pay 4.99 a pound for 80% hamburger when I can get 92% lean at Costco for 2.99 a pound?

Cheese is another 7.49 at Costco for "lg block" of store brand mild when I can get 2 pounds of Tillamook for 6.99 at Costco.

I buy 5 blocks of cream cheese for 5.50 at Costco when it is 2.49 a block at Meijer.

We make our own soup now because I find it tastes better, has better value and I can freeze some for later.

All that said we have a deep freeze, my parents do not bulk shopping for dairy and meats is not possible for them. It doesn't make sense since they don't have room. It does drive their budget up.

 

[loveshak22]

Thanks so much everyone for all the input!!

Not all of the tips will work for me but a lot will be helpful! And overall, I think there's some consensus that we can probably do a little better on our grocery budget!

The OP does not have to take each and every suggestion and put it into practice. Just like picking a resort for your Disney vacation, you take in all suggestions and make a decision based on what works for yourself. But she DID ask for opinions. Some of us feel that for what she is getting, she is spending too much money. If she felt comfortable with her budget, she would not have even posed the question.

Haha - very, very true!!

Op has mentioned their 1st trade off is time, so buying lots of products in bulk (which for 2 people would involve lots of time breaking down and space in storage), making lots of items from scratch, shopping multiple stores, and couponing (which was tried and abandoned) are likely 4 areas they wouldn't consider viable.

So, the 1st things they should consider are what I mentioned (do they eat out less b/c of what they buy, do they throw out any of what they buy, and do they buy the items they eat on sale) - just analyzing these areas may bring down costs. If it doesn't or the op wants to go further, they should consider what trade offs they can and are willing make in their grocery buying habits which won't increase costs elsewhere...when money becomes more of an issue, people are willing to make more trade-offs (I know - I didn't always get to drink Caribou)...

I'm going to try some basic couponing this month - check some websites mentioned on here and see if I can even save $10. And I'll see how long it takes me. And I'll check which store has the better sales to match my grocery list too. I think the biggest is what I've emphasized in bold - I throw too much out! I think I buy more than I need for a week but I go to the grocery store every week so why do I do that? I regularly buy too much yogurt that expires before we eat it. I hate to admit this but sometimes I buy too much chicken and let it expire before freezing or cooking it...shameful I know.

How do you all who eat only organic spend so little in a month?!? Everybody on here is saying they eat super healthy for only $75/week for multiple people!!

I eat fruit, veggies, meat and some dairy/eggs. No beans, bread, pasta, rice, anything from a box or pre-packaged etc.

I usually spend around $100/week if I eat all at home. (It's just me)

I guess maybe it's cause I just buy what I'm in the mood for and don't pre-shop sales. If something is on sale when I get there I'll usually get that. There just aren't ever that great of sales on the organic meats/produce/dairy.

I looked at cc bill and sometimes spend close to $400/month going out to eat lol so pretty much everybody is doing better than me there!

Well not me...haha! I'm right up there with you!

That the thing if your fine with what you spend that is great but my feeling is that a person wouldn't come to a budget board to ask about their budget if this was the case.

My parents eat out when they feel like it. They buy what they want at the grocery store and my mom spends on a couple bags of groceries what I spend for all of us. It is okay it is her money.

That said I budget because I hate spending money on disposable stuff. To me being frugal means getting what I want for the best price not just eating crackers 7 days a week and saying I spend 25.00 to feed a family of 5. We get good food, healthy food at the best prices I can find. Why would I pay 4.99 a pound for 80% hamburger when I can get 92% lean at Costco for 2.99 a pound?

Yes and yes to the two bolded lines!! We have the money to spend $150 on groceries I just don't want to! I'd rather shop/eat smarter and if I have an extra $200 at the end of the month I'd like to get it put into savings to build it back up after buying the house and/or save up for a vacation!! While we don't live paycheck to paycheck we don't have inifnite amounts of extra cash at the end of the month so I'd rather use it in better places than groceries for sure! Especially if I can make some simple changes at first and see how that goes.

Again - thanks everyone!!!!

 

[loveshak22]

This is a little long but I wanted to give everyone an update of this week's spending after I put some tips into place from this thread! I was out of town last week and then I had a lot of Super Bowl junk food in my last trip to the store so this week is really my first full week of implementing new shopping habits.

I think I did pretty well!

Here are the tips that I tried:
1. I have a CVS, PetSmart, and Harris Teeter card so I signed up online and reviewed the sale items
2. I downloaded coupons on my HT card
3. I created my shopping lists based on sales and only bought for 6 days of food so I wouldn't waste
4. I tried to go to couponing sites but that was taking too long and I found about $8.50 worth of coupons but I would have needed to create more accounts and reconfigure my printer and that just seemed like too much so I didn't pursue an additional couponing sites outside of CVS and HT directly

The basic outcome was that I got my groceries and average dog food, toiletries, and household items down to $114.73 this week! Whoa!!!!!

I say average for the dog food and toiletries/household items because I bought in bulk at CVS, Target, and HT based on sales. I bought two 30 lb. bags of dog food and three bags of treats at PetSmart for $126.10 and that should last me about 2 months ($15.76 a week for 8 weeks), plus I have $8.00 of coupons for my next trip. Each bag of dog food was $5.00 off and they were having a sale on treats to buy 3 get 1 free. In total I saved $19.99at PetSmart for doing nothing and have $8.00 off for my next trip. This was really luck though because I didn't do any advance shopping because I don't have much flexibility in my pet food or treats (dogs have allergies) but I've now signed up on PetSmart.com so will be proactively reviewing sales in the future.

My Target, CVS, and HT toiletries were higher than usual but I'm comparing total prices with past shopping trips and I think I got a lot more today. Between the three stores my total was $320.43. It really should last 3 months easily and probably more with all I purchased. The total was $320.43 divided by 12 weeks is $26.70 a week.

Groceries alone....drumroll...$72.27! The grocery total plus average dog food and toiletry/household items = $114.73.

I got basically the exact same items as I usually get but shopped based on sales and the deals at each store.

I would say it took me about an extra 2 hours of work for the savings so it ended up paying off I think. I don't think I'd have the patience for any extra couponing sites but I will continue to look at the sales items and "deals" at the stores I regularly shop at. It was a little mentally exhausting to be honest because I had to compare the items on my list with the cost at the three stores (CVS, HT, and Target) then see what deals were available so that I bought the best price with the best deal. For example, CVS had several items on my list on sale plus extrabucks deals. Target had other items on sale with $5.00 gift cards for purchasing a certain amount. So it wasn't a ton of extra time but it was a lot of thinking, which made me tired - LOL! I think it will be easier as I get more practice matching prices/deals to my list.

My best "deal" was at CVS where I bought $74.56 worth of items for $56.60 and then got $20 worth of extrabucks. I then used the extrabucks and coupons on sale items to get $78.41 worth of items for $38.96! In the end, at CVS, I was able to save $57.41 - all for items on my list and nothing extra!

And to top everything off I should be getting a $20 Visa card from HT. They had a special that if you bought $50 worth of specially marked items you'd get a $20 Visa card. I did buy extra at HT to get the $50 but all of the extra items are out of the toiletries/household costs so they won't go bad. However, the printer at the register was messed up and it didn't print the coupon. The assistant manager had my purchase transferred to customer service to her printer and it still didn't print the coupon. She said she was going to email me to tell me how to get the $20 Visa card so I need to follow-up on that. My worry is that with the sales/coupons I wasn't going to hit $50 but be just under the amount. I wanted them to ring the promo items up separately so I could be sure but she seemed to be ignoring that request and just kept saying she'd email "them" to get me the coupon. I told her I wanted to make sure I had $50 of selected items but again she kept saying she'd be in touch with how to get the coupon. Looking back at my receipt it looks like I have the $50 so I'd better get my $20. Then I'd really, really have done great this week!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Good job eventually with enough shopping you have in your mind what "good" prices are for items, what are "great" prices and what are buy it elsewhere prices. Don't forget to look at unit prices when buying items. For instance 1 96 oz jug of orange juice was on sale for 4.99. Two smaller jugs were on sale for 2/5.00 but each jug was 62 oz (or something close to that). So it was better to go with the two smaller even though the one just looked larger.

 

[loveshak22]

Good job eventually with enough shopping you have in your mind what "good" prices are for items, what are "great" prices and what are buy it elsewhere prices. Don't forget to look at unit prices when buying items. For instance 1 96 oz jug of orange juice was on sale for 4.99. Two smaller jugs were on sale for 2/5.00 but each jug was 62 oz (or something close to that). So it was better to go with the two smaller even though the one just looked larger.

Thanks!!!! I did have my calculator out today to compare unit cost to truly figure out the best price at the different stores because some would have 2 of something at a smaller size for one price versus one of a bigger size somewhere else. Sometimes it wouldn't be a big difference and other times it would be a pretty significant difference!

I just finished putting everything away and I think for the most part I actually have almost 6 months of supplies!! There may be a few items I'll need but I bet I won't need to do a other 'big' shop for awhile!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Thanks!!!! I did have my calculator out today to compare unit cost to truly figure out the best price at the different stores because some would have 2 of something at a smaller size for one price versus one of a bigger size somewhere else. Sometimes it wouldn't be a big difference and other times it would be a pretty significant difference!

I just finished putting everything away and I think for the most part I actually have almost 6 months of supplies!! There may be a few items I'll need but I bet I won't need to do a other 'big' shop for awhile!

Glad it worked out so well if you don't have your calculator (always best to have it though!) most stores will put the unit price on the price tag . You still have to do a fair bit of mental math but it is worth it.

 

[loveshak22]

Not sure anyone is following this still but last week's groceries and toiletries were $72!!

Today I got two bottles of Listerine mouthwash (usually about $12.50) for $1.13!! I'm getting so much better finding deals!

 

[QVCshopper]

Not sure anyone is following this still but last week's groceries and toiletries were $72!!

Today I got two bottles of Listerine mouthwash (usually about $12.50) for $1.13!! I'm getting so much better finding deals!

Nice job! Keep up the great work. Saving money can be a lot of fun, and has great benefits like a hefty saving account and paid-in-full Disney trips before you go.

 

[loveshak22]

Nice job! Keep up the great work. Saving money can be a lot of fun, and has great benefits like a hefty saving account and paid-in-full Disney trips before you go.

Thanks!!!

Hoping we get to go to WDW in 2015...here's to lots of savings

 

[Roma]

I just wanted to chime in and say that between my husband and I we don't spend more than $250 a month on groceries - and that includes food and other necessities for the house (toilet paper, etc). I cannot overstate the benefit of knowing sale cycles, stockpiling (as much as you can based on how much space you have), and couponing. Without those three things there is no way we could eat as well as we do. It looks like you are well on your way to achieving the same .

 

[bdcp]

I have to ask. How many of you who go to multiple locations to get "deals" figure out how much extra you are spending in gas to do so (not to mention wear and tear on your car)? Not everyone lives in a community where all these stores are within a mile of each other. Even here, in the suburbs of DC, for me to hit Target, Wegmans, CVS, etc means driving an additional 10 or so miles because the stores aren't near each other nor are they on the way to each other. My point is, what you're "saving" is probably being eaten up by the cost of getting to these deals. Not to mention the time involved. My time is worth more than stopping at 3-4 different locations to do what I can in 1 for just a little bit more. There's more to saving money than just price of the items.

 

[Marionnette]

I know that a lot of people claim that there are never coupons for meat or fruit. Just this week I was able to get discounts on pork ($1-off fresh pork printable coupon that was available on Facebook which I combined with a store sale of $1.99/lb for boneless pork chops), fresh chicken (75¢-off any Perdue product, doubled to $1.50 off combine with a 40%-off Perdue sale), milk (5% off Target Cartwheel plus 50¢ rebate from Checkout51), broccoli (50¢ back from Checkout51 combined with a 99¢/lb sale on broccoli crowns) and bananas (20% back on Savingstar with a 59¢/lb sale).

Last week, I got a dozen Jumbo Land O Lakes Natural brown eggs and a half gallon of store brand OJ for free by redeeming in-ad coupons. I also snagged several pouches of Starkist tuna which were free after the printable coupon I had doubled. And I picked up a dozen pouches of organic baby food for free with doubled coupons. I donated those to the food pantry.

There's another cashback program called ibotta. I don't participate in it but they are also offering 50¢ back on milk when you redeem two additional rebates before midnight tonight.

My point is that if you pay attention to sales and available coupons, you can save quite a bit.

 

[loveshak22]

I just wanted to chime in and say that between my husband and I we don't spend more than $250 a month on groceries - and that includes food and other necessities for the house (toilet paper, etc). I cannot overstate the benefit of knowing sale cycles, stockpiling (as much as you can based on how much space you have), and couponing. Without those three things there is no way we could eat as well as we do. It looks like you are well on your way to achieving the same .

That's amazing. I would love to get to $250 for groceries and toiletries a month. I feel like with my new spending habits I can easily get down to $80 a week in groceries, on average. So $320 a month, which for me is much better than the $600 I had budgeted

When I add in toiletries though it's probably an average of $90 a month, give or take. This last trip to Target/CVS I figured would last me 3 months and so when I averaged out the cost over 12 weeks it was like $26. However, when I got home and unpacked I think it's enough for 6 months probably with a few things picked up here and there. That would average out to about $13 a week plus the $80 on groceries then I think I could get to about $90 a week average. That's still $360 a month. Maybe I'll get better at watching deals and can get down to $250...that would be nice!!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I have to ask. How many of you who go to multiple locations to get "deals" figure out how much extra you are spending in gas to do so (not to mention wear and tear on your car)? Not everyone lives in a community where all these stores are within a mile of each other. Even here, in the suburbs of DC, for me to hit Target, Wegmans, CVS, etc means driving an additional 10 or so miles because the stores aren't near each other nor are they on the way to each other. My point is, what you're "saving" is probably being eaten up by the cost of getting to these deals. Not to mention the time involved. My time is worth more than stopping at 3-4 different locations to do what I can in 1 for just a little bit more. There's more to saving money than just price of the items.

We go to three stores and I do not make special trips to go to the store. I combine trips with other errands or trips that I am making. That is smart for both time and gas. Not sure why you are so negative about others finding deals. A frugal person would never make special trips to 3-4 different stores without planning it out so that multiple stops are combined into one run in the same area....

 

[loveshak22]

I have to ask. How many of you who go to multiple locations to get "deals" figure out how much extra you are spending in gas to do so (not to mention wear and tear on your car)? Not everyone lives in a community where all these stores are within a mile of each other. Even here, in the suburbs of DC, for me to hit Target, Wegmans, CVS, etc means driving an additional 10 or so miles because the stores aren't near each other nor are they on the way to each other. My point is, what you're "saving" is probably being eaten up by the cost of getting to these deals. Not to mention the time involved. My time is worth more than stopping at 3-4 different locations to do what I can in 1 for just a little bit more. There's more to saving money than just price of the items.

I thought the exact same thing! I don't have time to go to 2-3 stores or cut coupons but $150 a week just seemed high for groceries only which is why I started this thread to see what others thought. I live in DC as well and I implemented some pretty easy shopping habits over the last 3 weeks and to me it has been worth it.

1. I started planning my groceries around what was on sale. This just takes a few minutes to create a Harris Teeter and Safeway account. That lets me see the weekly deals and add electronic coupons to my rewards card (no cutting coupons). I've gotten the same food I usually get but my weekly menu is based on the sales. This probably adds 20 minutes to my shopping prep time.

2. I haven't added any new stores to my routine. I usually hit Target once every 3 months and I shop at Harris Teeter and Safeway because both are by my house. I usually do my weekly shopping at HT and pick stuff up outside of my weekly shopping, if needed, at Safeway. I get my meds at CVS so it's close as well. Two weeks ago I made my list and then looked at Target, CVS, and HT for what was on sale at each of the stores for toiletries/household items. I had to hit all three anyway so it just required a little more thinking to shop than normal. That sounds funny but I just mean that I didn't just throw stuff in my cart and move on. I looked at deals at all three and had to decide which made the most sense to buy at based on the deals. Again, it just took creating an online account at CVS and looking at Target deals to figure this out. I hit Target at Potomac Yards then CVS and HT in SW DC on the way home.

3. Now that I'm trying to pay attention, if I see something while I'm out that's a good deal I buy it. For example, I noticed I was low on Listerine and before I would just wait until my weekly trip to Target. I happened to notice it was on sale at CVS so when I stopped to get my meds I picked up 2 bottles (on sale for $1.53 each from $6.50) and had a $2.00 coupon from the CVS site. No extra stop but I did look before I went to see if anything I needed was on sale. If I just waited to pick it up at Target it probably would have been closer to $12.

I'm serious that I thought the same as you and that it wasn't worth it to 'deal' shop but it's really as easy as some hints people gave me on this thread to save quite a bit! I've brought my groceries down from about $150 to $70-80 in the past 3 weeks plus my toiletries/cleaning products down by 1/2 at least I would say. You are right that it does take some time but if you add a few steps to your routine (checking the grocery store sales, adding online coupons to your rewards card, and looking for sales for items you will need soon so you can see good deals while you are out anyway) it is totally worth it!

I'm about to post today's shopping results but I think I saved 57% on my total purchases. I did make an extra stop today at Safeway but it is on the way to HT for me so it didn't take long.

 

[loveshak22]

I know that a lot of people claim that there are never coupons for meat or fruit. Just this week I was able to get discounts on pork ($1-off fresh pork printable coupon that was available on Facebook which I combined with a store sale of $1.99/lb for boneless pork chops), fresh chicken (75¢-off any Perdue product, doubled to $1.50 off combine with a 40%-off Perdue sale), milk (5% off Target Cartwheel plus 50¢ rebate from Checkout51), broccoli (50¢ back from Checkout51 combined with a 99¢/lb sale on broccoli crowns) and bananas (20% back on Savingstar with a 59¢/lb sale).

Last week, I got a dozen Jumbo Land O Lakes Natural brown eggs and a half gallon of store brand OJ for free by redeeming in-ad coupons. I also snagged several pouches of Starkist tuna which were free after the printable coupon I had doubled. And I picked up a dozen pouches of organic baby food for free with doubled coupons. I donated those to the food pantry.

There's another cashback program called ibotta. I don't participate in it but they are also offering 50¢ back on milk when you redeem two additional rebates before midnight tonight.

My point is that if you pay attention to sales and available coupons, you can save quite a bit.

So this may be a dumb question but what is an "in-ad" coupon? In the stores ad?

Right now I'm using the grocery stores electronic coupons because I don't get the paper and when I go to couponing sites I never seem to find what I want. I did use a couponing site yesterday through my CVS account but that's about it. I did take some time to look at like P&G and Kellogg's websites but again I don't find much so for the time I wasn't planning on keeping that in as my routine. The grocery store sales and electronic coupons have been saving me a lot but if there was an easy way to coupon beyond that I might add that to my routine

 

[Marionnette]

So this may be a dumb question but what is an "in-ad" coupon? In the stores ad?

Right now I'm using the grocery stores electronic coupons because I don't get the paper and when I go to couponing sites I never seem to find what I want. I did use a couponing site yesterday through my CVS account but that's about it. I did take some time to look at like P&G and Kellogg's websites but again I don't find much so for the time I wasn't planning on keeping that in as my routine. The grocery store sales and electronic coupons have been saving me a lot but if there was an easy way to coupon beyond that I might add that to my routine

Yes. "In-Ad" coupons are in the paper circular. The particular grocery store that had these great in-ad coupons only puts them in the circular that is delivered to my home. If I forget to clip them, I can't just pick up the paper circular that they have at the store entrance. They aren't in it. And they aren't available to clip electronically. I believe that it's because each of these stores is individually owned (even though they are part of a larger chain) and these coupons are directed at a smaller target market.

 

[loveshak22]

I just finished my weekly shopping and have some good and bad news. The bad news is I went over my budgeted $80 for groceries/toiletries for the week. My total was $124.94.

The good news is that I just looked at my pantry and fridge and I have enough groceries for two weeks! I may have to stop and get a package of chicken or hamburger meat or fruit/veggies but it shouldn't be more than $20. If I can keep to this plan then my total would be $144 over two weeks, which would average out to $74 a week so within my budget!

The other good news is that some of this cost was toiletries. With everything I bought I calculated my total savings to be 57% of the full price of the items. I've found that I have to be careful to not buy more than I need now when I see good deals! Some extras I purchased that I didn't need today were razors 9.99 down from $24.99 plus a $4 extra bucks coupon, Aleve regularly $8.99 on sale for $7.97 but $4 coupon made it $3.97, Popcorn (BOGO), Gevalia coffee regularly $8.99 for $4.99, and lastly Starbucks bottled Frappuccino's (which I never buy because they are too expensive) regularly $6+ for $3.99. Most of the items won't go bad (razors and Aleve and Popcorn) and I'll definitely drink the coffee. I just need to not always buy things because they are good deals though...lesson learned!

 

[loveshak22]

Yes. "In-Ad" coupons are in the paper circular. The particular grocery store that had these great in-ad coupons only puts them in the circular that is delivered to my home. If I forget to clip them, I can't just pick up the paper circular that they have at the store entrance. They aren't in it. And they aren't available to clip electronically. I believe that it's because each of these stores is individually owned (even though they are part of a larger chain) and these coupons are directed at a smaller target market.

Thanks! Hopefully now that I've signed up for online accounts with the stores I shop at I'll start getting some coupons mailed to me!

 

[Marionnette]

I just finished my weekly shopping and have some good and bad news. The bad news is I went over my budgeted $80 for groceries/toiletries for the week. My total was $124.94.

The good news is that I just looked at my pantry and fridge and I have enough groceries for two weeks! I may have to stop and get a package of chicken or hamburger meat or fruit/veggies but it shouldn't be more than $20. If I can keep to this plan then my total would be $144 over two weeks, which would average out to $74 a week so within my budget!

The other good news is that some of this cost was toiletries. With everything I bought I calculated my total savings to be 57% of the full price of the items. I've found that I have to be careful to not buy more than I need now when I see good deals! Some extras I purchased that I didn't need today were razors 9.99 down from $24.99 plus a $4 extra bucks coupon, Aleve regularly $8.99 on sale for $7.97 but $4 coupon made it $3.97, Popcorn (BOGO), Gevalia coffee regularly $8.99 for $4.99, and lastly Starbucks bottled Frappuccino's (which I never buy because they are too expensive) regularly $6+ for $3.99. Most of the items won't go bad (razors and Aleve and Popcorn) and I'll definitely drink the coffee. I just need to not always buy things because they are good deals though...lesson learned!

That's all part of couponing and stockpiling. There are going to be some weeks where you spend more than your usual budget and other weeks where you really don't need to do a major shop at all. I've reached a point where I can skip an entire week without shopping if I use frozen vegetables to supplement the fresh ones. The only must-buy would be milk. My husband eats cereal twice a day (breakfast and as a bedtime snack). He refuses to use soy milk, which has a longer expiration time.