Grocery Budget

[sweetsusannah]

I am trying to re-work our grocery budget. We spend way too much each month on food (groceries and eating out). I use to plan my weekly meals and buy groceries based on those which did help curb eating out. Coupons tend to not work well for me since we try to not eat processed foods and I have not found many coupons for apples. What is a reasonable amount to budget for a family of 4 (one 4 year old and one infant)? Do you use coupons to plan what you will buy or use a monthly meal planner? Any tips that keep you eating well on the cheap?

 

[DawnM]

Rule of thumb used to be $25 per person per week to budget. I think that has gone up some (maybe to $35/pp) over the years. That is for food only.

If you cook a lot from scratch you can eat for less.

Do you eat any prepared foods? Cereal? Condiments? Yogurt? Juice or Soda? Coffee? Jam?

I ask because although people think coupons are only for junk, they aren't. The items I listed above I can always find coupons for. Also, there are more coupons for toiletries (toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo, etc....) than food, so if you are spending a lot there, coupons will help you save in that area.

Dawn

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I agree with PP coupons can save you a lot. Just last week I saved $46 at the grocery store. Had coupons for crackers, cereal, hair color, toothpaste, cat treats, Ortega taco products, ketchup, mustard, yogurt, egg beaters, bread, cheese. Get my drift.

My grocery store prints on my receipt how much I save each shopping trip as well as a rolling 12 month total for savings and I am at $465 for the past 12 months! I could have easily thrown away almost $500 dollars but no I decided to clip coupons from the two Sunday papers I get. So you don't have to be an extreme couponer to save on groceries.

You had a good idea of planning meals ahead of time why not do it again.

 

[NYEmomma]

I spend $100 every 2 weeks to feed me, DH & DD(2). We also eat out once per week, averaging $25 per dinner out, so say $150 every 2 weeks total.

I meal plan though not necessarily around what's on sale in the flier. I'm fairly particular about what I eat & there's a lot of meat, especially, that I won't eat whether it's on sale or not. But I do stockpile a small amount so I think that balances it out. There are VERY, VERY few things that I pay full price for. My rule is I don't buy anything from the grocery store unless it's on sale AND I have a coupon I can double. If I don't, then I buy the item at Aldi since it's cheaper. Only thing I almost always pay full price for is our milk & produce (though I do buy fruit based on what's on sale... we like it all).

 

[chris31997]

I am trying to re-work our grocery budget. We spend way too much each month on food (groceries and eating out). I use to plan my weekly meals and buy groceries based on those which did help curb eating out. Coupons tend to not work well for me since we try to not eat processed foods and I have not found many coupons for apples. What is a reasonable amount to budget for a family of 4 (one 4 year old and one infant)? Do you use coupons to plan what you will buy or use a monthly meal planner? Any tips that keep you eating well on the cheap?

Check your grocery fliers for loss leaders, those are the things on sale on the front page, try to menu plan around that. You can also stock up say when, grapes are on sale and freeze them. Or if you eat corn on the cob, just freeze it and than it is real yummy on the grill. Take it out of the freezer and throw it on the grill Sorry, got sidetracked. I would also look real hard at what you are buying, there just might be a coupon. It may only come out every 3 months, but that is something. I would also look into the buyer club at your grocery store. There usually reduced prices with that. If you buy alot of fresh veggies, look for a farmer's co-op or market. Something you will have to look into and price out.

Just an FYI, I spend around $350 every 2 weeks for groceries and dining out for 4 people, 2 adults, 1 teen and 1 kid. We also live in HI. Where you live will play apart in your cost also.

 

[Marionnette]

I've been actively couponing for about 2 months now. My grocery bill for 3 adults (myyoungest son is 17 and certainly eats more than his dad) has averaged about $75/week.

It takes some searching but I've gotten coupons for $2-$5 off my produce purchase from my local grocery chains. Coupons for $10 off a total purchase of $100 or more (also from the same stores) which can be applied to meats, fish or produce.

I've gotten Facebook coupons for whole grain breads, pasta, eggs, bagged salads and bananas.

There are printable coupons out there for soy milk, berries, various cheeses (not the processed stuff), coffee, creamers, and tea.

I've found coupons for various types of sugar, salt, flour, spices and seasonings, butter and margarine, half and half, and canned milk.

My shelves are stocked with olive oil, vegetable oil, catsup, mustards of all kinds, pickles, relishes, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, salad dressings, mayo and hot sauce. All of them were either free or only cost me pennies after coupons.

Today I used some Catalinas for $X off your next purchase which I got from my last grocery run. My cart had only fresh produce in it and after coupons it totaled just under $40. Once I applied my Catalinas, I walked out of that store spending less than $5 OOP!

It takes some work and following a few great couponing blogs to get those prices down. Then it takes some good reliable recipes to make what you buy work for your menus. But we're eating quite well, more homemade stuff than ever before and spending a lot less than in the past.

 

[sweetsusannah]

Thanks! I learned a lot. Who knew you could freeze grapes?! We are trying to spend around $75 a week, down from about double that. I will look for more coupons for the products we use. We do not typically buy processed foods and I make most breads and other baked goods. I think our problem is we buy organic mostly. My husband has one particular milk he likes and between he and my 4 year old they drink two gallons a week. When the baby starts drinking milk that will probably increase to 3 gallons at $5 a gallon. We subscribe to a CSA and get a farm basket that allows us to eat a couple veggies a day for about $25 a week. That makes up half of my new budget! I think I will try to start building a weekly menu again and investigate the suggestions presented here.

 

[hsmamato2]

well, you could always buy a different brand milk,and clean out the old containers and re-use them....save a few bucks... I like organic milk,but life is so expensive lately that I just buy the cheapest now....strangely,it is usually at CVS lately where do you live that regular old milk is 5 a gallon? around here I can get it for under 3.00-unless it's OG,then it's around 6 a gallon

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks! I learned a lot. Who knew you could freeze grapes?! We are trying to spend around $75 a week, down from about double that. I will look for more coupons for the products we use. We do not typically buy processed foods and I make most breads and other baked goods. I think our problem is we buy organic mostly. My husband has one particular milk he likes and between he and my 4 year old they drink two gallons a week. When the baby starts drinking milk that will probably increase to 3 gallons at $5 a gallon. We subscribe to a CSA and get a farm basket that allows us to eat a couple veggies a day for about $25 a week. That makes up half of my new budget! I think I will try to start building a weekly menu again and investigate the suggestions presented here.

Even organic products can have coupons. Check the manufacturers' websites, sign up for their email newsletters, "like" their pages on Facebook. It's surprising what kind of coupons are out there. Horizon organic milk has $1 coupons on their website right now. Subscribe to Driscoll's newsletter and get coupons for berries (they have organic in some stores).

If you use honey or molasses in your bread baking, check Golden Blossom's website for their quarterly snail mail newsletter plus monthly email newletters. Both have coupons for honey. Grandma's molasses has printable coupons on their website.

If they don't have a printable coupon on their website, write an old-fashioned letter to them and tell them how much you like their product. It's not unusual for a manufacturer to send coupons to loyal customers in appreciation for their comments.

And remember that $X OYNO Catalinas can be used to pay for anything in your grocery order, so watch for those in your grocery sale flyers.

 

[merriwthr]

Today I used some Catalinas for $X off your next purchase which I got from my last grocery run. My cart had only fresh produce in it and after coupons it totaled just under $40. Once I applied my Catalinas, I walked out of that store spending less than $5 OOP!

What are "Catalinas"? Is that something specific to your locale? Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

What are "Catalinas"? Is that something specific to your locale? Thanks!

Catalinas are those coupons that print out at the register when you check out. They use a printer that is separate from the one that prints your receipt. If your store is offering $X off your next shopping trip when you buy $Y worth of a family of products then the coupon for $X will print from the Catalina printer.

For instance, one of my local stores has an offer for $5 off my next order when I purchase 2 of the participating products that are listed. One of the products is the shampoo that my daughter uses. I also have coupons for this product. I can use my coupons, buy 2 of the product at a sale price and get a $5 Catalina coupon that I can use on any subsequent purchase from that store. If I break my order down into two separate orders and do the shampoo first, then I can use the Catalina from that purchase on the next order to pay for my produce or meat.

 

[fakereadhed]

There are produce coupons. I have a section in my coupon holder labeled "produce" and it's never empty. Last week I used 2 coupons for $.55 that doubled to $1.10 off cherry tomatoes on sale for $1.50. There are also coupons for staples like flour, olive oil, meat, etc. It's not all processed foods.

Our budget is $140/wk for 5 humans, 2 large dogs, and a cat. That includes household products. I had to increase it from $80 due to inflation. You can save if you are willing to try new products, be creative, and if you can pair sales with double coupons and rebates.

 

[jonpeter001]

I keep hearing grocery budget budget budget! . Now, DH is finally saying budget, too! He wants a couponing budget because he's afraid I'm spending too much money on couponing. *Roll eyes*

But I figured, "Hey! Anything that gets him in favor of a budget works for me," so I said, "Well, how about instead of a couponing budget we just have a grocery budget and as long as I stay within it-- regardless of coupons-- we're fine."

He agreed.

So now I need to get an idea of a reasonable grocery budget WITHOUT COUPONS. I want it to be a non-coupon grocery budger for three reasons. First, I'm not very good at couponing yet. Second, I don't want to choose a budget limit that FORCES me to keep couponing because if I get busy when school starts back up again I may not have as much time to devote to it. Third, I want him to be impressed with how much I save off of our "regular" grocery budget instead of just taking it for granted that that's all that groceries cost the average household.

 

[Kate3456]

I appreciate the idea of a budget - but everyone's first reaction always seems to be to reduce the grocery budget. Before you cut out your grocery budget - be sure to look over your cable bill and take out the movie channels before your food. Bundle your telephone and cable for more savings.

As far as the organic milk - It's expensive, but Wal-Mart has a proprietary brand that is less than most.

Also I get the daily emails for our local Groupon - we use those when we are dining out for a 50% savings.

 

[Diegosmom]

If you dont have time to coupon (or think there are no coupons for stuff you buy) check out angel food ministries...they sell boxes of food for a good deal...each month the menu is different (and you can check it before you order so you know what you are getting). There are fruit and veggie boxes as well as meat...And there are boxes that should feed a family of 4 for a week...sometimes they throw something proceed in there (like frozen bag meals) but not always. You can order online and there is 1 pick up day a month (at a local church). I am usually in and out of the church in less then 15 min...

 

[angierae]

I don't coupon as much as I should, but I also pretty much don't buy anything unless it's on sale. I plan my weekly meals around what's on sale, then use up the rest of my grocery budget stocking up on things that are on sale.

Then the next week I may be able to use a lot of things from the pantry, buy a few things I need to round out my meals, and then use the rest of the grocery budget to stock up the pantry...

(And yeah, I'm not going to buy a cut of meat we don't eat because it's on sale, but the stuff we do eat - beef for stirfry, boneless skinless chicken breasts, ground beef, turkey sausage, etc - those I stock up on during a sale.)

 

[njmom47]

Marionette, do you live in the tri-state area? It sounds like you shop at my favorite store (and the company that I work for)! If so, they also have added Cellfire.com where you can scan coupons to your store savings card (or by email if you don't have a smartphone). Those are suggestions I always make as well when people ask about how to save on groceries. I love looking at my receipt, seeing how just about every item I buy is on sale, and how much I save each week. And since I buy for my dgd, I get savings on baby items as well. Great suggestions!

 

[eliza61]

There are produce coupons. I have a section in my coupon holder labeled "produce" and it's never empty. Last week I used 2 coupons for $.55 that doubled to $1.10 off cherry tomatoes on sale for $1.50. There are also coupons for staples like flour, olive oil, meat, etc. It's not all processed foods.

.

Can I ask where you find them. I never, ever have seen a coupon off for broccoli, collards, grapes or heck even a 1lb of apples.

I'm lucky that during the summer I live in NJ which is known for it's independant farmers. so I get really good prices in the summer but I'd kill for some coupons on strawberries, lettuce and the like.

 

[lakelandgal70]

I do not use coupons to base on what I am going to buy. I make a menu and try to stick to it. It is just DH and I so I have budget of 100 a week. Most weeks I go below that and that includes all our paper products and personal items. I shop at Target and Publix and I only use coupons on stuff that I buy. I find when we don't have junk in house, ie chips, sodas, cookies that type of stuff we can save tons of money. We have salads almost nightly, bananas every morning and grapes weekly. So it can be done. I really think staying away from processed, sugary foods helps with the grocery bill. I noticed cans of Coke in store were 5bucks a 12 pack. Who in their right mind would pay that?

 

[lakelandgal70]

Can I ask where you find them. I never, ever have seen a coupon off for broccoli, collards, grapes or heck even a 1lb of apples.

I'm lucky that during the summer I live in NJ which is known for it's independant farmers. so I get really good prices in the summer but I'd kill for some coupons on strawberries, lettuce and the like.

I live in Florida and have never seen a coupon for produce either.