Grocery budgeters, I need help!

[worm761]

I decided earlier this month to shop sales and use coupons where I can for what I can. I make most things from scratch so there aren't a lot of coupons I can use. Though I am finding that there are more than I thought there would be. We went shopping on the 4th for groceries then did our big shopping trip last Saturday. I decided to keep all of the receipts and track how much we are actually spending. Usually, we go to the butcher for meat and then Walmart for groceries. Walmart is only about 5 blocks from my house and the other grocery stores are across town. But I am finding that I am actually spending less (maybe?) at Winn Dixie. We have been stopping in Publix to grab really good sale items like the half off cereal that I used coupons for. I was so proud. Anyway, so far this month we have spend $477 on food! I guestimated before that we only spent $400 a month so I am panicking a little here. Now, that does include a trip to Sam's where I stocked up some items like bread flour, seasonings, and such. We made a menu yesterday for two weeks and still have enough food after the menu for two more weeks. So I guess, we have groceries to last until October 16th. So that number covers 6 weeks of groceries. I know we will be back at the store before then though. We have tacos on the menu one night and will need a head of lettuce and salsa for that. We currently have 10 unopened boxes of cereal so I won't have to buy anymore for a while. Did I do OK? Also, for those of you that menu plan...how do you do it? and for how long at a time?
how do you decide when to grocery shop? He is paid biweekly so we are shopping when he gets paid but what about the sales in between? Any advice. thanks for listening if you got this far. I am trying to save money but am still feeling a little lost with it all. Oh, we are family of three adults, one teen, and a baby.

 

[greens_in_WA]

I can chime in on how I meal plan... fwiw...

I plan my meals about a week out... I take a look @ what I have in the freezer/pantry and what's on sale and go from there. I go with a "general" idea take on what we'll be eating... I'll right down chicken pot pie for dinner tonight for example, but if I'm in the mood to make spaghetti tonight instead and it was on the menu for tomorrow - I'll swap it up... My kids are still young enough that I can stretch some meals out for leftovers which is sooooo nice.

Good luck to you! and I totally agree that coupons aren't quite as effective when cooking from scratch which is kinda why I stopped doing the Grocery Game.

 

[beansmom]

Anyway, so far this month we have spend $477 on food! I guestimated before that we only spent $400 a month so I am panicking a little here. Now, that does include a trip to Sam's where I stocked up some items like bread flour, seasonings, and such. We made a menu yesterday for two weeks and still have enough food after the menu for two more weeks. So I guess, we have groceries to last until October 16th.

He is paid biweekly so we are shopping when he gets paid but what about the sales in between? Any advice. thanks for listening if you got this far. I am trying to save money but am still feeling a little lost with it all. Oh, we are family of three adults, one teen, and a baby.

stocking up costs in the short term but is cheaper in the long-run. You are already seeing that you will spend less over the next month or so becuase you have 'holdover' from your stocking up.

If it was me, I'd save half my grocery money and go shopping weekly and just 'cherry pick'--meaning buying only what's a good sale. You can also go to the forums on www.afullcup.com and sometiems they will have advance notice of sales for the local stores in your area and you can plan that way, saving money out for it, ordering extra coupons, planning menus around what is going to be on sale.

 

[rszdtrvl]

I have tried to break my habit of shopping one huge trip every 2 weeks.

Last payday, I planned a menu for a week, and did shopping only for that week.

Then a week later, I did shopping for the next week. Each time though, I did pick up sale items that our family uses.

I think it did save us money, as even if I did shopping for 2 weeks, I would still need to pick up produce, milk, etc.

Payday is on Friday, and I am going to do the shopping once a week thing, with a menu planned (I am just going to keep the same menu we currently have).

For a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 teenage boy), I have $220 budgeted for HBA and groceries. We are spending more than that, but have not gone over budget, as alloted amounts for other expenses (medical, electric) have not been as high as budgeted.

 

[worm761]

Thanks guys. I am feeling a little better about it. I took what we have already spent and added another $50 to it for milk, eggs, produce for the next four weeks. It still only averages out to be $90 a week so I guess it is not really that bad. I homeschool my son so that is three meals a day for all of us. Some of Sam's was spices and such too. Those will last a long time but still went in the grocery budget.
I have a dry erase weekly calendar magnet on the upright freezer with our menu on it. We did two weeks. I am hoping we can stick to it. I will have to check out afullcup.com though. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I plan my meals for the month, shop at either Costco or Sams once a month for meat, then do my regular gocery shopping once a week. I make sure to make my grocery list based on what is on my menu for the week. Then I go to couponmom.com or afullcup.com to check the sales. This all has helped me cut my grocery bill from $150 a week to less than $75 a week for 2 adults and 2 children. Sometimes I only spend about $50 a week if I'm well stocked on things in the houe.

 

[maslex]

I also get paid every two weeks. I take $400 out of my paycheck to put towards groceries for those two weeks (we average about $200/week) there are some weeks it's more but that's just the way it goes over here.

I do the bulk of my shopping at Walmart every Sunday morning then on the way home from Walmart, I stop at the local grocery store (BigY) and pick up any sales that are good, meats & Sunday newspapers for the coupons (I usually buy 2-3 different papers).

I also use coupons on a weekly basis. Some weeks, I might only save like $3-$5 on coupons, other weeks....it might be $30-$40. All depends on what we need and which coupons I have.

We're a family of four. DH, me, DS13 & DS15.

 

[HS3kids]

Newbie- chiming in... I meal plan for a week, sometimes 2 weeks. Based on what is in the freezer and pantry plus sales and coupons. I shop every Thursday on my lunch hour (no kids and the Market Basket near my work is way cheaper than Shaws)
That being said, for the past 2 weeks I have done half shopping at MB and half at Shaws due to sales and coupons (Shaws last week had Campbells chicken noodle & tomato soups at 2/$1-- I had a $1 off 6 cans coupon, plus Shaws had double your dollar coupons-so got 6 cans of soup for $1.)
When I can, I double up recipes and freeze for a meal at a later date (this also depends on how much room is in the freezer )
For a family of 5 (me, dh, dd17,ds10,dd4) plus a dog and a cat, I average about $125 a week, or $500 a month... this also includes paper products/ toiletries/ cleaning supplies as well)
This week I will only spend about $60 since I have a good stockpile and a meal plan in place though.
Good luck- sounds like youre doing great already

 

[njmom47]

I don't know where you live but here in NJ, but in the store I regularly shop, we have a "loyalty" card which you can set up for other specials on the store website. For instance I buy apple juice weekly and I got $1.50 off my next shopping order when I bought 2 apple juices (it was store brand so not really expensive). Also they have a "family" program where if you buy participating brands, you get points which you can redeem for $2.00 off your next purchase when you reach 100 points (which I do about once or twice a month). There is also a similar "baby" products program. There is also "milk of the week" so that's the milk they get.
I have an organized coupon box that I use, matching what items are on sale to plan my weekly menu along with whatever meat is on sale, stocking up when the prices are good.
It seems like work, but every little bit helps.

 

[worm761]

I am in Florida, the land of no double coupons. We are in Pensacola and are literally about 12 miles to the Alabama state line. I tried to see if it would be worth it to drive over to Alabama to grocery shop and double coupons but they don't double this close to the border. And they charge tax on their food there. Now I just have to keep out of the stores since I don't actually need anything.

 

[TinkMomma]

I just wanted to chime in that before starting couponing, I was struggling to feed our family of 4 for $200 every two weeks. Now that I've got a good stockpile going, I take out the same $200 each paycheck, and it gets divided. I put $50 on a Publix card, $25 on a CVS one, $20 for newspapers (4 every week), and the rest is now pocket change. I go to Sam's once a month or so out of the pocket change and stock up on meat. I only buy what is on sale and with a coupon. I'm now down to averaging about $30/week on groceries and paying just sales tax at CVS. The extra on the gift cards gets used when we have a party and need things that aren't always on hand like soda and such. I use gift cards for my shopping for two reasons: 1. We've had a LOT of fraud with our debit cards and it's just easier to make sure the money is there. 2. It allows me to "save" for parties and little treats for the kids. I do most of our cooking by scratch too. I just go through the freezer every Sunday night and plan meals around what meat is there. I always have a stock of other stuff through couponing. Good luck!!

 

[figment3258]

For us we plan a weekly menu and I look at what we have in the house. Next i do go to the store every week. This way i get all my produce and meats without having to go every couple of days. I don;t use a whole lot of coupons because we don't eat a whole lot of pre packaged foods. We make all our meals from scratch and hardly buy snack food. My best advice is plan ahead and stick to it.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Just wanted to add that you can still use coupons even if you don't buy a lot of processed foods. Most of my coupons are used for toiletries. If you use your coupons right, you can get your toiletries for pennies or even free.