Grocery receipts for 1 month $1000 - frustrated

[mermaidwannabe]

Your best bet is to stop shopping at Costco and make fewer big order runs. Costco is often more than Wegmans, a fancy food store near here. I switched my big food order to every other week at the super cheap food store. Otherwise, I spend about $30-40 the other weeks on smaller orders. Shopping like this has saved me a lot. I also go to food stores for only their loss leaders. So, today, I got 5 12-pack cokes and a kielbasa sausage for $11 and Smores stuff for another $3.50. I have a garden and make dinners without a lot of meat. Sometimes, I skip making myself lunch and eat my kids leftovers, or I eat cereal. Lately, I spend $300/month at the food store and $100/month eating out for a family of 4. I never buy out of season fruit, will use frozen veggies, and only buy cereal on sale. I'm not very brand loyal at all. I'm loyal to the lowest price and that's all. Also, stop the stockpile. It's not great unless you can use it before it goes bad. Sales run in a cycle; it will be on sale again--unless I find a great thing my kids love for $1. Then I stockpile and it still gets used up in a month.

I'm going to have to get my receipts out and flyers or just a notebook on staples and start writing down to see where things are cheaper. I have a love/hate feeling towards Costco. I love savings, but I don't like how huge the packages are!!!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Sam's Club has a great price on 3 packs of Laughing Cow.

Okay, this is a really dumb question, but is Sam's Club the same as Wal Mart?

 

[Disney_Freak56]

Okay, this is a really dumb question, but is Sam's Club the same as Wal Mart?

It's a wholesale club like Costco.

 

[MissBritt]

It's a wholesale club like Costco.

Yes, and they are the same company.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

It's a wholesale club like Costco.

Thanks! We obviously don't have one here.

 

[amylynne01]

We do buy Hansen's 100% juice boxes for their lunches so 3 per day times 5 is 15 per week. I can't think of an alternative to that though and we get it from Costco for cheaper than the grocery stores, I do know that.

What about replacing their juice boxes with a frozen bottle of water one day a week? It will keep their lunches cold too!

A few people have posted to forget coupons, but I think that coupons can really help save in some areas. You can get toiletries and paper products for pretty cheap using coupons at stores like CVS, so you can reduce your budget that way. Have you looked into a coupon clipping service for items that you regularly purchase? (I know it seems counter-intuitive to pay for coupons, but your savings will make it worth it.)

For us, stockpiling and menu planning are so essential to staying on budget. A couple of months ago, the one store in my area that doubles had Ronzoni Smart Taste for $1 which I got for free after a coupon. I now have 30 boxes of pasta so I can wait for the next big sale.

I think you've gotten a lot of great suggestions for how to lower your budget. If you implement just a couple, I know that you'll see some savings in your budget!

 

[beansmom]

oh, i forgot my other tip...try www.hotcouponworld.com or www.afullcup.com . The ladies there will tell you what's on sale, how to get it cheapest, etc. i LIVE by a fullcup!

 

[beansmom]

i don't agree with not using coupons. Many times I can save 50% or more on an item by combining sales with coupons. It allows me to purchase things I would LIKE to buy but maybe wouldn't be able to 'afford' regularly. I have tons of free pasta, free thai noodles, free bbq sauce, free salad dressing. I do stock up and can also sometimes help out friends are a bit down at the moment without impairing my family's needs.

I have boxes of less than $1 a box (compared to about $5 a box) of dishwasher detergent...fabric softener...tons of free shampoo, handsoap, etc.

It is true that some coupons can't be doubled here because they are a $1 or more but I find the way around that by ordering coupons from other areas of the country where they are less than $1. Whereas Boston might get $1/2 breakfast bowls ...Texas might get 55cents on one and those work here.

We are also doing container gardens this year. I hope the pan out. Fresh free veggies taste the best.

 

[tinkarooni]

You have received a lot of good ideas here. I would try a few that best suit your family.

Now that school is done for my kids lunches should be cheaper, they can eat more leftovers. We always pack lunches but usually sandwiches. I am also teaching them how to cook more and do some baking. My kids are 12 and soon to be 10. We usually bake our own bread and my DD9 loves to put all the ingredients into the breadmaker. She is a big help. Also this summer the kids are working on a coupon clipping project for me, going through the newspaper, surfing the web looking for printables on specific items on our lists. It saves us $$ and gives them some projects to work on.

 

[minnie1928]

Something that I didn't see mentioned is cleaning supplies. I've found that I can do a whole lotta cleaning with simple things like baking soda & vinegar. I've been buying the baking soda boxes for closets/fridge/basement to help get rid of smells. Once they are "done" and need to be replaced, I empty them into a plastic container and then use it with vinegar to clean or to help keep drains open. I make "windex" using vinegar & ammonia. I use vinegar as a fabric softener and as a rinse agent in the dishwasher. Vinegar is about $1.80/gallon here, so that's really cheap compared to the regular prices of cleaners.

I've also dramatically cut my paper towels/napkin use by using cloth. Now a pack of napkins lasts me about a year (I use them when I have company) and towels last about 2 weeks/roll.

And, as others have mentioned...if you have a CVS/Walgreens/Riteaid in your area, then check out www.hotcouponworld.com's forums. I have saved thousands over the years at CVS! I love them so much...I bought CVS stock!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Thanks for the other great tips, like the coupon sites and cleaning with vinegar. Really, I think I'd like that better than having chemicals so I am going to look into that. My floor cleaner is Armstrong, and it's $13 per bottle. I have a friend who cleans her floor with vinegar and water and little dish soap. I just can't imagine it gets as clean but it's worth a try.

There are so many great ideas in this thread that I'm going to make a Word doc out of it.

 

[minnie1928]

I just can't imagine it gets as clean but it's worth a try.

I think we were all "brainwashed" to think this way, but once you've used a homemade cleaner...where you know all the ingredients (and can pronounce them too!), I think you'll see that there is a better way than buying all the chemicals.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

I think we were all "brainwashed" to think this way, but once you've used a homemade cleaner...where you know all the ingredients (and can pronounce them too!), I think you'll see that there is a better way than buying all the chemicals.

I agree. And, honestly, since I've been cleaning the bathrooms with vinegar and water, they truly look, feel, and smell cleaner.

 

[tinker&belle]

I had a HUGE response typed out, then the baby hit the ESC key and I don't know what happened...

I've been doing E-Mealz. It has helped me make a plan and stick to it. I choose what meals I am going to make from the list, cross off what I have already, and then I have dinners planned. Then I add to the list any other items we need (produce, yogurt, raisins, milk, etc.)

Next I look through the ad and see if I have any coupons that match nicely to the ad and add those to the shopping list.

Doing this little bit of work (the e-mealz does a lot of it for me) adds up big time. Another big thing I do is buy way ahead if it is something I buy weekly and it is on sale super cheap. When this happens I stock way up. I rotate what I am stocking up on so I still stay within our budgeted amount.

Doing these things has allowed us to keep our bills about 30-50% lower than I think a family who eats similiar things would end up paying without doing these things. (We live in a fairly low CoL area in the Midwest and spend~ $100 grocery-includes baby formula,~ $40 at Target on toiletries, baby food and toddler snacks, breakfast bars, and detergent, greeting cards, etc.)

Besides that the only other 'food' spending in our budget is: My husband and I each take $15 a week, him for lunches at work and me so I can take the kids out to eat with one of their grandparents every other week, pretzel at the mall, etc. We also allow $30 every two weeks for eating out together.

It has taken a lot of work to tame the budget this much and I think if you do a little at a time it hurts less. We eat pretty well too, fresh fruits, steamed and fresh veggies, raisins and dried fruit for snacks. I also will only buy the cage free eggs since watching Oprah, I can't buy the regular ones anymore. We buy one dozen a week, and I figure with all the other cuts we make I can spend the extra two dollars to feel good about that.

 

[ekatiel]

If my meals are planned out in advance, it is easier to buy only what I need. Before, I would buy all kinds of things and make whatever I felt like having that day. I would have too many meals and sometimes food went bad before we ate it. Such a waste.

Ditto the meal planning. When I make my grocery list for the week, I use an index card. On one side I write down the meals for the week, on the other side I write down my list. Meal planning prevents me from buying a ton of extra junk!
Other things I do to cut down the grocery budget:
--We have a deep freezer-- I try to buy meat on sale and stock up.
--We started using "envelopes" of cash per Dave Ramsey for our grocery money. Once the money's gone, that's it. I actually weigh my fruit at the grocery store now, and I keep tally marks of how much I'm spending . If we're over budget, some of the extras like ice cream go back on the shelf!
--I started making my own clorox wipes with viva paper towels and 1/3 cup of lysol mixed with 2 cups of water. They work just like the real thing, but save me a ton of cash.
--Before I leave for the store, I check the pantry to make sure we really need the things on my list (Ie-- a recipe calls for tomato paste-- before we started budgeting, I would have just bought the can. Now, I walk my behind over to the pantry and check and see if we have any before I put it on my list-- yes, I was that lazy before !).

My DH is SOOO bad about not sticking to a list and buying things there that look good so that is a problem. I'll really have to get him on board with this.

My DH is pretty much banned from the grocery store b/c of this. It's not that he impulse buys big things, it's that he notices things that we may have been out of for a while (and actually survived just fine without them) and throws them into our cart. After showing DH the difference in a few grocery receipts where he was present and a few where I shopped alone, he pretty much banned himself from the grocery store ! You might have to take over the Costco shops for a while to get it under control! Good luck with it all! --Katie

 

[minnie1928]

--I started making my own clorox wipes with viva paper towels and 1/3 cup of lysol mixed with 2 cups of water. They work just like the real thing, but save me a ton of cash.

Ok, you must tell me more about this...how do you keep them? In what type of container?

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I had a HUGE response typed out, then the baby hit the ESC key and I don't know what happened...

I've been doing E-Mealz. It has helped me make a plan and stick to it. I choose what meals I am going to make from the list, cross off what I have already, and then I have dinners planned. Then I add to the list any other items we need (produce, yogurt, raisins, milk, etc.)

Next I look through the ad and see if I have any coupons that match nicely to the ad and add those to the shopping list.

Doing this little bit of work (the e-mealz does a lot of it for me) adds up big time. Another big thing I do is buy way ahead if it is something I buy weekly and it is on sale super cheap. When this happens I stock way up. I rotate what I am stocking up on so I still stay within our budgeted amount.

Doing these things has allowed us to keep our bills about 30-50% lower than I think a family who eats similiar things would end up paying without doing these things. (We live in a fairly low CoL area in the Midwest and spend~ $100 grocery-includes baby formula,~ $40 at Target on toiletries, baby food and toddler snacks, breakfast bars, and detergent, greeting cards, etc.)

Besides that the only other 'food' spending in our budget is: My husband and I each take $15 a week, him for lunches at work and me so I can take the kids out to eat with one of their grandparents every other week, pretzel at the mall, etc. We also allow $30 every two weeks for eating out together.

It has taken a lot of work to tame the budget this much and I think if you do a little at a time it hurts less. We eat pretty well too, fresh fruits, steamed and fresh veggies, raisins and dried fruit for snacks. I also will only buy the cage free eggs since watching Oprah, I can't buy the regular ones anymore. We buy one dozen a week, and I figure with all the other cuts we make I can spend the extra two dollars to feel good about that.

Oh, sorry you had to type this twice! I'll check out emealz. I didn't see the Oprah but try to buy cage free too. I too figure it's not that big of a difference to feel good about getting a good product.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

My DH is pretty much banned from the grocery store b/c of this. It's not that he impulse buys big things, it's that he notices things that we may have been out of for a while (and actually survived just fine without them) and throws them into our cart. After showing DH the difference in a few grocery receipts where he was present and a few where I shopped alone, he pretty much banned himself from the grocery store ! You might have to take over the Costco shops for a while to get it under control! Good luck with it all! --Katie[/QUOTE]

Good idea to show him the receipt. My DH will buy a HUGE box of Yoplait yogurt and say, "Look at this good deal I got on yogurt." And I have to gently tell him that he will have to eat all of that yogurt because the girls don't like that kind. Or once in awhile, he buys these nasty premade breakfast sandwiches because it will save us time on ski days. The egg gets like rubber - so bad. They are almost gone thank goodness.

 

[tinker&belle]

Oh, sorry you had to type this twice! I'll check out emealz. I didn't see the Oprah but try to buy cage free too. I too figure it's not that big of a difference to feel good about getting a good product.

I know when we joined we used the promo code "Dave" (they are a Dave Ramsey sponser) and it saved us a couple of dollars.

 

[brymolmom]

We are probably buying 25% organic. My DH used to hunt and get an elk every year, which was great for organic meat and cheap, but now my kids aren't used to eating it anymore and my DH hasn't had time to go out to do it during hunting season. We were buying buffalo for awhile too, and wow, is that expensive!!

I'm not going to totally change what we eat, but I know there are ways to cut our budget. My DH teases me because I really like Charmin, but maybe I'll have to try some other brands.

Hi there! I often wonder about some threads and how some people keep within small budgets - and I applaud them for it! I am of the opinion in many cases, people DO 'change what they eat'. So just a heads up that I think to really go low - you need to make a desired budget and make your menu according to the budget and not the other way around - make your budget according to your menu. For example, if you want to stick to $200 per week - make out a menu for ALL meals and snacks and drinks. If you estimate your costs to be over $200 - well then take 2 of the more expensive meals and make it a cheap one - pasta and sauce with bread or pancakes and fruit. Keep doing this until you get down to where you want to be.

I think you can likely shave some costs down minimally if you don't want to change what you eat, but obviously what you are eating now costs over $200 per week and it will still cost that same amount (minus a bit for coupons or stocking up benefits) - so to truly cut the grocery bill you would need to change your eating habits - at least some of the time, IMO.