I have a nosy question

[shatzjsl]

I don't mind sharing...

My car uses about $100 worth of gas each month.

We (dh and I) spend about $200-$300 on food and toiletries each month.

This is pretty much the same as mine. I drive a 4-cylinder so it is pretty economical.

 

[threeboysmom]

Gas - close to $500/month for 2 vehicles (wish I knew of a way to cut this down, but hard with the price of gas right now) I can see compared to others that we are doing WAY too much driving!

Groceries - about $500-$600 per month for our family of 5. I'd like to bring this down even more....

Edited to add that we probably spend an additional $200/month on eating out. So this should be added to our food budget for the month.

 

[mommytutu]

I spend about $40 a month on gas. I have a small car and dh has a company truck. I'm a SAHM and rarely travel more then 10 minutes from the house. Groceries for 4 (me, dh, ds (7), and dd (2)) we spend about $500 a month for groceries, paper goods, diapers, cleaning. We eat leftovers and I buy hamburger meat in the 5 lbs "log" which I breakdown and freeze in freezer bags, and I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the bag instead of individual packages. DH does eat out for lunch just about everyday. He could take his lunch, but he is a brat and HAS to buy. I also buy mostly store brand and cereal in the bag instead of the box.

 

[sharonh]

I spend around $1,000.00 on groceries. Gas for my yukon and hubbies truck would come in at around $500.00 a month. We have four boys and this does not include eating out. I think I need to take a closer look at my spending.

 

[cra-z-4-dizney]

I spend around $1,000.00 on groceries. Gas for my yukon and hubbies truck would come in at around $500.00 a month. We have four boys and this does not include eating out. I think I need to take a closer look at my spending.

I am sooo glad someone else has a budget that looks like mine...I was getting nervous.....We have a bronco and an equinox so we spend about 400.00-500.00 a month on gas and our food and cleaning supply budget is about $800.00-900.00 a month...we eat out about 8 times a month which we could probably cut in half to save money....ugh how do some of you only spend 300.00-400.00 for a family of 5 on groceries??????

 

[lemondog]

We are a family of 5.

Gas - $300 (DH has a long commute)
Groceries/Toiletries/Diapers, etc. - $500 if I am good...but many months spend $600-$700.

 

[poohpcgirl]

I have me, hubby and DS (3)

We spend about 300 a month in gas- 2 cars
And about 300-400 in groceries. If I am being good and doing my cooking at home.

 

[notnothin]

....ugh how do some of you only spend 300.00-400.00 for a family of 5 on groceries??????

I was wondering the same thing for the people that say they spend $200 a month on food for 3 or 4 people. I don't see how it's done. Do you eat Ramen noodles a lot or what?

 

[kandeebunny]

Family of 2 (my mom and I) spend about $600 a month on groceries which sadnly cannot be cut as we have food allergies (all whole grains and dairy) I buy in bulk online because it ends up after shipping still being about $1 less per item than my local health food store. A loaf of bread is $6 (made from chickpea flour) and a bag of rice pasta is is $3.50 so our cost per item is about 2-3 times that of normal.

Gas runs about $300 a month for 2 cars, neither of us work, but I go to school and we have 4-5 trips to the city (50 miles away each way) a month for Dr's visits.

I wish we didn't have to spend as much especially on food, but I'd rather be healthy and eating food that costs a fortune than be in the hospital every time I turn around.

 

[raven3517]

na

 

[disneymom3]

I am a Realtor (but haven't been too busy lately so that helps the gas if not our bottom line) and DH drives 43 miles to work one way. This is an improvement over the 50 miles each way he used to drive. We budget about $300-$350 a month for gas. Walmart (where we buy a lot of our food) and groceries including Costco are about $350-$400 and that high end is definitely high. I use Microsoft Money which has really helped me to track where the money is going and that is a good average over the last 3 months.

We have a family of 5 and for those of you wondering what we eat, here are some basics. Kids have cereal, toast, or oatmeal everyday for breakfast with milk and juice. Morning snack of yogurt or string cheese or some fruit or muffins if I have made them. Lunch is soup, sandwiches, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, turkey hot dogs, quesadillas, etc (y'know, kidstuff) and fruit and vegetable. I don't get too creative with the lunchtime vegies so it is either froz mixed vegies or carrot sticks. For fruit, the three of them will eat either a can of fruit or two pieces of fresh fruit between the three of them. I usually have salad and whatever main thing they are having. DH either brings lunch of leftovers from dinner the night before or uses his $30 monthly allotment to buy something. For dinner, we eat at home most nights. I would say we average a fast food meal about every two weeks either for lunch or dinner. Last night we went out to the Spaghetti Factory but we hadn't been out to eat in a long time. For dinners the last several nights: barbequed chicken breasts, fresh pineapple, pasta salad with vegies in it. Grilled ham and cheese panninnis on french bread, applesauce, salad. Pasta with peas, ham and ranch dressing sprinkled with cheese (Kraft magazine recipe) bread rolls. Grilled hamburgers on buns with fresh vegies and dip. Meatloaf with baked potatoes, salad. Enchilladas, spanish rice and corn. Pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce. Meatball subs. Grilled chicken, brocolli and side dish of Lipton rice stuff. All dinners are served with milk.

Oh and the kids have an afternoon snack of fresh fruit, Teddy Grahams, homemade juice bars, or something along those lines. DH has a Totino's party pizza every night which costs 98cents at Walmart.

So, there ya go. I buy on sale and I try to cook from scratch. DD does really like Ramen noodles, but they are darn high in sodium so I don't let her eat them very often! LOL

 

[Chris]

Family of 7 and I TRY to spend no more then 500.00 per month on groceries.
some months are more, some less.

Gas is normally around 165.0 a month if my van doesn't go out much!
We have a 12 passanger gas guzzler and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

 

[notnothin]

So, there ya go. I buy on sale and I try to cook from scratch. DD does really like Ramen noodles, but they are darn high in sodium so I don't let her eat them very often! LOL

Very reasonable! I need to get my grocery bill under control! This south beach diet certainly contributes to the extra cost. Whole grains, lean cuts of meat only, nothing preprocessed.

 

[epcotter]

Family of Four - Me + DW + DS(10),+ DS(3)

$120 - Gas(two cars)

600/month for food

IN NEW YORK

NO TAKE OUT - too expensive

epcotter

 

[bigmerle1966]

I'll tell too but it is just me and DM and we usually buy our own food. She mainly buys the milk and paper products. I usually spend around $75 a month and that is for fresh fruit, veges, yogurt and anything that is on sale that I get for lunches and of course my own toiletries and such. I usually stock up on meat when it is on sale or at Costco. Gas is also around $75. I have a mini-van and only a 10 mile commute to work, most of the shopping I do is close to home so not much going out of the way. It depends on how much running I do on the weekend and if I visit DS (Memorymakers2669) in VA. It takes a little over a 1/4 tank to get to and from her house but I can save also save a little too because gas can be 10 to 15 cents cheaper per gallon there.

 

[Aidensmom]

I was wondering the same thing for the people that say they spend $200 a month on food for 3 or 4 people. I don't see how it's done. Do you eat Ramen noodles a lot or what?

...and at the same time, I am wondering how people spend $700 month! Do you have steak every night, or lots of convenience food?

I will admit, I do by several packages of Ramen noodles every time I shop because for some reason DH loves them (I personally think they taste like eating pure salt), but we do not eat bad. We have a lot of pasta dishes (my favorite) and we grill a lot (you name it, DH can grill it). We have a lot of salad, fresh vegetables and fruit, etc, and we do have our share of convenience foods. DS3 could not live if we didn't have chicken nuggets or fish sticks once a week! We do however buy a lot of store brand stuff, and I faithfully use coupons and if there are great specials at a certain store I shop there. I only grocery shop once every two weeks (except for milk) which cuts down on impulse buys also. We also do not eat out much, save for our once-a-month 'date nights' or our visits to theme parks. I really just cannot imagine spending that much on groceries.

 

[Aidensmom]

I was wondering the same thing for the people that say they spend $200 a month on food for 3 or 4 people. I don't see how it's done. Do you eat Ramen noodles a lot or what?

sorry, hit to post twice!

 

[dixipixi]

Our monthly spending breaks down like this:

gas: $80.00/month (my car). DH's truck is used at work, so most of his gas is paid for.

paper/cleaning products: $100.00/month.

pet food: $150.00/month (we have 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 bird, aquarium, 10 chickens, 2 ducks, and a potbellied pig). We also have livestock and they're not included in that price.

groceries: $600.00/month. We have 2 teenage sons!!!

eating out: $200.00-350.00/month. Remember...we have teenagers!!

 

[txgirl]

I am sooo glad someone else has a budget that looks like mine...I was getting nervous.....We have a bronco and an equinox so we spend about 400.00-500.00 a month on gas and our food and cleaning supply budget is about $800.00-900.00 a month...we eat out about 8 times a month which we could probably cut in half to save money....ugh how do some of you only spend 300.00-400.00 for a family of 5 on groceries??????

Amen! I wonder if the family of 5 who spends 3-400 makes any "quick runs" to the store? Those add up. Also, when I say I spend about $700 that often would include any school supplies that get sprung on me, a birthday gift for a child's friend here or there, something DH needs (electrical, lightbulb, etc.) or something I saw that I thought I "needed" That's the deal with Wal-mart, right Get us in there and we buy EVERYTHING we need. With my girlfriends, there are some who say they only spend a few hundred a month, but they shop at our local chain grocery store and are not counting their trips to Wal-mart or the drug store? I feel like for a family of five it seems 6-800 is about average, but I know the ages of children make HUGE difference. As mine get older, it seems like the bill gets higher, not lower because they have to provide snacks for a game or supplies for a project. I love this thread and I have gotten lots of meal ideas!

 

[txgirl]

We have a family of 5 and for those of you wondering what we eat, here are some basics. Kids have cereal, toast, or oatmeal everyday for breakfast with milk and juice. Morning snack of yogurt or string cheese or some fruit or muffins if I have made them. Lunch is soup, sandwiches, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, turkey hot dogs, quesadillas, etc (y'know, kidstuff) and fruit and vegetable. I don't get too creative with the lunchtime vegies so it is either froz mixed vegies or carrot sticks. For fruit, the three of them will eat either a can of fruit or two pieces of fresh fruit between the three of them. I usually have salad and whatever main thing they are having. DH either brings lunch of leftovers from dinner the night before or uses his $30 monthly allotment to buy something. For dinner, we eat at home most nights. I would say we average a fast food meal about every two weeks either for lunch or dinner. Last night we went out to the Spaghetti Factory but we hadn't been out to eat in a long time. For dinners the last several nights: barbequed chicken breasts, fresh pineapple, pasta salad with vegies in it. Grilled ham and cheese panninnis on french bread, applesauce, salad. Pasta with peas, ham and ranch dressing sprinkled with cheese (Kraft magazine recipe) bread rolls. Grilled hamburgers on buns with fresh vegies and dip. Meatloaf with baked potatoes, salad. Enchilladas, spanish rice and corn. Pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce. Meatball subs. Grilled chicken, brocolli and side dish of Lipton rice stuff. All dinners are served with milk.

I love your meal ideas! Man, I really am in a rut You have inspired me to get to cookin' again! Your food sounds yummy