amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

patchwork~mama · 07-05-2002, 10:18 PM

We have been doing this system where we sit down at the end of the week and plan out meals for the next week and just shop for what we need. we still spend aobut $80 a week in groceries. just curious what everyone else does and how much they spend. granted we only have me, jim and kyla to feed!

but if i can lower costs that would make my day! lol

tiffany

07-05-2002, 11:12 PM

well I set aside $150 every 2 weeks.

I usually shop every other weeks for main stuff & then on off weeks for just milk, friuit type stuff, or if there are just sales I can't pass up!

I sit down on Tues after sale papers come & make out menu plan by whats on sale/what I have.

I usually manage to stay w/ in my budget but not always!

Surfer Girl · 07-05-2002, 11:14 PM

I was just coming here for a discussion on this subject lol!

I shop once a month for the big load and then usually go once a week to buy more milk and maybe bread or crackers if we run out.

I spend $160 a month total. That includes the big trip and all the side trips for milk. Every dollar.

I'm looking for ways to do even better spending-wise than we do now.

If you want to ask me how I can break it down and include all my logic on tightwad grocery shopping I can but it may be a really long post!

I also do the meal plans , but for the whole month, including b'fast, lunches, snacks, toiletries.

There are 4 of us + 1 cat, and the baby is on all table foods now so he counts for a heck of a lot of food now!

Mama~KaBam · 07-06-2002, 12:38 AM

Geesh Erin $160. a month!!!!!!!!! How do you do that lol

There is me, Dh, DD who is 11 yrs and DS who is 19 mo and I spend about $230-250.00 every 2 weeks not counting 1-2 trips a week for bread, milk, etc..

I have tried to cut down on my grocery bill but finally gave up b/c it just isn't going to happen and we like to eat lol so I refuse to cut out certain things ya know. I have always wondered how the heck you Mama's get so good at keeping your bill so low Koodos to you

Thmom · 07-06-2002, 12:45 AM

I do one major haul a month and then weekly for produce and milk etc. We spend about $800 a month and that includes toiletries for 5. I think you have to take into account the area you live in too. Like I pay out the nose here for good cheese (I like WI cheese what can I say! LOL) I'm going to hit the farmers markets and see if I can cut down that way. I also need to get dh to stop buying so much of the premade stuff for lunches.

DreamingMama · 07-06-2002, 12:52 AM

around $160.00 each time. Around $2000 a month, this includes everything from medicine to food and all items purchased at the drug store and grocery store and car gas.

07-06-2002, 01:15 AM

We do 1 major trip in the beginning of the month, and then about once a week we get things like milk, assorted fruits and veggies, ect...

So, this months major trip I spent $109 just on groceries. And that's with

Toiletteries probably cost about $20. That was so little cuz I didn't need laundry soap (biokleen), but that payed for tp, toothpaste(tom's), seran wrap, antipersperant...can't remember what else. We don't spend to much on toiletteries cuz we use cloth dipes and cloth pads. And I'm the only girl (other than dd) in the house.
And so far I've spent about $10 on the assorted stuff in the first week of this month.

Tho, this months major shopping was a little less than usual. I usually spend $120-150. I think it was so little this much cuz I didn't need to get flour and sugar.

whew, I think that's it! LOL!

Oh, ya. I make dinner lists and TRY to keep my shopping to that list. tho, I might get some extra stuff

07-06-2002, 02:02 AM

This month, exactly 110$. We eat very frugal. This includes all toiletries, but I have not bought soap in a year (thanks danica) and we do not use any styling products at all. one bottle of shampoo will last dh and I 3 or 4 months. I only wash my hair every other day and dh has no hair to wash, lol! Other than that I buy a giant pack of tp and it will last us 2 months or so.

I buy most items in bulk and stock up on commonly used items when they are on sale. I did just run out of salt and yeast, so I will have to head back to market before the end of the month. I made a menu plan for this week and we have stuck too it. I will make up a new one based on what we already have for next week on sunday.

One thing, we do not buy name brand items, only store brands, no convienience foods either. I make our food from scratch. I buy as much as I will use in the month and freeze extras. I really like the idea of not having to battle the masses in the market. I really am a homebody.

Oh! And WIC saves us money as well. We get dairy and eggs and cereal so that knocks a bit off what we would spend. Dh is the one who eats the WIC cereal, Gab and I eat grits or oatmeal.

I'm keeping a record of our menu for the month and once I get thru it, I'll post it here.

bluedaisy · 07-06-2002, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Surfer Girl
I spend $160 a month total. That includes the big trip and all the side trips for milk. Every dollar.

Is that $160 Canadian Erin??

Quote:

If you want to ask me how I can break it down and include all my logic on tightwad grocery shopping I can but it may be a really long post!

I also do the meal plans , but for the whole month, including b'fast, lunches, snacks, toiletries.

Please do share

~ I am trying to work out a meal plan... and I would love to be able to do only one big shopping trip... I'm sure I could save more $ that way.

I'm not sure how much I spend but I'm sure it's less than $150Can (but it's just ds and I)... it is a lot less now that ds isn't drinking so much soymilk... and I try to buy organic... maybe half of what we buy... I just don't have the $ to buy everything organic... I shopped yesterday and a small bag of onions was .99 & the organic was $3.99 ~ I just couldn't afford that much of a price difference.
I make our own bread and buy organic flour in bulk from the NFS ~ I worked out that this is cheaper than the .99 store bread and much healthier IMO. I also have a pressure cooker, so I use dried beans.

We don't seem to have the grocery competition that there is in the US... no double coupons (or any coupons really... just the individual store sales, which are mostly processed foods I don't buy)
and I agree with Mona ~ making things from scratch makes a huge difference.

okmama · 07-06-2002, 09:56 AM

well we are feeding a family of 7~ sometimes 8 and i spend at least $200 a week. i never keep track, it seems i am always running to the store for this or that we run out of, and impromtu lake trips, bbq's at mom's when i bring fixings, or what have you. i would like it to be less. i think all together we spend around 1 grand a month! and the saddest part for me is, it is mostly spent at wal-mart super centers. i have tried to buy from smaller places, but when i am hauling 5-7 children around (i watch my neice and nephew) stopping at 2 or 3 stores in addition to whatever other errands i have does not sound appealing.

anyone else with big families?? what do you spend, and where? please tell me i am normal ;-)

freedomlover · 07-06-2002, 12:51 PM

Feeding the 9 yr old and 12 yr old is like having two more adults (they eat as much as me!!!!)

I shop whenever I know a good deal is somewhere and we need something.....

I would say 2 times per week (diff stores, diff deals) and each time I spend about $60-70 (lots of buy one get one frees for us!) so it comes out to roughly $480-whatever a mth including items like toilet paper, paper towels from the market.

I often spend another $30 a mth on yummies for the big kids (like boxes of donuts and coffee cakes and etc from an Enteman's discount shop.....I freeze them and pull them out as needed)

We eat out at a fast food or restaurant once a week which varies from $10 for the family to $25 for the family.

So that would put us at around $480 + 30 + $100 = $610 in a good month.

It sounds like a lot but we keep stocking the pantry and

it carries over to another months meals.......

I find that each meal is pretty reasonably cheap......with the buy one get one frees we often get items like one bag of pasta and one bag free (in other words....each is half of the amount LOL), 10 pd bags of rice, cereals, cheese, etc

Barb · 07-06-2002, 01:26 PM

i spend $125 a week plus extra trips for more milk, produce and stuff. this doesn't include gas $ or dh's cigarettes or stops at circle K for coffee and a donut. this is a SAVINGS for us to be down to $500 a month. So i need more tips.

i have chelsey, 12 who eats like a horse and zoey , almost 2 who eats like a real person too. Plus i babysit a 14mo old three days a week and a 5 and 8 year old 3 days a week.

for lunches for the kids i babysit i offer (they don't eat tuna or deli meat)

hot dogs
homemade cheese pizza
grilled cheese
macaroni and cheese
peanut butter and jelly sandies
soup (ramen or tomato)
eggs or egg salad sandies
spaghetti
--and on the side of any of these chips, melon/fruit, vegetable
they can have juice, milk or water to drink
and snacks are graham crackers, applesauce, yogurt, peanut butter crackers, raisins, peanuts, goldfish crackers (i buy em in bulk), juice ice pops...and i'm sure theres more.

i'd love more ideas for what to feed them thats cheap, healthy and fun.

what i'm buying more of:
ramen noodles
peanut butter and white bread
mac and cheese on sale for $20 a box
hot dogs and 50cent biscuts for pigs in a blanket
cucumbers (for making my own pickles)
oranges (for making my own jelly)
canned vegetables on sale 2 for $1
flour and other baking supplies
yogurt and applesauce for snacks
bone in chicken (i can debone myself and stretch it further, plus make chicken stock for soups and cooking)
bulk rice, pasta and beans

what i'm buying less of:
deli meats and cheeses
red meat and deboned chicken
pre packaged noodles for side dishes
frozen pizzas (making our own is more fun and cheaper)
cookies and other packaged stuff i can bake myself
soap/shampoo (thanks danica)

i also have to buy bulk paper towels (i use them for tiedying), laundry detergent (biokleen is expensive - but i was all my tiedye in it and zoeys diapers)

so... would love thrifty ideas on how to cut back too. Oh, dh is a total meat eater so we do eat chicken,pork or beef 5 nights a week (i buy bulk and on sale only but still)..he's agreed to 2 non meat meals a week which usually is some sort of pasta. He counts tuna casserole as a non meat meal. LOL

ok. so list out your frugal meal tips ladies. i'm listening!

emmas~clogs · 07-06-2002, 01:38 PM

Ugh, I've been working on this. Read lots of frugal books, etc, and I'm still at $100 a week. I've tried all different stores, I don't shop at the same one every week. I spent $160 yesterday and I am getting $25 worth of organic produce on Monday and I'm going to *try* to not go shopping next week. I am hoping this stuff will last two weeks!?

I think I will have to go get some oatmeal, though. And what will probably happen is a whole bunch of other stuff will get added to my list

throwbackmama · 07-06-2002, 01:49 PM

We shop about once a wekk and spend about $100. I often have to run back mid-week though for something I forgot--even though I use a list

I do better when I plan my menus in advance--but when it is ucky hot the menus go out the window

07-06-2002, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hippiemama
mac and cheese on sale for $20 a box

Well, I think you are spending too much for one box of mac and chz! LOL!