We spend about $250 a month for our family of three. I try to buy as much organic as possible b/c I think it's really important, even if it is a little more expensive. I consider it an investment in our health. I buy very little packaged, processed food and make all of our "treats".
__________________ ~Karen
Mom to Evan so happy to be 8
and a new little one due at the end of Jan 2009
Ugh! I'm so jealous! Right now, we spend about 400$ month for a family of 3! I'm working on it though- I'm fed up with huge grocery bills! Today I went to our local super wal-mart, and managed to walk out of there having spent only 55$. That should get us though the week.
We do tend to buy a lot of pre-packaged foods, which I think hurts our wallet in the long run.... but it is hard to spend time preparing meals when we both work! Plus, I've never been too much into cooking- quick and easy appeals to me.
But, if we ever want to get out of debt and eventually buy a house, I guess I better start buying less pre-packaged food and meat.. (dh is a real meat, potatoes, and veggie man- wants to have that kind of dinner every night!)
Location: Paradise. No, really, I live in Paradise, PA.
Posts: 2,253
Quote:
Originally posted by das madchen But, if we ever want to get out of debt and eventually buy a house, I guess I better start buying less pre-packaged food and meat.. (dh is a real meat, potatoes, and veggie man- wants to have that kind of dinner every night!)
Blessings and peace...
Aimee
My family is the same way- we eat meat every day. I make it affordable by buying it in a warehouse type of store or at a regular grocery store when it's on sale. I don't spend more than $.29 per lb for bone in chicken, $1.50 per lb for boneless chicken breasts, $.99 per lb for hamburger and $2 per lb for beef. It's hard, but possible if you buy in bulk when you find a good price and divide the huge amount of meat up into meal size portions. I double wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze the chunks in labled ziplock bags.
I hope that might help a little.
__________________
Elise
Wife to Duane
Mama to Jonah (6) and Ruth (4) and Benjamin (2)
I've been bugging dh about getting a membership to Sam's or Costco. I'd love to start buying bulk, but I am not sure where we would put it all! Makes me wish we had a deep freezer- but we live in a condo and have no place for one! Those are good prices that you are paying for meat though!
I guess my issue with trying to find inexpensive meats is that I am rather picky about the fat content. I like my ground meat to be at least 91% lean and if I eat steak, it is usually sirloin. I like red meat a lot, but I can't stand it if it is too fatty- ugh! Chicken is a little easier to find good deals with, so we tend to eat that more than anything else. I also like to eat fish at least once a week, but again, that can get more pricey.
How do you find the quality of meats at warehouses, compared to smaller grocery stores?
Originally posted by das madchen I also like to eat fish at least once a week, but again, that can get more pricey.
Aimee
I just came from Costco, boneless salmon filets we on sale for 2.39 a lb in 4-5lb pieces. I bought 2 and cut them up. I used to buy it in the supermarket and thought 4.99 was a deal, lol!
I stumbled upon this thread and will now keep checking this forum. D/H and I really need a budget -- have never had one. Our finanances are getting pretty tight.
We easily spend $100 - $150 per week on groceries/cleaning supplies/personal products. Plus, we eat out about 3 times a week! We're definitely doing something wrong.
I recently took stock of our cupboards and we seem to have a lot of stuff -- rice, soup mixes, etc. I am going to try to base recipies on this overstock.
I do buy a lot of convenience foods. I also try to buy organic. We don't eat meat, but we do buy soy products such as veggie crumbles and these are somewhat expensive -- probably more expensive that hamburger meat and I don't know that I could buy them in bulk.
Do y'all use coupons? Search ads? Go to different stores? This will be some work for me. Our family four consists of me, D/H, 3 year old and 17 month old. It's so hard to go shopping with kids and my time w/o kids is so rare -- don't exactly want to spend it going from store to store.
We live in an expensive area -- San Francisco Bay area.
I need to learn how to be more frugal in a lot of areas. Also, I feel we have so much clutter. Our house is Florida (from where we moved two years ago) was twice the size as our house here -- much cheaper too.
Our mortgage is HALF of our monthly income. I really need to learn some tricks regarding groceries.
I buy diapers or pull-ups for D/S, but he is potty training and I don't use many. I use cloth diapers for D/D. I hardly buy anything from the baby section of the store.
Please give me ideas. I read some ideas and have taken note -- welcome more ideas.
We spend about $50-60.00 a week for a family of 6, 2 adults and 4 kids under 9.
I buy as much food as I can in bulk and I try to make everything from scratch, including mixes for later use. I have severe MSG and sulfite allergies, so processed foods are out. Plus we do get WIC, get a free Costco membership, and have a grocery closeout store. I also get commodities.
I keep my cupboards full with at least a months worth of food.
Location: Paradise. No, really, I live in Paradise, PA.
Posts: 2,253
Quote:
Originally posted by das madchen I've been bugging dh about getting a membership to Sam's or Costco. I'd love to start buying bulk, but I am not sure where we would put it all! Makes me wish we had a deep freezer- but we live in a condo and have no place for one! Those are good prices that you are paying for meat though!
I guess my issue with trying to find inexpensive meats is that I am rather picky about the fat content. I like my ground meat to be at least 91% lean and if I eat steak, it is usually sirloin. I like red meat a lot, but I can't stand it if it is too fatty- ugh! Chicken is a little easier to find good deals with, so we tend to eat that more than anything else. I also like to eat fish at least once a week, but again, that can get more pricey.
How do you find the quality of meats at warehouses, compared to smaller grocery stores?
Aimee
I have a tiny over the fridge freezer, so I can't buy like 40lbs at a time the way I'd like if the price is really good, but I do buy 10 or 15 lbs at a time. If you repackage your meat yourself into packages double wrapped in plastic wrap and then stuck in a ziplock bag, you can fit a lot in a little freexer. Of course I only have meat and frozen veggies in there (and coffee, but that's a personal weakness LOL!). Ice cream and whatnot takes up a lot of room. I don't even have s shelf.
As for ground beef- I used to buy the 85% , but I've since read that cooking it and then rinsing it for a few minutes in hot water and then blotting well on paper towels can significantly reduce the fat content on the meat. Now I buy the 73% and I feel reasonably confident that I can boost that to 85% by careful rinsing and blotting. Maybe you could try it with the 85% and see how it tastes/ feels to you.
As for quality, I've never heard anything negative about warehouse stores meat quality. It's all brand name meat, unlike the big sale meat at grocery stores, so I'd guess that if names matter (and I'm not sure if they do or not), the Costco meats would actually be better. I've never noticed a difference in any brand's quality, though. Their handling practices seem very safe, though. In my warehouse club, the meat handling is done in a refridgerated, plexiglass walled room right in front of the meat cases, so you can see exactly what goes on. It's neat to watch, although probably not for a vegan.
Good luck! You know, at many warehouse stores, you can get a 1 day pass to try it out.
Well, I'm convinced that I need to get a membership to Costco! It sounds like more work, with having to repackage your meats, but the savings would be well worth my time, I can see! That is good to know that they give a trial one-day membership. I might try to head over there this weeknd and see if they offer that.
I'm also impressed with the prices for salmon that a mama listed- WOW... I'm happy if I can get it here for 6.99 lb!
I am really getting into this money saving with my groceries! I am so tired of writing a check for 100 (or more!) each week for everything we need. It is time to take action! Thanks for all the great ideas, and for giving me the lowdown on shopping at the wharehouses.
so happy to be 8
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