groceries

sappy · Guru

groceries

supergrover · Guru

My budget won't translate since some of our meals are covered as part of my compensation at work.

However, when I lived in the mid-west we saved a lot of money using Aldi's. I was always happy with their quality, and out stores were always very clean. They don't do name brand, but we never had a complaint. They don't have them here...boo.

Menu planning was also our biggest money saver where we used to live, and in the summers here when I don't get a meal plan. We make sure we build in left-over days. We also have several meatless meals a week (or inexpensive meat meals...like a bit of beef in a stew).

the fast food though... I can't throw stones. I still struggle with the conveniece factor. All I can recommend is I am WAY better when I don't carry plastic. The day McD's started taking my debit/credit card, I was doomed. Still working on that.

kdrew · Guru

What's that store there? Aldi?

That might be worth a shot.

They have bulk stuff for cheap.

I know the Duggers shop there. LOL.

It might be worth it to stock up on some stuff to feed a family of 6 for dinner.

kdrew · Guru

OMGosh funny, I didn't see Jen's post until I was done.

hi-5 Jen.

Juni · Guru

Would you be willing to share what your shopping habits look like now? Where do you shop, do you have a meal plan to base your shopping off of, how often do you shop, etc? What kinds of foods are staples in your house?

3s_a_crowd · Guru

I dont know what you eat on a regular basis, But doing Spaghetti with a garlic bread and maybe broccoli or whatever is a cheap meal.

Also, do you qualify for wic. We get free milk, cereal, cheese, and eggs, juice and now they have added produce and whole grains. This takes a HUGE chunk out of our grocery bill.

Corey · Guru

i spend maybe $300/month...probably less.

Corey · Guru

for cheaper meal ideas for you, i would suggest making meat a part of the meal, not the meal...like stir fry with chicken, but you aren't giving every single family member their own breast, kwim? also, hearty soups like chili, potato, etc...potatoes are so so cheap and that could easily be two meals...add in biscuits and it would be very filling.

-- Edited by Corey on Wednesday 4th of November 2009 09:45:25 AM

dorian · Senior Member

Corey wrote:

i spend maybe $300/month...probably less.

i've been meaning to ask you which coupon blogs you read

i read one, but it's sometimes waaay too confusing

i'd adore any links you have to share

sappy · Guru

Juni wrote:

Would you be willing to share what your shopping habits look like now? Where do you shop, do you have a meal plan to base your shopping off of, how often do you shop, etc? What kinds of foods are staples in your house?

yes, i'm open to sharing & suggestions. i neeeeed help.

i shop at a produce store here (valli) for fruit, veggies and deli (lunchmeat & cheese) because they are way cheaper even than aldi. (think sara lee lunch meat for $3.99 a POUND & apples from michigan for .39 a pound on sale.

i shop at jewel (albertsons) usually for meat, creamer, coffee,

i shop at ultra foods for cereal, peanut butter, chips & cookies for school lunch, etc..
i usually have a meal plan for my shopping but lately i've been buying what's on sale. my problem with that is i'm totally NOT creative and i end up with a bunch of random foods and no idea how to make a meal with it.

my family/kids are very picky about what they've been willing to eat - ie: complaints when foods are mixed together like casseroles, "i don't like green peppers", "i don't like ground up meat", etc.. but i'm ready to go hard core.

i'm going to make a dinner and if they don't eat it then they don't eat. i can't keep doing this.

staples:

- bread - we sometimes go through a loaf of bread every 2 days.
- milk - probably 3-4 gallons a week
-soy milk - bennett can't have regular milk. he drinks too much of this so i could cut down here.
- cereal & waffles
- american cheese (deli) grilled cheese sandwiches are big here for lunch
- peanut butter & jelly. i've been buying the reduced sugar smuckers because it doesn't have HFCS in it and i'm trying to get that out of my kids' diets.
- chicken breasts
- broccoli - usually frozen
- ice cream. i know it's not a necessity & it's unhealthy but it's totally my anti-anxiety medicine right now.

does this help?

LDSMOM · Senior Member

I ususally spend $500-700 per month on groceries for the 7 of us. That includes our A-grade organic meat that we order. I shop sales and stock up when things are on sale.

I have a menu I use. I change it periodically when children have grown too much to make the menu effective any more. The menu makes shopping easy and makes it easy to plan ahead and stock up because I know what's coming up.

I hate to cook so I try to have things on my menu that are easy, yet healthy for the most part. I do have days planned in for pizza, hot dogs, and even going out to eat but they're not very often.

One thing that saves us a lot of money is not to eat too much meat. I half the amount of meat in every recipe I use and when we have steaks, I cook up 2 or 3 steaks and we share them. We eat a lot of rice and pasta, which are inexpensive and filling.

We don't buy many pre-packaged things. It saves money and is healthier. It does take more time, but it's worth the trade, IMO.

sappy · Guru

3s_a_crowd wrote:

I dont know what you eat on a regular basis, But doing Spaghetti with a garlic bread and maybe broccoli or whatever is a cheap meal.

Also, do you qualify for wic. We get free milk, cereal, cheese, and eggs, juice and now they have added produce and whole grains. This takes a HUGE chunk out of our grocery bill.

we don't. dan makes juuuuust enough to push us over the limit for any aid at all. i found out yesterday my kids don't qualify for state medical as a secondary insurance because of our income. and believe me, we're not super rich but i think we're just mismanaging our money. obviously, given our grocery bill.

dorian · Senior Member

oh, and to sara's question...i'm little help on this front

i watch the store ads mostly b/c marc is a meat-a-tarian (aka he's on atkins) and so i'm always looking for meat sales

our problem is that 1. i'm never home so i rarely cook, 2. when i do cook it's for me, jack and the nanny, 3. cole doesn't eat any of the foods we eat., 4. marc doesn't eat any of the foods I eat., 5. i can't plan menus when none of us eat the same foods

when school is over, i plan on going back to menu planning

we save TONS of $$ when we menu plan and don't make daily trips to the grocery store

sappy · Guru

Corey wrote:

i spend maybe $300/month...probably less.

s.t.f.u.

insane.

sappy · Guru

Corey wrote:

for cheaper meal ideas for you, i would suggest making meat a part of the meal, not the meal...like stir fry with chicken, but you aren't giving every single family member their own breast, kwim? also, hearty soups like chili, potato, etc...potatoes are so so cheap and that could easily be two meals...add in biscuits and it would be very filling.

-- Edited by Corey on Wednesday 4th of November 2009 09:45:25 AM

i like this.

let me explain further. i come from a long line of non-inventive, sucky cooks. i literally need a recipe for EVERYTHING.

3s_a_crowd · Guru

for waffles if you eat a ton (we do too) maybe it would benefit you to invest in a waffle maker and make them yourself.

Would the kids notice non name brand cereal/peanut butter.

WOuld you be able to make it to a walmart at least once a month or so. I know the meat at WM is much much cheaper than albertsons here. It can be frozen for several months if you want to just stock up.

LDSMOM · Senior Member

Oh, and I buy store brand, not name brand. I like the Kroger brand. It tastes just as good as other name brand things and costs much less. There are only 2 things I buy name brand, spaghetti sauce and ranch dressing, and that's because I'm super picky about my sauces and don't like any other brand but what we buy.

LDSMOM · Senior Member

sappy wrote:

Corey wrote:

for cheaper meal ideas for you, i would suggest making meat a part of the meal, not the meal...like stir fry with chicken, but you aren't giving every single family member their own breast, kwim? also, hearty soups like chili, potato, etc...potatoes are so so cheap and that could easily be two meals...add in biscuits and it would be very filling.

-- Edited by Corey on Wednesday 4th of November 2009 09:45:25 AM

i like this.

let me explain further. i come from a long line of non-inventive, sucky cooks. i literally need a recipe for EVERYTHING.

I'm the same way. I just look up recipes and use what I like. I have probably 30-40 recipes I use on a regular basis.

sappy · Guru

dorian wrote:

oh, and to sara's question...i'm little help on this front

i watch the store ads mostly b/c marc is a meat-a-tarian (aka he's on atkins) and so i'm always looking for meat sales

our problem is that 1. i'm never home so i rarely cook, 2. when i do cook it's for me, jack and the nanny, 3. cole doesn't eat any of the foods we eat., 4. marc doesn't eat any of the foods I eat., 5. i can't plan menus when none of us eat the same foods

when school is over, i plan on going back to menu planning

we save TONS of $$ when we menu plan and don't make daily trips to the grocery store

dan just stopped atkins after 6 months. before that our meals looked exactly like this.

Corey · Guru

dorian wrote:

Corey wrote:

i spend maybe $300/month...probably less.

i've been meaning to ask you which coupon blogs you read

i read one, but it's sometimes waaay too confusing

i'd adore any links you have to share

the ones i read are store specific to my grocery store, so idt they would help you much. i spend the majority of my time on the slickdeals forum for my store.