What is your family's weekly grocery bill?

[Anonymous]

OP -- Your husband needs to be educated about the cost of food!

You are doing OK, but I think you have room to cut back if you need to.

ideas:

Lunch meats esp organic/nitrate free do run very high. If you are trying to cut back I recommend just serving them for one lunch per week. I use a hearty bread and for kids just one or two slices of the deli meat. Watch what they eat at school or daycare and if they don't eat the full sandwhich, only give them half a sandwich. For grownups don't forget to add filler to your sandwich to make a few slices of meat go farther. Also try tuna or chicken salad instead; and push the PB (or nut butter) and J.

Ask your husband to help you keep costs down -- get him to make homemade hummus from dried chickpeas every twoi weeks so you can pack hummus, pita and veggies for lunches!

We're on a strict food budget here so I really lmiit the milk to one cup a day for breakfast and dinner. In between kids get water. Occasionally frozen juice.

Popcorn and whatever fruit is in season are good snacks. If you buy "organic"/no hydrogenated oils/no artificial ingredients packaged snacks from Whole Foods etc (Like Barabara;s Bakery or those little cheesy rabbits, that'll REALLY add up in the long run.

When I buy produce, I try really hard to ONLY buy stuff that is $1.99/pound or less. I just work with whatever is in that price range, with a few exceptions. It means when tomates are in season, we eat a lot of tomaties for 3 weeks; when green beans are in season, we're eating the green beans.

[Anonymous]

Also -- a recent similar topic on the Food Forum:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/108812.page

[Anonymous]

8:54 - not the op, but great ideas. keep them coming...i'll also need ways to cut down on our food expense.

[Anonymous]

Re: Popcorn. I've made it in a big pot on the stove -- pour in some oil, add kernels, cover, and once it starts to pop, shake it a bit. Remember Jiffy Pop? No need to buy a machine. And really, it doesn't require that much oil.

[Anonymous]

Popcorn: It has been ages since I've done this, but someone taught me to put kernels in a lunch bag (brown paper kind), tape it shut with masking tape, then pop it in the microwave. You don't need any oil or any fancy gadget.

My mom has a great popper for the stove with the stirring handle. That is one of my favorite childhood memories.

For DH's sticker shock: involve him in the menu planning and shopping. He might be willing to change his diet somewhat and maybe even help with the cooking in order to lower the food costs. The faster cooking lean meats, etc, are more expensive. Cheaper cuts need slow cooking to be tasty. Whole grains, which are better for us, take a lot longer to cook. Etc, etc.

Our family of three spends about $150/week on food. We are not frugal though. I have found that the grocery bill has gone up significantly in the last year or so. The sale price on beef is what it used to be full-priced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friends who have smaller grocery bills than our family eat out a lot and we don't, so it's a "food bill" you shoul look at, not just your store costs.

It's my husband, 2.5yr olds and me. So I count us as 2.5 people eating an organic heavy diet. 3 meals a day, 7 days a week= 21 meals per person each week. Times 2.5 eaters is more than 50 meals a week. $200 a week on groceries means an avg of $4 a meal, less because I haven't
accounted for snacks. If we had lunch at panera or dinner at someplace cheap like noodles and co even once a week we would spend way more than $4 a meal per person.

Do the math for your family. Your dh may be surprised.

Op here. This is a good approach. We occasionally eat out for dinner on Saturday, but 98% of the meals are prepared at home. I will do the math and it will give legs to my position that we are not spending too much. Thanks!

23:34 Thanks for the info on microwave popcorn, but I stopped buying that 5 or 6 years ago. I go waaaay back to simply putting oil in a big pot, adding the kernels, cover with a lid and let 'er rip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP -- Your husband needs to be educated about the cost of food!

You are doing OK, but I think you have room to cut back if you need to.

ideas:

Lunch meats esp organic/nitrate free do run very high. If you are trying to cut back I recommend just serving them for one lunch per week. I use a hearty bread and for kids just one or two slices of the deli meat. Watch what they eat at school or daycare and if they don't eat the full sandwhich, only give them half a sandwich. For grownups don't forget to add filler to your sandwich to make a few slices of meat go farther. Also try tuna or chicken salad instead; and push the PB (or nut butter) and J.

Ask your husband to help you keep costs down -- get him to make homemade hummus from dried chickpeas every twoi weeks so you can pack hummus, pita and veggies for lunches!

We're on a strict food budget here so I really lmiit the milk to one cup a day for breakfast and dinner. In between kids get water. Occasionally frozen juice.

Popcorn and whatever fruit is in season are good snacks. If you buy "organic"/no hydrogenated oils/no artificial ingredients packaged snacks from Whole Foods etc (Like Barabara;s Bakery or those little cheesy rabbits, that'll REALLY add up in the long run.

When I buy produce, I try really hard to ONLY buy stuff that is $1.99/pound or less. I just work with whatever is in that price range, with a few exceptions. It means when tomates are in season, we eat a lot of tomaties for 3 weeks; when green beans are in season, we're eating the green beans.

OP here again, I thought I was the only one sending sandwich parts . My two youngest each get 3/4 of a sandwich and sometimes 1/2 if the slices are big. I have to be honest and admit that I really don't know when things are "in season". Is that crazy? I've heard about eating in season, but have not taken the time to figure out the seasons for produce.

[Anonymous]

OP, your bills don't sound outrageous at all to me. It sounds like you're buying healthy, wholesome food. That costs! I'd rather spend on that than save money buying trash.

A few ideas on saving $:

For the sandwich meats--they freeze really well, so when they're on sale at WF I buy a bunch and freeze.
I also buy the really big chunks of turkey ham from the WF meat section. It's unsliced. Cheaper than the packaged sliced stuff. DH loves ham and has come to love this turkey ham than pork ham!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP here again, I thought I was the only one sending sandwich parts . My two youngest each get 3/4 of a sandwich and sometimes 1/2 if the slices are big. I have to be honest and admit that I really don't know when things are "in season". Is that crazy? I've heard about eating in season, but have not taken the time to figure out the seasons for produce.

Not crazy at all! First off if you follow my rule of only buying procue that is less than $2 a pound, you will probably get a lot of "in season" produce (well, also you will get whatever is on sale that week.)

You might like to read this article about the "Vegetannual":

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/239

Plants are in season in this order: leaves, buds, flowers, green fruits, ripe fruits, hard fruits

Here's a good poster!

poster:http://foodproof.com/photos/full/when-vegetables-are-in-season-1462

[Anonymous]

sorry better link to the poster:

http://foodproof.com/photos/full/when-vegetables-are-in-season-1462

[Anonymous]

Another vote for the Nordicware microwave popcorn popper. We're on our second one (chipped one on a freak drop once). We don't skimp on the wine and beer, but we try to buy at Calvert Woodley, which cuts the bill if we are disciplined and shop the sales. I'm amazed at the markup on milk at some stores. Last week Safeway was charging $4.15 per gallon, while Aldi's price was $2.75. Same with yogurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP here again, I thought I was the only one sending sandwich parts . My two youngest each get 3/4 of a sandwich and sometimes 1/2 if the slices are big. I have to be honest and admit that I really don't know when things are "in season". Is that crazy? I've heard about eating in season, but have not taken the time to figure out the seasons for produce.

Not crazy at all! First off if you follow my rule of only buying procue that is less than $2 a pound, you will probably get a lot of "in season" produce (well, also you will get whatever is on sale that week.)

You might like to read this article about the "Vegetannual":

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/239

Plants are in season in this order: leaves, buds, flowers, green fruits, ripe fruits, hard fruits

Here's a good poster!

poster:http://foodproof.com/photos/full/when-vegetables-are-in-season-1462

Ok, I love the food poster! I am printing it now and posting it up for weekly menu planning. Thanks a ton! I will also start shopping the sale items, that's a really good idea and it will save money.

I didn't know about the turkey ham from WF, so I will definitely give that a try. We don't do pork or beef, so this will hopefully be a nice change from the regular turkey that I always buy. Great tips, thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Family of 4. Mom, dad, 7 yr old boy and 10 yr old girl. No pets, no nasty habits (processed foods etc) except for tortilla chips and crackers. No frozen dinners or snacks, very few convenience foods.
Eat a ton of veggies, hummus, fruit, good quality protein including fish, dry beans, healthy breads and cereals. Organic eggs and milk, plus soy milk for DS. I use coupons when I remember to!

Our bill is about $800 a month. I go to the store about 3 times per week.

[Anonymous]

I never think about the total. It's food, and it's our health, so as long as we are not wasting it it is worth it. We are two adults and one 2 year old. OP you sound on target to me - probably we would spend a TON more if I had your family!

We do Whole Foods once a week for chicken, some fruit and veggies (but not all), 7th Generation diapers and wipes, and some other specialty items like occasional organic deli meat, bread, organic cheese. Also hit the farmer's market every few weeks. Our bulk Giant trip once a week usually runs about $125. I do buy some organic stuff at Giant, but no meat or chicken since I get that at Whole Foods. I also like the "short cut" foods - bagged organic pre-washed greens, baby carrots, etc. We do organic dairy which is expensive. I also avoid CVS so end up getting things like razors, shampoo, etc. at either Whole Foods or Giant depending on the product.

I NEVER do coupons. I should, but I feel like one indulgence of a two income family is not having to deal with that! Luckily my mom is a Coupon Queen so she loads up with paper products, non perishables, etc. and that helps the budget a bit.

[Anonymous]

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