$250/month on groceries?

[Anonymous]

OP- Just wanted to chime in and say Peapod is definitely more expensive. They don't charge delivery fees, but the actual prices on the groceries are more than if you go to the store yourself. They jack the prices up for convenience. So your $3 almond milk might be $3.75 on Peapod, etc.

[Anonymous]

Dried beans are cheaper than canned.

[Anonymous]

$250 a month on groceries for two adults means that you will be spending $1.39 on each meal per person with no room for snacks That is extremely tight. That's alot of pasta, rice & beans and peanut butter sandwiches. No eating out, no coffee- even at home..........

See if you can get a community garden to suppplement with some fresh veggies. See if you qualify for help from a food pantry.

[Anonymous]

OP if you can GE to Market Basket even once a month it will be worth it. Way cheaper than Shaws or Stop and Shop.

[Anonymous]

OP if you can GE to Market Basket even once a month it will be worth it. Way cheaper than Shaws or Stop and Shop.

[Anonymous]

Use lentils. They cook quick and are super cheap.

What about making your bread? $5 for 2 loaves seems like a lot to me. You can make it for less and it is much healthier.

I agree with dropping the pancake mix. Pancakes are quick enough and use only the basics you already have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was tired of buying paper towels, so I bought 20 .79 cent towels from ikea, the ones with the red stripes. I wash a bat h about once a week. We also use these in lieu of napkins.

We use these for napkins also and I really like the idea to transition to paper towels. DH uses paper towels for everything - even blowing his nose daily- makes me nuts!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jesus 14:30. Calm down.

Agreed!

[Anonymous]

I don't think $400-500/month is too much for 2 people for groceries, especially if you never eat out and are eating all of your meals at home.

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJan2012.pdf

According to this, the low-cost category would put you at $444. Even the thrifty plan is $350/month. Plus, this is DC and everything costs more here.

I do think you're on the right track toward finding ways to save money, though. I agree with what other have said - don't do Peapod and do try to get some produce in your diet. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I would shop at h-mart. You could get a lot of fresh fruit and veg for very little money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. We don't regularly buy take-out, even when we're not on this strict budget, so I don't think we'll need to necessarily build that in. I agree on the $20 for paper goods- We usually buy the big packs (8 rolls of PT and 12 rolls of TP- usually $7 each on sale)- but then there's also dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent- another $3-4 each (again, the cheap stuff)- but then again that's not necessarily every 2 weeks.
I am LOVING that crock pot website. We do have a CP that we don't use enough. Although it's just 2 of us, I would love to have a bunch of meals in the freezer ready to go.

Questions--
Can you freeze tofu? If I cube it and put it in a sauce, then when we want to eat it, we'll thaw out and then pour it all into the frying pan? (which is what we do now, minus the freezing step)
Do you guys actually keep the crock pot on when you go to work? I am starting a new job in the next few weeks where I'll be leaving at 9am and not getting home until 7pm. We have the "switch to warm" programmable one- so we could do low 8 hours, then switch to warm, but even that's a LONG time. And I always feel our crock pot runs a little too hot/cooks too quick,.
Although, DH only works 3 days/week so I could limit it to the other days since he'll be home.
Oh yes, stop and shop has those scanners too.

You can freeze tofu. In fact, that is one way to prepare it before cooking. it will change the texture a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would shop at h-mart. You could get a lot of fresh fruit and veg for very little money.

I second this. Also way cheaper vegetables instead of the $1 per bell pepper from Safeway it's $1+ per pound. All sorts of cabbages are cheap as well. A large bag of onions will last you the month and will perk up a lot of dishes (i made onion curry once and served over rice as thats the only things i had) They have an online sales ad with good deals for the weekend. We eat vegetarian several days a week and its mostly stirfys and lentils and definitely cheaper than meat unless you find very cheap meat and on sale. Make your own refried beans from dried beans, make or buy tortillas and you have veg quesadillas (add onions and cheese to taste). Really eat down your pantry and freezer.
Good luck OP

[Anonymous]

OP here. I wanted to update everyone.
Thanks SO much for the suggestions. I went to Stop and Shop Friday and spent $110. I bought 5 lbs of chicken leg quarters for $3.50, 6 chicken breasts, 4 lbs ground turkey, and 2 johnsonville sausages/kielbasa (they were bogo). I spent about $25 on meat. I then bought 10 cans of beans- on sale for .50 each. I bought 6 bags frozen veggies, on sale $1 each (stir fry, kale, butternut squash, corn, and a broccoli/cauliflower blend). I also bought some dressings and marinades (generic brand), eggs, bread, 2 milks (we still had some in fridge), steel cut oats, 1 box generic cereal, apples, bananas, a few snack items, and cheap brown rice. I'm probably forgetting a few things. Oh- TP and paper towels were about $7-8/each for a bulk pack.
It hasn't even been a week yet, but I know it'll last until next Friday (two weeks). We have 6 meals ready to go in the freezer (thanks to those freezer-to-crockpot suggestions), as well as some recipes in mind to use the beans / lentils / rice that we have lots of. We tend to bring leftovers for our lunch the next day, so we don't have/need a bunch of lunch items.

Who knows what will be the final outcome, maybe it won't work, but for the next few months we need to get ourselves back on track financially. No, it's not the healthiest options (cheap meat! ah!), but getting our finances in order is our priority right now.

I'll update everyone when the two weeks is up, and the month, and see if we were successful at spending less than $250/month on groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skip the almond milk. Drink more water.

Almond milk. *shudder.*

She should skip the almond milk because you don't like almond milk??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus 14:30. Calm down.

Agreed!

Disagree entirely. You people don't seem to care what shit you're putting in your bodies on $150/month for food. Good luck with your medical bills later in life.