800 bucks a month on groceries. crazy?

[Anonymous]

We spend that much--including toiletries, cleaning products, diapers, and alcohol--for a family of three.

[Anonymous]

Wow, $800! I can see that sounding crazy, but I believe it. My friend, who eats all organic, spends $1000 a month in the NYC burbs for her family, which includes two hungry boys. I also have a family of 4 but my kids are still little. However, we're vegetarian and I've found that good quality produce is expensive.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 6 (2 parents and 4 kids). We spent $600-$700 a month on groceries. For me, that means everything I buy at Giant and Costco. I've can cut it down to $500 with a little efford and no one in the family really notices.

[Anonymous]

efford = effort

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in the same boat with only 2 kids, and sometimes it's more like $900. We don't eat out much, so this covers almost all our meals (including lunches for everyone). We do organics a lot of the time but not always. We don't eat tons of meat. We cook more or less from scratch (not too many convenience foods) and eat leftovers. Going to Whole Foods once or twice a month doesn't help, but we've found that our regular, cheaper grocery store is pretty mediocre in terms of quality, so we do like to splurge on nice cheese and that sort of thing on occasion. On the positive side, I know that if necessary, we could cut back.

sounds like us! We have two kids under 9, and still spend this much or more (I can't bear to add it up) But we are very frugal in other ways. No TV, no newspaper or magazines either. Rarely eat out (and if we do, often just breakfast) have had a babysitter only once in the last three months...

I don't mind spending this money on food, because it makes me feel lucky and well-off to eat well. Besides, our health and meals together take top priority.

[Anonymous]

pp here.. I find that joining a CSA in the farming season saves us money. (ie, lots of veggies from June-October.) But you need to be a flexible cook to work around whatever veggies you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I spend around $60/week at the grocery store (may include other items beyond groceries such as personal products or dog food) and about $200 at Costco every month to 2 months. We have 2 adults and 2 school-aged children. I think your grocery spending is really high.

What do you eat?

I shop strictly by sales and use coupons. Before anyone says,bleh...it doesn't take that long and coupons are not just for junk food. For fruits/veggies/meats, I shop by in-season and sales. For meat, I buy in small bulk when on sale (ex. buy a beef tenderloin when on sale and ask the butcher to cut it up - filet mignon for close to half price).

I get everything from pasta, butter, cereal, oatmeal to condiments, salad dressings, and baking supplies for pennies on the dollar (no more than 20 cents a box for pasta, butter is frequently free). Getting stuff for free or close to free allows more room in my budget for some organic veggies and fruits. I make a lot from scratch and freezer cook some meals to help with weekday dinner madness also.

how do you get free butter and pasta for no more that 20 cents oer box? Can you share your tips? Thank you!

coupons plus sales. I mainly shop at Harris Teeter and use a website (southernsavers.com). I use the customizable shopping list and only buy the items that I know we will use. She list all of the items on sale or even regular priced that have coupons available that week. I buy my produce and meat by her list as well. Most items hit a rock bottom price every 6 weeks, so you only need to stock up for 6 weeks on items that you regularly use.

I have 4 Sunday-only newspapers delivered to us (1 per person in your family is a good rule of thumb) and just date and file them in a portable file folder. The website lists which ad from a specific date so you can just pull that ad out and cut the particular coupon that you need. No need to cut endless amounts of coupons for hours.

[Anonymous]

We have two kids and spend about $200/week.

We eat well; what can I say???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I spend around $60/week at the grocery store (may include other items beyond groceries such as personal products or dog food) and about $200 at Costco every month to 2 months. We have 2 adults and 2 school-aged children. I think your grocery spending is really high.

What do you eat?

I shop strictly by sales and use coupons. Before anyone says,bleh...it doesn't take that long and coupons are not just for junk food. For fruits/veggies/meats, I shop by in-season and sales. For meat, I buy in small bulk when on sale (ex. buy a beef tenderloin when on sale and ask the butcher to cut it up - filet mignon for close to half price).

I get everything from pasta, butter, cereal, oatmeal to condiments, salad dressings, and baking supplies for pennies on the dollar (no more than 20 cents a box for pasta, butter is frequently free). Getting stuff for free or close to free allows more room in my budget for some organic veggies and fruits. I make a lot from scratch and freezer cook some meals to help with weekday dinner madness also.

but how is the butter actually free? I've never even seen butter coupons. And pasta for 20 cents? You find an 80 cents off coupon for pasta? I'm not being snarky in the least--when I do clip Sunday coupons they seem to be for 20 cents off something---not free. how do you actually do this? Is it because of coupon doubling?

In NW DC/Bethesda (where I live) no grocery stores have double coupons---NONE. do you like somewhere where coupons are doubled? I can't figure this out!









how do you get free butter and pasta for no more that 20 cents oer box? Can you share your tips? Thank you!

coupons plus sales. I mainly shop at Harris Teeter and use a website (southernsavers.com). I use the customizable shopping list and only buy the items that I know we will use. She list all of the items on sale or even regular priced that have coupons available that week. I buy my produce and meat by her list as well. Most items hit a rock bottom price every 6 weeks, so you only need to stock up for 6 weeks on items that you regularly use.

I have 4 Sunday-only newspapers delivered to us (1 per person in your family is a good rule of thumb) and just date and file them in a portable file folder. The website lists which ad from a specific date so you can just pull that ad out and cut the particular coupon that you need. No need to cut endless amounts of coupons for hours.