Help me cut costs, 900/mo normal?

[Anonymous]

OP:

It sounds like you are on the right track -- you are looking at how much you are spending on food and think about what brings you value and what might not. Good for you!!

If you are aiming to spend $100/week on groceries, you will need to be very very bare bones about it, no doubt. $100/week people don't buy fresh tomatoes and grapes in the winter!!

I'm on a pretty tight grocery budget, and as a rule of thumb, I don't buy any produce that costs more than $1.99/pound. If it is $1.00 a pound we eat it a lot that week for meals, and snacks. Right now, that means we buy celery, yellow onions in a bag, potatoes, carrots in a big bag, cabbage and winter squash. And bananas and green beans on sale.

I can see buying the OJ on sale; however, for that $13, you could have bought 1 pound broccoli, 1 pound green beans, 3 pounds potatoes, and some other fruits/veggies.

Cheese and deli meats are super expensive and they are quickly eaten up. They are a budget buster. If you are on a strict grocery budget, buy large chunks of one cheese (like cheddar) in bulk, on sale, grate and freeze some, and cut up the rest for "cheese stick" snacks and cooking.

Deli cuts really are a luxury item and should be purchased only once in a while. For cheap sandwiches, think the classics: PB and J, tuna salad, leftover chicken salad.

Overall your purchases don't seem outrageous or extravagent. If you really want to spend $100/week, you might need to cut back the luxuries a little further.

[Anonymous]

Do some reading on nitrates- I did and don't even want to touch deli meats anymore... Maybe pre-grilled /roasted turkey or chicken breast instead.

[Anonymous]

I found that I was wasting meals so here is something that I did. We love chicken so on Mondays I roast in the oven a whole oven pack of chicken breasts..you wind up doing better on pricing when you buy alot. I use portions of this meat every night. What I realized is if I made a dinner we would not use it all and who wants to eat the same thing everynight? This way I use the chicken for chicken tacos one night, chicken salad another, regular grilled chicken with a sauce I create etc. It's goes a long way. Before I would say I would use it all and then after day two it would sit there and I would wind up running back to grocery for something else. Also..I am not the kind of person who will make a meal, freeze it and wind up using it. I can't tell you how many freezer burned meals I put in and then they sat there.

[Anonymous]

We are finding that planning our meals over the weekend for the following week (and doing the shopping on Sunday) has made a huge difference in what we are spending...and also making sure that we are eating healthy. I make sure to have at least one fish, one chicken, one veggie, and one red meat night. LOTS of meals are coming from the slow cooker! Most meals are ridiculously easy.

[Anonymous]

OP -- here's a grocery list for about $30/week for meals for a week. I think it was made 10 years ago and prices have gone up considerable since them, maybe it's more like $50/week now. But it'll give you some ideas.

http://www.heart4home.net/30perweek.htm

[Anonymous]

My grocery bill is that and then some. We like to eat a lot of fruit, so the blueberries, cherries, and raspberries are very expensive this time of year. Also, I cook with a lot of fresh herbs-expensive as well. I also do not eat meat from the grocery store, so we only get our meat from local farms. Farmed pastured chicken runs $4/lb, so a chicken can easily cost us $20. Additionally, I spend a fortune on local eggs, pork, beef, and lamb. I go shopping at least twice a week and cannot seem to every emerge from Wegman's without spending $100 a trip, and this does not even include meat, but does include some fish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:8:38, Question - is Wegman's really cheaper than Giant? I assumed it would be more expensive. Wegman's is a 15 min. drive for me, versus Giant and Safeway which are 5 min away. But if the prices are much better it might be worth the drive.

Yes, for me it was. I don't know if Giant outside of McLean is cheaper, but I couldn't keep my grocery bill under $200/week at the one in McLean, despite using the savings card. Someone suggested the Wegman's in Sterling because of the childcare they offer, so I checked it out and was surprised to find that my grocery bill (using the Wegman's card) was significantly lower. Wegman's is awesome.

[Anonymous]

OP - the question is how much do you really need to cut back? obviously if things are really tight, yes, you need to do what you can, but we probably spend close to what you do (2 kids and our nanny brings her lunch) and, frankly, with two kids and two jobs and I like the kids to eat well and I like to eat well and I like them to eat organic to the extent possible and I'm willing to pay for some convenience foods to well us out...well, I do menu plan, clip coupons, try store brands, and try to shop sales, but I just don't have the time to make bread, soak beans, make stock, etc...and, frankly, I want something else for lunch besides an everything in the pot veg soup all week. We're fortunate that money isn't too tight. Again, I am sometimes shocked by the grocery bill and do think menu planning is really key, meatless meals are both health and a cost savings etc...BUT I couldn't help but notice that it sounds like you work ft, but your DH has tasked you with cutting down the grocery bill and, ahem, it sounds like preparing a week's worth of food with whatever you manage to obtain.

It sounds like you've cut back rather drastically, too - could you try a more achievable goal? Again, if money is really, really tight I applaud what you are doing and rice and beans are both yummy and cheap, but if money isn't that tight, well, I like OJ and I only like the Tropicana so what it costs, it costs (although I do stock up when it's on sale).

[Anonymous]

OP-
To PP, it's not that we need to cut back, thankfully we do pretty good, we manage to save 40% of our take home each month, so I can't complain.

This month was an eye opener, when I actually sat down and tracked every penny and saw that we were not spending the $500 a month on groceries I assumed we were. $900 seems like such a big number, I wanted a reality check or to listen to others and see what they had to say and how much people actually spend. Talking to friends wasn't really helpful, a couple said they spent under $500 a month total, with 3 in the family and one still in diapers... I think that answer could have come from me a couple months ago when I had no clue.

I think this post has been great and has given me plenty of ideas. I do realize now that $100 a week is not going to be doable since we are not going to cut back in stuff like Tropicana oj that we love, and other stuff that is just convenient. But I will try to stick to a list and plan as many meals as I can.

I already had a different attitude today while shopping, I always have so many impulse buys that are a waste, I controlled myself and said I don't really need this a bunch of times....

So we'll see how this goes! Thanks all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I buy organic everything, use a CSA, cook everything from scratch. We go out to eat about once a month. For our family of 5, we spend about $600-700 per month for food, excluding eating out.

I save money by using the CSA. It's far cheaper for organic meats and produce than Whole Foods. Look online or ask neighbors for recommendations for one in your area.

I make my own chicken broth, make my own spaghetti sause, make my own ketchup, etc. I never buy prepared foods, mostly for health reasons. But they cost a lot. OP, look at the processed foods you buy, and see if you can eliminate some of them. That will definitely save you money.

I buy lots of produce at the farmer's market, freeze it during the late fall, and eat it all winter. I supplement with frozen organic Trader Joe's veggies during the winter. We get sick of frozen veggies by spring, but it's far cheaper than buying fresh produce during the winter.

I buy a year's worth of paper towels and toilet paper when I find my brand (scott tissue) on sale. It can be very cheap at a supermarket or Target once a year or so.

My kids are out of diapers now, but I always bought generic diapers on sale at CVS or the supermarket, or at Costco. I never had a problem with the generic brands leaking. Usually they look exactly like Huggies and Pampers, just in a generic package. Diapers are outrageously expensive.

Post-diapers, I quit my Costco membership because I was buying too much stuff I didn't need solely because it was cheap. I'd buy huge bags of organic produce, and end up throwing most of it away because we couldn't use it quickly enough (things like lettuce that you can't freeze).

I always take a list when shopping. it's amazing how many things end up in your cart when you are simply wandering through the store.

If you buy organic, shop at Trader Joe's not Whole Foods whenever possible. WF's prices are always $1 more per item than TJs. You don't notice something's $2.99 vs $1.99 because both prices seem low, but those dollars add up. I researched this, and found many items I buy regularly are cheaper at Trader Joe's.

Clean out your pantry. I found lots of food at the back of my pantry I'd forgotten, things like bottles of simmer sauce and chutneys. Use this stuff up! And don't buy any more of it.

Do menu planning once a week. It takes 20 minutes or so. We have older kids, so we have a family meeting for meal planning on Sunday nights, usually, so the kids get to help decide what they will eat for dinner this week. It cuts down on food complaints (you'll find out someday....)

Not the OP, but great post, thanks!

[Anonymous]

OP, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't focus so much on cutting back your $900 grocery bill (which I still think is probably more like $800 if you take out diapers and paper goods etc) as I would the $300 for meals out. Meals out/takeout is pretty easy to cut back on with a little planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I don't think $900 is crazy, especially considering that includes diapers and cleaning products. My husband and I (pregnant) spend about $700-$900 a month on groceries. We eat mostly at home and pack lunches at work. We cook from scratch (including baking bread occasionally) and shop at WF almost exclusively with trips to Costco about 4-5 a year.

Good food (organic, local) is our priority.

One thing--you could switch to vinegar and baking soda to cut down on cleaning supplies. (We both love to clean). We save a lot of money using vinegar as our daily cleaning solution. It is much better for the environment and for humans. Just mix about equal parts of vinegar and water with some liquid dish soap into a spray bottle. Add baking soda to whatever surface when the mess needs some elbow grease/scrubbing. Baking soda and vinegar are both really cheap when you buy it from CostCo. We keep the stronger stuff (Clorox) around for tougher or grosser jobs, but we get lots of compliments on how our house looks/smells.

Doesn't vinegar stink? At least I don't like the smell, how do you mask this?

That is what I always thought. But now that I clean with vinegar, I can't stand the smell of chemical cleaners. They just reak. And now vinegar is the smell of "clean" (it wears off quickly) I read somewhere that Heinz Vinegar is far less stinky than others. And if it really bothers you, you can add a few drops of essential oils (think lemon) or add lemon juice.

[Anonymous]

Ok so how much vinegar and how much water? And then just mop the floors? Does it really disinfect?

[Anonymous]

Big Harris Teeter fan here. Their overall prices are more expensive than Giant, I think. But they have tons of buy one/get one free deals every week. And if you only want one of the item, it's half price. Periodically, they double coupons up to $1.98. They had that a few weeks ago, and I was able to get some items free. Also, the Rockville store has a $5 off coupon on a $40 purchase in their ad in the Post and Gazette usually (not in the in-store ad). It used to be $10, which really helped offset their higher prices.

I usually spend about $400 total a month, incuding cat food and paper products, but it's just me and a teen in our household. I take my lunch, but DD buys hers for about $60 a month. We spend about $100 eating out, but I'd like to cut back on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok so how much vinegar and how much water? And then just mop the floors? Does it really disinfect?

I don't use it for my hardwood floors - because I've read mixed reviews on what vinegar does to hard wood. For our hardwoods, I just sweep/vaccum and then occassionally do a damp mop (unless I've actually spilled something, then I use soap and water).

For mirrors and glass - I do 50-50 water and vinegar

For toilets - i do 100 percent vinegar (and sprinkle baking soda)

For counters, bathroom tiles, I use about 1/3 each of lemon juice, vinegar, and water.

I'd use any of the above for my tiled bathroom floors (they are so tiny, I just use a spray bottle, spray and wipe with a cleaning cloth).