You can make lentil soup for much less than $1 a can--it freezes well. To make it a meal if you are people who need meat, just cook up some kielbasa and slice it in. Sprinkle some parmesan on top. That plus a hearty salad plus a loaf of crusty bread and you've got a filling, relatively healthy, and inexpensive meal.

You eat a lot of canned and precooked food for my taste OP. I make breaded chicken and I think it is much cheaper that way. But, if this saves you money and makes your life easier, go for it.

Anonymous wrote:Today we got half a baby cow for $700, processed and very clean, all wrapped and frozen. It filled our upright freezer to the top and packed our inside freezer on 3 shelves. Last November we paid a processing fee of $100 and got a whole deer free. You cannot get more organic than that. Lean meat fed well without any antibiotics or filthy contamination.

Add bulk shop pantry and paper items, canned goods. In the summer we stock up on farm vegetables and fruit. We will need another upright freezer so I can freeze bread and cooked food we cook on the weekends.

We spend less for a year or more of food than what some of you spend in a month.

My family has stopped eating any venison at all, and I'd advise you to, as well. Over 80% of cultivated deer are infected with CWD, and the numbers are very high for wild deer as well. This is the same family of prion diseases as Mad Cow. Although there's not yet any evidence of cross-species infection with CWD, the latency period is so long that it could be years before we find out. In other words, it may be as "organic" as you can get, but that doesn't mean it's without "filthy contamination."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/16/health/deer-chronic-wasting-disease/index.html

OP back...Thanks and thanks some more. Many people are helping us justify our budget but learning a lot from those with smaller budgets. Yeah, I think the whole thing boils down to the amount of food we eat and we buy organic I guess. We shop at Costco as much as possible, Aldi, and then Giant for everything else. But we are closer to the lacrosse playing family. I guess. Our boys are hungry a lot. I go to Costco twice a month usually and spend $300+ a pop. Standard in the shopping list is...organic ground turkey, organic chicken legs, breast, and thighs. three pack of cukes, 5lbs Halos, 5 pack of avocados, package or organic blueberries, organic raspberries, sliced mango, package of asparagus, package of broccoli, package of Brussels spouts, organic baby carrots, package of mushrooms; organic Romaine, box of 3 1/2 gallons of 1% organic milk, bag of Purdue breaded chicken patties and/or chicken breasts; 3 double dozen packages of free range eggs (6 dozen total); The above is basically what I get every 2 weeks. But probably once a month I grab a package of 6 cans of black olives, black beans, canned soup, cantaloupe/watermelon, tomato sauce, package of boxes of pasta, black berries, chicken stock, big box of cheez its, cheese sticks, But I also get napkins, paper plates, TP, paper towels, soap, all that stuff here as well when needed. Thinking back to the people who spend a lot less...if we put a bowl of lentil soup on the dinner table, there would be mutiny! even though we ALL love lentil soup. My kids often ask for a bowl of lentil soup AFTER they eat dinner. I'm glad we all like lentil soup because that is often on sale for $1 a can. Another example of eating is that we went to BK on Sunday and brought home and extra Whopper. Monday after school my son comes home from school and ate the Whopper as part of his after school snack! I guess $1,100 for everything per month is decent considering we down pull apart food vs everything else you get at grocery stores.

We are a family of four. I budget $700 for groceries, $700 for restaurants, and another $700 for household items (Costco, Amazon, etc.). There is a lot of slop in my budget, but those are my three main line items each month.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get how you people spend so much.

We have a family of 4 and we spend about 500/month. We go to Costco once a month spending 200 to 300. (This also includes toiletries, diapers and whatever random stuff we buy there but mostly groceries.) Then we spend about $75-100 on 2 or 3 smaller grocery trips throughout the month. Maybe there will be a month where we get to 700 but thats rare. It usually only happens when we’re hosting dinner parties or holiday get togethers.

We generally eat out once a week, sometimes more and sometimes less. My kids love to bake so we never buy any baked goods. We do eat tons of produce. We’re mostly vegetarian, so that saves money on meat. However we buy plenty of pricier produce like avocados, fresh berries, almond milk, etc.

I feel like I could get the grocery budget down to $400 if I meal planned and was a little more strategic, but it’s not worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
For real? How much milk do you buy each week? I see people at BJs getting four gallons at a time and I always wondered why?! But now it make sense.

Active teens going through a growth spurt can require 3000-4000 calories a day!

Don't say they are still growing! Forget the food, the shoes and clothes get so expensive!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a family of four need more than one pound of beef for dinner with one pack of pasta? Even if there are two male teens? Also, why are my teens hungry when each had drumstick and a half, and a half I say! for dinner with some rice and carrots! The gall of these kids! Plus, what's wrong with lightly fried canned tuna? I bought a fancy baguette for them to spread it on? And DH has the gall to order pizza an hour after dinner! How am I to stick to my budget of $40 per week?

Lol. Right?

Both of my boys are on the Varsity lacrosse team. They had practice today right after school. Conditioning and practice was 3hrs tonight. They came home and immediatly dug into chips and salsa, FIVE chicken breasts between the two of them (nearly 3 lbs), 1 each loaded baked potato, a head of broccoli, a half gallon of milk, and then a snickers ice cream bar.

1lb of most is laughable. Maybe these people have couch potatoes for kids. On video games and youtube videos all afternoon.

They are 6'1" 150 and 6'3" 170. Bottomless pits.

For real? How much milk do you buy each week? I see people at BJs getting four gallons at a time and I always wondered why?! But now it make sense.

Yip. That would be me! My boys each easily consume triple what I consume. I'd say feeding our family of 4 is more like feeding 8 40yr olds.

I don’t get how you people spend so much.

We have a family of 4 and we spend about 500/month. We go to Costco once a month spending 200 to 300. (This also includes toiletries, diapers and whatever random stuff we buy there but mostly groceries.) Then we spend about $75-100 on 2 or 3 smaller grocery trips throughout the month. Maybe there will be a month where we get to 700 but thats rare. It usually only happens when we’re hosting dinner parties or holiday get togethers.

We generally eat out once a week, sometimes more and sometimes less. My kids love to bake so we never buy any baked goods. We do eat tons of produce. We’re mostly vegetarian, so that saves money on meat. However we buy plenty of pricier produce like avocados, fresh berries, almond milk, etc.

I feel like I could get the grocery budget down to $400 if I meal planned and was a little more strategic, but it’s not worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 3. Our grocery budget is 400/ month but we rarely spend that much. We also budget 100 for eating out each month. Meal planning is key. We eat well and don't waste as much food as we would without being very intentional with our purchases.

Wow! Can you tell me an average week of dinners?

Plate loads of BS, that's what.

Umm, PP provided a list. I can easily buy enough of everything on it to feed three for under $100 a week. If you can't, you may be shopping at the wrong stores.

I think it’s posdible if you don’t drink any coffee or don’t have pets. Our little min pin eats $21 a week plus treats and toys.

Dog food does not count as part of the food budget. Even for the most beloved pets.

Groceries = the food that the humans in your household need to eat each week. Okay to coffee. No to pet food, shampoo, paper towel, and medications, even if you buy these things at the grocery store. I'd also say no to beer/wine, since they are decidedly optional. They are still not things you should count in your food budget.

The relevant information is just the number and age (and perhaps size) of the humans who live in your household. Obviously, if you are someone who needs to have meat at every meal, you need to budget more for food. If you are someone who only buys organic, you need to budget more for food. If you are someone who does not have time or motivation to cook, you need to budget more for food.

I'm the 3 person family that shops at Whole Foods... I've found that for me, the key is eating the same meal multiple times a week. So, I make the same Kale salad about 5 times a week, either for lunch and/or dinner. Whenever I deviate from the simple dishes I make, I end up spending more money and wasting more food. FWIW, I don't eat meat and DD is a toddler who eats like a bird.

Anonymous wrote:
For real? How much milk do you buy each week? I see people at BJs getting four gallons at a time and I always wondered why?! But now it make sense.

Active teens going through a growth spurt can require 3000-4000 calories a day!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a family of four need more than one pound of beef for dinner with one pack of pasta? Even if there are two male teens? Also, why are my teens hungry when each had drumstick and a half, and a half I say! for dinner with some rice and carrots! The gall of these kids! Plus, what's wrong with lightly fried canned tuna? I bought a fancy baguette for them to spread it on? And DH has the gall to order pizza an hour after dinner! How am I to stick to my budget of $40 per week?

Lol. Right?

Both of my boys are on the Varsity lacrosse team. They had practice today right after school. Conditioning and practice was 3hrs tonight. They came home and immediatly dug into chips and salsa, FIVE chicken breasts between the two of them (nearly 3 lbs), 1 each loaded baked potato, a head of broccoli, a half gallon of milk, and then a snickers ice cream bar.

1lb of most is laughable. Maybe these people have couch potatoes for kids. On video games and youtube videos all afternoon.

They are 6'1" 150 and 6'3" 170. Bottomless pits.

Tall and skinny with crazy metabolism obviously!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a family of four need more than one pound of beef for dinner with one pack of pasta? Even if there are two male teens? Also, why are my teens hungry when each had drumstick and a half, and a half I say! for dinner with some rice and carrots! The gall of these kids! Plus, what's wrong with lightly fried canned tuna? I bought a fancy baguette for them to spread it on? And DH has the gall to order pizza an hour after dinner! How am I to stick to my budget of $40 per week?

Lol. Right?

Both of my boys are on the Varsity lacrosse team. They had practice today right after school. Conditioning and practice was 3hrs tonight. They came home and immediatly dug into chips and salsa, FIVE chicken breasts between the two of them (nearly 3 lbs), 1 each loaded baked potato, a head of broccoli, a half gallon of milk, and then a snickers ice cream bar.

1lb of most is laughable. Maybe these people have couch potatoes for kids. On video games and youtube videos all afternoon.

They are 6'1" 150 and 6'3" 170. Bottomless pits.

For real? How much milk do you buy each week? I see people at BJs getting four gallons at a time and I always wondered why?! But now it make sense.

Anonymous wrote:Why would a family of four need more than one pound of beef for dinner with one pack of pasta? Even if there are two male teens? Also, why are my teens hungry when each had drumstick and a half, and a half I say! for dinner with some rice and carrots! The gall of these kids! Plus, what's wrong with lightly fried canned tuna? I bought a fancy baguette for them to spread it on? And DH has the gall to order pizza an hour after dinner! How am I to stick to my budget of $40 per week?

Lol. Right?

Both of my boys are on the Varsity lacrosse team. They had practice today right after school. Conditioning and practice was 3hrs tonight. They came home and immediatly dug into chips and salsa, FIVE chicken breasts between the two of them (nearly 3 lbs), 1 each loaded baked potato, a head of broccoli, a half gallon of milk, and then a snickers ice cream bar.

1lb of most is laughable. Maybe these people have couch potatoes for kids. On video games and youtube videos all afternoon.

They are 6'1" 150 and 6'3" 170. Bottomless pits.