How do you do it??

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-26-2004
How do you do it??
14
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 1:34pm

I've noticed that some of you are only paying 45-75 per week on groceries. I have a family of 5 and spend AT LEAST $150/week. How in the world do you do it? Are you getting healthy foods or convience foods?? Please shed a light on this! I do shop with a list every week as well and don't need a membership to Sam's Club or Costco (for us it wouldn't pay)

Help me understand

Kelly

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 1:54pm

There is only two of us, and sad to say, but we don't always eat healthy.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-02-1998
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 2:05pm
We spend about $300 per month for 2 of us (somedays we have a couple of extra kids but not often) I tend to buy a lot of frozen veggies along with fresh in season and for meat I use small portions so that DH gets meat and doesn't feel deprived. I was doing the Harvest box for awhile, it was a good deal at $25 for a large rubbermaid tote of in season veggies, but I stopped that while we were away but should start it up again.
Sharon




iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2008
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 2:05pm

What are the ages of the people you are feeding?


I am a family of four but I have two small kids. They don't eat much. Most times I can make them a can of soup and they can have that (split) into two meals. For both of them. So if you are feeding a family of five adults - your bill will be bigger.


As for me - I buy a lot of generics. If it comes in generic form

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 2:13pm

I also have a family of 5 and a lot of times we get by with so little on groceries because we're eating out a few times a week. BAD BAD ME! When I actually try to plan out meals shop for sales and use coupons, I budget around $150 a week on groceries. I used to have a $75 dollar budget but I found that we'd run out of food by about Thursday and then we'd be ordering pizza instead which doesn't make much sense. So I purposely spend more on groceries to try to avoid eating out. Lately we just haven't had the money in the budget for a full grocery trip and because of that, we've been buying ten dollar pizza's at little ceasars. I've decided that it is smarter for me to buy the groceries I need no matter what than to scrimp because I'll end up spending more in the long run.

Here's how I save on groceries: I plan my meals around the meat that is on sale. Last week I found a pork roast for 3 dollars so I did a crock pot meal with potatoes and carrots. We also don't eat a lot of meat. I can make 3 meals to feed a family of 5 on a pound or so of ground beef. I made cheeseburgers the other day and made the patties really thin. Nobody noticed. Tonight I'm making chilli and I cut the meat with canned beans and cans of diced tomatoes. Then I make cornbread from scratch. My family loves this meal! And with the rest of the beef I'll make a lasagna. I think we are all trying to find ways to save on groceries (especially those of us with big families). It's always a struggle. I know I could do so much better as well if I just wasn't so lazy. Like those ladies who buy things for pennies because they use coupons and only buy things in bulk when they are on sale. I want to be one of those ladies! But it's a process I think and some weeks I'm better than others.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2009
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 2:24pm

I usually have $150.00 budgeted for 2 weeks for our family of 3. It is myself, DH & DS age 17 years. DS works at a restaurant a couple of days a week and he usually has dinner there. I also budget only $30.00 a month for home essentials like bathroom paper, toothpaste and such.. I usually shop at Aldi's for everything except for the things I can't find I go elsewhere. I am not really a coupon user but I am sure I could save boat loads if I did. I think we eat very well for the amount that is spent, maybe too good,we all can lose some weight. lol! I have budgeted this way for awhile and we mostly stick with it. There are times I have gone over budget, especially when I wasn't budgeting for eating out and entertainment.

I hope you can work out a workable budget that help reduce your grocery bill, if that is what you are hoping for?

~~Maggie~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-26-2004
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 2:41pm

I don't think I was necessarily trying to reduce our grocery bill, I was just confused as to how you did it on such little money. I have 5 family members (kids 16,12,and 9) and the biggest eater of the three is my middle child. I think he's in the process of growing again because he is eating me out of house and home. My husband could live on spaghetti or mac and cheese all the time if I let him. We do splurge on some frozen "gourmet (not really but it' good)soup but that is occassionally. We are big milk/dairy eaters here too. I try to use coupons but the coupons are not my family friendly most of the time or there are too many dog food coupons.

I guess I was just more curious than anything. Thanks for your responses.

Kelly

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 3:07pm

We have 4 people and two dogs that make up our grocery budget.




iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2005
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 3:18pm

Hey Kelly.

Wedding
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 5:40pm

I don't know if this will help you. There is only two of us now.


But these are things we do There used to be 4 adults in our family Two were big eaters. We spent around 75.00 to a 100.00 a week then. Frozen bag veggie are great. and cheaper then can. Because of salt we made all our own soups and froze them veggie, bean, and chilli.


Now Raymond uses a lot of coupons and buys most of the meat we eat on sale. He goes to three different stores but they are all close by and he does it at different times of the week. Of course

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2008
Fri, 03-27-2009 - 6:52pm

There are only two of us.

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