Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I honestly have no big secret, its just all we spend, I mean sometimes its $80, but it averages out to about $50. The only money saving things we do, are try to buy sale items and we buy generic store brand for EVERYTHING. I dont clip coupons, or any of that. We do try to roughly plan out our meals in advance.

We eat most meals at home and almost always bring lunch to work.

Have you tried using peapod...I dont anymore but it was SUCH a money saver. We rarely do takeout, and maybe go out to dinner once a month but that comes out of our "entertainment" budget which is about $75/mo.

We also buy almost all of our veggies frozen - a) bc its less expensive (especially if you stock up when on sale) and b) we dont end up throwing away a ton bc we didnt use it in time

1) You can say type in butter, and ALL of the butter comes up right there with ALL of their pricing, so its really easy to comparison shop rather than in store comparing every item on the shelf and go with the cheaper item.

2) It also gives you a running total as you go along.

3) When I would get to the checkout, if I was over budget, I would reevaluate what was in my cart and what we really didnt need.

4) Yes, there is a $10 delivery charge....HOWEVER, I justified that bc had I gone into the supermarket, I wouldve easily spent over $10 on impulse items.

5) They take coupons, but its nice to be able to put all your items in your "cart". Then go see what you can find coupons for on the internet....there is a coupon for almost anything. The driver then takes the coupons when he gets there and credits your account.

Message edited 8/17/2010 12:23:02 PM.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

$30-40 per week - 2 adults.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I spend about$50 per weeks.

Meat/poultry comes from the butcher or Compare.

Paper products/cleaning supplies/etc comes from Dollar Tree/Family Dollar/Target or Walmart.

Pantry items from anywhere there's a sale.

Produce comes from Compare/farmers market.

I am such a bargain shopper and rarely am I brand specific.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

We spend $150-$180 a week. I am always buying fresh veggies, fresh fruit and cold cuts for DH lunch... so right there alone is about $40. I will stock up on the meat that is on sale that week or any good sale that the store has. It's a lot of money but we get a lot of food too.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I really have no idea.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

our monthly grocery average for a family of 3 adults and one 10 month old is just under $700.

that includes dinner and breakfast most of the week and a few lunches a week for dh.

we probably spend an additional $400 going out to eat a month.

ETA: this includes cleaning supplies, any baby related items etc. and beer/wine.

we are also pretty much totally organic when it comes to fruits, veggies, and meats/fish/poultry and dairy. we also have people over for meals a few times a month at least, and the entertaining fees add up!!

thank GOD we are getting some crop from our garden

Message edited 8/17/2010 4:41:21 PM.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I'd say we spend about $60 a week for groceries. It depends though on what store we go to. We spent $120 this weekend at Trader Joes, but we got like 2 weeks of meals there.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I kind of make a game of it. We were spending anywhere from 125-160 a week on groceries and I felt we were wasting too much food and buying junk we didn't need, so I gave myself a hundred dollar a week budget. The "game" comes in where anything out of that hundred that I don't spend, I save and we put aside for eating out, a special dinner, going to the movies, etc. It motivates me more to shop the sales and not buy junk.
But basically, I save money because I plan my meals around what's on sale and when things that we use regularly are on sale for a good price, I stock up.
Right now, we're skipping food shopping this week for anything other than milk and the basics because we have SO much food that I need to use what we have to empty the contents of the freezer and cabinets.
I love doing this every now and then because it forces me to be creative with my cooking.
Right now, I'm cooking a homemade chicken pot pie because I happen to have stuff to do so. It makes it fun

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

Honestly I would love to see what those who spend $100 or less your shopping list or meals for the week look like.

We are spending about $105-120 a week and often are running low or out by day 6 of the week.

DH and I don't snack at all only the girls do (they get an apple and some cheerios).

DH brings lunch to work, and we are eating all our meals at home. That $100-120 doesn't include things like toilet paper, paper towels etc.

We do eat a LOT of fruits and veggies (but many of the veggies I started to get frozen b/c then we don't waste any of it).

We are not having large meals and always eat left overs IF there are any - usually we will have a piece of chicken and veggies as a dinner (or something like 2 tacos and veggies, we make our own cheese pizza etc) so there really aren't left overs b/c I portion when I cook- unless I make something like a lasagna which we rarely eat.

I have done peapod so that I can see what we really need and cut out as I see the total price. We don't have snacks other than cheerios and apples and occasionally 1 small bag of goldfish (when it is on sale) in the house and again DH and I don't eat that - it is for the girls as snacks.

We plan out all our meals for the week before we do our shop. I try to pick the time with peapod that gives $2 off and we do the direct check so that is an additional $1 off the delivery. We even use coupons and 90% of what we buy is based on what is on sale.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I need major help with food shopping after reading this thread We spend $200 per wk which does not include our 1x a wk dining out nor our few times a wk trips to get a special dessert or something. We have 2 adults, a 12 yr old and 5 & 3 yr old who don't even really eat that much oh and a dog Any more tips you ladies havce please share because I don't know how you do it for $100. When I go shopping right off the bat your looking at $20 on laundry detergent, dog food, paper towels etc and then about $18 on milk per wk (yes we r big milk drinkers in this house) so how could I pull off the rest of my food shopping with only $40. Also the food I buy truely only lasts for the wk could get 8 or 9 days if I had to pull it off. HELP!

Message edited 8/17/2010 8:10:40 PM.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

A 15 pack of select a size paper towels can run anywhere for $12 to 19 near me. I try to get it when it is near 12-14 depending upon my needs. I then try to remember to bring a coupon thereby further reducing my costs. It almost never pays to just get one roll because the price per roll is so much more.

I don't buy dog food but I would shop around for the brand you like. Go to the manufacturer's website and sign up for coupons. Most of those companies offer them for loyal customers. Unless you purchase "gourmet" type of dog food, they usually also run coupons for dog food in the coupons.

Laundry detergent. For a small liquid Tide it can run from 7 to 12 depending upon the week near me. I never get it at 12. I stock up when they are closer to 7 or 8 dollars and I use a coupon too.

HTH


ETA: I also don't love using paper towels for everything. After washing my hands at the kitchen sink to wipe my hands I use a dishtowel and throw it in the wash every few days. I also prefer the select a size paper towel because often I only need a small paper towel and not a big one.

Message edited 8/17/2010 8:29:22 PM.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I spend between $80-$100/week for just me & DH. I do buy a lot of produce and organic stuff, so that sometimes makes it higher than most people's bill.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I am very impressed by everyone! It is just me and DH and we typically spend $85-100 (This includes paper goods and cleaning products). I try to shop sales.

I think it really depends what you are eating and how often you go out to eat (we RARELY do - maybe 1x per month). We buy a lot of fruits and meats, which seem to add up quickly. We easily spend $25+ on fruits and vegetables alone and they are usually all eaten by the end of the week.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

I think this is a hard thing to compare because everyone has their own preferences and there are so many variables.

For example, we save because we never buy soda, very few snacks, and I shop sales and use coupons.

But, we spend a lot on all organic meat, probably 80% organic veggies, probably 90% fresh veggies - very few frozen or canned items. I also buy Lactaid milk which can be $4 a half gallon but what can I do, I need my calcium.

Also, as others have said, I buy a lot of cleaning products, shampoos, toothpaste, etc. at my grocery store (on sale of course) along with pet food so this adds to my bill.

We eat out usually 2 weekend nights but other than that eat almost every meal at home. DH goes out for lunch once per week, I always bring.

I spend probably $100 - $150 a week but maybe once every 6 weeks or so I skip a week and use up things in my pantry. There have been times I have spent $20 in a week and others $250. I also spent $350 on a food coop where I get veggies and fruits every 2 weeks for 26 weeks.

Edited to add: I am a big stocker-upper too - if something is on sale that I use, I buy a lot. HOWEVER, make sure you are actually using it! It does not make sense to have $1,000's worth of inventory sitting on shelves - you end up forgetting you have something, it goes bad, etc. I have been trying to take "off" weeks so that I use up my supply of frozen meats, canned soups, etc. I have a small space in a closet that I use as a pantry, if that is full I don't allow myself to stock up anymore...have a bad habit of going overboard on the boxes of pasta!!! Lately, I have also become paranoid of a blackout and losing my freezer, I try not to have it too packed all summer just in case....

Message edited 8/17/2010 9:46:58 PM.

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?

instead of weekly, we are trying to do it every 10 days.
sort of like a stretch to try and eliminate a week each moth.
so far so good.

Every 10 days, I will spend 140.00.
I buy fruit and veggies at a produce stand. Not all organic, some things are, but I am trying to support local.

Milk, eggs, cheese...all organic
Most of my order is done at TJs. I buy a ton of organic rice.
Meat, I will wavier. I buy organic free range chicken legs. We have those for 2 nights.
I make a soup each week.

About 4 times a month, dh will bring home a few steaks from work. That helps my bill out tremendously.

I coupon clip often for some items. Steam fresh veggies. Cleaning products. Shampoo.
But I find most coupons are for garbage. Things I would not really buy.
My garden is being invaded by green horned catepillars. That makes me crazy!!

Re: How much money do you allot for food each week?