Groceries - SPIN OFF QUESTION

[gonewiththewind]

OK, so Charla started asking about groceries and staples . . . things that you are always buying.

I've been reading a couple of blogs . . . hmmm . . . like Kelleigh's . . . and she talks about how much she spends on groceries.

Now, for a family of four (and this includes eating out, cosmetics and toilet paper/paper towels and cleaning supplies), we spend anywhere between $600 and $1,000 per month.

Like one month we might spend $1,000 and then the next month will be $600. So I'm looking at an average of $800. And then I read that people are spending LESS THAN $300 to buy groceries for a family of four.

So I'm starting to think ~ hey, I know I'm overweight, I know I overeat. Is my family just eating way too much? And then I read about couponing and my head just starts to spin. I'm a social weirdo when it comes to the checkout lane, and all those coupons and double this and store rewards makes me sweat and go nuts. I don't like having to question.

I guess the bottom line here is HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND ON GROCERIES and if you spend less than $500, how on earth do you do it without spending TONS of time preparing and then spending lots of time in the grocery store?

[SunshineTK]

I read the post on Kelleigh's blog, too, and now I feel guilty. I put the sites she recommended in my Reader and I feel even more guilty when I get all the posts with great coupon deals and then just scroll past them. I want to do it. I really do. But I just can't get organized enough to start. My mom really was a Krazy Coupon Lady the whole time I was growing up. That makes me feel even more guilty.

We spend about $600 per month, and one of our four is only 15 months old!

[Charla]

We spend about $600 a month on groceries (for 4 eaters). I cook a lot from scratch, more out of necessity than anything else. DH is sensitive to MSG, which is in almost anything processed (we spent 1 1/2 hours at the supermarket reading labels the first few weeks after this realization). So we get a lot of organic veggies, chicken, tortillas and cheese, and I cook with those.

I would think those $300-grocery people eat a lot of hot dogs, ramen and mac n cheese. It's about all you can afford at that price! Though they may just be awesome coupon-clippers.
Oh, and that part of the question. We don't do coupons for the same reason we cook from scratch: they don't do coupons for the organic brands! It would cost far more to buy the newspaper than we could save using the coupons. I refuse to buy something just because we have a coupon for it, because that's not real savings.

I know we could cut down our cost if we bought more of our groceries at WalMart or the competing grocery store, but we hate the competition (I'm loyal to Wegmans and if you ever get to one you'll know why :wub:) and the nearest Super Walmart is a long ways away (and not nearly the natural-foods selection).

Wow, that was long-winded!!

[snaggletooth75]

I spend over a grand on food, cosmetics e'tc etc i cant scrimp on my makeup though im spolied with that LOL

[Tanyia]

Wow...we spend about 250 to 300 week on groceries for a family of 5. We have definitely gone over, on occasion, and rarely gone under. When we do go over though, its when I get a bug up my *&^ to try new recipes and need a bunch of stuff...and cleaning supplies and dog food blah blah blah! I do wish we spent less, that's for sure. I have tried the couponing thing too, but for one thing they do not double here and another I am too darn lazy! lol

[iJenny]

We spend about $150/wk on groceries for a family of four but its starting to go up as my boys are becoming bigger eaters. Don't know what I'm gonna do when they're teenagers. lol

But I also make a couple of "quick-trips" to the grocery store during the month to get things we've run out of like milk, bread, lunchbox stuff, etc.

I think our monthly grocery bill is probably $600-$700/month. And we RARELY eat out anymore. The occasional pizza night at $5 a pizza from Little Ceasars. *shrug*

[snaggletooth75]

well my 15 yr old is diabetic so she requires food thats fresh and sugar free stuff which is more expensive

[wildblueeyez]

My kids think we're poor because I only buy what I need for in the pantry to make meals. If I buy a bunch of stuff just to have on hand, my kids will eat me out of house and home.

And they are by no means starving, let me tell you! I don't buy junk food too often because by the next day it's gone! and I can't blame them - all 3 have eaten lunch by noon and they are hungry when they get home from school. we usually don't eat until 5:30-6:00.

all 3 are growing teens.... you would think I'd be stick thin because they eat everything but I hold my own I tell ya!!! :giggle: LOL

I can feed our family of 5 for about $100-$125 a week - pre-planning meals and shopping the circulars. now that's not taking into account the extra milk and other things we pick up during the week. I can tell you we do not eat enough vegetables/fruits in this house! :nah:

[donnawells]

I have a friend who just started doing all that coupon clipping and store rewards stuff. She has four boys. Her husband joined in and they were getting all these free cash coupons by buying certain things and she ended up with 45 boxes of General Mills cereal and spent about $17.00!!! But, it takes a lot of planning, I think.

Most of the things I find coupons for are things I would never buy anyway so I don't want to buy something just because it has a coupon.

[gavins mom]

I spend roughly $700 for the month.
This includes eating out.
Gavin eats everything that isn't nailed down.
He'd probably eat it if it was nailed down. Nail & all!!!:giggle:
He's only 11 so I can imagine what he'll be like in a few years.

[missrubikscube]

i spend WAAAAY too much on groceries - like $300/week (at a minimum - probably more!) ... for 3 of us (juliette is only 6 months - LOL - so i'm not counting her) .... part of the reason it's so expensive - we drink wine almost every night ... we eat a LOT of fruits and veggies - that adds up! - we have people over almost every weekend (4 - 6 other adults & 4 - 6 other kids) and always seem to eat a LOT then! - and i don't plan as well as i should ....

also - i've thought about doing the coupon thing ... but i just haven't felt motivated to do it !

[Charla]

I am so happy; grocery trip tonight cost $111! That's the lowest for a real trip in a long time! (granted, it's only through Tuesday, so it's really closer to normal than I'd care to admit ;) )

[YvetteSanders]

There are 3 of us, I spend probably 400-600 per month (depends if I run out of baking supplies, or if there is a sale on something and I stock up). I do make my own bread and muffins every week. I also make a large batch of soup every week for lunches for DH and myself. We eat a LOT of fresh fruits and vegetables.

[Johubb]

We spend about $1200/month on groceries and eating out for our family of 6. I shop super Walmart and Winco (discount) mostly. We order pizza on Friday nights and usually two trips a week for fast food lunch. I cook at home otherwise. We eat normal well rounded meals for dinner and lunch. I could probably trim the budget and use coupons, but I am just too tired to think about it. We also shop Costco for anything we can use in bulk first. It does help, but we blow $300 easy there every time!

[Kathy Moore]

Well, we are fortunate to have lots of beef in the freezer so that cuts my bill a lot. I also have just had to cut back because things have been tight. If you include health and beauty aids, dog and cat food, household stuff like laundry detergent and toilet paper, I am thinking I average around $150 per week for a family of four, maybe a little less. I also eat lunch at work almost every day (work in a hospital and the food's pretty good), the kids only take their lunch about half the time and eat at school the other half so you have to figure in those costs for food, it just isn't in the grocery bill.