Survey: Your Grocery Budget

erkuhns79

I find this all too interesting. Somehow, I only spend $100-120 every TWO weeks at the grocery store for two people. Personal items and cleaning supplies I buy at Target...where I might spend about $50-100/month (and that's buying the enviromentally friendly products like Method or Seventh Generation). So broken down, I guess I spend about $50/week between personal items, cleaning items and groceries.

I'm a mega coupon clipper and vegetarian (and although my partner is not vegetarian, there's still rarely meat in this house). So that has saved tons of money! I buy a lot of canned veggies, canned beans, rice, whole wheat pasta, canned pasta sauce, items for salads and campbell's soups (highly recommend their recipes - they make 5-6 servings, so there's leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day).

My ideas would be to cut out a few meat meals and substitute veggie, rice or pasta dishes or make meals that have a lot of leftovers (like casseroles or bean chili).

Also, clip coupons (you save more in coupons then you pay for the paper) or, find some sites that have coupons for free online (like couponbug.com).

havingitall

I'm sorry... I may not be seeing this right. Do you earn an income as well? And if so, do you not have some say as to what groceries are being bought?

We buy a ton of fresh fruits and veggiesfrom the fruit market, buy our lean meats at a butcher's and then get the other stuff at a grocery store ( yogurt, milk, sundry items) $100 / week did not cover when there were 2 of us

Cyndi1

80-100 is pretty good amount to spend-I can do that and eat healthy for a family of four. I usually spend 20.00 on veg/fruit 20.00 on misc like detergents, dog food etc 20.00 on some milk, juice can goods and I never really spend anything on frozen dinners, way to much chemicals in them. You should give hubby 40.00 to spend on food and you spend 40.00- trial- make sure you divide up the misc items so it's even then maybe he will see it different. Good luck.

RedHotRunner

We spend $100 or so a week for 3 of us including toiletries and cleaners. Most of the food is fresh, although i do buy some pacakged items. I shop around, checking the circulars for sales. If you have a Sprouts by you, they have great prices on fresh produce and bins so you can buy rice, etc. in bulk.

I also use coupons. My market doubles up to $1. Last week I spent $53, but saved $86 using coupons and sales.

sassiebritches

I'm sorry... I may not be seeing this right. Do you earn an income as well? And if so, do you not have some say as to what groceries are being bought?

We buy a ton of fresh fruits and veggiesfrom the fruit market, buy our lean meats at a butcher's and then get the other stuff at a grocery store ( yogurt, milk, sundry items) $100 / week did not cover when there were 2 of us

I don't earn an income, but still spend the $ for us. I think that he needs to be a bit more supportive and even maybe give her free rain to shop by herself..........

leann_m_olson

I just found my grocery store online and they have some great coupons on the website, better than I get in the newspaper, lately there hasn't been as many coupons in the paper. There are also a lot of good websites out now that tell you how to save money on your groceries, if I didn't have a full-time job I would have more time to spend on saving money, ugh, vicious circle.

smithiekat

my bf and i live together and every time we go to the grocery store its $80. we joke about it because it doesn't matter if we think we need a lot or a little its $80. we go every 8-10 days. we buy things when they're buy one get one free (or buy two get two free). i plan our meals AFTER we grocery shop (if i do before whatever i want won't be on special). we freeze whatever we can't use (breads and meats), we have a cupboard in our kitchen FULL of extra cereals and canned goods. we buy in bulk. we don't buy frozen meals bc i think they're a waster of money. we both bring our lunch to work. i clip coupons and wait until triple coupon weekend for the ones under a dollar. we're both pretty cheap i guess :laugh: .

oh yea: we don't buy our dog food at the grocery store, but everything else we get at the Harris Teeter (paper towels, TP, soap etc.) once again waiting until buy one get one opportunities as much as possible.

harleygirl6363

We also have two and a small dog in my family. I would say we spend about 100 on just the food for the other items I would add at least 20 more. Not sureif that helps so much. Good luck

Mom_To_5

I'm sorry... I may not be seeing this right. Do you earn an income as well? And if so, do you not have some say as to what groceries are being bought?

We buy a ton of fresh fruits and veggiesfrom the fruit market, buy our lean meats at a butcher's and then get the other stuff at a grocery store ( yogurt, milk, sundry items) $100 / week did not cover when there were 2 of us

I don't earn an income, but still spend the $ for us. I think that he needs to be a bit more supportive and even maybe give her free rain to shop by herself..........

I don't work anymore either, my husband is self-employed with our own business and i do the books for it, and i agree he should let her shop, especially if she does earn an income as well.

dmmarie21

Let me tell you, I'm in the same boat as you, to a degree. I do all of the shopping, and my fiance "holds" all of the money, yet he won't dare go to the store with me. I have to justify every penny I spend at the store :grumble: It's not as bad as it used to be, but, Since I've been shopping around and clipping coupons, an average "shopping" day is a little less than 4 hours. RIDICULOUS! but, I look at it this way. I get extra excercise, and time to myself :flowerforyou:

I usually spend about 200 and it lasts usually 3 weeks. This week, I had this wonderful idea that I was going to shop one day and spend the whole entire day (today) cooking food for the MONTH :happy: and freezing it. So far, My freezer is jammed packed, and I still have MORE stuff to cook. I decided to do this because I often find that my fresh veggies go to waste before we have the chance to eat them, simply because I buy too much. I spent about 250 this week, but, like I said, with all of the extra prep, this stuff will last over a month. I also bought dog and cat food, laundry detergent, fabric softener, kitchen sponges, freezer bags (about 6) boxes, freezer containers and numerous other misc ideas (all name brand). I bought a 3lb pork roast (for bbq beef sandwiches- with zero calorie bbq sauce!) :noway: a 2 lb lean beef roast, a big honeysuckle white turkey breast, 2 (3lb) bags of frozen chicken, tons of veggies and corn on the cob, ground meat for sloppy joes and tacos (I make all of the mixes so they are lower in cals). I can't remember what else off hand. I made subs (healthy turkey and ham and ff cheese on sub buns, wrapped in foil and froze to eat for lunches), I also did the same and made bfast burritos.
I just started shopping at Aldi too. I buy their produce when it's decent. I just got cucumbers there for 29 cents each! a container of grape tomatoes for 99 cents (was 2.99 at meijer). I got some things at Kroger ( they were having a special on the turkey breast, those big whole ones, for 99 cents a pound), their roaster chickens were .69 cents a pound, and 3 (I think) lb bags of chicken were half price (5.99). Strawberries were on sale 3/5, but meijer had them 4/5. Meijer has electrosol dishwasher det for 3 and I had a 2.50 off coupon, so they were 50 cents a box! It's unbelievable. If you print out coupons (for free) you can save so much money. I buy this magazine, all you, for less than 3 dollars and they have a TON of coupons in there. Plus the paper, you save a lot, especially if you don't buy the products that you have a coupon for UNTIL they go on sale. YOu will never pay full price for anything again! A couple of months ago, I got 250 worth of groceries at kroger for 65! It was CRAZY, I was soooo excited :laugh:

Let me know if you need help, I would be glad to help out :bigsmile: :drinker:

Sorry for the novel :blushing: Grocery shopping is jus mah thang :glasses: LOL

12by311

My husband grocery shops...
And my husband likes that I cook....

I think that's two reasons that he doesn't say anything. He knows how much things cost and he enjoys eating a good home-cooked meal.

kevin831

Just the two of us. We spend around 110 to 120 a week We buy mostly fresh veggies & fruits that are on sale or in season that week. We buy only the leanest pork, beef & boneless skinless chicken & fish. We have a WINCO & Wal-Mart here. I buy the meat when it is on sale and in bulk and put it in the freezer. I pay less for that (1.99 lb for the beef, pork & chicken) than hamburger or cheaper cuts of meat. We cook a lot of bean based soups and stir fry veggies. We have 5-6 servings of fresh veggies & fruits every day. Milk is a real bagin here in Idaho as we pay only $1.99 a gallon. We shop for whole wheat bread at the day old bread stores where we really save and get good bargins. We both agree this is cheaper in the long run as we are getting up there in the years and doctor bills are soaring. How can you put a price on good health???

gustergirl

My ex husband was like this and it was a HUGE stressor. I think you need to have more control over this----if you want to lose weight and be happy about it. I think if you approach it as look I am going to get the newspaper, cut the coupons and spend this amount then he should be good. Sounds like major trust issues here that need to improve. BEST OF LUCK!

Juggalette0327

I know for me to feed a family of 5 I spend roughly 100-150/ week (including non food items). If he won't let you buy the paper you can print coupons. Do a google search for online coupons and you'll be amazed at what comes up. If you can why don't you try to start a garden? That way you can have the fresh veggies and it only cost you the amount of seeds. I hope this helps (and let me tell you that spending the few bucks on the sunday paper to get the coupons turns out to be a big saver. Usually I clip at least $10 in coupons out of it and I only spent $2 on the paper. Or if you get it delivered it's even cheaper to get it.) Also you could look for other little ways to save some $$ that way more cash could go toward your food bill.

Iceprincessk25

For the two of us I usually spend about $100.00 a week and that's NOT including non-food items that I usually get at walmart, target or big lots. We only get the Sunday paper and I always clip out the coupons. It really makes a difference and helps to stretch out the bucks.

click

i am probably an outlier here, but i cook most of our meals for two of us (you can see some examples of what i cook/recipes at http://www.iloveyoumorethanfood.com ), and I buy mostly organic foods, high end meats (just like, free range, hormone free, from good retailers)... I spend ridiculous amount of my income on food, like, really, I should just go ahead and move to Belgium.

I don't have to report on this to anyone because I don't pay rent but I do pay for almost all of our meals and we both earn income (him a lot more than me).

It amounts to about:

$140 per week comprised of:

$31.50 farm shipment (example of what it includes: http://info.farmfreshtoyou.com/boxfind_result.php?Service_Name=Regular --several pounds of mixed fruit & veggies all organic from a local farm)
$111 between andronico's/whole foods/rainbow foods etc in San Francisco, we eat meat/fish 2-4 times per week and it's always good quality thus somewaht pricey, though I try to buy what's on sale (that can mean $5.99/lb chateaubriand or $13.99/lb ribeye or $18/lb king crab) I buy almost nothing processed except for some chips here and there and very little dairy unless it's fancy cheese.

Probably a bit more if you include personal items, and we don't have a dog.

OH! I almost forgot. I get some awesome deals at our local asian market. If you have one, try to buy produce there. If you know how to tell what's good and what's on its way out, it works out really well. For example--strawberries? 99 cents for a square pack. yep. 99 cents. ORGANIC.

click

just curious, do you buy a lot of spices that you didn't already have, and do you buy much that is prepackaged or is half cooked etc (not produce or straight up grains)?

I never use coupons but have some good ideas for you if some of those items that are racking up bills are the $5-6 spice jars you need for a single recipe, etc.

aymie24

Meijer sells the Sunday paper here for .99.

I only shop at meijer and I have four kids, two teenagers and two toddlers, my dh is in Iraq.

I spend about $125 a week but I do clip coupons and plan my meals around the sales.

Have you checked out the mealbox on meijer.com? They have a menu planner with drag and drop recipes and printable coupons for the things in each week's ad. It's awesome once you get used to using it.

I also stock up and freeze a lot. I make things like wholegrain pancakes from scratch and freeze them for the kids to pop into the toaster in the morning. I don't buy any prepacked foods, I make them, and it's so much easier than it sounds. It's also healthier and much less expensive. I make my own soups and freeze them to take to work for lunch.

There are a ton of ways to cut your grocery bill. If coupons seem overwhelming, try putting them into baseball card sheets in a binder. Organize it according to the layout of the store and you can easily find coupons for sale items and price drops. I find that to be less time consuming than filpping through them in a coupon holder. Couponmom.com also has a great free service that tells you what's on sale at local stores and if there are coupons for those items, with the detailed prices. It also has a link to a ton of printable coupons.

Do you cook with dried beans? Cooking them in a big batch and then freezing them in recipe sized portions can save a ton of money! Black bean quesedillas are a staple here, meijer brand whole wheat tortillas are great!

Good luck!

msarro

I have a 70$ food/gas/entertainment budget a week. Usually it ends up being around 40$ being spent on food. I do a bunch of shopping at bargain stores like Ollie's, Big Lots, and Aldi's. I get whole foods, cottage cheese for breakfast, oatmeal/steel cut oats, fruits, flour, eggs if needed and splurge for veggie burgers. I've been getting yogurt recently, as well as almonds. I also get some dried beans/lentils regularly at the Lebanese market down the street since they're usually cheap. Sometimes wal-mart has good deals as well. I make my own bread, pitas, and tortillas.

Best advice I can give is to walk the perimeter of whatever store you're in and stick with whole foods. They're cheaper and healthier.

chicaloca6470

theres no way in hell you can get all of that for 80$ yea right!! tell him were not in the 50's lol. me and my husband spend about 350-400$ a month. if you take out diapers and baby food we woulld still spend about 250 -300 a month. groceries is one thing we splurge on because theres nothing like having no food in the house