Grocery shopping!

YIKES! Kudos to you for $120/week with a large(r) family!!! Congrats to that one!!!! :drinker:

Those are my staples as well. I find that when I'm on a budget, or need to save a bit extra, I'll alter my decisions a bit. i.e. buy a dozen store brand eggs instead of Egglands Best OR go with bulk yogurt instead of individual cups. It's a bit of extra work but it's worth it when trying to save.

I also tend to eat more processed food. It's amazing that they're low in calories and you really only need to worry/watch your sodium intake. Once or twice a week isn't horrible *(well, i don't think so anyways!)

I also tend to buy in bulk. I shop at Costco (or Sam's) and stock up on my staples (like p.b. and cereal) then hit the store every week for my fresh fruits and veggies.

Good Luck!

oh, and COUPONS COUPONS COUPONS!!!!

Don't limit yourself to one grocery store. When you get the sale ads in the mail, go thru each one and mark down all sale items that you use. You'll have to make 2 or 3 different stops, but you'll save more! With a large family you might consider a membership to Sam's Club or Costco. They sell Peanut Butter in large quantities for about $6 bucks - Keep in mind, not everything is cheaper in bulk so do your homework.

try looking for a "scratch & dent" grocery store in/near where you live. When suppliers drop a palet of food items, or cans/boxes get dented the grocery isn't supposed to sell them as new. These little outlet stores will buy them up @pretty close to cost & sell the items cheap, cheap, cheap!! Example: box of cereal that costs $3.50 @Kroger was purchased for $1.50 @outlet grocery. These are popping up everywhere. Also, I went to WalMart last week w/a coupon for "save 50-cents off 2 Healthy Choice Frozen Steamer meals & the check out girl gave me the coupon off EVERY ONE OF THEM I purchased. Print out multiple coupons for the same item & see if they'll give you the deal on all of them...it never hurts to try. Hope these ideas helped....good luck!!

I have 7 in my family and we do 300 every 2wks. I like to shop at my local WinCo, Great foods at a great price, similar to a Sam's club as far as how you can buy the food. . . in bulk or not. Their prices are amazing although bagging your own grocieries is kind of a pain while trying to juggle a 2yr old and 300 dollars worth of food. But worth savings. I'm assuming you don't have any WinCo's near you because I recognize your grocer name as being one that we shop at when visiting back East.

*Shopping lists- I plan all of my meals out ahead of time, from breakfast to lunch to dinner.
*Making almost everything from scratch/homemade from my spaghetti sauce, bbq sauce, to chili and pizza, which also makes it easier to control what sort of things you will be eating.
*I don't buy frozen or premade dinners, except for chicken nuggets and sometimes corndogs just to have incase one of my 5 kids want some.
*I count out all the snacks I'll need for the next 2wks ahead of time.
* My main staples would be egg's milk, bread, lunch meat, meats and veggies mostly ground turkey, buffalo and chicken, there are so many things you can do with them.

**Editied because my 2 yr old was throwing a fit banging on the keyboard, which, in-turn made me look like I type like a 2yr old, mis-spelling drives me crazy:laugh:

I have 7 in my family and we do 300 every 2wks. I like to shop at my local WinCo, Great foods at a grwat price, similar to a Sam's club as far as how you can buy the food. . . in bulk or not. Theirprices are amazing although bagginbg your own groci=eries is kind of a bummer with a 2yr old and 300 dollars worth of food.

*Shopping lists- I plan all of my meals out ahead of time, from breakfast to lunch to dinner.
*Making almost everything from scratch/homemade from my spaghetti sauce, bbq sauce, to chili and pizza, which also makes it easier to control what sort of things you will be eating.
*I don't buy frozen or premade dinners, except for chicken nuggets and sometimes corndogs just to have incase one of my 5 kids want some.
*I count out all the snacks I'll need for the next 2wks ahead of time.
* My main staples would be egg's milk, bread, lunch meat, meats and veggies mostly ground turkey, buffalo and chicken, there are so many things you can do with them.

I use ground meats a lot too. 1 lb can make several meals from Meat spaghetti sauce to tacos, salad toppings, homemade sloppy joes and home made pizza. I Can easily get 3 meals out of one pound, your family is a little larger than mine, so you might only get two meals out of one pound. I also buy mostly ground turkey and ground chicke. My kids favorite meals are chicken parmigan meatball subs and football turkey turnover. Using ground meat helps me add in some veggies without my picky eatters getting wise:)

So, I'm looking for advice and tips! I'm wondering if you guys are willing to share your grocery shopping budget, staples, and any tips you have for staying in budget!! We have five people in our family, and I am trying to stick to a budget of $120 a week. I shop at Kroger, and it seems lately that it has been harder and harder to stay within budget, between diapers, wipes, household cleaners on TOP of enough food to make meals and give the kids HEALTHY snacks. My staples every week are: milk, bread, eggs, cheese, yogurt, cereal, apples, bananas, grapes, and peanut butter. They top my list every week!! Is it me, or do stores seem to be slowly upping their prices?! I tried shopping at Aldis for awhile, but was getting bored with the selection and somewhat bland taste. I also realized that when I actually used my Kroger card and coupons in the mail or online, I was paying the same or LESS than what I was paying at Aldis!

Input, please!!

I shop at Kroger all the time. I tend to go after work at night, when they're doing markdowns. I've noticed that their perishable items (i.e. - healthier items!) that have the sell by date within the next day or so are REALLY reduced! Some people might be put off by the sell by date, but most of the time it's still good for a few days. Sometimes I get a 16 oz container of organic spinach for .99, when normally it'slike $5! Greek yogurt is sometimes .30, when normally it's over $1! And milk is almost always marked down...I got a gallon of organic skim milk for about $1, which usually cost $4.99.

Also, I've noticed that a lot of their items are not priced correctly. If you notice you were charged more than the price label says, you get your money back for that item. Today, I got free strawberries. :drinker:

check out prices at different grocery stores. believe it or not, trader joe's and whole foods are sometimes cheaper than kroger with their store brand products...and better (bread and peanut butter come to mind). we have a family of only 3, but spend about $60/week and eat VERY well and VERY healthy.