How do you budget for groceries?

[robinb]

He started to rethink his plan when he wanted swedish meatballs, then realized how many components went into the dish and he still hasn't bought any fresh veggies lol, and he is dead set on making the kids a hot (egg) breakfast all week because cereal was too expensive.

What extra components did you need other than the meat, sour cream and a $2 bag of noodles? I looked at a couple of recipes and my pantry is stocked with all the spices, onion, flour, bread crumbs, beef broth etc that I would need to make swedish meatballs. Heck, now your DH made me want swedish meatballs.

 

[dosekies]

I try to keep our groceries around $50 for the week, not including us going out for dinner usually once on the weekend (it is just my SO and I). We are still working on this and figuring out what works best for us as we just recently moved out together. If it were up to my SO, we would not pay attention to prices or a budget, he wants to just buy whatever sounds good and stock up on everything.

 

[aprilgail]

I try to keep our groceries around $50 for the week, not including us going out for dinner usually once on the weekend (it is just my SO and I). We are still working on this and figuring out what works best for us as we just recently moved out together. If it were up to my SO, we would not pay attention to prices or a budget, he wants to just buy whatever sounds good and stock up on everything.

Wow I pay more than double that plus we eat dinner out about 5 times a week, some breakfast and lunches out every week.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

This is a good point, too. It always bothered me that people on really tight budgets might actually have to spend more for the same things because they don't have any extra to be flexible like this.

Even though our budget is tight ($200-$300/ month for 4 people including paper goods and diapers), I still buy in bulk when things are on sale. We mostly go to Meijer and they tend to run through the same sales each month, like one week they have a 10 for 10, 11th item free sale where I stock up on fresh veggies, bags of pretzels and other snacks, hamburger helper, ziplocs, soap, etc. Another week, they have hamburger on sale so I buy 10 lbs of that. One week, I might only spend $30 on milk, water, and diapers and the next week $100 getting a variety of sale items. As long as overall for the month it totals $200-$300, then it all works out. I do build that kind of flexibility into my budget because when I buy for instance meat in bulk, I buy enough to last until it's on sale again, and/or improvise meals based on sales if we run out of a meal component before the next sale for it. They also have a rewards program where you get a coupon for $x off your next purchase after you spend $x in various categories. I usually hit a few of those every month and save them until the end of the month to pick up any random things that weren't on sale but we still need.

 

[dosekies]

Wow I pay more than double that plus we eat dinner out about 5 times a week, some breakfast and lunches out every week.

We occasionally spend significantly more than this, it just really depends what we need. We've been trying to buy whatever is on sale and make meals around that. We prep meals for lunch which saves a lot. Occasionally we eat out for lunch too, but we just figure that into our own pockets, not our grocery budget.

 

[2China2009]

I spend about $200 month for a family of 3. I only shop at Aldi's and I save 50% by shopping there. For me I am fortunate that my store has very fresh veggies and fruits that come in daily. If I did not have this store I would be sunk. I do have a Sam's membership and I shop there about 4x year and stock up on paper towels, TP,butter,h2o,dog food,laundry detergent. So my grocery budget is just for groceries,no personal items. I have 1 DD who takes cold lunch and 1DD who eats at the middle school everyday.

 

[DLgal]

I spend about 350-400 per WEEK on groceries and household items (ie papertowels, cleaning supplies, OTC meds, laundry detergent, vitamins, cat food, etc - all that type of stuff). There's 4 of us (DH, DS7, DS9, and me). We eat a lot of whole foods and produce. I have 1 son who has sensory issues when it comes to food so he will only eat what he will eat in terms of foods, brands, etc and so I have to buy his foods regardless of sales or costs. (This is a legitimate "medical" issue and he gets OT for it to try to expand his food options.) I'm pretty sure DS inherited this from DH, who is also super picky with his food choices.
It's super annoying and I wish I could cut back the total a bit. I've tried, but it just always comes out close to $400. So that's what I set aside - 1600 a month. Insane, I know. I do have a basement freezer that I can use to stock up on certain items, but perishables is where most of our money is spent.
When I see people spending under 300 a month for a family I'm so impressed, but I just don't see how I could do that!!

Right there with you, although I have TWO kids with sensory food issues! And unfortunately, OT/feeding therapy did NOTHING to help this issue. They are now 11 and 13 and are very VERY slowly expanding their foods on their own. I think they are finally getting tired of eating the same stuff over and over again. So yeah, I buy a lot of "specialty" food that is, sadly, not cheap.

We spend anywhere from $1500-2000/month on food.

 

[dish rag]

We don't, we buy what we need but we don't throw money away either.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

What extra components did you need other than the meat, sour cream and a $2 bag of noodles? I looked at a couple of recipes and my pantry is stocked with all the spices, onion, flour, bread crumbs, beef broth etc that I would need to make swedish meatballs. Heck, now your DH made me want swedish meatballs.

Lol, we need the sour cream and bread crumbs. I even said I'd be willing to make toast into bread crumbs so he didn't have to buy them, and I think that's when he got a little overwhelmed and said forget it lol

I want them now too! Maybe next week...

 

[Lilacs4Me]

That's wonderful that your DH is such a good sport, and is willing to see things from your perspective. Honestly, it can take quite a while to get the hang of shopping sales, etc.--we moved 2 years ago, and I'm STILL finding new sources for cheap food items!

One of the reasons I don't have a strict food budget is because it makes it tougher to stock up--one week I might find a great deal on, say, boneless chicken breasts and get a lot. Then, I'll buy less protein for the next couple weeks.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one with cereal fiends in my house. It just slays me how DD14 will act like the world is coming to an end because DS20 ate all the Cocoa Crispies. Meanwhile, we have packages of Chocolate Marshmallow Mateys, Cocoa Crunchies, and Chocolate Oatie-O's sitting in the pantry. Cry me a river, kid!

Oh, I know! My kids are freaks about food. If we get a big box of something at Costco, they are fine. If I buy the same item in a pack of 6 at Target, they guard it with their life because someone might eat an extra one. They are so weird.

And cereal.....my kids are hit or miss with cereal for breakfast. They tend to eat it as an after school snack more, so I admit I will buy the junk cereals as a treat. DD13 loves Reeces cereal, but watch out of one her her brothers has a bowl! And ice cream...it's WW3 at our house if there is ice cream involved. The kids say they have to protect it because I rarely buy it.

Weirdos

 

[Tattylou]

Right there with you, although I have TWO kids with sensory food issues! And unfortunately, OT/feeding therapy did NOTHING to help this issue. They are now 11 and 13 and are very VERY slowly expanding their foods on their own. I think they are finally getting tired of eating the same stuff over and over again. So yeah, I buy a lot of "specialty" food that is, sadly, not cheap.

We spend anywhere from $1500-2000/month on food.

Thank you....it is helpful when someone really understands.

 

[mamacatnv]

That's wonderful that your DH is such a good sport, and is willing to see things from your perspective. Honestly, it can take quite a while to get the hang of shopping sales, etc.--we moved 2 years ago, and I'm STILL finding new sources for cheap food items!

One of the reasons I don't have a strict food budget is because it makes it tougher to stock up--one week I might find a great deal on, say, boneless chicken breasts and get a lot. Then, I'll buy less protein for the next couple weeks.

I have a pretty strict monthly budget as we subscribe to spend every dollar, every month but all those excess dollars get spent to savings.

We can and do pull from savings when there is a really good meat sale or even other things. Often I then adjust the following couple of weeks.

HEB had a really good cat food deal last week. We stocked up and have a 3 month supply of cat food. In this case I took the extra out of savings and will reduce the October/November budget just a bit since we won't be buying cat food.

I like a good deal when I can find it, but I gave up really worrying about my grocery budget when DH had to go on a "heart-healthy" diet. I buy the things he's supposed to eat, and suck up the price.



This is a good point, too. It always bothered me that people on really tight budgets might actually have to spend more for the same things because they don't have any extra to be flexible like this.

We've solved the cereal problem by each opening one box at once, so everyone always has a favorite.

 

[Southernmiss]

Oh, I know! My kids are freaks about food. If we get a big box of something at Costco, they are fine. If I buy the same item in a pack of 6 at Target, they guard it with their life because someone might eat an extra one. They are so weird.

And cereal.....my kids are hit or miss with cereal for breakfast. They tend to eat it as an after school snack more, so I admit I will buy the junk cereals as a treat. DD13 loves Reeces cereal, but watch out of one her her brothers has a bowl! And ice cream...it's WW3 at our house if there is ice cream involved. The kids say they have to protect it because I rarely buy it.

Weirdos

See this post makes me think the scarcity of the good stuff is causing some of the complaining. As I said in my earlier post, when I bought more quantities of the 'good stuff' my household was happier and fewer complaints of 'but he had .. and I only had...' because they knew it would be back in the house again.

 

[scrapquitler]

I don't really have a budget for groceries. I buy what we want or need each week. I do try to buy what is on sale,and if there is a good sale, I tend to buy several of that item. I do tend to keep a well stocked pantry and could probably eat rather well for several weeks if I couldn't shop for some reason. My best 'budget' tip is to keep my husband out of the store as much as possible.

One thing about snacks: I buy a certain amount of snacks for the week and that's it. I do tend to keep a bag of snacks hidden in my closet so that the child (he's 14) doesn't eat them all in one or two days.

 

[Rockette]

I don't really have a budget for groceries. I buy what we want or need each week. I do try to buy what is on sale,and if there is a good sale, I tend to buy several of that item. I do tend to keep a well stocked pantry and could probably eat rather well for several weeks if I couldn't shop for some reason. My best 'budget' tip is to keep my husband out of the store as much as possible.

One thing about snacks: I buy a certain amount of snacks for the week and that's it. I do tend to keep a bag of snacks hidden in my closet so that the child (he's 14) doesn't eat them all in one or two days.

I don't budget either - I usually have some idea what I am going to cook for dinner though on various nights and I make a grocery list based on that.

Snacks are more budgeted for how many we have left around he house and just replacing only when needed.

 

[pweyl36]

Same at

They get the healthy. What they don't get is the QUANTITY of a whole buffet at every meal.

They complained they don't get juice boxes - I say drink water.

They get popcorn, they complain they don't get chips

They get fresh fruit, they complain they don't get applesauce pouches lol

They want the junk IN ADDITION to the healthy stuff. I say no, I can't afford both, and DH says let's get it all![/


Same at my house, but they don't starve. Once in a while I go to the dollar tree and get snacks.

 

[pweyl36]

I don't have a strict budget for groceries. There are just 2 of us, so the cost isn't too high for food. We eat at home 5 nights and generally eat out/at my parents house 2 nights. I am a huge bargain/coupon shopper and try to keep a good stock of things in the cabinet/fridge so if money is a little tighter one week I can skip the grocery (other than fresh fruit). I do my meal planning a little backwards of some, instead of making my plan and then going to the grocery, I go to the grocery and see what I can get deals for and then make up the meals for the week from that. For example this past week, we grilled steaks one night. I would have never just decided to grill steaks and then gone to Kroger and paid full price for steaks - but when I was at the grocery last weekend, there was a great looking package of steaks in the "Manager's Special" markdown bin for just $5, so that is how steaks ended up on the menu.

This is how I shop too.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We generally try to budget $500 a month for food for a family of 5, eating all meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner for all of us) from home, and DH goes to 2-3 stores in our neighborhood to shop whatever is on sale at each. But we do not hesitate to spend more if something is on sale and we want to stock up. We also keep a well-stocked pantry and freezer and could make do for 2-3 weeks without shopping if we had to.

 

[jrmasm]

I don't budget. I plan meals and it costs what it costs. And I don't have time to go to multiple stores each week.

 

[luvsJack]

I can't imagine buying meat that no one really likes because its on sale. If they don't like what I make for supper, it makes them hungrier later so then they eat snacks and we just go round and round and round.