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Is this per month or per week? If per month, then maybe treking down to Central Market (not exactly convenient from my side of town) would be worth it. Otherwise, if that's per week, between HEB and Sprouts, we're spending about the same (and I'm still trying to get it down).
That has to be weekly, for 5. Especially if they are buying diapers. That's 17 dollars a day for 5 people.
I don't consider fruits and vegetables to be healthy (they aren't unhealthy, but they aren't as healthy as more calorie rich foods). but I also don't understand why people pretend as if they are so expensive. every week there are sales on produce that allow me to buy fruits and veggies for under $1 per pound. you just have to be a little flexible.
I've never enjoyed grocery shopping and, for a long time, just went in and out of the store as fast as possible getting what I thought I needed regardless of price. Tomatoes, the good ones on the vine, are almost never on sale.
I just have to look for sales and figure out meals days ahead of time. It's not easy so far. definitely not going the frozen pizza route though bad things happen when I eat processed foods.
I've never enjoyed grocery shopping and, for a long time, just went in and out of the store as fast as possible getting what I thought I needed regardless of price. Tomatoes, the good ones on the vine, are almost never on sale.
I just have to look for sales and figure out meals days ahead of time. It's not easy so far. definitely not going the frozen pizza route though bad things happen when I eat processed foods.
im not sure what kind of selection you have but I have a lot of supermarkets near me. I have definitely gotten tomatoes on the vine on sale. but I can understand that people with less options wont be able to do as well as me. its hard to win in this game if you aren't willing to check the deals in advance. if you aren't going to look at the circulars before shopping, then your next best yet is to shop at a place like aldi, walmart, Costco where you are limited to how much you could overpay.
this place is probably the best for produce deals and some meat deals also. look at that! yams at .37 a pound! pears for .77 a pound, green beans .97 a pound, green peppers at .77 and a head of lettuce for .77! oh my god!!! if you have the patience to click to the end of the circular, you have extra large roma plum tomatoes for .97 a pound!!!! the deals are just unreal! i don't understand when i see people suggest that fruits and veggies are so expensive compared to meat. boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale there for 1.77 a pound (which is a great price) but theres tons of cheaper veggie deals.
Just check the foods you have in your home and it will come up with recipes automatically. You may be able to skip a week grocery shopping here and there and let this site think of something creative to make with what you already have.
im not sure what kind of selection you have but I have a lot of supermarkets near me. I have definitely gotten tomatoes on the vine on sale. but I can understand that people with less options wont be able to do as well as me. its hard to win in this game if you aren't willing to check the deals in advance. if you aren't going to look at the circulars before shopping, then your next best yet is to shop at a place like aldi, walmart, Costco where you are limited to how much you could overpay.
this place is probably the best for produce deals and some meat deals also. look at that! yams at .37 a pound! pears for .77 a pound, green beans .97 a pound, green peppers at .77 and a head of lettuce for .77! oh my god!!! if you have the patience to click to the end of the circular, you have extra large roma plum tomatoes for .97 a pound!!!! the deals are just unreal! i don't understand when i see people suggest that fruits and veggies are so expensive compared to meat. boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale there for 1.77 a pound (which is a great price) but theres tons of cheaper veggie deals.
We are a family of four (our kids include cocker spaniel and poodle). We recently switched from Fry's to Walmart because our grocery bill keeps creeping up.
We eat four servings of fruits and veggies daily and I cook all the meals. We rarely dine out, maybe twice a month. We buy steaks maybe once a year and most my meals main ingredients include either beans or chicken.
This last trip to Walmart depressed me because the bill was higher than I expected, 174! We go once a week, and try hard to hover around 120. It's difficult to cut back on nutritious food, and at Fry's we were averaging 150 to 160 every week (including toiletries) so we switched to Walmart in spite of the sometimes stale, expired and just scary food.
Anyone else frustrated with their grocery bill? I want to compare and see how far off we are from others and their grocery bill.
my wife, me, and 2.5 and 1.5 yr old. we typically spend more than $800/month. my current goal is to keep us at $850/month for the short term, and then focus on steps i can take to reduce that. we're typically buying 2 - 2.5 lbs of whatever protein we're making that night. if we eat fish twice a week, meat/pork/chicken 3 times, that will leave us with 2 nights that if we do a veggie dinner or a soup or something of that sort. our dinners easily run $20-$25/night. that's $140 in dinners per week alone. and $20 seems tough to trim.
I'm stunned people only spend a couple hundred a month. I would like to cut food costs but I thought 250 a week for 5 was frugal! ....... I would be curious to see what people are eating for 200 a month for a family? .............?
Unfortunately, good food costs money.
I know I have lower costs for the quality my family eats than most people, but it still costs money. I consider it to be false economy to buy low grade sub-standard food. Your family's health depends upon their diet.
I was just at the store where I can get the best price on high quality vegetables and fruit. $75, and other than a 5 pound bag of cheese, it was all salad makings, plus one box of grapes (that will go into a salad). What I bought will last us over a week, but would not last a family of 5 for very many days.
The salad stuff can't be stored long. It has to be used while it is still fresh. So $75 just for perishables. But if you want to eat a good healthy diet, there isn't really any way around it.
I don't see much point in organic, especially since the government and I do not agree on what organic is. It costs more and the quality is often lower. I really feel the pain of the people who want organic for their family. I know they are paying a lot more to feed their family than I am. It's their choice, no criticism from me, but ouch, I am glad I am not paying for it.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradykp
my wife, me, and 2.5 and 1.5 yr old. we typically spend more than $800/month. my current goal is to keep us at $850/month for the short term, and then focus on steps i can take to reduce that. ..
THAT is amazing.
Still eating and entertaining on $100/month, as I have since 1980, and through season of raising my kids. We often provide several meals for poor seniors within that budget. $100 goes in the envelope on the first of the month. When it is empty, we get creative, or go without.
Buy GOOD ingredients, cook at home, and eat healthy (lots of native Salmon bought from nearby Indian fishery. )
Works fine for us, and we are very well fed nutritiously.
We eat a lot of edible landscape, but mostly fruits and berries.
Can also get 20 servings from a single Costco Chicken. (soups, burritos, salads...)
I average about 50-60 a week with mostly fresh vegetables and fruits like berries. I eat out twice or three times a week usually for social reasons. I do not buy red meat or grain products and if I do buy meat products, it's usually chicken or fish/shrimps which I eat 3 to 4 times a week at most. My sweet tooth is usually what drives up the bill and I don't indulge it much. I also like organic cage free eggs which are almost twice as expensive as regular ones. Maybe at most twice a month. I also eat less than 1500 calories a day so I'm not spending extra bucks on calories I don't need. Being as healthy as possible in my prime is important to me. I'm also a lazy cook so
My meals usually look like this:
Breakfast: sweet potato and hard boil egg
Snack: Fruit/greek yogurt/almonds/dark chocolate
Lunch: steamed vegetables and fish or lentil with curry sauce or more veggies.
Snack: Same as above.
Dinner: fish/chicken/shrimp with vegetable or just a pot of vegetable soup.
Last edited by EggWaffle; 11-26-2013 at 03:05 AM..
About $1200-1500 for 2 adults, a toddler, and a baby, which is absolutely outrageous and that's why I am here! I am working hard to reduce this. Part of it is trying to sustain a 240lb husband who thinks 2lbs of meat per meal is the only acceptable way. I used to spend $50/week when I was single, 7 years ago!
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I am working hard to reduce this. Part of it is trying to sustain a 240lb husband who thinks 2lbs of meat per meal is the only acceptable way. I used to spend $50/week when I was single, 7 years ago!