Grocery costs on Long Island

[daisyLI]

That's what people are paying for - fewer pesticides. Not no pesticides, just fewer.

[twingles]

Originally Posted by midcenturymod

. Drinks are big expense believe it or not. .

Drinks are a huge expense. My kids drink water almost exclusively.

I remember a show or segment of a news show about how hard it is to feed a big family on a budget. They showed this family sitting down for dinner and everyone had a can of soda in front of them! That's a budget buster for sure.

[JB from NC]

We've found that we spend about the same here as we did in NC, around $400 a week, to feed our family of 6 (2 adults, two teens, and two almost teens). But we keep kosher, and kosher meat isn't cheap.

[ovi8]

Originally Posted by twingles

$600 a week? For two adults and two kids???

lol sorry a month. Couldn't you tell from my first sentence?

$150/week also gets us a lot of greens and fruits (to my dismay) which are not cheap. I don't know how people spend $1k/mo. for 4 unless they're eating steak every night (or they must be shopping at BJs/Costco that comes with a lot of unnecessary snacks & frozen foods).

I will add that we also eat out $200/mo. which really is nothing and that's for a busy month.

[FallenAnjel]

Originally Posted by daisyLI

I think its fine, considering that there has been substantial press over the inadequacy of SNAP benefits for feeding a family. SNAP benefit is about $4 per person per day - so that's a baseline of $600 per month for a 5 person family.

I am NOT trying to argue the sufficiency of this amount or get into the politics around it. I know many people can stretch a dollar and say they are doing it on less using their own money. My own mom was truly excellent at home economics and home cooked meals daily to feed a family of 8 on my Dad's middle class salary.

Just providing it as a baseline.

If I got $4/day to eat I'd be eating filet mignon and lobster every night!

[FallenAnjel]

Originally Posted by NYC2RDU

That's very low for a family feeding five adults. We spend that much feeding two adults and two teenage boys (one living at home full-time, the other a college student who eats less than half his meals at home).

That's crazy.

Originally Posted by OneToGo

The couple w/ 3 kids next door recently said they now save $15-$20 a week by switching to Shoprite instead of Stop and Shop. He's not fond of the crowds but $800 yr saved is big money for a family.

You can save more than that by shopping in smaller 'non-chain' stores like convenience stores (not 7-11), local small groceries. Not all in one store, buy certain things in certain stores. Every store has their great prices on that one item.

Originally Posted by twingles

Drinks are a huge expense. My kids drink water almost exclusively.
I remember a show or segment of a news show about how hard it is to feed a big family on a budget. They showed this family sitting down for dinner and everyone had a can of soda in front of them! That's a budget buster for sure.

And a health buster! Pure sugar. BLECH!

Originally Posted by ovi8

lol sorry a month. Couldn't you tell from my first sentence?
$150/week also gets us a lot of greens and fruits (to my dismay) which are not cheap. I don't know how people spend $1k/mo. for 4 unless they're eating steak every night (or they must be shopping at BJs/Costco that comes with a lot of unnecessary snacks & frozen foods).

I will add that we also eat out $200/mo. which really is nothing and that's for a busy month.

haha, That's all I spend on food in a month, there is no eating out for me. lol.

Originally Posted by peabodyn

We are a family of 5 with 3 - 20 something kids living at home (yes, I know, kick them out).
We eat very little meat and do not buy many snacks.
Our monthly grocery bill is roughly $1,000 a month - including the wholesale club visit.
Is this out of line - wife says "no".
Curious what other families are spending.

I don't spend that much in 5 months, LOL. That is A LOT to me. That's $250 per person per month. I honestly don't think I could even EAT that much food, LOL.
As long as your kids are paying rent they can stay as long as they want. $400/each is half the price of a room elsewhere (depending where you live, it's prob. more) and 1/3 the price of a 1 BR apt. on most of LI. 3X400=$1200... there u go. You WILL be doing them a favor. Trust me.

There's no reason why you can't cut your grocery bill in half. First off, stop buying name brands. Kids don't like it? they can buy their own food. Buy ONLY on sale and in bulk when it is on sale. If it's not on sale that week, you don't buy it. Chicken breast on sale for $2? Buy 10-20 pounds and freeze it. Shop smaller local grocery stores. The ones that you THINK will be more expensive but usually aren't. My local CVS has bread and eggs cheaper than Waldbaums. They have cereal on sale every week and it's often cheaper than Walmart. Buy all your condiments at a dollar store. (not Family dollar which isn't a true dollar store). Things like Mustard, Ketchup, vinegar, lemon, lime juice, pickles, olives, relish, etc... All $1/jar. Also, Toothpaste, mouthwash, q-tips, hair clips.. All $1. How could I not? I'm very dangerous in a dollar store, LOL. Be careful tho... Family Dollar milk is more expensive than most other places. (at least mine is).

Stop going to the wholesale club. They're WAY more expensive than the grocery store. I went to Sam's a few months ago with my aunt. The only things I bought were a 4 pack of butter for $8 ($2/package--same as Waldbaum's on sale), shredded cheese ($2/package--same as waldbuams on sale), and I think chicken breast was $2.29/lb. Oh and I think they had Splenda , 1000 packet box, priced cheaper than Family Dollar brand at $1/50 count-pack. (which is half the price of the brand name). America's Choice mayo is the same thing as Helmanns and half the price and more when on sale.


Also stop buying things like boxed pancake mix. (if you do). I make almost everything homemade, including pancakes, waffles, biscuits, cakes, cookies, even things like Rice A Roni and Taco seasoning! There is a recipe for EVERY. THING. on the internet. and after just once or twice you can do it w/o reading a recipe. It's way cheaper and way healthier because there's no salt, preservatives or additives. I even have a bread machine and sometimes make my own bread.

This is how I live on less than $200/month for two people. This does NOT include personal items or paper products. Those too, I buy in bulk on sale. Frequenting one store often works out better because of coupons and money back. It's why I love Kohl's so much.

Oh one more thing... depending on the grocery store... meats that are supposed to expire that day or the next, will be on "manager special" and will be cheaper. If you freeze them they will be fine. They just won't last another couple days if not frozen.

All in all, You HAVE to know your prices, have a list and bring a calculator or pen/pencil. And make sure you eat before you go shopping. You'll spend much less.

[twingles]

Originally Posted by ovi8

lol sorry a month. Couldn't you tell from my first sentence?

$150/week also gets us a lot of greens and fruits (to my dismay) which are not cheap. I don't know how people spend $1k/mo. for 4 unless they're eating steak every night (or they must be shopping at BJs/Costco that comes with a lot of unnecessary snacks & frozen foods).

I will add that we also eat out $200/mo. which really is nothing and that's for a busy month.

LOL I figured. Your kids aren't even teens yet!

[babysladkaya]

Your grocery bill is mostly the function of these variables:
1. Time-do you have time to shop around for best prices and cook everything from scratch?
2. Quality of ingredients-do you insist on everything organic?
3. Family food culture-does your family prefer eating nutritious meals or snacking? Do they drink water or need something sweet? Homemade or store bought/eating out?

For us, it's a combination of all three-we don't compromise on certain items such as we get our beef from butcher, our milk is organic and most of the stuff we buy is from Trader Joe.

We do our best to cook from scratch, however, we are a busy family and therefore, eating out at least two times a week is a norm. Usually, it's pizza, Chipotle, Panera Bread, burgers, about once a month, it's a nice meal, in the summer, our out meals go through the roof.

Our food culture is pretty healthy-we prefer nutritious meals be it homemade or bought outside, and we are very low on snacks and sugary drinks.

[ovi8]

^ how much do you spend and for how many?