Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
money money money
I'm reading a post on another board, and I'm surprised at how many people can get by spending just $200 a month on groceries (a lot of people said they can't, but I'm still startled at how many said they could). While we definitely can afford to keep spending the amount that we currently are, it's one of those things that I'd like to lower if I can, just for the sake of it.
I know we'll never be able to get that low with our food budget - food is a LOT more expensive here, and there aren't handy dandy costcutting things like coupons. Plus, I also feel like it's pretty bare bones as it is - here's what we already do:
* seldom eat out
* pre-plan our menu for the week and stick to what's on that list (generally speaking, no impulse items or special treats)
* take advantage of sales (e.g., when we plan our menu, we might say "pasta with whatever green veggie is on sale" so that we can be flexible and get broccoli or zucchini or whatever, depending what's cheapest that week, or buy extra meat if it's on sale and then plan the next week's menu to use it)
* make meals to serve four (we'll often have the same thing for dinner two nights in a row, since our dinners cost a lot more than breakfast and lunches, and we've discovered that it costs less to do this than to make two different dinners - this also cuts out a lot of waste, so we seldom throw out food)
* have at least two vegetarian meals per week (meat is often very expensive here)
* don't buy a lot of expensive foods
* track our spending while we shop to make sure we're not going overbudget (I keep a running tab as we put things in the cart)
* buy generic for most of the staples we get, and use cheaper alternatives where possible (e.g., we use vinegar instead of fabric softener and some household cleaners - more ecofriendly and cheaper)
* don't usually buy "snacky" items (like bags of chips or whatever - our snacks are usually fresh fruit), or very much in the way of booze
And yet we still spend over $550 a month at the grocery store (this does include all pet stuff, toiletries, etc., not just food). This probably could be lowered a bit if we bought more pre-packaged convenience food, but I don't want to do that for health reasons, and it still wouldn't reduce it to $200.
We have three grocery stores in our town: two are pretty comparably priced so we don't really get much of a discount by shopping around, and one is a bit lower for non-fresh food (it's good for stuff like pasta and soap, but it's kind of a PITA to go there for that stuff, then drive somewhere else for all of the fresh food - but maybe I'm just lazy and this is the problem lol). And like I said, they don't use coupons here.
Do you know what you spend on groceries every month (not including eating out)? Does anyone have any tips for lowering the food budget? (Especially Tina, since you live here too!) I'm stumped as to how people can eat (healthily!) on $200 a month!
Re: money money money
Well, I just shop for me so I guess I can't really answer... but here's what I do to keep costs down.
*Buy dried bulk beans. I know they take longer to cook than canned but they are cheap and healthy. I make a lot of stuff with lentils (curry, mjarda, salads) since they are a pretty cheap bean.
*Buy a gourmet/healthy can of soup (Wolfgang Puck or whatever) and "beef it up" by adding leftover pasta, rice, veggies or... beans! This can stretch one can (usually 2 servings) into 3 servings, or maybe 4.
*Lisa, I think you make a good point about not buying snacks. Those can definitely get expensive. It'd be much cheaper to buy a bag of choco chips and generic cereal and make your own snack bars (I do this!)
*Ditto on the fabric softener. I also just use baking soda, salt & vinegar to clean the tub and toilet, and lemon juice to clean the oven.
I noticed that my grocery bill has gotten higher since I've started eating healthier
. Some of that is from buying organic but it's also because of what I'm buying. A bag of rice pasta (since I don't eat wheat anymore) is at leat $1-3 more (depending on the brand) than wheat pasta.
Did you notice where the $200/monthers were from? Food in Vancouver is definitely more expensive than in Washington (from what I've seen), and of course some states/cities are more expensive than others, so maybe it is just a location thing?
This is weird...I almost never go on other boards but I saw that about the grocery budget too and thought that was insane!! $200/month??? How is that possible??? Our budget in Cambridge, MA was $200/week. I completely agree that so much of this depends on location. Cambridge is definitely a pricey place to live. When we've spent time in Maine at my uncle's house, which is only a two hour drive from Cambridge, our grocery bills were always remarkably lower. It's really crazy!
That said, I know we could do better on our grocery spending. Since DH is a great cook, we fairly rarely eat takeout/at restaurants. I would say we only do takeout 2-3 times/month and eating out for dinner 0-2 times a month. But we do splurge a little bit on nice cheeses, better ingredients at the grocery store. I always figure since we don't eat out so much we can afford to splurge at the grocery store a little bit. But when/if? we move to NYC I want to keep better track of our grocery spending. I think $600/month (including things like wine, beer, dog food, etc.) is a reasonable expense for the city.
Lisa, from what I hear from everyone Oz is just crazy expensive food wise. But I think that could be good--probably not nearly as much of your food is propped up by the super cheap and out of control corn industry like it is in the US. You are probably eating better food even though it's not as cheap.
I definitely agree that location must have something to do with it - I tried to look at where the $200/month people were from, but a lot of people aren't putting their city (or even state!) in their location anymore, it seems. But they can't possibly be from HCOL areas, right???
Oh it's definitely crazy expensive. When we went to the USA, poor Ben was shocked that *Australian* lamb cost about a quarter of the price in California that it does here lol! Whenever people come to visit, they're always stunned at how much we pay at grocery stores and restaurants (well, and at the gas station
).
Interesting point about the food industry, too...I really don't know how industrialized it is here, or how it works financially. I know the days of the small farmer are long gone, but otherwise...hmm. I may have to try to find out, just out of curiosity!
LOL I just think it's so funny that here I was thinking we were doing pretty damn good for only spending about $140-$150 a week, and people in some places would spend that on THREE weeks!
i went to whole foods on saturday and half a bag was $87!!!!!!!! holyfrackenshit!!!!
in seattle i was able to be the master of the low grocery bill by going to grocery outlet but in hawaii, no such luck. groceries are so expensive here. i WISH we could live on $200/mo!!!
We probably spend close to $400 a month on groceries, maybe a little less.
We started shopping at Aldi's, a discount grocery store first. We make a grocery list, go there and get what we can get and then go to another grocery store. Aldi's doesn't have everything we need and some of the stuff that they sell isn't as good as our "normal" grocery store. We've found out by trial and error. We buy bread there which saves us about $2 a loaf and milk which saves about $1.50 a gallon. Their cereal sucks so we buy name brand cereal at the other store. We also buy what we can in bulk, like frozen chicken breasts.
It is kind of a pain to go to 2 stores but when we figured out how much money it was saving us we just suck it up and do it. In this day and age, especially with a kid, you save money any way you can! We take our own bags to the store and that saves 5 cents per bag, not much but I'm sure over time it adds up. We save in other ways too by rarely (usually 2x month) eat out, buy our yoga membership for the year (so it costs about $10 a class instead of $17), I breastfeed, use craigslist for some stuff, garage sales for baby clothes and we CD. We try to find ways to save but you just do what you can do.
You have to eat so you may as well eat good, healthy food!!
We spend about $400 on groceries (including non-food items, but not pet supplies, which we get elsewhere). This is mainly because we've committed to buying as organic and nutritionally-dense as possible. For example we only buy quinoa or brown rice pasta which is more expensive than conventional pasta. And we go organic with our dairy (milk, yogurt and most cheeses).
My mom buys her own groceries too (we all live together right now) but we don't segregate hers from ours and typically, it's alot of the same stuff, so we just rotate who buys what (like milk and staples like rice or potatoes).
I don't clip coupons (since we rarely buy pre-packaged or national-brand items), but I do try to shop sales (like buy one get one free, etc.) and stock up on things we use regularly (like beans, rice, etc.)
I think the only way we could cut our food budget is if we went with more pre-packaged/conventional foods and for our health and wellness, I am not willing to do that. We eat fairly healthfully and that means a lot to us, especially since my mom has type-II diabetes and since moving in with us, has gotten off her meds and is controlling it with diet and excercise.
When we lived in CA we spent maybe $50-100 less each month because we did most of our shopping at Trader Joe's. That's not even an option here...so it's the "natural food section" at our local store, Archer Brands at the Super Target or venturing into Whole Foods (which we rarely do because it's cost prohibitive). We have farmer's markets May-Oct which offer good options too, but now that they're closed we have to get all of our produce from the store.
Like Sarah, I am planning to CD and breastfeed and have gotten almost every baby item second hand (via consignment, eBay and Craisglist).
We're not outfitting an entire nursery (not even sure if we'll get a crib at this point) and just getting the "must-haves" for a new baby....mainly clothing, diapers, carseats and a place for her to sleep (an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper).
I do want to buy a breast pump and am hoping to get a Medela Freetsyle, but if need be I'll go with a Pump in Style (which are a litttle cheaper and more plentifully available second-hand, but they are bulkier, which is less desirable since I plan to travel with the pump. not just take it to/from work). Once baby starts eating solids, we'll make them ourselves and not buy jarried or premade baby food.
For daycare, we're arranging our schedules so that we don't need to pay for fulltime daycare...right now we're thinking two days a week, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm is all we'll need, at least to start.
It's tough penny-pinching when getting ready for baby (or two, in your case Lisa)! Especially now that J is in school full-time (which costs us money too) and his hours at the restaurant have been cut in recent months. I am considering lowering my monthly 401K contributions if need be, at least in 2010, but I hestitate to do so since my company matches 100%, so to me that is basically free money. We do have a loan and a car payment wrapping up next June, so I may just sit tight until then and see how that helps our bottom line.
Good luck! You can do it!
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
Agree with pp that it's harder to eat HEALTHY on a tight budget. The people who are sticking to a $200 a month grocery budget must be eating mac 'n' cheese, processed white pastas and breads, and Top Ramen! Whole wheat and organic foods really are way more expensive. Given the kitchen situation I haven't been tracking our grocery budget at all, but I'd bet it's around $200 a month -- and we hardly ever eat at home!
(That $ goes to coffee, milk, ingredients you can cook on a griddle, and foods for my lunch I pack for work).
It really does sound like you're doing a great job budgeting, Lisa!
It sounds like you are doing everything right. You really have to balance cost vs. nutritional value. You could live on Ramen noodles but I would rather spend more to ensure a balanced diet.
Groceries is one of the very few things I really work on budgeting and keeping costs down. Even with that I think $200/month would be a stretch for us although on many weeks throughout the summer (i.e. weeks I wasn't super nauseous) we were able to spend less than $50/week (not counting toiletries, MH's occasional beer purchase) but that is because we had a garden that produced lots of edibles(still enjoying the squash) plus access to pretty cheap farmers markets and farm stands, my grandpa supplies me with tons of seafood and if wanted game meats (MH eats elk a lot) so we were only buying staples like milk, butter, eggs, bread etc. We had lots of grilled stuff like veg. sandwiches, fish, shrimp and then would eat a large salad and veggies.
I have limited lunch spots near my work so I bring my own lunch and lately I have reverted back to elementary school tastes (PB&J, cheese stick, apple, bag of veggies, and leave a bottle of juice in the fridge) which is actually pretty cheap. I also make too much for dinner and we eat left overs a lot for lunch and/or dinner the next night.
We go to costco a lot and will buy frozen stuff in bulk. Also I like their organic chicken breasts - I divide the package and freeze most of it.
Lisa, I'm guessing you don't have access to a Sam's Club, or Costco? If not, they need to migrate over to Austraila. Can you imagine?
In years past, MH and I would always kick ourselves for paying the yearly fee for Costco and then we'd never use it. But now we get more than our money's worth. I love it there. Infact, I just love walking around there. LOL! And the pizza isn't too shabby either. We save alot of money there. Even though we have to buy in huge bulk there for just 2 of us, in the end, it saves us.
I also like our local Wal-Mart. (Minus the breast-feeding issue I encountered there that one day.) I wasn't always all about Wal-Mart but this one isn't so bad during the day mid-week. I don't buy meat there but all the other stuff, I always find a good deal.
We probably spend $300-400 a month on groceries -- we cook nearly all our dinners and pack lunches almost every day.
I buy most of our staples at Costco and then shop the sales at Safeway for other items to mix it up, so we don't have to eat the same meals every week. I also stick to fresh ingredients -- veggies, fruits, meats, dairy, etc. -- which, I think, saves money and is way healthier than processed foods and pre-packaged meals.
Costco now carries a ton of organic and otherwise healthy options, which is the only way we can afford a "cleaner" diet. Living in Hawaii, everything is crazy expensive to begin with!
Like Lisa, I cook big meals so that we have at least two dinners for each meal I cook. I also use the crock pot a lot, which turns cheap meat (like a $4 whole chicken) into a wholesome meal. I recently had my ILs over and prepared the chicken with veggies, a pasta, and cake for under $15... Revelations like that make you realize how much money you waste by eating out!
Sounds like you are already doing a good job of budgeting. One suggestion might be to cook a HUGE batch of freezable items -- like soups or stews -- and then store the extras for later. That might be helpful once the babies arrive, plus it'll save by allowing you to take advantage of bulk sales.
They actually JUST brought Costco over here - I'm insanely excited! There's a store in Melbourne, and one in Sydney that's going to be opened...next year sometime, I think? Driving to Sydney will obviously be expensive (it's about 3 hours each way, so we'll be using a lot of gas), but I think we'll be able to make up in bulk savings what we spend on gas.
Wow, that's kind of perfect timing for you and the twins!!
I definitely agree con the freezing bit. DH makes lots of big batches of soup, pesto, frozen lasagna, etc. for the freezer. It's perfect when he is too tired to cook or the fridge is empty. It ends up saving us a lot in the long run because those are the nights we would be tempted to just dial takeout but instead we have a ready-made meal in the freezer.