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I know we've discussed this before, but I am curious how much you spend on groceries? Do you shop at any specific store(s). Do you buy only what's on sale, organic, use coupons, etc?
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Re: Groceries
The Nifty Foodie
Life/Craft Blog
We budget $400 a month for groceries. We shop for meat at Sam's which is pretty cheap and we have a freezer full of other stuff. We bring lunches almost everyday and cook 3-4 nights a week. I still think that's a lot though and would love to get it down even more. We decided to try $350 for Jan and see if we could do it.
I would love to do the whole coupon/double coupon thing but I just don't know where I'd get started and I also don't know where I'd find the time.
The Nifty Foodie
Life/Craft Blog
Do you eat meat? How in the world do you spend so little?
I have no idea. I wouldn't even know where to start.
MT, in regards to where we shop...Like I said, lots of times at Sam's. I prefer Winn Dixie for weekly shopping but MH will go to Wal Mart b/c they do have better prices. We also shopped the Ralph's meat sale where we racked up. It's hard to shop/cook on a budget b/c MH is very funny about eating certain things. For instance, he refuses to eat mushrooms from a jar. I don't see the big deal but whatev.
We spend about $150 per month on the big grocery trip and shop almost weekly for sandwich bread, sandwich meat, and milk (or other essentials). I shop only at Wal-Mart. Yes we eat Wal-Mart meat. Flame away.
When school is in, cooking mostly refers to reheated frozen meals, pizzas, etc. Some weekends I'll get a wild hair up my ass and cook a full-blown meal from scratch. I take a sandwich and breakfast bar to school every day. H will sometimes take leftovers, but usually buys lunch. He frequents Calandro's for the $2 sandwich and a bag of chips.
This is legal advice. Circa 2011
So do you spend around $200-250 a month total? Good Lord, you have got to show me how you do that.
You're welcome to come along for the ride next time I go.
I get meat and basics. We don't eat "fancy" meals requiring ingredients like cream cheese, half & half, etc. Ya know, the good stuff. Spaghetti, tacos, pork chops, chili, veggie soup with beef stew meat, baked/grilled chicken, fried rice... Not much variety on meals.
This is legal advice. Circa 2011
Do you meal plan for the whole month though?
This is legal advice. Circa 2011
We go shopping 1-2 times monthly (when we feel like it) where we buy tons of stuff but on those trips we spend 110-140. I just buy items that we can make simple quick stuff with....nothing too fancy. Also I love couponbug.com....if you sign up they will send you pages of weekly coupons and they are normally for pretty good stuff so I try to make my list around the coupon items plus some other things. I will also keep count of how much I'm spending and say something is 3.55 I will just round that number up. Sure to keep me under my set amount that I want to spend. On a good trip I can save about 20-30 dollars but just like everyone else we run out of milk or bread so we pick that stuff up between shopping trips.
Yes, we buy meat in bulk on sale. We wait for chicken breasts to go to 80 cents/lb bone-in and $1.50/lb boneless. Ground beef, usually about $2/lb. We rarely steer away from those, but when we do, it's steak for $6/lb. I'm a penny pincher...
Like I said, I only cook 3 times a week currently. Oh and produce, I buy it at the produce stand which is UBER cheap and way better quality than the grocery stores.
The Nifty Foodie
Life/Craft Blog
We spend what feels like a fortune, close to $100-130/week, and it's just two of us (and doesn't include meat - since I don't eat it and won't cook it). Annoying. I don't have much of a choice though, until Gluten-Free foods become more widely available and cheaper, I will be paying a lot for groceries.
We do have expensive taste with our other ingredients though, like cheeses, olives, organic produce, etc.