I'm trying to maximize our grocery budget. We have 5 people and have budgeted 500/month on food. We have been averaging about 400-450, but I'm trying to whittle it down even less. I've been newly inspired by the grocery cart lady (on my side bar) who feeds her family of 6 for $60/week! She also lives in the US, so groceries are definitely cheaper, but none the less.
I think the key is to go to multiple stores and make your menus based on what is on sale. Shopper's Drug Mart carries the cheapest milk in town ($3.88 for 4 L (2%, we like it rich ;)))) But, everything else there is pretty expensive, so am I going to make a special stop just for milk? Is it going to be worth the extra gas for the $.50 I'll save? Maybe, seeing as we go through about 10 L/week. Which seems like a lot considering we only drink one glass per day (other than Chip, who also drinks homo). bla, milk. I love milk.
I'd also love some new recipes. I try to go to www.allrecipes.com and often try one or two, but everything seems to have exotic (aka expensive) ingredients.
Feeling Stuck? The Answer is HERE
3 days ago
13 notes:
see, we do Superstore for milk because we still buy homogonized and it is $3 something there compared to 4.88 to 5.60 everywhere else!
and we only buy meat when it goes on sale (and then stock up the freezer with it)
Wow Dana. We are no where near $500 a month - we are MUCH over, but are all big eaters. I would love to whittle our grocery budget down, but I have no idea how. I pick through discount bins for bread and some veggies, and buy in bulk if it's a better deal, make a lot of my food from scratch, etc...and I still can't seem to do it. Please let me know any secrets you find out!!
Oh man, we spend Gobs of money on groceries. It's my downfall. But, I found that If I'm super organized with meal planning I can cut way down. And soaking and cooking dry beans instead of canned etc... helps a lot. But like I said, you're smoking me on the grocery budget. Maybe soon when we can grow our own food and raise chickens it will be under 500 a month :) Good job!
someone wise once told me...it's cheaper if you buy the chicken whole and then cut it yourself!!
aw daner i let you down, I was going to revamp the blog and i even dreamt it... the new blog, well when you get tired of these duds i will spring into action, sort of, as i dont spring anywhere much these days. you are right about planning meals based on whats on sale... get some cool ingredients (and sale priced)ingredients then find a recipe to go with it, or watch chef at home and you will def get into the swing with it there.
inspiring.
hmmmm.....should you go to shoppers or not?
well they often have cheap butter and eggs as well. so maybe if all 3 of them are on sale you should chance it. that extra 50 cents is going to come in handy some day, I just know it!!
love you!
eb
Maybe you can just try new ingredients (that are still cheap, just new to your taste buds) and they will taste fancy and exotic:)
From Keith and Jamie:
I never read your blog but it was open and I noticed you comment on expensive recipes. So here is one I am doing now. Easy. Cheap. Good.
Free Form Artisan Bread:
3.5 cups warm water
1.5 tbsp yeast
1.5 tbsp kosher salt
6.5 cups flour
Mix this together until flour is incorporated. Put in a big bowel or small bucket and let rise for 2 hours.
Refrigerate this until you want to make bread.
Pull off about a grapefruit sized ball, using flower to avoid it sticking to your hands. Shape into a ball, this should take 30 seconds. Leave on a well cornmealed pizza peel or a cutting board 40 minutes. Put in 350 degree over for about 40 minutes.
So with this you have a lot of bread that takes five minutes of your time to prep.
I probably confused you. Look up '5minute Artisan Bread on U Tube and you'll have the experts show you.
Keith
We have somehow managed to keep our grocery budget pretty low during these last five years of marriage. It's gone up a little since we've switched to mostly organically grown food, but for what it's worth, I think these are the things that have made such a difference for us -
We don't buy beverages other than milk.
I know the typical costs for our staple foods and stock up during sales.
Higher-end grocery stores usually have sales on any given item at least once every twelve weeks; on non-perishables, it's easy to stock up on stuff like chicken broth or noodles when they are at their lowest price.
Many items (like bread) can be frozen.
We do buy yummy ingredients but tend to use the same ones in different ways - feta, pesto, sundried tomatoes, and almonds are some common ingredients that can be stretched out for months (obviously, freezing stuff like feta if you want it to last).
Find a grocery store that has frequent produce sales. Besides bananas, I pretty much buy everything else - avocados, apples, grapes, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, onions, etc - only when it's on sale, but because there are always several basic foods like that on sale at least every other week, we usually have variety, plus things like onions and apples can last a really long time if you store them right.
The big down side is that I pretty much don't meal plan. I just buy whatever favorite foods are cheapest and then throw together dinner. It usually works out well - tonight we are eating feta/sundried tomato/crushed almond/pesto pasta, which I find pretty tasty, and it's less than $1 per person even with all the good ingredients - but sometimes that has been a frustration point lately; I really need to learn how to think ahead for dinners!
Whew, that was a ton, I'm sorry if it's way too much! I've just been wanting to think out how we do it, so I guess you get the result of that. Right now we spend about $240 per month on food, but of course that's only with three of us, I'm sure it's much harder with five!!
Jamie
I use chatelaine.com for recipes- they have a "cheap budget" category which I like to use. So far all the recipes I've made from there turn out the best! Good luck Dana!
Okay, so the person who spends $240 on groceries...you are amazing. Unreal. I added up our receipts yesterday for January (of the receipts I could find, I know there were some missing); it came to $625. And this is what we didn't (or don't) buy:
- only toiletry was 1 tube cheap gel for hubby
- no diapers, pullups, or wipes (done with those!)
- no kleenex, etc
- no shampoo
- no feminine products (ever)
-no lunchable type products or prepackaged snacks for the kids
- much as I'd love to buy all organic, so not in the budget, so it's limited to apples & carrots for the most part
- that's all I can think of for now
I make almost all our food from scratch, with the exception of discount bread, some frozen meals (in a pinch and only if on sale)
BUT, here is where we spend:
- hubby eats 4-5 sandwiches with meat, cheese, lettuce, & tomato every day for lunch + 2-3 fruits
- we buy Kazia organic milk (I have issues with hormones/chemicals that affect human growth) & Neve drinks goat milk (they get some in cereal if we have cereal + 1/2 glass at supper that's it) & Neely doesn't get milk (hubby gets cheapo milk b/c he doesn't care)
- if we have pancakes - not too often, I won't buy Aunt Jemina syrup but serve the real thing
- we like cheese, unfortunately
And I can't think of anything else right now, plus this post is long enough. :)
Oh, and we don't meal plan, but I do try to make food from what we have. I may consider that though!
I realized a couple things that really keep our staple costs low...
1. We get flats of farm eggs locally at 2 dollars a dozen. It would be WAY more if we bought store bought free range organic eggs. We go through a flat or more a week.
2. Mark hunts so we rarely have to buy meat and it's pretty organic and grass fed!
I guess our grocery bill would be WAY more if we didn't do that. We usually spend between 650 and 700 a month and I guess it would be way more if we had to buy meat and eggs from the grocery store. I'm still really in need of meal planning skills though.
Our grocery bill (for 4ppl including ALL toiletries, prescriptions-which are rare, vitamins/probiotics, etc) is $350/mth...or is it $330? I can't remember...and we usually come in just under.
Tricks:
I've learned Superstore's "sale cycle" so I have an idea of which week each month, certain things will go on sale. Then, esp if it's a bulk/longlife/wholesale item I will stock up. The stuff never goes bad, you know?! (For example, if bread is on 50% off b/c it's going to expire the next day, I'll find the best quality and buy a ton of loaves then freeze them.)
We buy all produce from our local produce farm market so we're getting really fresh and it's as local as they are able to get - and cheaper...every time.
I don't buy anything pre-packaged. Period. Ok, tampons are an exception. :)
I make as much as possible from scratch...things like muffins for snacks are really cheap to make from scratch plus it's a great kiddie activity for those "is it too late to drown" weeks...which we have, too. (You may have read about our January.) Making stuff means you can put in everything YOU want, making it healthier too.
Rachael Ray has a great site w/ simple-to-make-meals on a budget. You can alter her recipes pretty easily too, so you can include/exclude what you want.
Hope that helps!
Ashleigh
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