Grocery Bill

Jess! I couldn't remember who gave me the idea of the envelope method! But I knew it was somebody here! I'm so glad you mentioned it!

After I responded up above, I sat down and I decided to make a slight change to the way I do things. I'm going to combine the envelope method with Shelley's idea. I'm still going to take the same amount out at the beginning of the month, but each WEEK, I will only put a fraction of that amount in my envelope (the rest will stay savely locked in my fire safe in my closet until the next week). What I was finding was happening....I would spend 2/3 of the $260 in the first 2 weeks of the month, then by the end, I'm scraping!

I LOVE THIS THREAD! :)

Gayle
 
Great ideas for budgeting ladies, thank you.
Kelly,
What program do you use to budget on the computer? Sorry I'm not the best with computers so it's probably something that I already have and don't even know:p I think it would really help to show us on paper how much we actually spend on things(and don't know we are spending, those darn debit cards).
 
I think it was from a Larry Burkiett's money management book, my Mom was the budgeting queen when I was growing up! :) Thanks for the reminder to do it again, it really is a great way to keep track of spending!! Love the idea to put some of it away too!

I love this thread too, anything on budgeting/ saving money is right up my alley! ;-)
 
Hi Lori! On average I spend $1,000 a month. I have a 16 yr old son who eats me out of house & home!!! :O I don't do take out either. I have no idea how to cut back as I don't buy any "junk". If you find an answer, let me know. LOL Kathy
 
I spend around $800-$900 per month for two of us. I include supplements in this total (flax seed oil, protein powder, GLA, CLA, protein bars, etc.) I typically shop at Whole Foods as I prefer their produce and meat/fish to my other local health food stores.
Lorrayne
 
Oh, and I guess I should add that we buy a 1/4 side of beef every fall that lasts us a long time also, so I don't buy any beef at the grocery store. (can't stand it after getting used to the lean beef we get!) And my dh hunts so we eat venison too. ;-)
 
I live on the eastern end of Long Island, and there are five of us (DH and DD13 DD11 DS9 and me). I spend AT LEAST $1000 a month on groceries, including stuff like detergent, dry goods, dog food etc. There are some things that I am willing to scrimp on, but fresh fruit and vegetables are not one of them. I make sure we have plenty of those around and these seem to be what costs alot. In the summer, we have a garden and eat out of that for many months though...its definitely hard.
 
Just for DH and I, we shop at Sam's maybe once a month or once every two months and spend +/-$200 for bulk items (dry foods, frozen foods, meat, toiletries). Other than that, we shop at the local natural grocery store for fruits/veggies and milk and spend $20-30/weekly. I love that place, you can walk out with a cart full of fresh food for $20! We eat out maybe 5 times a year or less.
 
I spend $1000 to keep the household running. We are four people, two dogs, a cat and fish. These $1000 include everything: cleaning supplies, pet foods, vitamins, tooth paste/brushes, and even a pair of socks or underwear. I shop every two weeks, with once a week trips for milk, salad and fruits. A home-cooked dinner for four runs usually between $10 and $12. If we have a steak dinner, then it's about $30 for us four. If we go out to Applebees it's usually $100 and we do not even buy alcohol, so eating at home is A LOT cheaper.

I tried to cut down the amount before but nobody wants to eat a spaghetti dinner once a week. We have meat every day (not particularly my choice) and eat mostly potatoes in all kinds of varieties. Potatoes are really expensive now. I also use one bag of frozen vegetables with each dinner and these are more expensive now, too. Heck, EVERYTHING is more expensive lately.

I have about one months of extra food in my cabinets/freezer and I am trying to build it up to at least three months. My goal is to have one day six months worth of extra groceries, just in case something??? happens.
 
I don't even want to say how much we spend. I feel like I'm buying food constantly even though I make a weekly menu and have one major grocery trip a week. we eat out some and it can add up fast. we do try to watch that. I also spend extra for organic fruits/vegis and milk and all natural meats. (sometimes organic meat). I try not to buy much processed foods but somehow we still spend a ton of money on food. ? my two boys and my DH eat like they have bottomless pits in their stomachs. I also like to give my boys berries etc and they eat a lot of fruits that add up fast.
 
We spend around 500-600 a month in grocery store food! We usually eat out only once a week(on my cheat day,LOL). so if I was to include that i would say add another 120. And this is for DH,Me,DD(6)and DS(2):eek:
 
We eat a lot of rice. We have a rice cooker that is constantly running. I find it hard to keep potatoes they always go bad on me.

I couldn't imagine having more than one man in the house let alone teenage boys eck! Men and growing boys can eat a ton. With our menu there is pizza on it at least twice a week. I make the dough in the bread machine and do all the rest. I will make one pizza for myself that will last for 3 more meals and he will eat an entire full size pizza to himself in one sitting then ask for dessert! He is not overweight and works construction so when he gets home he is starved and goes to town.

I made pizza with ground chicken, feta, and veggies and it turned out really good.
 
We spend about 400/month for a familiy of 5. The same amount we spend on gas!!!!!!!!! I guess we're not doing too bad. ;)

~Melanie~

Jadon born 11/23/05
Justin born 1/17/04
Jory born 4/9/94
 
I spend around $250 a month. It's just me and my two cats.

*♥´¨)
¸ .• ♥ ´¸.•*♥´¨) ¸.♥•*¨)
(¸.•♥´ (¸ ;.♥•Jennie•♥


Smoke free since: 2/05/08
 
Our bill is usually $800 for 4, and we eat all meals at home except luunches for kids, which I pack for them, and we alway eat out on Sundays at lunch. That also covers your basic Walmart supplies (tp, paper towels, etc.). I have noticed about a 20% increase over the last 4 months. Not a welcome change either.
 
Hi,

I was just complaining when I spent 420 at Costco last weekend when I went. I average about $1000 maybe a little less for my husband, myself, and 2 boys 19 & 21. We rarely eat out and I don't buy any processed food. That includes soap and other household items.

I agree on price increases; things at Costco have gone up 20-30% in the last few months. Every week another item goes up in price.

Tracy
 
Hi, 3kids-

I use the Microsoft Money that came loaded on my computer when I bought it. I've been using it since 2000 (I just save my data to a cd and load it into the computer again when we get a new one) and I love all the information I get. Basically I don't have a paper check book or budget. All of our accounts are entered into Microsoft Money and I enter in checks, debit and credit card expenses in the proper places and balance my account statements to those records. The program lets me create a budget with whatever categories I want, and then when I enter in a receipt I click which category it applies to and, viola, I have an up to date report at all times of how much money I've spent on any given category throughout the month! You can link it up to the internet to connect to your bank/banks, but I don't do that.

I look at the budget report at the end of every month to see how we did, especially on sticky categories like dining out and miscellaneous (my term for anything "fun"). If I notice I'm constantly over budget in something, then we either come up with a plan to cut back or redistribute the income to accomodate. It's really a great way to see long term trends with just a different click of the mouse--in seconds.
 
Hmm, kind of embarrassed to admit this. I'm pretty sure I spend at least $300 a week on groceries.... That's for a family of 4 (two 30-something, 1 5-year old, 1 2-year old). I do like to get a lot of organic, cage-free, etc. stuff that costs a bit extra. Also, I live in NY state not far from NYC--maybe a pricier place.

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=green]***Lainie***
fitness blog: http://fitnessfig.blogspot.com
http://bestsmileys.com/exercising/7.gif
If you want to give God a good laugh, tell Her your plans.[/font]
 
It's just me and my husband, and we spend about $700 a month. I live in Northern Va, and it's expensive!

But, I also just found a website called The Grocery Game(www.thegrocerygame.com) that tracks food sales and publishes a list of what coupons to use at which store. The women on there all say that they've cut their spending in half, or more. I joined for the trial period, and see if it works for us (I'm a vegetarian, and don't buy a lot of processed foods).

By the way, I have no monetary interest in that website! :) But the deals these women get is AMAZING! Like, a lot of them say they feed a family of four for about $200 a month :eek:
 
I have been using The Grocery Game for the last 2 1/2 years and save an average of 40-45% on groceries. I have a good sized stockpile of supplies in the pantry which are coming in very handy right now as my DH has been laid-off last 6 weeks. Grocery bills for the last month for the two of us have been around $50 a week since only buying manditory items and using up the stockpile. Very glad its here.

I find buying whole chickens or beef roasts on sale then boiling, shreading, and freezing in smaller packets (about 1/2 a sandwich bag) is a easy and cheaper way of getting some meat into meals. Just use one packet with lots of veggies and rice/potatoes give the look of meat but healthier.

I also have a veggie garden every year and fruit trees. (If the darn snow would melt I could get it going for this year) Veggies gardens can be grown almost anywhere there is sun and water available. They could even be planted in along with the landscaping.

We also have chickens for the fresh eggs. The cost is a tad more for homegrown but fresh eggs are SOOOO much better than store bought. Since we get so many eggs, we eat quite a bit and they are high in protein. Just a couple hens can be raised almost anywhere using a chicken tractor. http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html (just wouldn't have a rooster in town and make sure not rules against raising chickens in your city)

Diane
 
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