What do you spend on groceries and other questions... - Page 2

[Chamomile Girl]

I have a question for posters here: Do stores do double coupons where you live? We used to coupon when we lived in L.A. because it was worth it with the doubling, but here there is nada. Plus it seems like the sales around here are crapity crap crap. I check the flyers every week for four local grocery chains and there is never anything listed that I eat (or that I can't get cheaper anyways at Costco or Trader Joes).

For example Safeway is having a sale right now on onions: ten pounds for ten dollars. Big whoop...ten pounds at Costco costs about four bucks. It seems like its always smokescreen stuff like that in the ads.

On the plus side Whole Foods let me stack some coupons there last week...so my $4 Yo Baby yogurt was only $2. Oy. Still, I stocked up.

[mnnice]

Originally Posted by Pigpen

I noticed that the poll was older but I didn't think prices had changed that much! Of course, 4 years ago, I just went shopping and didn't really ever look at prices... I can't believe I ever did that. I feel almost like a grown up now that I comparison shop. Also, I was just asking my husband how you spell Podunk. He said "I think it's just how it sounds", yup. Thanks for clearing that up for me

Please don't use me for spelling advice. I'm terrible. I also don't live in a tiny town (yet, we are moving a town of 1,700). I currently live in a town of about 80,000.

I just know my costs have gone up as a function of grocery prices, lifestyle (four years ago my kids ate 6 meals a week at daycare currently. I feed or pack all their meals), and appetite (a pair that is 8 and 5 eat way more than a pair that was 4 and 1).

[Denvergirlie]

Originally Posted by Pigpen

I'm actually saving up for one of these right now! I'm about 2 weeks away from ordering one...I'm glad to hear you like yours. I've been reading reviews and it sounds like a winner. Have you ever taken yours camping? The one I want says it will collapse so it sounds like it would work well for that.

We have a crown berkey, so it's the stainless, not the lexan plastic that is often more touted for camping, etc (Berkey light).

That being said, yes we have taken ours camping. But one issue we had is we were camping at over 10K in elevation and the speed that the water filtered was reduced due to gain in elevation. Plus the creek water we filtered had more sediment than we expected, so the filters clogged up as well.

It still worked, but we honestly just take water with us for most camping trips now instead of hauling the Berkey with us as well.

Good to hear you can get rid of that expense soon.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl

I have a question for posters here: Do stores do double coupons where you live?

No, and we don't actually have coupons much at all. There is no weekly coupon flyer, etc.

[greeny]

We live in a suburb just outside of Chicago.

We have recently decided to work HARD to pay off debt. Our goal is to spend no more than $100/month on groceries. Obviously, organics won't be bought often for the time being, but I just discovered our local Aldi has some good stuff, like frozen wild caught salmon for $3.99/lb. Some other stuff that looks good too.

[my2girlz]

Originally Posted by Pigpen

After reading everyone's posts...I'm re-thinking the coupon thing...would love to get stuff free! Probably a stupid question but...most coupons say you can't use them with other offers, so .50 cents off is the limit right? How does one get something for free?

You can combine store coupons with manufacturer coupons and then use them during a sale to get the most bang for your buck.

[lotus.blossom]

Some coupon advice....shop around for the right grocery store and ask about their coupon policy. Mine automaticly doubles any coupon under $1.00. I just LOVE .75 coupons! Thats where you get a lot of free stuff.
Also most coupons say one per product. Which means that if you have 5 coupons for spaghetti sauce you can use them to buy 5 jars of sauce.
The weekly sunday paper should always have coupon inserts. Its worth the $1.75 you spend. Also sellers on ebay will sell coupons (clipped from the sunday paper) in multiples of 10 15 or 20. I recently bought 20 sargento stringster .75 coupons. Found a BOGO sale and got them for about $1/pack. (they retail for about 5.99/pack)
Thats another tip- some stores will allow you to use 2 coupons for a BOGO sale. For instance they had Thomas English muffins BOG2 free and I used 3 $1off coupons and paid around 50 cents for 3 packs.
Internet printables are excellent too. Check out Smart Source, Red Plum, and coupons.com for all the latest coupons. Mambosprouts.com has organic coupons too!

And finally, most of the free stuff I get is from Rite Aid. If you've ever glanced at the flyer and threw it away, I don't blame you. It can be tricky. But once you figure it all out its an amazing way to get household and toiletries for free. You can stack coupons there like crazy!

[Nitenites]

Yes to what lotus said! Except I pay $1 for my Sunday paper, 'cause I get it at the Dollar Tree.

Most stores have their coupon policy on their websites, so start there. Master one store at a time. Every good deal that comes around will probably repeat eventually - don't freak out if you don't "catch" a great deal one week. You'll see something else eventually.

And yes, yes, yes to combining store coupons & manufacturer coupons. That's called stacking, and it's a GREAT way to save money and get things for free.

Call the 800# on the back of packages whose products you like. (I think I grammatically massacred that sentence.) Tell them you like their product, ask if they have a mailing list. It's a great way to get coupons sent to your door.

[ShwarmaQueen]

We spend $500/month on household (groceries, cleaning supplies, etc). I usually buy organic milk and some organic produce (if its on sale for a good price) and otherwise just mixed regular/organic.

[JollyPop]

Wow. I have about $50 to spend per week, ( sometimes for two weeks ) and that has to cover groceries and household necessities. I have to depend on Wal-Mart and dollar store food, because I have to drive two hours just to find tofu. And I miss it! Coupons do me no good because even with coupons the brand names are more expensive than the store brands here. *sigh* We eat a lot of dried beans!

[phathui5]

We budget $150 a week for groceries for our family of 6 (me, dh, 9yo, 7yo, 5yo and 3yo).

We drink water if we're thirsty. I buy one half-gallon of almond milk a week, which we use for cereal and cooking.

Breakfast is milk and cereal or oatmeal, or sandwich and fruit if we have somewhere to run to in the morning.

Lunch is simple, sometimes sandwiches. Stuff like fruit, cheese, carrots with hummus or peanut butter and apples.

We have meat with dinner two or three nights a week. When I buy meat, I stick with organic, so it isn't something that we eat every day.

[ikesmom]

I think a lot of this depends on what we consider a meal or what we are willing to do to stretch things. How many times we eat out too.

We usually spend $100-$120 per week on groceries and toiletries. It depends on how much meat we are buying. We are a family of 6, but we don't all eat every meal together. Our teen girls don't eat at our house everyday..some times it is only breakfast..then other days all 3 meals.

We have been really tight on money lately so we spend less. I am not seeing the bargins that were available a few weeks/months ago.

Now I spend $75 to $85 and we are eating whatever is on sale. I will serve rice and potatoes in the same meal if we have left overs to fill a plate and not waste things. We are eating bologna instead of ham if it isn't a good deal. We are using the cheap bread We are only doing chicken and pork if it is on sale..mostly chicken and I stretch it. Lots of beans and rice too.

We are managing on this budget ,but it doesn't feel great..stressful. I think that many people would feel bad for us if they knew how skimpy we have become..as I was a foodie snob not long ago. We also eat a lot of the same thing if that is what was the bargin buster at the store..example; peaches..I will serve them different ways , but try to use them a lot since they will spoil quickly.

[Jenn_M]

My grocery/household budget is $600/month. That's for 2 adults and 2 children.

Prices from central Iowa...
1 gallon of org milk ?? I'm guessing $5-6
1 gallon of non-org milk $2.79
5 lb bag org carrots ?? conventional $2.50
bulk rice 1 lb bag, $.89
1 lb butter reg. $2.59 org. around $5
wild caught Alaskan salmon $14.99, occasionally on sale for less
org/free range eggs $2.50

[kijip]

Originally Posted by greeny

We live in a suburb just outside of Chicago.

We have recently decided to work HARD to pay off debt. Our goal is to spend no more than $100/month on groceries. Obviously, organics won't be bought often for the time being, but I just discovered our local Aldi has some good stuff, like frozen wild caught salmon for $3.99/lb. Some other stuff that looks good too.

That is 66 cents per day per person. That is not going to work as a fish eating omnivore unless you have a pretty full pantry or are getting food for free somewhere. You could do oatmeal and grains on that but that budget is approaching a starvation diet in the USA.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Originally Posted by kijip

That is 66 cents per day per person. That is not going to work as a fish eating omnivore unless you have a pretty full pantry or are getting food for free somewhere. You could do oatmeal and grains on that but that budget is approaching a starvation diet in the USA.

Agreed! Somehow this slipped past me the first time and I thought it read $100 per week. Even one pound of salmon would take up a HUGE portion of a $25 a week budget. That's more than a days' worth of food budget.

[lotus.blossom]

I bet that $100/month was a typo. I didn't notice that either at first. You could eat a whole lot of Ramen noodles and koolaid on that budget!

[kijip]

Originally Posted by lotus.blossom

I bet that $100/month was a typo. I didn't notice that either at first. You could eat a whole lot of Ramen noodles and koolaid on that budget!

I hope so! But I have too often read of families actually angling for budgets that are far too low. Which, growing up poor and on food assistance I don't understand. Thankfully, I am super comfy now money wise. But even if I was not, I would feed my family first, period.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Originally Posted by kijip

I hope so! But I have too often read of families actually angling for budgets that are far too low. Which, growing up poor and on food assistance I don't understand. Thankfully, I am super comfy now money wise. But even if I was not, I would feed my family first, period.

Unless it was $100/month on top of food stamp money? I don't know. Wish that poster would come back and clarify!

[inthezoo]

In my area, I have not found any stores that stack coupons. Many coupons and sales have limits that don't allow for stocking up.

We eat strictly organic and use organic personal care items too (toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and the like) Something else that brings our grocery bill above average is that we are gluten, dairy and soy free due to food sensitivities. We feel strongly that feeding our family the best we can is the most important investment we can make for our children's lives in the long run.

I buy most of our groceries from Azurestandard.com and I buy it bulk. I buy most of our supplements and toiletries from Frontier Wholesale. This one was more difficult because the minimum to get free shipping is high so I have had to time my orders to about 6 months worth of supplies at a time so it takes some saving up. Some things buy from Amazon such as powdered rice milk, gluten free pretzels, yummy earth suckers and kippers because the case price is hugely cheaper on subscription.

I grew up very poor and my mother shared her worry of whether or not we could afford our next meal with us children and that caused me to have a deep need to stock pile food and toilet paper

We do buy organic produce from the store as needed and belong to a local gleaning organization to supplement our produce bill. I buy my eggs, organic and farm fresh from a friend for $2 a dozen.

My estimate is that we spend about $900 a month on food for 5 of us and I am trying to bring that down. This month was hard because our stove broke and we had a week of eating out more than usual. I'm working on tracking all our expenses more closely than I have been and trying to avoid sending dh to the store for this or that on the way home which is what really breaks the bank.

[OkiMom]

Our food budget is between 300-400 a month for our family of 4 (me, DH, DD1 3 and DD2 1). We don't eat organic its to expensive and somewhat hard to come by. I do cook a lot from scratch. I wish we had the opportunity to get some items at least organic but cost isn't going to happen so I just do what I can. As long as everyone has a full belly that is my most important concern. The budget includes all household/personal supplies including the razors my husband needs for work and any extra things he might have to get for training. We eat all our meals at home and I pack lunches for my husband so he isn't tempted to eat lunch out.

Costs here(these are approx. I didn't want to pull out my old receipts and check them):
1 gallon of org milk ?? No idea, conventional milk is around 3ish for a half gallon. They don't sale gallons over here.
5 lb bag org carrots No idea, they don't have them. its about 1.00-1.25 for a 1 lb bag of regular carrots.. usually i can get baby carrots for .99 for a pound so I get those when I want carrots (cheaper and already precut for me)
bulk rice 1 lb bag, around 1.00 I think.. I don't get 1 lb bags very often, I usually will get the 15 lb bag.
1 lb butter reg. probably 2.50, organic you can't get. Last time they had it here I don't remember the price but I remember thinking "who the heck can afford that"
wild caught Alaskan salmon again can't get over here. regular salmon frozen is around 8ish for 8 ounces I think. Id have to look. I get my fish out in town but we never get Salmon. I can get some nice freshly caught fish at the fish market for cheaper than I can buy in the commissary, I just don't know very much Japanese and have to be careful not to get the wrong stuff.
org/free range eggs Can't get them in the commissary, regular eggs in the commissary is around 2ish for a dozen. If I want to take a drive I can go to the egg shop out in town and get I think 2 dozen free range eggs for around 400 yen (like 5.50 or so)

inthezoo- My family wasn't poor but my parents couldn't manage money so there were times we didn't have food in the cupboard and didn't have money to buy food. I hated the nagging hungry feeling growing up, or not having food to take the school and having to lie to the teacher and say you forgot the lunch your parents packed. I like to have a stockpile of food around as well. I get panicky if I open the freezer/fridge/pantry and there isn't at least a weeks worth of good meals and several weeks worth of ok meals at any given times. It use to drive my husband nuts until he realized how important it was to me and now he will suggest going to the store for things if he realizes we are starting to get low. I don't stockpile TP though, maybe its because I always get the big packs and those take us like 2-3 months to go through so it feels like I'm stockpiling!