Does anyone want to track their September food spending together? - Page 7

[*green*faery*]

Our total for the first week is $142. My budget is $400 for the month & we are going out of town for a few days at the end of the month, but I'm remaining optimistic...

[grisandole]

I'm joining in! I have not been able to stick to a grocery budget, and need to. We never eat out, and I cook all meals, we have very few packaged/conveince foods, yet our food budget is VERY high; mainly due to buying orgainc, free range meat....it's pricey! We also buy mostly organic veggies.

I live in a rural area of AZ, and IMO things are expensive here. What I'm going to do is save all my recipts and figure out WHAT is costing so much....

For example, I went to Safeway (chain market) a few days ago and spent 30.89....all I got for that was six bags of frozen veggies (organic, 1-lb bags), 1 lb of bananas, an onion, a bag of organic apples, a bag of raisins and a bag of dried crannberries. All of this was eaten in two days....veggies with dinner, raisins, bananas, apples, and cranberries for snacks. So, for healthy snacks and side dishes (not including breakfast and lunch!), I'm spending almost 15/day for a family of four. Yikes!

We are GFCF and also try to avoid eating lots of grains and fillers, which is probably why my food budget is so high. But I would like to find ways to cut it.

So far, I've spent 253.00 this month, though that does include about 25.00 in vitamins/toothpaste.

[Ravin]

Well, I went to Albertson's today, and decided there were a few things I should get at TJ's instead so back there.
Albertson's: $31.86 (this included 10 boxes of General Mills cereals, popcorn, and fruit snacks that were on sale for $1/box if you bought 10 boxes, so it was actually over $65 in groceries)
TJ's: $41.34

Total for the month: $128.98

The up side of this is that I now have enough stuff to last most of the month. We'll need more milk and bread, but not much else.

[oneKnight]

Had to pick up some chips to make tacos with, add $2 to my grocery bill this paycheck for a total of $76.00

[SRHS]

Spent 6.50 at eh farmers market yesterday
DH spent 12.74 EATING OUT!!!!

So...our total so far is: 185.95...so I have $114.05 to go for this half of the month...I'm WAY under budget even iwth DH's splurge...this is good, maybe I can save $200/month by trimming our budget to $200/every two weeks.

Sus

[michelle524]

1

[hlkm2e]

I went to Giant Eagle yesterday and today because they are doubling $1 coupons and I have been hoarding them for months waiting! I spent $125, but saved.......$94! And I swear I did not buy stuff we don't usually use. The exception is I got several things for free, so I bought them but didn't have to pay for them. I ended up getting old fashion Quaker oatmeal for free (to make cookies) and then I got 3 South Beach frozen meals free (for my mom when she visits) I had $1 coupons for organic valley cheese that doubled so I bought 2 yesterday and 2 today and will try to make it back again tomorrow. They freeze well and it is too good of a deal to pass up.

[Ruthiegirl]

Oh no. This has not gone as well as I was expecting. Our youngest, Edgar, spent the last few days in the hospital for a bacterial infection. He is mostly well and is home again, but this difficulty threw things out of whack in our home. I was with Edgar and dh fended for himself well enough, but spent quite a bit on convenience food and take out. I just got back from the grocery where I spent too much buying lots of lovely fruit and comfort food.

This was a good reminder for me that vigilance is crucial to keeping the budget, but that our budget is secondary to our family's health and happiness.

I think we have spent about $225 on food.

[Red]

half and half, and 2 pints of ice cream (for dh, who's addicted!) $9.50
Laundry det and supplies $5.50
subs for dd, dh and I on her moving into college day, $20.
(secret breakfast for me at Mcd's when I forgot to eat, $3.96)

$39

For a total of $239

I have toget some things tomorow, so there will more!:

[rainbowmoon]

I had to make a run to the grocery store today...

what I bought;

bananas
2 gallons milk
18 eggs
2 lbs pinto beans
1 lb lentils
2 lbs carrots
3 green peppers
peas
broccoli
1bag of onions
10 lbs flour **this was on sale**
veg oil
5lb rice
2 cartons juice
3 cans tomato paste
hamburger buns
1 can pumpkin
8ozshredded cheddar

and for our splurges..
for the DC 1 box of ice cream sandwiches.
for me 6pk of beer.

today's total=$40.16+$96= grand monthly total so far of $136.16

[mnnice]

Ok We are up to $73 eating out and $82 at home.

DH will be out of town most of this week. His meals will be included in his expense report, so technically this should keep expenses lower, but it rarely really works that way.

[phroggies]

Well, folks, I'm really glad that I signed up for this, because otherwise I'd probably stop tracking right now. It's too depressing.

Our current monthly total is $418.51. Since our monthly budget is $500, this may present a bit of a problem.

So far the distribution for the month (sticking with the largest categories):

Meat 27%
Produce 15%
Dairy 13%
Grains & Legumes 8%

Clearly, my role in this thread is to make everyone else feel better. Gah.

[Red]

*sigh* Why did I think tracking my spending would be fun???

Ok, $31. today. Got many, many tomatoes! I'm drying them for Tomato Pesto. I'll be doing this every day for the next week or so...unless it freezes tonight, but they're on sale everywhere. Not to mention the ones in my garden.

I also needed Parmesean cheese and garlic, to make pesto, lots of basil in the garden too!

More walnuts, $11.00 for two pounds. Also for the pesto.

Ok, for cookies and brownies too!

Bananas were on sale for $.25 a lb!

So, $270, so far. (2 adults, 2 hungry teens, one college student who keeps coming home to eat and visit!)

phroggies, you need a few pasta meals or rice and bean burritos!

[Amys1st]

So now that we are almost mid month, what has anyone learned??

I dont include dining out in the budget since its part of another expense and already budgeted. We do it so infrequently anyhow and the same for take out.

[Ravin]

We could use more cheese and we're going to need more bread and soymilk before the month is out. What have I learned? We need more money!

Seriously, I'm going to go donate plasma this week because DH and I are totally broke until next month.: Bills, gas, food, and nothing left.

[mom2olivia]

I have never EVER tracked my grocery spending or set a budgeted amount. So this month I am trying to be frugal and figure out what exactly we do spend a month on food, so I know its not a "true" representation of previous months because I'm trying not to spend willy nilly. I've still purchased some junk items like a bag of chips one week and some soda, but I've cut out most junk items. My dd has surprised me with her eating lately and she has started eating what I've been giving her at night . I've stayed away from most of the frozen foods I was buying, though I did end up with some burritos this week....but I think I can make my own, which I like more anyway.

The biggest benefit I've found is to actually plan meals. So I'm trying to look at the weekly sales flyers and then figure a meal plan based on the sales and its helping a great deal. I work full time, so homemade stuff is a challenge...but I managed to make a few homemade treats and that was a decent cost saving measure.

[aishy]

I havent kept up well over the weekend.

total up to end of last week - 84
+thursday lunch @ the mall - 7 (i've been rounding off a lot, so it's approx #s)
+friday kroger for stuff - 20
+craving sonic saturday 3
+ craving sonic saturday 3

And i am not yet sure what my husband spent last night, he went to target for breakfast stuff sine I havent made it to Sams yet. (i'm sick this week, bleh).
total w/o target last night -- 117
total w/ target last night - 137

ouch. but i really can't think of anything else we need to buy this week, other than the boys pizza on thursday. We'll need bread by the weekend, but we had milk frozen from a sale so that is in the fridge defrosting.

aisling

[Red]

Originally Posted by Ravin

What have I learned? We need more money!

Seriously, I'm going to go donate plasma this week because DH and I are totally broke until next month.: Bills, gas, food, and nothing left.

I think I learned the same as you! Just need more dough. I'd donate plasma if I knew where and how!

I bought potato chips on sale today, along with dh's chocolate, cat and dog food. Came to $19. Can't remmeber if I'm tracking pet food or not! I think not, so it's just $6!

$276 for the 1/2.

[pixie-n-hertwoboys]

add another 116 for enough groceries for 2 weeks. I'll prob. only need basics next week like milk, bread, eggs. I've got enough dinners and lunches.

total for me for the half is - 258.79

[mamimapster]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

So now that we are almost mid month, what has anyone learned??

I dont include dining out in the budget since its part of another expense and already budgeted. We do it so infrequently anyhow and the same for take out.

I managed to keep myself from getting food while out 3 days in a row (this includes "convenience" stuff at the grocery). I also will be keeping on budget for this week ( I think).