funny you posted that! just this morning I was thinking "there must be a good recipe for making cat food out there", is yours soft of dry?
Printable View
funny you posted that! just this morning I was thinking "there must be a good recipe for making cat food out there", is yours soft of dry?
ALWAYS wet. Dry food is what I call "kitty crack". It's bad for them and addictive. . .like potato chips!
I do 60-70% raw meat (no pork unless cooked) The rest is fruit/veg, and either oatbran, oatmeal, or brown rice.Supplements added are calcium/magnesium (a MUST for bones/teeth) granular lecithin, nutritional yeast. . .and if there's not enough fat in the meat, I add olive and/or codliver oil. Once in awhile I stir in an acidophulus. They are both EXTREMELY healthy. Oh. and I keep the food moist like can cat food. I add whatever I have on hand. milk, sourcream (only if it's going bad.) Otherwise- just water. :)
Lately, I haven't been watching what I buy.
Don't really look for sales and go to the grocery store every other day.
There is only two of us in the house and I think we spend around $400/month. This includes my beer (about 3 cases a month - I always have people over and they drink my beer). So take 400-~120 = 280/month I guess. Funny thing is never eat at home on the weekend (my parents saturday and fiance's parents sunday). Where is all my grocery money going?
Last year we spent an average of $442 per month on food for two adults and one toddler. This doesn't include eating out (which we RARELY do anyways). It also doesn't count the cost for food for our small dog but I have been able to use lots of coupons and get lots of freebies for him. Most of our cleaning products, diapers, wipes, and personal products are purchased by stacking coupons at London Drugs so we save a fortune with that. I can't believe how low some people's grocery bills are here! I wish I could get mine lower but even using coupons and stocking up during sales I can't seem to reduce it much more. We do eat fairly healthy so I know that the majority of the money goes towards things like meat, milk, fresh fruit, and veggies which I am not willing to omit.
We want to start buying healthier foods too, but as you said...its expensive. I think we should lobby the Feds to offer a tax credit for healthy food purchases. Like for example, you buy from desginated health food stores or something like that and we can claim some of the cost per year on our taxes. Anyone with me on this, if you got the know how of how something like this would work....lets start something;):top:
WOW, I have to say I only buy about 200 bucks for groceries per month. That's only lunches and dinners. There are 2 adults living here. Mind you, I have to include here...my roommate in college was from a country where they didn't have a lot of food to go around and her mother was a chef on cruise ships so she taught me how to buy right and use absolutely every little piece of food. I thought she was nuts so I just gave her my 60 bucks and she went to the grocery store and then at the end of the month she told me the bill was 120 and we still had enough for a couple sandwiches and maybe a small dinner. She was VERY good at budgeting and cooking. Although, she was a much better cook than me and she never let us buy anything junky (I so hated her for that LOL). The 120 a month did not include our coffee or eating out which we did at the sub way once a month LOL the college days!!!!
As for now, I spend about 200 on food for 2 adults, about 150 for dog food when we don't have a litter or are not whelping, about 300 if we do have a litter or are whelping (only once a year for about 5 months), cleaning 15 dollars unless there is a litter and then it could be 100 a month (once a year for about 3 months), and then maybe another 25 on personal items.
WOW 390 on a normal month and 625 if were whelping.
I include meals out in this, my entertainment fund pays for the shows that I exhibit my dogs in...that's expensive enough LOL!
$750 a month
large glass beads
We pay about $400 for 2 adults. We have cut out our daily tim hortons now and we bought a kettle and coffee maker. That alone is saving us 40$ a month or so. I try to buy meat on sale and I am going to look for some veggies on sale to make veggie puree for cooking (my fiance hates veggies, so I am going to start hidding them in his dinner).
I am hoping that I can decrease this amount now that I am couponing. I have noticed a little difference I am getting more for the same amount that I normally spend.
Eating healthy is expensive :(
$250-300/mth for a single person on mostly organic food from Whole Foods.
we spend about $400/month on grocery alone for 2 adults and 2 kids...it's amazing how much the kids can eat...spend a lot on snacks and drinks for school...
About 550 per month for 2 adults and a pre teen. We dont buy a lot of processed foods or eat out frequently. I do try to buy the basics-fruit,veg,grains, meat, dairy either on sale or marked down when possible. It seems that coupons are generally more available for more expensive processed foods. We could certainly cut back if necessary by eating more vegetarian meals. We try hard not to waste leftovers.
Just noticed this thread. I want to clear one thing up about the US. I am from the US. Missouri to be precise. There is NO STACKING in the states. I don't know where people have gotten that from! Its just like up here. There are just WAY MORE coupons to be had down there then up here. The only type of "stacking" you can do is an "in store coupon" and your own manufacturer coupon. There are very few stores that actually have "in store coupons" and the ones I can think of off the top of my head are Walgreen's, Kroger/Gerbes stores, and Target. I think there is a few more but I don't know for sure. Its just like what we can do here at RCSS. Otherwise there is NO stacking allowed. That's one HUGE misconception of the states.
When I lived there I was an assistant manager for a store called Dollar General. Its like a smaller version of WM. Has everything from clothes to electronics..just on the cheaper side. We didn't get a lot of coupons and when we did get people who used them it was never to stack as that isn't acceptable in the states either. We actually are really lucky up here to be able to stack at LD (for those of you who have an LD since I don't).
The reason these people on the TLC show got all this stuff for free is because as you saw they look for coupons online, in stores, inserts, and they go to the recycling bins and get them from there as well. Also the amount on the coupons down there is usually more then what we get up here. For instance the Swiffer wetjet coupons we got were $2.50 and the ones they got in the inserts down there were for $5 bucks. That's a BIG difference. Also with some stores doing "double/triple" coupon days you get a hell of a lot more bang for your buck! But most stores ONLY double/triple coupons up to $2 at the most. And also EVERYTHING and I MEAN EVERYTHING (except diapers I have found) is cheaper down there. I've actually gotten diapers cheaper here in Canada then in the states WITHOUT coupons.
I buy 95% of my groceries in Missouri/Michigan when I go on my trips home. I buy ALL of my meat down there. I refuse to pay the price of meat up here unless I absolutely have to. I can spend $500 on groceries in the states that would cost me close to $1300 up here in Canada. That's a GINORMOUS difference. Its a good thing we have 2 fridges and a huge deep freeze because every time I come back they are FULL! I also buy most boxed/canned items down there as well. Its usually anywhere from 30%-50% cheaper down there for those items as well. I do of course have to buy ALL my milk, bread, fresh fruits/veggies up here or whatever we run out of before my next trip to the states. But it definitely saves us a ton of money.
I talked a bit more then I meant to LOL. I just wanted to say that please everyone stop thinking people can actually stack in the states..cause they really can't ;)
funny about the milk 'cause I only buy my milk in Detroit. I refuse to drink milk out of bags and pay upwards of 4$ when I can get it for 2$ a gallon there. I also buy eggs from Costco- 2pk/18 for 3$. some of the prices are amazing others not so much. also there's a lot I won't buy over there as I'm used to some of our brands in canada.
We spend $600 plus for 2adults 2kids 2dogs and 3 part time teens..We also entertain/cook for at least 4 others every week-end and sometimes during the week..I buy farm chickens in bulk and have bought whole cows when the teens were in the 'growing' years,we have 2 deep freezers and 3 fridges,when a sale and or coupon are fantastic I buy in bulk! We always have tons of fresh fruit and veg..the only junk I buy is with sales/coupons..We cook most meals at home,although we do chinese a few times a month..I also bake and host seasonal cookie making days..I quess our entertainment revolves around eating! And yes I am a UKE! LOL!
:)
we spend about 700 a month for myself, my boyfriend, his grandfather , our 2 year old daughter and a 100 lb black lab who eats a raw diet and lots of treats. We usually do 2 big shopping trips of about 300 dollars and then on the off weeks I usually do a run to the store for fresh fruit and veg, eggs and milk and often a couple sale items - maybe 40-50 dollars. We freeze meats and bread all the time as well as meat for the dog. We get meat for him from freecycle a few times a year, but if our stock is low we spend spend up to 80 dollars a month on him (he eats 2 lbs a day).
I use coupons and buy sales, but we still buy way too much convenience foods, because the boys in my house are big chip and chocolate fans and my boyfriend eats frozen lunches everyday that are about 3.00 each. I guess thats still better than eating out, but I wish he'd just eat leftovers for lunch like the rest of us!