grocery budget

[Shwa Girl]

We are a family of 5, twins 11 and 5yr old all boys, our grocery budget including cleaning supplies and personal care items, tp, etc. is $400/mo

Up until 2 months ago I had to go to the food bank as well and our cupboards were always empty, thanks to couponing they are now full and I stopped going to the foodbank

I find that our local grocery store sells chicken for cheap, I go to farmers market down the street for fruit and veg and go to the local bakery and buy the day old bread and freeze it for .50-1.00ea, everything else is usually bought on coupon or good sales, I do a lot of flyer matching

Great transformation!
From going to the food bank occasiionally to being able to have a "bank" of food at home. Will be great when you are able to share your stock pile with the food bank, eh?

Great to read your story!

[ahatt]

It's just my Dh & I, and we spend $300 (sometimes a bit less) each month. That includes food, personal hygiene items, cleaning, etc. Our dining out budget is totally separate.

[Lillon]

I love to cook and my family and I love to cook from scratch and i do buy my fruits,veggies ,meat ....at Ethnic grocery store to save money on top of shopping at costco or RCSS . couponning is now helping me on saving on non food items. i live with my 2 sister and my mom -3 adults 1 teen and we tend spend 200 for food only ,we can even go down to 150 at times if we want . If have to add everything pre-couponing we spend around $400 to $500 a month. i started couponning this month so I'll see how everything go

[cheapass]

We're two adults and a toddler, and we're spending about $350 a month. But a year ago before I started being careful with money, it was about $1,000 (not including restaurants! don't even get me started). We pretty much don't eat out anymore (maybe once a month we'll get Subway or something for lunch) but we still have diapers and other baby stuff to buy, and still eat lots of fresh produce. I also have issues with touching raw meat, so I tend to think it's worth it to pay for meat that's boneless/cut into pieces already. And I have a stockpile of personal items and cleaning supplies that will last me at least until the end of the year (I won't even tempt myself with looking at shampoo coupons at this point).

[cheapass]

and our cupboards were always empty, thanks to couponing they are now full

I know exactly what you mean! A year ago we were spending $1,000 a month to have bare cupboards. Now we've cut that by more than half and have so much food!

[LadyDealFinder]

Wow,
I think i spend a little over $300-400/mth on myself, but that would include going out to eat.
Although I dont' know the last time i've cooked, haha.
But when I buy stuff, it's not eating lavish, I'm asian, so chinese food works for me. One $5.00 combo can last me a lunch, dinner and next day breakfast! lol.

[tennyis]

Myself, Wife and 3 boys. In the other half of the duplex is my father, brought and niece. My father and niece almost always eat dinner with us.

We avg around $1,000 a month in groceries.... now that i'm on this site and my wife is looking for deals as well we are hoping to cut that way down. We spend a lot of that on high end meats from the butcher just down the road which i'm going to stop doing and make that for a weekend bbq only kind of deal.

[cheapass]

I'm all about the pink sticker meat at Superstore. Is that gross (everyone I mention it to makes a face)? It's usually still a day or two before expiring, and I just pop it in the freezer when I get it home. We have a lot more variety than we did when I was shopping sales, and can afford fancier meats than we could before too.

[ahatt]

I don't think it's gross at all! If it doesn't look slimy to me, and doesn't expire for a day or two...it's good to me!

I'm all about the pink sticker meat at Superstore. Is that gross (everyone I mention it to makes a face)? It's usually still a day or two before expiring, and I just pop it in the freezer when I get it home. We have a lot more variety than we did when I was shopping sales, and can afford fancier meats than we could before too.

[scrapbookingoasis]

I'm all about the pink sticker meat at Superstore. Is that gross (everyone I mention it to makes a face)? It's usually still a day or two before expiring, and I just pop it in the freezer when I get it home. We have a lot more variety than we did when I was shopping sales, and can afford fancier meats than we could before too.

I do this too - picked up 5 steaks today

[cheapass]

I got a steak big enough to cut into 3 pieces a couple weeks ago for about $1.50, and it was delicious. I actually can't remember the last time I bought meat without a pink sticker or using a coupon or both.

I do draw the line at the shriveled up, soggy, pink sticker produce, though.

[Scootchidoo]

We are a family of 4, one teenager, one preteen in Ontario. We currently spend about $350 every two weeks. I'm working on getting that down. My goal is $50-100/week, but that is going to take some time.

[spiggsy]

As a comparison I spend about $180 per week for just my wife and I. I must admit that I am terrible food snob, and that cost includes about $50 - $75 a week in premium cut meats.

[lovelikewinter3]

I don't feel so bad anymore. I just started really looking at saving money (I used to be a pro, but new to couponing for sure). For the past 6-12 months, been spending 900-1200 a month on groceries for 3 adults, 1 6-7 year old. Now my goal for this month is to spend less than 800$ and we'll see from there. Lots of fresh foods, veggies, fruit, etc. So we'll see how low we can go!

[ashedfc]

Grocery prices were at a generational low; they have now just started going up.
Unless, an individual is prudent in his/her spending habits, grocery bill will rise.
Its already happening, higher gas prices & natural disasters worldwide (flood, drought, etc), has already started to impact grocery bill, specially milk, fruits,...... etc.. The problem is once food inflation starts, its hard to control & Govt's are helpless in this,

So, its important to change shopping habits, dining-out lifestyle, & maybe cook more at home, & save more for the tough times..