How much $$ do we spend on dinner?

[gracesmommy]

i do hamburger helper a fair bit, but instead of ground beef i use lean ground turkey and add tons of veggies (onions mushrooms peppers, peas etc) to bulk it up. pretty inexpensive and filling.

[hollyquaiscer]

We are empty nesters too, but it seems more often than not we have at least 1 person here for dinner. Usually the youngest, sometimes a whole brood. If its just the 2 of us, it's so easy for me to make a great healthy meal under $5. If we have 3 or more, it may be under, but with the extras it is usually over. Tonight we are having cabbage rolls (homemade of coarse) cucumber 7 onion salad and home made bread. Total cost of the meal for 2 of us is about $4.00 There are enough cabbage rolls left over to do another 3 meals. My bread is always cheap. Since I am a Celiac and cannot have gluten, I'm really limited and make everything from scratch. I also make my dh his bread, so everything is purchased in bulk and a loaf of bread runs about .75 and last 3 or 4 days. I also go to my neighbourhood SW evenings about 8pm and the butcher is marking down the fish, chicken and other meats to 50% I purchase salmon for about $3.50 (enough to serve us both), lean ground beef, whole chickens, roasts, and so much more at half price. I seperate and freeze everything immediately when I get it home, and I have never had a bad piece of meat. I will also buy meat at costco once in a while.

Nothing gets wasted at my home. Roasted chiken becomes chicken soup or stew (bones have made the broth), any leftover veggies and meat are transformed within 2 days to something totally different. I also try and plan most of my meals around the items in my pantry and freezer.

[dreamcatcher1962]

just marking this thread for later

[BC Gal]

Good thread Last night's supper was pretty cheap - Gardein was .99¢, potatoes about .50¢, and veggie sauce ingredients about .60¢, so just over $2.00 for two people. Tonight supper is Olymel at about .49¢, sweet potato fries about .99¢ and brussel sprouts .49¢, so just under $2.00 for two.

[Shaunah]

Just found this thread! I recently left my job, so staying on budget is even more important now. It's just myself and my husband at home, with a dog and a cat. We've had a $75 weekly ($300/month) grocery budget over the past few years, that includes all food, toiletries, and paper items.

We stay on budget by subscribing to a $20 monthly food box that is full of fresh produce, we grow our own garden, and freeze extra's to eat during the winter, we use coupons to get as many things as possible for free or nearly free, and we use the $3 off $10 bulk barn coupons to restock our mason jar pantry with grains, legumes, and baking items. Everything is cooked from scratch in our house, and I make a bulk dish every Sunday to eat for lunches Monday to Friday. I don't eat meat and can't have dairy, but the husband is a meat and potatoes guy. We buy meat when it is on special and freeze leftovers. We also get free eggs from my husbands parents as they have chickens.

We have a "treat" rule, where each week we get to pick something extra for each of us. I usually get coconut water or real-fruit Popsicles, and my husband gets chocolate or frozen orange juice.

[Sunraven]

I've been trying to keep us at $5/day.

Crazy I know, it's just my husband and me, so I've been able to do it most days.


Mon - Fri

Breakfast
Cereal - $0 - tons of free cereal from past quaker promos, Kellogg's FPCs etc
Milk - right now $0 (thank you liberte FPCs) but usually $4/week
Quaker Oatmeal - $0, thanks to the many FPCs and last year's oatmeal MIR
Yogurt - $0 Chobani, Asana and more recently Liberte FPCS
Coffee for him - no free coffee at work for him so I use 3 scoops of coffee every day to fill his travel mug.
Coffee for me - we get free coffee at work so I just have it when I get to work instead.
International Delight - one bottle lasts about 2 weeks and costs about $3.50 when it's on sale.

Lunch
I batch cook our lunches and freeze them to make them last the entire week. I rotate between stews, curry's, fried rice, chowmein, chili etc.

Dinners
I stalk the freezer section of grocery stores for marked down items, usually they have 1-2 days left before expiry, so I buy, bring them home, separate and freeze immediately. I love finding marked down fish, the prices are really good.

Spices kill my budget though.


Weekend
We indulge in a hearty eggs/toast/bacon/sausage breakfast together with a big pot of coffee, so that pushes us over our budget but it's so worth it.

[Craiger]

$5.00 a day!!! That's awesome.

I've been trying to keep us at $5/day.

Crazy I know, it's just my husband and me, so I've been able to do it most days.


Mon - Fri

Breakfast
Cereal - $0 - tons of free cereal from past quaker promos, Kellogg's FPCs etc
Milk - right now $0 (thank you liberte FPCs) but usually $4/week
Quaker Oatmeal - $0, thanks to the many FPCs and last year's oatmeal MIR
Yogurt - $0 Chobani, Asana and more recently Liberte FPCS
Coffee for him - no free coffee at work for him so I use 3 scoops of coffee every day to fill his travel mug.
Coffee for me - we get free coffee at work so I just have it when I get to work instead.
International Delight - one bottle lasts about 2 weeks and costs about $3.50 when it's on sale.

Lunch
I batch cook our lunches and freeze them to make them last the entire week. I rotate between stews, curry's, fried rice, chowmein, chili etc.

Dinners
I stalk the freezer section of grocery stores for marked down items, usually they have 1-2 days left before expiry, so I buy, bring them home, separate and freeze immediately. I love finding marked down fish, the prices are really good.

Spices kill my budget though.


Weekend
We indulge in a hearty eggs/toast/bacon/sausage breakfast together with a big pot of coffee, so that pushes us over our budget but it's so worth it.

[Craiger]

Tonight we are having...
pork roast (bought a couple of weeks ago from no frills dollar sale) $2.63
Corn on the cob (4 cobs from walmart) $1.00
Mini Potatoes (1 bag from Walmart) $1.00

All for a total of $4.63

[BC Gal]

Last night was Bassili lasagna $2.99 with garlic toast (grew the garlic myself), and a small spinach salad from the garden. I love the savings and taste of homegrown fruits and veggies

[2010ontest]

I try to stay under 100$ a week for grocery shopping (including more than food... tp, soap, and everything) and we are 6.
So I don't have just the price for food, but the average amount per day for everything here is 14.28$...
I assume I must do majority of my dinner under the 5$ mark.

[BC Gal]

How much does the rest of the world spend a week on food? Check it out: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2RW23n...d-in-one-week/

[Craiger]

Thanks for the link!

How much does the rest of the world spend a week on food? Check it out: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2RW23n...d-in-one-week/

[Brandy Hunter]

How much does the rest of the world spend a week on food? Check it out: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2RW23n...d-in-one-week/

OMG! Look at Egypt! for 68$!

[Jody22002]

Love this thread.

We are a family of five....2 adults and three teenagers. Plus, we have an animal rescue and have had up to 14 animals at any given time(Right now, we have three very large dogs and 5 cats). I try and keep the monthly budget for everything, including food for us, pet food, laundry and household, etc) under 300.00 a month so, roughly, 75.00 a week. I have a couple of advantages that other people don't have though. For one, our CO-OP has a once a month Double Coupon Day(used to be weekly...sigh) and my Sobeys has the most awesome meat clearance rack!! Because I live so close to it, I check it pretty much daily. Recent scores: 1.00 Mapleleaf Bacon, 1.00 Marc Angelo Kabobs per pack, 5.00 boxes of Chicken Breasts and today's score, whole chickens for around 2.50 each(4.00ish -1.50 coupons. I bought ten).

BEFORE coupons, I probably spend about 1000.00 a month(we eat well!) but with Double Coupon Day, it is pretty easy for me to stay under the 300.00. We grow our own garden and I probably spend about 20.00 a week of my budget at the farmer's market.

I add veggies to EVERYTHING. If I am making tacos, I only used 1lb of ground beef for all of us. I added peppers, rice, beans, etc and serve it with a great big salad!!

[BC Gal]

OMG! Look at Egypt! for 68$!

That one surprised me as well. They get a lot of meat for that amount of money; as much as the German family that is spending $500.00 (mind you in most countries the cost of living is relative to the average income).