How much do you spend on groceries?

[Valerey]

hmm see then this wouldn't be a good deal for us because we don't really like dark meat and we also don't like drumsticks. I think its caveman like (laugh at me if you will DH did) and I can't remember what DH said about them besides the fact that he doesn't like them either.

We're both boob people

Same here. We don't eat the dark meat (too fatty, and I just don't like it... ick!), don't eat the drumsticks, and take into account that if you're paying per pound, you've got a lot of what I just mentionned plus the fat and the bones being added into the price. I really think that if you can get breasts (or boobs, lol) at $2.88 or so, it would work out to about the same price, without the labour of de-boning, skinning, and bagging.

[SassyAshley]

There are two adults living in our house and I try to keep the groceries to $50 or under per week but some weeks we go a little higher. Now that I think my stockpile is closed to full hoping to be able to stick to $50 for the year, but we will see what happens.

[gourmetsue]

Just between DH and I we are easily at $400 a month. Between DH having a Low FODMAP/Lactose and Gluten Free diet and my food allergies it isn't cheap, but I'd rather spend money on healthy groceries and eat well and feel well than eat out, spend the same and feel rubbish.

[PurpleBunny89]

$7.71 this month for groceries
(This includes wet cat food but not dry cat food, as well as pretty much anything that can be bought at WM and RCSS)

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the grocery gift cards

I hope to have next month at $50 or less.

[Nettie]

I have been trying my hand at freezing items that we don't use all at once. I must say I am surprised how well it is going. Peppers - I buy them when they are on sale. Red, Yellow, Orange and Green. I'll use what I need the first few days, then I cut them up in tiny pieces are freeze them in small single servings. Four peppers now last us months. They are a little mushy when thawed, but if you are cooking them, then you can't tell the difference. I wouldn't put them in a salad, but I would for anything going in the oven. We use them on pizzas, pasta, etc. It used to kill me to pay $3 for one pepper at full price. I'll never do that again. I now freeze strawberries and blueberries too. In the summer when they are super cheap I buy a batch of them, freeze them and use them all year. We put blueberries in our yougurt, cereal, make muffins etc, without paying an arm and a leg.

I plan to try and freeze buttermilk the next time I buy it. I use it in a salad dressing that I make. We can only buy it in one liter containers, and I use about 1 cup. I seen a pin on Pinterest that you can freeze it in ice cube trays and store it in a zip loc bag. Has anyone ever tried it? How was the quality when thawed?

Also, my grocery store had 2lb bags of carrots on for $0.99 a few weeks ago, which was a really low price for my area. I bought three bags. We used one, and I cut the other two bags up, blanched them, then froze them. We still have enough for about another month.

Something I always do but haven't mentioned before is make pasta and freeze it. I'll cook two boxes of pasta, make a large batch of meat sauce (my meat sauce is cooking some hamburger, adding a couple jars of bought sauce and adding some spices). I'll divide the cooked pasta between five tin pie plates (the reusable cheap kind), pour meat sauce over each, shred some cheese and a bit of parm cheese on top. Cover with foil and put in an extra large zip lock bag. We usually leave one out for supper and bake it that night, and freeze the other four. When we feel like pasta, we just take it out of the freezer, remove the ziplock bag and bake it in the oven. It's always turned out great, is easy to make and perfect for those nights that you just don't feel like cooking. Oh and it's cheap too if you buy all the items on sale! Way cheaper than buying a pre made meal from the frozen section!

[momof5boys]

I have been trying my hand at freezing items that we don't use all at once. I must say I am surprised how well it is going. Peppers - I buy them when they are on sale. Red, Yellow, Orange and Green. I'll use what I need the first few days, then I cut them up in tiny pieces are freeze them in small single servings. Four peppers now last us months. They are a little mushy when thawed, but if you are cooking them, then you can't tell the difference. I wouldn't put them in a salad, but I would for anything going in the oven. We use them on pizzas, pasta, etc. It used to kill me to pay $3 for one pepper at full price. I'll never do that again. I now freeze strawberries and blueberries too. In the summer when they are super cheap I buy a batch of them, freeze them and use them all year. We put blueberries in our yougurt, cereal, make muffins etc, without paying an arm and a leg.

I plan to try and freeze buttermilk the next time I buy it. I use it in a salad dressing that I make. We can only buy it in one liter containers, and I use about 1 cup. I seen a pin on Pinterest that you can freeze it in ice cube trays and store it in a zip loc bag. Has anyone ever tried it? How was the quality when thawed?

Also, my grocery store had 2lb bags of carrots on for $0.99 a few weeks ago, which was a really low price for my area. I bought three bags. We used one, and I cut the other two bags up, blanched them, then froze them. We still have enough for about another month.

Something I always do but haven't mentioned before is make pasta and freeze it. I'll cook two boxes of pasta, make a large batch of meat sauce (my meat sauce is cooking some hamburger, adding a couple jars of bought sauce and adding some spices). I'll divide the cooked pasta between five tin pie plates (the reusable cheap kind), pour meat sauce over each, shred some cheese and a bit of parm cheese on top. Cover with foil and put in an extra large zip lock bag. We usually leave one out for supper and bake it that night, and freeze the other four. When we feel like pasta, we just take it out of the freezer, remove the ziplock bag and bake it in the oven. It's always turned out great, is easy to make and perfect for those nights that you just don't feel like cooking. Oh and it's cheap too if you buy all the items on sale! Way cheaper than buying a pre made meal from the frozen section!

We do the same with peppers. I buy about six pepper plants from the garden centre each spring and we always have a lot of peppers to give away and for ourselves. I also just chop up the extras, but them in small snack type ziploc bags and use them in most casserole recipes, pizzas etc.

[momof5boys]

Today is the first time trying this - after reading about it either on this site or the Tightwad Gazette book:

Took four chicken legs with backs attached from the freezer last night and popped them into my fridge. This morning, the chicken legs went into a casserole dish with a bit of salt and pepper (I didn't remove the skins), covered it with foil and roasted it in the oven until good and done.

Picked most of the meat off the bones and came up with a good 3-1/2 cups of chicken meat (two cups to go into a chicken/spaghetti casserole for tonight and the other 1-1/2 for soup later). I then took the bones (which I normally would have thrown out) and tossed them into my slow cooker, along with an onion, carrot, bit of cabbage, salt, pepper, sage, basil, bay leaf. Covered this with water and have it on now to make chicken stock for soup. I'm curious how this will turn out....

[momof5boys]

Total groceries for the month of January 2013 (for food and beverages) came in at $229.22 (but I did have a GC for $100 that I used this past month)...without GC total would have been $329.22 for the five of us.

[dreamcatcher1962]

I plan to try and freeze buttermilk the next time I buy it. I use it in a salad dressing that I make. We can only buy it in one liter containers, and I use about 1 cup. I seen a pin on Pinterest that you can freeze it in ice cube trays and store it in a zip loc bag. Has anyone ever tried it? How was the quality when thawed?

Please post back here and let us know how the buttermilk turns out after freezing.
I normally buy buttermilk powder at Bulk Barn because when I use the fresh buttermilk , I don't use a whole container and it would end up getting thrown out.

I believe 1/4 cup of buttermilk powder mixed with water = 1 Cup of Buttermilk

The powder is not cheap, but will keep for a long time. Bulk Barn also have $3 coupons off on purchases of $10 or more, so I usually try to buy it when those coupons are available.

[Abby5]

I spent $400 ..every penny of my food budget this month

[PurpleBunny89]

Please post back here and let us know how the buttermilk turns out after freezing.
I normally buy buttermilk powder at Bulk Barn because when I use the fresh buttermilk , I don't use a whole container and it would end up getting thrown out.

I believe 1/4 cup of buttermilk powder mixed with water = 1 Cup of Buttermilk

The powder is not cheap, but will keep for a long time. Bulk Barn also have $3 coupons off on purchases of $10 or more, so I usually try to buy it when those coupons are available.

I saw online a blog from this woman who I believe is in Quebec? who just posts blogs about freezing various different things you would normally never think of, buttermilk was one of them. She said that it tasted the exact same.

I buy my mac and cheese powder at bulk barn with the $3 wus $10 coupon. I like my KD to be extra cheesy

[cdngal75]

Far too much!! I spend far less than people I know with similar size families and still spend upwards of $600 a month for 4 people. School snacks kill my budget. I admatch a lot which does definately help.

[momof5boys]

Far too much!! I spend far less than people I know with similar size families and still spend upwards of $600 a month for 4 people. School snacks kill my budget. I admatch a lot which does definately help.

School snacks - here is what I do, depending on the age of the kids:
Just buy big of everything and divvy up in those little zipper bags for snacks:
honeycomb cereal or other cereal they like
raisins and mini marshmallows (maybe add a few choc chips to make it interesting)
popcorn (I make my own caramel popcorn - so cheap! and I use half the caramel and the kids don't notice)
trail mix/peanuts etc (buy on sale from the bulk bins)
veggie sticks etc.

[blueeyetea]

I then took the bones (which I normally would have thrown out) and tossed them into my slow cooker, along with an onion, carrot, bit of cabbage, salt, pepper, sage, basil, bay leaf. Covered this with water and have it on now to make chicken stock for soup. I'm curious how this will turn out....

If you want a stronger tasting stock, you can accumulate about 2 pounds of bones with meat bits still attached to 10 cups of water. You could save them in the freezer until you have enough.

[Abby5]

$35 for the month of February...let's see if I can do it