I do not have a budget for groceries. On average, I can spend $155 - $200 a week. This week I only spent $54. So there isn't a set amount. It all depends on what we need. This covers food, toiletries, and animal feed. We only have three living in our house. I make my own bread, laundry detergent, shampoo, and baked goods. I think what gets us is that Handsome takes almost a days worth of food for himself to work. He eats breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner at work or in the car. With bags, papertowels, toiletpaper, etc.. for him alone, it adds up to a lot more than what we would spend if he was able to come and go at decent hours.
Well we just lost 1/3 of our income so I just cut the grocery budget from $600/mo to $250/mo just this month. (this is for food and non food-basically anything you could buy to eat or clean yourself or your house) So far It's working out fairly well. I do not use coupons. They wouldn't benefit me because we eat mostly fresh meats and veggies. I do much better going to the certain stores on specific days (they days they mark down the bulk of their meat/produce) Our Kroger does this on Tuesdays-they will mark stuff down that doesn't expire for 2 weeks, to $1-$2 for fresh, organic things that normally cost $5-$7. And we don't buy convince foods. I make our own bread, our own yogurt, our own hummus, our own coffee creamer, our own chocolate syrup & 'magic shell' ice cream topping, and next trip to the store I'll buy eggs for the 1st time in over 6 months as our hens aren't laying right now, I cook dried beans instead of canned, buy marked down fresh veggies and freeze what I can't use right away. I buy frozen veggies instead of canned. I rarely buy canned anything anymore (hubby isn't supposed to eat it due to the sodium content). I rarely buy chips (it's a treat for picnics! LOL) One thing I don't do is make my own pasta. But I'd love to. I'm slowly starting to try out making other things we use often like I plan to try my hand at making pita bread and chips and flour tortillas soon. I also have homemade granola on the list of things to try to make. I buy oatmeal, grits, flour, rice, pasta and dried beans in bulk. I buy canned tomatoes (sauce and diced) in bulk too. I buy sugar and Hersey's cocoa powder in bulk too LOL For the first time in 10 years, just this week I bought toilet paper that wasn't Cottonelle! LOL It just wasn't in the budget. I finding new ways to cut costs every day here now! LOL I'm going to see about cutting our home phone off (which I have never done before because we live in the sticks and cell service just isn't dependable enough), we dropped our Netflix, etc. But, I don't have to worry about laundry detergent for at least another 2 years due to a gallon of Allen's Naturally I bought last Feb and a SmartKleen Laundry Ball I got earlier this year. I have cut back on my 'specialty cleaners' and try to only buy-comet bathroom cleaner (for the bathrooms), and Windex or Murphy's oil soap will clean just about anything else you own. I find Dawn Direct saves me money over using regular dishsoap for daily dishes.
I buy our beans, brown rice, oatmeal, and whole wheat noodles in bulk too. It does make a difference in cost. I buy my flour in the bag. While Winco sells whole wheat flour in bulk, it isn't finely milled like the bags I buy. Since I make whole wheat bread, I like the flour to be as fine as possible.
Has anyone who makes their own bread figured what it costs per loaf? I buy from a bakery outlet and freeze it. But I'd much prefer a healthier option and save freezer space. Hope the OP doesn't mind me asking on here.
You guys have budgets??? How does that work? I just buy what I want and don't worry about it. That works great for us as we're both naturally thrifty and don't spend money on "stuff" that we don't need. I think I probably spend around $500 on food each month.
You can make REALLY inexpensive cloth sandwich bags. I have a bunch. I used scrap material for the outer layer, and PUL (bought from a diaper making supply website) for the water proof inner. They seal tight with Aplix (similar to Velcro). Everything that can be put into glass containers (we don't use plastic) goes into glass. We only use the bags for sandwiches and chips/crackers. And sometimes grapes. I also use cloth napkins. I buy material from the remnant rack at Joann's and, with my educator discount card, pay pennies per yard. I even used a few old baby blankets that were torn in places for others. [I have a tutorial .pdf I did for a class once on making the sandwich bags. PM me your email address if you'd like me to send you the file.]
Interesting. I never thought of making sandwich bags. Are they easy to wash and sanitize? Handsome works in heavy construction and we sometimes have to toss out his clothes and things he uses for food because they do not always come clean. He can't use glass on his job sites. It would break really fast. His lunch box gets kick around a lot. I'll pm you my email address. Thanks. Edited to add: We use cloth napkins around the house from time to time. However, the napkins for work have to be disposable. Like his clothes, his hands get very dirty with construction materials.
I have not sat down to figure the amount of savings in making our bread. There is definitely a savings. I just am not sure how much.:lol: I guess it would depend on how much you spend on purchasing bread. I can get, depending on the recipes, about six full loaves or maybe eight medium smaller loaves of bread from a bag of flour. Again, this depends on the type of bread and how much it rises. Some breads are more dense than others. A bag of King Arthur's White Whole Wheat cost anywhere from $3.25 - $4.75, give or take, depending where I buy it. I buy the yeast in brick form. I have purchased it in bulk but it doesn't seem to rise as much as the brick. I get the brick at Costco. It is still a deal. So for maybe the cost of two loaves at the store, I can make at least six loaves, roughly.
I still buy baking soda, baking powder, and sometimes sugar in bulk. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy the sugar already bagged. It just depends on the price for the week. I can't seem to part from our landline. My concern is that there might be an emergency and one of us might not be able to talk. A cell phone isn't immediately traceable like a landline. I have seen ambulances speeding up and down our street trying to locate a house where somebody called from a cell phone. I just assume be located right away.
Ah! That makes sense, then. Perhaps little plastic containers that aren't disposable? I replaced all the little single-serving items in DH's lunch with regular stuff in my own containers. For instance, I stopped buying pudding cups and started making a batch then sending him with a serving in a container. The bags go through the wash like anything else. The PUL can be (when the bag is turned inside-out) cleaned with whatever sanitizer you like. I use vodka on ours.
The bakery outlet sells its "dated today" loaves for 59 cents. I can sometimes purchase a cart of "dated yesterday" for $2.50....not for human consumption, of course.....uh....it's for the chickens. Yeah. The chickens... I can get the natural bread for that price and my favorite rye, too. Might not be doin' the homemade bread thing then. Thanks for the info!
I get $325 to $350 week, depending on what week it is, for everything: Food Clothing Paper products gas for my car medicines haircuts fast food treats pet supplies extras (like spending money for me) allowences (not every week, just usually when I can afford it) Any curriculum or homeschool supplies I might need/want (aside from the "big ticket" SOS. My husband buys that.) It seems like alot, but it's not. I am on a special diet (since I am allergic to preservatives I have to buy organic or preservative free meats, food and even beauty supplies). I clip coupons (although not many I can use), and buy used clothing when possible. Since I am allergic to preservatives, I would like to learn how to cook more from scratch and make my own cleaning supplies. I can't stand the "GREEN" cleaning supplies they sell at the store because they usually put lavender oil or something else that irritates me. I've been experimenting with recipes found online. As for cooking from scratch, I tend to make very simple meals but they are just so boring for me. I'd like more time to experiment.
I can purchase white bread, day old, for about $1.00 a loaf but we do not eat white bread. I should say we only eat white flour in raisin bread and french bread. I have yet to find a raisin bread recipe for whole wheat flour that isn't too heavy and does not require eggs. Also, I really like french bread with white flour. Whole wheat french bread just doesn't cut it in my book, no matter how much healthier it is. I must compromise when it comes to my french bread.:lol: A good tasting loaf of whole wheat bread runs us about $3.50, give or take. I can purchase whole wheat bread, that is decent in flavor at Winco for $1.69. But the extra ingedients do not appeal to me. While I am not a health freak by far, since I lost the weight, I try to stay away from eating certain ingredients on a regular basis. Since bread is a staple in our home, making it is better for us.
Have you looked over the homemade cleanering recipe thread under the House and Home section? There are some neat ideas. I posted a recipe for a cleaner. I was using strong cleaners. I came across this recipe and it is great and dirt cheap.
I love vodka for so many things. It is great! I use some non-disposable plastic containers in Handsome's lunch. But I can't fit everything in his box if I use all plastic containers. He usually takes a salad and either yogurt, pudding, pie or cake in a container. With his ice packs and some drinks, bags make everything fit nicely. He has been taking his pretzels in a gallon bag and keeping them in the car since he eats them on the freeway. He does the same with the chips. Except he keeps them in the car because I will not allow them in the house or I will be tempted! :lol:
Wow, I'm feeling like a slacker!!! I get $350 every two weeks for a family of 5. coupons also do not benefit me much as I find that most coupons are for things we do not need at all!!! I do clip the ones I know I will use and def pounce on them when things are on sale. I do 80% of our food shopping at Aldi's. I menu plan. And this does cover tp, pt, cleaning goods, etc. I will say my biggest downfall is Soda...my hubby and I probably keep Coca Cola in business. I need to stop this again....praying for strength to quit after the new year! LOL. I do do our McDs and Wendy's trips off that too...not often...but at least once each pay cycle. Also, we live in a state where milk prices are regulated, so the cheapest I get a gallon of milk is $3.85ish....and we go through 3 or 4gallons a week. I also have two intense athletes in our house and they eat a lot because they burn a lot!!! Still, incredibly impressed with those of you who can do it so cheaply!!!
I don't know what I would do without Aldi's. I get almost everything I don't grow myself there unless County Market has some great deals. Even at that, I only spend about $50 every two weeks at Aldi's. People who don't have access to an Aldi store usually can't fathom how that is possible. So grateful we have them in my area.
I know it is not about food budget, but someone mentioned not wanting to get rid of their land line for emergencies. If you plug a phone into a phone jack, without a phone plan, you will still be able to call 911 (at least, that has been true everywhere I have lived.)
