Last night I walked into Giant with $75 and a list for two weeks worth of food. Somehow I bought most of the important items and abstained from buying about 65 things I really thought I needed (like these new “healthy” ramen packages….I sadly put them back on the shelf).
One of my New Year resolutions is to save some money by following some sort of budget. I do not have a fancy spreadsheet (wish I did) or a set amount of money for each month that I can spend (need to figure that out), but I do know that there will no longer be daily morning runs to 711 for drinks and fruit.
This is where you come into play… I needs yo help.
How much do you spend on groceries a week/ biweekly/ monthly??
Do you go with a menu/list?
If so, what do you buy that is affordable, but yummy?!
this is a tough one. I honestly try to make a two week meal plan plus count the stuff that I buy for lunches. By knowing what you are getting going in, it helps. We pack our lunch pretty much every day unless one of us have a free lunch thing. Going in with a set list is key. Then I go to BJ’s for meats probably monthly. I buy in bulk, split it up and freeze the smaller portions. I also get anything for my lunches, like 100 calorie packs or stuff like that for my lunches there. Anything that will last until you finish it instead of going bad. Then I run to the grocery store every other week for smaller stuff like fruits and veggies. Going in with a list is crucial though.
I need help with this too! Sadly, I have very little useful knowledge to contribute but I’ll probably be back to stalk your comments and see what other people have to say!
I know Megan @ Tales of the Trees posted recently about how she menu plans…maybe that would help? ๐
You don’t want my help….I went over my bank statement to only find out that I was spending a whopping $700.00 on food for my spouse and I. CRAZY….AND THE SAD PART? I only budget 350 a month.
Definitely something to work on.
My husband and I just started a strict budget and we get $100 a week for food. That is for all 7 breakfast, lunch and dinners (no more eating out). I stick with a menu that I can use multiple ingredients for. Like this week I am making Meatloaf (which is going to turn into two meals) and will have extra breadcrumbs and onion, so I will also make meatball subs.
bahhhh. i hate budgets. maybe if they were called something nicer like.. Sparklies! I wouldn’t hate them so much.
Now, we’re feeding three people over here (and I’m not including the cost of formula because that gets its own column in the spreadsheet) but I do factor in the cost of fresh veggies for C (since I make his baby food).. but we spend 50.00 a week on groceries. I have a 200 dollar/month budget.. (there’s an extra 100 in there JUST IN CASE, but I rarely fall back on it)
i find that it’s easier and we waste much less if i shop weekly, rather than once per month, or even once every two weeks. it sucks to go to the grocery store every monda.. but we’ve managed to stay within budget and make some really healthy meals!
we buy our boneless chicken breasts in bulk from Costco- that helps a great deal. Pork is usually “cheap” so at least once per month I’m making some sort of pork chop.
I always cook a fish (Tilapia or Salmon, depending on which is cheaper) and then stock up on lean ground meats (turkey, chicken, beef). I always end up freezing a pound or so, which I’ll use later in the month.
Soups are really inexpensive- broth, fresh veggies, dry beans, etc… and super easy to make and so filling on these freezing days.
im trying to get more into the habit of “menu planning” but i really don’t have the patience to sit down and plan a week in advance- i’ll let you know how it goes at the end of the week this week.
Monday – Chicken Tetrazinni (that I just posted about.. and nearly burnt down the kitchen)
Tuesday – Grilled Tilapia, brown rice and steamed spinach
Wednesday – Chicken Parm and fresh salad
Thursday – Taco Salad (using leftover salad from day before)
Friday – homemade pizza
i need to get better at cooking one or two dishes and then using the leftovers to make additional dishes for the week.. that is one thing i simply havent been able to master.. any thoughts?? ๐
We spend $60 a week on everything (all meals, including eating out, household items, and toiletries) but the cats’ stuff.
This would be absolutely impossible without menu planning. I plan a week at a time so that I only get what I need each week instead of buying a ton of food. Before we became vegetarians, I would buy the protein in mass (chicken breasts, lean beef) when it was on sale and freeze it in portions. Now our proteins (beans and tofu) can fit pretty well into the weekly budget.
As I make my menu, I estimate the costs in Excel by using the grocery store ad and the normal prices that I have paid for things. This takes a while to learn the “normal” prices for things but it gets easier as you go.
I have an empty spreadsheet that I can e-mail you to check out if you’re interested ๐
Budgets are always a good thing! No matter the reason; we don’t always follow ours to a ‘T’.. none the less we have one.
I have a 2 year old, so sometimes it gets hard to be able to fit certain things into the grocery budget; but I deem diapers its own category.
I always go with a list! Sometimes I work off a menu for the week (which I almost never end up following).
I like to only shop 1 time per month; and then do a run for Milk for my little lady or eggs (sinc ethey are under $2), and may get some fruit since we go through that like it is the last bit. But never anything else…
Have you tried using coupons? There a bunch of sites that have coupons you can print off; but not all grocery stores will take the printed ones, the local newspaper should have inserts on Saturday/Sunday for coupons, and the grocery store website or instore with a booklet should have soupons too.
Hope that helps.
I’m so happy you posted about this! We are currently going through the same process – trying to set out a budget that we can stick to (especially with groceries!).
I don’t have any type of spreadsheet, either. But I’m looking around and if I find one I’ll let you know. In the meantime I’ll be checking back – because sadly i don’t have any answers ๐
We normally spend about $300/month on food. Two grocery runs about $100 or so, and then a couple of trips in-between.
I buy the bulk packaged of boneless skinless chicken breasts and then lots of frozen/fresh veggies. Not to expensive and pretty healthy.
I just recently started with a grocery budget/list/menu plan, so that I stopped overbuying!
1. Get a dry erase board (or even a notepad) to put on your fridge! As you run out of important things (milk, fruit, etc) write it down!
2. Plan your meals out, doesn’t have to be what day, but just plan out the amount of meals you need for the time you’re shopping for.
3. Now start your actual list! Write down what you need for the meals on your list, the stuff on the dry erase board, and then do a quick once over to make sure you’re not missing anything!
I usually end up buying more every other week, so one week I spend about $40, the next I spend about $60. I also cut LOTS of coupons! Sometimes I can get the name brand stuff with coupons for cheaper than the store brand ๐
Good luck!
Try using Mint.com . I’d say the best thing to do a monthly total budget for spending and see where all your dollars and cents are going. Then based on that total monthly budget for everything figure out how much you can “afford” to allocate to food. If you aren’t on a budget now it may be shocking to see where all your money is going each month. No one family is going to be able to tell you what your right amount for groceries are for you two, but hopefully having a big budget down will reveal what you can afford to spend on food. Good Luck.
We go to Giant for everything and get our produce from a friend of ours. I spend about 600 on groceries a month, sometimes it goes up to 800 if we have a party or a big event.
I grocery shop every Sunday, I coupon with coupons.com and shortcuts.com on Thursdays/Fridays, and saved about $1,300 dollars last year with my Giant card and coupons. I look at the price per unit and purchase the cheaper option, knowing I’m getting more for my money. When Giant does 10 for 10, I stock up.
I am thinking of doing a pantry cleanse, where we only eat what we have stocked up, because I know there are some things in there that are “old” (think: pasta, rice, canned tomatoes) and that we could get a lot of meals with only paying for a produce for a couple of weeks.
I spend a lot of money because I also purchase soy free foods and often have to purchase an expensive brand of food due to the presence of soy. But for 150-200 a week, I am able to have breakfasts, lunches, snacks (2-3 per person for husband and I), dinner, and deserts for 7 days. So it’s a lot of money for a lot of food, so I don’t feel too bad.
If you have any ideas, I’m open to them too!
When we first moved into our house we budgeted about $500/month for groceries. JB is a trainer and we eat a lot of fruit/veggies/lean meats/protein and that stuff is not cheap if you want to do it the right way. We do a lot shopping at Costco (buy in bulk) for chicken breasts and ground turkey. We also live in CA, which means everything costs more. It’s just the two of us, and I am sure there are ways to do it for less money, but that’s our plan.