Thursday, July 15, 2010
Budget
This might be a bit personal, so I won't blame you if you chose not to comment. However, I am very interested in what you all spend on groceries per month. Ever since Ryan and I read Dave Ramsey's book - Total Money Makeover - we are on this mission to save, save, save!!!! We are a little on the extreme side right now, as we've just started. I have found lots of ways to save money in our budget over the last month or so, but our grocery budget is a hard one for me. We do the cash envelope system, but I always feel like my grocery envelope is empty towards the last week of the month. I just am not sure if our budget is realistic or not. It doesn't help that here in IL we have to pay sales tax on food. We did not in Michigan. Also, groceries are just more expensive here, too. So, if you don't mind sharing, what do you spend on groceries and how do you plan it all out from week to week?
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11 comments:
We spend about $150 - $200/month on food - I do need to be more vigilant about this though. I know I could do better. Maybe it would help do do a weekly thought process instead of monthly. I know I have enough food in our house to feed us for quite some time. Maybe it's time to try to take a month off of shopping! :-)
I should mention also that we do get free produce every week since I head up a CSA group, so that really helps - 1/2 bushel of produce/week for free really stretches things, and we've needed every stretch the last month or so!
We probably spend around $150 a month. I shop at Kroger a lot, since their organic foods are relatively inexpensive. Are you familiar with dealseekingmom.com? That site helps me find a lot of bargains!!
I'm floored how you all can spend so little on groceries !!! Honestly, I shop at Aldi for my pantry stuff, and a VERY reasonable international market for produce/fresh food and struggle to stay under $100 a week. Though I know I could do a little better and want to become coupon savvy - which I completely am not. I spend less than all of my local friends too. Maybe the Chicago prices are higher, Suzanne? :)
Katie,
I think our budget is so low because our family is so small--just my husband, me and one little girl. She's still nursing, so we don't have to buy a lot of food for her.
I do not even want to know how much we spend per month, but I am guessing $500.
Katie, I'm shocked too! I live in Detroit, so it's not just Chicago prices, although the tax on food can't help! I spend about $300/month on just my husband and me. That's EVERYTHING though-shampoo, laundry detergent, toilet paper, and all our food...that's without coupons, I've been terrible about that lately. I can get it down closer to $250 if I pick up the Sunday paper a few weeks in a row. I don't even want to know what it's going to be like once this baby comes in August! -Mallory
I have always wanted to ask this question and find out how others do too!! I spend about $170 a month, but I do try to use coupons and I have found that shopping at a super walmart is the cheapest for me. However, since I have to drive about 25 minutes to get there, I began only shopping every 2 weeks. amazingly, this actually helped me shave a few dollars off my grocery bill by shopping every other week! I write out a detailed menu plan for the 2 weeks in advance, so I know exactly what to buy. Since meat seems to be the most expensive items, our meals are meatless probably almost half the time. I use eggs, beans, or whole wheat pasta for protein instead.
oops, I forgot to mention one thing that is key for me. and that is bringing the calculator! I don't know about you, but I would always think "oh that's got to be less than $50" and then it's like $80!! So I absolutely go by my calculator and usually by the end I have to peruse my cart and figure out if I need to put anything back. But I personally would NEVER stay on budget if it wasn't for that!
Oh my word - I don't know how everyone can spend so little either! I agree- I think prices in Chicago are more and the taxes definitely don't help! I think I spend around $300 a month maybe. Sometimes less sometimes more. I am trying to coupon more and plan a little better with meals - it's so hard!
I was just reading thru some of these comments, and no doubt, you may have higher prices there in chicago. but make sure you shop around. I think katie used to use aldi when she lived there - I've heard that's cheaper, but haven't been. but the reason that I HAD to change to wally's was because if I shopped at our (regular, very nice, much more pleasant than wal-mart!) grocery store, except for canned goods, all the items are priced $2-3 dollars or more higher!! so if I buy 20 items at $2 more each, that's 40 extra bucks right there. depressing that it has to be so much higher. :(
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