Budget of a family of 5

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Use your CC to track all grocery purchases. I save the reciept until I get home and input it immediately.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

eating isn't just a simple matter of food -- it involves health, culture, traditions, etc.

I am glad you mention this. It is so important. But it goes both ways. Because of those factors we cannot expect everyone to eat as we do, yet we can look to people of other health, culture, and traditions for new ideas. Sometimes other people know some really cool stuff that would work for us, too.

I do think the original poster (The post is nearly a year old) was doing a good job, but if she was wanting to do better, I hope she found some ways.

(Threebeansalad, every time I read your name I want some Three Bean Salad! See how easily influenced I am, foodwise? )

[threebeansalad]

(Threebeansalad, every time I read your name I want some Three Bean Salad! See how easily influenced I am, foodwise? )
Reply With Quote

Then I'm glad my name is threebeansalad rather than FritoDorito! I am big proponent of the gentle legume!

[mom-from-missouri]

What does that total include-maybe I missed that part. Is this ONLY food or is this total including cleaning supplies, OTC, personal products & paper products????
If so, you can possibly lower it.
Our only regular paper product is TP--we use cloth napkins, and rags--so no paper towels, paper plates......
I do a lot of cleaning with vinegar, lemon juice, salt and bleach--thats cheaper than windex, comet, air freshners..
Personal products and hair care products I now try to get at the dollar store or walgreen. I match up the coupons, rebates and sales and stock up. Right now I have over 20 shampoos and conditioners in the basement that I got for free-they were on sale for 75 each and I had 75 cent off coupons.
Use an Aldi when you can-they will save you a lot also

[Nikki Sixx]

How do you people do it? We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers. We eat healthy we all are very active with sports and the gym...so we watch what we eat. On average we spend at least 1100 per month at the grocery store and I consider that doing good.

[mom-from-missouri]

How do you people do it? We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers. We eat healthy we all are very active with sports and the gym...so we watch what we eat. On average we spend at least 1100 per month at the grocery store and I consider that doing good.

Ouch. $1100? Thats more than our mortgage! Really, its easy.

Do you buy junk food?? We buy no soda, chips...... (We do like to make our own potato chips though, by slicing and frying potatoes). We eat a lot of popcorn (bulk purchased) and popped in an old fashioned popper, not microwaved.

We cook from scratch. To me, cooking from scratch means boiling & mashing my own potatoes--not using a box of instant potatoes. We do not buy parepared foods. Oatmeal in our house is in a big round can, not individual microwave bags.

We do not normally buy name brand.

We bake our own bread--sometimes from scratch, sometimes the Always Save frozen loaves of dough (5 for $2.98). Just one loaf of bread at our grocery store is over $3. That saves us a HUGE amount each month.

I do not buy cleaners and paper products at the grocery store. You pay higher prices and why put them on your food bill when they are not food?

[mom-from-missouri]

Why don't some of you who are having trouble getting your grocery bill down post your last grocery store purchase on here?? Then some of us can "pick" through it.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Here's an example list for me

Green Peppers .81 lb @ .98./lb = .79
Maille Mustard $3.39
Red Peppers 1.42 lb @ 1.98/lb = 2.81
Yellow Onions 1.47 lb @ .59/lb = .87
Strawberries Qt = $3.98
Broccoli 1.54 lb @ 1.49/lb = 2.29
Carrots 1.75 lb @ 0.49/lb = .86
tangerine .37 lb @ 1.49/lb = .55
Lemon 2 @ $1/2 = $1
Dried Kiwi $2.94
Butternut squash 1.34 lb @ 1.99/lb = $2.57
celery hearts $2.49
Baby Bok Choy 2.25 lbs @ .99/lb = $2.25
Scallions 1 @ .90/2 = .45
Curry Blocks 3 @ 2.19 = $6.57
Panko (bread crumbs) 2 @ 2.29 = $4.48
Coconut Milk 2 @ .79 = 1.58
Coconut Milk 1 @ .89 = .89
Szechuan Peppers 2 @ .89 = 1.78
1 gallon milk $4.39
1 qt Heavy Cream $4.29
Flour Tortillas $2.29
Ginger .11 lb @ 1.99/lb = .22
turnip 1 lb @ .69/lb = .69
white potatoes 1.59 @ .79/lb = 1.26

I even put price per pound if it helps and I shop sales and no organic to see if I can get it cheaper because we have 3 adults eating now.

[leggzz66]

staying away from junk food isles and growing some of ur own faves, will save loads. I hope to even get a lemon tree in this next growing season. I have 2 apple trees and a cherry plum, but the apples, oy! i need a new treatment for those, they stay crabapple like and its one red and one golden. We do grow watermelon, and that saves a ton! an organic one at a street vender, half the size of a regular melon, was 5 dollars. my next growing ventures is diff colored bells. I grow yellow and green onions too. Youd be suprised how much it saves, start small with indoor containers and do it year round even. Takes patience, but ends up worth the wait, you know u grew it and what it grew in as well.

[shelbylovesmelby]

The key for us is to buy the majority of our groceries @ Aldi's or similar & we only go to a regular grocery store for meat, big sales, & things Aldi's doesn't carry.

I think we average $40-60 a week for the 5 of us however... my oldest dc is 5 so once they get older I'm sure that'll make a differance + growth spurts.

The only time my bill is huge (pushing 100) is holidays or I'm stocking up on meat that week.

[davecc]

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 kids and we spend no less than 200 per week on food purchases... While I would love to pay less for food, I think you can't really go cheap on what you eat.

[Harlem]

You have four adults. I usually spend about 120 per adult. I think 400 for you people will be enough.

[Permanent Temp]

I always thought it was more practical to just shred the damn cheese yourself but my husband says he'd rather pay for the convenience. I still buy blocks and he buys shredded then I find out that shredded has more chemicals that I would rather not injest so I guess I'll just stick to the blocks and he can have his chemicals. I always wondering if maybe he can't taste the difference because he smokes...

http://notquitemomoftheyear.com/ditch-the-bag-why-you-should-shred-your-own-cheese/

[bzbee]

Why don't some of you who are having trouble getting your grocery bill down post your last grocery store purchase on here?? Then some of us can "pick" through it.

Here is one of my grocery purchases. We are a family of 5, and our current budget is $200 per month for all groceries. It includes toiletries and any eating out if any.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSXef6asUSk

[emerscape]

I would love to get our grocery bill down. We spend $1500 a month in groceries but live in a high COL area and are feeding 2 adults and 2 young boys (3&5). My wife insists on organic or natural foods and we eat very clean (minimally processed). We are also both Crossfit athletes (amature) and as a result probably eat a bit more than most people. We've moved from a Paleo diet to more vegetable based. I'm in the process of investigating an alternative that increases the amount of legumes and reduces the amount of meat in our diet. That should help save us some money.