It's only $750
This crazy cracker cooked in her crockpot everyday for a year!
This preternatural poster writes a a daily poverty post and it's all in third person!
Okay, now let's talk about me.
What would you say if I told you I spend $750 on groceries every month. But, you haven't heard it all yet, so don't be a clickin' on the comment button ready to spout your wisdom.
That seven fiddy....I like to say fiddy, just like my son says hunerd instead of one hundred. Anyway, that seven fiddy is for every ding dang thang in my house. The animal food, the cleaning stuff....EVERYTHING.
So.
Now, I need to know, is that impressive for a family of six humans with six cats, one dog and 8 chickens? Or not?
Do I still need to learn how to use coupons?
Could I get it down to $600? $500?
Remember, our family has done away with high fructose corn syrup with minor infractions here and there, forgive me I ate the most delicious Snickers bar yesterday and I just talked to Clay on the phone and asked if he was bringing me a surprise home, like Hot Tamales or Reisins?????? Because, I would be soooooo surprised if he brought those home and we could eat them on a plate for dinner.
Then he asked if I was just a wee bit hormonal. What gives?
Okay, so now start tah clickin' and give me the what for on the seven fiddy.
38 comments:
I'm totally impressed. That's amazing.
My grocery budget also include every ding dang thang in my whole house (well, not the drywall mud or the plywood-- those things go in the "construction" budget...). It's $300. But the difference is that we are a family of 3 and I do a hurkin' lot of work in order for my budget to be that way. (I tell myself it's like a second income... sort of... somehow...)
Um. I think that might have come out wrong in my previous comment... I didn't mean that...uh... I mean that you... nevermind.
You're doin' GREAT!
My husband and I spend at least $800 on groceries (just groceries) just for the two of us in a month - some months more, some less. Don't ask me where it goes because we eat out a lot as well. But I think groceries are a LOT more expensive here in Canada. And there are rarely, if ever, any sales on food here. So I think your seven fiddy is awesome.
Oh, and our $800 includes cleaning products, toilet paper, etc.
We have 6 humans, 24 chickens, and 3 cats and spend about $550 a month for all of that. No dog though.
The more I think about this (I had a long response and just erased it all), the more I think this may be pretty close to what we spend. I was thinking we spend more like $600, but I think it may have increased in the last year to close to that $750 due to grocery prices. That would be for 2 adults, 3 teens, 2 dogs, 7 cats, and a goat. We don't really spend any more or less since Caleb left in September. I know I could trim some off of that without buying junk, but I sure wouldn't be buying all organic either.
We have 4 humans, 3 cats, 1 dog, 1 horse, 1 pet pig, 2 llamas and some fish and we spend at least $800 a month on groceries--plus another $100-200 eating out (which we've started to really cut back on). I'd be thrilled if we could get our total (including eating out) down to $750. Needless to say, I think you're doing a great job and if you can get it much lower (and still eat healthy meals), I'd love to hear how you're doing it.
Maureen
That's under $4.47 a per person (not counting the animals, and the cleaning supplies. I AM impressed.
Rosie Kate, you're my new hero!
I have no idea what we spend...don't tell Dave. (Ramsey, that is)
Ours is $650, but all we have is gerbils and fish--and a tadpole that arrived in the mail today that I think is dead...
Does yours include dining out?
I support 2 households. Every other month I fly to my home in SoCal and purchase $1500.00 worth of groceries, paper goods, dog food etc. Then I spend at least half that every month up here in Moaningtana. So Heck yeah that sounds good. I am feeding 5 people in two different houses in two different time zones and 3 dogs for a lot more than you.
um I think I be very impressed. We spend about $1000, cats dog, teenagers who eat everything as fast as I bring it home. We do not eat out. I actually can't figure out why it's so stinkin high. It doesn't help that they can eat a loaf of bread every other day. So I'd like to hear more how you accomplish this. I do not serve my family hot dogs and junk food to eat cheap. I'm not interested in an unhealthy diet. You pay for that at the doctor.
For 2 adults, 3 kids, one dog and one cat we spend between $300 and $500 a month depending on if we buy any extras. So yeah, you are brobably doing great!
Daisy,
No, dining out is seperate. It varies every month, but we try to keep it at a hunerd or less, which mean we call eat out once maybe twice.
Mine's about that and there are 8 of us - and one dog. And I have to say that my parents eat with us 2-3 times a week so that makes 10 and one of my sons weighs 250 lbs (6'2") and the other is 200 lbs (6') so.... "I tink we do perrty good!"
I have a nearly all organic pantry of staples - am a firm believer of cook once - eat twice and I'm not above using non-instant powdered milk so I can afford to have it organic.
The downside I can see is that we don't have a whole lot of fresh fruit and veggies.
I can a TON of food in the fall and we eat that. From green beans to I NEVER buy jelly/jam/applebutter.
It sounds like you're doing very well on your budget but I bet if you really wanted, you could make it less.
With my big boys at college, I'm keeping the budget the same and stocking on organic staples, like I mentioned. My goal is to get down to $500/month for all of us by only cooking from scratch and not buying processed foods.
And, I am going to start raising chickens this spring! YEAH!
I think we are around $600/month for a family of 5 for groceries, all the Wal-Mart/Target stuff, toiletries, haircuts, stamps, photos, blah, blah, blah. We do get beef from my dad- which is a huge blessing. (I never liked beef until he started giving it to us & I didn't have to spend so much on groceries - funny how that works!) I did a one time big investment in Shaklee cleaning products over a year ago - very worth it. I never have to think of that stuff at the store & I love knowing that it is safe & chemical free. I truly think that was a huge help to our budget this past year. (And no I'm not a sales rep.)
I think you're doing great with the $750 - I think if you hate the thought of coupons, skip it & figure out a way to make a few extra bucks selling eggs or pork :)
I hear ya Joy,
I haven't bought any jams or jellies but I have run out of applesauce and grape jelly, so I'll have to purchase some before summer. And I'm gonna do those meat chickens too.
Shoot, I'm gonna have to sit and figure out just how much we actually spend. It was my new year's resolution. I think I might know, but I'm pretty sure whatever I say will be wrong.
I do know that I spend about $40/week on produce ($20 for a CSA box plus maybe another $20 at the farmer's market) and I spend $44/week on milk. Yes, I'm the one that pays premium for raw milk from a local dairy. It's worth every penny though.
I've started saving every ding dong receipt so far this year, so I will have a precise number for absolutely everything. woohoo
I think you're numbers sound pretty reasonable by the way.
I'm impressed. My husband,myself and one(chubby)dog spend about $1000 on groceries and cleaning products.I live in Alberta Canada and our groceries have gone up 15% in the last two months.I even use coupons and usually try to buy stuff that is on sale. So if you can feed your family and pets for $750 I think you are doing great.
Family of 5, plus 2 dogs--$400/month--includes diapers for 1.5 year old, dog food, cleaning etc...plus $50 in dining out--I will say that the hubby would love to have more red meat, but we gotta work that debt snowball for a little bit longer
Do you ever buy the store brand? I never did until I met my husband and he started putting store brand items in the cart. Other than mayonnaise & cheerios, the store brands usually taste the same as the name brand.
NJ does not allow super-WalMart or SuperTarget but each store has 4 or 5 small aisles of food. Yesterday I bought 30 lbs of WM brand sugar ($12) - it would have been $20+ for Domino brand at the Shop-Rite.
Count me as one of the impressed people! We are two adults and one dog, I clip coupons every week, we VERY RARELY eat out, I shop at Super Walmart (or as I like to call it, the Deathstar) and Aldi's (your favorite!) regularly and also scan the other store flyers for sales every week. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit I can't hang with store brands on most items (I will NEVER eat "Crisped Rice" in place of my beloved Rice Krispies). With all that said, I spend about $480 a month. I'm including household and personal hygiene items in there as well, but dude - that is way too much. We're in the process of IVF to attempt to bring a baby into our lives and even though I'm very excited about it, the thought of the food (and a lot of other costs) going up, has me slightly concerned.
Kathy,
I buy pretty much all store brands. I'm making a list of the name brand products I purchase to help me with coupons. The most expensive name brand I can't live without is Smuckers natural peanut butter, I have a child that survives on the stuff.
You poor Canadians! Move to Kansas dahlings, we'll feed ya cheap.
I think that's a good number but just think if you did spend 1.50 on the Sunday paper you'd probably still shave off about 30-40 bucks of your current number per month. Not a huge amount but it could be blow money for Reisins etc. :)
Clip them at the football/baseball/basketball games.
For our family of three, plus three cats, and a tank full of fish that's getting fuller by the day 'cause our mollies are doing what mollies do (so kinda half of yours), we spend about $450, but I buy as much organic stuff as possible. And since my fresh, free-range, organic egg supplier LEFT TOWN... well. You know.
And I plan weekly menus around the sale papers & cut coupons. We've gone to a cash-only existence too, and it's kinda fun to see how far I can stretch my weekly allotted spending money.
I absolutely don't count - at all. That being said, I aim for a 20% total savings on each trip by using coupons. Its not hard to do, and I only use coupons for items and brands that I would normally buy.
We have a family of 5 with 1 dog, 3 goats, and 8 chickens. We spend about $500/month. I shop at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club for most things (I hate Wal-Mart). We don't pay for our Sam's Club membership, my husband gets it with his job. I do not buy many name brands and I hate coupons. There is a small family owned grocery store in our town that has good meat for cheap so I always buy meat from them. My friend raises 3-4 pigs each year and we buy 1 to split with my parents. I think $750 sounds great b/c most of your kids are older than mine. Our bill has risen this past year though, I used to spend $150/two weeks. Those darn kids won't quit growing!
Also, that includes eating out!
Oh my word, am I the only vegetarian organic eatin' fool who spends 1000+ a month? And I only clean with vinegar and baking soda, use microfiber cloths instead of paper towels, and we are still way over the top here? Is it because I live outside of Washington DC?
I am inspired to hunt down these dollars, though I suspect my husband is to blame for much, as our bill doubles everytime he comes with. He says its because there is no food in the house, but what he means is there is no food that he doesn't have to fix first.
And no pets, if you don't count the uninvited crickets.
Go for it, and if you can keep it in that range, then you can always see how low you can go! If you have a whoppin' garden this year, you might be able to shave some off here and there...I'll be watching the adventures begin :)
I think you are doing quite well, really. We spend about $600 - $650 for everything (with the exception of dog food - pet expenses have their own catagory in our budget) for a family of 4. I could do a little better with that number but I do have some waste in my bugdet (things I really like but don't need and probably shouldn't eat so much of anyway) and I do buy grass fed, organic beef and organic milk.
I do use coupons and I do think that you could probaby save $20 or more a month off your bill without a lot of investment in time using coupons. I found that just remembering to use the ones for things that I already always buy can shave several dollars off each trip. Doesn't sound like much but it does add up over the course of a year without much effort.
ok, i have 6 humans, 2 cats, and one child still in diapers and i spend between 4 and 5 hundred a month for ALL that stuff, so YES you can go lower...not sure how though...but WOW that is a lot, that is one month's rent! i also live in michigan, where the cost of living is pretty cheap, our sales tax is only 6% and we have no food tax at all...i stock up on a lot of stuff and go with sales and do a lot of that kind of thing too...
You're all amazing.
Family of 4...no pets...I bet I spend $2500/mo. 'Course we eat low-carb, which means lots of meat...and seafood...and red wine.
We are a family of 3(although my dh is 6'6 and weighs in at 265 so he should count as 2!) and a family of 5 when the 21 year old and 18 year old roll in for a visit.
My breakdown is this:
groceries $150
stockpile(one years worth) $150
Pets $50
HBA stockpile $30
So it is $380 a month but I often will tuck $50 away so that when weekly ads come out for example coffee $1.88 a can limit 2 cans with a sale going for 7 days I will show up everyday for my 2 cans for the stockpile.
We don't eat alot of prepackaged foods and I tend to hoard er um stock staples. I have 14 bags of sugar right now.....99 a bag who could resist???
I buy store brands and I use very few coupons as store brands tend to run better.
I figure we spend about €800 a month on groceries (that includes cleaning stuff etc) and that translates at the moment to $1083.92. So I think you're doing very well! Considering I only have 2 kids. But I do mind another 2 on weekdays and saw the difference immediately on our grocery bill.
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