Monthly Cost of Groceries Comparison

I ususally spend about $150-$200 a week on groceries, and little items like toothpaste, etc. That is us eating out once a week. Some weeks are more than others if I stock up when meat is on sale. I shop the sales and got a vacuum sealer for my meats. When it is on sale at Sprouts, under $2.00 a pound for most things I buy about 30 lbs. I hardly every use coupons becuase I hardly ever buy anything that is in a box, mostly fresh foods for us. This is for 2 adults and a 2 yr old that eats a lot!

I just recently went through the same issue!
I'd noticed that our grocery bill was out of control - about $800/month for our family of 4 (2 kids under age 3, and 2 adults). So I joined www.thegrocerygame.com, as well as started checking some other money saving sites like www.hip2save.com and www.moneysavingmom.com. Actually, Hip2Save is my new homepage - it's fantastic! I also buy the Sunday paper and ask friends/relatives to give me their coupon inserts too (if they don't want/use them, of course).

I now spend $65-100 a week instead of $200. And I still have 2 kids in diapers, as well as a cat on Science Diet food (expensive). We also have much more in the house than we used to....actually, I may end up donating some of our extra stuff because it might be too much for our little family! For example, we have enough shampoo to last about a year, about 12 tubes of toothpaste (really good brands, like Crest pro health, etc..., but they were all FREE after coupons and store sales!), and 25 boxes of whole wheat pasta. So not only am I spending less than half of what I used to, I'm getting MORE for the money.

The biggest tip is to also shop the drugstores, like Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS. Between store sales, coupons, and their rewards (Register Rewards, Single Check Rebates, or Extra Care Bucks depending on the store), many items end up FREE or even MONEY-MAKERS! I still occasionally shop at Sam's Club (their meat is usually great), but I don't find that it saves any money.

Here are some of the big couponing tips that have helped me:

1. Change your way of thinking. It's all in the planning. Stock up, then plan your menu from what you have on hand and what is on sale.
2. It will take about 6 weeks to get a good stock pile of coupons going, but about 12 weeks to get a good stock pile of items. You will start saving money right away, but the savings will continue to grow as you get better and learn the cycles and which items are money-makers.
3. Buy a local Sunday paper as well as one from a larger city if possible, if you live in a small/medium sized town. Larger circulation means more coupons usually.
4. Set aside a certain time every week to cut, search, load, print, and organize. It will be worth it.
5. Plan - make a list, have a plan and stick to it.
6. Even if you don't think you need an item, go ahead and get it if it's free. You can always donate it or give it away.
7. If you join the grocery game, don't clip all the coupons in the Smart Source, P&G, & Redplum inserts from the newspaper. Just write the date on the outside of them and put them in a file. The grocery game list will tell you which coupons to use by insert & date, so you just have to pull them out and cut a few coupons before you shop instead of clipping & sorting a hundred of them every week. Saves a ton of time!

Not sure if someone already posted these ~but in the interest of time, I will post them anyways :)

I have seen women speak of these sites and talk about literally saving hundreds of dollars on food by using coupons and rolling over cash rewards, etc. Here are the sites that explain the concepts behind super-couponing:

www.jillcataldo.com
www.couponingfor4.net
www.mashupmom.com

Here is the facebook page that talks about the different deals at different stores every week, and they post pictures and explanations of money they saved and how much they actually spent.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166309&id=76371...

Hope this helps :)

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned www.thegrocerygame.com. You cut your bills in almost half with it. We have 2 adults and a 2 year old, and a dog, eat 75% organic, use only "chemical free" cleaning supplies, and only spend about $350-$400/month. Coupons can really save you, and knowing what is on sale when so you can stock up makes your life so much easier...

I love all these ideas and have bookmarked the links for savings. I shop the circulars and have assigned each night of the weeks to either pasta/pizza(T&F), chix(W), pork/roasts(Sun), leftovers(M&Th), surprise(Sat) One or 2 nights I make extras for the left over night. This way I can stock up on specials and I usually have what I need for the next 2 weeks and simply need to pick up perishables....saves time and money and reduces the amount of throw away. I now make my own chix stock, harvest herbs, and make my own artisan bread. The bread seems like a chore but actually it is very easy and real treat (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/) , I always have dough in the fridge and can make gourmet sandwich bread, rolls. appetizer and treats to bring to party/sick friend for the fraction of the cost of the typical hostess bottle of wine. Our spend is usually under $400/m for 5 w/ one on the way.

This question is fascinating, since I too struggle with cutting down our grocery bill but find it the hardest places in our budget to reduce.

In the Washington DC area, we spent about $500 a month for a family of 4. In New York City, we spent about $800 for a family of 5.

I have some tips on my blog, www.frugal-mama.com: http://www.frugal-mama.com/2009/10/coupons-are-a-waste-of...

and

http://www.frugal-mama.com/2010/01/the-no-coupon-solution...

I know some others mentioned a couple of sites that you have to pay a monthly service. But to save more, check out www.couponmom.com! She teaches you how to use coupons. There are even "e-coupons" for additional savings. Best of all, couponmom is FREE!!!! Trust me! Your bill will be cut more!

Where you shop is the key - well... for me.

At the worst of times for me, I had to buget $50 a month for just FOOD for me and my two kids, and I did it. I bought a LOT of chicken and hamburger and shopped mostly at Walmart, sometimes Aldi and strickly generic brands - walmart's generic (great value) isn't bad. There are some generic brands that are just aweful. I cut out luxury items - soda, drink pouches, junk food. My kids never went without - even on $50 a month. I bought my veggies at the flea market b/c they have great prices!

That time of my life is behind me now; thankfully. But it taught me how to budget and how to spend. My kids never went without, they just didn't get the little extras - the un-necessaries, (that I do buy now - occasionally).

We are five foodies, I cook excessively, it is not really about bugdeting (although like every one here, I should) it's about REALLY high quality ingredients, trying new things, enjoying good things, cooking with the kids, etc., it's my single largest expense, way more than the mortgage, not sure exactly but a guess would be a least $1200 a month, probably more...I could buy non-food items at a bigbox and pay much less but we are trying to support our local business...I prefer to go to our mom and pop butchers and local farmer's markets...etc...

S.,
The only caveate I have to all these answers is that they are from a lot of different places and cost of living can vary WIDELY. In Florida on the coast, for example, I spent $600 a month for a family of 6 with 2 in diapers and that included all paper and toiletry goods. In Wisconsin, with the children 5 years older I spent the same amount and we were eating HIGH on the hog! I mean, expensive steaks etc. Now we are in NY, in the burbs of NYC and we cannot get away with anything under $800 a month and that generally means I will be buying extra the next month to make up for what I skimped on this month. Of course, now I have 4 ravenous teens- 3 boys and a husband who is a long distance runner- they eat me out of house and home. I do use coupons and ads for the two stores closest to me. I do not have options like walmart with a food center to rely on as the closest one is over an hour away. I do use the farmers market in the summer and I also do the drive to buy in bulk when you can pick your own fruit/veggies and we can those for the winter.
I also buy flour in bulk at BJ's (or any of those stores) and make our own bread in less than 5 minutes every other day. Yes, it still has to raise, but it could be put in the fridge to raise overnight and then baked in the morning to be done before we all head out the door.
Someone mentioned generics- they are SUPER. In fact, I often find they taste better than many name brand ones. Many people are right about the warehouse stores- double check what you are spending per unit and you may find it cheaper elsewhere. I also stock up on meats at those places because I can buy choice at much less per pound and also get it organically raised. (we buy organic milk and meats if at all possible, but simply cannot afford it in veggies too out here).
Cut down Sam's to once a month and do see if there is another grocery store to shop at rather than Target. I was at one yesterday (quite a drive) and noticed they were NOT cheap compared to the ma and pa chains nearby.
Good Luck!

No one has mentioned Aldi's. We shop at Save-a-lot, but we sometimes go to Aldi's for "luxery" items, like hummus, frozen fruit (to put in yogurt or cottage cheese). Aldi's cheeses are high quality.

We also go to Whole Foods. I find if I go fairly often I am not prone to impusle buying. Sometimes the 365 brand at Whole Foods is cheaper than Save-a-Lot. Some of these items include fruit cereal bars, yogurt and frozen broccoli. Salad is a bit more, but lasts longer. 365 spices/herbs are much cheaper than grocery stores.

We are a family of three ( four during summers,spring breaks and thanksgiving). We also have a dog,2 cats, and now a rabbit. We filed bankruptcy last summer and since then have read Dave Ramseys book about budgeting. We do this every other week bc that's how often my hubby gets paid. We spend 250 every two weeks on food, toiletries, pet food etc. My son is 6 and his daughter is 11. We shop at walmart for everything except meat. If the store I work at has sales on stuff we buy that and our meat from there.

I'm inspired by reading this! We spend a lot on groceries each month - around $1200 for a family of 5. We eat all healthy foods - really very little processed stuff. I would like to spend less, and need to figure out how to do that, but I can't compromise my kids' health by buying the cheapest processed foods after I've learned how they contribute so much to disease. I have learned a lot from www.NourishMD.com about this. We have decided buying healthy foods has to be a priority for our family's health and so we compromise in other areas - we don't go out to the movies a lot or out to eat. We are frugal in other ways but it's worth it.

I shop at HEB and Walmart and spend $650 per month. It's me, my spouse, and 3 kids, but the kids are only with us 1st, 3rd and 5th weekends

I feed 6 (three of them ravenous boys) for about $125 a week. That includes toietries cleaning supplies and pet food for several animals and the dog.

I never buy meat if I can't get it for under $1.75 a lb. When I find it for that I will buy 30-40 pounds. I only use meat as a "side dish" in most of our meals and focus on veggies, fruit and a startch. We eat TONS of salad and fresh fruit. I buy 10-15 pounds of fresh fruit weekly (mostly at Ranch Market on Wednesday's because their produce is crazy cheap on Wednesday's, well worth the bit of a drive for me.)

We eat mostly home-cooked meals. I use my crock pot religiously. As soon as dinner is done I figure out how to use the leftovers immediately. I take biscuit dough, spread it out into something like a tortilla shape and put the meat and veggie leftovers in with tomato sauce or gravy, then I fold over and pinch the edges closed to make a "hot pocket". I cook these right away while I do dishes and viola...lunch for the next day. Or I will cut up left over chicken and re-season it with lemon pepper to make a great warm meat topping for spring salad the next day (a family favorite for lunch).

I try to use everything and don't waste any food. I skimp on dog food (I buy the cheapest Walmart store brand) because I taught our dog from day one to eat leftover veggies. She will usually get a cooked leftover veggie every night and whatever gravy or sauce we had with dinner. That way even the dog gets good nutrients.

I find that Pine-Sol (lemon scent), Windex and Comet will clean almost everything in my home. So I save big on cleaning products. Three of my kids are boys so I don't have much tolietries expense other than deoderant and all-in-one shampoos. My teenagers clear up their occasional acne with a dab of toothpaste on the zit (works just as well as expense "spot treatments").

It does take some planning and organization to start to pre-plan meals and organize left-overs but the savings can be tremendous!

I think Target is one of the most expensive places you can shop. I devote about 4 hours a week to shopping the "loss leaders" in the ads (matching them with coupons when I can) and buy the rest at Wlamart (that will price match any other stores food ads by the way). It helps to have all major stores with a 3 mile radius of my home.

I bet you could shave your bill in half if you did a bit more from scratch and thought of grocery shopping as "your job". If you are used to spending $800 a month, pay yourself the difference you could save the first month. What a fun game! And a nice "paycheck" just for being creative and frugal.

Sounds like you are well on your way, but here is another voice from a family of four. I am a working mom and don't take the time to clip coupons (we don't get a newspaper anymore) or travel 20 plus miles to go to discount places like Walmart or Target (and I hate BJs always spend three times more and have way more stuff than I can store). I do all my shopping at the closest Stop and Shop, don't budget and I don't make lists and I spend $150 per week.

Great suggestions everybody! I also like to use the Angel Food program - you can find it on angelfoodministries.com- coupons on retailmenot.com.
The food is mostly frozen and prepackaged in boxes that include at least six meats, 3 veggies, milk, eggs, desert and other goodies all for $30 per box. They also offer "specials" which include seafood boxes, snack boxes, all fresh fruit and veggies...the menu and variety changes every month. When you go online you find your local distribution center - usually a church or school - and follow the insturctions shown on how to place your order. There are no applications to fill out and no income limits - if you eat, you qualify, and there are no limits to how much you can order. The quality of the food is usually very good( though we have gotten a couple of lousy products from them - but they have never offered a yucky thing more than once) and it has cut down our grocery bill signifigantly. The food pickup is once a month at your local distribution center, and it's all prepaid. If you order online, there is a $2 convienience charge, and you aso have the option to order at your local site and pay cash or use SNAP benefits. It's not as complicated as I'm making it sound - well worth checking into. They also have a refereal program - for every ten people who order because of you, you get a free $30 box - you just give everyone your e-mail and your referals use it when they order. I'm not including mine on this because that's not what I'm trying to do - I'm just trying to help out like the rest of you. Good luck with your families - they are the best part of us, though they can sometimes bring out the worst in us, and are a precious gift from God.

I have a family of 8. We have budgeted 850.00 a month for grocery. One bad habit I have is stock piling on this. But with that there are months I don't spend that much. On closing, my husband was saying we needed to cut the bill and I was telling him that I have gotten our bill to $1 per meal per person and then he says to me, does Sams Club still have the filet mignon on sale. Wow.

We spent 200$ a month on groceries(food toiletries pet food ect.)

We are a family of 2 and I spend around $300 per month on groceries. We don't eat out at all and I bring my lunch to work everyday. I guess we could spend less but I do buy organic milk for my little girl to avoid all the hormone stuff in regular milk and I buy some organic veggies and fruits to again avoid pesticides and the potential neurological side effects of exposure to such chemicals. I find Trader Joes has good veggies and fruit and some interesting prepared foods. I know if we went to a mac and cheese every day approach it would cost less but I would be very tempted to eat out. I use Costco for toilet paper and that kind of stuff. I sometimes go to aldi'. So I think there is a balance between price and healthy.

It depends on what type of food you're buying. One thing that has saved me 50% of my grocery/toiletries bill is couponsense.com. You do have to pay for your membership & the sunday paper but the coupons are worth it! I started in November of 08 and still going. You can buy many healthy options with coupons as well. Try it for the first month for only $4 and see if you like it. It's a "stock-pile" mentality and worth it! Not alot of time spent clipping/organizing coupons.

For a familyi of 4 here we tend to spend on avergage $320 a month or so.... and that does include a teen - of course it helps my teen doesn't like junk food and prefers fresh veggies so that helps w/the cost! I totally am an ad shopper - and most my shopping is done at value stores as opposed to big chains like Jewel/Dominicks which i find too expensive (except for their 3 day sales etc.) otherwise i am at Butera, Valli, Ultra, Food4less, Shop/save mart..... usually I will plan my meals around the ads too (if pork is super cheap i make something w/pork etc.) and by doing this i find what is key is MAKING a menu for the week ahead of time then shopping - not knowing what you are making each day to me is what causes impulse buying etc... so this has helped me tremendously! I use coupons when i can but not TONS.... I shop at Sam's but only buy the same things whereas a sam's trip can be only $35 for me (and here i always see people LOADING Their carts high and here is my little purchase.. lol) because I have shopped around enough to know what really IS a deal so i never buy big bulk that i know i won't use in time and figure out the per unit price to realize i can get that item actually cheaper at ultra that week or something (i mean their can veggies - there are sales at times for .25 cents a can way cheaper than sams so i wait til those sales and stock up) you just have to know your prices.... and i make a lot of by scratch food - spaghetti sauce, chicken/beef stocks/broths (this really goes far!) , etc. you become a bit creative and you will see how you can save $ once you do it will feel so good that you get better at it! :) oh and wanted to add... I become diligent too about certain foods - for example i will NOT pay anything over $2.50/lb for ground beef (jewel seems to always have it for over $3.50/lb) the 1.99/lb sales i really stock up... also chicken - i never pay over $1.99/lb (prefer looking for the 1.49/lb or less sales) and stock up - never will i pay $3.00/lb for chicken - that is so huge in savings if you do this w/these sales as those "regular" prices are nasty! lol

I tried grocerygame.com (mentioned by someone here) and liked it, but it does cost a fee. There is a similar site that is free, called couponmom.com. It also gives a great tutorial on how to pair sales with coupons to get great deals, and how you should stock up on items when they are on sale. You will need more than 1 newspaper to really take advantage of the stocking up aspect. Our neighbor brings over her coupons because she doesn't use them. I spend $1 per Sunday for the paper and it's easy to save more than $1. I often save $20-$40 in one trip with coupons, and I don't spend more than 20 minutes a week clipping & sorting them. Meijer, Kroger, and many other chains double coupons up to 50 cents (to $1) or in some areas they double up to $1 coupons to save you $2. That means 1 coupon pays for my newspaper.

Also, I know I cannot shop at Target or Sam's without spending at least $80, so I try to limit my trips to those stores. I shop Aldi for inexpensive produce and some other basic items, and Meijer (midwest chain) or Kroger for other items. I spend about $125 per week for a family of four, including Pull-Ups, dog & cat food, and toiletries.

We eat mostly vegies, fruits and grains, with a bit of dairy and meat. So, for us we use the CSA in the summer, and then in the winter the cheapest place I find my produce is at ethnic markets. We have 2 that have great, super cheap produce - a Russian and a Korean market. I can fill a grocery cart there with just produce for around $40. The same amount of food would be around $150 at our cheapest grocery store.
Most larger cities have some ethnic markets, it does take a bit of looking, but it's fun, and my kids Love finding new foods to try.
Have fun!

I know there are better ways to shop and many of the other responses indicate some of the ways moms do what they can to spend wisely for family food and household needs. Some of the coupons open the door to impulse purchases....I think the smartest choice is to read the ads for your local stores....match coupons to your prefered brands and then ONLY purchase the coupon items or best price items at that store...it means more "running around"....but if you space these trips carefully they will net the best results. I spend approx. $100 a week for our household of 4 adults and 1 tween......my husband works construction so he REALLY eats! We have a dog ( I buy bulk dry food and bulk treats for him....Menards is a good source for the treats), our biggest expense is probably toilet paper! They go thru LOTS and only like one brand. I watch for coupons and sale prices and purchase as many as I can store when both match up! My rule on soda is NEVER pay more than $5 per 24pk....sometimes this means buying generic/house brands... We do eat meat. This pushes our food costs up but I make it a rule....never pay more than $2.50 per lb no matter what.....we eat beef, pork and chicken regularly. Bulk shopping is usually NOT cheaper...the trick is to buy surplus of regularly used items when they are on sale and filling in the weekly "menu" with the weekly specials. I am the eldest of a family of 12 and raised 6 children of my own...I am now on my second family. Groceries is the one monthly expense that can be adjusted just by choosing differently. I wish you luck and know that once you get the bug to make the shopping changes you will succeed and wonder why you ever fell into the original pattern.

great stuff here! but here is something that has helped me. We used to budget 150 a week for food(2 adults, 4 kids, 1 baby in diapers) I have made a menu with six meals and we have been using that menu for the past month- we have one meal a week that changes. The meals are cheap but healthy like spaghetti with salad or homemade chicken soup. This has cut our cost down by $50 a week! We also include diapers and other toiletries and cleaning supplies in this budget. For the homemade chicken soup, I get a whole cut up chicken every other week and use half of it for the soup and freeze the other half. I make a big crock pot full and with the left overs the next day I just thicken the broth, dump it in a casserole dish and put biscuits on top and bake it for a chicken pot pie.
Good luck!
~C.

S.,
Hi! I have read through some of the repsonses and I can only you the advice that I use for my family. Number one, I am thrifty. I very rarely , if ever, print coupons from the internet. Why? Because it takes up my ink and the cartridges for our printer are expensive. I stick with the Sunday paper, which we get delivered, beause it is cheaper than using my gasoline to go out and buy one.
I have not yet started going to farmer's markets or CSA. The whole organic thing kind of eludes me.
On Sunday afternoons, I go through the paper, and pull out the coupon booklets. I also look through all the circulars. If you pay attention, most stores have the same brand items on sale each week, so just look to see who has it at a better price.
The best tip I can give you is to know what a good price is for the items that you use regularly. For instance, toilet tissue should costs no more than 25 cents for a single roll. So for a 24 roll package, I never pay more than $6. I rack up on it when it is $4.99 and I have a coupons. If it is a double roll package, then it would be 12 rolls. Don't buy something just because the store says that it is a sale. If you don't know what the going price is, you could be gettig ripped off. Same thing applies with double and triple coupons.
My family uses Tide detergent. When It is on sale, I buy the powder versus the liquid because you get more loads out of it. Powder has 40 loads and the liquid has 32, for the regular. If you get the liquid with enhancements it only has 26 loads.
If you have a club store, like Sam's or BJ's, compare the cost of buying the normal size to the economical sizes that they have. The larger quantity is NOT always the better deal. And you have to factor in the cost of the membership.
Oh, your question was how much do I spend on groceries in a month. I would say about $350-400 and that includes cleaning supplies and diapers. Our family has two adults and two children, ages 7 and 2.
Another way to get coupons is to contact companies whose products you use. Just about everything has either an 800 number or website on it. I make use of that informaion. I drop an email letting them that I tried a product and whether I liked it or not. More often than not, just that contact results in a coupon of some sort or a free product.
I hope I have been helpful to you.

We have an extremely tight budget in our household of four and have learned to really spread our buck. We have learned to spend $50 - $100 a week on groceries and this is how we have done it. When we started to cut down our grocery budget we started to make lists. One thing we did was made necissities verses plearsures. We cut out chips, sodas, and things that we really didnt need. Another thing we did was split the list up into weekly and monthly things. For example, we buy dogfood once a month but buy milk and bread once a week. The next thing we did was sit down and make menus then write a shopping list based on the menu. We then would check out adds. We also would shop at local farmers markets and we also started not to shop at just one place. We would start shopping for groceries at what has the best specials then work. If we did shop at just one place it would probably be at Aldi. We also hardly ever buy name brands. We usually always buy the store brands. Store brands usually are the same. Being that my husband and I love to cook, we also hardly buy preprepared food such as frozen dinners. We usually cook over the amount at dinner so that there are left overs for lunch the next day. It takes work but it is possilble to save money.

We spend about $150/week on groceries so approx. $600/month, but I think we have 1 less person in our family than you (there are 3 of us total), so if you break it down by person, we'd both be spending about $50 per week per person on food. That seems reasonable to me. I did, however, talk to a financial advisor a few months ago, who told me that $600/month in groceries was a big expense, and that he talked to people who spent considerably less than that. He suggested thinking about my values with regard to food vs. money and going from there. I thought that was a good way of putting it. I like "high quality" food; it doesn't have to be name brand but it needs to have wholesome, natural ingredients, and sometimes (but not always), those do tend to be more expensive. We could eat Ramen for dinner, but I don't want to go there (did enough of that in college, heh!). Something I've done that helps me reduce my food bills is trying to cook more and buy less pre-packaged, and setting a limit on cost for any given food item (e.g. we won't pay more than $2.99 if it's just going to be 1 meal for one person...) Other things that work include not buying the stuff on the end of aisles (these tend to be more expensive items), never shopping when hungry, buying less meat & dairy & using bean/veggie replacements (cheaper and generally healthier!), buying store brands instead of name brands, limiting "junk" food (desserts, etc).... so many ways to save! I don't do weekly menu planning or coupon clipping but I've heard those are good ways also. Sounds like I need these responses just as much as you! ;-) Good luck!

I think the biggest culprits in food budgeting are snacks and non-food items. The first week of the month, I make a trip to grocery store to stock up on staples like canned goods, meats, pastas, sauces, etc. I spend about $150 on this trip. Then I go to Walgreen's, Target, Walmart, or CVS and stock up on toilet paper, detergents, and toiletries. Cleaning products at the Dollar Store are a great buy. They carry some major brands and I usually walk out of there with two bags of supplies for $12.00/ Weekly, we budget about $75 cash for eating out or carry out and weekly trips to grocery store for fresh items. We do this because I know there are nights when I'm late and no one is in a mood for cooking so I pick up carry out. Whatever is left over is our reward for not submitting to carry out and we use it to go to movies, buy something we've been looking at, etc. I buy snacks like crackers, popcorn, etc when on sale and stock up. I hate coupons so I usually check my weekly ads for Jewel and Dominicks and save a lot on buy one get one free items, though you have to watch that they have not inflated the price for one. We east less red meat so I buy Chicken in all forms alot. Spending $2.99 on Tyson Chicken Strips to make a quick dish is alot cheaper than MacDonald's. We are three adults and budget $250 for food shopping, $150 for paper products and toiletries and $75 for weekly trips and carry out. I think it is important to buy products that you and your family like. We have a particular brand of TP and paper towels we like but buy cheap napkins and seldom buy paper plates. I like to save money but don't like going cheap on everything. We spend a lot of time in our home and I want to enjoy it. btw, I recently picked up an omelet maker and pannini maker for under $10 (both) at the local CVS store. They always have a display of thinks being sold on TV and mark them down, sometimes drastically. Besides making omlets, I have made dinners with the omelet maker using potatoes, fresh veggies, and chopped up meat left over from another night. I place a little bit of gravy, sauce or creamy soup on top and it was delicious! I even had some left over to be warmed for lunches. The panninis I have made would cost about $6 at Panera Bread and both appliances are cleaned with a damp paper towel, making my time in the kitchen shorter.

I don't know what average is, but I spend maybe $400 a month on grocerys for my husband, 2 year old son and myself. I know in the near future it will be going up as our second son is born too. Have you tried cuponsformoms.com? That's helped a little with out grocery bills. Good luck!

We have one baby - 8 months old and a toddler - 2.5 months old and my hubby and I and we spend around $800 per month but that includes baby food, diapers, wipes and anything else special for a baby. We also buy a lot of fruit, healthy items (ww meals, 100 calorie packs) and prepared frozen foods for my hubby to make easily...but we shop at the two cheapest grocery stores around. I know we could be spending a lot more, but also think we could spend a lot less if I really planned out ONLY for what we need week by week.

As someone else already posted, costs will vary A LOT depending on where you live. I live in a very pricy area and spend about $150 a week for a family of four (two of which are little and don't eat a lot yet), and that is without buying extravaggant things. In my area, a pound of ground beef averages $4.89! (even on sale it is never less than $3.99, but that is always for the fattiest kind).

I am always frustrated by the compromise between eating healthy and eating cheap. The healthiest cereals are about $5 for a small box. But I can get a Mega-size box of Fruit Loops for $2.50 any day of the week! UGH. But aside from complaining, I can offer a few tips that have helped me save:

Plan your meals a week ahead to save time, money, and trips to the grocery store. Better yet, plan them around the grocery store sale items and/or what you have coupons for.

Don't serve meat with every dinner. Since meat can be pricey and cheap cuts are often the least healthy, serve meatless meals 2-3 times a week.

Plan meals where the meat is not the starring feature, so you can use less of it (i.e. stir-frys, enchiladas, etc.) That way you can make a pound of meat last for two meals. I also roast a chicken once a week and get at least one other meal out of the leftovers.

Try to cook more and not serve pre-packaged dinners or frozen dinners.

Don't buy drinks and snacks in single-serve packages. Bagged salads are also a lot more expensive. A lot of what saves you time costs a lot more, so weigh weather your budget or your time is more important, it's different for each person.

Beans (whether canned or dried) are a very cheap ingredient. Keep them on hand to use as fillers for rice dishes, in chili, etc.

We are a family of 4 1/2 (the half because my teenage stepdaughter lives with us half the week) We spend about $600 a month on groceries. We shop at a local store that is similar to Whole Foods and I buy all organic. The reason I can still keep the bill to a reasonable amount is that I do not buy packaged foods, except for cereal and a select few items. We only eat meat once a week, sometimes twice if something is on sale. I try to make everything at home that is too pricey at the store- crackers, bread, etc. We grow veggies in the summer and buy from farmer's markets, then freeze to use all winter. I also buy in bulk for flour, oats, rice, dried beans, etc.

Breakfasts are usually oatmeal (not packaged), eggs (from our own chickens) or pancakes from scratch (way cheaper than packaged) with jam (syrup is too expensive). Lunches are sandwiches/ apples & peanut butter, etc. Dinners are mainly vegetarian,. This keeps costs down while making us able to still buy the highest quality food. I buy extra if things are on sale too.

Wow, there's a lot of great information in the responses here! It's fascinating, as was pointed out, that cost of living around the country really affects so much of what we spend. And why is it fresh produce in one region is a good way to save, but more expensive in other areas?

I've always prided myself on being pretty frugal, but now we find lifestyle changes are impacting our shopping habits. After watching Food, Inc and seeing how the food system in this country really works, we're trying to steer away even more from processed foods, especially ones containing corn products. Still, organics generally cost more, so we've joined a local CSA. Like the cheap prices at Wal Mart, but really dislike supporting Wal Mart (and the way they target only specific companies' products - less variety around here). I think I need to check out Aldi a little more thoroughly - just hate trying to hit too many stores. Gas is even an issue - we live in a rural area, the closest grocery is about 10 miles, but the closest Wal-Marts are 20 miles minimum. I always take a list, eat first, and like other moms, don't take the family!

What a challenge and what a fine line to maintain to feed our families as we wish on a budget. Moms have such great insight!

We spend $500 a month for a family of 5. I think it's a matter of learning the difference between wants and needs. Because $ is really tight right now, we are even having to include haircuts, clothes, entertainment in that $500 budget. It's difficult, but it is doable. If you have the time to do coupons, that is always helpful. I myself just can't seem to find the time to do them anymore. I mostly shop at Walmart and ad match all the good deals at the local grocery stores. I rarely go to Target just because I find that I will buy things there that I more want rather than need. I only shop at Costco every couple of months and pick up only the things that I really need in bulk. I just watched an Oprah show last night with Suzy Orman and she highly suggested that we learn to live on 1/2 of what our income is each month and put the rest in savings. With the way the economy is going, saving $ is crucial for all of us. Good luck in your budgeting endeavors. :)

I've learned to shop with coupons. I purchase sundays paper and if I like the coupons, I purchase additional copies. The reason for multiple copies is, you can stock up on a great sale. For instance, Fry's has the buy 10 and receive $5 off, this week. I will be purchasing, 10 items at under $1 or free at Fry's because I have coupons for the items that are on sale. I have a costco membership and use it to purchase meat, grapes, strawberries, honey, spinach and a few other things. The main thing to focus on is to stock up when there is a good sale and if you can afford it. It sounds like you can. I wish I had $800 a month!
The way I shop, I have lots of fun with it because its a challenge. It's great to see my bill come down to $40 from $120 or so..... Before it was like urgh, I have to go grocery shopping! Also, you can take your reusable bags and get and addtional 5 cents off for each bag you use.
Keep an open mind with coupons. My family and I have tried so many new things and enjoy the variety. We found some new favorite foods that we love! Good luck!
PS: try to shop alone, my husband and kids thrown in so much and the bill goes up when they are with me!!

cut coupons, look on the sites of the brands of foods you eat & shop at walmart for your stuff...thats what we had to do.

We have 7 in our family. Two adults, three teens and two younger children. My teenagers eat about twice as much as anyone else and we often have 2 or 3 extra kids so I usually cook enough food for 10 - 12 people at meal time. We spend $900-$1,000 per month on groceries and household supplies. I too am a fan of couponmom.com. I used to spend a lot more on groceries, but with coupon mom I am savign 40-50% consistently. By shopping sales and buying in season fruits and veggies we save quite a bit. I have also found when making my menues for the week that shopping sales menas that we try new things which has been great for varying the diets of picky kids!
What is most important is that you figure out what works for your family. Having some comparison is nice, but as long as your family is eating well and you are staying on budget, that is what matters!

Hi S.,

On average I spend less than $450 a months on food, toiletries and pet food food for a household of 7 plus three childcare children. My household includes my husband, two children, father and law, niece and sister and law. I also make healthy homemade meals from scratch and limit eating out.
I wrote an article providing tips to reduce your grocery spending. Here is the link if you are interested in reading. http://hubpages.com/hub/Tips-On-Reducing-Your-Grocery-Bill

Hi - I struggle with the same food/budget issue! The thing that has worked wonders for us was I started to plan meals for the week, and send my husband to the store with a detailed list. He is completely immune to the impulse buy and really sticks to the list. I find we have much less waste than when I did the shopping, it's kind of humbling to realize that I was the culprit to a large degree. I just find it so hard to budget on food - I'd rather scrimp on just about anything else, but we really had to reign in our spending. We've reduced overall spending by about $200/months this way, from about $800/month to $600/month. It just will vary so much by where you live, dietary needs, family size and composition.

One small area I was successful in reducing expenses is cleaning supplies. I bought a book on impulse (bad, I know) called Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan. It has recipes for home-mixed cleaning solutions that are chemical-free, mostly composed of super cheap ingredients such as baking soda, vinegar, borax, and things of that nature. I think you can find info for free on the web. My house is clean, smells clean, and I no longer spend big bucks on cleaning supplies or get headaches from fumes while cleaning.

Thanks for posting this question!

S., that is my spending amount ($800/mo.) as well, but I have a family of 7. 5 kids and my husband and I and 2 dogs. I would have loved your budget when I had 2 kids. :) If you can afford it go ahead, we just had a very tight budget, and I had to learn what was a Necessity and what was a Want, and then go from there. :) Good luck.

Hi S.,
I use to spend about $800 per month and now it ranges from $400-$500 per month. I joined www.couponsense.com. I went to a class that a friend of mine had and I cannot believe the money we are savings. It costs $14 per month and you have to buy the Sunday paper and have it delivered. The more papers you get delivered the more coupons you get and the philosophy is to buy the sale items with coupons and stock up on those things your family uses and then you save money that way. I get two Sun. newspapers and it costs me about $13 per month for that. But I save so much per month on the total grocery bill that those costs don't matter. If you have questions about the whole thing and how it works, you can call the instructor on the website, or call me: ###-###-####.

K.

I think your grocery cost is comparable to ours. Ours is about $750-$900 depending on the month for us, 3.5 year old, 2 year old and 2 month old. We use cloth diapers, so we maybe spend $20/month in disposables (for night use/out and about) and we use formula for the baby.
I've tried EVERYTHING to cut down on our grocery bill and I've finally just started realizing that unless I want to cut out all the healthy fresh fruits and veggies I buy, that's just what we have to spend to feed a family of 5.
I was looking at all the other responses. Seeing that I have a 3, 2 and 2 month old, I refuse to lug them around town to get the cheapest price. In my mind, I save money by shopping at 1-2 places instead of 3-4 like some of these moms. It seems a waste of gas. If you live close to lots of stores, great. But we live 10 minutes from one store and at least 20 minutes from all other stores. Also, one mom said to buy more than 1 Sunday paper. That's $1.50 per paper. So if you buy 2, that's $3 per paper. You need to wonder if you are really saving at least $3 in coupons to make up for the $$ spent on the paper.
Good luck.

OMG - $800 a month is a lot for a family of four. I have a family of five and we spend approximately $350 for everything - food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc.

I go grocery shopping every weekend. I take all my grocery ads and make a list then head to Walmart where they do the price match. Where I get the most benefit is fresh fruit and veggies. We also save a lot on meats because they price match everyone's ads. And if you like the quality of meat you get from Sam's club, you'll like Walmart's as they are the same company.

Also, don't forget to clip coupons. Walmart used to accept competitor coupons but recently stopped. However, that shouldn't stop you from clipping coupons to save a little extra.

we have a family of 5 (kids ages 17, 14, and 10) and 1 cat. We spend 500-600 a month and that includes all the toiletries, laundry soap, etc. We get most of our food at Aldi and check the ads weekly for meat sales and only buy what is on sale and stock up so we could probably go 3-6 months without buying meat if we didn't find another sale between then but we overstock when things are on sale so basically our grocery budget is mostly buying the perishable items like fruit and veggies, bread, milk, and other items that we run out of often. We go through a big bottle of laundry soap every month, shampoos, 24 big rolls of toilet paper, dishwasher soap, 2 cans of shaving cream and a few other items every month. Sometimes I think we spend more on the non-food items than we do on food.

$200 seems like a lot each week, especially when you're not feeding teenaged boys! A couple things I do:

Buy a tiny phone book and list different food items and the lowest price you've ever seen for it. That way, when I'm shopping sales, I know if I can get it cheaper somewhere else (for example, we just went to Sav-A-Lot because my mother in law swore it was so much cheaper to buy groceries there... canned veggies were 63 cents for an off brand... but I've purchased brand name canned veggies for 50 cents on sale at Kroger/Smiths).

Use coupons! Buy more than one Sunday paper and trade coupons with friends.

Shop the ads. When I get the grocery ads, I figure out the best sales, determine my menu from that and then go shopping. I also do most of my shopping at Wal-Mart and price match (always bring the ad with you!) so I don't have to go to several stores. The only time I shop at other grocery stores is if they are doing double/triple coupons.

Finally, we are Sam's club shoppers, but it is NOT always cheaper. Remember the canned veggies example from above? At Sam's they have a large pack of canned green beans. Seems like a good deal, but they work out to 75 cents per can! Not the cheapest you can find.

Bottom line, be a smart consumer. Know what you can pay for stuff, and wait until it goes on sale. When it does, stock up! Good luck!

I spend about $300/month on groceries for a family of 3, my husband, my 3yr old son, and myself (including baby supplies, food, toiletries and cleaning supplies). I shop mostly at Aldi, and if I need something I can't find at Aldi I go to the commisarry on base (my husband is in the Airforce) or I go to Walmart Supercenter. I look for coupons for those things that Aldi doesn't have and always buy generic. Cutting back on groceries is actually helping us to pay off debt, and having a little extra every month to have a date night with my husband. I used to shop only at the commisary and at Walmart, but i was spending about $400/month. it may not seem like much, but $100/month extra is really helping out. We still eat healthy, but we are simply spending less on the same foods I was buying before. You just have to spend a little extra time reading lables to find the better foods, and buy lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and only buy the food that you will need until you get paid next, one of the biggest money waisters for me was unused food going bad before i would get a chance to use it. I hope this helps. :)

Grocery Outlet is you have one in your area. It is about 40% less than Safeway and they have gourmet cheeses and wines - most of the same brand names as Safeway.

We have a family of 6 people, 4 birds and two cats. We spend about $400 when we are just buying regular groceries and $500 when we have to stock back up on stuff like cat food, rice, flour, toiletries etc. (for 2 weeks), so that's $800-$1000 for the whole month. We shop at Sams and buy whatever we can in bulk. The rest we get a Publix. It's an expensive store but there aren't any other choices here. We make a menu and stick to it when we are doing the grocery shopping. We hit a few months back where something came up and we only had $300 for the whole month. We bought lots of chicken, rice and mixed veggies.

THANK YOU so much for posting this question! I am trying to get our budget back on track but feel that we are nickle and diming ourselves to death! After having read ALL of your responses I am now thinking of new ways to save on our food bill :)

I shop at Wal Mart too, mostly for toiletries, sometimes groceries. My question to all you mamas - how do you do the price match? So you bring the competitor's food ads, shop like normal, then give the ad to your cashier? They figure it out for you? Or do you have to point out every item you want matched? I'm just worried it will turn into a 30 minute ordeal at the register? Please let me know your experiences. Thanks!

You already have a lot of good suggestions, so I don't have much to add. To save on our grocery bill, we started careful meal planning each week and shopping only once a week. We do spend about what you do, but with no pets. We buy organic mostly, so that is why ours is high, but before the meal planning, we threw out a lot of food that went bad before we ate it, which is REALLY expensive.

hmm, I have a family of 6 (love food) and my grocery bills are not that high.
I do purchase cereals, bread, toilet paper, cleaning supplies at costco.
The rest of my foods are purchased at our local grocery store.
Just a suggestion, and no judgment if I'm wrong....We drink water so I don't purchase beverages. I limit snacking foods so I don't buy a lot of junk food or even bags of chips, pretzels, etc. I don't buy foods that are put into extra packaging, I purchase the bigger jar and divide out myself using tupperware, for example yogurt, apple sauce, trail mixes.
I don't use paper towels, paper cups, napkins or paper plates. I wash cloth napkins and dishes, each kid has a special mug to use and it is only washed every few days.
I hope this helps, I always think that if you're going to cut your budget it would be in the extras that you don't really need. Food is good, if you buy good food and make stuff from scratch, it's a lot cheaper and healthier....
Good luck....

Lots of great suggestions here. One thing I'd like to add/emphasize is to cut out prepared foods and cook more from scratch (healthier too). There are lots of great freezer meal recipes and it is so nice (and doable at your family's size) to cook, for example, if your family likes lasagna, put it into two (6x8?) pans instead of one 9x13 and freeze one, to have a week or two later. You did the cooking once for two meals (and I bet you'll have leftovers from both of those pans so that's 4 meals, with only two being "true leftovers")

Things like that - combine with all the other suggestions to shop elsewhere, coupon shop, price match, shop/menu plan to the sales, etc. It doesn't have to be hard, it's a fun challenge to see how far down you can get it to go.

I am a Costco member but find myself rarely shopping there anymore. I always spend too much when I go! So, maybe you could cut down to once a month?

Best of luck on getting your bill down!! It is so rewarding to see it go down!

We spend $400 to $500 each week, including toiletries, for our family of four (parents plus a 2-year-old in diapers and a 4-year-old). We don't have pets, which I'm sure makes a difference. I shop at Walmart and price match using the ads (walmart is much cheaper than target) and I completely stock up when there is a really good deal on specific items that I use a lot. I go to Costco about once a month (I spend way too much if I go there too often) and I split the large amounts of produce with my sister so I'm not spending money of stuff that goes to waste. I also buy most of my produce and bread through a co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org). It's $15 for an overflowing basket of fruit and vegetables and the bread is whole-grain, delicious, and freezes well. I love the variety the basket contains. I get a basket every week and split with my sister so I have a little freedom to buy extra produce that I need for meals at the store. Try to meal plan (www.savingdinner.com if you need help) and challenge yourself to buy only what's on your grocery list. Pre-packaged food and snacks are expensive and unhealthy, so I only buy them as special treats and not as a regular part of my grocery shopping.

I think that that is more than a reasonable amount. My budget is $200 every two weeks, sometimes I may go over another $50 or so in that time. Yes that includes dog food and toiletries. We have five children. Things are tight right now, but we are still able to get what we need for that amount. I'd love to be able to spend $800 a month! What a blessing.

We spend 600.00 a month for a family of 6 and 2 dogs. We shop at Walmart mostly (because the will price match everything!) We also go to Costco 2x's a month as well. I have 2 teenage boys who eat every chance they get! Fry's usually has some things on sale cheap as well. My husband does all the grocery shopping and he doesn't use any coupons. Good luck scaling back, it's not easy when your used to spending a lot a month. But you still buy diapers so that WILL add tremendously to your bill, and if you buy formula that will add to it as well! The Rancher's Market is very inexpensive for your fruits & veggies.

We used to spend about $400 to $500 a month just for the two of us. Now we have a baby and we switched to mostly organic food, unprocessed, everything from scratch and we do all our shopping at Trader Joe's (makes organic affordable). We are down to less than $300 a month for the three of us! We are eating so much healthier and spending less. My only issue is because we eat more fruits and veggies, I have a hard time keeping up my weight (trying to gain some), so I eat a lot of nuts, avocados, and bacon! I still can't believe we were spending that much money on junk food before. Oh, and we do buy flour and rice bulk (restaurant depot). I make our own bread, but we do buy bagels and English muffins.

I am curious as to how many are in your family? I have 6 kids and I spend about that a week. But we cook a big meal that can be eaten twice at some point during the week ya know.

COUPONS Shop at stores that double and triple them. Go through the grocery adds, then plan your weekly meals around the sale items. In todays marketplace,you can usually shop a couple of stores,without spending too much extra time and gas money. Use coupons when items are on sale, sometimes you get them free.
Making a weekly menu can save bunches. Do some comparrison shopping. See who has better prices. Just jot down 25 to 30 items that you purchase regularly, go to 3 or 4 different stores and write down the costs. The differences will amaze you. Make it a fun day ! Reward yourself with a nice lunch for all your hard work. Invite a friend to join you on your quest. When I did this , I changed where I shopped. It also caused me to buy less at Costco. With coupons, sometimes I can save more than buying bulk.
I cut my grocery bill by about $40.00 a week, sometimes even more. Another tip, shop the bread stores, great deals.

It realyy depends on how many people you are feeding too. For a family of 4 plus two dogs, I am spending $400.00 a month. I am only going to Woodman's and occasionly Pick and Save. Pick and Save has gas points so I am saving alot of money for gas.

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It realyy depends on how many people you are feeding too. For a family of 4 plus two dogs, I am spending $400.00 a month. I am only going to Woodman's and occasionly Pick and Save. Pick and Save has gas points so I am saving alot of money for gas.

If anyone lives in the Glen Ellyn/Wheaton/Carol Stream area in Illinois, there is a new market (Village Market Place) at Geneva Rd and President that has a wonderful produce department with ridiculously low prices on veggies and stuff. We eat lots of veggies and yesterday my bill was $45 where it would have been $80 or more at Jewel or Dominicks.

I shop in bulk and think/plan ahead. For example, when I make spaghetti sauce, I buy the large cans (110 oz) at Sams Club and make 7 batches at a time. It saves both time and money. The dry mix I use is Homemade Gourmet brand and it calls only for water, Tomato Sauce and Tomato Paste. I mix the seasoning with the paste and sauce and freeze in gallon size freezer bags. When I am ready to use, I add the water to help melt and can make it either on the stove or in the crock pot. The large cans are between $2 and $3 each. The small cans especialy of the tomato paste are expensive. If you think ahead like this and freeze you are not tempted to eat out and you will save lots of groceries dollars. I buy meats and pasta the same way. You do have to know your prices when you shop in this manner to make sure you really are getting a good deal. Good luck !

Wow I can't believe how little some folks spend on food. I am in the organic/healthy/fresh food camp, so I spend a lot more. Also I think prices are different in different areas of the country - I am in the Northeast; lots of folks wrote from the midwest. About $550/month for a family of 2 adults, one 3 year old and a labrador retriever. I buy all organic when available, and my goal is health rather than saving money. I am a work full time outside the home, and my husband works 7 days a week so we don' t have time to run all over to save a few bucks. To us, time is also money so you have to weigh your overall commitments - if you don't work outside the home you may have more time for penny pinching. Many weeks go by where I haven't had time to read the Sunday paper and I clip the coupons before putting it in the recycling.

ANyway, I wanted to give you a slightly different perspective. Sounds like you are doing fine!

ps this might be the most responses I've ever seen to a question!

I spend about $300-$400 a month on groceries etc. Coupons and store ads are the best way to do it. I spend about an hour every week trying to figure out who has the cheapest what. And if it is not on sale we go without. When toiletries are on sale I stock up because they do not go bad. Also we do a lot of frozen veggies because they are cheaper and I don't have to cut them up. Or since there are only three of us I also freeze half of meals that I make so that non of it goes to waste.
As far as dog food - my two large dogs get pretty expensive food but I only fill the bowls when they are completely empty and they eat leftovers. Some of the neighbors even give me their left overs that are almost bad for the dogs so that they don't have to throw them out.
However - dogs cannot have onions, garlic, grapes, raisins or chocolate - that can cost you a vet bill.

Target is very expensive and so is Sam's Club for a variety of items. I do not shop at walmart though just because I hate the lines and rude people. I normally go to Fry's or Albertson's.

Good luck.

My husband is in the Air Force so we get to shop at the base Commissary which saves us a lot. BUT....before we lived close enough to base to do that we saved about $150 per month buying generics of everything possible. They are regulated by the FDA just like the name brands but cost half or sometimes even less! Also, sometimes I've noticed that the savings from the wharehouse clubs isn't what you think it is.....compare prices per ounce/quantity and you may find that you aren't really saving by buying in bulk. We spend about $300 per month on groceries but our baby JUST started solids so that will go up a bit since we will now be buying jarred baby food. Hope this helps!

For our family of 4 with one in diapers and on formula we spend $725 a month. We used to spend about $880 but in January we decided to go strictly on a budget and in the last 5 months we have done well with it! My biggest category problem is gifts! Has anyone ever noticed how many birthdays and holidays there are?? I try to stick to around $30 a month but end up around $80. I don't have a lot of time to do coupon cutting and shopping at odd places to save a few dollars. I mostly shop at Publix 3 times a month and then at Walmart for things like shampoo, laundry soap, cat food, etc 1 time each month. I am amazed at these families of 8 spending only $400! They must be a lot thinner than I am!! ;) Actually I just thought of something as I was reading through the posts. How much do people spend on eating out? Or is that included in the $150 per week? We also have an eating out budget. I mean for the four of us to go to Wendy's it is almost $20 and we stick to going out only on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons and end up spending $180 per month on restaurants.

Gosh, I'd be interested in any advice myself. I am spending as much as you or more for myself and our 3 little boys. I shop Target, the local farmers markets and Costco and I still feel that I am spending too much.Gosh, I feel that I have to buy Milk every other day. I also use coupons whenever I can and try to shop the grocery store sales.

I just read this question now.. I spend about 200 - $300 a month on groceries and toiletries for a family of 2 adults and 1 preschooler..

I haven't used any newspaper coupons yet but planning to do so reading the other responses.

Ways I save money :

1. I never shop for groceries at Target, DOminicks or Jewel.. There is a polish market in my area where the produces are half cheaper than the rest of the stores..Also, I know the price of each produce for pound..So if they are overpriced, I wouldn't buy them..

2. We just eat chicken..Always find good prices on them in the store I shop

3. For the toiletries, diapers, ketchup, sugar, salt , cereal, shampoos, conditioner,vitamins etc..I shop at Sams.. they are a good deal as long as you make it a point to go everytime rather than buying at the convenience store

4. I never buy cans or processed food packets except for Oatmeal and Cheerios ..I believe in making everything from scratch coz it gives the most nutritious food at a cheaper cost..It takes planning and time but hey its worth the effort.. I even make juice and soup at home just in time..It is so easy to do. I make yogurt at home.. I boil my beans at home.. I am a full time working mom but still make it a point to do these coz it saves lot of money plus is very nutritious to the whole family..

I sometimes miss doing stuff the perfect way but it is ok to wrong once in a while as long as you catch up the next time. Hope it helps.

L.

Hi S.. We also noticed an out of control grocery bill each month and have since decided to go on a budget. Our montly budget on groceries is less than $300 and my family is the same size as yours with kids similar ages. In order to cut this bill I use two websites http://savvysavingstucson.blogspot.com/ and http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/CouponList_AZ.php
have started filing my coupon inserts in a file so that when I see a sale on something we use a lot of I can type the item into pinching your pennies and find out if there is a coupon out for it. Let me know if you have any more questions about this. Good luck!

That is what I spend too. I have three children-two in diapers.. I usually shop at publix and buy their BOGO, sales, and bring as many coupons as possible. I also plan my food for the week and we hardly ever eat out..

Wow! I can't believe some of you ONLY spend $400 a month?! I used to live in DE and now I'm in Cali and probably spending just about the same, $800 a month. Last month, I spent $738 according to Quicken. This includes ONLY food and not household items which I don't spend a lot on- quicken says $80. So $818 total which is my usual monthly food/household spending. I shopped at Walmart in DE and now go to Winco Foods here in Cali. Both places are very reasonable so I can't say that I'm spending more here.

I just can't believe some of you are ONLY spending $400 a month? What kind of meals do you plan? Are they quick and easy? Do you use canned items and processed foods? I have a friend who only spends that here in CALI (!!) but she uses generic brands and processed foods which I stay away from. I think that makes a difference. I tend to do recipes from a cookbook and have a word doc saved from previous food lists which I go off of. I keep the same items such as fruits, veggies, milk etc, every week but just change up my meals. I probably repeat meals every other week but not for the entire week.

One mistake that I don't really keep up on is cutting coupons. I just got some from the sunday paper and plan on using them next time I shop (every 9-10 days I go food shopping). I guess I just don't buy the sunday paper all that time and I don't look online either I also don't buy processed foods, anything with high fructose corn syrup (I heard Food Inc is a great movie to watch) and buy a lot of fruit. I can get Fugi apples for 89 cents/pound which is great b/c at other stores like Raley's, Bel-Air (which are VERY pricey), they are close to $2 a pound! Crazy! I will take a peek at those coupon links though to see IF I can save anything.

Thanks!