Lincoln and I have been going over our budget and we came across some very interesting information. We spend a FORTUNE on groceries!!! I don't get it. We are just feeding the two of us and I rarely (sorry Lincoln) make anything extravagant. I just don't know how/am terrified to try. We eat basic food and I even buy lots of generic stuff. Unfortunately, I am CONSTANTLY throwing food out after it goes bad. Looking back on our expenditures we noticed that we were going to the store like three days in a row and making big purchases. I have no idea what we are doing.
My Time for Tuesdays today was going to be about how to take care of a chlorine head of hair, but today we need to talk food. How do you spend your time preparing your menu, grocery list, budget for food? I don't have the answer, I need them from you.
Let's make a deal, I will tell you about how to save your hair from chlorine, if you give me good ideas on how to save money on food. Deal?
7 comments:
This is completely where I am! I asked for a food saver vacuum sealer for my birthday and have the goal for us to eat on $50-$75 per week. I'm planning on making a lot of crock pot meals and freezing the leftovers in meal sized portions. I'm going to look at the grocery store ads (my sis-in-law says Meijer and Kroger are generally the best priced) for what meat is on sale and buy it in bulk, separate it out in vacuum sealed bags so we only thaw what we need, and freeze the majority of it. I'm separating our grocery budget from the main account to keep better track, and I'm trying to use coupons. Hopefully after a month or so I'll have a supply of healthy, frozen meals so if we're too lazy to cook, we can just pull a couple out of the freezer and have dinner.
Planning a weeks worth of meals, going to the store once/week, and making and sticking to the list also helps a ton!
It takes work as I'm learning, but we've been spending around $400+ a month for two people to eat and if I can cut that in half and get the rest in savings, it's worth the extra time. I figure once I'm used it it, it won't take as long and if I can create a list of quick meals that freeze well, that will shave off some time too.
Let me tell you, I HATE BUDGETS. Our food budget for the 5 of us is $175 a month. We do NOT buy meet since we have our own cattle/pork/chicken. That saves us a lot.
The thing that has helped me TONS is foodnanny. I dont plan my meels really until the night or day before but at least I have the theme. M-breakfast night Tu-Taco(mexican) W-italian Th-grill/BBQ Fr-Pizza Sat-Asian and Sun is always vegetarian.
Hope that helps
Hi Mallory - I had more tips than I could post in your comments so I did a little blog post for you with my frugal cooking tips. Hope they help!
http://evefamilyforever.blogspot.com/2011/08/feeding-my-family.html
Colleen
We are really on the same wave length I think! Last month I added up all the food and was mortified at how much we spent! Apparently I eat out WAY more than ever intended. I, too love the food nanny. That helps meal planning go so much smoother. I have started to plan out meals over the last month (I used to do it before I had 3 children) and it has been a life saver. Not always fun, but I think if you plan what you are going to eat and just buy that, you won't throw anything out and you can spend a smaller amount on groceries. I don't like to coupon because I feel like I just buy crap processed food that I don't want. I'll let you know how it all went once I add up how August went! :)
Good luck, and I will say that everyone seems to be talking about how groceries have gotten a lot more expensive this summer, so you are not alone!
Brian and I went to a money-saving class at BYU and the teacher said that when he told the bishop's storehouse users to plan out their meals a month at a time, breakfast lunch, dinner and snacks, the storehouse bills would go down 40%. I do my meal plans for a month and try to shop only 3 or 4 times. It really works! I am excited to try some of these other ideas on here as well. We have a baked potato night once a week in the summer as well.
It's so hard! Food prices have skyrocketed lately. It's a constant battle for me because I love cooking and trying new recipes. Best I can say is to plan out your meals, have a well stocked pantry and make a grocery list and stick to it! I usually cook 4 meals a week and we have leftovers the other days. It would be impossible for us to get by spending $50 a week. I'd like to know how that is done! We aren't eating crazy expensive stuff but we do eat a lot if produce which is expensive but worth it. We spend probably about $85 a week.
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