Groceries/supplies - how much do you spend? (janobonano)

£50-£60 per week.  So... £240 or so per month.  That includes all food, cleaning products, tissues etc. and cat food.  Dog food extra, that's about £40 a time and lasts a couple of months. 

So.... What's that in "real money"??  

Here SaveMart is definitely cheaper than Safeway, but Safeway had the club card and has a lot of good sales and BOGOs. I do  the best by far at Super Wally, but that's either 8 or 12 miles away depending on which one I go to.  For just those *out of bread, out of milk etc.* times, I dash to SaveMart since it's right around the corner. I got quite a bit at Wally a few days ago for around $180+ but for the rest of the month it will be just short trips.

Joyce

we spend a lot, I would say. We're a family of four....two kids in school...so I would say we hit Sam's once every couple weeks, and drop easily $150 in there, each time. Then we hit the regular grocery/Wally's once a week for the stuff we don't buy in bulk like cereal or sodas or snacks and meat...probably another $80 a week I'd say. So if you do that math it's quite a bit. We don't do generics a whole lot but for some things we do. I don't cook but maybe 3-4 nights a week because I don't want to. lol.

It could be less...but as it is we all have stuff we need as well as things we just want and still have money to save so as far as budget we fit it all in okay.

Its just my hubby and Dudley home these days and I spend $250+ every two weeks.Not good,but all the stuff we can't eat takes up the grocery bill.I try to split them up so I don't have to get them all at once.

I shop three stores every 2 weeks.Super Walmarts and 2 grocery.

I have to learn to stretch the dollar further and cut back...

 Just food grocieries I spend 100 a week for 3 people. 120 if we buy junk food(chocolate,chips,cookies). 150 if we need other stuff like paper products,cleaning stuff, bath/body stuff.

Dog food is $90. Joker though only goes through a 30lb bag every month and a half while Cheyanne,Lillie,and Fynn go through a 30lb bag in a month. But those 3 are eating from the same bag so I dont think that's bad for a 30lb bag.

The cats cost 10-15 dollars a month. There are 3 of them.

So in a month we spend at least 500 dollars. 3 people, 5 dogs, and 3 cats not bad right?

Eta: I forgot gas. I only fill up 2 times a month at around 30 dollars. I dont know about JJ considering he goes to work 4 days out of the week.

I don't buy things on a regular basis, since we buy some stuff at costco and it lasts like 3 months, or I stoke up on something since it's on sale and it lasts 6 months.....

But.... we spend about $60/week at the grocery store for the two of us, just on things like veggies, milk, bread, routine stuff.  Plus probably $100-$150/month at costco, which is where we get nearly all of our meat along with lunch stuff like granola bars.  I've recently started using Quicken and it estimates us around $250/month for "groceries" but I think some things aren't categorized properly just yet.  I also don't have a child to buy for, just us two and the dog, and dog food we buy at costco.

I would say $400-$500/month for the two of us is probably pretty close, if you include all paper and cleaning products and other household items like garbage bags and ziplocs.  I don't do too much shopping at walmart, since we have a target closer, but it's hard for me to add that in since we also buy stuff for the house or whatever there as well.  I've also been known to buy 36 rolls of TP when it's on sale, or 12 4-pks of razors, or 10 jars of Ragu, or 8 deodorants....    Of course, now this made me think about what we spend, and I really just don't have the time to be going back over the past few months' bills to figure it out! LOL. 

I try to buy generic... but it's not always cheaper if you toss in sales and coupons.  we also don't eat "fancy" things like steaks or seafood really, so our meat is pretty basic.  We used to spend a lot less, but food prices here have gone up quite a bit.... as well as the sales prices being higher (ie, something that used to be 10/$10 is now 8/$10 or 6/$10) so even if the regular price hasn't gone up, it feels like it has.

I've also started making my own laundry soap, so we save some money there as well.  It's not perfect, and I'm big on smell and haven't figured out if I can add essential oils without staining my clothes, but I've been doing 90% homemade with 10% store-bought to get some scent and softener and it's been working pretty darn well. 

I find, though, if I cut back in one place, that we just tend to "splurge" a bit in other areas, so our spending is somewhat equal.  Our main issue is that we've only had the house 3 months and we've been living at Lowe's -- if we could seriously stop finding things to work on, we would probably have more money!  That's one thing I need to watch out for -- spending less on groceries, for example, doesn't mean I can eat out lunch more often or something like that!

NicoleS

find, though, if I cut back in one place, that we just tend to "splurge" a bit in other areas

totally feel you on this one! Happens here really frequently. We get a deal on something and we spend the difference someplace else...lol. The only way we'd NOT do that is to bank it immediately and we plain just don't do that.

A hot topic! Thanks for the insight, everyone! So I think I'm not doing too bad, but could definitely do better. We don't have a Costo or Sam's Club around here. Or a Target.

Chuffy

So.... What's that in "real money"??  

I *think* that's about 400 American dollars. 

 Janice, what about mail order? If there are some things you would like to buy in bulk, you can try places like Amazon grocery and wait until there are big sales and you can get the free shipping.

I also keep a close eye on slickdeals.net to see if there are any spectacular sales on things I need :) Typically it's spectacular sales on things I DON'T need, but sometimes you get lucky. For example, a few days ago there was a great deal on maple syrup, and they also carry some of my favorite brands of tea that I got at about 50% off :)

Also, I don't know your cooking habits, but it's typically much cheaper to kind of go "back to basics" in the kitchen than to rely on packaged/processed foods. Especially if you make big batches and freeze the leftovers. Things like lasagna, or a whole roasted chicken, or big pieces of tough meat you can throw in the slow cooker until they're tender... if you don't mind putting in a little extra elbow grease washing, chopping, peeling, cutting, cooking, etc., you can usually cut out big chunks of your grocery bill that way. Even just steering away from the pre-packaged and towards the bulk - the big tub of yogurt instead of the individual sizes, etc. If you have the time, you can save money by making tons of things at home that you wouldn't ordinarily think of - things like bread, or granola, or even yogurt!

While it doesn't always work, typically the more you cook, the cheaper your groceries. I know this particularly because we've been eating out a lot lately and it's adding up in terrifying proportions....

janobonano

Chuffy

So.... What's that in "real money"??  

 

I *think* that's about 400 American dollars. 

Hmm... sounds *about* right.  It used to be a bit more, with nappies, wipes and formula.... we could definitely spend less too.  I nearly always get us some items that are purely frivolous.... like milkshakes, fresh pasta (instead of dried) and cheeses (ementhal, brie and applewood smoked cheddar being favourites).  We used to do it for £40 a week - I can't believe how much everything has gone up!

um...I no longer have an average. I spend about $100 a month on pet supplies. Thats the dog, 2 cats and a rabbit and wild bird seed.

People food is another story. If I had to put a total on it it would be about $200 a month for 2 people. I no longer buy stuff for the week. I now backstock and buy what is on sale with coupons only. I design my meals around what I have, not what I need.

I pay next to nothing for TP and papertowel, I buy what is on sale only. I don't shop at Hellmart, they are just to high and they don't double coupons. I have a chest freezer and my little freezer, both are full. I buy bread items when they are marked down and freeze them. I make my own ice. I buy bulk store brand cereal and store in containers, I buy dried beans and make them myself.

Recent buys between Kroger and Meijer, Walgreens and CVS(I know you don't have all of these):

Eddy's ice cream 1.99, Eckrich smoked sausage 3/5.00(4), steamfres veggies 1.25, pringel chips 2/4.00(4), Dannon Quart yogurt 1.88 (4), activa yogurt 1.88 (6), oscar meyer weiners 1.25(2), angle soft tissue 4pk 1.00(6), ragu alfredo sauce 2/4.00(4). Warm delights 1.00 (10), betty crocker cookie mixes 1.49(7), hamburger helper 1.49 (3)dawn dish soap 1.00 (4), glade candles 3.29 (6) 12 cans of Arizona green tea 2/1.00. Now my total between all of that was without tax would have been 113.85. And I never would have bought the cookies or the hamburger helper if I had not had coupons and they were part of a deal but christmas is coming and I will use them for that. So.......

you ready?

38.94 not including taxes is all I spent. The warm delights, TP, dish soap and candles were all free. The ice cream was .99, the veggies .25, the sausage and hotdogs 1.00 and .50 each. I paid .88 cents each for the yogurts. .90 each for the cookie mixes and hamburger helper since there was a buy 10 get 5.00 off deal and I had coupons, .50 each for the tea. I saved 66% overall. And this did not include the reward dollars or catalina's I also recieved.

It takes time and effort but well worth it.

ETA: I never buy alot of cleaners, I use vinager and baking soda for most of my cleaning.

 We spend about $400/month for 4 people on groceries and another $100 or so every 2 months at BJ's for dog and cat food and paper products, but, I have joint custody of my kids with my ex and he has them and feeds them 2-3 days per week, plus I work in a restaurant and get free food for myself 4-5 days per week. We could spend less, but my husband loves to cook and we never eat out, so we don't really try to keep grocery costs down that much.

 I think Truley should take us all shopping and show us how to save money!

 Teach me...*squeaks from corner*

I really need to learn these coupon tricks.  I think maybe its not as possible in Canada.  I've never heard of double coupon days or anything up here.  But I'm sure there are some things that work.  I need to learn.