I’ve come to the conclusion that I spend way, way, way too much money on groceries! I mean it is ridiculous. When I read what other mommies spend to feed families much bigger than my small 3 person unit I am shocked and amazed. Right now, I budget $275 per paycheck and I get paid twice a month. And that $275 has not been enough lately. I use cash for household expenses so when the cash for groceries is gone we’re done. Well, what happens when the grocery budget is done and you need a $42 box of diapers of a $27 tub of formula? You dip into next pay periods money and the problem never seems to end… Despite including formula, diapers, wipes and the crazy expensive cat food that limits Caramel The Cat’s vomiting ($2/can!) in my grocery budget, I still think I am overspending.
Part of the problem is me. I’m a sale junkie. Chicken breasts on sale for $1.99? Stock up! Lactaid for $1.99 at Kroger yesterday (regular $4.69) buy 2 because The Mister goes through milk and cereal like there is no tomorrow. Stocking up can be wise, but it can also gets ridiculous. I keep stocking up yet constantly finding myself running to the store for ingredients for some recipe. Clearly, I am not stocking up on the right things or I need to re-evaluate my cooking to use up the 5 packs of chicken breasts in the deep freezer.
I do shop weekly sales as I mentioned above. I use coupons when possible, but when you aren’t really buying a bunch processed foods spending $2.50 on the Sunday paper and all the time required for coupon clipping doesn’t seem worth it. They never give $.50 off of fresh broccoli! I scan Costco for good deals (because sometimes it is cheaper to buy at the grocery store). I do my part here!
My challenge for myself this June is to use up the stuff I already have in the freezer and cabinet. I won’t make any foolish promises to not buy anything because I need fresh fruits and veggies and Greek yogurt weekly*. However, I will not go overbudget this month and I won’t buy any new protein unless I run out. I will also find recipes that don’t require extra non-traditional spices (WTH is sweet paprika?) that I don’t have.
We are also going to feed Lewis solids more regularly. The Mister is lazy and won’t feed him real food (it does require so much more effort). However, the boy is nearly 9 months old and when the day he hits 12 months old formula is DONE. He almost snatched a chicken bone out of my hand the other day, he’s ready to be eating more real food meals than bottles. This would save a ton of money on its own. $50-$65 of the budget is totally dedicated to formula..and that is with me getting the best deal at Costco.
What about you? Am I the only one who does this? How much do you spend on groceries? Am I crazy to spend this much on groceries for 3 people?
*Side Note: Those green bags for produce really work! My strawberries have been kicking it for a week and half now which never happens.
Southernsavers.com is a great website…but you really have to be patient to see the savings. If its cheap, and something you are going to use, her philosophy is to stock up. I have so much cereal and toothpaste around here! But I spend only about .30 on the toothpaste and less than a $1 a box of cereal. I sometimes get lazy about getting the Sunday paper (and she always recommends to get the double!) and then I get mad that I missed a coupon. She says to think in 12 week cycles….everything goes on sale once a quarter! Love love love it!
I am a member of a few of those websites but too lazy to read about how they work. I question though – is there wisdom in having 100 boxes of toothpaste sitting around even if you only paid .30 for them? My house is cluttered enough! I buy cereal when it is on BOGO at Publix. When I buy the paper, I do get the double. .50 more for double the coupons. Maybe I should start again. I do use coupons for frozen veggies and household goods.
I accidentally fell into the sale schedule. Its great when it works out.
I work from home most every day and my husband works from home a lot so that is breakfast, snacks, lunch, snacks, dinner and dessert. I think it increases our grocery bill.
If I include diapers we are probably still under your amount. My son wears cloth and the service is ~$80 a month. Our grocery bill is about $350 a month. We only eat out a few times each month.
For July I want to try to reduce our grocery expense. My husband loves to cook so I’ll have to see if we can blend his love of cooking with my attempt to reduce food costs.
You make a great point. My husband works from home too (and doesn’t cook). He eats leftovers sometimes, but I have to buy a lot of frozen meals/quick stuff for him. He goes through juice like there is no tomorrow! When he worked outside of the home, all of that stuff came out of his personal money and not our grocery budget.
If you are at $350 I don’t feel too bad then! Once I add in 4-4.5 tubs of formula, I’m spending an extra $110-$125/month (only about 3 months left…). Diapers aren’t too bad. One huge box of Huggies costs $42 at Costco and that lasts us more than a month.
I made myself the promise of using up things in the cabinets and freezer yesterday, too. It’s just me and if I told you how much I spend on food a month you’d die. Well, maybe not die, but you’d want to shake me.
I used to use coupons all the time, but I don’t buy anything that they have coupons for. Maybe some triscuits here and there, but that’s about it in the processed area.
You probably have cupcake ingredients to buy! I think I budgeted like $250/month for groceries/eating out when I was single. Can’t say I spent it all but it was the budget. Of course, when I wasn’t eating healthy it was easy to spend that much on convenience foods.
I get it about the coupons. I kept buying the paper and not finding anything that I purchased on a regular basis. I stopped doing it.
100 tubes of toothpaste is ridiculous…but you can always donate or work with your friends to take what you don’t need. The Bogo with a coupon makes for really cheap stuff…and if you are going thru certain things, it makes sense to stock up for cheap than to not.
I used to spend around $100/week on groceries. Lately I’ve been down to $70/week for the three of us.
I plan a menu for the week and buy what I need to make it happen. I’m not much of a stocker-upper – canned goods yes, frozen stuff/meat, not so much.