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St. Ann
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| Posted: April 15 2007 at 7:15am | IP Logged
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Janet, do you also serve natural rice and whole grain noodles? Last year I switched to the healthier sort from white rice and noodles. The children adapted quickly and eat both greedily! They are good fillers and not so expensive. IMO one does not have to buy organic noodles and rice.
The german laws are much stricter regarding hormones and other drugs given to farm animals, so I do not feel such pressure to buy organic meat and dairy products as one would in the U.S.
But I do buy raw milk from a local farmer and meat from the farmers market. I know where it comes from. We do not eat as much meat as some families...we get by with 1lb. of meat for a meal, the girls just eat very little meat and prefer the noodles, rice or potatoes!
Janet, do you have a garden? Maybe you could plant a couple of apple trees???? We eat lots of apples too and do have 2 very old apple trees which unfortunately no longer yeild much fruit! At the fruit market, if I get there early enough I can get goodbargains on ripe fruit and veggies. Sometimes the fruit just doesn't look as nice so most won't buy it, but they are still good.
We also drink lots of water and juice mixed with tap water on the weekends. I also make fruit tea which also tastes great cold.
We never have soda, although our oldest is beginning to get a taste for it.
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Stephanie
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Karen T
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I have noticed our food bills creeping up slowly over the last couple of years but I just looked up in Quicken what we spent on groceries last year and it's almost $900 per month for 2 adults, 3 kids (5,7,14). That does include paper products, etc. We also go out way too much, usually once a week at night, plus a few lunches here and there - my dh is worse about this than me even. He is home with the kids 2days/week while I work, and he does the grocery shopping from my list, but adds lots of junk food that I wouldn't normally buy, plus often takes them out for fast food for lunch!
I used to have a garden before we moved to this house (too shady) and hope to have one again when we move this summer. Dh will be working full time (finished school) and I will be staying home; our income will be approx the same but our housing costs are very likely going up quite a bit when we move, so I really need to get a handle on the grocery bills.
Several people last year on this thread mentioned The Grocery Game, which has a monthly fee. Here is a similar site that is freeThe Coupon Mom If your normal grocery store is on there, you can get lists of what's going to be on sale, tied to the coupons available each week in the Sunday paper. We quit getting the paper b/c we weren't reading it much and it was just an extra expense, so I haven't used it in awhile, but if you're a coupon clipper already it's helpful.
Karen T
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stacykay
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I know I need to be better about tracking expenses. I put a small notebook into my purse last week, and am writing everything down- food and otherwise. I will look it all over in a month, and see if we have improved at all. It is already making me think twice about grabbing a meal out, as opposed to making one at home, or which brand to buy.
I also took all our circulars (ours come on Tuesday in the mail-which gives me less than a week at a couple of stores,) and looked carefully at what we really need, and checked to see which stores might have that on sale. I am out for various things a couple days a week, so one day I can run into store A and buy only their sale items I circled, and then another day go to store B and do the same. I have been saving all grocery receipts for quite some time, so I can compare these, too, after a month, and see how I fared.
Thanks for spurring me on in this quest to decrease our food $$$.
Oh, and Marie, thanks for the tip on the pecans and walnuts in the oatmeal! Can't wait to try it tomorrow!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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MarilynW
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Another option to oatmeal - is to make a yummy granola. My kids prefer it to plain oatmeal - oats, maple syrup/honey, coconut, seeds, raisins - (whatever you want to put in) - toasted and my kids like it layered with yogurt and fruit. We cannot do nuts - but this would add protein. I keep meaning to get some whey powder to add protein but keep forgetting.
Another quick, low cost breakfast - we do waffles or pancakes by the blender method - before I go to bed - I put grain (spelt/wheat/kamut/oats - one of them) into the blender with buttermilk and blend it on high for a minute. The next morning I add egg, baking soda and baking powder, blend for a couple of minutes and we can make either waffles or pancakes.
Lunches are more of a challenge for me. My kids are allergic to all nuts and legumes - I am trying to reintroduce beans in moderation - but I have to be careful as they do have reactions. I have taken some ideas off the Large Family Logistics site.
I am still hanging on to my paper towel (probably excessive use) and ziploc bag habits - do not want to relinquish these.
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Willa
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Late on this thread---
My husband says we spend about 700$ a month most months on groceries, which would include paper goods. He is the primary shopper. I am going to add 75$ to that because of various small sundries I buy during a typical month, things like juice and snacks for homeschool meetings and baseball. We have 8 people living at home -- parents and 6 children (3 of them are teens). No children in diapers. Oldest ds is home for the holidays and summer.
We never never ever eat out -- well, HARDLY ever  . Sometimes DH and I get a hamburger or a latte if we've been running errands in town.
We have an extra freezer and fridge and a large pantry so we can stock up less often and take advantage of sales, etc.
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St. Ann
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If dh does the shopping we spend less, because he sticks to the list and does not get any inspirational moments while browsing the gourmet section  Maybe he should do the shopping more often?
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Stephanie
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asplendidtime
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I hate having an oatmeal pot to wash, and so do my dc... So we just measure Quick Oats into bowls, top with salt, some sugar, cinnamon, and whatever else and pour boiling water over the top. My children like to get the bowls ready, so all I do is the hot water part! It's definitely as easy as getting out a box of cereal.
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stacykay
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Rebecca,
If you do want to go with the longer cooking oatmeal, my mum showed me when I was little, how to quick clean the pot after oatmeal.
After I am done putting the oatmeal into bowls, I add hot water immediately (from the tap) with a tiny dot of dishsoap. When we are done eating, it cleans easily. But, you still wind up with an extra pot to wash.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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trish
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Speaking of whole wheat pasta supper on Monday is always spaghetti!
We use whole wheat pasta and I make a homemade tomato and meat sauce that's easy peasy and with a salad it's a great meal. It's the kids favourite and feeds all 9 of us.
Brown 1 lb of hamburger and while browning add 1/2 medium onion diced and 3-6 cloves diced garlic (we love garlic). When cooked add 1 can (28 oz) whole or diced tomatoes. If using whole you can blend them. To this add 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar ( not necessary just adds nice flavour), 1 tbsp garlic powder (did I mention we like garlic?) , 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp basil, 1 tsp salt (I like celtic), 2 tbsp olive oil. Stir and continue to cook until it thickens about 1/2 hour. Done. You can add more or less spices depending on your preference and it's all done in one pot. Tastes better than the kind you buy IMO.
Serve over pasta of any kind. 
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Ouiz
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May I say I am AMAZED at how so many of you are able to feed your families so cheaply!!! I applaud you one and all for the amazing way you have succeeded in making your grocery bills so small!! AND manage to buy organic too!! Wow!
We are a family of 8 (and counting). My children are 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, and 1. We easily spend $1000 a month on groceries (including diapers for 2, pet food, and all cleaning supplies).
Our big drawback is that we do not have a basement... or a large pantry... or a large refrigerator... or an extra freezer, which would be GREAT to be able to stock up on stuff when it's on sale! I would love to buy in bulk, but we simply don't have the room. Truthfully, we don't have enough room in the kitchen for just the weekly groceries!
Apologies to *any* who do this, but I can't be the "store it under my bed" type either. I would go stark raving insane.
Y'all are amazing!
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Joann in AL
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We have 9 in our family. Two college kids coming home next month. Two teens, one tween boy who eats like a horse, and two younger boys. We are carnivores. LOL
We have gardens and chickens for eggs and dh raises organic chickens to sell, but there's not much market where we are, so we right now have a freezer full of chicken. (Unfortunately, our part of AL is 400 miles from Janet's!) We have raised beef and pork as well. We get venison occasionally from friends. We were on food stamps for about a year and at one point we received the maximum benefit for a family of nine which is 980$. I had never spent that much on food before. It was amazing. I could get the children fruit and veggies and juice and meats on sale. We have always lived at a point lower than the poverty levels. (We could still qualify for food stamps, but there's my pride...) And so groceries are the thing that we can control. And with gasoline prices where they are we really have to be careful.
We raise organic produce all year for salads. I haven't canned for years because we've had a couple bad drought years and there hasn't been an abundance. But I usually plan to can pears, peaches, strawberry jam (no sugar), tomatoes. We freeze veggies like snow peas, English peas, presuming they aren't eaten before they get in the house! We freeze blueberries. Sometimes we splurge and go to a blueberry farm and buy 30 gallons and freeze them.
We have to feed the critters who live here as well as the humans. I spend about $500/month on groceries, paper goods, chicken feed, etc (we rarely have paper plates and we use cloth napkins because they wash!). We eat out a little maybe two or three times a year as a family, dh & I go out together a little more often than that. But we eat cheap.
Anyway, the amount of money that I can spend on groceries, etc doesn't change and if the cars require more gas, then that has to come from the grocery budget. So food has to stretch.
Joann
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Joy in Alabama
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Hello,
I am Joy from Alabama, mom of nine - eight of them still at home. I pop in here sometimes and gleen from you ladies.
I have a question. I was wondering where most of you buy groceries? I shop at Sams and Walmart. My oldest son lives a couple of hours away and he has an Aldi's. We are going to visit him next week and I was wondering if it would be worth it to shop there.
I've enjoyed this thread - mostly because it's made me feel better that we spend around the same amount as most of you. Whew! Thought I was doing SO badly, but I'm not! 
J Y
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4 lads mom
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I spend at least $1000 a month for a family of four boys and us two parents. (and little girl to be born at the end of the summer)..........the problem with us...food allergies. I have kids very allergic to milk, peanut butter, legumes, (no beans in our house), pork, chicken, sunflower seeds, and some sensitivities to wheat and egg, so we don't go overboard with pasta, or egg based dishes. To save my sanity, esp. when we were dealing with a very medically intense kiddo, I couldn't make "separate" meals, they are not all allergic to the same stuff. I have found it impossible to spend a whole lot less, we are very red meat based!!! The funny thing is, with all of the soy we eat, my dh and my cholestorol is great, even with the red meat extravaganza.
Anyone else in the same allergy ruled predicament? So many of those "frugal" meals have to do with cheese, eggs, chicken, pork....can't do them. A few are also allergic to things like canteloup, actually, most melons, bananas, green beans, peas...
oh well...no one has missed any meals yet!!
_________
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MarieC
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Joy in Alabama wrote:
| My oldest son lives a couple of hours away and he has an Aldi's. We are going to visit him next week and I was wondering if it would be worth it to shop there. |
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Hi Joy and Welcome!
I stop at Aldi's once in a while. Sometimes I've gotten some produce...and sometimes it hasn't looked so great. Most everything is processed IMHO...which I try to avoid. I can usually get butter cheaper there than other places and biscuits are really cheap (25 cents/pkg.) so I pick them up sometimes for a cheap way to make monkey bread (as processed and junky as food gets !
Enjoy your visit with your son!
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Marie
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dds-98, 00, 02 and 09 & dss-03 and 06
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Tina P.
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| We have company over often too but we do a pot of beans and sausage/ham or a big gumbo or jambalaya or grill pork steaks and chicken. Those things stretch easily and are enjoyed by all. |
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Are you inviting us over, Cay? I'm packing my bags. I'm ready to eat some of that jambalaya. Does it have shrimp in it!?!?
Cay Gibson wrote:
But, in evaluating in my head what the cost of eating out is doing to the food budget...we're looking at least $15-$20 everytime we go out--approx. twice (just me and the kids) each week and a family meal in a restaurant coming delicately to $60 bucks one per week. That's a cool extra $100 per week equalling $400 a month splurged in pleasure eating.  |
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A friend taught me a trick in going to Mexican restaurants. We order two or three nacho platters and for 8 or 9 people (depending upon whether dh is with us) eating, we can have a dinner for under $20.00.
And usually when we go out (listen to me, rationalizing away), we can forgo a large meal before or after, eating carrot and celery sticks and cut up apples, thus saving whatever money we would've spent for *groceries* on two meals. You're still spending more than you would've spent on two (or maybe more? ) meals at home, but it does soften the blow a little bit, doesn't it?
Elizabeth, I think our monthly grocery budget is somewhere between $900 and $1,000, including trips out to eat. That's for 9 people, and it includes prepared foods  for lunch since I am not very good at lunch preparation.
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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asplendidtime
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I made up a recipe for meals-on-the-go or travelling in the van...
Pizza Wraps
As many tortillas as you'd need for your family (I use 10)
Homemade pizza sauce (made from Tomato paste and some herbs, spices, a bit of sweetner and salt)
Sliced Pepperoni
Green pepper diced
Pineapple tidbits
Shredded Mozzarella
1. Spread the tortillas with sauce, then place across the one end of the circle 3-4 slices of pepperoni, and then all the rest of the toppings atop this line of pepperoni.
2. Roll the tortillas like an enchilada.
I warmed them for 30 minutes in a 350' oven on a non-stick cookie tray with tin foil over the top. I cut them in half for smaller guys it was easier for them to handle two smaller pieces.
You can cool these or serve them warm in the van wrapped in a piece of cellophane, napkin or a paper towel if you use them. My dc and dh really liked them!
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Rebecca~Mama to
Noah 17,
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Zoe 9,
Will 7,
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Grateful2God
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I think this is a great topic but it doesn't help me to know what people spend if I don't know what your family income is After all our bills are paid including gasoline for the car, we have about $350 left for the entire month for all nine of us. We are a one income blue collar family living in the midwest. We live in a small town 20 miles from dh's work and shop at Walmart and Aldi for food. We qualify for food stamps and other state programs but we just don't want to do that. Truthfully we'd rather be in debt as unhappy as that it. It is a pride thing for sure. I'm not throwing mud at those that do use programs, it just happens to be our wishes at this time. Things would change alot if dh landed disabled or something. Maybe if the question is too personal, I may ask, what percent of your entire budget goes to food???
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kris
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I have a question. I was wondering where most of you buy groceries? I shop at Sams and Walmart. My oldest son lives a couple of hours away and he has an Aldi's. We are going to visit him next week and I was wondering if it would be worth it to shop there.
--- I used to shop at Aldi a lot, but these days several of our local stores (Kroger, for instance) seem to have lowered prices on the same things you get very cheaply at Aldi (I guess to compete with them) and since there are *some* things you can't get at Aldi that you can get at a bigger store, it's just easier to do it all at one place (ie: Kroger). I also like buying in bulk at Sam's. Not everything is cheaper there, but on the things that are it just makes more sense to buy there (for me, anyway).
I would definitely check it out while you are there, though. I probably go there once or twice a month and pick up things we like from there or are especially good deals.
We have 8 boys ( one a 20yo, 3 of them teens and a big 10 yo :) & 2 girls and we spend about 2000 a month on groceries and household items. That is around 1/5th of our total budget.
I know dh would like it to be less (especially now, he was laid off again :(....so this has been an inspirational thread! :)
kris
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teachingmyown
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We typically spend about $1000. However, because of our current financial situation, I only have about $500/month for groceries, gas and anything other than our bills.  The $1000 figure is about 1/5 of our net income. We have 7 kids so far, including a body-building teen who thinks meat should be on the menu at least two meals a day. And I am trying to stay ahead of the morning sickness by eating well.
An Aldi's just opened up last week, so hopefully when I have some funds available I can start shopping there. Right now we are at the point of creative cooking from what's left in the pantry. Too bad I am not creative and not a good cook.
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Molly
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Sherry
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Dear Grateful2God and others,
I also shop at Sam's and Walmart, as well as an Aldi-type store. The loss-leader meats at Safeway, as well as the milk and sometimes bread, helps. When there are times of real pinching, I have found that buying bulk bags of grains and legumes from a local health-food distributor helps. My favorite good buys are bags of short-grain brown rice, oats, ww pastry flour, and regular ww flour. Buying big bags--25-50 lbs, is where you find the real savings. It may be as easy as contacting your nearest health food store and asking if they will allow you to place an order. Arrowhead Mills is a good label to look for.
These simple foods are so healthful, for such a little bit of money. We just need to learn how to spice and "accessorize" them so they become delicious. It's surprising just how satisfying and filling a little homemade bread can be, and for a fraction of the store-bought loaves. I can make a number of loaves at a time and the children become quite full in the morning on just bread, butter and jelly.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: food budget
