How Much Do You Spend in Groceries a Week?

[SunflowerMama]

I'm just wondering if there is anything I could do to cut down on my cost but right now it's more than I spend on my family a week.

It's right around $100 and I don't buy a lot of processed foods and prepare most of the meals myself. I use fresh fruits and mostly fresh veggies, whole grain breads, cereals and pasta, some organic dairy (yogurt, milk), etc.

I'm starting on the Food Program this month so that will help a great deal but I'm just curious what most of you are spending a week on food for the dck.

Right now I have 3 dck and then my 2 and I serve breakfast, snack, lunch and snack.

[jen]

Right around $300 per week...but that is for my family and daycare. For instance...we had a flank steak for dinner. I made extra and the kids will have steak tacos tomorrow....

[SunflowerMama]

How many children do you have ?

[jen]

For lunch I have 6, for snack I have 8. Breakfast is really hit or miss...most often only a couple.

[SunflowerMama]

Starting in April I will have a similar number 5 dck and my 2 for breakfast/lunch/snack and $1,200/month freaks me out a bit. What is a typical weekly menu for you? Are you on a Food Program at all?

[safechner]

I spend groceries from Wal Mart between $500 to $550 a month for my family and three daycare kids. I packed the lunch for both of my daughters everyday for school. I allowed them to eat lunch at school once a week for $2 dollars each. We eat family dinner everyday so whatever we have leftovers and I saved it for daycare kids and my husband in next day for lunch and fresh fruits or veggies. I also eat lean cuisine for lunch. It works perfect. I only feed them for two morning/afternoon snacks and lunch because three of them dont show up until 9am. Also, I feed my daughters for breakfast at 7:45am before they head out for school.

[melskids]

i can easily spend 300 a week for DC and family, and i only have 2 full time right now....i can only imagine what it will be once i'm full....

i'm on the food program but only qualify for tier 2 , so i dont think its even worth it

[mac60]

I average about $60 to $75 per week. There is absolutely no way I can afford $300 per week. I haven't went to the grocery for the past two weekends, other than buying bread, milk, bananas.

I shop Aldi's, Save a Lot, Dollar General, local grocery when have good buys, and Walmart for some things, all though I will not buy Walmart meat, it is nasty. Typically I will go to 2 or 3 stores in one weekend and spend maybe $100 to $125, then only get the staples the following week. I have really had to cut back since hubby lost his job, but we still eat everyday. Although I have never spent over $300 month total for groceries. I would rather take a nice vacation than spend $300 per week on groceries.

[nannyde]

I spend about a dollar a day per kid to feed. Breakfast is about .33 cents, lunch is about .50 cents, and snack is about .17 cents. I make almost everything from whole foods from scratch. I buy all of our groceries on sale and keep two freezers full. We grow our own veggies in the summer and I puree and freeze. We also get fruits super cheap at the end of the summer and we stew, puree, and freeze. I use whatever we have pureed over the summer as our fruits and veggies until they are gone.

I make most of our breads and cookies and use the frozen fruit puree to add to the breads. In the summer I use my bread machine. In the winter I use the oven but co-bake my casseroles and stews with it. I have two pampered chef stone ovens that help save a bit in the total time it take to cook big pots of food. I also use my crock pot.

I make a LOT of bowl in one meals. Just yesterday I made a big pot of whole chicken, carrots, peas, and rice. I have all the ingredients to qualify for a full meal for lunch for the kids. Add a glass of milk and voila. The cost per unit of this was .32 cents per bowl. I made enough for five lunches for six kids. Will use one today and freeze the rest.

It can be done cheaply if you have the upfront money to buy large quantities when it's on supersale and you are willing to cook from scratch. I don't buy anything processed or premade. I don't buy cereal. I make oatmeal, rice, pancakes, waffles, etc. for breakfast. I make all of the baby food from scrach, puree, and freeze. I make all the cereal for the babies from scrach also.

It does take a lot of work to make everything from scratch BUT I make a very nice profit off of the food program which allows me to buy food for my family. I don't make any tradiitional kiddy foods like mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, french fries, canned spaghetti's etc. I have the kids from the time they are newborns on so they are used to only home made foods.

Nan

[melskids]

wow...i am super impressed!

i too make everything homemade, but i'm obviously doing something wrong...

$300 a week is killing me, i wish i could figure out how to lower it!

[momma2girls]

I spend about $150.00 a week on daycare and my own family's food. I try and use left overs for daycare when I have them. My leftovers in. spaghetti, lasagna, roast, hamb. hot dogs, chicken, soups, etc... When we grill out, I put on alot of items, and use it for daycare the next day. I have 3 fulltime that eat here for daycare, and one of my own.

[originalkat]

I go to the store every 2 weeks and spend an average of $250.00 for both family and daycare including supplies such as toilet paper, paper towels, toiletries, pull-ups (for my own). I also go for a weekly trip for bread, milk, and bananas as well.

I serve breakfast, lunch, and snack for 6 kids (including my own 2).

We are a Military family so we shop at the Commissary so that is an added benefit and cuts costs significantly. I also cut coupons on a regular basis.

For lunches, I usually have one sandwichday, one mac and cheese or pasta day, one mexican day with quesadilla/burrito/taco, a meatball/little smokies/or family left overs day, nuggets/corndogs/or fish sticks day.

[tenderhearts]

I spend about $100 - $110 per week for both my family and daycare kids, I am a HUGE coupon shopper though, there is no way I could spend $300 per week, that's way too much and I think we eat well, family and daycare kids.

[momofboys]

We spend about $140-150/week but that is for daycare kids & my family. My husband & I have 3 of our own kids. A typical day here is me, my 2 year old & two other preschool children.

[misol]

We now spend about $110-150 per week here for my own family of 5 plus 4 dc kids. I am on the food program but only qualify for the lower tier so it's not much at all - but still better than nothing. I am always looking for ways to cut food costs though. I found a free ebook on the internet called How to Feed a Family of 4 or more for Less Than $200 a Month. I can't find it now but the author was Liss Burnell if you want to google it. There are some great suggestions and tips. Some of them weren't practical for my situation 9like buying a side of beef) but most of the stuff was informative and helped me cut my grocery bill.