How Much Do You Spend on Food?

[ksmith]

I'm curious how much everyone spends on food on just daycare (it could be per kid a week, or a monthly total. Just included the number of kids pretty please). When I did daycare before, we lived some where, where the food was ridiculously expensive. It's been a while since I've been food shopping in the states, so I'm just trying to get an estimate of how much most people spend. Also, what types of food you buy (lots of boxed pre-made food, or items to make homemade items)?

[nannyde]

$5 per kid per day.

[MNMum]

We are a family of 5. And I usually have about 7 dck - 4 days/week. Our grocery bill is between $800-$1000/month. I'm not as good as Nannyde - she does all homemade food, all organic, all special meat. But I make about 80% homemade/organic. I do not buy organic milk - that alone would be an extra $80/month. Most of my fruits and veggies are organic and fresh. In the summer I have a nice vegtable garden to subsidize our bill Almost all of our food comes from Costco - until summer, then its the farmers market and Costco.

[ksmith]

That makes me happy to hear that some providers provide lots of organic and homemade meals. I was hoping to do the same (although I didn't before), which was another concern with the prices.

[CedarCreek]

Hmm..I think around 450 a month. Probably a little less.

[Texasjeepgirl]

allot!!!!!

[blandino]

We are licensed for 12 children, but typically have 8-9 eating table food. I don't provide organic food for the daycare, but everything is homemade (with the exception of one meal on the menu - corn dogs, which have a CN label, but are our only processed, premade, food)

I grocery shop for the daycare completely separately than personal shopping, and I shop monthly (aside from produce and milk) - and it usually runs about $320.00 a month.

[ksmith]

We are licensed for 12 children, but typically have 8-9 eating table food. I don't provide organic food for the daycare, but everything is homemade (with the exception of one meal on the menu - corn dogs, which have a CN label, but are our only processed, premade, food)

I grocery shop for the daycare completely separately than personal shopping, and I shop monthly (aside from produce and milk) - and it usually runs about $320.00 a month.

Blandino, do you do daycare in your home?

[SilverSabre25]

We average $120-$150/week for a family of 4 + 4 dcks (3 eating table food, all full-time).

I can't break down what we spend just to feed daycare kids because we haven't done it.

I do very little processed, premade stuff.

[blandino]

Blandino, do you do daycare in your home?

Yes and no. We are an in-home license, but have a seperate home just for the daycare. So I am able to completely seperate the groceries.

[just_peachy]

I know this goes outside the limits of the question, but the only way I keep track is household food AND toiletries.

So for a family of 5 plus 3 daycare kids 4 days a week, we spend $1200-$1500 a month.

We do all organic, the only "processed" foods I buy are the organic kids' Cliff bars and the organic Cliff Kids fruit ropes. We've made sacrifices to be able to feed our family the way I want. I think it's important. My mom has crippling arthritis, she's already had a hip replacement and is looking into a new knee sometime soon. She's on heavy duty anti-inflammatory drugs which will probably be the cause of her death years down the road. And she is convinced that it's because HER mom fed them from boxes and cans their entire life. I tend to agree.

I'll be honest though, sometimes I feel resentful that I am feeding the daycare kids better than how they eat at home. It's a lot of time and work. It helps me when I put myself in the mindset that these are "my" kids between the hours of 7 and 5.

[SilverSabre25]

ah yes, that is a good point. our budget also includes toiletries and paper products. I get a lot of stuff at Costco.

[kathiemarie]

I spend about $500 month for my family (3) and DC (8). Mostly homemade foods. I do serve crackers and granola bars at times.

[LoraJenkins]

I spend anywhere from $90 to $125 per week depending on if it a "stock up" week or not. I have 3 FT DCKS. I do serve some "convience" food such as all fruit newton's or whole grain cereals but most of what I serve is homemade. I do try to "stock up" on regularly served items when on sale for at least a month. I cook in batches and freeze the extras in serving sized containers when I can. I also shop our local Farmer's Market for local in-season produce every weekend. I do the same for my family. Just makes sense to me so I can serve the best quality for the lowest amount. I serve only organic products whenever possible.

[Jewels]

I spend about $300 per week, I buy lots of organic, fresh fruits vegetables, good fish once a week for daycare, I am licensed for 12, and have anywhere for 8-10 eating food, it includes family to, were a family of four, nut our evenings are very busy so dinners are quicker and simpler, sandwiches and such, so its daycare that runs most of the bill!