Food Costs

[Tigerlilly]

What are you all averaging a day on food costs per child? And what is your weekly budget for food?

[midaycare]

$600 a month pays for all paper products, all food, formula, garbage bags, etc. My husband and I are on the keto way of eating (almost all meat/cheese/some organic veggies but not much) but that includes the higher cost of that in there, too.

It feeds 6 daycare kids all week, breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks daily, and all meals for my husband, son, and myself.

We don't buy processed crap. I couldn't do it without Aldis. Even Walmart adds an extra $200 a month to our bill.

[Snowmom]

$600 a month pays for all paper products, all food, formula, garbage bags, etc. My husband and I are on the keto way of eating (almost all meat/cheese/some organic veggies but not much) but that includes the higher cost of that in there, too.

It feeds 6 daycare kids all week, breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks daily, and all meals for my husband, son, and myself.

We don't buy processed crap. I couldn't do it without Aldis. Even Walmart adds an extra $200 a month to our bill.

Wow, that's pretty good!
I admire you!

I spend around $350/week for 10-12 kids. I buy a lot of organic foods and do a lot of farmer's markets. Plus, I bake most of my own breads. It's getting to be too expensive to buy organic though. We started our own garden to cut some costs and I cut back on servings too.

[Snowmom]

And that's just food! ^

[Tigerlilly]

Oh I totally forgot about Aldi. We have one here now. Definitely going to use them.

[Josiegirl]

Eight dcks and myself, B, L, and Snack. I usually spend 120-140 a week. That includes paper products and cleaners. I do buy my bread products at an outlet store, much cheaper than the grocery store. I admit I don't buy organic or shop Farmer's Markets.

[Controlled Chaos]

I spend $500 ish a month to feed 9 kids breakfast, lunch and snack. That also includes paper towels and a few other items like that.

[ColorfulSunburst]

around $5 per day for a child.

[CalCare]

I spend so much more than everyone here. I don't understand how you do it. I always feel like I'm going as cheap as I can, too. For example, what yogurts do you use? What eggs? I have to buy really good yogurt - brown cow. And I do free range (not cage free) eggs. I feel like I get generic sugar, flour, canned beans... Chicken, I do buy free range or sometimes when I feel the bills are just too much, I buy conventional chicken... Do I just have to drop all that to make it work? Bread, I use Milton's whole grain. Cheese, I do buy shredded cheap cheese for the sake of time and money. Cold cuts, I buy, again, pricey ham which is like Applegate or similar - it doesn't have all the additives or anything. I do buy generic whole grain pasta and generic brown rice. I don't usually buy organic fruit and veg, too expensive. We have no Aldi's and our TJ's which people say is supposed to be equivalent, just isn't equivalent! TJs costs more than others and their produce is always bad. Help me learn the magic ways of spreading my food dollars!

[LysesKids]

I spend so much more than everyone here. I don't understand how you do it. I always feel like I'm going as cheap as I can, too. For example, what yogurts do you use? What eggs? I have to buy really good yogurt - brown cow. And I do free range (not cage free) eggs. I feel like I get generic sugar, flour, canned beans... Chicken, I do buy free range or sometimes when I feel the bills are just too much, I buy conventional chicken... Do I just have to drop all that to make it work? Bread, I use Milton's whole grain. Cheese, I do buy shredded cheap cheese for the sake of time and money. Cold cuts, I buy, again, pricey ham which is like Applegate or similar - it doesn't have all the additives or anything. I do buy generic whole grain pasta and generic brown rice. I don't usually buy organic fruit and veg, too expensive. We have no Aldi's and our TJ's which people say is supposed to be equivalent, just isn't equivalent! TJs costs more than others and their produce is always bad. Help me learn the magic ways of spreading my food dollars!

I clip digital coupons weekly, hunt down organic bargains @ Kroger, buy rice in bulk from Asian grocers because it's less expensive and we don't do a lot of bread here because I have under 2's only. The oldest doesn't eat bread and because I don't either, it's not a big deal. I also make my own yogurt; again it's cheaper & tastes better plus I can add my own fruit and there is no added sugar. I have 2 Aldi's I can shop - one is better than the other. I also barter for eggs & fresh produce from local farms ( my homemade soaps & jams)

[midaycare]

I spend so much more than everyone here. I don't understand how you do it. I always feel like I'm going as cheap as I can, too. For example, what yogurts do you use? What eggs? I have to buy really good yogurt - brown cow. And I do free range (not cage free) eggs. I feel like I get generic sugar, flour, canned beans... Chicken, I do buy free range or sometimes when I feel the bills are just too much, I buy conventional chicken... Do I just have to drop all that to make it work? Bread, I use Milton's whole grain. Cheese, I do buy shredded cheap cheese for the sake of time and money. Cold cuts, I buy, again, pricey ham which is like Applegate or similar - it doesn't have all the additives or anything. I do buy generic whole grain pasta and generic brown rice. I don't usually buy organic fruit and veg, too expensive. We have no Aldi's and our TJ's which people say is supposed to be equivalent, just isn't equivalent! TJs costs more than others and their produce is always bad. Help me learn the magic ways of spreading my food dollars!

You're in CA, you're screwed Everything is more expensive there. I live in the Midwest. I may get 4 seasons and winter is looong, but our home on 7 acres cost less than a CA 1 bedroom studio rental. Groceries, fuel, activities, general life...all cheaper here. I'm pretty sure I couldn't live on either coast. I'd have a heart attack just from the prices. I did live in SC for a year, which wasn't too bad...but then unlike the Midwest, people cared about designer brands. Walking into church I actually heard a man comment to a woman, "Ohhh...are those new Jimmy Choos?" Here no one would be caught dead in that stuff. Maybe Chicago. If anything, we wear Columbia sportswear or Patagonia.

[Blackcat31]

Wow, that's pretty good!
I admire you!

I spend around $350/week for 10-12 kids. I buy a lot of organic foods and do a lot of farmer's markets. Plus, I bake most of my own breads. It's getting to be too expensive to buy organic though. We started our own garden to cut some costs and I cut back on servings too.

Must be the difference between down there and up here

I have 12-14 kids daily and I spend roughly $150-200 a week on groceries and I also buy organic and lots of fresh farmer's market items. We also grow alot of our own too but that is usually just extras on their plate and not always a required component.

We don't eat much bread so I don't buy alot of it and I don't make it myself.

[Snowmom]

Must be the difference between down there and up here

I have 12-14 kids daily and I spend roughly $150-200 a week on groceries and I also buy organic and lots of fresh farmer's market items. We also grow alot of our own too but that is usually just extras on their plate and not always a required component.

We don't eat much bread so I don't buy alot of it and I don't make it myself.

Wow, seriously?!

Organic milk for dck's alone costs me $30/week.

We recently had two new grocery stores pop up in my neighborhood and my thoughts were: "Great, maybe we'll see some deals now that there's more competition".
Nope.

Costco is my best bet here. But I really hate setting aside time to portion and freeze.
Then, when I'm buying bulk or growing foods, I'd like to can what we don't eat right away. And... that's not creditable on the FP. Neither is dehydrating foods.
So, what's the point. :/

[midaycare]

Wow, seriously?!

Organic milk for dck's alone costs me $30/week.

We recently had two new grocery stores pop up in my neighborhood and my thoughts were: "Great, maybe we'll see some deals now that there's more competition".
Nope.

Costco is my best bet here. But I really hate setting aside time to portion and freeze.
Then, when I'm buying bulk or growing foods, I'd like to can what we don't eat right away. And... that's not creditable on the FP. Neither is dehydrating foods.
So, what's the point. :/

Organic milk at Aldi's is $1.99. Non organic but not treated with rsbt or whatever that is is $.99. I use 2-3 gallons a week.

[Blackcat31]

Wow, seriously?!

Organic milk for dck's alone costs me $30/week.

We recently had two new grocery stores pop up in my neighborhood and my thoughts were: "Great, maybe we'll see some deals now that there's more competition".
Nope.

Costco is my best bet here. But I really hate setting aside time to portion and freeze.
Then, when I'm buying bulk or growing foods, I'd like to can what we don't eat right away. And... that's not creditable on the FP. Neither is dehydrating foods.
So, what's the point. :/

Yes, what Midacare said below! Aldi's is great for organic milk and produce.

I don't know how many gallons of milk you go through but we only do milk for lunch. I don't serve breakfast and it's water only for snack so that helps alot!

Organic milk at Aldi's is $1.99. Non organic but not treated with rsbt or whatever that is is $.99. I use 2-3 gallons a week.