Groceries

[cillybean83]

Is anyone besides me super anull when it comes to groceries? I feel like food is one of the few areas when I can truly "control" my spending...and I am very strict about how much I spend, how I plan meals, etc...my husband thinks I'm nuts because I complain about how much FOOD he goes through. I'm lactose intolerant, so is my 13 month old, and my 8 year old drinks milk but mostly in cereal and my husband thinks that 2 gallons of milk a week for just our family is strict! I think it's PLENTY! I'm also cheap when it comes to junk food. I dont like it in my house but I do get 1 package of cookies or 1 bag of chex mix every week, and when thats gone tough luck...wait til next week!

We don't make a lot of money in this business, so I really try to stretch my income by pinching pennies...but my family makes me feel so guilty! Does anyone else keep a weekly menu for their own family, not just the daycare?

[Abigail]

I don't keep weekly menus, we're lucky if we can cook at home for a week. We really do survive on fast food. I'm content with eating two plain hamburgers from McDonald's for 2 bucks and will be good for most of the day. I'm not a healthy eater, but I'm trying. At least everything I order is plain and/or tasteless so the calories are easier to take in.

[marniewon]

Yes, I'm anal about grocery shopping, only buy with specials AND coupons, and get super upset whenever I get anything yummy - my family goes through it like it's water!! And then they complain there's nothing good to eat!! I have my husband and 2 teenage boys, and they are constantly eating! If I get ice cream, it's gone within days. I'm talking about a 5 gallon pail. My dh will eat a huge overfilling bowl every night. I don't even get any unless I get my own and threaten with their lives not to touch it. My oldest son is so picky that most of the time he won't eat with us, but will get something later, and many times will use some ingredient that I was saving for a meal that week.

I do shop with coupons, and I do make menus (usually weekly) whenever I can. I base my meals on what I have (or can) get on sale.

[QualiTcare]

i rarely drink milk so i think a gallon should be PLENTY but when my husband goes to the store he will get two gallons and it's gone in no time.

we were watching family fued yesterday and one of the questions was "a drink someone drinks every day" and the contestant and my husband said MILK and i was like no way...it's WATER!

the answer was MILK! i only have milk if it's in cereal (which is rare) but he drinks it like it IS water. i know how you feel - i'll buy things (like special k bars) and i feel like a fat cow bc i actually HIDE them but it's the only way i can have any! if i don't hide them then they'll be gone when i go to get one.

what's even more annoying is he and the kids can eat and eat and they're skinny mini's and if i look at food i gain a pound. ugh.

[MN Mom]

The two things my family goes thru very quickly: Milk and Cereal. I buy 8+ gallons of milk per week and my storage pantry looks like the cereal isle at the grocery store. The cereal we usually buy is Kashi (strawberry, blueberry, or U) Rice Crispies, Mini-Wheats, Crispx, Rasin Bran, and occasionally Frosted Flakes OR Cinnamon Toast Crunch...but normally those are reserved for treats.

My kids ask for things like yogurt, apple slices w/cheese, celery sticks, or carrot sticks for snacks. If I have 2 bunches of bananas on the counter, they are gone in 3 days easy. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches are another favorite around here.

I do not waste money on junk food unless it is for special treat or occasion. No pop, they don't ask for juice, rarely do we have chips. We rarely buy meat because we get it free from the farm. Yet...my grocery bill still seems to go up every week, LOL.

[AfterSchoolMom]

Yes, definitely. I make weekly menus, careful lists, and I keep a running total with a calculator as I shop. I'm trying to be better about using coupons, but I don't really have the organizational skills to clip/sort/use them before they expire.

My family goes through apples like nobody's business! I buy six pounds every week, and we're usually out before I shop again.

I don't buy a lot of junk food either - my kids snack on apples, peanut butter crackers, goldfish, baby carrots, and granola bars. If I buy something special and want any of it for myself, I have to hide it.

[Mrs.Ky]

I ALWAYS write out my menu for the week with my own family and my daycare menu starts over every week so it's the samething Monday threw Friday. I shop at ALDI'S I buy everything there except for fat free cheese, Sugar free pudding, whole grain waffles, lima beans, and turkey sausage because ALDIS doesnt carry it. I spent 500 a month around 125 a week for my family of 5 and my 2 daycare kids. I also budget my household/daycare supplies I spend 100 a month on that by shopping at walmart, and the dollar store.

[SilverSabre25]

Careful list for both daycare (breakfast, lunch, two snacks) and dinners for my family. That applies for M-F at least; I'm not good at planning or sticking to meals on the weekends. Our grocery budget is about $150/week for three people plus 5 daycare kids. We usually do a good job of sticking to it, and we mostly shop the perimeter of the store--with brief forays into the natural foods section, the baking aisle, and the frozen foods department. We also shop a lot at Trader Joe's.

[AnythingsPossible]

I keep a menu for both daycare and home. I am pretty strict about food consumption of my family. I'm not very strict on spending because it seems each week is so different on what we need. I don't like to have the same thing repeatedly, so our menu's vary greatly!

My husband has his soda that I have to buy every week and I always ask the kids if there is anything special they want for lunches or breakfast. If i want a treat I buy dark chocolate because I am the only one who eats it!

My grocery budget ranges from 100.00 to 175.00 a week for our family of 5 and the daycare kids. It varies depending on what we need that week and where I go. I generally have 3 dck for breakfast, 5 for lunch, and 9 for snack.

[countrymom]

because I shop in michigian every other week, YOU LADIES ARE SO LUCKY BECAUSE YOUR FOOD IS WAY CHEAPER THAN CANADA.
you also have way better coupons, not the buy 2 of something and save 50 cents ones.

you want to complain about food prices, yesterday I went to our grocery store because it was the week I went across the border;
my 1 gallon of milk (3bags) is 5 dollars your milk for 1 gallon is 1.99 and sometimes cheaper
1 dozen eggs here is 3 dollars, I can buy eggs way under 3.00 at meijers/krogers
meijers has 11 items for 10 dollars all the time,
your outlet stores rock (I go to the hostess one-for 30 dollars I walk out with a shopping cart)
omg, bagged salad over here is 3.29 and I can buy it at meijers for a dollar

yesterday I said to dh, I don't know how people eat here in canada, because food is so expensive, but I noticed yesterday, that no one fills their shopping carts, its very bare mininum.

[AfterSchoolMom]

I spend about 90-100/week here. I do the majority of mine at Walmart. I REALLY wish we had an Aldi!!!

[cillybean83]

i'm about to run out and get groceries...and I have to take my family with me...this will not be cheap

[MN Mom]

We shop every two weeks for a family of 6. We spend 24-32 dollars/week on milk, and every 2 weeks we hit the grocery store(s) and spend about 175/200 dollars depending on what we are out of. Our largest expenses are probably milk and coffee. Coffee is 8.50/can on average and we go through 2 cans per week easy. Milk is contracted at 4 dollars/ gallon with our milk man (Sampson Dairy), but it is delivered to my doorstep every Thursday. It's way creamer and better than the crap you buy at the grocery store! The creamery is based in MN, so I'll pay higher prices for a better product that is sold and distributed locally rather than a huge corporation from god knows where!

[E Daycare]

Ive made a weekly menu, grocery list and clipped coupons since El Hub and I got married when I was 18. We sat down to eat as a family (it was just us for 9 years before DS was born in 09) when we could and him being in the military allowed. The only time I didnt make lists was when he was deployed but then it was just me at home for months so it didnt matter. Almost 11yrs later and I still make the menu, grocery list and clip coupons but now he does the grocery shopping.

When I was younger, before my mother died, we always sat down for dinner as a family. She made menus for the week, we had family style dinners and those are memories I have. I do the same thing now for my son. It might be a pain to do all that crap, but in the end its way cheaper and makes life less stressful.

We spend about $125-$130 a week at kroger for all home and daycare food as well as cleaning supplies. With coupons we average a $50.00 a week savings. Ive gotten it down to a science now .

[Blackcat31]

because I shop in michigian every other week, YOU LADIES ARE SO LUCKY BECAUSE YOUR FOOD IS WAY CHEAPER THAN CANADA.
you also have way better coupons, not the buy 2 of something and save 50 cents ones.

you want to complain about food prices, yesterday I went to our grocery store because it was the week I went across the border;
my 1 gallon of milk (3bags) is 5 dollars your milk for 1 gallon is 1.99 and sometimes cheaper
1 dozen eggs here is 3 dollars, I can buy eggs way under 3.00 at meijers/krogers
meijers has 11 items for 10 dollars all the time,
your outlet stores rock (I go to the hostess one-for 30 dollars I walk out with a shopping cart)
omg, bagged salad over here is 3.29 and I can buy it at meijers for a dollar

yesterday I said to dh, I don't know how people eat here in canada, because food is so expensive, but I noticed yesterday, that no one fills their shopping carts, its very bare mininum.

Just out of curiosity...do you have trouble bringing food back across the border? I think you can only bring so much alcohol back and forth between the US and Canada so is food the same way? Are you limited on anything? I am close to the Canadian border and see people shopping at the grocery store and malls all the time so I was wonderinghow that works. Does it apply both ways?