Budgeting for groceries

[SandraMort]

I'm about to sit down and create a budget as the first step in getting our finances out of the condition they are in. We have a fairly stable income, but are having trouble making ends meet from poor money management skills.

When I lived in New York City, I had a grocery budget that I broke down by number of dollars per person (regardless of age) per day. This included paper goods, body care products and cleaning supplies at times, other times I had that separate, all depending on what was going on in my life at that time. I was able to get as low as $3 per person per day without those extra non food items, presuming that I had staple dry goods (pasta, rice, beans, canned stuff) to fall back on when we ran short. Without those staples it was more like 4 or 4.50, I think. I'd have to go looking for my old notes.

I'd like to do it again, but since I live in a new city, haven't decided what my goals will be.

Presuming that I have no staples in my closet to rely on and not including non food items, what is a good goal for upstate new york in the wintertime? There are no inexpensive sources of produce like farmstands during the wintertime and my older kids' school doesn't offer meal service. My husband and children are ovolacto vegetarian, which helps some, though cheese is expensive.

I was thinking perhaps starting with 4.75 pp pd, about 200 a week, with the ultimate goal of 3 pp pd, or 125 a week. I don't think I can get our family down lower than that for more than a week or two at a time without compromising on the quality of the food I feed my children.

 

[poppycat]

I was able to reduce our groceries expenses by about 20% but it took a few months. Here's how I did it:

First, get out your receipts, bank statements, or whatever you need to figure out how much you are currently spending in a week on groceries. Don't exclude the last minute trips to the store for milk or whatever.

Once you've arrived at your weekly amount, sit down and plan your meals for the week EVERY SINGLE ONE, including packed lunches, breakfasts etc. Try to work in some items you already have in the house.

Make a list of the stuff you need and go buy it. The first week, spend every red cent of your grocery allotment in that one trip because you are NOT going to store again for seven days. If you run out of something, live without it. I was afraid to spend the money, because I didn't want the big bill, but I was running up several smaller bills that added up to more.

Next week reduce your allotment by 3-5% depending on how you did the week before. Plan your meals again and shop again. Make sure you are buying enough of the stuff so you need so you don't have to make those mid week trips.

Keep reducing, until you can't any more.

I don't know what your dollars per day will work out to, but here in Oregon the food stamp program allots $3 per person per day. From what I understand, that is not enough to make a decent diet if your only food resource is the grocery store.

I have always had better luck budgeting dollars per week. We are down to about $120 per week for a family of five.

I hope this is helpful, best of luck to you!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Try buying foods that you can stretch into 2 meals. I do that for us.

For example: If I make tacos, left over ground beef (even if I use taco seasoning) is tossed in for a pot of chili.

I also buy in bulk when I am able to. I live 45 min - 1 hour from the closest grocery and I don't want to make that trip in every week, so I try to buy for the month and then some.

I alternate what I buy as well. Like one month, I'll stock up on a 3 month supply of canned goods. Next month, dry staples like flour, sugar, salt, cooking oil, etc.

I used to do a month of meat, but since we are working towards raising our own meats and hunting, I have really cut meat out of my grocery bill. I do still buy bacon and sausage and ground beef, but only because my DH thinks we need it. I would rather be doing ground turkey and no pork, period.

 

[SandraMort]

xThe first week, spend every red cent of your grocery allotment in that one trip because you are NOT going to store again for seven days. If you run out of something, live without it.

What about things that don't keep for a whole week? Or stuff you don't have enough room for? I have a small enough refridgerator so that buying 4 gallons of milk (we go through about half a gallon a day between the six of us) isn't practical. Same with fresh fruit.

I don't know what your dollars per day will work out to, but here in Oregon the food stamp program allots $3 per person per day. From what I understand, that is not enough to make a decent diet if your only food resource is the grocery store.

I wonder what they consider enough.

I have always had better luck budgeting dollars per week. We are down to about $120 per week for a family of five.

Yes, I usually budget by the week also, but I have to break it down this way when comparing budgets because I get excited when I talk to people who spend way less... then realize they have substantially fewer people to feed. I also get thrown off when people don't mention WIC or free school breakfasts and lunches. Of course you'll spend less if you only have two people to feed or you only feed your kids once a day! LOL

 

[SandraMort]

Try buying foods that you can stretch into 2 meals. I do that for us.

We do a lot of bulk cooking. We cook dried beans and use those over and over until they're gone. Or we make bread, then use the leftover dough to make small single serving pizza crusts, which my son takes to school with him with a small cup of sauce and a baggie of preshredded cheese. He makes pizza in the kitchen for lunch, his favorite food, for a fraction of what it costs to order out for lunch. (His school doesn't offer meals).

I live 45 min - 1 hour from the closest grocery and I don't want to make that trip in every week, so I try to buy for the month and then some.

Yeah, that would make me nuts. We're only a few minutes from a supermarket and if we want to go a bit farther, the selection opens up. But we've been buying 50 lb bags of whole grains from the local organic mill. With a grinder in the kitchen, baking wth fresh ground flour doesn't take much longer than buying flour for it.

 

[poppycat]

What about things that don't keep for a whole week? Or stuff you don't have enough room for? I have a small enough refridgerator so that buying 4 gallons of milk (we go through about half a gallon a day between the six of us) isn't practical. Same with fresh fruit.

I don't know what your dollars per day will work out to, but here in Oregon the food stamp program allots $3 per person per day. From what I understand, that is not enough to make a decent diet if your only food resource is the grocery store.

I wonder what they consider enough.

If I have to return for milk, I bring just enough cash into the store for the gallon of milk. You could use the same strategy for fresh fruit, although aside from a few extremely perishable items, fruit should last through the week.

I don't know what "enough" is as far as the food stamps go. I know the food stamp number is based on kids getting free school lunch. About a year back there was an article in the paper where the mayor and a city council member did a food stamp challenge where they fed their family for a month on the food stamp budget. It was very interesting. I think they made pretty good choices on what they spent their money on, but they both said it was incredibly difficult.

The USDA website has a table that tracks average food costs, per person, per week. The have a separate table for budget, intermediate and "luxury" expenditure. I love stuff like that, mostly because of all of the rows of numbers, but it also provides some realistic goals for food spending.

 

[SandraMort]

If I have to return for milk, I bring just enough cash into the store for the gallon of milk.

Yeah, I can do that easily enough.

You could use the same strategy for fresh fruit, although aside from a few extremely perishable items, fruit should last through the week.

HAHAHA! Oh, I know, but try fitting milk and fruit for the week into the fridge? No room left for anything else! My kids easily eat a bag of clementines in one day. I can't tell you how many they'd eat if I didn't cut them off at one! Even the 12 month old can polish off two or three in a sitting.

Thank you for the reminder about the price charts. I'm always wondering what local numbers are like, since that plays a large factor into it.

 

[patandchickens]

If you spend a week or three going to the grocery store only 1x/wk, buying nothing processed or frivolous, and forcing yourself to cook "whatever" from the pantry when you run short (it would be good to explain to the family that this is only for a few weeks as a learning curve <g>), I think you will figure out real quick what a reasonable minimum grocery budget is

If you have to make an exception for milk, that's fine, as long as you ONLY buy extra milk. Fridge space should not be much of an issue for fruit -- storeboughten apples (and grapefruit and oranges and bananas if you eat them too) keep JUST FINE for a week or so on the kitchen shelf. Any fruit you're buying that requires refrigeration is probably not very budget-friendly and came from the other side of the planet *anyhow*

(e.t.a. - don't refrigerate clementines, just keep them somewhere coolish and they'll be FINE for a week or two)

Good luck,

Pat

 

[SandraMort]

I remember that! I wonder if anyone here would be interested in doing something like that with me? It's a lot more fun/less depressing than doing alone and it can really help jumpstart a budget.

About a year back there was an article in the paper where the mayor and a city council member did a food stamp challenge where they fed their family for a month on the food stamp budget. It was very interesting. I think they made pretty good choices on what they spent their money on, but they both said it was incredibly difficult.

 

[SandraMort]

If you spend a week or three going to the grocery store only 1x/wk, buying nothing processed or frivolous, and forcing yourself to cook "whatever" from the pantry when you run short

UGHHHHHH I HATE MAKING PASTA BY HAND!!!! I don't mind bread but do I really have to make pasta?

(it would be good to explain to the family that this is only for a few weeks as a learning curve <g>), I think you will figure out real quick what a reasonable minimum grocery budget is

Oh, I know, I was just hoping to hear other people's experiences to validate mine and to hear different thoughts. It's good for me

If you have to make an exception for milk, that's fine, as long as you ONLY buy extra milk. Fridge space should not be much of an issue for fruit -- storeboughten apples (and grapefruit and oranges and bananas if you eat them too) keep JUST FINE for a week or so on the kitchen shelf.

Yeah, I know, but I just CAN'T. I really get squicked by the thought of eating it off the counter. And yes, it probably wasn't refrigerated on the way TO the store but I try hard to not think about it. I've already stopped buying supermarket eggs and supermarket meat and... I just can't afford to be grossed out by too many more things.

Any fruit you're buying that requires refrigeration is probably not very budget-friendly and came from the other side of the planet *anyhow*

As for the budget friendly, I feel that a varied diet is really important for my family, especially since my older son tends to be finicky to begin with and will gladly eat the same thing over and over and over, so I encourage it when he'll cooperate. As for the other side of the planet... *sigh* It's definitely one of my guilty pleasures. I'm Jewish. I'm good at guilt.