Shopping with the Jones ...

**ironmaiden** · 08-02-2008, 12:13 PM

Went camping with the Jones. They planned the meals and did the shopping. How very unfrugal of me. I told DH once we got home that we could have had steaks, fish and gone out to eat on less than they spent.

$380 for 8 people for 6 dinners, lunches and breakfasts!

Every so often people on this board wonder where the government and new reports get their numbers for how a family spends on food. I think I now understand.

First you overshop. Buying mass quantities that you could not possibly go through, not for stocking up purposes mind you. But so many bags of chips, and other snack foods that all get opened that week, so no bag every gets completely eaten before going stale.

Variety. Buy many different types of the same things. Course all get opened and thus many go bad or you get bored of them before being used up. Buy four kinds of pickles because your kid says he wants pickles and your not sure what kind he'd like. Kid likes none. Throw out all the jars. Buy things that you'll eat once and never again. Spices that you'll use for one dish that you make once or twice a year.

Snacks. Have tons of premade snacks. These constitute the major portion of your child's diet.

Large Sizes. Buy the mega size of grape jam and then get "bored" of it before you get to the bottom. Besides, there are four other jars of jam open anyway. Buy the biggest jar possible as it is "cheaper". Throw out the rest.

Clean out the fridge. No room for all the new groceries. So throw out the half used stuff sitting around the fridge.

Never eat Leftovers. Throw out the remainders of the meal. The stuff that never made it onto a plate. Includes the extra onion, carrots etc that never got cooked.

Portions. Give your children adult portions so that they'll have plenty to eat. Throw out whatever they don't eat.

Multiple choices. Make multiple things for dinner hoping the kids will eat something. Put all the things on the kids plate - remember you can always throw out what they don't eat. Your job is to please your child and if the child has nothing on his plate that he is in the "mood" to eat, all hell with break loose. Placate the child.

Graze. Kids will eat a few bites of a snack, get bored or want something else instead and throw out the rest - whether it is two bites out of an apple or half a bag of chips, a few sips out of a juice box. This will continue all afternoon.

Small packages. Individual size chips, juice boxes.

Buy lunch. There's nothing to eat and making lunch for the kids camp is enough of a project as you must include many items to make sure that there is something in there that your kid is in the mood for.

Never eat the same thing twice. You had ham sandwiches yesterday. Yeah, there are a few slices left. Throw them out.

There were so many varieities of snacks. They were afraid that their kids would want something and that it wouldn't exist. Also, the daughter casually mentioned that they had to eat cold cuts TWO days in a row, because we had the other food containers in the car with us. Apparently eating the same thing twice is unheard of. Their son constantly would pick a bag of chips, eat two and leave the bag behind and a few minutes later get another bag of something. Same for drinks. I cut carrots for the main meal and there were extra. I was thinking they they'd be presliced for an appetizer of dip the next day. The mother threw them out. My husband handed me a plate of plain pancakes. The father said, don't eat those, I'll make you some blueberry ones. Since I was the last one to eat, I said "I'll eat these, what are you going to do with them, throw them out?" Apparently, that is what you do and that I wanted to not waste two pancakes was seen as very cheap of me.
Needless to say we came home with two rubbermaid containers of extra food.

The irony is that the mother did complain about the price of food going up and wondered how I can afford to shop at the "expensive" grocery stores in town. Well the cheaper store is a bit cheaper on all items, but has no good sales. So if you buy the exact same stuff every week ... peanut butter, tuna etc. then your total is less by shopping at the cheaper store. But I buy whatever is on sale at the "expensive" stores and stock up. So I'm spending less overall.

**chewawalove** · 08-02-2008, 12:28 PM

G.o.o.d. G.r.i.e.f !!!!!

**rosey7415** · 08-02-2008, 12:42 PM

that would have drove me insane!!! what waste!! it was the parents fault all the way....would it have killed them to say...no one open up another snack until that bag is done? obviously, it is THEIR lifestyle. you think they would smarten up in these hard economic times!! sometimes you just can't teach an old dog new tricks.....lol

**hippytreehugger4ever** · 08-02-2008, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by ironmaiden

Went camping with the Jones. They planned the meals and did the shopping. How very unfrugal of me. I told DH once we got home that we could have had steaks, fish and gone out to eat on less than they spent.

$380 for 8 people for 6 dinners, lunches and breakfasts!

Every so often people on this board wonder where the government and new reports get their numbers for how a family spends on food. I think I now understand.

First you overshop. Buying mass quantities that you could not possibly go through, not for stocking up purposes mind you. But so many bags of chips, and other snack foods that all get opened that week, so no bag every gets completely eaten before going stale.

Variety. Buy many different types of the same things. Course all get opened and thus many go bad or you get bored of them before being used up. Buy four kinds of pickles because your kid says he wants pickles and your not sure what kind he'd like. Kid likes none. Throw out all the jars. Buy things that you'll eat once and never again. Spices that you'll use for one dish that you make once or twice a year.

Snacks. Have tons of premade snacks. These constitute the major portion of your child's diet.

Large Sizes. Buy the mega size of grape jam and then get "bored" of it before you get to the bottom. Besides, there are four other jars of jam open anyway. Buy the biggest jar possible as it is "cheaper". Throw out the rest.

Clean out the fridge. No room for all the new groceries. So throw out the half used stuff sitting around the fridge.

Never eat Leftovers. Throw out the remainders of the meal. The stuff that never made it onto a plate. Includes the extra onion, carrots etc that never got cooked.

Portions. Give your children adult portions so that they'll have plenty to eat. Throw out whatever they don't eat.

Multiple choices. Make multiple things for dinner hoping the kids will eat something. Put all the things on the kids plate - remember you can always throw out what they don't eat. Your job is to please your child and if the child has nothing on his plate that he is in the "mood" to eat, all hell with break loose. Placate the child.

Graze. Kids will eat a few bites of a snack, get bored or want something else instead and throw out the rest - whether it is two bites out of an apple or half a bag of chips, a few sips out of a juice box. This will continue all afternoon.

Small packages. Individual size chips, juice boxes.

Buy lunch. There's nothing to eat and making lunch for the kids camp is enough of a project as you must include many items to make sure that there is something in there that your kid is in the mood for.

Never eat the same thing twice. You had ham sandwiches yesterday. Yeah, there are a few slices left. Throw them out.

There were so many varieities of snacks. They were afraid that their kids would want something and that it wouldn't exist. Also, the daughter casually mentioned that they had to eat cold cuts TWO days in a row, because we had the other food containers in the car with us. Apparently eating the same thing twice is unheard of. Their son constantly would pick a bag of chips, eat two and leave the bag behind and a few minutes later get another bag of something. Same for drinks. I cut carrots for the main meal and there were extra. I was thinking they they'd be presliced for an appetizer of dip the next day. The mother threw them out. My husband handed me a plate of plain pancakes. The father said, don't eat those, I'll make you some blueberry ones. Since I was the last one to eat, I said "I'll eat these, what are you going to do with them, throw them out?" Apparently, that is what you do and that I wanted to not waste two pancakes was seen as very cheap of me.
Needless to say we came home with two rubbermaid containers of extra food.

The irony is that the mother did complain about the price of food going up and wondered how I can afford to shop at the "expensive" grocery stores in town. Well the cheaper store is a bit cheaper on all items, but has no good sales. So if you buy the exact same stuff every week ... peanut butter, tuna etc. then your total is less by shopping at the cheaper store. But I buy whatever is on sale at the "expensive" stores and stock up. So I'm spending less overall.

Oh lordy, how can these people afford to live?

Sometime just to see her twitch you should show her one of your grocery reciepts after a really good haul. Sounds like the kind of person who would be horrified to find out that there's some of us who actually save leftover-AND EAT THEM LOL. Heck, I even save all of my veggie peelings to make broth-too cheap to throw out carrot peelings and potato skins

**Kris B** · 08-02-2008, 12:47 PM

That's shocking to me. I've never heard of not wanting to eat the same thing twice so they throw out perfectly good food. I maybe could see if you made too much of an item (like macaroni salad) and you had it everyday for 4 or 5 days and there was a little left, just throw it out. but throwing out sandwich meat or carrots?!? Odd. I wonder though if that's a regular thing for them or if it was just because you were camping?

**ironmaiden** · 08-02-2008, 12:54 PM

Actually, you should have seen the look on her face when I mentioned to DH that I would need to go grocery shopping when we got back as the fridge was empty. It was empty cause I knew we'd be gone a week and thus any fruits and veg that were there I brought with us. We finished up the milk before we left. In other words, since I knew we'd be gone for a week, I planned accordingly.

**joyofsix** · 08-02-2008, 01:02 PM

Oh my, the waste! I think from what you describe my family could subsist on what they throw away.

**peanut** · 08-02-2008, 01:23 PM

Wow! All I can say is WOW!

Jean

**beks37** · 08-02-2008, 01:30 PM

Cold cuts two days in a row, oh dear! That is just terrible! I could eat cold cuts for more than two days in a row. I agree that is a waste of food. They obviously don't even realize that they are wasting so much food and money! Love all the tips too!

**nodmicks** · 08-02-2008, 01:51 PM

Yikes! That is crazy!

**Megareader** · 08-02-2008, 01:55 PM

Holy &%$!! that is nuts!!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 08-02-2008, 01:59 PM

Oh my God! All that wasted food...

Wow those kids sure are spoiled. Lord help me if my kids ever get like that. Thankfully, they aren't. It sounds like the mom didn't do good enough preparation because I would have asked the kids what they wanted on the camping trip. Giving into your kids is like pure torture. They're not going to learn anything by it. With my kids, I give them two choices and when they ask for a third, I tell them "it's either this or this or nothing at all" and they pick one of the two and are happy with it.

**acox68** · 08-02-2008, 02:04 PM

My goodness, that is appalling! We used to waste more food when we were first married, but nothing like that! I hope they are the exception and not the rule....I can't even imagine.

Andrea

**cottageliving** · 08-02-2008, 02:22 PM

HOLY COW!!!

The amount of waste is stagggering. It must have actually hurt you to see such a display!

Her kids would die if they saw what I pack for my lunch at the office -- most days it PB&J, some fruit, some nuts, and a coke brought from home and it is a treat for me to have a package of sliced ham for a week's worth of sandwiches.... Mind you, I do not see this as any type of deprivation and enjoy the food I eat.

would HATE to see her monthly grocery store receipts.

wow.

**DonnainME** · 08-02-2008, 06:33 PM

OMGoodness. That is way way too much waste. And for the mom to not even really see it. I bet that was VERY hard for you to do - watch that. I would never let my kids do that. Sometimes we do have the same thing for lunch more than one day in a row. We don't throw away stuff like that - we try to use leftovers and even an extra carrot, that gets cut up and used for a snack later.

Try to show her better - maybe you can "change her ways"