So you say you spend under $500 a mo on groceries?

**abecedarian** · 02-08-2012, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by ladytoysdream

You are spending $ 380 a month, and this includes pet items, beauty, home cleaning, and meals out. Plus side of beef and canning lids.
If I understand correctly, why are you including pet, beauty and home cleaning in a food budget ? Sounds more like a monthly household budget. But then again, maybe I misunderstood.

My dh and I go round and round(sometimes) about this as well. He thinks the grocery budget should cover school lunches, food, pet, h&b(including all OC meds), cleaning supplies, ect. Meals out tend to come out of the entertainment budget if it's Date Night..family meals out come out of grocery. This sometimes makes trips to Walmart(date night) complicated as I try to divide the cart. Lately, a lot of h&b, OC meds, and cleaning supplies have been taken out of the general account for the household(which I think is where most of it belongs). I think we need to allot more money to the 'grocery' budget if he really wants all that to come out of it, specially since prices have gone up so much. It might be more realistic and make it easier to track our spending.

**shoiji** · 02-08-2012, 10:09 AM

I think alot depends on what people purchase. Also, have sometimes been surprised at a low amount only to realize the post was made a couple of years ago.

**Momto5RN** · 02-08-2012, 04:36 PM

i personally include pets cleaning paper etc in grocery because i dont have the time or inclination to nit pic the numbers out .

i dont want to see a deal on kitty litter at food store or marked down produce perfect for the bunny and have to take money out of correct envelope to do it .

or remember to pay myself back to the food money from the pet food money .

i have enough things to try to remember and with my fibro since memory issues can be an issue i save the important things in life for using my memory .

**mndtrp** · 02-08-2012, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by ladytoysdream

You are spending $ 380 a month, and this includes pet items, beauty, home cleaning, and meals out. Plus side of beef and canning lids.
If I understand correctly, why are you including pet, beauty and home cleaning in a food budget ? Sounds more like a monthly household budget. But then again, maybe I misunderstood.

Because they come from the same stores, and I'm not going to spend the time to pick things out into individual little groupings. I use mint. When I go to a grocery store, whatever I buy there is categorized as groceries. The wife buys very little beauty products, and I can't remember the last time we bought home cleaning products, so it doesn't make sense to have separate categories for them.

I could always break things down further, but it wouldn't be worth it to me. I found out the same thing with categorizing my music. Sure, I could have 20 different categories for the different kinds of metal I have, but it just takes up too much time for too little positive results.

**brenda67** · 02-08-2012, 08:53 PM

As of right now I could say yes I can spend less than $500 a month for a family of 6...Actually, I could spend less than $65.00 for the whole month which would consist of milk, fresh potatoes & fresh onions or I could drop it down to $53.00 or less if I add powdered milk to my reg milk and use dehydrated potatoes & onions..I have been in this position now for 2 months..I will tell you why, I have been stockpiling real heavy for about a year now..I have a HUGE variety of baking ingredient's ie: 100 to 200lbs each of bread flour,white flour & sugar,10lbs of yeast,30lbs salt that I keep on hand at all times (all vacuum sealed) several pounds of baking chips,nut's,dried fruits,rolled oats also vacuum sealed..I have expanded my spices by 100% learning to make everything I can from scratch..100's of canned goods, 100 lb's of pasta's..My freezer is packed with lot's of meat (again all vacuumed sealed..I have over a years worth of TP & HBA's..I have several years worth of ingredient's to make my own laundry soap,dish soap.I have several bottles of Lysol cleaners that I paid less than .50 each..I know this sound's like a brag..however,I spent lot's $$$$ to get where I am today.. Now I can sit back and make a choice to add more to my stockpile and fill in the few gap's here and there...

**dancemommy** · 02-08-2012, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by brenda67

As of right now I could say yes I can spend less than $500 a month for a family of 6...Actually, I could spend less than $65.00 for the whole month which would consist of milk, fresh potatoes & fresh onions or I could drop it down to $53.00 or less if I add powdered milk to my reg milk and use dehydrated potatoes & onions..I have been in this position now for 2 months..I will tell you why, I have been stockpiling real heavy for about a year now..I have a HUGE variety of baking ingredient's ie: 100 to 200lbs each of bread flour,white flour & sugar,10lbs of yeast,30lbs salt that I keep on hand at all times (all vacuum sealed) several pounds of baking chips,nut's,dried fruits,rolled oats also vacuum sealed..I have expanded my spices by 100% learning to make everything I can from scratch..100's of canned goods, 100 lb's of pasta's..My freezer is packed with lot's of meat (again all vacuumed sealed..I have over a years worth of TP & HBA's..I have several years worth of ingredient's to make my own laundry soap,dish soap.I have several bottles of Lysol cleaners that I paid less than .50 each..I know this sound's like a brag..however,I spent lot's $$$$ to get where I am today.. Now I can sit back and make a choice to add more to my stockpile and fill in the few gap's here and there...

Wow- how will you use it all up before it expires?

**zakity** · 02-08-2012, 09:03 PM

If I buy it at the grocery store, it goes under "groceries". If I buy it at the pet store, then it goes under "misc". I only bugdet with a few categories. I can't deal with more than that. I think I have like 6 only because I break out our allowances into separate categories. Our categores are: his allowance, my allowance, fuel-cars, groceries, misc, eating out, and utilities.

**brenda67** · 02-08-2012, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by dancemommy

Wow- how will you use it all up before it expires?

Simple really..I vacuum seal pretty much all my food and store in food grade buckets or quart jars in my pantry that is cool,dark & dry or in my freezer.. Baking chips are known to still taste fresh after 3yrs in vacuumed sealed jars.. My Nut's or Dried fruit I'm not sure how long they will last in my vacuum sealed quart jars yet as I just started using a wide variety for my breads & cookies..I make all my breads & desserts from scratch weekly so my flour's is used before the best buy dates which average 2yr shelf life..Sugar never goes bad..Salt never goes bad that I know of...My spices will last me years& years as they never go bad just lose their flavor over time so you just use more..My canned goods will be used within 3yrs I'm guessing..My pasta's will be used over the next 3yrs also..

I'm moving to my next chapter of learning to use mylar bags w/oxygen absorbers and storing in food grade buckets that will last 20 plus years...I'm also going to learn to can meats in my pressure canner my son bought me..Finally, I'm going to invest in the Excliber dehydrater and preserve even more food that I ever imagined..

**cab54** · 02-10-2012, 07:14 PM

Dh and I are serious foodies, so it gets hard for me.

I try to do one no-meat supper every week, and make sure to cook about 2 'budget' meals a week besides. That way, 2-3 days per week, we can have slightly fancier fare.

Also, DH being diabetic, he can't eat a lot of 'fillers' and carbs, so he needs protein a lot. Expensive. But I manage to keep costs down better than I used to.

**Rebookie** · 02-10-2012, 11:09 PM

I spend 300 a month because I HAVE to... A lot of one pot meals, and my husband takes leftovers to work.

**Palooka** · 02-11-2012, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by brenda67

Simple really..I vacuum seal pretty much all my food and store in food grade buckets or quart jars in my pantry that is cool,dark & dry or in my freezer.. Baking chips are known to still taste fresh after 3yrs in vacuumed sealed jars.. My Nut's or Dried fruit I'm not sure how long they will last in my vacuum sealed quart jars yet as I just started using a wide variety for my breads & cookies..I make all my breads & desserts from scratch weekly so my flour's is used before the best buy dates which average 2yr shelf life..Sugar never goes bad..Salt never goes bad that I know of...My spices will last me years& years as they never go bad just lose their flavor over time so you just use more..My canned goods will be used within 3yrs I'm guessing..My pasta's will be used over the next 3yrs also..

I'm moving to my next chapter of learning to use mylar bags w/oxygen absorbers and storing in food grade buckets that will last 20 plus years...I'm also going to learn to can meats in my pressure canner my son bought me..Finally, I'm going to invest in the Excliber dehydrater and preserve even more food that I ever imagined..

I can't imagine dealing with all that fear. Please don't stone me, I could imagine my dollars being invested more wisely. But hey.....

**ladytoysdream** · 02-11-2012, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by Palooka

I can't imagine dealing with all that fear. Please don't stone me, I could imagine my dollars being invested more wisely. But hey.....

If I could do similiar to what she is doing, or even 1/4, I would be doing it. Money and space is the current problem here. With the price of groceries continuing to climb, gas prices going up, which will make groceries climb even more, stocking up on what you can is a very good idea. Groceries in the house is more valuable to me than money in the bank with only a little interest being paid. Currently I stock up when I see a sale , have a few extra dollars in the pocket, it's something we use a lot of, and it won't go bad while it sits on a shelf or in a canning jar, or rotated in the freezer. I know it's been over a year since I bought any TP, soap, shampoo, or laundry detergent. We bought enough wood for the outside furnace for 2 winters at once. That pile of wood makes me smile every time I walk past it, and when I see the propane truck drive past our driveway, I just laugh. I used to can over 600 jars of food a year when my kids were growing up. I am shooting for a minimum of 300 this year.

The only fear I have is walking in the grocery store and seeing something I need and not having enough money to buy it because we need other things more. Like gas to get him to work. When the hubby goes shopping with me, and even he now says, that's too much, I know what I been doing is right. He is booked for surgery before the end of the month and my stockpile is looking real good to me

**frugalfoster** · 02-11-2012, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by ladytoysdream

The only fear I have is walking in the grocery store and seeing something I need and not having enough money to buy it because we need other things more. Like gas to get him to work. When the hubby goes shopping with me, and even he now says, that's too much, I know what I been doing is right. He is booked for surgery before the end of the month and my stockpile is looking real good to me

This is becoming a very valid feeling! I'm sure Greece Island Girl can identify with this! While I don't stockpile to the amount that Brenda does, I do buy multiples of whatever is on sale. Last week is was Campbell's Chunky Soup. The store next to work sells it for $2.66 a can and with coupons and another store's sale I was buying it for .60 a can. Now I know that I could make this cheaper, but with being on a diet, it's nice to have it on hand in case I don't feel like cooking. I bought 50 cans of it.

**brenda67** · 02-11-2012, 08:47 PM

Polooka...I'm not going to flame you as everyone is entitled to their own opinion..Having a stockpile of food is like money in the bank to me..I check my "Store" every week,sometimes every few day's to make sure my vacuumed sealed jars are still sealed..Like I said before now I'm in the position that I really don't need to buy anything else other then milk & veggies..Now the money I'm not spending on groceries(from the past several weeks) is going to buy some long term storage canned goods,building another yrs supply of Tp & a Kitchen Island..I'm investing my money where I will benefit in the long run..

ladytoysdream..you pretty much said it all for me! Thank you.

**NewLeaf** · 02-12-2012, 02:40 PM

We have had a year of family crisis. My 16 yr. old son tried to commit suicide and everything has been on hold while he was in the hospital and once he came home we have done our best to care for him and support him. We have a family counselor once a week and my son has a counselor twice a week. You can image the time and money this has taken. But it is well worth it if it helps my son get back on his feet.
However, during this time we have used our stockpile. It was a small one to begin with, but it has helped us to save money none the less. It has also helped us when we couldn't get to the grocery store because of being needed at home 24/7.
I thank God for the stockpile I had and for His getting us through this hard time. Now my son is doing better , my family is surviving and I think we are going to be o.k
Now it's time to start from square one building back up the stockpile. I am hoping to get back into couponing to help me since the prices have gone up so much since last year.
So for us, the stockpile came in handy and I can't imagine another way now. I'm not living in fear, but it sure feels nice to have a backup plan for when I can't get to the store or need to save money.