Grocery total including nonfood items?

[brokemom]

I'm trying to get my grocery bill as low as you ladies...my question...if you have the grocery budget of say $250 or so dollars do you include cleaning products, toiletries, paper goods, etc. in that total? And if you do not include them what is your grocery (food) total compared to your total for those other items (cleaning, toiletries, paper, etc). Thanks for your answers!

[Guest1]

First of all - welcome! Glad to meet you!

When I post my totals, they include everything that my household needs for 2 adults, a 17 yo, 16yo, 10 yo, 2 dogs, 2 indoor cats....

food stuff
pet foods
kitty litter
toiletries
paper products
hair care (including scrunchies, etc...)
laundry detergent ingredients (I make my own)
car supplies (motor oil, transmission fluid, etc...)
as well as any eating out (although I don't really remember what that is! )

However - I'd caution you against comparing what I spend or she spends or they spend against yourself....
We're all in seperate parts of the country & world - not all of our prices will match yours....
Also - most of us didn't decide last week to start cutting back - what you see could very well be (in my case) over 10 years of struggling to get to the minimums....

Keep at it - it's a process not a quick fix!

Again - welcome to the Village!

[homesteadmamma]

When I post my totals, its for everything for a family of 5, including 2 adults and 3 teens. I do not put any of our pet supplies in there.

I agree with Debbie, its hard to compare with others. I live in an area where there is seldom any coupons and where are prices are much higher than the States.

I also garden and we usually get a deer or two given to us for meat. Makes a huge difference in the amount I spend on groceries and what others spend.

[DaisyLady]

Welcome,

I post my grocery cost including personal care and household cleaning items. The doggie stuff is separate. I have a teenager with special dietary needs so my costs are ging to be different as well.

[QuilterMom]

I do not include household, personal care, or pet items in my amount. I don't track those currently, but need to start again. When I post my grocery totals, it's for food and drink items only. My totals are quite a bit higher than most because I buy organics.

[nodmicks]

Mine is cleaning, paper, food 4 2 kids 2 adults, 2 ducks, 2 cats, cat litter and food for 2 dogs.
Personal care items arent included.

[Ellise]

I do not include anything other than food. For 2 adults and 1 teenage boy.
Cleaning, personal & pets are seperate.

[i.m.cheap]

I include paper and cleaning products, but not things like pet supplies, or my hair color or cosmetics.

[guest2]

My budget of $250 a month (just bumped it up from $200 a month) includes food for 2 adults, 3 teens (ages 17,15 and 15) and their friends , cat food and litter for 5 cats, cleaning and paper supplies and take and bake pizzas. We live in an area with fairly high grocery prices, no double coupon stores and have resorted to drastic measures to keep our bills low. We have a small garden and most of my guys have taken up hunting. This year they got a deer that we processed ourselves earlier this week thus saving ourselves $400 in processing fees and for the value of the meat. My kids also work at an apple orchard so we get lots of apples from there.

[marietjie]

My grocery budget is for food only. I put paper products, cleaning supplies and HB items under miscellaneous.

Our budget is $200 a month for 2 adults, 3 boys, 11, 16 and 18 and our baby girl who is 21 months old.