Working on grocery budget...

**crdurham** · 06-02-2006, 09:01 PM

Something we really need to do is work on our grocery/household budget. We have cut out/back on everything else and with everything going up, this is somewhere we really need to work on soooo here I go.....

I went to the grocery store today and spent $85.00. I am going to to sit down and do menus, work on different meals, etc..... and see how far I can make that money go..... I am hoping to keep our food/household supplies budget under $250 a month or less.... with my dh being soooo picky, this is going to be a challange but I am going to give it my best shot....

**ewokgirl** · 06-02-2006, 10:08 PM

Good luck! I'm sure you can do it!

**mom2matty** · 06-02-2006, 10:41 PM

Good Luck!!!

I need to really work on our grocery budget.....it is the one area I can't seem to manage each month!!!

**Mom23boys** · 06-03-2006, 12:04 AM

Good luck to you! I know you will do it!!

**canadian gardener** · 06-03-2006, 10:37 AM

Keep it as simple and loose as you can, and remember you can't please them all each meal.

When the kids were home, I had ds who didn't like pork or soy, dd who hated chicken and fish, dh who didn't like fish and a legume allergy for me. Dairy and eggs were a bit dicey too.

With the exception of the legume allergy, everybody had to suffer thru one or two meals, while getting several others they enjoyed.

It was too hard to provide variety on a limited budget and cater to preferences so I avoided outright allergies, and if people didn't like what was on the menu that night, they had the PBJ sandwich option. Mostly they ate it and kept quiet.

My other big tip is to use a lot of your usual recipes when meal planning, because it's just way easier to cope with menus etc mentally if it's not a bunch of new stuff.

A lot of family recipes you know by heart, or they aren't even written down, but over time you get to know that because of them you need certain canned stuff on hand, or a type of rice or lots of soy sauce.

List the ingredients you use a lot of, they'll be the backbone of your pantry and freezer and look for sales on them.

I have a list of meals I make with each meat, in a notebook and I look at it to help me over my menu planning hump.