Moms with kids..post your budget

[Debbie34]

and menu ideas plz... I have been a lurker on this board and LOVE it!! I see so many of you with wise ideas and such... I have a 2 year old and a baby #2 due in July..
Love to see your budget and meal ideas..At this time I spend about $500 with diapers and cleaning supplies, hoping to get my son soon to start potty training...I'm not able to get WIC am I able to breast feed, so I will buying formula. I would love to cut the budget down, even with new baby...Thanks

[FrugalMomof3]

My budget is quite simple since all my kids are older (12, 17 & 18) but one is in college and the 17 yr. old isnt home at the moment. But with cleaning supplies and the like, I only spend around $75 per month but before you say WOW!, lol we arent picky eaters and we love leftovers.

- Chicken legs, white rice and beans - this is atleast 3 nights of dinners
- Mac n' cheese
- Spaghetti with sauce with a tbsp. of pesto
- Soups & Sandwiches
- Chicken pasta alfredo
- Chicken patties w/buttered egg noodles (salt & pepper to taste)
- Chicken patties made parmesan style (tomato sauce & cheese) with egg noodles w/marinara sauce (salt & pepper to taste)

I am sure the ladies here can give you some more options but this is basically our menu. We usually only eat chicken since pork/beef are quite expensive. I do however, on occasion add some ham to the beans (Goya Pink Beans) and it is awesome.

[Fitgal827]

My budget is $50 a week for cleaning and pet supplies and food. I am a single mom and I have two teenage daughters, one that is a very picky eater.

We eat:

Mac and cheese (homemade)
Pot roast w/ potatoes
Beef Stroganoff - I use the left over meat from the pot roast
Grilled cheese sandwiches and baked beans
Alfredo sauce over noodles with garlic toast - I use buns cut in half and toast on stove top
Meatloaf and twice baked potatoes
Spaghetti
Frozen pizza
Roast chicken
Scalloped potatoes and ham

A couple of notes here - Most of the meat I buy is on sale or bought with a coupon or sometimes I use both. Then I'll buy an extra package for freezer week. I buy turkey ham and use it for the potato dish and freeze it the leftovers. Pizza is a convience food, yes but my kids have activites on Tuesday night and they need something they can make on their own. One week out of every month, I work on cleaning out my freezer and my budget is lower that week.

I will also say that I learned to be creative with making the food stretch, thanks to my mother. For years, I watched her work to make something out of nothing.

[many houseapes]

Shame on me - I really don't plan my menus.Often I look in the freezer first for anything that I can do "left-over wizardry with)
ex: turkey drippings from left over turkey
1/4 of a 5lb bag of frozen mixed
veggies
homemade dumplings.

Budget goes like this:
665.15 mortgage
200.oo electric
120.00 water/gas/sewer/garbage
70.00 phone
500.00 groceries
100.00 toiletries/household stuff

So far the utilities have been lower than what I have been budgeting & at the end of the month I transfer everything leftover into savings after leaving a $30 cushion in the checking acct.

[many houseapes]

I forgot- 260.00 for gas

[Bethany]

I think that your kids are actually at a very good age to keep a good budget for groceries. Kids that small don't really eat expensive foods. My kids are 5 and 7 and they aren't interested in eating much meat. However, they don't like beans either. When DH works late, we (me and the kids) eat:
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with fruit or yogurt.
grilled cheese and tomato soup
ham and cheese sandwiches with carrot sticks.
mac and cheese with a veggie
frozen or home made pizza
pasta........................
When DH is home, I try to shoot for nicer meals.
I'd suggest getting your kids hooked on crockpot meals. They're usually served over rice.
Baked chicken thighs are great with some oil/butter and herbs (I bought a huge thing of Montreal Chicken Seasoning and it's lasted over two years.)
I also got a rice cooker off of Freecycle.org and I make white rice for our crockpot meals all the time. Easy and cheap.
Breakfast for dinner is a kid friendly meal.
In terms of the budget, watch out for the pre-packaged stuff (cookies, chips, convenience meals, boxed meals), that's where the money goes. Oh yeah, and soda is pricey, so don't go near that if at all possible. And a little bit of a cleaning product goes a long way. I never use more than half of the laundry detergent indicated and have had no problems. Hope this helps!!!

[Megareader]

FrugalMomof3 is my role model...I want to get my grocery bill to look like hers!

[Bethany]

FrugalMomof3 is my role model...I want to get my grocery bill to look like hers!

Frugalmomof3, what does your family eat for breakfast and lunch? Your budget is very impressive!!!

[attached_mama]

Mortgage: $394
Utilities (gas, electric, water, garbage, etc) $220
Gas $150 (hubby has a work vehicle)
Dining out: $75
Entertainment: $100 (movie rentals, buying non-essentials, etc)
I have a clothes budget for all of us $30/month, but its more like $50 per SEASON, at most. (garage sales and Goodwill!)
$50 on household, we have a fixer-upper and have slowly been doing frugal repairs. Sometimes we go over the $50.
Groceries (incl. cleaning, but I really only use vinegar and bak. soda) is $350/month, average, I stockpile so I 'll spend more some weeks on buying sale items in bulk, much less other weeks.

Our biggest expense is kids activities.
Hockey, gymnastics, swimming, baseball, martial arts......

Food is hard. We mostly eat whole, organic food, and its expensive. I cook from scratch and we buy a farm share (CSA) every year. I buy extras at a huge discount and freeze and can.

Lots of pastas with veggies and home made sauces and dressings.

[AmyBoz]

My kids are 2, 4, and 7. Once a month, I buy a bunch of ground beef and chicken and pork chops. Every other week my grocery list usually looks like this:

3 gallons milk
3 loaves bread
20 yogurts
4 boxes cereal
diapers
Some type of snack that is on sale

For breakfast, we all have cold cereal with milk. (Non-sugar cereals)

All 5 of us bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with yogurt and any one of the following: cheese sticks, pretzels, goldfish crackers, carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, etc.

For dinners, I make things like:
beef stroganoff
chicken noodle casserole
meatloaf
pork chops cooked in the crockpot
pasta with sauce/sausage/meatballs made in the crockpot
baked macaroni and cheese
hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill
cavatelli and broccoli

I spend approximately $300 a month on groceries, including diapers and cleaning supplies. I plan on making May a grocery challenge month for myself to see if I can get it down to $250.

[momof2joys]

I am currently in the situation, my dh and I are trying to put a workable budget together and adjust as we go for the next few months. As for the formula thing, that can be very expensive. Check the Similac and Enfamil websites for coupons and free samples. I usually recieve a $5 off 1 can of similac formula at least once a month sometimes twice.
Great budgets everyone!! There are plenty of ideas I can use already, Thanks again!!!

[staciah]

I have been using Microsoft Money for our home bookkeeping for 3 yrs now. If I didn't use it,we probably would be in pretty bad shape. Here is my budget:

Mortgage payment: $1742.42 ($871.71 Every 2 weeks)
Food: $300.00
Cable: $30.00 (we just lowered form $54.00)
Phone and Internet: $77.00
Water: $77.00 every 3 months
Sewer: $77.00 every 3 Months
Electric & Gas: $159.00 (on the Budget)
Car Gas:$155.00
Car Insurance: 1300.00/yr
Then I have everything broken down to:

Personal Care
Physician
Prescriptions
Over the Counter Meds
Leisure
Miscellaneous
household
Pet Care
Credit Card
Retirement
Dental
Business Expenses
Vacation Expenses

We live in New jersey so the homes here are expensive and very small and not new.
This is why we are going to transfer out of NJ.

I don't have a set menu but I do tend to make the same meals. I make my meals from scatch. I shop at Aldi's and The Dollar Tree and Costco and sometimes at Acme and ShopRite but the items have to be on sale.
I also have alot of food from Emergency Essentials (Some dry staples)

We shop for "most" of our clothes at the Goodwill. Sometimes we do splurge.

We don't have any car payments nor any credit card payments. (my DH uses the card for work but they reimburse him so we have been able to get some great benefit points from that)

I have a 14yr old and a 4 yr old. Both are very picky eaters.

I am a stay at home mom and a very frugal person. But do go on vacations and out to dinner on special occasions.

[LexTysMommy]

Mortgage: $1216
House/Car insurance $87
Electric : $250 ( I pay this every month I have alot of credit but pay just in case)
Phones: $103 ( wow that seems high when I put together!!)
Cable: $55
Internet: $9
Water: $27
Taxes: $3000 a year

Gas: $100 (some months way less)
Out to Eat: $50
Going out: $25 (my own personal nights out)
Misc stores: $50 (cleaning, extras)
Grocery: $200 (budget this much)
Bowling: $31 ( only pay this Sept-April)
Gymnastics $22

Total: $2425

Then I try to save at least $1000 a month if nothing comes up. School clothes, summer sports gear, birthdays, vacations, are taken out of this $$.

[mommy4ever]

Family of 6. We have decided to alot $500/mo including paper products and cleaning supplies. I save part of this to go toward buying a side of beef

I'm jealous of a $75/mo budget, but that would get us next to nothing at the grocery store. Chicker RARELY is under $4/lb..lol. 3 times a year chicken legs are $1/lb

I do have a wicked stockpile. In a few months my budget will go down to $300. But i'm stockpiling like crazy right now.

Checking out a new store today too.

[WV_mom_of2]

I've been spending around 600.00 a month for two adults, a 12 year old rapidly growing boy who eats like two adults and an almost 16 year old dd who eats like an adult. We also feed two dogs, two rabbits and a cat. My total includes all food, pet food, paper products, medicines, health and beauty aides, etc.

We like to eat and I buy what we like. I do buy 95% off brands, shop sales and stock up, etc. I pack lunches for the kids and two a day for dh who works 12 hour rotating shifts. We prefer most fruits and veggies to be raw.

I try to do a hot breakfast for my kids each day. We do bacon or sausage and eggs, egg sandwiches, oatmeal, pancakes, etc.

Packed lunch is a sandwich or wrap, a fruit or veggie, a juice box and a treat. If we are home for lunch I usually try to make something hot.

Dinners are anything and everything here. I keep a well stocked freezer and pantry so I can just cook whatever I'm in the mood for. Things we eat are....

Meats- venison steaks, tenderloin or roasts
pork chops, ham, pork roasts, ribs
beef roasts, hamburger
turkey or chicken

Veggies- canned green beans, corn or peas
fresh lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, celery, radishes
we also eat alot of potatoes and I buy sweet potatoes for dh at times

Fruit- canned pineapple, peaches, pears, fruit cocktail, applesauce
fresh pineapple, apples, strawberries, cantalope, grapes, bananas

We like dried beans also and soups

Dinner is usually a meat, a carb(potatoes or pasta) and then fruits and veggies. We might have a salad or one of my kids favorites is apple slices and carrot sticks.