how much $ do you spend

[fluffernutter]

on average when you go to the grocery store each week?

how about when you go to Costco?

i can't get out of Costco under $100, usually it's more like $200. eek!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. No Costco here

I usually shop at the grocery salvage stores and a discount grocery store. On average, I'd say I spend $40-$50 per week. But some of that is "stocking up"-we have cases of beans and brown rice "just in case".

[Darth_Kitten]

3. We should give each other ideas how to stretch a dollar...

to pay for food.


I am still spending too much for a single person, I think. :) Well, single person and a bird. :)

[notadmblnd]

8. Do not buy frozen food dinners like pizza, hot pockets

prepared frozen dinners. That stuff really runs up a bill. Buy what's in season and on sale for produce. the biggest savings I have found is when I stopped buying meat(beef) at the grocer. We buy a calf at auction in the spring for about $25. My dad knows a farmer who let us use his land. We buy the feed and in December we load it on a trailer and take it to another farmer who slaughters and packages it to our specifications. We end up paying under $2.00 a pound for some great beef.

[alarimer]

26. I have to because I cannot cook at all

And I don't like to anyway so anything that is convenience-based is okay by me. I buy frozen vegetables (hate canned) and, while I don't really like the frozen dinners from Lean Cuisine and others, I buy them sometimes. They have complete dinners that you just throw in the skillet and reheat. I love those! It is too much for one meal so I end up having something to eat the next day too.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. buy local

It is sometimes hard to find salvage stores, but they are around (hey there are TWO of them in a town of 12,000 in NW AR!). I've found that stores run by Mennonites and Seventh Day Adventists tend to be more people friendly with very good prices (one sign I saw at a SDA store said: "We aren't in business to make money. We're in business to help people.")

Another good place to check out are food co-ops. Also sometimes you can make direct arrangements with local farmers for eggs, vegetables, and sometimes even meat. A lot of this stuff can be bartered for, which saves money and forges friendships.

One idea: if you have a lot of neighbors who garden, make a plan to share excess produce. One gardener might have too much corn, another too much squash-they could be swapped. If you have a black thumb like me (meaning my gardens don't grow well), you might offer to process produce for gardener friends in exchange for some of the produce. And I'm not just talking canning-freezing is also an option, but drying is my favorite. Doesn't use up as much space, you can use different kinds of containers (unlike in canning), and there are so many different things that can be dried!

[Wcross]

28. Tons of ways to save.

1) A huge garden.
2) Learn how to can.
3) Put up a chicken coop.
4) Cook from scratch.
5) Put in a chest freezer and buy bulk meats, ice cream or whatever else you want.
6) Put in a pig pen and raise your own pork.
7) Take up fishing as a hobby and make one or two nights a week "fish day".
8) Day old bread.
9) Food outlets- discounted food stores can be found in almost any city.

[fluffernutter]

5. wow, you're a great shopper

i agree - we need to share frugal shopping tips!

[bridgit]

2. 40-45$ @ safeway for the week WITH the card...

but you're right about costco no-less than $100

[notadmblnd]

4. I don't shop there it doesn't pay

everything is prices at least 5 dollars and I really haven't noticed a large savings. We raise our own beef so I mostly go to the store for bread and milk. Everything else, I wait till it's on sale. Cornered the marked in can good and staples at Meijers last month. Caught eggs on sale 10 dozen for 5$ around Easter. Juice and spareribs were on sale along with bacon and icecream this week. So I'd say about 30 or 40 a week just for food. I buy laundry soap, toilet paper, catfood and such when it's on sale at Kmart so I'd say about 35 a month on stuff like that.

[fluffernutter]

7. how long do eggs stay good?

i buy our TP, paper towels and laundry soap, etc. at Costco - it does seem to be worth it for some items, although bargains do come along in other stores as well.

cool that you raise your own beef!

[notadmblnd]

13. I've never had one go bad in the fridge unless it was cracked

out of the 10 dozen, I have about 3 1/2 left. So I'm good on eggs for another couple of weeks. I debated wether or not to pick them up this week because they had them on sale again for $.29 a dozen and that's an even better price.

[Deja Q]

6. I go every 2 weeks, spend $80 or so each trip.

But sometimes I do have to go back for more milk... where I stock up on a few items too.

So it's $200/mo I spend on groceries.

I have no local costco, so I spread my food items between Sams Club and Cub Foods and always remain vigilant on prices; Sams isn't always as low price as they claim to be.

[SmokingJacket]

9. About $125 a week.

Family of four.

It used to be under a hundred. ARGH!! Kids are bigger and eat more, I've become more dedicated to eating organic when I can, and of course some things just cost way more than they used to.

[Deep N RedLand]

17. Costco has its pros & cons

A trip there averages us at least $200, if not more, so it's mostly a monthly or slightly more event. Since their selection is limited we still have to to the conventional store that week and wind up spending more.

The advantage is less to buy of certain items the other weeks so the initial higher cost saves you somewhat over time. We didn't have to buy things like detergent and cat food last for almost 3 months after a Costco trip.

I joined up initially to support blue companies and have found the savings depend on the item. Some are only slightly less in bulk than they would be elsewhere for the same amount, others are like electronics are the same or even more than other stores and some like their bestseller books are less. I found Jon Stewart's America for almost half the retail price.

I think you have to be buying wholesale for your own company or have really BIG family, to see the real value.

The other weeks at the conventional stores average about $100+ a week as these always something bought that wasn't planned to.

[yvr girl]

10. My average would be about $25 dollars

This week I think I spent about $15 dollars. Some weeks I might make 2-3 trips.

I can't remember the last time I spent $100. It would have been for a special occasion. $50 is huge for me.

I think the last time I used a cart was a year ago Christmas. You can only fit so much in a basket.

[Nicole]

11. no costco here

and I don't grocery shop weekly. I shop once a month.

I spend about $100 a month in the grocery store.

[n2mark]

14. Whoa,I spend too much on food

need to do something about this.

[Nite Owl]

15. Me too

I'm not even sayin'.

[Nicole]

16. that's why I shop once a month

Less trips to the store = less money spent on impulse buys.

[fluffernutter]

20. how do you get away with that?

do you only dhop for yourself? and what about milk, bread ... heck, yogurt? don't you have to stock up on anything in between?

[Nicole]

22. I live alone

I freeze bread for use later in the month. I also bake bread.
I use powdered or can milk for cooking since I don't drink milk.

I cook a lot of one dish meals & freeze them for later in the month. So a lot of fresh ingredients can be bought & used at the beginning of the month. I prepare the dishes, vacuum seal them with my food saver & freeze.

I don't stock up on anything in between. If I don't have it, I don't eat it. The only exception to that is if I have company for dinner, which isn't very often. I usually take my company out for dinner since I eat at home 99.9% of the time.

[fluffernutter]

19. me too.

[napi21]

18. There are a lot of things you can do to save on groceries.

Most of 'em you're not going to like doing, but here goes.

1. Make a list! Figure out what you want to make for the meals you'll have at home, or for packing a lunch. Check to see what you have on hand, and make a list of the things you need to complete your meal plan for the week (or month or however often you shop).

2. Stick to the LIST! Food manufacturers and grocery stores depend on you picking things up because "that looks good!"

3. Check the store ads in your local paper each Wed or Thur. and make your menue around the sale items.

4. Most grocery stores discount their fresh meats at the end of the day. Ask the butcher what time that store usually does that. My husband is a meat cutter, and believe me, the meat is still fine. Each store has a policy of how long fresh meat is kept in the case. Ground meat is usually fresh every day, steaks & roasts are 3-4 days, chicken and pork 3 days. These items are still find, but the stores determine that customers usually don't freeze their meats as soon as they get home, and your storeage time is calculated in determining how long the store will sell it as fresh. When you buy discounted, out of date, meat, repackage it in freezer bags or freezer paper when you get home, and it will be just as good as what you paid full price for.

5. Check the coupons in the Sunday paper. Some aren't worth it, because you can buy the store brand product for less and it's just as good, but some are great bargains. Lots of stores double coupons up to 50 cents. That means up to $1.00 off that product. Yesterday, I found Temtations cat snacks on sale for 75 cents each. I had a coupon for $1.00 off of 2. I got the snacks for .25 each and they're usually $1.29 each!!! I also bought 5 Birdseye frozen vegies on sale for 5/$5.00. I had a coupon that required that I cut the UPC codes off, fill in my name and address, and send them and the cash register tape to Birdseye..in return they're sending me $10.00 in $1.00 Birdseye coupons.

6. Watch for specials on things you use a lot, like chicken breast, or groud beef, etc. Stock up when it's on sale.

7. Stay away from Frozen dinners, everything in a box dinners etc. They are very expensive, and really don't save more than 5 minutes prep time.

8. Frozen vegies are just as good and nutricious as fresh but much cheaper, and they keep a whole lot longer too!

There are lots of make your own mix recipes on the internet so you can make your own hamburger helper, biscuit mix, breading, etc. Check it out, it's really well worth the savings.

[cliss]

21. According to the USDA, the average

grocery bill per person is about $145.00 per month. If you're 2 people, you should be spending about $290.00/month.

Now this was a few years ago. The USDA may have updated it. But we are under that. We're a family of 4, spend about $200.00 per month for the whole family.

The reason:
1) we're vegetarian. No meat on our dinner table.
2) we cook everything from scratch. Soups, casseroles, even chili non carne, refried beans.
3) we buy hardly anything from the frozen food section. That's where the "Budget busters" are. The stuff's expensive!!
4) we buy food in season. Ie: never strawberries in January, or asparagus in august. Produce is the cheapest when it's in season.
5) we use coupons.
6) we eat leftovers & hardly ever throw anything out. However, after 2 days the leftovers get thrown out.
7) we shop at Winco. Buy lots of grains from the bins. This is the cheapest.

We eat like kings! Example: We'll have a big vegetarian lasagna with homemade sauce, salad w. homemade italian dressing, garlic bread.

There is nothing better than homemade food made from scratch.

[Nicole]

24. I do the homemade from scratch also

it's a big money saver!

I also grow a lot of my own veggies during summer. SO the money I save by not buying veggies is spent for stocking up on staples for the rest of the year.

[phusion]

23. $40/wk at the Co-op

That's w/ buying bulk, dispensed pasta, rice, and organic veggies and fruits. I don't generally buy meat (besides organic eggs), but if I did I'm sure this bill would be $60/wk.

And, through the member owned co-op, I get about 5-10% back every year.

edit: The cool part is I get to buy lots of locally produced foods like bread, eggs, jelly, etc. The co-op is about the only place I can find locally produced stuff.

[SOteric]

25. Costco's easy.

I only go in with $50 cash and my Costco card. No chequebook, no debit cards, nothin'.

If there's something so great a bargain that it's really worth the hassle of going home to get the chequebook then I can always come back for it later.

Amazingly, - I never do.

[Droopy]

27. I rarely go to the grocery store

I'm a single dude who never learned to cook so I eat out a lot. On the rare occasion that I go to the grocery store I usually drop around $50. But that includes things like pop, beer, and hygene products. I usually spend about $100 a week feeding myself at restaurants.

[samplegirl]

29. I spend way to much at the grocery store

simply because I can. If i had 3 or 4 kids i just couldnt.
I spend usually around 200.00 at the grocery store and then
another 50.00 or 60.00 at the dollar store on paper products
and such it really cuts the cost at the grocery store.

[4_Legs_Good]

30. Never under $70 at the grocery store

even if I only go for milk.

Costco is either a 1 or 2 item day for like $40 or $200ish.

/sigh

david

[n2mark]

31. The thing is

if I buy foods ahead of time, when I want to cook nothing appeals to me, I go out buy foods I have the taste, than I don't want it.