Went grocery shopping today....and I spent only $72!! And THAT'S for a week's worth of dinners!! :yippie: I even bought stuff other than food like a new razor for Ty ($9) & paper towels ($5). Oh, and Andie's bribe (I mean "reward" :rollseyes: ) for being good & patient ($5).

I'd heard about this website: Hillbilly Housewife, and thought I'd check it out. She has 2 different weekly menus (that include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks). One is spending $45 at the grocery store, and one is $75 (or something like that). I just went through the dinner menus & adapted some of them, & bought for that. I couldn't believe it when I got out of the grocery store for under $150....I spent half what I normally do & we have food to last probably a week & a half, what with leftovers & stuff.

Not to say I'll do it every week, it doesn't look like she changes out the menus. BUT when money is a little tight (like at the end of the month), it's good to have.

Anyways, just wanted to share, as it might come in handy for some of you gals...

:doh: I can't believe I got excited about grocery shopping.... :screwy:

Hey, I'm always excited about saving money!

You spend $150 on groceries for a family of 3? WOW! I can manage to spend under or a little bit over for a family of 5! :D

That seems really high to me too. We spend about $300 a month on food for the 3 of us. I buy almost everything generic but also make sure we have a balanced and varied diet.

Debby how much does stuff cost where you are?

Yeah! Same here.. well baby isn't really eating with the family yet, but we manage to spend 100 or less per week on average for the four of us. I'm sure it might go up a tiny bit when Isaac starts joining us for dinner..

Whoops, I meant to say a little over 100 or even under 100 dollars a week. Mind you, we also have to buy extras as in school snacks & kids' lunches.. Those can really add up!

Tell me about it. The food I have to buy for the truck is really expensive. It's not like hubby can prepare a home cooked meal in the truck :lol: So a lot of snack type food goes into the truck but that's still cheaper than having to pay for restaurant food.

grrr...my computer crashed & I lost my post....short version...I tend to buy alot of meat, but I want to try to get away from that & do a few meatless meals during the week. Also, I do buy some "convenience" foods like lunchables, tv dinners, etc.....didn't buy any of those this week, either! Just lunchmeat. And I do buy alot of store brand stuff...

What really adds up is NONfood stuff, like laundry detergent, fabric softener, cleaning supplies, paper goods (paper towels, toilet paper)....if I delete those from the grocery total, then the food price would be around $100 probably.

Anyways, examples of prices:

Gallon of 2% milk: $3.29
loaf of WonderKids bread: $1.29
fresh fruit: strawberries $2.50 Watermelon $3.39
Pasta sauce (store brand): $1.59
Sausage (store brand): $2.69

Depressing....so you can see why I was excited about this week! I even bought laundry detergent which was about $4!!

That's about the same for us here. I don't seperate the food stuff from the non food stuff so all I know is I pay about $300 total a month for both. I'm surprised you can get a watermelon for $3.39 though. They're like $5 here and they're grown right around the corner - go figure!

We buy mostly ground beef when it comes to meat cos we just can't afford other cuts. We've been talking about just buying a calf and feeding him out so we can get some decent cuts. Only prob is that although you save money the cost is all up front.

oh that watermelon price is for one that's already chunked up...I buy it in the produce dept. The whole watermelons are between $3 & $4, depending on the time of year....

OK, then...to all you ladies who are savvy shoppers....give me your hints!! I can't believe I'm spending so much more than you guys....

Do you eat alot of vegetarian meals or pasta? Leftovers? I need some lessons, I think.... :unsure:

And they all seem to run out at the same time! For me at least...

Vegitarian--two days a week, on Wednesday and friday(Wednesdays to remember the day that Jesus was betrayed and Fridays to remember the day he was murdered.)

Leftovers--Yes, yes, yes! Sometimes we will have beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes on Wednesday and on Friday use the leftover beans for bean burritos. Two meals for less than five bucks! :thumbsup:

Also we don't buy a lot of meats because they are expensive. When we do, its ground beef more often than chicken or other cuts of beef.

Store brands save a bundle, and we never buy into gimmicky sales. If we weren't goning to get it before we saw the sale, or wouldn't use it for a while, we don't buy it.

I gotta go for now..My MIL called and is bringing some stuff for the kids..

Our store is one of the cheapest I've ever been into. Sometimes they have "dollar daze" where quite a few things are just a buck a shot! THAT helps! Abe goes alone with the list while I stay home with the kids and he comes home stocked up on alot of things. I love those days! :D

We also go to Costco and stock up alot there. That usually lasts a couple months.

We eat a lot of leftovers. Almost all the main dishes I make can be used a second time. For example if I make a hambuirger helper I make it stretch for dinner on another night. We eat a lot of cheap sides like beans and potatoes (course I have to serve those with every meal anyways otherwise my ass would be grass :lol:). I usually buy whatever fruit is on sale. Fruit and veg can be really expensive if you buy it off season so I always buy whatever is in season.

Cool for you guys. Our grocery bill is usually around $200-250 a week. Rarely are the organic, free range, natural stuff we buy is on special. Some weeks we get to $300-350. Now that Sean is eating a lot more, it's sucking us dry financially.

well..if the organic stuff is too expensive...umm..you could always grow your own! :whistle:

But be sure to wear overalls and a wide brimmed hat!

Yeah, organic really doesn't cost all that much more. Then again, I'm surrounded by organic neighbours! A few times, I'll be out riding my bike and they're waiting for me at the end of their laneway with a bag full of goodies! They just give it away! Hey, I'll take it! :thumbsup: