How much do you spend on food? As Nestlewood is about 15 miles from the nearest reasonably sized town, we eat almost exclusively from home. Chris works nights, and nothing is open in the wee small hours, so I pack enough food to last him a 12 hour shift. Coffee is brewed at home, not bought from Starbucks, and the Drive-Thru is almost never frequented. We don't hit local bars, and we go to a sit down restaurant maybe every six weeks. It isn't that we are trying to be conscientious so much that everything is just too damned far.
I spend about $160 per week at Kroger or Foodland. I avoid the Dark Lord Waldemart as often as possible. Since I feed two kids + all their friends, a health freak husband and my own self and often fix a plate for Chris' mom who lives on our land, I think that's pretty good. Especially when one considers that I am often a short order cook, because the kids and I won't eat the stuff Chris likes and I don't like the stuff the kids like, it often means that I prepare 2-3 different meals, 2-3 times per day. When I throw in the 12 hours worth of food I send to work with Chris, that can easily add another 2-3 medium to small meals and snacks to prep.
Is that reasonable? Or am I kidding myself and that's actually outrageous?
11 comments:
We spend $80 a week (actually less then this as I have WIC now) and then $80 a month at Costco. So $400 a month. That feeds two of us since Damian is breastfed (though I eat more because of that) - I also pack Michael's lunch and we exclusively eat at home and are a bit of health nuts.
You use $160 to feed 4 mouths and then some, I'd say you are doing fabulously.
We eat out more, the man rarely takes his lunch and the girls only take a snack to school, most days and if I get out of the store for less than $160, I'm ecstatic. And, we try and hit the farmer's market on a weekly basis to cut down on the produce bill and usually spend $40-50 there.
So, I'd say you are doing really well to keep your weekly grocery bill that low.
Do you indulge in the um...snack foods? You know...no nutritional value but oh so satisfying? Brands or generics? I think if you are shopping at Kroger (we have those here in IL and they are kinds pricey) and can feel all those folks on $160 per week I am impressed. Especially since a freakin' red pepper is $2.25 and a cantalope/honeydew melon can run $4.00.
If only I could survive on love alone...
I spend more than that a week. There are four of us too. And god forbide you need lunch meat, or land o lakes cheese. Add another 12 bucks to the total.
What kills me is the 'other stuff'. Laundry stuff, bathroom stuff, pet stuff. And there goes the total through the roof even more.
We spend between $80-$100 per week. That's for 2 people. I cook most meals at home. Lately, it seems I can't remember to take something out of the freezer before I head to work, so we've had to eat out those days, which costs even more.
Considering all the mouths you're feeding I think $160 is great!
Do you create menus for your meals before you go shopping? Or do you just buy stuff and then make whatever comes to mind?
We do lots of snack foods. My kids would wither and die without Doritos, Pringles, Cheez-Its and the like. I buy the more expensive vegetables frozen (red peppers etc...) and buy store brands whenever possible. I do go shopping with a general idea of what I'm going to cook, but if I find a good deal on something, I'm flexible. For example, I found a manager's special at Kroger for ground turkey, at 68 cents per pound. So I bought 6 of them. Today, I found a 7 pound roast for $10, brought it home, cut it into 1/4ths, froze three of them and put one of them in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and cream of mushroom soup. I often put leftover pinto beans in my blender and add some taco seasoning to use them in bean burritos. Chris calls me MacGyver of the Kitchen because of the way I can always come up with something to feed everybody :-)
Downright miraculous!
You have an Aldi, too, if you want to make the trip into D. But, you are probably closer to there than H, anyway. Martin loves that place and they are really cheap. You have to take your own bags, though. That might be an option to help you save some money.
A real Kitchen Witch, you are. ;)
Truly a gift.
Most weeks I'm spending $120-$130 and we're just two men and a little dog (and I don't feed him anything from the supermarket!) so Honey, you're doing just fine!
My food budget for the week is $40-$60 for 2 people. I admit to shopping at Lord Waldemart. I clip cupons(sp?) like crazy, and I rarely buy snack foods. We eat a lot of rice and pasta, very litle meat though. But there is a local store where the veggies are much cheaper and nice and fresh.
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