# How much do you spend for groceries each week?



## daylily (Dec 1, 2001)

I hope y'all don't mind me being nosy. I'm just wondering if I'm super extravagent or average or what. There are 6 people in my household (2 adults and 4 children ages 3-9.5) and lately I've been spending about $130/week on food only. (Not including beer for dh.) This gets us organic produce, organic beans and grains, hormone free milk, free trade coffee and free trade tea, cheese, cold cereal, frozen bagels, peanut butter, jelly, cold cereal, some soy products and very few convenience foods. So this works out to roughly $22 per person, per week. Actually, that doesn't seem so much when I put it that way.

Anyway, anyone feel like sharing?


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## Nee Nee (Jan 11, 2002)

I picked $125+, but for me that is in Canadian dollars, so I guess maybe I should have picked something a bit lower!! I just know that I spend way too much for just the 3 of us, and half the time a lot of it goes in the garbage, its something I'd really like to improve on!!

R.


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## willibug (Jan 4, 2002)

Daylily, I am glad you started this, as I have been thinking of doing the same thing! I have read that the average US family spends $120 a week at the grocery store, but there are SO many variables! For example, my sister spends only $80 for her family of 4, but then they eat out A LOT, and the kids buy school lunches, etc. etc.

Here's the scoop on my family: I spend an average of $150 a week. There are 5 of us, and 3 kids ages 6, 3, and 13mo. I cook and bake mostly from scratch. This gets me mostly organic produce, fresh fish, meats, beer, disposable dipes for 2 (yes, I know!), loads of yogurt, butter, bread-making supplies, and plenty of beans and grains, coffee and tea. A few snack foods, too, such as corn chips and salsa, popcorn, hummus, and organic graham crackers. We never eat out, and dh makes his work lunches from this and I make ds' kindergarten snack from home, too. And we get WIC, so that covers much of our milk, eggs, cheese, and some cereals. All considered, I don't think we do too badly. When we lived in the UK, I spent slightly less, but I really couldn't get what I wanted with the money, because everything was so much more expensive. Within the budget I have stated, I get pretty much what I want, and I am very thankful to be able to do so.


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## valeria_vi (Nov 19, 2001)

thought it is a wonderful idea to see what an average person spends and compare where you stand in comparison to others, your grocery bill depends on so many other things besides what your spending habits are, like where you live matters so much.


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## Inwe Surion (Nov 19, 2001)

I usually place a coop order 1-2 times/month and that ranges from $100-200, depends what we need and of course we are talking cases of food here. I supplement that with about $50/week at home store.


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## robynberkley (Nov 27, 2001)

I live in NYC so my prices are a bit inflated ($150-175 range for family of 3) but I'm also including my once-a-month natural food co-op orders because we do eat primarily organic if I can get it. I'm not militant about that because if I need bananas and can't get organic, I'll buy the non-organic stuff...you know how it goes!

Cheers...Robyn


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## bigcats (Nov 24, 2001)

We have two adults in our household. I spend about $40 a week on groceries. That's not counting pet food, or when we very occasionally eat out or buy sandwiches. My goal is $30 a week, but we tend to go over a bit









We get a good deal of organic stuff, but some nonorganic stuff too, especially if there's a huge price difference between the two and the item in question is not on the "dirty dozen" list.

I try to keep the processed, packaged stuff to a minimum. That helps a lot with the bill.

We live in the very expensive SF Bay Area.


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## Elismama (Jan 2, 2002)

How? I don't mean to be sarcastic- I really want to know how you manage to feed two adults on that amount of money.

I feel like we spend way too much for food- I spend $200-250 a month through my co-op buying club on staples- canned tomatoes, beans, tofu, flours, cheese, grains, etc. But even with that I spend atleast $50 per week on vegetables, milk, eggs... We don't eat meat and we bake our own bread (except bagels) and I do buy organic.

Sometimes I feel like we should spend less- but then I think about how meals are important to our bodies and souls. We don't eat processed/boxed foods, and we almost never eat out. We spend a lot of time cooking/eating together.

I suppose I'm torn on this- I want to be frugal and I want to eat gorgeous, yummy meals.

great topic
-jeanie


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## bigcats (Nov 24, 2001)

Hm, Elismama, I'm not sure why there's such a difference in our grocery bills - you seem to be doing/eating the same things we do (we make our own bread in a breadmachine, make yogurt, are vegetarians). One thing that I would like to improve in our diet is more fruit, which will add on to the bill quite a bit, probably... right now I eat only 1-2 pieces of fresh fruit a day and my partner eats even less, unfortunately... maybe you buy more fruit than us (and that's good!). We've just started regularly buying organic milk instead of conventional, so I'll probably see an increase there too.

I buy all our flour, rice, beans, oats, etc in the bulk bins at my grocery store... We don't buy juice... I grow a lot of my own herbs and I can buy the rest from bulk bins... I tend not to buy fancy veggies... carrots, potatoes, celery, lettuce, sweet potatoes and broccoli are our staples, and are pretty inexpensive. We get great, organic, cheap produce at our grocery store too. That's really all I can think of that keeps cost low...


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## mamachiquita (Dec 13, 2001)

We spend about $120 per week to feed my husband, my 15 moth-old, and myself. We shop the bulk bins and buy mostly reduced produce, but all of the organic stuff that we buy really adds up.


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## jasnjakesmama (Nov 19, 2001)

Are we including take out?
Probably around 200 per week and I am including odering out.


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## rocketmom (Dec 14, 2001)

Gee I guess it all depends on how much company we have over in a month as well as if we are in a meat or tofu mood, beer or wine or none mood. The best average I could say is somewhere in the $150-$175 range for our family of 4 (and what ever company may come over







).


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## PM (Nov 19, 2001)

About 100 Euros so about $100 I suppose.


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## saige (Dec 16, 2001)

100$ Canadian bucks,here.(Feeds 2 kids and a Dh)


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## quantumsarah (Mar 23, 2002)

I spend about $120 a week for three adults, two preschoolers, a huge dog, and a cat. We don't eat out at all. Last time I ate food I didn't cook was weeks ago, and the last time I ate in a real restaurant was... about 7 months ago. <laugh/sigh> I would love to eat out more often...


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## precious moments (Feb 24, 2002)

I spend approx. $50 Canadian per week to feed 14 mo ds, dh and me.
I try to choose organic, when available, as long as the cost isn't too much more, and depending on the food itself. I buy organic fruits and veggies when I can, esp. if ds is going to eat them.
I have to admit that I buy too much packaged convienent food IE.cookies, crackers (ds' are organic), m&m pre-made veggie lasagne, pre-made cabbage rolls etc... I keep some convience foods around for days that I either don't have time or feel like making dinner.

edited to add: we eat out approx. twice a week(order in pizza with our Wed. get together, probably everyother week), and order take out some Fridays or Saturdays. So this will change our weekly total to approx. $75 per week.


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## steph (Dec 5, 2001)

about $100/week for 2 adults and dd... we buy only organic everyhing, inc. dairy and meat (not lots of either, but some)....

bigcats i'm amazed at your low figure, how do you do it? only organic vegies or what? don't eat alot? just curious. i'd love to get our food bill down some, but it remains pretty constant.


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## PumpkinSeeds (Dec 19, 2001)

We spend about 150 just on food a week for Dh,me and baby. More if you include non food items.

I like variety. I make all of our food and I love to buy all kinds of exotic fruits and vegetables. We have a wonderful farmers market and a well stocked coop. My hubby will eat ANYTHING, and I like to experiment with foods. I make sure we have at least one leafy green a day along with 5-7 other servings of vegetables a day.

Beans? Now how many varieties are there? Gotta try them all!! Brown rice? Long grain, short grain, basmati....

YOu get the idea...


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## RasJane (Nov 20, 2001)

Oops, I read it a bit wrong. I spend around $60/week but that includes non food stuff from the grocery store. Just washing soda, borax, paper products etc. I would love to spend less, but ds is on an allergy diet and we eat some chicken/turkey/fish. I impulse buy more than I would like too. In all probability, our bill will go up when dh has a job because I will buy much more organinc stuff. We'll wait and see I guess.


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## serenetabbie (Jan 13, 2002)

I just got back from the market and spent $75! I almost passed out! We are a family of 4; me and dh, a 4 yr old and the 13 m baby. Plus the dog and picky cat. That $75 included picking up film ($9), paper diapers for nite time use ($10), fancy cheese ($7), cat and dog food ($15), batteries ( i should really buy renewable ones. $6), and the things we needed for the week. When we were childless we spent between $20 and $30 on groceries and everything else we needed (t.p., deoderant, etc). Now I would guess we average about $35 to $45 a week. I'm sure it will go up as the kids get bigger!
~laura


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## 3boys4us (Mar 7, 2002)

How many of you do organic produce? I find that it's really expensive. We go through so much milk that organic milk for instance is just too expensive. We do drink some soy but even that's expensive.


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## steph (Dec 5, 2001)

3boys4 - i buy organic everything -if it's available. i have for close to 10 years now...for me it's a form of commitment - to myself, family and the planet. until recently we had no health insurance, so buying organic was one thing i could do to help enhance our health. as for the planet, i think what i spend supporting organic agriculture is a small investment to help bring some sanity and sustainability to our ailing biosystem. i mean really how much more is organic produce? if i spend $1.50 for a bunch of broccoli instead of .79 that's a .71 investment towards our planet. unless you're on food stamps most of us can afford that. most people "waste" more than that everyday on things totally unnecessary. when i first made the commitment to only organic we were fairly poor - dh & i making under $20,000/year total, and living in a fairly expensive housing market (bay area). i just decided that if it was important enough, that the means to support it would materialize - and it has. what we put in our bodies has a direct impact on our health, and what gets dumped onto/into our planet has a direct impact on its AND our health. it just makes sense to me.


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## bebe luna (Nov 20, 2001)

We spend about $400/mo for 2 adults and a 14 mo. We do one big shopping trip to the coop once a month where we usually spend between $250-$300. Then we pick up a few items here and ther the rest of the month.
It seems expensive, but we have very high standards when it comes to food. We eat practically all organic, lots of fresh produce, pricey yeast-free breads, cases of rice Dream, etc...
But, we don't really spend much elsewhere, other than house payments and utility bills.


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## daylily (Dec 1, 2001)

Most of our produce is organic, 3boys4us. I can't afford organic milk and I don't like that it's ultrapasturized and shipped here from the northeast. (I'm in Virginia.) I compromise and buy hormone free milk at Whole Foods which is the same price as conventional milk and it's not ultrapasturized. I agree with Steph that buying organic is putting my money where my beliefs are. Besides produce, I buy organic flour (white and whole wheat), organic beans, organic chocolate (occaisionaly) organic coffee and tea. Most fair trade chocolate, coffee, and tea are also organic. I like it that spending money on fair trade items helps ensure a living wage for some farmers. I save money by preparing most of our food from scratch and staying away from convenience foods. Organic oatmeal is 69 cents a pound. A 15 ounce box of mainstream cereal can cost as much as $4.


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## 3boys4us (Mar 7, 2002)

daylily: if you don;t me asking, where do you shop? We have no organic grocery store near us (like wild oats which I loved) so the organic section at stop & shop has to do. The selection is pretty limited. Your kids are about the same age as mine. Do they ever ask for other stuff (non-organic stuff) We eat no junk food and rarely go out. But we do allow snack food like granola bars, pretzels etc.. I bake ALOT, cookies, brownies. At least 3x - 4x a week. They take lunches to school. We eat lots of fruit and some veggies. We do eat meat (dh refuses to give it up but will do 50% veggie meals). We spend maybe 100$/week. Dry goods I buy at the warehouse type places along with dog/cat food. I have hard time with organic foods. I like them but it seems like we consume so much food during a week non-organic is better on the budget.


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## Zina (Feb 23, 2002)

For Heaven Sakes!! How do you people do it? I feel good when we get through a week on $175. I buy as much organic stuff as possible, and we drink soy milk rather than cow's milk, but I do prepare our food from scratch, and bake, and buy bulk. And we rarely buy alcohol or coffee. We are two adults, two kids and a nursing baby. The baby has doubled her weight (9 lbs at birth) in 3 1/2 months on breast milk alone so I am eating like a sumo wrestler. The older two--6 and 4--are also very big for their ages (65lbs and 48lbs) and my husband is big and athletic. We do talk about trying to reduce our food spending, but then I am at the store and I think about how eating is life and I want our life to be a celebration.... I feel very much like Elismama. We are lucky now to be in a position to spend so much on food--in the past it was a struggle--but I would love to be able to spend more! There have been more than a few weeks that we've spent $350 on food. (Not counting eating out!) We do not waste much, either, and we are fit people. I do a lot of shopping at Wild Oats--and would love to do all of my shopping there. Expensive but so pleasant and delicious! Considering how much we go through, and that the baby will soon be plowing through solid foods too, I have been thinking we should start a co-op. In fact, I've been thinking we practically could order enough on our own to be a one-family co-op. I would love to start a non-profit ultra-responsible health food store that would sell to families at cost, or lower if neccesary--kind of like a health food WIC. Feeding your children well shouldn't break the bank!


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## daylily (Dec 1, 2001)

Rene,

In the winter, I shop at 2 stores: a local natural foods store where I buy produce, cheese, grains, beans, oils, yeast and other staples. Then I go to a mainstream supermarket (Harris Teeter)for things like frozen bagels, cereal, etc. I also make a special trip to Whole Foods just for the hormone free milk. If I bought all our food there, I'd probably spend more than $200/week, easily. It sounds like we eat pretty much the same way you do. I bake cookies often and make things like bannana bread for snacks. I buy pretzels, but not chips or doritos or anything like that. I also rely on air-popped popcorn for snacks. It has some nutritional value and it's really cheap. My sister gave us a popcorn popper for Christmas 9 years ago and I use it regularly. It's one of the best gifts I've ever received.

In the summer, I skip the natural foods store and buy produce, eggs and cheese at the farmer's market. I also have a small vegetable plot and we pick strawberries, blueberries, and mulberries and preserve them. (We just go to U-pick farms.)


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## DebraBaker (Jan 9, 2002)

Ahem....










I spend about $220/week on groceries.

Before you suspect steak and caviar I have two adults and five children living at home presently. I have three adult children (two of whom are very close-by my oldest's fiance' and secondborn's boyfriend.

DH and teenagers have hearty appetites.

I try to buy good fruites and veggies and quality food (oh, I spend very little on the doctor  and, as daylilly suggested if you do the math it's less than $25 per person









Some of you guys, well, I admire your frugality. SIL has two children and spends about $50-75/week I admire her.

DB


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## serenetabbie (Jan 13, 2002)

I would like to buy more organic things, but the cost is too high for me! We grow many of our own veggies, so I figure we have organic produce for about 8 months of the year. (freezing, canning etc the surplus). And we have strawberries in the summer too.
When we lived near philly there was a place called produce junction we loved....
I wish I could find a co op here, but my searches have proved (ahem) fruitless (he he he).


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## TripkeHughes (Nov 19, 2001)

To begin with, we are two adults and one 9 mo (who eats very little besides organic veggies). I am now a vegetarian and don't buy any meat. We shop at Trader Joes and the local farmers market every week. My bill is normally around $45 a week. This gives me mostly all organic and soy products. I am also recentlya vegan (or at least making a HUGE stab at it... seems my ds is now lacto-intollerant... a bummer for the ice cream lover in me). In the past I could spend $10 a week on ice cream. YUMMY! But not any more... then again I degrees.

Anyway, mostly veggies, some blue organic corn chips, salsa, soy beverage, cereal, pasta... you know the basics. We don't make a ton from scratch. I have the same flower/suger/type of stuff from when we married two years ago and I have only used it twice. How do you ladies and gents do it? Making bread and goodies? Not to mention that AZ is HOT already.

Anyway... we really try to keep it low but it can get up there if we have others over for dinner. I usually buy more food special for that event.


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## daylily (Dec 1, 2001)

Yes, using the oven in the summer is difficult. If I can't avoid it, I'll bake early in the morning. (You can make bread dough at night and let it go through its second rising in the fridge overnight and then just pop it in the oven when you wake up.) One of the Tightwad Gazette books has plans for a solar oven made from very basic materials (cardboard boxes, black paint, scrap blocks of wood, tin foil and a piece of glass.) I meant to make one last summer, but didn't get around to it. I think such an oven would work great in Arizona. The Tightwad Gazette family live in Maine and they use one.


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## Irishmommy (Nov 19, 2001)

I said over $100 (Cdn), but if I only bought what actually seems to be consumed, it would be about $10. I only shop and cook because the law says I have to provide food for my family! Where's the law that says they have to eat it?!?!?!?!


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## eleni (Mar 10, 2002)

: thier are two adults my 3yrold son 3dogs and 2cats ! we spend about $200.00 dollars aweek on food . the problem is we all eat differnet things iam a don,t eat meat , my son is very picky but only drinks soy milk my husband drink organic cows milk and so on thats how it works at my house . i end up cooky 3 different dinners a night !! were did i go wrong







love and light








Quote:

don;t be afraid of being free


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## steffanie3 (Mar 17, 2002)

For two adults we spend about $25 a week. It was exactly that for a while, but now I am not sure on the exact, but it is on to much more.

We can't buy as much organic as I would like, we can't afford it.

This is also not considering the sale items I stock on when they are on sale. When I see a great deal, I get several of that item so I don't have to buy those for maybe months.

We have to be frugal, so we make it happen.

Stephanie


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## mamarain (Nov 20, 2001)

Well, having just confessed on the other thread that we are poor, i am confessing here that we eat well! Maybe that is whare most of our money goes! It's abot $60-100 per week for a small family of ours (me, dh and 16 month old dd). But like said before, we invest on organics and currently as much local produce as there is. And as it was said before, when i go to Wholefoods, what appals me there is that there is rows and rows of food made from the same incredients with different flavorings, is that choice? (Oh, and i'm not even talking your local supermarket here!) so my mission is to make from scrathch as much as i possible am willing to spend in the kitchen.
And i like oatmeal.


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## TraceyMc (Apr 11, 2002)

We usually spend at least $100 to 125 a week for 2 adults and one 5 yr dd. I buy everything organic that I can. We don't eat meat, but I buy alot of soy alternatives like Veat and salmon sometimes. We buy blue corn chips and soy and rice ice cream. I get cases of soy milk from Trader Joe's, the cheapest and I can store 2 cases in the garage and not worry about it for a while. A coop I go to has great deals on all the organic flours, whole grain pastas, etc.
I've noticed the price of a lot of organic produce has come down in the last 5 years. If everyone keeps supporting the organic farmers they don't have to charge so much. There are more organic frms at our farmers mkt now too and fresh eggs from uncaged hens.


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## eleni (Mar 10, 2002)

TRACEY, i love trader joe and sense we moved to the sunshine state , we know longer get to shop thier then in end in virigina state .thats as south as they go !! but aren;t they great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! maybe some day they will come to the south . love and light


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## goodlearner (Mar 5, 2002)

This is a great poll -- I was just worrying about how much we were spending recently, and now I see we're pretty average. We spend about $120/week at the grocery store, for two adults and two children, ages 7 and 4. This doesn't include the extracurricular grocery trips to Whole Foods or Chinatown, though. I'm glad to see I'm not overly indulgent with my budget!


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## oneyellowbug (Apr 10, 2002)

Wow!! I feel so frivolous!! We spend approximately $200 a week. I will say that we live in the SanFran area. That does not include once a week of eating out- usually sushi, my favorite! That feeds DH and 2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 lizard. Oh, and myself! We are vegetarians, but do eat fish(what would that be called Fishatarians?!). We do eat almost all organically and whole foods. I shop at Trader Joes onca aweek and get a organic box of veggies once a week. I don't buy in bulk as much as I would like, Whole Foods is about 40 min away. In the summer we eat a lot from our garden, so the price does go down.

Hey Bigcats, where do you live? I should shop at your store!!


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## TraceyMc (Apr 11, 2002)

Hey eleni
I used to live in Indian Rocks Beach-I noticed you are in Tarpon Springs. There was a pretty big grocery store sized-health food store in St. Pete-not as good as Traders, but might be worth looking in to.









Tracey


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## eleni (Mar 10, 2002)

tracey thanks for that info !!!! i will go check it out soon . i have found tons of little health food places around here ,but you no traders joe is always in my thoughts ... lol thanks again love and light


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## ingvar (Nov 24, 2001)

we spend 125+per week, everything is organic, fairly traded. In the summer we spend half of that because i grow my own veggies and save potatoes, squash, carrots,onions that last us until winter solstice. we drive 2 hours in the summer to an organic apple farm and get cheap apples for dehydrating(my lillte ones favorite snack) freezing. I dream of owning a farm( we only have less than 1 acre with our house in the middle), our area is quite shaded....so we dug up our lawn and made 6 raised beds.it doesnt look so hot..but our food tastes soooooo good when you pluck it fresh. im hoping to build a tiny greenhouse to extend the season(if we ever have extra money)..alas, we have no more room to place it............dig up those yards!!!


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## maddysmommy (Mar 27, 2002)

I think that my little family spends about $150 per week at the grocery store - so I guess that includes tp and my magazine addiction. It's me, dh and 6.5 month old dd (whose sweet potatos and avocado don't cost too much lol). We do eat meat and expensive cheese, and pretty much exclusively organic. We live in Salem, MA (north of Boston) and things are expensive I think, but we are lucky to have Trader Joes and Wild Oats where I spend much too much. I wanted to add that, because of having to pay taxes we were short on cash this month and I have been able to go an entire week without going to the store! So obviously I am well stocked with that $150...

Edited to add:

You super frugal mommies inspire me!


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## Sahara (Nov 28, 2001)

It depends! $120 if I shop at the regular grocery store, sometimes up to $200 if I make the trek to the closest healthfood store. I stock up on organic, bulk, non-perishable items and as many veggies and fruits as I can handle. I know I spend too much, but sometimes that goat cheese is calling my name


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## sleepies (Nov 30, 2001)

we go together to the grocery store once a week.
$80 per time.

and i go by myself at least once a week
$30

$110 at least on groceries alone, not including all the eating out foods we eat (too much of as well)

and it is me, husband, and baby: Mon-Friday
and my 9 year old is with us on: Friday-Sunday

our baby factors in there though, because we spend $3 per day on formula for him....and about $3 per day on foods and stuff for him--that he doesn't even eat any of and it is wasted (but i feel i should offer him foods even though i know he will only spit it out)

ACK we spend too much!!


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## lovinmama (Nov 23, 2001)

Good post, I often wonder what others spend on food.
We have a family of 5 and only 4 of us are eating (baby is
4 months old) and we spend about 175 a week. That does
not include eating out which we probably do once a week.
I am always feeling like we spend way to much and never have
anything to eat! LOL
We buy almost all organic and spend a fortune on fruit.
I love to have fresh fruit but boy does it cost alot. I am
looking forward to the good summer veggies that we will
be getting out of the garden.
Racheal


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## TraceyMc (Apr 11, 2002)

Hey Lovinmama
I used to live in Asheville. Do you still have Earthfare and the French Broad coop? I miss it there, what a great place.


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## [email protected] (Jan 5, 2002)

during a recent budget meeting i was horrified to see that we are spending $500/month for two adults and one finicky preschooler

this does include chemicals, cleaners, plastics wraps and whatever we toss in at sams club -- but i am still horrified!!!!!

i think part of whats happening is that i quit working in march so i am home more, my dd is home more and i'm not buying convenience foods as much. i'm also much more aware of the per pound cost than dh is so when i find chicken breast for $1.36 i buy 15 pounds instead of two

so the grocery bills are higher but somehow its cheaper unit price

if that makes any sense! lolllll

i know part of the answer lies in meal planning - to be honest, i am so overwhelmed by it that i just cant find a way to start it. and we dont do so well with leftovers so its almost like i have to cook less at a time.

dh was never very good at meal planning and has gotten WORSE since i'm home. blehhhhhhhh

and would you believe that i absolutely can not find a food coop/buying club around here????


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## Lorene (Dec 10, 2001)

I've been wondering the same thing myself. If it was possible for me too cut back in this area. But it seems that we're right in line with what everybody else is spending. So now I can chill.

We spend about 250 euros every two weeks (that's how often we get bank statements in Holland). We always eat at home, never go out. Are half veggies and I buy organic when it is an option.


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## ladylee (Nov 20, 2001)

We spend $75-100 a week for 2 adults & a 2 yo. Just on organic food stuff--but if I'm at Trader Joe's I always find many frivolous foodie items to spend $ on, as well as flowers & natural personal care products. And I'm also a sucker for herbs & stuff like emergen-c. I like to have those things on hand. And sometimes DH insists on meat, so that cha chings--especially since free range stuff is so pricey. But still, our dollar goes a lot further in CA than it did in NY. That's great!


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## DreamWeaver (May 28, 2002)

Wow! I'm amazed how some of you manage to eat all organic and still spend fairly little. For us, out here in Phoenix, AZ, where costs of living is slightly below the national average, we are strugglying to keep our monthly grocery bill below $400 a month. OK, we include household stuff like detergent and stuff in there as well but those you only get every couple of months. We try to eat organic as far as possible, shopping at Whole Foods, and we do not eat meat; so I don't know why it's so ex to just eat fruits and vegetables & grains!
Anyway, for those without an organic market near you, you could try online organic wholesale stores. I do not remember the addresses off-hand, but if you do a serach, you shd find one near you. You can buy in bulk but you also gotta figure in shipping costs.

Janis


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## amandajf (May 15, 2002)

We have two adults and three kids 5, 3, and 1. We spend $135 bi weekly.. we don't eat organic and the only fruit we eat are bananas... we can't afford organic. We make canned veggies or frozen broccoli with dinner. We don't drink milk at all, but wic pays for milk for cooking <homemade mac n cheese tastes fuky with soy milk>. That includes bread, meats, cereals, lunchmeat, sodas, arizona tea 2.99 gal <i love it>... snacks etc. We order pizza once a month for a good deal <$24 for two lg pies, 2 orders wings, breadstix, cheesebread and cinnastix from dominos and that feeds all of us for two days>. I get sale papers for all 4 stores in our area... then i hit up walmart for the .64 bread and .87 coffeemate and burger patties etc. it saves us money.. i love walking out with a full cart and only spent $40.


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## GranolaMommy (Jun 2, 2002)

We spend about $75-85 at stores and the Farmer's market per week and $22/week for our CSA basket. I'd say we spend about 50-60% of our budget on fresh fruits and vegetables. I also buy from the bulk bins nuts, beans, flours and whole grains (we almost always have cooked brown rice in the fridge for quick meals) and try to cook from scratch as much as possible. I do buy a few convenience food items such as Dr Praeger's veggie burgers and I also try to have an Amy's Veggie Loaf dinner and a non-dairy pot pie in the freezer for DS when I am too pooped to worry about toddler food.

Occasionally I buy organic sprouted grain bread and we usually have organic baked tortilla chips in the house for DH's lunches. I buy Soy Dream soy milk (sometimes Wildwood if I am feeling extravagent), organic free range eggs from the farmer's market and Earth Balance margerine and real maple syrup and expeller pressed oils which run into some $$ (luckily they aren't a weekly purchase!)

At Trader Joe's I buy a bag of Veggie Booty for DS per week, tortillas, frozen peppers and frozen organic corn. Oh, and we buy water.

Wow, I realized that sounds healthier than thou, but that really is what we eat. DH's lunch bags usually consist of brown rice, beans and steamed veggies with Braggs or 2 sandwiches on whole grain bread with avocados, cucumbers and tomatoes and a salad. Tonight's dinner is Rainbow chard soup and cabbage knish rolls. DS and I will have black bean soup and rice for lunch.

j


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## member (Apr 15, 2002)

We spend about $200 a month for two adults to eat all month long - grocery and eating out included.

Unfortunately, I don't buy as much organic as I would like; I usually get the over-ripe fruit that my co-op is about ready to throw away and make pies or tarts out if it. I buy a lot of frozen fruits and veggies. No juice, no soda. Just milk and water or iced tea for drinks.

I cook a lot of stuff from scratch and live by the pantry principle outlined in The Tightwad Gazette books. DP and I used to spend about $500 a month on food before I read the books.


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## TwinMom (Dec 27, 2001)

You guys make me feel like I waste a LOT of money! I spend anywhere from $150-300 a week at the grocery store for 2 adults, 2 kids, and a baby who mainly nurses. Just this week I've been to Whole Foods, Central Market, and Kroger each once and I'll be back at Whole Foods on Saturday. We do buy a lot of convenience, pre-packaged foods. No pop, some beer and wine, some organic juice for the kids. I do buy a large variety of organic fruits and veggies. I'm vegetarian but dh and the older kids are not (baby is still vegan), so I buy their meat at Whole Foods. If I have to buy them meat (okay, I don't HAVE to), I want it to be as healthy as possible.

Oh, that amount also includes non-food items such as disposable diapers/wipes







(I know, I know), detergent, etc. It doesn't include eating out, though, which we do a couple times a week. Damn, no wonder I'm fat.

This summer my main project is to reduce the packaging and processing of food we eat. I want to get everyone eating healthier and hopefully one byproduct of that will be spending less moolah on food.


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## Philamama (Jun 1, 2002)

Hi there. I'm new and in Philadelphia. I don't have a car, so I get to the grocery store for a large food trip every week and a half or two weeks and I spend about 110 bucks including toiletries, toilet paper, etc. Then we fill in gaps with produce from local guy and yikes, the convenience store bananas which are not very consistent. It's just me and my adorable 2 year old who incidentally just let out a wake up cry from nap, so I must go attend!









I'm interested to know more about coops... anyone know of one in Philadelphia?
Thanks.
Nancy


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## Cookiemomster (Jan 21, 2002)

Hi Philamama









I'm also from Philly!There is a coop in West MT.Airy(Weavers Way Coop) and one in West Philly.Have you checked out Ninth Street(the Italian Market)?That's a street market in South Philly.I don't think they have much organic foods but lots of fruit and veggies on the stands and the stores have great Italian Foods and bakerys.If you go at the end of the day you can get great deals.

Anyhow if you want to pm me I can give you more ideas on where to go for what and who knows maybe your close to me?


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

I am so glad for this thread! We spend about $60-70 a week for me, dh, and 18 mo. old dd. My dh thinks I spend too much so I'm going to have him read the threads here and maybe he'll be a little more realistic from now on.

We stop CostCo for some things in bulk (including non-food items), the local Asian market for veggies, Trader Joes for some small things like animal crackers and soy milk/tofu, and the grocery store for "junk" foods that I can't find at the first three. I don't visit each store each week, but stock up, visiting about 2 of these places in a week. Off topic a bit but I do all our shopping for other things (like small appliances, clothes, or other non-food things) at Goodwill and BigLots! and Wal-Mart if all else fails.

The things we buy the most frequently are: fresh fruits/veggies, whole organic milk for dd, soy milk, tofu, dry pasta, brown rice, hard cheese, yogurt, butter (for making ghee), nut butters, whole wheat flour, sandwich bread, beans and lentils, canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, cooking oil, spices, and a few splurges like cake or cookie mix, mac and cheese, frozen waffles, and morningstar farms products.

Thanks again for sharing this! I agree that good food should be one of the most important things we spend money on, for the sake of our health and well-being.

Darshani


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## Kanga Mom (Jun 9, 2002)

We probably spend about 150 per week on food. If I had to, I could feed my family on less, but I dn't have to, so I don't.

We have a family of nine- which includes four teens and two adults. Eight of us are home eating three meals a day. Dh gets a lunch packed, but is home for breakfast and supper. People who have kids in public school might be getting school lunches for free or discounted (or might not)- We also have a lot of company, usually at least one other family eats at our table each week, sometimes more. So it's a start, but I'm not sure the per week figure tells us much.

It would be more informative to know how much we spent per person.

I once figured out that to keep within our means, our meals had to cost an average of .50 a person, or not more than 1.50 a day, per person. Since breakfast usually costs pennies, then lunch and dinner can come out to more than .50.

Anybody else figured out the per meal spending at your house?

Kanga


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

Kanga, that is so impressive that you keep the bill so low for NINE people! Wow!

Darshani


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## sweetsage (Jun 12, 2002)

Bigcats, Where do you shop in SF area? My brother lives in SF and I'm sure he would love to find a store with cheap organic produce. Let me know!

-Elizabeth


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## velveeta (May 30, 2002)

I don't know how you mamas do it!

I live in Dallas, Texas, where I didn't *think* our groceries were more expensive, but...

We spend about $125 each week. That buys us our mostly organic produce (the bulk of the budget) - and this is for just me and my husband. Our two doggerinos eat the pulp that is left over after we juice our produce.

-10# of carrots
-2 heads of kale
-1 head of romaine
-1 thingie of gingerroot (every 2 weeks)
-a bag of lemons
-a bag of apples
-something new (this week was jicama)
-3 boxes of alfalfa sprouts
-1 head of celery
-5 bell peppers (budget busters!)
-bottle of flax seed oil (every two weeks, Whole Foods brand)
-2 bunches of bananas
-2 sweet potatoes
-occasionally something fancy like blueberries!! or cherries!! (rare)
-big size of plain organic yogurt (for veggie dips)
-1 dozen eggs
-polenta
-steel cut oats
-2 boxes of cereal (one granola, one bran)
-1 gallon of milk
-1 large tub of parmegiano-reggiano ($11/lb! I know, I know!!)
-5 different packets of whole wheat organic pasta
-14# of organic chicken necks for the doggerinos

That's pretty much it. Sometimes I also buy water for $2.29 a gallon when I don't bring back my containers for a $0.25 refill.

We really struggle to keep it under $125. We would like to eat meat sometimes, but right now, we can't afford it with all of the other stuff, and we view it as a luxury item anyway.

Jean (I wish I had some blueberries right now!!) Oh, and we don't eat out much -- maybe once a month or so. And that is when we are having a "date. "


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## birthwarrior (Mar 13, 2002)

We have 2 adults, and 5 blessings ages 14,9,6,4, and 2. Our monthly bulk co-op order runs $3-500. Then we shop at Wild Oats we spend over $600 for the month. Since it's an 1 1/2 hour drive, we go there once a month. So we go to Walmart for bread,organic milk if it's in, creamer and extra fresh produce if needed. I get as much organic as possible and agree with steph on the first page. It's preventative and good for the planet. Paid $300 something for a share of fresh produce weekly from an organic farm(while the season lasts in our Ohio area) but my share is for a family of 4 and we have 7 so except for salad and asparagus(which my hubby and I don't have have to share as we're the only ones who like it...the asparagus) it doesn't last long. Some of the items form the coop and Wild Oats is not food but the majority is. So as long as we can afford it, we are organic. My kids whine and we keep trying organic foods until we find one that they like as well as conventional. Have yet to find an organic bread they approve of. Guess i could figure out the bread machine and make my own? Have considered my own garden but the dang neighbors are always spraying their lawns.


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## DiaperDiva (Jun 30, 2002)

We never spend more than 200 every two weeks and this included diapers, toiletries and misc. items. Now that we use cloth diapers it should be less sincee we won't have diapers or wipes to buy.

Oh and we are a family of three. 2 adults, one child, and one dog.


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## nernie (Jul 24, 2002)

Holy Cow! I'm new to this forum first of all, so "HI". After reading what everyone spends on groceries I dragged my husband in here and made him worship my thriftiness! We are a family of four (momdad3yrold9yrold), and although husband and his 9 year old son are not veggie I do not purchase meat at home. (if they want it they can go elsewhere!) We eat a lot of homemade pasta, beans in the winter, salads and sandwiches in the summer, I buy most of my food in bulk and make most everything from scratch. We are very broke but not broke enough to get food stamps so I must keep our bill to under $20 a week. This is a lot easier without school lunches to wrory about - it is harder to keep packaged food purchases to a minimum when "all my FRIENDS get cheezy-crappo-chips in a pouch! You hate me!" comes around in September.
There's no way I can afford organics so I try to wash/peel fruits and veggies and change bean and grain soaking water twice for impurities. There are ways to do it, if you're willing to listen to a little whining.
"if you cook it, and they're hungry enough, they'll eat it"


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## DiaperDiva (Jun 30, 2002)

Wow Nernie! That is incredible!


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## lucina3 (Jun 25, 2002)

Food only we spend about $40/week for myself, DH, and 3 daughters (ages 7, 5.5 and 4) We only eat chicken as far as meat goes, and soon (the fall) my ILs will be giving us 20 chickens that they are growing. We can't afford to buy organic except for wheat & oats. They don't cost any more than the regular stuff. I make all of our bread so we buy a lot of wheat & oats!


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## member (Apr 15, 2002)

I thought I'd add that now that DP and I went vegan (cold tofu from a full animal product diet) that we spend slightly more on food in the grocery but we out at less. I still think we're at about $200 a month for 2 people.


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## mtn. mama (Jul 30, 2002)

I am a mother to three 4, 2 and 2 mos. with a wife to an endless stomach (although it never shows arrggghhh!). We live in Colorado and since we are huge on produce esp. organic we spend $175 EASY!!! It is frustrating for us, the expense out here but we cannot stand to eat processed foods. There seem to be little options such as a co-op or CSA farm. Location, in my experience, has ALOT to do with what one will spend. My mother was out from Pa. in June to help with our new one and she was mortified each time she went shopping for me! Now that says alot to me about what we pay out here. Anyone from Colorado that knows of a good co-op on the front range? I would LOVE to find one! Namaste-Mtn.Mama


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## autumngirl (Aug 6, 2002)

I spend between $40 - $70 for a family of 4. There are tricks to shopping - first stores here in Vermont double your coupons - so that can save a bundle!! Plus we have a Price Chopper nearby that often has buy 1 get 2 free or buy 1 get 1 free. I save my coupons up for those sales and will use a "Save $1 on 2 items" for the buy 1 get 1 or 2 deals. They had a Buy 1 get one free on Rice - and I had 2 - 35 cent off coupons. One bag wasw $1.99 minus the 70 cents and the other was free but the store still lets me use the coupon on it - so it ended up giving me a 70 cent credit for the 2nd bag of rice.

We buy our meats on nights - usually that is the time that the meat manager goes through and takes all the meat that didn't sell for the day and marks it down by a few $'s. I recently bought a 5 lb package of ground beef that was originally $9 for $5 because they marked it down $4.

They also have a clearance bin in our store. They have a shelf full of Sweeties grapefruit juice (64 ozs.) for $1 each and Cora's Merlot & Mushroom pasta sauce was also $1 - the jars were dusty (still within the printed expiration date_ but I can wipe the dust off easily enough. So I got 6 jars of sauce for $6.


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## bellamama (Aug 8, 2002)

We are two adults and anursing 15 month old baby...I shop pretty much ONLY at whole Foods and am always dumbfounded at my bill. Being a vegetarian and wanting the healthiest selection, this is the best store for me. I usually spend between $100-$150 a week and buy as much organic as possible. But for those of you who shop whole foods, you know how CRAZY expensive everything there is. Sometimes after I get home and put the groceries away, I ask myself what in the world did I even buy for that much money?????????







:

But shopping at conventional stores now is just too mind blowing. All the mainstream junk everywhere. I don't even want to be tempted by that evil







 I have a very sweet tooth! LOL








Melanie


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## LavenderMae (Sep 20, 2002)

$$$


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## Kanga Mom (Jun 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by mtn. mama_
> [ ]We live in Colorado and since we are huge on produce esp. organic we spend $175 EASY!!! It is frustrating for us, the expense out here but we cannot stand to eat processed foods. There seem to be little options such as a co-op or CSA farm. ...Anyone from Colorado that knows of a good co-op on the front range? "
> 
> I do, I do!!!!!!
> ...


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## Kimchi (Dec 28, 2001)

I am astonished at how much food prices vary from region to region... Our weekly food bill is about $50 USD/$70 Cdn and it feeds me, DH, and our 2 girls (3 and 5). Almost all of our produce is organic, bought from a web-order home-delivery service, we buy goat milk and cheese at the health food store, and meat I only buy on sale (grocery store). In the past we have bought a side of beef for the freezer, but now that I can get organic meat at Loblaws I sometimes buy that (along with the odd bit of on-sale non-organic meat). I cook from scratch always, and I'm trying to get back to making my own bread (usually the bread comes from the local bakery though). We almost never eat out for dinner (3X in 3 years). Oops - add another ~$5/week for lunch supplies (DH leaves that all at work).
Having travelled 'down south' to various parts of the US, I had always come home saying "food is pretty cheap here!" and you folks are convincing me of that more and more!

Cheers (and happy eating)
Kim in Chelsea, Quebec (near Ottawa)


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## shematrix (May 9, 2002)

I voted 75 - 100. 2 adults and two kids.

Brenda


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## Seeking Refuge (Nov 2, 2002)

I feed our family of five for less than $50 a week. There is a little shop in our town where we can buy homegrown eggs for 75 cents a dozen and free range meat. WE try to eat two meatless meals a week and I think that saves me a fortune We probably don't eat as much organic food as some but I do buy it when possible. I cook from scratch and we eat very well. Another hint make fresh juices. I bought an electric juicer and I save myself a fortune not having to buy organic juice. Especially if you can find marked down fruit that is fit for juicing.

I don't include the occasional bottle of wine in food costs though that is comes under other in the budget.

LOL My FIL calls whole foods "whole paycheck"


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## anythingelse (Nov 26, 2001)

daylily, we have the same size family 2 adults and 4 kids and shop almost exclusively at whole foods. I use coupons that I get by hunting for the websites on the side of the products, also buy a lot in the summer of produce and use my deepfreeze. We spend about $200 a week on groceries. But I feed extra boys that are my 14 yr old sons friends regularly, they are empty pits so ??? on $$


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## Bestbirths (Jan 18, 2003)

We spend $250 per week for everything. This is for three adults and five children, ages 13,9,7,4, & 2. Seventy five of that at least is for healthy non food items: seventh generation fragrance free dishsoap, dishwasher soap, magik botanicals fragrance free shampoo and conditioner, aubrey organics B5 design hairgel, bulk unscented lotion, echinachea, animal parade vitamins, homeopathic remedies, and triple roll toiletpaper. Also, if someone has a need, like dh needs work pants for $18, I have to extract that money somehow out of the food budget. I try not to have this happen, like getting money for extras by selling our used stuff on ebay. We don't use strong chemical cleaning products in our home (Bon ami for bathrooms, and water for just about everything else). We use unscented products whenever available.

So, roughly $150-175 in actual food items per week for eight. We scour all of the sale ads, and cook from scratch. We buy conventional produce, and shop at wal-mart where they price match. We made a price book from instructions that we got from a book on frugal living. We compared prices from everywhere on everything and had my dh do the math to figure out the best bargains. Each week we look for a way to make some small changes to improve our families health/diet. Thats what I enjoy the most from this forum, Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!!! My mom is out of town for five weeks, so we have one less to feed for a while and hense, more money...we used the extra to get our produce organic from wild oats for $20.00. I paid 99 cents a pound for organic bananas when I am used to paying 19 cents or 29 cents a lb on sale for conventional, 48 cents at walmart regular price. I splurged with total abandon on organic lettuce, apples, pears, carrots, and lemons. We buy conventional milk, and cheese, butter, and meat. I am going to look into co-ops and csa's, because the way I look at it is, it is alright to pay more for better quality food, as long as we can afford it. That will probably be our next little step. In the meantime, we are saving for the down payment on "our farm" so that we can grow our own. We want chickens, and goats, and the whole nine yards (or five acres, lol).


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## Evening Star (Jan 25, 2002)

We are a family of 4- not veggies, and we have tailored our food bill down this year from 150 per week to about 75 a week. I am really proud of us.

So how we did it, because it was puzzling to me, how we spent so much, my friends accused me of sprinkling gold dust on all our food, and we could rarely afford organic.

First I started making my own bread, pita and rolls, then I learned to make yogurt with a heating pad and I experimented with granola till I found the recipe everyone loved, I make that granola into bars as well for school lunch treats.

We joined the co-op and got a working membership that get us 20% off most stuff and 25% off bulk items, we go there first always with a list and a calculator and a budget in mind, I buy bread flour steel-cut oats, brown rice, dehydrated beans, WW pasta, coffee, sugar all organic in bulk about every 6 weeks.

During the growing season we get a CSA box of organic veggies once a week, we pick it up at a local tail-gate market and we have discretionary money that we spend there as well, on extra veggies and fruits and sometimes soap or baked goods as a treat. When out of growing season, I look for deals on organic veggies at the co-op but often we end up at Sam's club buying bulk salad mix, carrots, broccoli etc.

We don't go to Earth fare- our big local healthy grocery store, its' always over-priced and I always spend too much on stuff I don't need.

Lastly we got off the milk-train my kids were drinking 2 gallons of organic whole milk a week ($14) so we bought soy which they don't like, and then I found they like the calcium fortified OJ, and they love soy smoothies with frozen fruit, so they get a little OJ with breakfast and a smoothie after school. I also make sure we eat a lot of greens.

What else? Local scratch and dent clearing house gets a load of Horizon dairy stuff (still in date) on Tuesdays so we go there for cheese/ cream cheese they also often have seeds of change and near East convenience foods for $1 a box.

Oh and meat- big money sucker that it is! We eat meatless pretty often, and the meat we do buy we get hormone/ antibiotic free, then we treat it as a precious commodity using less of it, trying to highlight the taste, in stews and chilis I use TVP now because it tastes like chili anyway you know? eggs from a local farmer down the road, we pick them up for .50 a dozen. He also brings us corn and zucchini when his garden overflows.

This is really long, I know but one more thing, the crucial change I had to make in my head was about convenience, now I cook double and feeze, I use my slow cooker I plan my meals out a 2 weeks ahead, I don't make huge amounts that will moulder uneaten in the fridge. No fast food at all, I can use the 12 bucks to buy some fresh fish and make a really nice dinner. If we eat out we look for quality, not convenience.


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## frodo (Nov 3, 2002)

we spend about $75, just for food. maybe about $100, if toiletries are included, and about $25 a month on natural catfood. we shop organic at a co-op and recently signed up for CSA. the only things we do not get organic are milk, eggs, butter, and sometimes, cheese. sometimes we will get some things from the aisan grocery downstairs, and that's cheap. but not organic and probably GMO (EEW!). we save a lot of money on cleaning products by buying bulk and only using bronner's, vinegar, and baking soda - althoug recently we've started getting bulk eco-pac dish & laundry soap that's even cheaper per pound, which is how we buy it. we do not use paper towels. i'm trying to find ways of saing just a _little_ bit more, so we can get the dairy organic, too.

peace


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## mojomom (Mar 5, 2003)

My dh gets payed every two weeks so I go grocery shopping then. In the beginning of the month I spend about $180 and the second grocery trip is about $150, so we spend about $330 a month. That is including toiletries and diapers and house stuff. We usually have to refill on fruit and bread that is an extra $10 a week. I am trying to simplify our budget but I will not got down on our grocery bill. I do think I need to exercise a little more self control when we go to the store in the middle of the week to pick up the some stuff we run out of, I tend to do my compulsive buying then.







: I plan on only picking up milk and come out with an extra 20$ worth of groceries.


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## lucina3 (Jun 25, 2002)

Quote:

_Originally posted by mojomom_
*I do think I need to exercise a little more self control when we go to the store in the middle of the week to pick up the some stuff we run out of, I tend to do my compulsive buying then.







: I plan on only picking up milk and come out with an extra 20$ worth of groceries.







*
I do the same thing!!! And the other bad part of it for me is the fact that the most convenient grocery store (the only one I have access to by foot) is the most expensive so the extra $20 I'll pick up could be bought for $12 at my usual store!


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## 3cutiepies (Mar 18, 2003)

We have 4 adults and 3 kids and spend about $175 a week on groceries. I use lots of coupns ( my grocery store doubles them!) and usually save about $75 a trip


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## HomeBirthMommy (Mar 15, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by Kanga Mom_
*Eight of us are home eating three meals a day. We also have a lot of company, usually at least one other family eats at our table each week, sometimes more.
*
Kanga-that must be one heck of a table!
Like Darshani said, it is very impressive that you know how much each meal is per person.







I'm almost afraid to figure this out.








We spend $70 or less per week for dh, me 3 year old and 14 month old. We use the "envelope system". When dh gets paid, we take out a certain amount for groceries, gas, going out, etc. and put it in a envelope. When it's gone, it gone. I have gotten really good at adding up everything before I go to pay. I would be so embarassed if I got up there and it was more than the $70 in my envelope!


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

Three teenage boys! +$200.00!


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## member234098 (Aug 3, 2002)

Despite sticking to basic staples and fresh foods, buying on sale and in bulk and using coupons, I still spend +$200.00 a week. Four children, three of them teenage boys and their buddies are expensive!


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## EmeraldStar8 (Nov 12, 2002)

I do 2 lots of shopping for me and bubby.

Once a fortnight i go to the supermarket down the road, and spend $90 on a fortnights worth of meat, pasta, and other essentials that i need at that time, and then on the other week (once a fortnight), i spend $70 at the farmers market in the southbank markets and buy a fortnights worth of fruit and vegies (mainly fruit eaters here though).


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## mnnice (Apr 15, 2003)

I didn't vote. Honestly I don't know. I spend about $50 per week at the supermarket, but we also belong to a CSA (about $10 per week, we go to the farmer's market sometimes, my husband picks up missing items (pet peave and other stupid stuff), he also has a meat market that he really likes (not cheap, but definitely good quality). I bet my weekly grocery trip is half or less of the total.


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## momsgotmilk4two (Sep 24, 2002)

I spend about $100 a week at the grocery store and that includes things like toothpaste and shampoo. I don't buy a lot of organics because I feel like our grocery bill is already outrageous enough







They want $6 for a gallon of organic milk and I get TWO for $3.25 on the regular stuff! This is for 2 adults and 2 toddlers. I'm sure our bill will go up as the kids get older. I am really trying to cut it down. I would like to spend $50 a week on groceries. I find that the less convienence food I buy, the less I spend, so I try to make things from scratch more. Also, we are meat eaters, and have to have meat at dinner most nights, so I have that price increase.


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## GoodWillHunter (Mar 14, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by daylily_
*I hope y'all don't mind me being nosy. I'm just wondering if I'm super extravagent or average or what. There are 6 people in my household (2 adults and 4 children ages 3-9.5) and lately I've been spending about $130/week on food only. (Not including beer for dh.) This gets us organic produce, organic beans and grains, hormone free milk, free trade coffee and free trade tea, cheese, cold cereal, frozen bagels, peanut butter, jelly, cold cereal, some soy products and very few convenience foods. So this works out to roughly $22 per person, per week. Actually, that doesn't seem so much when I put it that way.

Anyway, anyone feel like sharing?*
Ditto Ms. Daylily!


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