Feeding a Family of Four Healthily for CHEAP!!

I have a family of five and a budget of 420.00 a month for groceries. We shop sales, cheap cuts of meat(crockpot is my friend) and never ever buy lunchmeat. My daughter has celiac disease and can't have anything that contains wheat, rye, oats, barley. I make a monthly menu and adjust accordingly based on sales. I also only go do major shopping every 3 weeks and make do with what I have on hand if I didn't plan well enough. I also make my list, match up coupons and then go back and eliminate 5 things, and when I get to the store I try to get 5 things on my list cheaper than listed. I do not use antibiotic, hormone tainted milk. We make sure that when something is a great deal, that we stock up for periods when it is not. For my "lunchmeat" it is meat that I have cooked and prepared already for a previous meal. Turkey, chicken, beef, pork all make awsome sandwiches and can be done so much cheaper than any lunchmeat I have ever seen. While it may not seem much cheaper things like Scott toilet paper seems to always last longer than other brands. Utilize actual towels to wipe spills up and wash them, use cloth napkins(had some cute ones on clearance at Target) instead of paper in the end cheaper for you and better for the environment. You will not be buying these every couple of months, more like every couple of years. Or you can make your own from bed sheets that have a hole or two and have life left in the edges. Most people do have plain or sheet patterns that would be fine for this use. Instead of expensive cleaning supplies use white vinegar, bleach, newspaper to clean windows. Check prices on your rice milk as you may find it cheaper elsewhere, Woodmans has great prices on many things. Also when buying things you regularly buy keep track of what you normally spend on them, so you know when prices are up or when they are actually down and to buy extras. Example: Soda used to be a reasonable price would be under 5.00 for a 24 pk case this shot up to 6.99, then they went to the 12 pack refriderator carton, which at times you could get four for 10.00 then they are going to about a sale price of 5.00 for a case again, but this time the case now only has 20 cans. So keep a check on your per ounce, per pound prices of your regular foods.
This week I got country ribs(done in crockpot over 10 hours) with stuffing and broccoli. This meal was cheap as the ribs were 1.99 a pound, stuffing was gotten at 79 cents and broccoli was 39cents lb. We will be able to do a pulled bbq pork sandwich with the leftovers and a broccoli salad to go with for lunch and it was under 10.00 for 2 meals for our family of 5. Think of it as a game

I used to just go to my favorite grocery store and get what we needed - well it is just too expensive now.

My husband and I sit down and read the sales ads on Thursday evening. Sale prices really can vary by store. I make a list with categories for each store (sometimes as many as four) - it is more work going between stores but you really can save a substantial amount of money.

After the list is made I make a menu for the week and add things to the list if needed.

We divide up the shopping - for example I will go to one store during the day on Friday and my husband will hit the other three on his way home from work and we stick to the list.

We buy meat approx once/month - usually when on sale and cook and freeze for sandwiches as some of the others mentioned. We also buy 10 lbs ground beef when on sale and divide into one-ound packages and freeze. We only buy soda in liter bottles - cans are a waste (esp if you have teens).

It is also helpful not to take the kids along when grocery shopping - mine ask for everything they see and it's hard not to give in.

I have a small container in the kitchen cabinet where I drop coupons for things we regularly use.

thanks for asking such a good question!

W.

I know how you feel! We were spending $150/week for our family of 3. How ridiculous! I evaluated what we were buying and what we actually needed. I started out by planning our meals for the entire week and making a list based on what I needed. Then I also listed the other items we would need: diapers, detergent, etc. I then checked my coupon folder for what I could use that week, and stapled them to my list so I would not lose them. See if you can go shopping by yourself so no added items get into your cart and make sure you stick to your list! (My husband likes to add stuff to the cart when he comes with us) My friend also told me about this website: hillbillyhousewife.com, she has great meal plans and ideas on how to save money. I took some of her advice and started planning cheaper meals for us. We also eat organic as much as possible and are vegan (no meat, eggs, or dairy) so we drink soy milk and eat meat and dairy substitutes (which can be expensive). The last 2 weeks we were able to shop for $75/week, including buying all the stuff for Thanksgiving. We cut our bills in half! Please check out the website, it helped me a lot! Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi A., I drive to North Aurora every 2 weeks to go to Woodman's. I live in Yorkville, so it's about 20 minutes for me to get there. It's on Orchard at I-88. We have a family of three plus one cat, and I typically spend about $225 every TWO weeks there. When I started shopping there, I noticed about $300 in savings PER MONTH! Check it out, it's a fabulous store - they carry every brand of everything, and they are in some case more than 50% cheaper than the other grocery stores.

Check out www.amazonsands.com for items you can buy in bulk on a repeated delivery schedule for a 15% discount as well as free shipping. I recently bought a case of 7th generation toilet paper and tissues (free of chlorine bleach) and it turned out much cheaper than at Whole Foods. I also purchase ALL of my green home cleaning products, as well as make-up, skin care and natural nutrition products (vitamins, protein bars and soy protein powder from Shaklee for FREE. Does Target, ALDI, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or any stores that have been recommended to you send their customers a check every month for shopping at their stores? I don't think so. Shaklee has been a wonderful answer for our family to make money while still using high quality products. I highly suggest looking at www.shaklee.net/cpeterson.

A., I recently found a program called Angel Food Ministries program. It is a national program. It is run thru churches all across the united states and is somehow connected to the national food bank. IT IS NOT IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO WELFARE OR FOOD STAMPS. You should check into it. If you would like the website let me know. I bought several of their "Packages" I spent $120 and got food excluding bread and milk" for a month. Its a great deal.
sherry

Good question A.! I was thinking of asking the same thing to see how other moms save money on shopping. I have a friend who is a cashier & she tells me of times when a customer's total grocery bill will be over $120, but after coupons that same customer only pays between $50-75. According to these customers, they joined TheGroceryGame.com. I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this & if it's as easy as I'm hearing? I really don't have time to cut out & organize coupons. My stepson has Celiac disease & moms that have to shop at specialty stores for their child's dietary needs, know how expensive foods can be.

As far as you financial situation, are you opened to cutting anyone's hair at your house that lives in the neighborhood?

Good luck!
S.

My advise is to go to ALDI. My friend feeds her family of 11 for under $500/month.

Check out the website www.supercouponing.com
The lady who does that is Jill Cataldo. she puts on free coupon using seminars through local libraries. I attended one in sugar grove and it was great. she has info on her site about how the get the most out of grocery shopping by combining coupons from the papers, coupons from websites and store sales and coupons. Also, how to purchase in quantity to get the best discounts and get the catalina coupons at the end of shopping for extra cash off of your next shopping trip. it was a great way to spend a couple of hours and the info she provides is very good and doable. she is a mother of 3, with a couple kids in diapers, so it might really be of use to you!

I joined thegrocerygame.com
I stick to the list I get there and I can usually leave Meijer with a full cart for around $150. Grocery game is awesome - helps me to know what is for sale, when it's a good time to stock up, etc. Saves me a lot of time so I don;t have to flip through the sales flyers and my coupons. She will tell you what is on sale, what coupons are out there and from time to time there are items that end up being free due to the sale + the coupons. It's a service you pay for, I think it's like $10.00 for 3 months - so it's not expensive.

One thing we have recently started to do was buy whole organic chickens, butcher it ourselves and then freeze the bits. It is so much cheaper than buying a pack of breasts, for instance. And then we make stock with the carcass and bits that have accumulated in the freezer that need to be cooked up. And from time to time my husband will do up wings and we will have friends over....

I've started doing some of my shopping at Whole Foods. Since I like to buy organic for my daughter, and since I'm a vegetarian that buys cage free/grain feed eggs, etc. I buy a lot of "specialty items." I was buying them at Trader Joes, but after a second bag of rotten pears, I got fed up. What I've found, if you can believe it, is that Whole Foods is CHEAPER with some things, and much, much better quality. It means I have to go to yet another store...but I think it's worth it.

Hi A.,

I do all of my grocery shopping at SuperTarget. I've found their prices are consistently lower than anyone else. Sometimes I will go to another store simply for the sale, but I stick pretty close to Target. They have natural products (chicken breasts, etc.), I also saw somewhere that their milk comes from cows not treated with growth hormones (around 2.89/gal. depending on what you get).

Good luck to you!

Aldi is the only place to shop if you are seriously on a tight budget. All of my healthy eating went down the drain with economy. Aldi has the best prices on everything.