Food Budget Monthly

Hello!

COUPONS, COUPONS, COUPONS!!

You can save as much as $85 a grocery visit. Make a list of everything you need, match a coupon with it.

Get the Sunday paper and start cutting away!

Make a weekly menu on what you will fix for that week - find out what you have on hand and what you need - make your list from that. You don't have to fix everything in a specific order, unless you are using fresh fruits or veggies that might go bad before you use them.

Start buying diapers when they are on sale now using coupons. I didn't have to buy diapers for one year after my first was born. If you have too much of the same size, just take the UNOPENED ones of the wrong size back to the store for a trade.

You have almost 7 months to save money and get your finances in order. See how if you can stack away your paychecks and ONLY LIVE OFF YOUR HUSBAND'S SALARY. If you can do it for the next six months - you'll be able to do it comfortably once the baby is born AND you'll have a boatload of money saved up.

If you cannot get by on your husband's salary only over the next six months, then you probably will end up going into debt really fast once you become a stay at home mom.

We have a family of four. I spend about $400 a month on groceries. There are times I spend more and times I spend less.

We got out twice a week for dinner. I make my husband's lunches every day for him. This saves us almost $250 a month. We spend about $300 a month on eating out. We chose to go to the same restaurant every Saturday night.

We have no debt other than our home.
We have six months worth of my husband's salary saved.
I get paid $500 a month from my husband to stay home with our boys - this is so I have money to spend without going to my husband for money.

We do not have a joint account - this keeps us from fighting over money. We go over our accounts each month together so there are no secrets. This is just a "check" for me as I can spend VERY EASILY!! :)

Personally - the only thing I buy organic is milk. I don't stress over the organic fruits and veggies as I feel that they are overpriced. I've also seen shows where the definition of "organic" isn't always the same everywhere. So you end up spending a lot of money on the same product.

So - coupons, weekly shopping list, weekly menu. See if you can make it on just your husband's salary until the baby is born. Stock up on diapers now.

Hope this helps. If you need anymore information on coupons, feel free to contact me.

Take care!

C.

1 mom found this helpful

oh, i hope you can do it! what a great thing it would be if you get to stay home if that's what you really want to do.
about $100 a week is really not out of line for a family your size, especially if you're getting organic food which is a GREAT choice. eating out can always be reined in. when my kids were small and we were broke we almost never did. take it out of the equation and only do it if you come out ahead in your grocery budget, and you'll probably be much closer to your goal with that one single adjustment.
it does take a lot of initial investment, but having your own family garden is a wonderful thing to do with your children, and starts a myriad of great eating habits as well as save you some $ in the long run, at least over summer and fall. you can also save by switching to cloth diapers and wipes, also environmentally friendy.
good luck!
khairete
S.

We recently started scaling back in this area too, because I am a stay-at-home mom who works a little part-time, and we want to save enough to move from our townhouse to a single family home. Anyway, we were spending $600+ on groceries each month, including diapers and wipes. We have two children (ages 1 and 3). We were spending $200-300 on eating out. We cut our groceries budget down to $450, and we are trying to spend less on eating out also. So far, so good. I joined something called "the grocery game" (go to www.thegrocerygame.com). It is basically a spreadsheet of sales and coupons to help make the most out of your money at a grocery store. It has been great. It does cost money, but it is well worth it. And it isn't all that time consuming either. It forces you to plan your meals and be careful. I think if we commit to this plan, we can lower our budget even more. Good luck!

The money you spend on organic fruits and veges is worth it. In the long run it saves on doctor bills and your health is most important. It's great you can go to Farmers markets. Economists say that food should cost 10 to 15% of your income. However in todays world the food supply is dwindling and the population is growing so price of food is going up and up. It is less expensive to get protein from beans than from meat. Eliminate sugary snacks you don't need. Drink only water and milk. My husband and I are vegetarians and we spend about $300.00 per month on food. AF

I am a family of 2.5 I spend about $200 a month I go to the farmers market weekly and then trader joes bi weekly. My target bill is $100 a month. For eating out we limit it to $100 a month so roughly $400 a month total.

I hope this helps

We were in the same situation with the birth of our 1st child 3 yrs ago. (Just added a 2nd beautiful boy 4 months ago!) We were able to save soooo much by using coupons, buying in bulk (Sam's Club) and using a CSA (community supported agriculture) We have one about 20 minutes away in Federalsburg, MD. We pay ahead for the next season, usually works out to about $20/week for 20 week season May-October for a full share. We receive a large basket (bushel) of fruit and another of veggies each week, we can pick up at our local Farmers Market each week or go to the farm. Considering that we used to spend upwards of $40/wk on organic at the store it has been a WONDERFUL way to save. whichever state you live in should have a link to CSA's in your state on the state govt. website.

I have to admit that I use disposable diapers most of the time, but I buy in bulk (again, Sam's Club), that cuts our diaper costs almost in half from what we would be paying even on sale and with coupons at the regular stores (yes, even my beloved Target...)
I also can tell you we saved the most money by buying the majority of the children's clothing, shoes, etc at consignment stores. Especially for the baby- so many people have clothing received as gifts or bought on sale that the child never wore, tags are still on them.

Hope this helps!

I think it's reasonable to spend about $150 per week on groceries and depending on whatyou need, $150-250 at a place like target a month. Organic produce is very expensive, so I get what we can afford. If you eat out once a week, that is about right if it's a family restaurant. Maybe once a month for a "nice" restaurant. But this is all relative to what you can afford and what you want to do. I wouldn't judge yourself too harshly if you're not putting yourself into debt. But you might want to save money for a rainy dy fund or for retirement or college. THat may be why and where you want to put your savings into. Good luck.
A.

Join the club! I came home when I was expecting second child and didn't prepare a budget. You're already ahead of the game. One reason to come home is that you spend more because you have less time to prepare meals. You spend more in daycare and buying double sets of things to take to daycare, as well as impromptu fieldtrips and/or late fees. You spend more to getaway to rest, and you eat more to burn off the stress. Not sure of your profession, but you eliminate drycleaning and weekly hair salon visits by coming home, also. Add two children to the equation, and for some professionals, you only work to pay everyone else to take care of the children and/or your home. That said, it probably helped that I didn't look at the budget because I might have continued working!

Anyway, you're right, food is still the biggest line item in our budget and I manage to blow that every month. But, what does help, when I remember to do it, is to create a weekly menu. It's tedious and doesn't allow much room for when you want to be spontaneous, deal with emergencies, or just cater to whatever taste you have that day, but when I follow my menu, I cut the grocery bill in half that week. I also manage to avoid impulse spending when I send my husband with a list. He might pick up a few odds and ends not on the list, but he's not nearly as bad as I am with that. I get caught by sale items and think, "oh, I know we'll need that," and "oh, we're out of that."

But, the average weekly grocery bill for a family of 2 1/2 who are omnivores is roughly $150, especially if you want fresh fruits and vegetables and you have a toddler/preschooler. Everyone in my house now eats, and when you have a preteen and husband, you can forget about a budget under $150 a week. Men and growing children eat around the clock, and if you want to give them healthy choices, you'll find yourself buying fruits and vegetables almost every two-three days. I know one family with five children, and the mom bought a food hydrater to make her own fruit and veggie snacks. I'm sure that helps, and saw one on sale at Sears for $30. I just don't care for the taste of dried apples or banana chips enough to buy them. She also makes her own ice cream, which I did enjoy and found to be cheaper than buying Breyers, unless you catch the buy one get one free sale.

Anyway, families of 4 who have managed to come under the $150-160/week have at least one vegetarian in the family, so you're buying smaller quantities of meat, and even then, it's pretty much just ground chicken, fish or ground turkey. Including two days of lighter dishes, like a salad and soup night or a dish with vegan crumbles instead of ground beef for the adults does help. Buying large bags of frozen vegetables also helps, if you have an upright freezer and cutting out processed fruit juices and sodas unless they are on sale. I read that you shop organically. You might have to research those fruits and vegetables that can be bought and it does not matter if they are organic or not. I read somewhere that you waste money buying some organic fruits and veggies because the pesticides never get inside the skin the way they are grown? Like bananas, for instance. And, buying that special spray for fruits and veggies might help you save some money while providing nutritious meals for your family. I notice a big difference in my grocery bill when I shop at an organic market and farmers' market versus retail store. That said, you'll have to determine what is best. Organic eating, sadly, did run our grocery bill to about $750+ for the month for a family of 4.

Ugh! Now, your children are still very young, so you can save on food items, but you still spend on diapers, wipes, and special soaps, etc. It might help to buy those items in bulk at a place like BJs which allows outside coupons and has its own coupons, or creating a mini co-op with another family that has two babies and split those bulk purchases in half. If you need clothes, make sure you trade with families through your church or your family network. That will save you hundreds of dollars per year. As for eating out, plan those days and try to stick to it. My family still eats out, but not nearly as often as when I worked out of the home, because I have more time to prepare meals. We instituted a pizza/movie Friday night and we use coupons for the pizza or make a pizza from scratch (my favorite as I can squeeze in some spinach and squash puree into the sauce in advance).

Our monthly spending on groceries and dry goods (toiletries, etc) when we had one child was about $900. We eat very well but I do get a lot of generic and we don't buy organic.

as has already been suggested, coupons, coupons, coupons! here are two fabulous sites that i use to find all the deals. www.weusecoupons.com and www.afullcup.com both of these sites have forums for all the big grocery stores as well as big box stores that list all the deals that week as well as awesome sources for coupons for those items. people spell out whole scenarios for you and you will be amazed when you start walking out of the drug stores with your FREE shampoos and toothpaste and such.

there are also cooking forums on these sites. forums for age specific children with all sorts of diaper deals, meds deals etc..

good luck in your endeavor and i hope you are able to fulfill your dream of becoming a sahm.

I have found it possible to spend $100/week for myself, my husband, my 5-year old, and my 15-month old. That is based on mostly buying produce, dairy, and pasta with 1-2 meat dishes. I buy as much organic as makes sense - whole milk products and fruit and veggies I can't peel. I made baby food, breastfed, and use cloth diapers sometimes, so that helped considerably when the girls were younger. I buy generic and go to Costoc as much as possible.

However, when I am not careful, and if I buy a lot of prepared stuff - the bill goes up, up, up.

We also get take-out 3-4 times per week, but usually pizza or wraps and smoothies. Maybe, a couple nice dinners per month.

I have no idea what is normal but this is what we do.

My family of 2.5 spends about $85 a week at the grocery store. A lot of that is making sure that when we buy meat we get it onsale and then we stock up and freeze what we wont immediately use so that it keeps. I made most of my baby food. It is a lot cheaper to buy the whole vegetables and then puree them yourself.

Also what I do and would reccomend for your next child is to do cloth diapers. It is really easy with the new cloth diapers. They work just like a disposable you would just wash them. I use BumGenius 3.0 diapers and love it. We have saved SOO much money and then we also use cloth wipes that get washed.

In terms of eating out we just set a budget and when we hit it we know that we can't do that again. Often we will go out at the beginning of our budget month and then by the end we know that we can't eat out that week and we know that soon enough we can do it again. We personally set a budget of $100 a month to eat out, including takeout.

So hopefully that helps!

Congrats on wanting to stay home with your children. It is the best thing you can do for them.

Just want to second some of the great advice, and also highlight a couple things.

-make it your job to save money and stretch your husband's paycheck. Work at it every day and keep track of everything. Start educating yourself now.
-since you're obviously into health, cook/make at home everything that you can. Don't buy processed foods - they're expensive junk.
-choose organic purchases from the dirty dozen
-use discount stores, and keep a purse notebook of prices so you know what to buy, where.
-cut down on eating meat and dairy and transition to a plant-based diet. Less expensive, AND more healthy.

Once you start cooking more at home, you won't want to eat out - it won't taste good anymore! Good luck.

If you want to save money on food, you've got cut the weekly habit of going out. At first we cut it to every other week, and now it's usually once a month unless there a birthday or special event. Take a look at:
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/70dollarmenu.htm
which will give you ideas on meals and how to plan and budget for them.
Organic is nice if it's reasonably priced, but on a budget you are going to have to get the lowest price you can find. Use the coupons, look for sales, if you are going to eat it right away consider getting the stuff that is marked down because it's expiration date is coming up soon. If you are serious about this, you can save a lot of money.

We also do a lot of organic f/v and dairy. I've read that boxed organics really aren't worth the cost after processing. I have 3 kids 5, 3 & 1 and we spend $450 - $500 a month and I use cash for groceries. When the $$ is gone I have to wait til next month. I have gotten creative and use all our stock items(you know the things you always have to have in the house) I also don't buy the snacks anymore. One bag of something a week and I make cookies 1-2 times a month from scratch. I also have cloth diapers from daughter #1 I use off and on to help trim costs. Nursing also helps with costs.
Eating out look for restuarants that offer kids eat free night. Lone Star 2 kids eat free for each adult every Tuesday. Friendlies, Denny's, IHOP they all offer something.

Well first off it all depends on what your husband is making. I mean for childcare alone if you two both work at the same time you spend alot of childcare. Childcare is at least $100 a week for one and it goes up to $200 a week for two which is you work on min wage up to about $9.00 a hour you are most all of on childcare and eating at work. Next we only go out on special occasions. No more than once a week if we really are looking for a reason to go out. We spend about $50 a week on food. We are VERY LOW income and can't afford more. We have stream lined out meals. We have basic meals that we alter a little each day. I also don't cook EVERY day for all of us. I cook every other day. I cook for my daughter and will cook for my new baby in Aug. but my husband fends for himself every other day. (I do cook on the weekends most the time) The money spend every week at the store is to restock things we need that we actually miss. I buy milk, bread for lunches, and normal things like that. I try to buy One big meat near the beginning of the month that lasts all month. Alternating each month. (Hamburger meat, chicken, stew meats) They over flow into the next month so we're not limited to that meat i just don't normally buy two different months. I REALLY stock up on tax day or days my husband gets bonuses or what not.
Ok well if you would like more about what WE do just email me. thanks R. H.

Hi, CG - I don't think you can put a price tag on staying home with your children, so best of luck! I hope this all works out for you! Groceries are a huge expense, no matter how you look at it, and unfortunately, I think it is more expensive to eat healthier - what a shame! When we've needed to cut down, we stop going out to eat all together. Obviously, it is cheaper to eat at home. Save restaurants for special occasions, or times when you are on the road and have no other choice. Looking at the budget is the obvious first step here; look to see what else you can cut out that is not a necessity. These next two suggestions may be slightly off the topic of your question, but I hope you will find them helpful. We had switched financial advisors right before the recent decline, and the guys we work with are great. They look at your total financial picture, including the monthly budget, so if you want some professional advice, they do offer a free hour long consultation to go over "where you are". Let me know if you want contact information. (They saved us $87,000!!!) Also, a great book on this topic is "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. The other thing I'd like to mention is that I've found a way to shop that not only is safer and healthier, but also saves me time and money. As a young mom who is already concerned about keeping her family healthy, this may appeal to you from many aspects. If you are looking for ways to cut down, this company can definitely help! The products are delivered right to your door, so it keeps you out of Target, which can save a bundle right there! Again, just let me know if you'd like to hear more. Good luck to you. I hope your dream of being a stay-at-home mom will come true! :) N.

Hey there. The only other thing I can suggest that everyone hasn't yet is try to make a meal or two each week that does not include meat. It may be tough at first, but not only will it save you money every month but it is a bit healthier as well...PS I saw this idea on Oprah :)

This is something I struggle with ALL the time. We have a family of four. I have stopped working outside the house. My husband makes a bigger paycheck than I do. We eat almost entirely organically and vegan. Our weekly food/ necesseties bill ends up averaging around $275/week. We have stopped eating out entirely. Both of my kids are out of diapers now so I don't have that expense. But it is amazingly expensive to support a family of four. We each get one food treat for the week from the grocery store or farmers market. I do my own garden. cook and freeze a lot of food to make our own "frozen" dinners. However, you are still working and I think you will make yourself crazy trying to do it all. I quit because I was turning into someone I did not recognize trying to do everything 110%. It just is not possible and Something has to give.

Sit down with your husband, talk about what you want, find out what he wants, and see if you can make plan that is reasonable and can fit your budget.

Good Luck!

You all have some tough decisions ahead!

M.

I really can't give you exact figures since you eat all organic and my family does not, but that doesn't mean we don't eat healthy meals. I love to cook and I really enjoyed planning my meals while I was a SAHM. It was a challenge to see what new and exciting meals I could get out of the same ingredients and that way save some money. The best tips I can give are to plan ahead for EVERYTHING including eating out and don't go over your budget. Buy, portion out, and freeze so you waste nothing. Also, cook in larger batches when necessary and freeze family size portions for later. Most everything freezes well (except some meats and grains). And clip coupons and print coupons online. Remember that when you do dine out, that it should be a special thing, but if you do it every other day it may lose some appeal!

Make a cash budget every week. Once bills are paid, set aside a set amount for food, an amount for gas, an amount for eating out, entertainment, clothes, etc. and once it's gone, it's gone. If you stay home with your kids, you have a little more time to make your meals, which means you will be eating out less and less. There are a lot of things you can do to save money, cut back on spending and eating out, etc.
Clipping coupons for groceries, nonfood items, and even restaraunts.
Buying bulk at cosco or sam's club.
Shopping consignments, craiglist, yard sales, etc.
And so much more.
It will be a lifestyle change, takes time to get used to , but the benefits of being home with your kids, is so worth it.

We went through the same thing when we decided to have me stay home about 2 years ago. We took a big hit to our income and really had to change out entire life style to make it happen... and we did... and it's still working!! We are very careful with out money now, and I now shop sales with coupons. Our monthly budget for groceries is 600, and I spend about 150 extra at Target each month on dog food, paper towels, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc. I should also mention that we do drink organic milk, eat organic eggs, and some fruits and veggies organic. We can't afford to do everything since our budget is tight, but I make sure to buy organic for the most important things. I cook every meal we eat and my husband takes leftovers to work each day for lunch, and we don't eat out (that has saved us a TON of money). My advice would be to start clipping coupons now, and also start checking grocery stores to see which ones have the cheapest prices without sales going on and then shop at that one for the bulk of your buying. Besides clipping coupons from the paper each week, you can join couponmom.com which is free and print off coupons from there. www.couponcravings.com is also a really neat site that announces sales, giveaways, and random coupons that you usually wouldn't find. It took our family a good 6-9 months to really get the hang of all of this. Good luck!!

i began to be a stay at home mom when my third was born. When I was going to spend my whole salary on daycare and health insurance, I decided to stay at home. why pay someone else to raise my kids. So, my husband got the health insurance through his work and i stayed at home. it was hard at first. i was used to going out and buying what i wanted and when i wanted. however, my will power kicked in and i decided to stop. You can stop the crazy spending by planning ahead. I, like many moms, shop at costco. It is a bigger bill up front but I end up spending less in the long run. I have a family of 5 with older kids and a big grocery bill and if i shop at wegman's or costco, i can get away with spending between 100.00 and 150.00 a week. That will include everything i will need for a week. meat, dairy, veggies and fruits, snacks etc. Once your kids are older, you can go always go back to work part time. i did and it gives us some extra income to do fun things. We don't eat out very often anymore (bad economy and all) but we are just in the habit of eating at home, much healthier and cheaper. There are a ton of free activities for kids as well. Again, planning ahead. Depending on your husband's salary, you probably can stay at home. Also, is your job one where you could work from home part time? it was a tough decision but one i am VERY glad that we made and wish that i could have stayed home with my older two also.

It's possible you or your husband's employer offers some financial planning through a credit union or Employee Assistance program.

Having a neutral 3rd party look at your spending could help make setting a budget less contentious.

Budget aside -

Even if it is financially feasible for your husband to become a stay-at-home dad, he may not WANT to for the same reasons many of us moms choose to work. You need to show the same respect for his career as you expect him to show for yours.

Just a suggestion, but perhaps, while you are working, you could invest in cloth diapers, enough so that you don't have that huge expense of disposables. If you can find an older mom who used cloth when diposables weren't an option, she could help out with advice for purchases. Or feel free to use me, as I am one of those. It is easy to eliminate wipes by investing in inexpensive terry washclothes used exclusively for baby wipes and simply wash them with the diapers.
It might be fun to experiment with making your favorite expensive restaurant meals at home, saving 90% of the cost.
Another concern you might bring up with your husband is the huge expense of care for two children that will be saved that can then be diverted to your expenses.
I admire you for wanting to be home with your children. Best of luck.

I see you've gotten lots of good advice. I may be repeating, but I would definitely join a warehouse club like Sam's or Costco. You can get lots of things in bulk, like diapers, wipes, toilet paper, toiletries, etc. that you save a good amount on.

We only eat out on the weekends and only for lunch. Lots of restaurants, even the more expensive ones, are cheaper for lunch than dinner.

We shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's mostly, besides Sam's Club. We tend to spend around $100-$125 per week for me, DH, and DD (14 months) at Whole Foods. Sam's - it depends on what we have to buy. It can be $100 or more if we need diapers and wipes, but usually around $50 or so every 2 weeks.

If you have the time, you can plan out menus for the week. That way, when you go shopping, you know what you need. That's helped us, when I have the chance to do it!

We are a family of 2 1/2 and we spend about $200 bi-weekly. We shop at Sam's club for some big things like juice boxes, cheese sticks, but we have a super Wal-mart that I do the rest of my shopping at. This total also includes a coffee house that I buy 1 pound of coffee for me to grind fresh coffee every morning. One of my biggest things that I do before I go shopping is plan my meals for a 2 week periord. If you can plan meals that you can have 2 meals out of and crock pots meals. Like get a roast, cook it in a crock pot, and what is left over make beef stroganff. It's not easy when you first start it but it does help. Also I have a check list that I stick to that I fill out before I go shopping. You can email me if you want me to send you what I have. Or where I got my information from. I hope you are able to stay home.

We are a family of 3.5 (2 adults, teenager, toddler). Our grocery bill is about $100/week. Here are some things we do to help keep grocery spending low:
- Make a weekly menu in advance. Buy your groceries based on your menu. Always look through your pantry and freezer First before creating your shopping list. You could probably make 7 meals right now without going to the store at all.
- A good tip for menu creation is to make something like rice as a side dish early in the week with chicken breasts, then a few days later you can use the left-over rice and left over chicken and make fried rice adding some staple veggies you have in the fridge. A great way to stretch your food into a few meals.
- Buy some items in bulk, such as pasta, rice, sauces, canned goods, paper products etc.
- Don't be afraid to go generic on some items. Sure, some name brands are "gotta have", but there are tons of items that you can buy purely based on price, and the quality is just as good.
- Figure out what is most important to buy organic. And then bargain shop what isn't necessary to have organic. For instance, I feel that organic milk it Very important. But organic baby wipes? Those we can do without.
- Pack your husband's lunch. Sam's Club and Costco have great deals on large bags of bread/rolls as well as lunch meats and cheeses. That will save $5-10 per day on lunches.
- Make your own coffee/tea. Monthly that cost will add up!
- When your fresh food is starting to be "not so fresh" then throw the veggies in a crock pot with some stock and a small beef roast. That way you'll have beef and veggie soup (delish!) and won't be wasting food.
- Buy meat or boxed goods whenever there is a "buy-one, get-one" sale or bonus buy at the market. Then store in freezer or pantry.
- For special nights, instead of going out to eat at an expensive restaurant, or going to the movies, we'll prepare freezer pizza and watch a movie at home with homemade popcorn on the stove with real butter. Even better than movie theatre popcorn! Plus the pizza at Costco is HUGE and only $8.

- I have SO many more ideas about doing GOOD food on the cheap. Family meal preparation has always been very important to me. You can email me if you want to hear more.

Good luck!

It can be really difficult and take some time to adjust a grocery bill. There are a lot of websites out there that will help you compare circulars, plan your meals, etc.

We go to Costco for diapers/wipes, which saves us an enormous amount of money, and we also buy bulk meat when it's economical. For regular grocery shopping (I have a 20 month old who only eats table food, and frankly eats almost as much as I do), we spend about 200-250 per month.

We also rarely eat out (sometimes order a pizza), and expensive restaurants are for very special occasions only (and even then, I'm not sure if my expensive is the same as yours - this friday we're going to carrabbas, which is a special treat. It's a combination of: my 2 "A"s from lats semester, his finding a new job, MIL coming to visit on her bday).

I think there are plenty of benefits for staying at home with your children and it shouldn't be too hard to convince your DH. I am lucky because my husband is old fashioned like I am. I believe in supporting my family - if the kids are in school I can work, but I am supporting my family by not working and staying at home with a baby while the child is not in school....it's up o every family, but if that is your wish, he should support you in that. I came into my family with two kids alreayd - my DSS and DSD. So, our bills are higher already and I am worried about bills as well because we will be broke! I am used to eating out and going to the movies, etc and now we will have to budget - but with a family of 4 already, I usually spent about $600/month or so on groceries...and that is not including birthday presents for parties we go to, extra social activities and eating out - that was just for groceries. But now I have started shopping at Walmart and it has saved a lot - also Costco helps with bulk items and they last forever. I also started buying the store brand and they are just as good as the name brand - just look at the cost per unit and that will give you and idea of how much you are getting for the amount of money you spend and it's easier to buy something for cheaper and it will last longer. Also - I stopped buying plastic plates for the cats and use bowls instead and wash them - and use towels more than paper towels, etc. Also - my dad said to check out the dollar store before shopping elsewhere because it will have stuff you need and it is so much cheaper. Also - Goodwill has nice clothes that people have only worn once - I have not started shopping there, but I will probably check it out before next school year. I hardly ever buy clothes, but when I do, it's always Target or Walmart. However, if you get clearance items at Goodwill, you can shop for a family of 6 or so for only $50 - can't beat that. I give all our clothes to Goodwill and most of them have only been worn a few times and are clean when I give them. You will have to give up some conveniences - like we don't go out to the movies any more, but we do have Blockbuster online - it is a much cheaper option for date night and so convenient...and try making your own gourmet food - it's as good (and challenging) as expensive restaurants and when you have a baby it's easier to stay in the convenience of your own home any way, so try new recipes and make what you would have ordered instead. We like to also invite people over for BBQs and stuff so you have company and lots of times they will chip in and buy some food on the way as well. We bought potatoes, onions and had mayo and made potato salad, but my parents brought over steaks, veggies, etc and we had tons of leftovers. You can also make casseroles, lasagnas, etc and have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day to stretch your money. I also get stuck in a rut sometimes and keep buying things over and over, but then I run out and instead of running to the store for more, I look in the cupboard first now to see what else I can use up first. You can really get creative with meals. You can make it fun staying at home as well - make a picnic in the living room, eat outside, use candles, whatever you want to switch it up. And if you do go out to eat occasionally, try going to a nice, but cheaper, place, be conscious of the price of what you are ordering, skip the appetizer - try getting a large meal and splitting it, etc.
Good luck - keep us posted!

We spend about $120.00 in groceries per week for the same size family. I only buy organic ocassionally (I do try to exclusively buy the non-organic horomone free milk which is more pricey). That $120 is almost exclusively food - I typically buy other things at target and walmart. I could do much better with the food if I had time to go to multiple stores or use coupons, but my twins do not do well grocery shopping so I only have one afternoon per week to get it done. I also need to get started getting my fruits/veggies at a farmers market for both quality and cost.

(None of my budget includs DH's lunch - he wont take lunch even though he loves left overs. He works on base and usually eats at the galley - I have no idea how much that costs)

I typically eat out once a week for lunch with my friends and the kids(cheaper restaurants like Panera or Cicis). My husband and I try to go out to a more expensive restraurant (we usually end up spending about $60-70) about once a month. We do take out pizza or chinese every other week.

I use a menu planning website called Saving Dinner (www.savingdinner.com) which keeps me mainly around the outer edges of the grocery store and helps stay within budget since its alot less convienience food.

As for diapers ect - that is another story, but BJ's is way cheaper on them.

For a whole month write down EVERYTHING you spend money on, every dime. And then you both need to sit down and agree on what you will be willing / able to cut out.
Would you cloth diaper? It is an expense now while you are working, but would cut out having to purchase diapers when money is tighter.
Eating healthy and organic is expensive!! See if there is an organic co-op around you can join (just started one in the Dover area here) which might save you some. You will HAVE to go to the grocery store (and Target!!) with a list. NO deviating for spur of the momnet items!! You will be amazed at how many things you buy that you really do not need that are bought on impulse.
Aslo menu planning is key. Build a menu for hte week and shop for it.
We went from two 75K plus salaries to one - it is tight but it was just so important for me to be home, so we comprimise.
Also look at free things to do with the kids, how much driving you are doing with your car and otehr things you can cut back on like cable, a lower cell phone plan.
Best of luck!

You are on the right track, getting a budget together. No way can you plan to stay home, pay your bills, and feel good about your finances without that!

Be honest when preparing your budget - write down EVERYTHING, not just what you hope you might spend when you're staying home.

We've also started using a cash-only system, which helps cut down on miscellaneous (where'd the money go???) spending. Label envelopes - groceries, family fun, household, gas, whatever you spend on - put your budgeted money in there each week, and when the cash is gone, it's gone. You can move money from envelope to envelope each week, but not add any more total. iT helps us to see that - oh, we've spent $100 eating out and it's only Tuesday!

I have 3 children - 13,10,7 - who eat a LOT! We spend about $200 per week on groceries and household, but I've found when money has been really tight (my husband was out of work for 6 months, for example), we were able to cut that WAY down.

One way to do this is using coupons - try couponmom.com. And also buy what's on sale in the weekly circulars. I've also stopped buying canned or frozen prepackaged foods (spaghettios, frozen dinners, bagged snacks) - mostly for health reasons, but have found out it's actually a lot cheaper. It takes a bit more time to prepare the meals but it's more cost effective and tastes better.

Good luck to you. As someone who has worked full-time with kids in daycare, part-time with kids in daycare, at home with kids around, at home with kids at daycare (You get the idea, I've done it all!) - I think you won't regret being home with your kids.

re: groceries
We have the same problem. With 2 kids at home and both parents working, I am just too exhausted to cook (it used to be my hobby, sadly it isn't anymore). One suggestion is that your family eats a standard (cheaper) meal once or twice a week every night. We (try to) do pasta one day, and a soup meal like tomato soup and grilled cheese. It doesn't work every week, but it does help.

good luck, I will definitely be checking this post to see what others say.

We spend about $75-$100/week on food for me, my husband and our 12 month old. We could definitely save by being better about using coupons and shopping sales. I do use coupons for diapers and wipes, etc.

I did find that buying milk is MUCH cheaper at Costco! My son drinks 1 gallon of milk in a week and it only costs $2.50, instead of the $4 at the grocery store. Also, the milk at Costco states on the container that the cows were not given any hormones, antibiotics, etc.

I definitely stock up on everyday things that are on sale - diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, shampoo, animal crackers, goldfish, etc.

Do you live in an area where you can plant a small garden and plant your veggies and some berries. If not you can always plant a few things in pots or flower beds. I planted tomatoes, peppers, green beans and ever-bearing strawberries in pots and my flower beds when we used to live in town. I can also tell you that 2 blueberry bushes produce a huge amount of berries that can be frozen or made into preserves and jellies. A trip to the local orchard-where you pick your own fruit is also much cheaper than buying in the grocery store-then you can freeze or can extras.
Also a friend of mine taught me before I got married to plan a monthly or bi monthly menu-then when you go grocery shopping you purchase only what you need and not alot of extras. Plus you can plan your menus to include-cooking once for 2 meals, utilizing one meals leftovers for the next days meal (today's pork roast is tomorrow's pulled pork sandwiches).
For eating out, check out great websites like dealnews.com for coupons-quite often you can get buy one, get one coupons. Or mypoints.com so you can earn points from clicking on daily emails as well as online purchase. The points add up and you can cash them in for free gift cards to many restraunts, gas stations, stores, hotels, etc.
I hope that helps.

We are a family of 5, I also have one in diapers, and a teen who is always starving, and a 10 year old. I spend now....about 200 a week using coupons and shopping at wallmart. I quit Ukrop's and planned meals, stopped eating out except once every other week. Y ou will save so much money. It's not as much fun and much more work for me, but worth it if you want to stay home. Good Luck

I'm sorry if any of this is repeat advice (I didn't have time to read all of the great responses you already have). Check out www.restaurants.com they sell gift certificates to local places (you put in your zip) for as little as $2 (look for coupon codes for them) for a $25 gc. That way you can continue to eat out but for much less. One caveat, be sure to check out the restrictions on the GC before you buy - some places have weird rules. Also, check out coupons.com - tons of printable coupons and believe it or not they sometimes have organic product coupons. I just got some Earthbound Farms coupons from there. Also www.babycheapskate.com will tell you the best deals on diapers and wipes week to week. I've been using coupons paired with sales on diapers and have literally gotten a pack of Huggies diapers for $1 and FREE wipes. There are tons of resources on the internet. It will take a little work but once you get the hang of spending less, using coupons, etc. you will love it!

tons of good advice here and I'm taking notes too! One thing my sister recently turned me on to is http://www.e-mealz.com which is a service that helps you plan meals for the week (which I am REALLY bad at). It's not free (but it's only $5/month). Every week you get a meal plan for the week, along with a shopping list to make everything, broken up by section of the grocery store. It even has some local stores and it will give you the price of each item and whether it's on sale, so you will know how much you'll spend in advance. There's different recipe options too, if you're vegetarian, organic, etc. and for different family sizes. My sister has been using it for about 3 months now and says she's only found about 3 meals she didn't want to make. There's variety too - some are crockpot meals, etc.

I think it is generally more expensive to eat healthy, especially with fresh fruits and veggies. I suggest coupons. You can get them online, in the newspaper. Also, there are coupons for dining out. Olive Garden, steak houses, etc. I would suggest try limiting your dining out to once a week, or less if that is what you are already doing. Also, make a meal plan for the time period that you are buying for. My husband gets paid on the 1st and th 15th. So we plan out our dinner meals for those times. 1-14 and 15-31. We only buy what we need to make those meals including the sides. Also, I don't know how you feel about the cheapo stores, but we will go to the Dollar Tree or Big Lots before going to the grocery store. We can get canned goods, some snacks, cereals etc. Sometimes they have name brands but what they have is just as good. Make a Grocery List, only buy what is on the list. Go to www.couponmom.com. There are lots of tips there on how to save on groceries. I don't know if you were referring to your grocery bill at Target, but whether it is grocery or regular shopping. Only buy what you went in there for, i.e. what you need. I think everyone spends a lot of food, so don't feel bad. Just figure out what out what you really need. Go shopping for a couple weeks, months, and save your receipts. Figure out what is your average spending and use that as your budget. Once you set it, record every penny you spend on groceries. For example if you set 300 a week as your budget and you spend 50 at the farmers market. Then you only have 250. Once you have spent the 300 that is it until your next spending period. don't run to the store everytime you run out of one item, wait until you really need to go shopping. You could do the same for your eating out. If you set a hundred dollars for the whole month and you run out in two weeks, you have to wait until next month. If you can start saving now. Put some of your money aside for eating out, or grocery emergencies if you go past your budget. I know this is a lot, I hope it helps.

Lots of good advice. I understand parts of your dilemma. I grew up eating pretty much all highend foods my father is in the food business....So I actually am still learning how to make food/meals that cost a reasonable amount to buy on the open market. However I don't know how stingent you are on the organic thing, but I have found I can save a ton of money by just buying foods from the dirty dozen in their organic form. Also I am very conscious of where the food comes from because that will determine the amount or types of residue. For example my husband once picked up pears from a store in California, and I found they were from South Africa....Thus my children didn't eat those! You have to be careful about organic food from some big economic stores, I found that the Costco in LA was selling organic frozen vegetables from China---now that isn't very earth friendly and you can't tell me their pollution levels are not effecting the quality of their food.

Read some current research on pesticide residues and you may find that some foods you don't really need to go organic. Also Buy BULK even Whole Foods has a 10% off bulk price. If something your family eats a ton of is on sale and is shelf stable buy a ton. Limit crusty expensive bakery bread to the weekends, pack your lunches, and look into soups and stews for winter and salads for summer. You can grow your own lettuce inexpensively. A 13 month old can stop eating baby food over the next month or so and that will cut down your food bill termendously (if she hasn't already). You can bake her organic sweet potatoes (or grill them cut up in large chuncks and wrapped in foil), white potatoes, carrots etc. much cheaper than buying the "baby" food. Just plan ahead bake enough for at least 2 meals.

You can do this. I would look into working part-time if you can it is a refreshing mix and allows you adult-time and some extra cash.

R.

I'm not sure what you (and we) "should" be spending on food, but the last time I looked at our budget, we spend about $500 a month on groceries and eating out. At the time we were also a family of 2 1/2 with another on the way. I feel that this is too much as well, but the sad truth is that it's cheaper to eat junk than it is to eat healthy. We went to an outdoor festival this past weekend where sodas were $1 and water was $2!

I can recommend is to try to be prepared with your own food and snacks as often as you can so when you are out and about on the weekends you don't have to buy convenience food. It's definitely hard when you work because you don't want to come home from a long day and cook, AND clean up. I've struggled with that as well. I looked into OAMC (once a month cooking) and tried to start a club among my friends for this purpose. Basically, you spend a weekend shopping and preparing meals for the entire month. When you come home from work it takes only a short bit to prepare the meal from the freezer. Here's a great website that helps plan your meals:
http://www.cookofthemonth.com/default.asp

Good Luck! I look forward to seeing other responses too.

You've gotten some great responses-this is clearly a hot topic and one I was interested in following.

We are a family of 4 and spend about $150-$175/week on groceries. I cook dinner every night and we are really trying to cut down on going out so I feel this justifies the larger grocery bill. We go out as a family 1-2 times per month but try to stick to inexpensive family restaurants.

What has helped me is just cutting down on all the extraneous food purchases. In the past I would buy special things at Trader Joes, Sams Club, gourmet grocery stores, etc. I have stopped going to these other stores and just buying what I need at Giant, because you know you never just buy what's on the list but all the other things add up. I also really try to stop going to Target so often because I spend at least $100 each trip, so I let myself go only 1 or 2 times/month.

I know you work so it's hard to do alot of cooking, but my advice is to build a "repetoire" (sp?) of go-to meals that are quick, nutritious and your family likes. Start by testing one new recipe/week. Keep the ones you like. Before long you'll have a base of recipes that are simple for you and eating at home won't be such a chore. GOOD LUCK!

Wow - you've already got some excellent advice! I wanted to add that I, too, stay at home and have even before our kids were born (we're a family of 4 now). My husband is active duty enlisted military - not exactly a job you do for the pay! :) When I first stayed at home, it was more of a product of living overseas and not having an option for a job.

My main piece of advice to any mom wanting to stay at home or stretch the family budget is to make 'staying at home' your JOB. For me, because I don't bring in an income I 'make' money by saving money and stretching what my husband brings home. I use cloth diapers, made my own disposable wipes (when we used disposable diapers), made all the baby food, make my own cleaning products and laundry soap, cook 90% of our meals...anything I could do to help save on everyday things. I also use a service at www.thegrocerygame.com. It's a service that provides you with a List of sales and matching coupons at your local stores (even Whole Foods!) to help you maximize your savings. If you are interested, go to the FAQ section and read it over. Message me on here if you would like any more info on that. I never thought I would stay at home and didn't even know how to do laundry or heat something up in the microwave when I left for college. I tell you that because it's not like I had some fabulous homemaker mother to teach me all this - I learned it on my own and did my own research. If you look at staying at home as your job, it's amazing how much information you can find on how to do it cheaply and still live a great life.

Definitely look into budgeting and writing down all your spending for a month. It is truley shocking how much money most people just throw away! As far as presenting your case to your husband, you can always make the compromise to go back to work after the second child is in kindergarten. Five years is really not a long time in the overall time of our lives and is some of the most important developmental time for a child. While you may not be able to do things like eat out on a regular basis, you will be gaining so much more. This time with your kids doesn't have a price tag. Instead of eating out or going to activities that cost money, we enjoy taking nature walks or riding bikes with the kids. If we pack a picnic lunch, we've got a great family outing that doesn't cost us a thing. Free fun is abundant around here, especially with DC a Metro ride away!

So just look at what you're willing to change, even if for the short term. No one ever said they wished they spent more time at work - always that they spent more time at home. I hope you can get enough info to help you in your change!

We eat out ONLY once a week and at that, with a 3.5yo and 1.5yo, tend to go to only the "kid friendly" places which aren't as expensive. That said, I do alot of cooking and we as well eat pretty good. I try to buy some organic fruit and only organic milk but everything else is just standard "grocery" stuff. I spend anywhere between $150-$200 a week on groceries......That includes all of our lunches as both my husband and I "brown bag" it. I tend to "stock up" on stuff when it's on sale. I also have the predicament of almost NEVER getting out of WalMart or Target for under $100......I'd suggest WalMart over Target as it is cheaper.....not as fancy.....but cheaper....Good luck!