Would Love to Cut My Groceries Bill !!

I started to go to Aldi's. Their quality used to be not as good as brand names but lately they seem to be on the same level. I almost cut my grocery bill in half! I hate the long lines but it is defenitely worth it.
I am a great Huggies fan for my baby and am very picky with diapers. Due to lack of money I tried the Aldi's brand and was pleasantly surprised. They are absolutely great and $4.00 less than Huggies at Walmart.

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I have a family of five and my three children are 10, 8, and 8 months. I spend around $500.00 a month in groceries, so I would say you are spending an average amount already. The one thing that helps me spend less is that once a week I will make a menu of what we will be eating for dinner each night and lunches for the weekend, as well as work lunches for dad and me. We usually eat cereal for breakfast and I get a couple of snack choices. I always take inventory of the pantry to see what I can use for the next week. The hardest part is sticking to that list. Hope this helps.

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Four growing boys is a lot to feed! My question is what are you buying? Anytime you buy things that take less time to fix, they will cost more. Are you buying fresh vegetables and meats?? If you aren't sure how to cook from scratch, I suggest taking a class or getting with another mom who does a lot of cooking. I have even considered teaching a cooking class myself for young moms who aren't sure how to cook.

Also, I'd look at what kinds of things your boys eat and drink. For instance, fruit juice is expensive whereas water is not only cheaper, but better for them! Buy a variety of foods and do some experienmenting. Sure, they won't all probably like everything, but explain to them that it's sort of a game.

Thats my suggestions. Hope it helps! I admire you for keeping up with four boys! You're doin great!!!
K.

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OK, maybe these are things you already thought of but my ideas after growing up with 2 teachers for parents (lord knows they don't get paid enough!!!)
First, do you buy name brand or store brand? Admitedly, some store brand products aren't as good, but, try everything possible before going back to name brand. Especially things like frozen foods and boxed dinners.
Second, cut back on snacks - chips and pop are two of the most expensive things you can regularly buy and they aren't good for your growing boys anyhow. You provide healthy food for them and let them spend their allowance on junk food. Get an air popper and popcorn and crackers and cheese and let that be the cheap snack around.
Third, coupons, coupons, coupons! Need I say more?
Forth, Walmart price matches, so sign up for the Sunday paper, go through all the adds (and get those coupons) and take the Meijer, Kroger, and Marsh adds with you to Walmart and have them price match on sales.
Finally, and maybe someone already mentioned this - I didn't read through very carefully, go to http://www.angelfoodministries.org/ and check out their menus. Some things aren't as good for you - breaded chicken, boxed meals, but over all, it's a great way to save money and an easy way to get staples - don't know if you can buy more than one box at a time or not.
Good Luck!

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I find that if I shop for two weeks at time, I spend less. I plan my list according to a meal by meal plan. You may also wamt to look around for cheap and easy meal ideas, like crock-pot or slow cooker reciepes, and stuff that can be made in bulk. Also, Walmart price matches, so take the competitors ads with you and plan your list accordingly, also I do use lots of coupons but take my time and compare to see if I am really getting a deal, it takes me more time but the money I save is worth it!

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I shop at Aldi's for 90% of our groceries & it helps cut the cost a lot

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I am a single mom on a tight budget and found a program in our area called the angel food ministries. Just google it and check for the closest church that offers it. you have to buy in advance but it is worth it. You get that menu for $25.00. I have been doing it for several months and has helped our budget a lot.

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i try to be a bargain shopper. i clip coupons on stuff i know i need and will use(toilet paper, diapers/wipes, detergent, etc), then i also check sales adds because walmart will meet competitors prices, i buy the generics on a lot of items like mac n cheese, cereal, bread, it all tastes about the same to me, i also try to buy some stuff in bulk...it last longer and is a better buy in the long run. also...if there is a Sam's Club or Cosco or GFS market near you anywhere, i'd recommend joining... we shop there alot and get great deals on certain groceries, automotives, cleaning material, snacks, meat, health& beauty.

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LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Sorry to be laughing so much but your situation is sooooo familiar... I too have 4 children and spend an average of 700-800 a month on groceries. Mine are teenagers so.....
What I do to try and hold down expenses is to compare prices. Wal-mart will match any store in your area. On Sunday go online to the local stores (this saves you from paying for a newspaper)...grocery, drug stores, target, Kmart...anyone that sells food and write down what their sale prices are...I only write down the stuff I would normally get or something I might be interested in if it's on sale. When you go to Wal-mart seperate the items on sale for last...then tell the cashier that these items are comp priced and give them the store and the price. Make sure when you make your list that you write down the weight of the item as some really good sale prices are for smaller items then Wal-mart carries. Wal-mart does not do percentages off, cents or dollars off, or buy one get one free so if these items are important to you, you'll have to go to that particular store. Now another thing that I do is when there is a really good sale such as canned veggies for 20-25 cents a can I stock up on those items. When something like turkey's are on sale I get 2 so that I can make turkey in 2 or 3 months...it also helps that if company drops by (MY parents who live in Florida) and they stay for a couple of days I can make the turkey for dinner one night. This goes for roasts and chicken when they are on sale. I have a deep freezer that is a lifesaver, I have a closet we converted into a pantry and a pantry cabinet in the kitchen. When we have a rough patch I always have something for them to eat...it may not be what they would choose...ie. tuna casserole...pot pies and rice but they won't starve. I am not sure if this will help you cut costs. It was alot easier when the food prices were lower...I used to get bread this time last year for 40 cents a loaf...now if I can get it on sale I count myself lucky to get it for 1.00 a loaf. The store I used to get bread at closed ...sigh...I also found that if you get the 5.00 pack of toliet paper for 12 rolls it lasts longer then the cheaper 6 pack at 1.20. Coupons are a joke anymore so I don't bother with them...most coupon ads are for 20 cents off or 50 cents off for 2 items. Just know that when the kids are grown and gone your grocery bill will go down....hopefully.
Good Luck!
If you want to talk e-mail me at ____@____.com

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One thing you can do is plan each meal. Since it is amost summer time Sandwhiches are a pretty good meal for those hot summer nights. If your not to far from an Aldis then I would go there once a month and stock up on can goods. You would not believe how much that helps!

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I'm the same way with coupons, so don't feel bad. I think groceries are the biggest chunk of most anybody's incomes. Check the ads for your local stores and see what's on sale that you do use, take advantage of those sales if possible. 10 for $10 sales are great, but it's really easy to go overboard on them too. Try and see what kind of generic food products that your family will eat. Some of them are just as good as the name brand, but half the costs. Things like off brand cereals have virtually no difference in taste from their name brand counterparts. Milk is milk, no matter who it comes from, the same thing with butter and eggs. Buy your meats in the "family" size pacakges and divde it up into meal sized portions and freeze it, it's cheaper per pound when you do it that way. Also, I don't know if you have any stores like Aldi or Save-A-Lot in your area, but that's a great place to find cheaper groceries. They occasionally have name brand merchandise for about 1/3 to 1/2 off what you'd pay in a major chain store.

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i know it maybe a drive for you but if you can find a local aldis and go once every two weeks and try to make meals that will last like chili or ham and beans or a big pot of speg i do things like buy a big ham and freeze the bone and chunks for ham and beans i also try to make the meals stretch by less meat and more veggie i buy meat in bulk and put them in freezer bags enough for sep meals or i cut up meat and put it in rice or i make cas things that will be a meal but i have meat left over for other meals i hope this help i also forgot about angel food min its online my church does it it will help a lot too

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Hi T.! I can totally relate to your situation. I also have four boys AND I have two girls and a Boxer puppy! So including my hubby there are 9 in our household. My boys are around the same age as yours 15,12,4, and 9mths. My girls are 9 and 7. Your grocery bill at $600 is about normal. We spend roughly around $1000 or more monthly for food alone! That figure is based on how cost conscious I am when shopping. I try to stay within our budget by shopping at discount food stores (Aldi's)for some things and by buying ONLY what's on sale for that week at the other grocery stores. I then plan my weekly menu from the groceries that I purchase at the beginning of the week. I have found that buying first before meal planning has saved me more money than when I would plan my menu for the week and then go shop for what's on my list. Also, I just started utilizing some coupons. When I cut the coupons I only cut the ones that I buy products for so when I use them I am only using them on the things I would buy anyway like diapers,wipes,cleaning supplies,lysol,batteries,etc. They really help alot especially when they are doubled or tripled.
Being able to save in other areas can sometimes make up for what you spend on food.

Best Wishes,
K.

1 mom found this helpful

I know the feeling. I have 4 boys myself their not as old as yours but we have lots of kids who end up eating at our house . I plan my meals b4 i go shopping we have spagetti ,meatloaf ,tacos,ect. this way i only buy what we need and i make snacks like cupcakes cookies ect. this seems too cut my bill in half of what u spend.Hope this helps.

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Hello! My mom swears by the way she shops and says that she's totally cut down on her grocery bill ever since she started doing this.....She makes out a menu for the entire week and makes a list of what she'll need for each dinner. Then, she only buys what's on her list. Her family is her husband, herself, a 10 year old, and a 13 year old, and she only spends between 50-100 every week on groceries. She said when she does it this way, she's not buying things she doesn't need and using everything she buys.

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T., First of all I think you are doing great by keeping it a 600 a month. There are just three of us and I spend 100 per week (this includes diapers of course). One thing I have found that helps a lot is what some call monthly cooking. Now I don't follow the plan to a T, but the idea is that you spend one Sunday preparing freezer meals for the month. There are a lot of great websites that have recipes. What is great is that you can focus your meals around one or two types of meat and then buy them in bulk. It helps cut down on some of those quick trips to the grocery for bread that ends up costing $40 :) It also saves a lot of cooking and prep time.

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Hi,
I am also seeking ways to cut back as we have been struggling lately to pay the bills. I found this website hillbillyhousewife.com that was mentioned in a magazine and as ridiculous as the name sounds, it's actually worth going to. The lady who operates the site has an actual menu for $70 a week including all the ingredients needed. The site goes into great detail on how to really buy cheap and eat cheap. My family will definately not go for the dry milk, but I might try some of the recipes. Good luck to you= I feel your pain!

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I have three children and a fiance that I am feeding. Our grocery bill was around $600 also. I was shopping at Kroger's and at Marsh for all of our groceries. My suggestions to you are
*buy what you can buy at Save-a-Lot and what you cannot buy there buy at the other stores.
*Sit everyone down and explain that the grocery bill is too high and there need to be some cut backs.
*Coupons! You can get these off of CoolSavings.com
*go for the off brand of products

Hope this helps

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Try planning your menus around only what's on sale. I don't use coupons unless it is something I would buy anyway. If there is a Kroger where you are their 10 for 10 sales are great, especially for growing boys who seem to eat in bulk!! :)

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i have an inhome child care so i'm feeding 10 kids every day plus my husband and i. my favorite way to save money is to go thru the ads every week and note the things i use and the sale price. then we shop at walmart and they match the sale prices with what is on sale at the other stores. that way you get the sale price without the cost of driving to different stores. then if there is a coupon for what is on sale you save 2 times on one item. it does take some extra work each week but i find it well worth it. i do take the sale flyers with me to walmart because they sometimes ask to see them.

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if you get a newspaper, shop the ads for Krogers and Foodfair etc. Wal-mart will price comp. what the other stores are advertising. i always buy generic anyways. also, i think $600 is pretty reasonable with two pre-teen boys! good luck!
oh, and if there's a sam's around, you might look into buying in bulk. it'll at least save you time and gas running back and forth to the store. they need to open a costco in wv!

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