I share your pain! This is a constant battle for us also. With your healthy lifestyle it makes it even harder, unfortunately. My husband get paid once a month and I usually do a big trip at the beginning of the month and then supplement through the month for perishables. Also, I've tried once a month cooking and that can help also, when you have a month (or even two weeks) of dinners in the freezer it's easier to focus on saving on the day to day breakfasts, lunches and snacks. I don't know if they have a vegetarian version, but I'd highly suggest just starting to do double batches of things and freeze one for later. Saves time and energy, money too since you know your freezer is stocked. Good luck! Please let us know what happens. I'd love to get some more ideas.
Have you ever heard of the program, "Saving Dinner"? It's by Leanne Ely (I may have spelled her name wrong), but she will provide you with a year's worth of meals for about $25. I am pretty sure there's a vegetarian plan, also. I know she did write a book entitled, "Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way", that you can buy either online or in bookstores (I have seen it at Borders). Hope this helps!
Sounds like you are definitely on the right track if you've already reduced your spending by half. My husband and I are big Dave Ramsey fans. We are new students of Financial Peace University.:) What he suggests is using ONLY cash and the envelope system. We do budgets bi-weekly with a great worksheet he has on his website. Here's a link:
http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_monthly_cash_flow_plan_forms.pdf
We watch every penny. I am a stay at home mom (journalist on a break from the biz). We have two little boys and two cats. Hope this helps!
Your letter took me back to when my kids were small and I too was trying to keep my food budget low, but trying to make sure my family had good food and healthy snacks. I guess the main thing that I did was to check the store ads for what was on sale and that helped me to make my dinner list for that week. I also made them snacks like you are already doing. It's just something simple, but it did help me out back then. Good luck and it sounds like you're doing a great job already.
2,000 dollars thats alot!!!
Kudos on your eating, that is great, way to be healthy and feed your family healthy. I know it is expensive to eat better. I am on a tight budget for groceries we spend about 125-150 a week for me my husband and 15month old, but that usually includes non food items we need each week as well, such as diapers etc...
I could spend much more and eat much better but we don't have the money right now. If we did I would probably spend around 200-220 a week and I don't think that is over spending that would just be getting all organic and the other healthier things we eat.
I'm really lucky in that my husband does most of the meal planning and cooking. We always figure out our meals and snacks for the week before we go to the store and always go with a list. Typically, we spend about $50-60 each week for my husband and I (we have a 5 month old who's not needing any groceries yet). We resist buying anything that is not on the list, unless its on sale, then we tweak our list or buy it if we will need it anyway in the future.
We go out for dinner once a week, all other meals are made at home. My husband makes his lunch the night before - never eats out for lunch during work. Once in a while we go out for lunch on a weekend, but like I said most of our meals are eaten at home which saves a LOT of money. Going out is too expensive.
We also buy organic produce and try to eat healthy and are pretty successful at keeping our food costs down. We are always on a budget and have a lot of practice. My husband likes the challenge of bargain shopping!
Good luck!
I have a husband....7,6,4 yr. old sons...and myself. We have a budget of $100/week for groceries. This includes the toilet paper/paper towels/cleaning supplies. Take $100-$150 cash with you to the store...and add up what you're buying as you go. Once you hit that magic # - you're done. It'll take some time to get used to it....and will probably take some time in the store to get your shopping done....But you'll quickly decide what are "needs" and what are "wants"...Hope this helps!
One thing I'd suggest, especially since you're vegetarians, is actually a purchase but it will save you hundreds in the short run (at least it has for us). Find yourself a Tupperware distributor and buy these, well I don't know what they're called, but they're designed to stay in the refrigerator and keep produce fresh longer. They're miracle workers, seriously. I'm no big Tupperware person, but I bought these after being dragged to a party and they saved us $$ immediately. We never throw away old produce now. Stuff lasts forever. It has to do with the material, and the design of the container and these vents that are either open, shut, or halfway shut depending on the type of fruit or vegetable. Good luck! I also have to watch our food budget because we live in Calgary and food is so expensive. A gallon of milk is $4.00 on a good day, and organic is $5.40 for a HALF gallon!
WOW! That's a lot! We generally spend between $400-500/month and my husband thinks that's alot. My husband is able to expense his lunches, so see if your's can do the same. Watch the sale flyers and use coupons whenever possible. Sticking to the list is always a good idea. Though sometimes I forget things and don't remember them until I get there. Kudos to you for trying so hard to keep your family healthy. I know that I'm looking forward to the opening of the farmers markets.
Hi April,I am impressed with your healthy eating habits. I know what you mean about buying special foods. I don't eat sugar and my daughter can't have dairy. So food gets to be expensive. I am also an aspiring writer. In fact God called me out of a good job to do it and I am single. So I am on a strict budget. At my church we have a class called Crown Financial. They teach us that everything is Gods..not ours, so this puts things into perspective for me. Before I spend anything I stop and take that thought captive. I also write down everything on a note book paper of what I'm spending. I only alow myself 70$ a week on groceries. I look for sales and shop at Walmart. If you are interested in Crown Financial you can listen to it on 99.7 fm Familylife radio @ 10:30 am during the week. God bless and good luck with your budget and your writing. Cindi
Well, I long to eat the way you do, although we do eat meat etc. and my dh has Crohn's and lives on fudge bars sigh and my son 6 yo is especially picky and can't eat any sugar and my daughter is willing to try stuff, but doesn't necessarily like a huge variety. We live on food stamps and get $280 but we also spend some money. I order grains in 50 lb sacks and grind them with my vitamix. I get a lot of my beans from food pantries, which aren't organic but I'm sure you could order them in quantity. I bought giant mason jars that hold almost 50# and they all back my couch and look kinda cool! I grow our vegetables as best I can, but I also have bought veggie shares from CSA's many years. It's awesome! even if you live in the city, many of them will have local drop off sites. we never eat out, we have chickens to get our eggs, I keep playing with the idea of breeding one of our goats and milking her... lots of responsibility there though and I'm not ready to take it on. Hope something there was helpful!
What is reasonable depends on your eating habits, size of your family & of course how much you can afford. Right now I am on a very tight budget and am trying to spend around $40/ week on groceries. I have an 11 year old and an 11 month old daughters, along with my husband and myself. Needless to say, sticking to that budgeted amount is difficult, but I pay with cash and when I'm out of money I have to be done shopping. I always check the local ads and make a list before I go to the store. I guess sticking to a food budget is something that is difficult to do unless you have no other choice.
I am right there with you!!! I spend A LOT on food, especially all the grass fed beef, free range eggs, and free range chicken. Did you know that in the summer you can buy a share of an organic farmer's produce? You choose an amount that is appropriate for the size of your family and once a week you pick up a HUGE bag of whatever is in season. It is AWESOME and you really save by avoiding the grocer's markup.
Have you got a Trader Joe's store near you? I even buy holistic food for my dog there. What about a food co-op? I belonged to 2 when my kids were small. They do require some time from you or your husband, though. I used to get my older kids involved. Can you put in a garden this spring? Even growing salad fixings in big pots would help cut your costs.
Sounds like you're making a lot of progress. There are some great cookbooks around these days for your food tastes. Also recipes on line. Never shop when you're hungry. Carry healthy snacks in the car so Panera doesn't call to you as you go by.
Will your hubby take packed lunches at least part of the time?
Mine started taking coffee in his travel mug vs. buying fancy coffee out somewhere - not always but every little bit helps.
Get the kids involved in planning meals. Maybe they can cook some nights.
You're on the right track! Ginny B.
I have to be honest, my mouth dropped when I read $2000.00. I have a family of 4. Granted I don't have teens that generally are non stop eating machines. Our budget for grocery store purchases, which includes diapers and formula for one child, is typically around $350.00. Then we have our take-out/dine in budget which is usually about $100.00. So total under $500.00 for the month. I prepare almost all meals at home. Often if I know we are going to have busy week I will make 2 dinners on one night. Like..make a fresh chicken salad for that night and have something in the crockpot going for the next night that all I'll need to do is reheat. I do daycare and typically have 5 children at my house, sometimes 7- so lunches are always in the house. Cheap stuff like PBnJ and MacNcheese. My husband takes food from home for his lunches with the occasional eat out. Usually I prepare meals ahead of time for him or I make extra of the dinners and he takes that.
I also think it depends on family income and how much on the go you are. Since I'm home it is easier for me to sit and prepare food where as you may not have much home time so bringing home panara. When I worked we did eat out more because I didn't feel like cooking. But once I found the time and found the recipies I liked it all fell in place easily. Good Luck!
Wow! I know how easy it can be to spend more than you planned. Christmas is the hard holiday for me, I have a habit of going overboard and it can seriously hurt our bank account.
My husband and I sat down and worked on a yearly budget. We look over our budget every three months to make sure we are still on track. We looked at how much money is coming in and listed all of our fixed expenses (mortgage, sewer-water-trash pickup, electricity, etc.) Then we looked at our other expenditures (groceries-which includes any cleaning chemcials needed, car expense (oil, gas, maintenance), home maintenance, etc.) We worked to figure out what we might need for the year and then broke it down into monthly (and sometimes weekly) expenses. We also made sure to budget for family vacations, gifts (including extended family and Christmas), emergency fund, etc.
We made sure to pay ourselves, $10 a week allowance, for those things that we wanted that are frivolous. I have discovered if we didn't pay ourselves then we overspent dramatically without realizing it. Now we know how much is in our own envelopes at any given time.
Then we made envelopes for those budgets that we needed to be accessible, and I get cash once a week from the bank. Those budgets are dogs, allowance (we each get our own envelope), eat out, and groceries. I made the envelopes out of scrap fabric and ironed on Velcro so the change doesn't fall out.
Now, if I don't have the money I don't buy any extras. I have been known to ask a grocery clerk to put a few things back because I couldn't afford them for the week.
Most weeks I come home with $5 or $10 extra in our grocery pouch. I save this extra money for when there is a huge sale on the foods we use regularly.
My son has 7 food intolerances so we buy mostly organic foods, but I am able to feed our family of 3 for $150 a week. We can't use coupons very often because I buy unprocessed foods and companies don't make coupons for fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. =) But I use them when I can.
I hope my story helps you figure out where to start. Check out the FlyLady website: www.flylady.net. She has a FACE your finances control journal that breaks the process down into manageable steps. The link directly to her list of journals is: http://www.flylady.net/pages/control_journals.asp
The FACE is the first journal listed.
Good luck! I hope you find financial peace.
LC,
I found that to be true about the shopping, so I changed my habits more because of lack of funds. So I major grocery shop once a month period. When things are gone they are gone. My children have learned to make things last and enjoy what they have. The only things that we pick up throughout the month are milk and bread. We all bake more and are eating healthier because the eating out has almost deceased. I bake goodies instead of buying them. Buying in bulk does help and instead of throwing away left over I make them into mini portions and freeze for later. Hope this helps and good luck.
We spend about $400/mo for 3. We eat out about twice a week (once during the week and once on the weekend)ad this is not included in that figure. I guess if you did, it would be about $450-475. We ususally stay under that unless we splurge and eat out more. One place I love to shop is Aldi. I'd never heard of it until one opened up in Clawson, but I know there are others around. Check it out!
It sounds like you have gotten many sensible ideas already and most of them my family does too. I have 5 boys, my husband and myself and we spend $400 a month for groceries. Some of the things we do is shop at the discount stores like Aldi's and Sav-a-lot, also there is a day old bread store near us and they have a brand of bread that has no corn syrup for $.69 cents for a 24 oz loaf.
I also try to stock up when something I use regularly is on sale, for instance last week Spartan Peanut Butter was on sale for $.97 cents a jar instead of the regular price of $2.29 so I bought 15 jars. PB&J is a staple in our house! So watch those fliers and if its a good price stock up!
Another thing I do is keep a running tally of prices as I add things to my cart, that way I know just about exactly where I am money wise as I make my way through the store.
A good place to pick up cleaners for light cleaning is a Dollar Store, and they have good light bulbs for $1.00 too.
We also put in a garden and freeze and can produce when its plentiful. We have pear trees and a good friend has some apple trees and gives us apples in the fall, which we can too, but you can visit a local fruit orchard and buy fruit in season by the bushel and its much cheaper in season. We also pick our own strawberries and blueberries in season too, but even if you go to the orchard and buy them pre-picked its still cheaper than most grocery stores.
Lastly making food at home from scratch is a big money saver and making several batches at one time is a time saver too. I have found that the longer you do it, the better you get at it. Theres nothing like a little experience to find out what your family likes and what is easiest for you to do. Good luck to you!
LC,
I am interested in the responses you get. We live on one income and I am always running to the store or Sam's club because we have ran out of 1 or 2 items for the week ( I never walk out of the store with 1 or 2 items thou). Jackie