I was wondering what a family of four spends on their grocery bill each week. I live with my husband and two daughters aged 9 and 13. I have worked out a new budget this year as we want to make inroads on our mortgage. I have budgeted to spend AUD 150 per week on food including pet food.
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A lot will depend on what you do besides shop at the store. I mean can you have a garden...even a few plants? Are you willing to cook from scratch as opposed to expensive boxed foods? Will you research recipes thst stretch foods like stir fry which uses lots less meat per serving? At our house we waste almost nothing.
start collecting coupons to save. ask your family and friends to start a coupon swap with you, tell them the things you use and need coupons on and visa versa, and if available go on double face value coupon days. and learn to buy off brand items if possible, also if its something you use alot of buy it in bulk and seperate it into containers you have saved.
Yes it can be done! We are a family of five (myself, husband, and 3 kids ages 9,7, and 3 1/2.) We also have a dog and a cat. I spend $200 every other Monday on groceries.(food and household) I buy chicken hindquarters and cook them whole or boil and debone them and use them in all kinds of recipes. I also buy family packs of meat and seperate myself and freeze. We eat rice with a lot of meals- a rice cooker is a must for perfect rice! We also eat breakfast for supper- i.e., pancakes, french toast, bacon, eggs, and toast. I buy Suave for almost all of our hair produts and body wash. I watch for sales and I shop around-it sometimes is a pain to go to 2 or 3 stores but it pays off!
This is a fight with my husband every week. We area a family of 5 and I run a small in-home day care,we have a dog, 3 cats and I rabbit and he want's me to shop for $100.00 a week. No way. I do this thought. Most products have web sites and I always visit them before I go shopping. Malt O meal has coupons you can print from home. But not all stores will accept computer coupons so you have to check.
I just want to let you know there is 8 in my household and we spend 200.00 dollars a week on groceries so I can use all the extra help I can get! Thanks, Sandy
Hi Patricia, I'm in Australia also (Queensland). We don't seem to have the abundance of coupons here, in fact I've never really seen any grocery coupons.
Thanks to all to have replied. To answer a few questions, I have a little vegies garden. I grow silverbeet, tomatoes, herbs and I have an orange tree and a yummy fig tree. I have to put wire around everything so my two chooks won't pick at everything when they free range in the afternoon. We don't have food coupons in Australia but if we did I am sure my husband and I will be the Coupon King and Queen. I usually cook from scratch and enjoy it. I am challenged by my youngest daughter who is very fussy with her food. As I am training myself to stay with the $150 budget I have started to stick the grocery receipts in an exercise book. Once I get home and put the groceries away I get a pencil and mark the groceries on the receipt that in hindsight I think I could have done without. This disiplines me for the next time of go shopping. I now think it is achievable to spend $150 or less but when my next challenge will be to keep within the budget when we invite family and friends over for lunch or dinner. Take care and good luck to sticking with you limites. Regards Pat
Another thought is whether there are discounted food packages.
In America they are called Share or Angel Ministries. The food is priced at wholesale and includes meat produce and other items. Distribution is through charities, but thrifty shoppers who ignore these systems are missing out.
I live in Toronto Canada and my grocery bill every week comes to not less than $75 per week. Sometimes even a hundred dollars. We are a family of five no pets. We are vegetarian no meat/fish or chicken. We eat out only minimally for a whole year except the kids because we do not want them to feel deprived. Works well for us. Except I feel sometimes there may be a way to save even on this amount. Any thoughts anyone?
I have a family of 4 and spend about $60-$70 a week and I really think I can get that down to about $50 per week. What I don't buy...lots of convenience foods. I shop at a discount store for 3 weeks out of the month and then a Super Walmart 1 week per month to stock up on what the discount store does not carry.
I buy meats when on sale. For dinner I make a whole chicken and then use the leftovers for soup or pot pie, bbq chicken pizza or something else. I bought chicken leg quarters for $.39 per pound this week, so I bought a few packages. I never buy chicken with a bone for more than $.99 per pound and boneless for $1.99/pound. I buy ground turkey for $1.69 per pound and use it in place of ground beef. We try to eat pasta once per week because it is such an inexpensive, fast meal. I buy salad stuff and slice it and wash it and store it in a bag for quick salads. I do not buy prewashed, precut anything. It is just too expensive.
I make 3 brown bag lunches every day for my husband and the kids. Some things I pack are leftovers for my husband or a sandwich. The kids get, a sandwich or yogurt, cookie or goodie, chips (from a large bag then put into a sandwich bag) and a fruit (in season or canned). I make, some type of baked good each week...maybe banana bread from ripe bananas, coffee cake, chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal cookies.
For breakfast we have Frosted Shredded Wheat cereal, Cheereo's type cereal, pancakes, waffles, small bagels or eggs. One of my daughters has a smoothie every morning with breakfast. I buy yogurt for her smoothies in a big container and use up ripe bananas.
Now if you think I have all the time in the world, I don't. I work my own business during the day at home and out of the home 3 night/week, exercise, volunteer and my kids have activities and homework.
My meals take 15-20 minutes of hands-on time and while it is in the oven or on the stove, I help the kids with the homework. When my husband gets home, we all sit at the table for dinner and then 3 nights/week I go out after dinner to work.
I do a cooking class at my local senior center once every month. I feed anywhere between 20-30 people for lunch and I only spend about $25. They reimburse me for the food costs, so I do my best to keep the costs down.
I hope this helps someone. It really boils down to not buying convenience foods and using all the food you buy. Don't waste the food.
I've found having a first course of soup or salad takes the edge off of hunger and gives the body a little time to start feeling full before diving into the main course. I've found a four serving meal then easily satifies four with a leftover for the next day lunch. We also use only half the meat requested in a recipe and fill in with grains. It saves money and my health.
I think you can do anything you set your mind to doing. I suggest you go to the site www.hillbillyhousewife.com. You will find many good ideas there. The owner has posted two budget menus. I cant remember exactly how much money was spent for each one, but I think one menu was for $45 per week and the other for $77 per week. These might be emergency type menus, but you can augment them or get ideas.
Best of luck.
This is just a tidbit of info, but it helps to plan to make several things that will need the same ingredient. For instance, I make speghetti sauce from scratch using tomato paste and the next night I might include a red-eye gravy with homemade biscuits, using up another part of the small can of tomato paste. Of course, many people don't make tomato or red eye gravy, so you could just think of what else you could make using the tomato paste as an ingredient. The idea is to not throw anything out.
Also, remember that the parts of some vegetables and even fruits that you use can be cooked down and added to your dog food. In order to save time you could start a bag for them in the freezer and just cook them down when you have enough to make a pot. But remember that onions, grapes and raisins and too much garlic can be toxic to your dogs. But carrots and apples and celery, etc. are all good and appreciated by your doggies. Good luck, my 4 kids are all grown now, but we are starting to cut back again like we used to. Everyone's suggestions have inspired me to try harder to cut back all over again!
I sug to buy a large bag of white potatoes. Cook some 3 times each day, saves on food. Good luck.
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