[Big Mama]

Hi yall. My H and I have been arguing alot lately about how much it costs for a month of groceries. He won't grocery shop w/ me. He gives me $600.00 a month to get groceries for 5 people. Two teen age boys and a 5 yr old girl.
Of course there are me and my H in the house hold and I am packing 2 lunches every day.

[Victoria'smom]

We spend about $500 a month (3 adults, 1 child). This includes mostly water to drink, rice, chicken, pork, fish, frozen veggies, pancakes, and fruits.

[sesame]

Personally? I think teenage boys treat food like a plugged-in vacuum treats dirt. Teenage boys could probably eat $600 worth of groceries in a week!

Haha, but seriously, I think he needs to keep in mind that when people go grocery shopping, it isn't all just groceries. Soap, razor blades, toilet paper... the little things that people use regularly add up pretty quickly. Perhaps it would help if you saved your receipts, highlighted the things that he specifically asks for, and tell him how much only his things cost per month, just so he can get a general idea of the cost of what he individually is asking for, let alone the needs of his growing children?

Also, clearly you wouldn't need to spend that much on groceries if they weren't being actively used! The necessity is very obviously there.

Okay, so you have a family of five. Let's say each person eats three meals a day, perhaps with two to three smaller snacks in between. Let's also say that each of those meals magically costs around $5 to purchase the ingredients for. October has 31 days. So, for October alone, if you have three $5 meals a day, it's 3 x $5 x 31 = $465. When you take additional ingredients into account (because I can't recall spending $5 on a full family meal that wasn't fast food), on top of snacks, on top of paper products, hygeine products, garbage bags, and all that other stuff...

You're lucky if you only have to spend $600, I'd say. He's being pretty unfair for someone who doesn't do any of the grocery shopping.

My partner and I spend about £300, which is about $480, but that's just the two of us - you're a family of 5! And ours has just gone up as got a cat 2 weeks ago. Have you pets too? They're expensive!

If he's arguing over this, then write him a shopping list every week for a month and send him out shopping. Might be the only way to shut him up..

x

[LostMom3]

We spend about $500 to $600 a WEEK. We have 4 boys between 14 and 17, 3 boys between 18 and 21 and my boyfriend and myself.

[Yoda]

In a family of two we have already spent $160 for groceries in the first ten days of the month and eaten out twice. We are trying to not eat out more than once a week and then it is just a sandwich and drink.

Of course some of what I bought at the store is to be eaten later. Salmon was on sale so I bought five package of that and each package can be divided to two serving. Food costs so much more than a year ago it is hard to stretch it and Obama has taken away the cost of living raises than I had previously received in Medicare.

We have stopped drinking soda pop and now drink tea, milk or kool aid. I need to buy a lemon or lime so I can tolerate water.

I have a large bag of rice and I am going to use it to stretch my food dollars. Beans are fairly cheap. I've made grilled cheese several times lately and cheese omelets are high in protein fairly inexpensive.

Maybe someone could start a thread of inexpensive but healthy meals we could make.

I spend about £120 (about $190) a month on food. I don't really buy into the whole expiry date thing - most food is fine to eat long after whats printed on the packet. I also freeze a lot of stuff...gotta try and be economical where you can i suppose.

[Big Mama]

Thanks guys. We buy in bulk, we shop close outs, we shop expired dates, and of course the Dollar tree and Dollar general.

My H suggests it's time for more beans. Which is o.k. if he is he is here to eat them w/ us. But he says please not beans again tonight. Then when he finds out what we are having he goes out instead of coming home.

But we do have beans one night and chillibeans the next. That last cup or two gets smashed and put in hot dog chilli or for refried beans make mexican. We put rice in casseroles, or my kids just love rice.

I wish he would do the shopping just once or twice alone. Maybe the T can suggest that.

[Inedible]

Originally Posted by Big Mama

Hi yall. My H and I have been arguing alot lately about how much it costs for a month of groceries. He won't grocery shop w/ me. He gives me $600.00 a month to get groceries for 5 people. Two teen age boys and a 5 yr old girl.
Of course there are me and my H in the house hold and I am packing 2 lunches every day.

Maybe the local groceries have their prices online that you could show your husband? Or even just the sale items, with the sale prices compared against regular prices? If he won't look at the screen you can still read it to him.

And the slow cooker is your friend. You can get better tastes from cheaper cuts of meat. Condensed soup and big pieces of beef and onions, for example. Potatoes and frozen vegetables.

Oatmeal was another thing I get when I am really low on money. Get bulk oats if you can. A bit of salt, butter, and cinnamon are enough; it doesn't really need sugar. 2:1 water to oats, and it only takes about five to ten minutes to thicken if you add boiling water to the oats and let it sit. It really does taste a lot better than the packets of instant oatmeal.

You may be able to grow things like lettuce, onions, and garlic indoors. Bell peppers are easy to grow outdoors, and so are jalapenos.

I have trouble keeping food costs under $10 per person per day most of the time. That would be more like $1500 per month in your family. Someone who hasn't been to the grocery in over a year would have to see it to believe it.

[Anika.]

Another way to cut grocery costs are food co-ops. They pool all the money together and buy local produce from farmers at lower prices than retail and divide it between the people in the co-op. Some even include meat.

I am in a food co-op here. I get most of my veggies and fruit that way. I pay $25 a month and they deliver to my house. Twice a month, and big boxes of produce.

If you good food co-ops for your area you might be able to find something. These are not low income only, just people in the community who start them up. Good for the environment, your local economy and for you.

Some food co-ops are set up like a store, the one I use is not. It's just delivered to me.

I put a thread for food co-ops and community kitchens ( which are not soup kitchens ), more like cooking lessons and you take home what you make.... I put a thread in the recession, layoffs, and economy forum for anyone who is interested.

[Victoria'smom]

If this is cheaper and close it may ease the burden.

[girlwithbrownhair]

For me, or the cat? I spend all the good food money on Catdog, and I eat the kibble leftovers, lol!!

BC (Before Cat)? I probably spend maybe $50-$60 a week?? Average, just for me...sometimes more, sometimes less. But that's about it. I was vegetarian for a while there, and saved a crapload on meat, but with a kitten running underfoot (in the kitchen I mean), I find I just haven't quite the time, as I need to really be able to relax when I'm cooking, so I'm back to eating a bit unhealthily (which is more expensive).

[Big Mama]

you eat left over cat food. Well times are hard but not quite that hard.

I'M KIDDING, I'M SURE YOU DON'T EAT CAT FOOD. THOUGH SOME OF THE DOG FOOD, STEAK AND GRAVEY, LOOK APPITIZING. I'M SURE MY H WOULD NEVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

I have a kitty. It does add an extra 5.00 every 2 weeks. But kitty is cheeper then blood pressure meds. Pets are supposed to lower your BP.

[Yoda]

When Dusty was alive I fed him a grain mix with molasses in it and it smelled delicious. I always thought if I poured some milk on it it would be yummy cereal.

Plus I kind of spoiled him by putting a couple gallons of oats in the feed bucket and poured hot water on it to get it slushy and then added in either brown sugar or pancake syrup and finished with some diced apples. Dusty ate better than some people. Still miss him.

We have 3 teenage boys and groceries run in the neighborhood of $200/wk, which does include personal care items, etc. I could probably keep it down to about $175 if I pushed and planned a bit better, but the reality is around $200. Teenage boys are like living with vacuum cleaners where food is concerned.

[IceCreamKid]

Originally Posted by Big Mama

Thanks guys. We buy in bulk, we shop close outs, we shop expired dates, and of course the Dollar tree and Dollar general.

My H suggests it's time for more beans. Which is o.k. if he is he is here to eat them w/ us. But he says please not beans again tonight. Then when he finds out what we are having he goes out instead of coming home.

But we do have beans one night and chillibeans the next. That last cup or two gets smashed and put in hot dog chilli or for refried beans make mexican. We put rice in casseroles, or my kids just love rice.

I wish he would do the shopping just once or twice alone. Maybe the T can suggest that.

When your husband goes out, is it to eat and drink? That would be money he is taking from the food bill. It sounds to me like you are already good at stretching a food dollar. Do you qualify for food assistance or is there a free food pantry nearby? Can the children get free or reduced price lunches? Eggs are still a reasonably priced protein source, and they can be combined with milk and a little sugar to make flan or custard, a nice treat that is a nutritious dessert. They can be scrambled and added to "fried rice"; made into omelets and fried egg sandwiches, french toast, so many things! If you can grow a garden or even a pot of tomatoes, (during the growing season of course) that helps. You could find out what stores and bakeries do with their day old products. My situation was this: my (eventually) ex didn't like our living situation but refused to do anything to help it because he was too busy enjoying himself without his family. I eventually developed a life without him. Not because I wanted to, but because he simply wasn't home. You can try talking to your husband; you can try laying out the facts with receipts, store ads and price tags. Or you can keep doing the best you can while you and the children find ways to generate more income and to maximize what money your husband is giving you. If that means when he comes home,he finds you eating beans and uses that as an excuse to go out, let him go and make a little tick mark on the calendar. Tally those tick marks up and assign a dollar value to them; even 5 dollars should buy a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread, or a bag of apples or sack of potatoes.