About Me

Back in the day, I used to spend $600-$1,000 per month on groceries for two adults, a two year old and a baby. Groceries were a lot cheaper back then too! I'm almost embarrassed to write that, but you can see how far I've come!

Today, for our family of four (two adults, one teenager and a ten year old) I currently spend approximately $300.00 per month on groceries and another $50.00 per month for supplies like shampoo, toilet paper, soap, etc. I use the following techniques:

• I use very few coupons
• shop mostly loss leaders
• buy in bulk
• I rarely buy what I really want to eat…I cook/eat whatever is on sale

1. The $300 food budget does NOT include the following:
   Occasionally we go out to eat, which comes out of the entertainment budget. If we don’t have money in that envelope then we don’t go out to eat.
2. My gardening supplies do not come out of here. Right now it’s a hobby for me. Hopefully some day I’ll save money or at least break even!
3. Dog food comes out of the dog budget.
4. Any alcohol we buy comes out of the entertainment budget.
   

In February 2009, after reading Gayle's website where she spends $60/week CASH to feed a family of six, I was inspired to try this for our own family. I started out with $75 per week and was absolutely sure I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I was amazed at how little I could spend! I found that I could go as low as $40/week. I MADE myself go to two stores every Wednesday and spend $40 on food for the week for our family and $20 stocking up on items needed for my pantry.

I love having a well stocked pantry! I owe my understanding of the pantry principle to the wonderful people on Frugal Families! Therefore, in August I decided to join Sam’s Club and buy some bulk items. I don’t believe we are saving money by going to Sam’s, but I do have peace of mind by having a lot more food in the house. My goal is to get our monthly total down to $216/month or $50/week.

For my reference:

$40/week = $173/month

$50/week = $216/month

$60/week = $260/month$69/week = $300/month

Loss leader – items on the front page (sometimes the back page) of a store’s ad that is cheap and used to entice you to shop at their store instead of somewhere else.

Price book – write down items you buy often so you know when a sale is really a good deal. For example, a whole chicken normally cost $1.49/lb at our store but on sale that price goes down to $.99/lb. It is at this time you buy enough chicken to get you through until the next sale (often times every 6 - 8 weeks).