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  • Grocery Bill

    Anyone want to share some cost saving advice on reducing the grocery bill? I am trying to keep mine below $200 a week, but cant seem to manage it most weeks. Family of 3, including breakfast, lunches, snacks and dinners, no fast food take-out. Does $200 a week seem high for 1 adult, 2 boys 3 & 7? How much is your Grocery Bill a week?

  • #2
    Sounds about like mine! It would be much less if I didn't have to throw out so much that got rejected by my picky eaters.

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    • #3
      mine ranges from 650-1000$/ month and that is for 2 kids, 1 teen and 2 adults, with very little eating out, maybe fast food 1-2 times a month and that is not included in that cost. Some day I will have 3 teenage boys. I shudder to think of what the grocery bill will be then.

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      • #4
        I think my biggest cost waste, is also throwing out uneaten food

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        • #5
          Originally posted by denbigh View Post
          I think my biggest cost waste, is also throwing out uneaten food


          I’ve been using Flipp to price match at the Great Canadian Superstore (I think Walmart also price matches). I find I save a lot of money that way. In general, I can manage to keep it under $200 a week for a family of about 3.5 (2 Adults & 3 teenagers on a 50% schedule). We don’t eat out much, but that includes all meals and pretty healthy.

          Some good options if you are willing to meal plan and consider a different menu. I don’t do as much meat as I used to, but don’t avoid it either.


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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          • #6
            I worked for a while with inmates in an institution who were responsible for preparing their own meals. This presented a challenge as everyone had different food preferences and there was a very strict budget. Food was purchased 1 x weekly from the institution grocery service. Interestingly, only purchasing food 1 x/week forced careful meal planning.

            Know which food is in season.
            Make a weekly meal plan and stick to it.
            Keep track of what is in your cupboard. Best way to do this is to thoroughly clean all of your kitchen cupboards/pantry/refrigerator/freezer.
            Go to the grocery store with a list. Do not deviate from the list.
            If you see something you want at the grocery store buy it... but take another item off of your list of equal or greater value.
            Go to your local library and browse cookbooks for meal ideas.
            Simplify your meals.

            Shop less ... eat healthy...

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            • #7
              1. Planning all your meals ahead of time
              2. Using flyers and coupons when planning your meals for the week
              3. Freezing bread and bagels. ( I take out however many slices I need and pop them in the toaster to thaw)
              4. Shopping only once a week
              5. Buying no name products
              6. Having a freezer to store items on sale I can buy in bulk
              7. Having a PC plus ( now optimum card) and using it for gas and groceries( this gives me an extra $20-30 free groceries per month.

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              • #8
                go to a butcher shop for meat. Buy larger cuts that you can cut to the size you like and freeze it. Buy other stuff in bulk or the largest size when possible, just keep an eye on price per grams to see if it is the better deal. when you can. Buy generic brands of food. There are some stuff where I do still buy the brand name but not too much.

                Keep some extra money available to stock up when things like toilet paper,shampoo etc are on sale. Clip coupons and get on some sites that have links for coupons and freebies.

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                • #9
                  The most effective ways I save are by planning my meals and only shopping once per week. Every Sunday I plan the entire week, then make a list and shop for the items I need to get through that week. Repeat next Sunday. I also use my crockpot a lot to make big batches of things I can freeze for leftovers night, if there isn’t enough to go around and I need another option for that night.
                  We spend about 200 per week (sometimes more) for a family of 2 adults and 3 kids.


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                  • #10
                    Grocery Bill

                    I grew up with a single mother on assistance. I didnt realize how much of a challenge it was for her to feed four kids. Ways she did were as follows:

                    1. Coupons and flyers. They didnt have apps so we would go with our coupon box and stack of flyers and buy only what was on sale or had coupons for.
                    2. We had a giant freezer that she would fill with meats and breads on sale. Its funny how my partner (and my brothers in law) hate how we can all eat frozen bread but its how we were raised.
                    3. Making meals stretch. My mom would make a giant roast on Sunday and we would eat it again a couple times that week.
                    4. Frozen veggies and fruits. While its always nice to eat fresh, in the winter its difficult to save so we would eat frozen veggies and my mom would use canned or frozen fruit for stuff.

                    We also used a lot of powdered milk 🤢

                    My partner put his foot down with me throwing away so much food as he was living in his car and a shelter during his separation. I took this to heart and I plan all our meals. He is probably not as picky as a kid is but he tends to come home and not want what Ive prepped. So he makes do with what I have that isnt planned. That planning cuts down on waste and helps stretch the dollars. If something is getting close to going bad I try to use it for an omelet or soup or something else.

                    You may also need to get tough with your kids on what they can get away with. I hated bread pudding and rice pudding and freezing veggies from the farmers market and never having the cool lunch at school but we also had a roof over our heads and food on the table so we didnt complain.

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                    • #11
                      Grocery Bill

                      My grocery bill for food only is under $100 per week for 1 adult and 2 children. I use Flipp and I barely buy any prepared or grocery items - I make everything from scratch. If you can cut out cereals, cold cuts, frozen foods, prepared foods and drinks you can really save. Yesterday we had a PD day and for example we had oatmeal and berries for breakfast, we had homemade mac n' cheese for lunch and roasted chicken legs an potatoes for dinner and some fruits for snack (bananas and apples) and milk and water to drink and we all ate three meals for under $15 worth of groceries. Good luck!


                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                      • #12
                        Deal with the picky eaters.

                        Have everyone assist in planning the meals. Everyone takes something from all the meal parts. Don’t eat the. You can wait for the
                        Next meal.

                        Stop enabling picky eaters.

                        Then keep on a strict cash basis weekly shop. Everyone has to come and help

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                        • #13
                          The best way I have found is online shopping with pickup at the store. I add things to my cart as we need them and hit order to pickup the next day when I'm ready. You can see the running total and it's seriously cut down on all impulse shopping.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by rockscan View Post
                            I grew up with a single mother on assistance. I didnt realize how much of a challenge it was for her to feed four kids. Ways she did were as follows:

                            1. Coupons and flyers. They didnt have apps so we would go with our coupon box and stack of flyers and buy only what was on sale or had coupons for.
                            2. We had a giant freezer that she would fill with meats and breads on sale. Its funny how my partner (and my brothers in law) hate how we can all eat frozen bread but its how we were raised.
                            3. Making meals stretch. My mom would make a giant roast on Sunday and we would eat it again a couple times that week.
                            4. Frozen veggies and fruits. While its always nice to eat fresh, in the winter its difficult to save so we would eat frozen veggies and my mom would use canned or frozen fruit for stuff.

                            We also used a lot of powdered milk 🤢

                            My partner put his foot down with me throwing away so much food as he was living in his car and a shelter during his separation. I took this to heart and I plan all our meals. He is probably not as picky as a kid is but he tends to come home and not want what Ive prepped. So he makes do with what I have that isnt planned. That planning cuts down on waste and helps stretch the dollars. If something is getting close to going bad I try to use it for an omelet or soup or something else.

                            You may also need to get tough with your kids on what they can get away with. I hated bread pudding and rice pudding and freezing veggies from the farmers market and never having the cool lunch at school but we also had a roof over our heads and food on the table so we didnt complain.
                            EEEEEEK - I laughed when I read this - I absolutely HATE rice pudding! My mother used to make that all the time. I can recall crying about having to eat it.

                            We had roast EVERY Sunday and I remember eating it for many days afterwards. I grew up in a fairly affluent home but my parents both lived through the depression so they were quite frugal. My mom used to save and reuse tinfoil many times.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by blinkandimgone View Post
                              The best way I have found is online shopping with pickup at the store. I add things to my cart as we need them and hit order to pickup the next day when I'm ready. You can see the running total and it's seriously cut down on all impulse shopping.
                              I've never considered this. I thought online was only for places like Whole Foods? Which stores offer this? Great idea.

                              Comment

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