Author Topic: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018  (Read 121267 times)

Off the Wheel

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #250 on: February 12, 2018, 04:50:25 PM »
At about $90 for the month so far, so nicely under the $250 goal.

4alpacas

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #251 on: February 12, 2018, 05:19:07 PM »
I've spent $1.99 on groceries so far this month.  I will probably do a big delivery on Saturday, but I'm trying to eat down my fridge and freezer this week. Lots of frozen broccoli in my future!

CrustyBadger

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #252 on: February 12, 2018, 06:48:14 PM »
My meal swap went great!  I received 8 delicious looking meals, all frozen and ready for crock pot, instant pot or sheet pan dinner and of sufficient variety (sausage, pork chop, beef, chicken with various vegetables and starches). Everyone made their favorites, and I still have one of my chicken pot pies.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #253 on: February 12, 2018, 07:26:06 PM »
@galliver - Good thinking, I love red rice.  I think you pegged part of my problem - I was trying to re-create a rice and chicken that I remember from my childhood, but try to make it healthier, and it just ended up bland (but not in a “good”/childhood memory way).  I think a pilaf with some deeper/stronger flavors would have worked better with the nuttier flavor of the rice.

@RoadRunner:  fresh broccoli.  I just don’t like broccoli, but it’s one of the veggies I will tolerate, so I was trying to work it in.  But the combo brought out all of the “essence of vegetable” flavor I don’t like, without enough other good flavors to tone it down. 

But, hey, I finished it off today, so we never have to do that again.  :-)

Serendip

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #254 on: February 12, 2018, 09:16:44 PM »
I am so impressed with those low groceries numbers (especially those of you eating down the fridge/freezer)!
I am at $109 and still somewhat stocked..

my SO is not on the same page as me so he has reverted to picking up groceries often and I will try to do my biweekly shop and cook in batches. We keep our finances seperate so I will just do my own accounting :)

Tomorrow I will cook up a curried chickpea meal and then will brainstorm what to make for a Valentine's Day dinner.
Not usually my type of thing, but I have the day off so might as well make something tasty.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #255 on: February 12, 2018, 09:47:26 PM »
I failed at my goal of $200 for the month already :( I had an emergency wisdom tooth extraction last week, and ended up having to do an extra grocery shop for all soft foods (pretty much just dairy free ice cream which is $$, and applesauce and such). I was super bummed because I'd already gotten tons of fresh produce for the week, that I couldn't and still can't eat. I'm still hoping I'll come in under $250, which will still be my lowest month in a long time.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #256 on: February 13, 2018, 12:20:17 AM »
At $592 so far for Feb; goal is $700. Hmph. We may need to exercise more caution from here on out. The good news is that we have ingredients to make a few comfort foods, including turning the bland batch of Bolognese in the freezer into delicious lasagne. We're having a shit month, so comfort food is a good move.

formerlydivorcedmom

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #257 on: February 13, 2018, 07:44:13 AM »
I hope you don't mind if I play along too.... I know I'm late to the start.
Coming out of last year we averaged $1050 a month for food/gas. That's foe my DW, a newborn, and I.

My 2018 goal is to reduce that by at least 25%.

I've got a few items already in place:
- We used to buy individual servicing sized cups of rice or pouches. That's long gone.... buy in bulk now and cook when it's needed.
Or I'll cook enough for the week on Sunday for my lunch meal prep.

- Oatmeal... so long small boxes of oatmeal packs or 3 for 5 individual service cups....
It's now large containers of oats or I'll buy the Sams club sized oatmeal packs.

- Potatoes.... so long premade mashed potatoes or pre sliced and seasoned potatoes...

etc etc

I don't mind spending a little time doing meal prep because the savings are happening very quickly.

Welcome, Dapper!

I'm trying to cook more from scratch this year, too.  My kids think I'm being very weird, but were pleasantly surprised that oatmeal can come from something other than a packet.  It is amazing how much healthier we are eating and at how much less of a cost.

My goal is to be between $125-150 per week ($125 at the main grocery store plus a monthly Costco run of about $100).  That includes food for 5 people, 1 dog, and also household items.

My stretch goal is a total of $6500/year ($540/mo).

AmandaPanda

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #258 on: February 13, 2018, 08:28:37 AM »
My meal swap went great!  I received 8 delicious looking meals, all frozen and ready for crock pot, instant pot or sheet pan dinner and of sufficient variety (sausage, pork chop, beef, chicken with various vegetables and starches). Everyone made their favorites, and I still have one of my chicken pot pies.

That is great news!

4alpacas

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #259 on: February 14, 2018, 10:51:06 AM »
I've spent $1.99 on groceries so far this month.  I will probably do a big delivery on Saturday, but I'm trying to eat down my fridge and freezer this week. Lots of frozen broccoli in my future!
Still no new grocery shopping.

I started my crockpot this morning before work (a first!).  We will have chicken taco bowl for dinner tonight.  I used up our last can of black beans, two mostly empty bags of frozen corn, 2 chicken breasts (the last of the frozen chicken from a bulk buy a few months ago), and finished the salsa.

I had a work dinner last night, so I have leftovers for lunch today. 

I forgot breakfast this morning, so I pulled together a few things from my office (packet of oatmeal, almond butter, and dried fruit).  Filling and tasty!

If I get hungry, I have a Belvita package that I received on a Southwest flight last month.  I ate one for an afternoon snack yesterday. 

I am planning a large grocery shop (~$150) on Saturday.

haypug16

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #260 on: February 14, 2018, 01:21:21 PM »
So far this month I'm at $160.23. Hoping the second half of the month to spend less than that. I know I need to get some more coffee beans, milk, pastry flour, and produce. Hopefully that will be pretty much it and I can keep it around $200 or at least under $250.

CrustyBadger

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #261 on: February 14, 2018, 02:22:06 PM »
You all are so inspirational!  I'm already thinking about how to trim down NEXT month's grocery budget... LOL.  But I can do better the rest of this month too.

CutTheFat

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #262 on: February 14, 2018, 02:55:28 PM »
I'm sad to say, that I've allowed the grocery budget to get away from me over the last couple months.  So I'm reeling it in!  The good news is we have lots of reserves to eat from and won't have to spend much this month.  Last night I made 6 quarts of buffalo stew, tons of leftovers and the buffalo was given to us for FREE (and there's more in the freezer).  I defrosted pork chops for tonight, I want to make them special for my Valentine I'm thinking of serving them over polenta with some braised veggies.  So far for Feb we've spent $233.07  for 3 of.  I enjoy grocery shopping and love finding bargains and stocking up.  But I need to not go into certain stores when we don't need to stock up.  So the plan is to eat a bunch of the food that we already have and supplement with produce, dairy and eggs as needed.  I'm hoping to stay under $300 for this month!         

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #263 on: February 14, 2018, 03:53:17 PM »
Quick mid-month check in for us, and meal plan check in. We've spent $132.30 (budget of $200 for Feb, as we have a gift card for other spending).

Meal plan (as I expected it to be):
Here's what we've eaten so far:

Friday - we ate out for my birthday
Saturday - boys had soccer, so had a quick "freezer" meal. The kids had pasta from the fridge & the adults had pesto tortellini, served with salad & baked chicken
Sunday - kebabs & rice
Monday - ate leftover pasta, tortellini & chicken
Tuesday - leftover kebabs & rice

Mid-week, as we only cooked one big meal this weekend (as opposed to normal 3), this is where things get dicey. Rest of week plan
Wednesday - empanadas (freezer) + chicken. I'll have the last of some soup, and my husband will likely also have a kebab.
Thursday - spaghetti & meatballs
Friday - my son's birthday, so we're having pizza at the bowling alley.

3 of 4 birthdays in our family are in a 5 week span, so things get a little crazy.

krmit

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #264 on: February 15, 2018, 03:27:29 PM »
Well, we're in the second half of February and the no (low)-spend grocery month continues to stretch my creativity. Still got plenty of food in the pantry - it feels like I've barely done any rice and bean cliche meals. (Lentils and rice last week, and I'm planning chili for tomorrow)

Spent $25.46 on an Imperfect Produce box, mostly onions, carrots, and potatoes, which we were totally out of. My splurge was throwing in 3 avocados for $2 - when they're ripe, we'll have half-assed sushi rolls (with canned tuna) and delicious tacos.

The total spend for the month so far is $36.51.

I find myself actually tempted to eat out more, which is unusual. We are also continuing to be tempted by all the snacky things. We love our popcorn.

But the great challenge remains - as of this morning, we're out of peanut butter. That's one of my trigger foods, as in, "out of peanut butter? Time to go grocery shopping TODAY!" The only nuts I have in the house are pecans. That sounds absurdly fancy, but it would probably be a good stand in.

AmandaPanda

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #265 on: February 16, 2018, 10:59:11 AM »
krmit, I love pecans, and when we ran out, I begrudgingly started eating the walnuts, all in the name of saving money.

This weekend the kids and I are out of town.  I served up the Aldi grocery list and two recipes for the husband to have waiting for our week when we return on Sunday.  Turkey meat spaghetti for the kids, zucchini sausage ravioli from budgetbytes for adults, and salad for all.  I'm sure I will be cooking again on Thursday to get us through the remainder of the week.

Serendip

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #266 on: February 16, 2018, 04:13:33 PM »
Good job everyone :)

So far I've spent $153 this month which I am feeling pretty good about (last month's total was $550 for groceries, eating out and alcohol)

Heading to dinner at a friend's house tonight (will buy wine) and might make a coconut lentil soup tomorrow, which I have all the ingredients for..so will see how long until we do another shop.


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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #267 on: February 17, 2018, 10:13:49 AM »
I'm right at my $300 goal for the month ($301.17, to be exact). I bought ingredients for freezer meals that won't all be eaten this month, so I'm upping the budget to $325 to allow buying enough fresh vegetables and other necessities like rice or tortillas if we need them.

krmit

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #268 on: February 17, 2018, 11:02:34 AM »
Toasted pecans + salt + food processer = a perfectly acceptable fancy-pants peanut butter substitute!

I really think I'll be able to come in under $50 for the month. I'll need to pick up a few staples next week (coffee and flour) but otherwise should hold out for another 10 days!

icecreamcat

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #269 on: February 17, 2018, 11:40:30 AM »
DH and I are trying to reduce our grocery budget by another $400 this year to $400/month total. I made quarterly goals in Asana because that’s the way I roll. Goals for this quarter are to decrease overall budget by $100/month by eating out less and spending less money on alcohol.

I’m the one who bloats our budget with eating out because it’s my favorite treat. I’ll eat out less by using PlanToEat to do meal planning, only eat out for social events, and batch cook lunch meals each weekend. It pains me to pay for PlanToEat, but it is helping a lot, so I'm using it at least for a year. Biggest success so far this month — we had date night in for Valentine’s Day. We made dinner together, drank some wine, and it was better than going out to eat.

My husband does most of the alcohol spending as he enjoys having a craft beer or expensive scotch after work. We are drinking tea in place of alcohol. My husband found some cheaper whiskeys at Costco that he enjoys (yay!), and he’s aging one in a barrel I bought him for Christmas.

@krmit Thanks for posting how it went! That's a pretty cool substitution.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #270 on: February 17, 2018, 01:25:58 PM »
Well, I think I am going to be in trouble in a few months - just got word they are opening a new gourmet market literally two blocks away.  This is one area in which I am learning to use my innate laziness to my advantage: shopping requires effort (all the good stores are 15 minutes away), so if I am lazy, I have to figure out how to eat out of my pantry and freezer.  But now the laziness is going to induce me to spend more instead of less - oh, gee, I really don’t feel like driving, I’ll just pop across the street. 

Worse:  they will have takeout sushi.  DH and DD love sushi.  Ugh.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #271 on: February 17, 2018, 01:48:41 PM »
I spend a lot on groceries but don't feel one bit bad about it. We eat at home almost 100% and eat what I would call restaurant quality food. If we were to eat out all the time, we'd spend much more and not have leftovers to eat for lunch or breakfast. We enjoy variety and trying new things which requires shopping for ingredients we do not have at home. We shop the sale flyers too. This week we bought an 8 lb chicken and poached it. Hub cut it up and we tossed the bones and scraps into the broth and I cooked it in the crockpot all night with celery, onions, garlic, carrots. Strained it this morning and will make a pureed white bean soup out of it. How can you beat the price of that chicken and all the broth I ended up with? The chicken will make a few meals and leftovers. So we buy bargains and then also buy expensive stuff like sea scallops now and then. Shrimp and lobster now and then. So my cheap chicken kind of offsets the expensive stuff! To each his own I guess.

zeli2033

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #272 on: February 18, 2018, 08:54:42 AM »
Update after shopping completed for next week: $517/$850.

Tracking along nicely although DH and I did succumb to getting takeout last night. We would have spent even less but it’s was a good treat for us.

4alpacas

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #273 on: February 18, 2018, 05:06:19 PM »
We are currently at $99.50* for the month. 

I might pick up some more fruit and salad greens next weekend, but that should be under $20. 

Today, I prepared a batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer (whole wheat tortillas, eggs, spinach, black beans, cheese), a large batch of chicken curry in the Instant Pot (will freeze half), chickpea shawarma, and tripled the recipe for a cauliflower salad.

I also packed up the extra chicken breasts we bought in package of two and put them in the freezer.  These will probably be used to make shredded chicken in the Instant Pot.

*This includes delivery fees (yes, we get our groceries delivered), a few bags (oops!), paper products, toiletries, and cleaning products (bulk vinegar).

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #274 on: February 19, 2018, 07:30:41 AM »
Not so hot this week -- let DD talk me into Wegmans, and we were out and I hadn't checked pantry for staples so ended up buying some stuff we don't need.  So $232 for groceries and $8 for household, for a monthly total of $367 groceries, $48 household -- so I should still be easily within the $600 total budget if I pay attention next weekend (and I totally overbought this week, so I really shouldn't need much).  Also ended up agreeing to pho when DH was out of town, bringing the monthly takeout to around $100.



Edited to fix math.


« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 08:59:41 AM by Laura33 »

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #275 on: February 19, 2018, 07:52:59 AM »
Laura33, you made me laugh! I always go to the store 'for just a few things' and $300 later I walk out of the store! My Hub will say, should I just get a basket? I usually say NO, get a cart. It isn't just me, he will see a bargain and point it out to me and we buy it! Then something else and something else...cha ching...your bill is $300 MAM!

It also makes me laugh when a storm is predicted and everyone runs to the store to stock up on MILK and BREAD! LOL! Like we are going to get snowed in for months! I have so much food in my house that I could supply my neighborhood with meals for a few weeks! Just as long as we don't lose electricity for too long. We do have a generator so we could get by for a while.

One summer it was HOT, HOT, HOT and we got a horrible thunderstorm that blew out our electricity and most of the town. My Hub cranked up the generator and wa la, on the hottest day we had ac running, refrigerators running and tv running! LOL! Decadent!

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #276 on: February 19, 2018, 09:15:08 AM »
Laura33, you made me laugh! I always go to the store 'for just a few things' and $300 later I walk out of the store! My Hub will say, should I just get a basket? I usually say NO, get a cart. It isn't just me, he will see a bargain and point it out to me and we buy it! Then something else and something else...cha ching...your bill is $300 MAM!

Probably the only thing that saved me from a $300 trip was getting the smaller cart instead of the big one. ;-)

My real lesson from doing this last year was exactly how susceptible to impulse spending I am in the grocery store.  I always prided myself on being immune to that, as things like malls and commercials and clothes and "stuff" don't really do it for me.  But, man, do not let me loose unsupervised in Wegmans!  Especially when I can justify it as buying treats for someone else, like DH/kids -- I can say no to myself, but I want to keep my family happy.  I have really had to learn different habits to manage myself -- e.g., ALDI as much as I can (fewer temptations), having a plan and a menu and a complete list, 1-2 meats/cheeses at a time for DH/kids instead of a deli tray full, fully vetting the state of the pantry before leaving, NO kids, and taking the smaller cart.  This week was a fail on all but that last front! 

But at the same time, I don't feel too bad about it, because (a) I also learned last year that if I don't periodically get some prosciutto and mortadella and the like, DH gets extremely cranky and resentful (the reason my budget is $600 in the first place -- which is ridiculous by MMM standards -- is to allow for a big Wegmans shop every 2-3 weeks) and (b) at least my "fail" week is $100 lower than before I started paying attention.  :-)

RayO

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #277 on: February 19, 2018, 10:18:33 AM »
@ galliver - Thank you for the Colgate recommendation! I’ll give it a go next time I need toothpaste.

I totally fell off the wagon 😣. Hubby and I both got sick and I didn’t feel like cooking at all. Somehow between eating take out and Haagen Dazs for a week and a half I still lost about 4 lbs.

Currently I’m at -$148.82 for the month, with a total spend goal of $250.00. Hopefully I can get that to even out throughout the rest of the year. I did enjoy all of the yummy food, also no dishes was the best! Lol.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 07:17:25 PM by RayO »

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #278 on: February 19, 2018, 10:32:38 AM »
I am retired and it is just the two of us, no kids. I don't mind spending on food as long as we eat it. It is life's little luxuries. I have found a place on line where I have been ordering some tasty treats like coconut shrimp. You have to buy large size boxes, like 10 lbs. They have these fish fillets like what is on the Burger King Fish filet sandwich, another 10 lb. box. The worst part though is you have to pay for shipping with dry ice. Ooooh la la!

SachaFiscal

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #279 on: February 19, 2018, 03:26:19 PM »
I'm starting to focus on reducing my grocery spending this month.  I've been tracking our spending on groceries for the past 8 months and our average is about $750 per month with the highest month being $940 and the lowest month $615.  I don't have a particular goal in mind but I'd like to see how much I can reduce it by just being mindful of what I'm buying and not wasting any food.  We are mostly vegan so our staples (e.g. rice and beans) are fairly cheap but we like to eat organic when possible so that increases our spending on produce a bit.

Here are the things I have done so far to reduce my spending:
1. Track grocery spending.
2. Eat pretty much the same things every week. So I can buy some stuff in bulk.
3. Don't waste any food. Everything I buy we eat.
3. Don't overeat (also helps with achieving and maintaining a healthy weight). I portion out the food so that we eat a sufficient amount without going overboard.
4. Switching from canned beans to dry beans.  I've started using my instant pot to cook dry beans which saves quite a bit and may be more nutritious and less caloric.
5. Cook from scratch as much as possible.
6. Stop/reduce drinking alcohol. We don't buy alcohol to drink at home anymore. I only drink about once or twice a month if I go out with friends or on special occasions.

My plan next week is to start looking at where I can buy things the cheapest. Going to a few different stores and checking out their prices on the things I normally buy.

So far this month I've already spent $125 but I had to buy some bulk items.  I expect future weeks to be much less.

Doing good so far!  I've only spent $288 and I have enough food to last until Saturday at least.  I'll probably do one more shopping run on Sunday which will probably be less than $100 putting me below the USDA thrifty food plan amount for two adults ($385). Not bad!  I think this is as low as I can go and still eat mostly organic produce.

CrustyBadger

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #280 on: February 19, 2018, 05:43:39 PM »
I'm not even bothering to post this month because my grocery spending has been abyssmal.

But I did intend to buy asparagus today at the store, and in a weak, Spendy McSpendy pants moment, picked up a pack of prewashed, precut asparagus.   Noted the cost per pound ($8.99!!!) and walked over to the regular asparagus ($2.99 pound) and thought of all you frugal guys here, and bought green beans.  ($1.99/pound).

galliver

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #281 on: February 19, 2018, 08:45:21 PM »
Tuesday, stopped by nearest grocery store for pizza crusts and cheese for a quick dinner that used up some leftovers (we'd had mixed grains + roasted veggies planned but I kept coming home too late to do it, *sigh* work). Also got yogurt while/because it was on sale and at bf's request, flavored fizzy water ($12 for 3x8 packs, total bill $27).
Friday, convinced bf to go grocery shopping so I could do a cooking project Saturday (I'd been wanting to try my hand at my own won tons since December, and they turned out awesome). He wanted to do burritos later, so we picked up stuff for those as well. ~$100 in meat, vegetables, tortillas, cheese (block of cheddar), won ton wrappers. No beverages or alcohol or deli!
Saturday, had to send bf out for more won ton wraps and he ended up going to 2 stores because they were out at the first one. He picked up a couple additional things to the tune of $25.
So we're just short of $300 at the moment with a full fridge...way less than we'd normally be at by this part of the month!

The won-ton project also prompted me to clean out odds and ends from the freezer so I'd have room for a tray! I've also been noticing that being on this challenge is motivating me to think about meal plans in terms of using up what's available more often (cooking projects that have to take place on the weekend aside). Finished off two dressings in the last week by using them as sauce/marinade for cooked dishes.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #282 on: February 19, 2018, 08:56:54 PM »
We're still below $140 for February, but that's mostly because we had a Costco gift card. My husband has done a few shopping trips, and sticks to the list about 80%. The 20% of stuff I try to use, but not guarantees. We've bought two giant bags of limes, a second 2 pack of cooking spray (still have a 2 pack in the pantry), another pack of baguette bread, etc. I do what I can, but also know that unless I'm doing the shopping, some grace needs to be extended.

Menu plan for the week ahead:

Friday - pizza at son's bowling/birthday party
Saturday - chicken fiesta skillet w/homemade guacamole
Sunday - skiing at Tahoe, and had to eat on our way home. (Comes out of vacation budget). Went to Old Spaghetti Factory
Monday - butternut squash soup with bread & salad
Tuesday - Will have leftover chicken fiesta skillet
Wednesday - Leftover soup & bread
Thursday - Spaghetti & meatballs
Friday - likely a chicken rice pilaf recipe

We did all of the shopping on Saturday, and don't shop mid-week. But, one more shop for February.

Novik

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #283 on: February 20, 2018, 08:03:52 AM »
Didn't go grocery shopping last-last weekend, which was awesome for the budget. This week though the bill was 128$ - I used PC points to get it under 100$, which is better aligned with my goals AND more reflective of food costs (we had ~30$ of pharmacy stuff - meds, mouthwash, deoderant). 

Today though I have to go BACK to the store for frozen pizzas, as we are hosting games night (planned after our last trip to the store). And can't feasibly cook since the game we're playing (Power Grid) took almost 4 hours from start to finish last time!

To those on track - great work! To those struggling - hang in there!

formerlydivorcedmom

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #284 on: February 20, 2018, 08:12:03 AM »
We were doing really well for February, and then I forgot to properly meal plan this weekend.  I realized I'd forgotten a few things we needed for the meals I planned to make and sent my husband to the store with a list yesterday.

He bought everything on my list and then another $30 in junk - ice cream, chips, soda, etc.

He's not allowed to go grocery shopping again for a while, at least until our new healthy eating lifestyle has caught on.

Candace

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #285 on: February 20, 2018, 09:41:58 AM »
We were doing really well for February, and then I forgot to properly meal plan this weekend.  I realized I'd forgotten a few things we needed for the meals I planned to make and sent my husband to the store with a list yesterday.

He bought everything on my list and then another $30 in junk - ice cream, chips, soda, etc.

He's not allowed to go grocery shopping again for a while, at least until our new healthy eating lifestyle has caught on.
Clever how he got you to sign up to do all the grocery shopping :-/.

Mrs. Rocker

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #286 on: February 20, 2018, 09:59:50 AM »
We've been enjoying lower produce prices lately in Texas. Since we travel full-time we seldom go to the same grocery store more than once so it's always interesting what we will find. Yesterday we bought:
Asparagus $.98/#
Broccoli Crowns $1.28/#
Cauliflower $2.25/head
Baby Carrots $.88/#
Sweet Onions $.88/#
Last night for supper we chopped up the asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Placed them on a sheet of foil. Sprinkled with salt and pepper. Topped with a handful of onions and drizzle of oil. Wrapped it up and grilled on each side for a few minutes. Yum!!

formerlydivorcedmom

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #287 on: February 20, 2018, 10:18:22 AM »
We were doing really well for February, and then I forgot to properly meal plan this weekend.  I realized I'd forgotten a few things we needed for the meals I planned to make and sent my husband to the store with a list yesterday.

He bought everything on my list and then another $30 in junk - ice cream, chips, soda, etc.

He's not allowed to go grocery shopping again for a while, at least until our new healthy eating lifestyle has caught on.
Clever how he got you to sign up to do all the grocery shopping :-/.

If only!

He did all the grocery shopping for the last few years, but we rebalanced chores in September so now I do it.  He volunteered to pick up the handful of things I'd forgotten; otherwise I would have gone after work yesterday.

I think he's just rebelling against all the veggies.

I did tell him that if he insists on buying ice cream, at least get the good stuff, not the low-fat tasteless crap.  If we're going to splurge, it better taste good.

Candace

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #288 on: February 20, 2018, 10:25:10 AM »
We were doing really well for February, and then I forgot to properly meal plan this weekend.  I realized I'd forgotten a few things we needed for the meals I planned to make and sent my husband to the store with a list yesterday.

He bought everything on my list and then another $30 in junk - ice cream, chips, soda, etc.

He's not allowed to go grocery shopping again for a while, at least until our new healthy eating lifestyle has caught on.
Clever how he got you to sign up to do all the grocery shopping :-/.

If only!

He did all the grocery shopping for the last few years, but we rebalanced chores in September so now I do it.  He volunteered to pick up the handful of things I'd forgotten; otherwise I would have gone after work yesterday.

I think he's just rebelling against all the veggies.

I did tell him that if he insists on buying ice cream, at least get the good stuff, not the low-fat tasteless crap.  If we're going to splurge, it better taste good.
Grin. Damn right. Cool about balancing out the chores.

Shelley

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #289 on: February 20, 2018, 07:37:59 PM »
We were doing really well for February, and then I forgot to properly meal plan this weekend.  I realized I'd forgotten a few things we needed for the meals I planned to make and sent my husband to the store with a list yesterday.

He bought everything on my list and then another $30 in junk - ice cream, chips, soda, etc.

He's not allowed to go grocery shopping again for a while, at least until our new healthy eating lifestyle has caught on.

Don’t you hate that? You think they’re on track with you to shop responsibly and it gets blown up. My DH got the task of setting up a phone account for our youngest DD when she started high school this year. I thought he’d just do a quick $15 add on plan to ours, didn’t think to discuss it. He put her on a $40 a month, 12 month plan!! And all she needed was free text and calls, no data. So angry!

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #290 on: February 20, 2018, 07:52:10 PM »
So I’m going to tag along here. We are a family of 4, two girls 13 and 17. At the start of last year we were spending $1300 a month for groceries, including all household products, cat and dog products too. We cut it down to about $1100, some months were less. But since the start of this year I’ve completely changed the way we eat. So our new goal is $880. Last month was $920, I was due for a $30 off with store card but for some reason it didn’t go through so I blew my limit well and truly.

We have $400 in gift cards from our credit card rewards, but I don’t deduct those as I don’t want to over spend because of free money.

Last month we splashed out and bought the cheapest bar size freezer we could find. The top two drawers fit 15 takeaway containers each, the bottom I use to store beans I’ve cooked up from dry and packaged into can size amounts.

We are eating less meat, and I love the website ifoodreal, she has lots of less meat recipes. 500g of protein serves 7 meals now, 4 of which go into the freezer for ‘fakeaway’ a couple of nights a week. I also sometimes only half fill the container and they go into the top drawer for lunches. I add beans to just about everything , which my youngest isn’t too impressed about, but she is getting used to it.

I always thought it was expensive to buy fresh produce, and used a lot of canned and frozen veg, but we have mostly been eating fresh stuff in the last six months and our bills have been so much cheaper. I only shop once a week, and we have to make do if we run out of something. We have run out of bread, and had to make tortillas for lunch wraps!

Dinner this week we’ve having two containers of leftover spaghetti sauce on baked potato with Greek yoghurt, tuna broccoli pasta salad, leftover chicken curry with rice and homemade chapatti bread, lazy cabbage rolls from food real site (will have some leftovers for freezer), choice of ‘fakeaway’ from the freezer, chicken fajitas with homemade tortillas.

Sorry for the novel! I’ve got a lot from reading what others are doing to cut costs, so wanted to share mine. Now I’m off to see if they sell instant pots in Australia.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #291 on: February 20, 2018, 08:17:45 PM »
@Shelley - sounds you are making some huge changes! Congrats. We continue to refine our eating, but the biggest change I've made over the past few years was to start cooking only on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, & then serving leftovers Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. It reduces weeknight craziness & has cut WAY back on eating out. For Thursdays, sometimes there's still leftovers, and other times we make do with freezer options. I keep a variety of quick dinner options on hand in the freezer.

Serendip

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #292 on: February 21, 2018, 09:38:47 AM »
My shopping has been very low-key this month but I feel like it's an exaggerated low since my SO is picking up things left, right & center (and is not tracking his side)

However, I have kept mine under $170 this month, which is a great reduction from $550 last month..my 'stocking up' on dry goods/beans, etc will probably be every other month and I might do a big order of produce so I can do a health-food blitz while he is out of town in March (intestinal spring cleaning?) :)

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #293 on: February 21, 2018, 09:49:53 AM »
We're at $147.50* after buying a ton of Clif bars and 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

I made a batch of breakfast burritos this weekend for the freezer, and I'm LOVING them.  They're so easy to take to work (wrapped each one in foil) when I'm running late, which has been every morning this week. 

I was planning to hit the grocery store for produce this weekend, but I still have plenty of citrus and spinach. This weekend, I plan to bake another loaf of bread, make a huge batch of brown rice (to go with the chicken curry in the freezer), and make a spinach salad with goat cheese.

*This includes delivery fees (we get our groceries delivered), a few plastic bag fees, paper products, toiletries, and cleaning products.

Shelley

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #294 on: February 21, 2018, 01:50:10 PM »
What do you put in your breakfast burritos 4alpacas? I’m trying to find something heart healthy for DH who is on the edge of having to get cholesterol lowering medication. He can’t have much cheese anymore, which was his favorite part of lunchtime sandwiches. Beans are great for cholesterol lowering though... He has a sandwich press at work so he could warm them up that way.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #295 on: February 21, 2018, 11:32:19 PM »
Up to a hair under $80 total for the month. Ran out of coffee and toilet paper, and grabbed some staples for a busy work weekend (got 20 hours of work scheduled for Saturday and Sunday). I can't go into tech weekend without bread and peanut butter on hand. I think that should be the last grocery shop of the month though, and is absolutely the cheapest grocery month I've ever had. I learned a lot about what I need to keep more of around, particularly fast sources of fat/protein/fiber for snacks. Nuts and nut butter, dried fruit, cheese, and yogurt went fast this month.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #296 on: February 22, 2018, 01:40:46 AM »
Up to $669 for February. My overall goal for 2018 is for my average monthly spend to be under $800. I had toyed with a stretch goal of $700 for Feb, but that's clearly not going to happen.

Today's shop at Aldi was interesting. I deliberately paid more for Australian products (e.g. olive oil and honey). I'm noticing that every single month there are things to stock up on - last month we stocked up on dried beans, nuts and seeds, this month we needed olive oil which we buy in bulk both to save money and to reduce packaging (we've also stocked up on wet wipes and a few other irregular purchases). We also spend a LOT on fresh fruit and veg, even with buying in season. It's consistently a high percentage of our spend.

Time to start brainstorming my meal plan for the rest of the month!

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #297 on: February 22, 2018, 04:32:15 AM »
I’m trying to find something heart healthy for DH who is on the edge of having to get cholesterol lowering medication. He can’t have much cheese anymore, which was his favorite part of lunchtime sandwiches. Beans are great for cholesterol lowering though... He has a sandwich press at work so he could warm them up that way.

To lower cholesterol I have read try whole oats as oatmeal or in oat bread, certain spreads or oils that contain sterols (Benecal), avocados.   Been trying those and beans with my husband -- will get more recent results in another week to see if we made any change!

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #298 on: February 22, 2018, 07:49:02 AM »
I’m trying to find something heart healthy for DH who is on the edge of having to get cholesterol lowering medication. He can’t have much cheese anymore, which was his favorite part of lunchtime sandwiches. Beans are great for cholesterol lowering though... He has a sandwich press at work so he could warm them up that way.

To lower cholesterol I have read try whole oats as oatmeal or in oat bread, certain spreads or oils that contain sterols (Benecal), avocados.   Been trying those and beans with my husband -- will get more recent results in another week to see if we made any change!

I’m trying to lower my cholesterol as well. I stopped eating foods with cholesterol except once or twice a month and that reduced it quite a bit bit not enough. Now I’m trying to lose weight (excess fat) as that has been proven to reduce cholesterol. My cholesterol is pretty stubborn but I’ll get in control one way or another! Not excited about going on medication either so I’m trying everything I can to reduce it naturally.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #299 on: February 22, 2018, 09:00:09 AM »
What do you put in your breakfast burritos 4alpacas? I’m trying to find something heart healthy for DH who is on the edge of having to get cholesterol lowering medication. He can’t have much cheese anymore, which was his favorite part of lunchtime sandwiches. Beans are great for cholesterol lowering though... He has a sandwich press at work so he could warm them up that way.

I make scrambled eggs with all sorts of stuff added to them.  We add lots of veggies and just enough meat for flavoring.  Sometimes we add cheese and sometimes we don't.  It really depends on what we have on hand and what left overs need to get used up.  I always add salt and pepper.  I am on a high salt diet  (It is strange to have your doctors tell you need more salt.) and the salt helps make up for the lack of cheese.   

Left overs are the best.  We use little bits of steak, ham, pork chops, sausage, and bacon.  A little goes a long way and we mostly eat grass fed/pasture raised meats and eggs due to DH slightly high cholesterol.

Veggies include kale, broccoli, spinach, pac choi, tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, salsa, green onions, basil, baked eggplant, and other greens. 

We have chickens so spring and summer we tend to have excess eggs.    I will frittatas in cupcake tins and freeze them.  I use whatever assorted meat, cheese, and veggies on hand and then we have easy heat and eat breakfasts. I am sure you could adapt this for burritos.

 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!