Author Topic: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018  (Read 121279 times)

kaypinkHH

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #500 on: June 04, 2018, 02:01:19 PM »
May round up!

Groceries: $123
Restuarants: $51
Fastfood/Coffeeshops: $152
Alcohol and Bars: $110

Total: $436

So this is not a usual total for us due to the fact that on May 4th, Baby HH joined us! Here is how he has impacted this month's food spending.

1. Groceries- we barely had to buy anything since my parents were staying at my house the first 3 weeks, and refused to let us pay them back for groceries. Also, my ILs have also hosted us for a few meals.  #spoiledrotten. Other than that, we are slowly working our way through our freezer/pantry stock pile.
2. Fastfood/coffeeshops/restaurants- we were stuck at the hospital for a full week (had been planning max 2 days). It was a lot easier (and cheaper) for MrHH to pay the $7 per meal the hospital would deliver or go grab subway.  I got free meals with my stay. Big splurge: last night in the hospital we got take out from a nearby burger restaurant!
3. Alcohol- MrHH bought some stuff to share with my dad while he was staying with us, and last weekend we went on a road trip to local vinyards and distilleries and bought some of the product for future use.

Since this month doesn't really count (relying on other people spending money on us is not the mustachian life I imagined lol), I am interested on what June's totals will be!


galliver

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #501 on: June 04, 2018, 06:51:11 PM »
So, I went on a bit of a hiatus for the end of March, April, and May... I was finishing my doctoral thesis, defending, and recovering (I passed! Yay!)

Looking up on totals in Mint, I'm somewhat surprised to find our grocery totals were $337, $366, and $483 respectively...and that last is after I assigned some grocery spending to Travel (we used Splitwise to reconcile expenses for a group of 9, which included some groceries various people bought). I think the conclusion I have to make is that we spend less when I/we are not cooking, although a caveat to that is that I don't have full takeout values because BF was bringing me food a lot. It's all a haze. I think there's some truth to the numbers, in that I'm more willing to eat boring food when I'm stressed/busy, but want to get more creative when I'm not. That said it's also likely not as healthful, even if I remember a vegetable here and there. I had a lot of frozen dinners at work...

May was weird...we were traveling for 2 weeks plus Memorial day weekend, but for the first part some was defense travel (my lodging plus meals are reimbursable, I just haven't gotten it back yet), some was staying with friends who fed us some of the time, and of course some was eating out--more than usual, less than expected. All this travel time, plus the fact that our first full week back I got leftovers from a lab group lunch that made SIX portions for us (when combined with some old-but-fine soyrizo and cheese), should have resulted in much lower grocery bills, but between coming home to an empty fridge and the foggy head/lack of motivation I couldn't shake for 2 weekends after returning... we managed to get in 4x $100 grocery trips, and a few smaller ones...eep! And I can't for the life of me remember much of what we got (foggy head...).

Ahem, anyway. New plan for June: I realized that for some reason whenever I think of tracking grocery spending I think of saving paper receipts...but whenever I need to remember who ordered what at a group dinner bf or I pay for, I take a picture of the receipt and send it to everyone. So, this month I'm going to try and photograph all my grocery receipts! Then when I have the "what the hell is this total?" moment at the end I can at least analyze retroactively. I also think it might be more effective since it will highlight if anything is a more regular splurge than I thought...

Grocery related, not sure if cost-saving: I dehydrated some lemons and limes last night and threw them in my water at work this morning. They did an excellent job of flavoring the water (and rehydrating themselves, but slowly). I think I might pulverize the remaining dessicated citrus and put them in spice jars, but I'll have to report on that result later. In the meantime, if you have extra citrus and a dehydrator and are wondering how to preserve...I recommend.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #502 on: June 05, 2018, 07:50:14 AM »
Congrats @kaypinkHH  and @galliver!!! 

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #503 on: June 05, 2018, 10:05:32 AM »
Our grocery spend for May was $568 (budget of $625). However, there was WAY more eating out than we should have had, so not feeling like it's an overall win. I was traveling two weeks out of the month, and things fall apart when I'm away & my husband & the kids are solo.

galliver

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #504 on: June 05, 2018, 11:53:01 AM »
Thanks, @Laura33! Glad to be on this side of it.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #505 on: June 06, 2018, 08:39:21 AM »
This might not be the exact place to put this but I wanted to share a yummy food I had. I had some leftover plain spaghetti and added a couple tablespoons of peanut butter on it and warmed in the microwave. I didn't have any sesame seeds or scallions but that would have been delicious. I guess this could be kind of compared to Chinese sesame noodles. So my point it, this could be a cheap but kick ass dinner. Oh, and I put some hot crushed pepper in it too.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #506 on: June 06, 2018, 06:07:24 PM »
This might not be the exact place to put this but I wanted to share a yummy food I had. I had some leftover plain spaghetti and added a couple tablespoons of peanut butter on it and warmed in the microwave. I didn't have any sesame seeds or scallions but that would have been delicious. I guess this could be kind of compared to Chinese sesame noodles. So my point it, this could be a cheap but kick ass dinner. Oh, and I put some hot crushed pepper in it too.

For a slight adaptation of that, check out this recipe. Love it! http://inpursuitofmore.com/2013/01/24/recipe-peanut-sauce-noodle-bowl/

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #507 on: June 07, 2018, 05:57:25 AM »
Making that! DROOLING!

galliver

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #508 on: June 11, 2018, 10:27:27 AM »
I've accidentally discovered a way to curb over-shopping/over-stocking.

Past 3-4 weeks, or been making a 2 gal batch of iced tea and a quart of cold brew coffee (bonus benefit: using up tea stash!) These beverages (in addition to beers that have been on clearance lately at Sprouts, wine we put in to chill and didn't drink, and milk) take up a significant portion of fridge real estate. Plus of course they slow down the consumption of store bought beverages like mineral water and seltzer. (We drink tap water, too. We just get bored. And our water tastes bad. And it's getting warm in  SoCal.)

I've had a good month so far. $90 stock up at Super King last weekend, and a $10 trip to Vons for milk and ice cream, then NO shopping trips until this weekend! $70 this weekend, mostly chicken, produce, milk. Stocked up on 33¢ pasta and <$3/lb ground beef at Vons. On the menu: roasted lemon chicken w/pineapple bbq sauce and grilled veg & pineapple (set off smoke alarm...worth it!), potato salad (been craving!), and quinoa bowls with sweet potato and kale. Might try cooking dried black beans for that last one!

PS Shoot, I forgot IKEA food. That's another $30 of veggie balls and chocolate...but we're still on target!

mtnman125

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #509 on: June 19, 2018, 02:46:04 PM »
Posting to follow here.  I do all the cooking, and all the grocery shopping for our family (2 adults, one toddler, and MIL stays with us frequently), so I have no one to blame but myself for overspending here.

I started tracking closely in November, but didn't really focus on reduction till our daughter started daycare ($$$) in January.

So far we're averaging ~$750/mo including dog food and household items.  Toddler is mostly on real food now, so may save some compared to formula and purees.

I have some kidney issues (so no beans/potatoes/limited protein), and my wife is celiac, so we mainly focus on fruits, vegetables, and meat, with rice and some GF pastas.

Mostly shop at Costco and Aldi, but have a Jewel walking distance that we get fill ins.

Biggest opportunities to save are meal planning for dinner (breakfast and lunch are easy), and limiting alcohol. 

Dining out is ~$150/mo, mainly for convenience or trying new local spots.  I'm ok with this for now- it was much higher before baby.

Yasha

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #510 on: June 21, 2018, 04:45:42 AM »
Please refrain from too many face-punches! We are quite new to budgeting (really just since Feb), before that money was just dissappearing into the black hole... That being said we are still on a somewhat frightening $800/month grocery budget for two people (not including eating out which is budgeted under 'entertainment' two nights a week). That is, like, $40 a day -_- I would like to try and bring things into line a bit more. I am 6/7ths vegetarian, we have a slow cooker, my work hours are reasonable and my work kitchen is easy to use... I'd like to aim for $700 in July. Baby steps.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #511 on: June 25, 2018, 07:48:52 AM »
OK, so I am looking at June, and realizing that I have just completely lost all mental discipline, because there's always one more excuse.  Fancy things from NYC because we're there.  Oh look, there's a new Indian grocery, let's by X different varieties of ras malai and see which one I like best.  It's my mom's birthday and I don't have time to cook, let's just pick up a $25 fruit tart from Wegman's.  I'm traveling, so let's get some quiche and cornbread and pot pies and pierogies from the farmer's market for everyone to eat while I'm gone.  DD has a big trip coming up, let's get new travel-sized stuff that will last the whole trip.  And on and on and on.  Month to date -- which should be all of it -- is $574 groceries and $81 HH.  Not horrible, but not exactly meaningful -- it's death by 1000 cuts.  And that doesn't include whatever DH bought last week while I was gone (but it does include the groceries while we were at the beach).

As always, it is when I am thrown out of my routine that I struggle, and I have been traveling like crazy this month.  That coinciding with the opening of the farmer's market is killing me, because there are so many delicious things there, and the kids think of them as treats so won't miss me being there to cook quite as much, and if the stuff tastes good enough maybe DH won't get so much takeout.  I tell myself that $8 for a pot pie and $6 for pierogies is better than them doing takeout all the time, but when it's every week, it adds up -- it is rapidly becoming an expensive crutch disguised as a reasonable treat.  The only good news is that July will be easy, because we are gone for half of it, and that money counts toward the vacation budget.  ;-)

I have also temporarily lifted my personal prohibition on work lunches.  I am really focusing on eating better, and the place up the street from my office has an absolutely delicious and healthy chicken/mango/avocado salad, so I am allowing myself to have that a couple of times a week.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #512 on: June 25, 2018, 08:49:14 AM »
Laura33, may I ask what kind of a job you have that you travel so often?

I too used to travel quite a bit and I was in food research and development. It was somewhat stressful because everything was based on perfection. I have no children so didn't have that hanging over my head. My Hub took care of our dogs when I travelled and also helped my mother with anything she needed so travel puts stress on family members too.

I am retired now but when I reflect back on how busy our schedules were, I don't know how we did it all! When we went on vacation it would take us about 3 full days to decompress.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #513 on: June 25, 2018, 09:07:30 AM »
@Roadrunner53 -- lawyer.  It's very off-and-on -- I will frequently have several months in a row with no travel, and then sometimes everything piles up in the same month.  That has been my late-May-to-June so far.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #514 on: June 25, 2018, 09:21:43 AM »
Erratic travel was the norm for me too. One trip after another then nothing for a while. Thank goodness for down time! Thank goodness I am retired from it all now!

jim555

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #515 on: June 30, 2018, 05:07:34 PM »
June coming in at $197.24.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #516 on: July 01, 2018, 02:36:48 PM »
Came in $7 over for June, which I'll take. We hosted my parents & Uncle for a deck building day, and made crab cakes (we're at the coast), served beer, etc. I did change up our menu for the next four days when we'll have six extra eaters at our house - I went with fresh shrimp, which was $25 cheaper than crab. We do like to eat the local seafood when we're in town, but it's still useful to price check.

We also drove all the way to Costco (45 minutes each way) to buy our groceries. The local coastal towns are INSANELY expensive. Costco is 40-50% cheaper on pretty much everything.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #517 on: July 02, 2018, 09:33:57 AM »
June came in $10 less than I previously reported, because I had counted an Amazon purchase that never arrived.  So, teensy yay there, I guess.

July is off to a June-like start -- too much shit going on, schedules are too screwy, I am out of sorts.  Dropped $100 at the Farmer's market yesterday (largely on things like pierogies and cornbread, not actual veggies), $30 of which was on beer from a local brewery that was freaking delicious (and that I do not regret).  Then Wegman's for $67 in groceries (not bad given the stocking up on some stuff), along with a gigantic $57 HH spend for a giant mess of travel-related stuff for all of our big trips coming up (which sucked).

krmit

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #518 on: July 02, 2018, 10:54:14 AM »
June total was $182 in groceries. The garden is starting to produce so I'm hoping I can keep it under $200/month for the summer!

galliver

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #519 on: July 20, 2018, 11:23:08 AM »
We were at $429 for June (so close! I think getting snacks for a wine tasting trip we took for a friend's birthday tipped us over a little. Cheese.) I have the receipts snapshotted and will sit down one of these days to figure out what our biggest splurges are, category-wise. I have an uncomfortable feeling we spend more on beverages than we ought. >_>

Already at $438 for July (!!) of which OVER HALF was during a 5-day vacation to see family. So far: $192 at home, ~$100 on sushi night for family (homemade, for 7 people, but fish is $$$), ~$40 on beer we were asked to pick up, and ~$100 on random other groceries (ice cream, picked up bao for lunch, picked up chips to have with dad's chili...it was $10 bucks here and there, apparently 10 times!). So, I think at home we've been doing well, but I couldn't resist the urge to treat my family (and usually can't). My sister treated us to fancy pastries for breakfast and my dad made steak so I wasn't the only one ;)

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #520 on: July 20, 2018, 12:20:47 PM »
Kids are coming back from summer camp today, so we finally replenished the fridge. Feeling good about where we sit for July. Currently at $410, so we can definitely stay under our goal of $625. And, in really great news, I was worried that we'd switch from buying groceries to eating all meals out. We did eat out a few times, but largely stayed the course while the kids were gone. We're only $20 over our dining out budget!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #521 on: July 26, 2018, 06:11:42 PM »
Posted this in the "eat all the food in your house" thread, but thought I'd share here as well.

I've found a reasonable rhythm for menu planning. We've always done "cook on weekends, eat leftovers" during the work week. That works well, but we typically run out by Thursday. What I've started to do on Thursdays is to consider it my eat down single servings from the fridge/freezer, or other random freezer items day. This really helps to cut down on costs, but we primarily do it for the time savings. I emotionally just can't make dinner during the work week, as things are too crazy. I work from home on Fridays, which gives me more flexibility to prep dinner.

Here's our menu from the week:
Friday - naan pizzas
Saturday - grilled hot dogs & corn
Sunday - beef kebabs & rice
Monday - leftover pizza
Tuesday - leftover hot dogs & corn, with an addition of side pasta
Wednesday - leftover kebabs & rice
Thursday - kids will have hot dogs & pasta, my husband will have kebabs & rice, and I'll have eggplant cutlets from the freezer + the remaining rice.That should pretty much clear out the fridge
Friday - I'm thinking tacos, but will start a fresh cycle of meal prep

jim555

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #522 on: July 31, 2018, 02:54:47 PM »
July coming in at $200.50.

haypug16

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #523 on: August 01, 2018, 12:48:05 PM »
July was $279.54 and the yearly average so far is $254.86 not bad but I'm going to try to get it down a little more. $200 or less is my goal for August. I'm hoping to have some produce from the garden ready soon but right now we're just looking at a bunch of cucumbers (which I do love)

« Last Edit: August 31, 2018, 09:12:44 AM by haypug16 »

JanetJackson

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #524 on: August 13, 2018, 09:06:34 AM »
Oops,
Somehow I missed that there was an updated thread.
I'm in!  Six months too late, but I've been doing it... just not posting.
I'm SINK with a gym-goer appetite shopping only at Aldi/Lidl (if they don't sell it there, I can't have it). 
Somehow last year my monthly Grocery spending ballooned to over $300, I'm working to get it between $200-$250 including toiletries/households.

 

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #525 on: August 13, 2018, 09:47:37 AM »
I guess I should update, but July-August are not good indicators of "normal," because we have lots of vacation/travel, which comes out of other budgets.  July came in at around $400-ish (not sure whether I caught the final dairy delivery in there).  August so far has been hellacious -- re-stocking the fridge, + DD shopping at Wegman's/Farmer's market*, + a big birthday dinner ($50 in ingredients, but we'd have spent 2-3x that if we'd gone out), $30 in beer, and whatever he spent yesterday on stuff for the office picnic at our house.  So @$400 so far, plus party stuff and whatever Amazon S&S was.  And I leave tomorrow again, so I know DH/DS are going to eat out the whole week, even though we literally have 5+lbs of BBQ left from the picnic.  So the reality is that our food spend these two months is atrocious and much worse than the grocery numbers would even suggest.

I am looking forward to September and being in one place and back in the normal routine.

*Such a blessing and curse.  On the one hand, she loves shopping at Wegman's and likes to make more complicated/expensive stuff (e.g., last week was lamb ragu, which required like $20 worth of lamb for about 6 servings).  OTOH, holy shit is it awesome to not have to grocery shop and to come home to deliciousness bubbling on the stove!  So right now laziness and outsourcing to the child (we can call it "teaching valuable life skills" to make it sound more productive than it is) is totally winning out.

4alpacas

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #526 on: August 13, 2018, 01:39:53 PM »
@Laura33 I'm in a similar situation!  Tons of work travel for me, very little cooking, WAY too much delivery.  I have a few works trips coming up, but I'm going to try to keep the freezer stocked with premade options (not super healthy, but much cheaper than the take-out version). 

I'm also going to double down on bulk cooking. 

Wish me luck! 

Novik

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #527 on: August 17, 2018, 07:25:44 AM »
When my partner quit his FT job in early April, we set a new grocery budget goal of 80$/week to a max of 360$ a month. (compared to spending 360-450$ / month while both working FT.) After finally catching up on tracking since then, I am pleased to report, success!!

Apr-18   May-18   Jun-18   Jul-18
326.5   351.65   303.37   248.29

galliver

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #528 on: August 17, 2018, 04:46:33 PM »
Came across this today and was intrigued, although I usually have more issues with wilting greens and squishy cucumbers than overdue root veg...they have a longer natural shelf life. I have saved ginger on a few occasions by dehydrating it, though. I should try it with other foods. Also intrigued by the book they mentioned. Added to my wish list.

https://food52.com/blog/22853-what-to-do-with-wilting-produce-fruit-vegetables

Edit: decided to include a personal update. We're at $266 in groceries for this month. Haven't analyzed my receipts for our grocery budget-killers. I suspect it's beverages and deli/cheese/processed food, just based on the receipts I've looked at. I don't understand how people are like "produce is expensive." If I just buy produce I get like 5 bags of food for $30 (yeah, you have to pair it with something else for calories/fat/protein...on the cheap-per-calorie side beans/grains/oils on the more pricey meat/dairy...but a little of those goes a long way, and the veg adds a lot of bulk and flavor).

Anywho...bf is leaving on a trip for two weeks and I'm thinking about doing a frugal grocery challenge while he's gone, getting only fresh produce and maybe milk *as needed* (i.e. not "I have peppers and I want cucumbers"), and mostly trying to eat down the pantry/fridge/freezer, especially the older stuff. On the other hand, I want to enjoy a more-than-average quantity of homemade sushi while he's gone and I'm out of wasabi, ginger, and crab sticks...is it cheating to prepare for my challenge by stocking up on these things this weekend? :D
« Last Edit: August 17, 2018, 05:16:27 PM by galliver »

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #529 on: August 21, 2018, 09:34:44 AM »
I need to look to reduce the grocery spend. We do a lot of cooking but the batch cooking when done right saves a lot of money.

I hate throwing out food, but we always buy things and they end up being neglected without rigorous planning to use it all.

haypug16

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #530 on: August 31, 2018, 08:18:17 AM »
My goal for August was $200 or less and I'm finishing up the month at $208.89. Pretty close! Monthly average for the year is $249.12. Same goal for September $200 or less.

jim555

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #531 on: August 31, 2018, 09:07:50 AM »
August coming in at $210.32, average for the year $196.73.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #532 on: September 04, 2018, 07:06:21 PM »
We came in under our goal of $600 (for 2 adults, & two almost teen boys). We were at $540/month, which included $25 of food for my relay. I travel via plane, so have to buy when we arrive. We did go over our $120/month dining out budget, as I took my mom out to lunch as a thank you for deep cleaning our house for 2 days while she was here.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #533 on: September 17, 2018, 12:47:35 PM »
@4alpacas - we shop at Costco weekly (buy majority of our produce, dairy & meat there), but I have the same approach to the frozen/prepared foods. I'm traveling this week, and if a frozen pizza or meatballs keeps the kids/husband away from eating out, it's way cheaper.

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #534 on: September 17, 2018, 12:49:34 PM »
Yeah, so I have been hiding in shame, but time to 'fess up.  I totally lost track of July/August with all the travel; since DH refuses to be bothered to track what he gets when I'm away, it seemed futile.  Meanwhile, for September, I have changed priorities and emphasizing planning and cooking over cutting the grocery budget per se.  The reason for this is laziness masquerading as "good parenting":  I have decided to put DD completely in charge of the grocery shopping, as well as cooking some of our dinners, as this is her last year before going off to college.  But she loves Wegmans and detests Aldi.  So we are doing better on planning and staying on the list (since I only put enough money on her card to cover what is listed), but the overall cost is just a lot higher.  I figure I will do this in baby steps -- get her used to the shopping where she feels comfortable for a couple of months, then give her some training at Aldi and figure out some incentives to lower the grocery bill (e.g., "here's the list, if you can get all this for less, I will let you keep half the savings" or something).

But even that's half bullshit, too -- I mean, yes, that is the plan, but I am sucking on my own as well.  A week ago I went to what historically has been a cheaper store, only to discover that they have really jacked up their prices on everything that wasn't on sale.  I knew I should have bought the cheaper stuff and finished the rest elsewhere, but I was trying to get stuff done and get home, so I just grabbed it all -- to the tune of $220 (first big restock after travels).  And then there's the damn farmer's market -- boy, I cannot wait until it's closed for the year!  The pierogies are killing me -- kids love them and beg me to get them, and I love them so give in.  But Sunday I dropped $50+ on almost no real food (some pierogies, some rugelach, some cornbread, some bruschetta sauce, and a small loaf of bread). 

So halfway through the month, I'm at $572 food and $113 household.  I clearly belong on the Antimustachian Wall of Shame right now.  The only good news is that we have so much food our takeout is down -- even DH agreed to leftover chili for lunch this weekend, and he usually likes to eat out both days.  ;-)

Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #535 on: September 18, 2018, 07:09:09 AM »
@MaybeBabyMustache I can't imagine shopping at Costco weekly.  I think we will stick to every once in a while and continue getting dog food delivered.

@Laura33 Welcome back!  I took a break too. Your method of having your kid cook keeps your DH from getting take-out, so you're decreasing one budget category. I'm having a problem finding the perfect intersection of low grocery bill and DH not ordering delivery.  Right now, I'm defaulting to an insane grocery bill to attempt to get restaurant spending under control.  The other issue with the food delivery is that my DH does it while I'm away on travel and when I get back as something nice to do since I just got home.

Yeah, perfect description!  Like you, I think we are better off on many levels if we focus on the habit of meal planning and cooking more, so I am actually pretty good with the extra grocery money, even if by any normal standard it is ridiculously high.  But, damn, it's like whack-a-mole, isn't it?  You focus on improving one area, and then another pops up!  I need to get to a place where all of the money-blowing options are under control at the same time, and some days it sure feels like a Sisyphean task.

Rosy

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #536 on: September 29, 2018, 02:14:26 PM »
OK people - I need help. I'm a good cook, but I just don't know how to fix "real" steel cut oats (preferably with apples and a pinch of sugar and cinnamon) without cooking it all to mush, sticking to the pan or worse having a really good flavor.

Can someone please tell me how - so I can stop buying the low sugar ready-made oatmeal pouches - save some money and live healthier?

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #537 on: September 29, 2018, 03:49:25 PM »
I have cooked mine in a crockpot with a crockpot liner by Reynolds. No sticking problem. Not sure on the mush issue. I would cook it in the CP and occasionally taste it for texture. Maybe after a few hours on low start tasting it. Upon the first taste, check every 15-20 minutes after than and go from there.

Rosy

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #538 on: September 30, 2018, 08:12:39 AM »
@Roadrunner53 thanks:)

I didn't know crock pot liners even existed. I even considered buying an Insta Pot only because I really want to make steel cut oats:) We'll see how it goes.


Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #539 on: September 30, 2018, 08:35:14 AM »
Rosey, yes, the liners are fantastic. The material is like the Reynolds turkey cooking bags. Just be careful if you buy them. They come in different sizes. My CP is a very large one and oval. The largest Crockpot cooking liner just fits it and is tight. I also have a small CP and use the large liners for it too. I am cooking a pot roast today in the CP with the liner. Makes clean up so easy! Love them!

What I do sometimes is to just remove the liner from the CP and put the whole liner and food in it into a storage container for the refrigerator. I am always a bit nervous the bag/liner might burst on the bottom but so far that has not happened!

jim555

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #540 on: September 30, 2018, 12:00:44 PM »
September $199.18 total.

4alpacas

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #541 on: September 30, 2018, 01:59:20 PM »
Spending $400 at Costco paid off! I was out of town on a work trip, and my DH ordered no delivery/takeout.  We've also avoided restaurants for an entire weekend.  We had a decadent grocery spending month, but our freezer is still full of packaged food.  I hope my DH continues to opt for frozen food when I'm out of town.

Our grocery bill (including dog stuff, cleaning supplies, paper products, etc.) was $600 for September.  However, the restaurant spending went way down the second half of the month. 

I'm going to try to continue to work on bringing down our restaurant spending in October.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #542 on: September 30, 2018, 02:40:01 PM »
@4alpacas - that is great progress! I stopped trying to change my husband's behavior while I was gone (traveling for work), & instead figured out cheaper workaround to what he was trying to do (quickly throw together dinner for the kids). I stocked up on Costco pizzas, bought discounted gift cards for the quick & easy salad bar they like, etc. It's not perfect, but it definitely saves over the previous way he handled it.


Laura33

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #543 on: October 04, 2018, 12:45:01 PM »
@4alpacas -- sure we didn't marry the same guy?  ;-)

DH went shopping when I was out of town last weekend, so that brings our monthly spend to, oh, about double the target -- $861 food, $137 HH.  It is clear that I need to stay away from the farmers' market (which accounts for over $150 of that, for very little food value).

One slight bit of good news:  I got PO'd that I was dropping so much on pierogies at the farmers' market and tried to make them myself.  Took all day, but I did it, and they are delicious, and now I have a freezer full of two different kinds.  And the dough was really easy to work, too, so now that I know how to do it, I can experiment with the different flavors the kids like. 

4alpacas

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #544 on: October 04, 2018, 02:01:29 PM »
@MaybeBabyMustache My approach to spending less is to make the cheaper way the easiest way.  So far, I've been happy with the progress.  However, it does take a lot of work on my end.  If I'm lazy, then our spending balloons. I'm the only one who cares, so I don't mind putting in the time.

@Laura33 A workaholic, spendypants?  If yes, then probably!

I've kept track of the items that we finished quickly from Costco.  We will probably go back this month, but WITH A LIST! The only restaurant spending since our Costco trip is my DH's lunch habit,* which I haven't been able to break. 

I will have to have groceries delivered this weekend because I'm desperate for fruit.

*Technically, both of us have been to restaurants while on work travel.  The decrease in restaurant spending might also be a move from our budget to reimbursable spending.

rachellynn99

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #545 on: October 06, 2018, 08:38:32 AM »
My spending so far for October is $243.xx.

I actually have about $30 of that left though in cash as I got out $100 last week and only spent $70. So I have really I guess spent $213 for the month.

This is for 2 adults, 3 kids ( ages 12, 11,7), we eat all breakfast, lunches and dinners from home or at home. I pack the kids lunches each day for school along with mine and my husband's.

I've finally gotten to a really nice spot in our pantry.  I am just using our grocery budget to stock up each week. I'll go and buy what is on sale and then meal plan when I get home. There are certain things we like to do like Taco Tuesday, so when they have black beans or refried beans on sale I'll stock up. I now have about 10-15 of each kind of can along with several dried bags of each. Same with tortillas- they had them on sale for 89 cents a few months back and I bought 10 packs and then froze them. Each week when I go to the store I just buy what is on sale and even "managers" special.

I'll buy whatever fruit is in season and super cheap. I find that we are staying in our "around" $300 budget each month for groceries and still eating very good and fairly healthy. We could not go to the store for a while and have plenty of food, but I find this process works very well for our family.

There were months in the not so distant past that I was spending $800 on groceries... Oh my goodness.

So I won't go back to the store until probably the 15th or so and will have the $30 cash I already have as well as about that much more to stock up if anything is on sale.


mountain mustache

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #546 on: October 06, 2018, 08:42:40 AM »
I am having an "eat what you have, spendypants!" budget month. I stocked up a lot this summer on vegetables/fruits from farm stands, etc...as well as a big Costco stock up a month ago, so my freezer and pantry are very full. I gave myself a reach goal of only spending $100 (for fresh fruit/veggies) this month, but if I keep it under $200 I will be super happy. So far I have spent $25. I am working on my impulse of buying food to throw in the freezer because it is on sale. Not that it's a bad thing to do, but I have enough right now! So I am really limiting myself, and trying to stick to only vegetables and fruit, unless I really need meat that I don't have for a recipe.

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #547 on: October 06, 2018, 10:00:29 AM »
Just found this thread - I'm so in.  Moved to Hong Kong recently, and whew! the groceries can set you back.  It's my single most antimustachian spend each month.  Goal for the month from now on: under HK$5000 (US$638).  Still sounds really high for one person - but a tub of plain yoghurt here is US$10.  No more buying lunches!  (So far this month: US$71.)

Roadrunner53

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #548 on: October 08, 2018, 05:39:18 AM »
Just found this thread - I'm so in.  Moved to Hong Kong recently, and whew! the groceries can set you back.  It's my single most antimustachian spend each month.  Goal for the month from now on: under HK$5000 (US$638).  Still sounds really high for one person - but a tub of plain yoghurt here is US$10.  No more buying lunches!  (So far this month: US$71.)

Buy an Instant Pot and make your own yogurt. Go to youtube and watch some video's on people who are very frugal shoppers and stretch their grocery money in interesting ways! Watch videos on youtube on freezer meals like cook for a day, eat for a month. Good luck to you in HK!

fuzzy math

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Re: Reduce your grocery spend - 2018
« Reply #549 on: October 10, 2018, 08:57:01 AM »
Skipped Sept (local grocery store closed and I may well have purchased $700 in discounted food to last many months).

Oct so far:

Sams club $56.87
Hy-vee $4.88
Aldi 87.81