Are people like me able to do grocery budgets?

[QVCshopper]

Great suggestions! Putting meals in freezer bags, especially meatballs since my whole fam likes those is a great idea. We used to make our own pizza and just got used to buying it again, and I thought it was fun making our own so that should come back on the menu. I love the example about buying more expensive frozen onions which ended up being cheaper than throwing onions away that didn't get cut and used.
A lot of this is laziness - sometimes I let a bag of potatoes go to waste since it's a lot of work to peel and cut, but I saw that bag yesterday and decided to make potato soup that my family loved. Going through the pantry, I came up with a lot of meal ideas that I only need to supplement with little grocery visits. I did go to the store today to get coconut milk and bananas and that's it, which is a miracle for me. It wasn't efficient, but I'm not done with my weekly list as I'm waiting for my Wed grocery store inserts. Just trying to eat what we have for now. Will feel so good to clean out freezer and pantry instead of going through and throwing food away!
Thank you!

That's a tip I forgot. I buy the frozen veggie bags and use as needed, thus no waste. Trader Joes actually has great prices on frozen veggies, like a 1-lb pepper mix for $1.69. We also do frozen berries, like raspberries and blueberries. My toddler loves them.

Sounds like you are ready to make some changes--keep up the good work!

 

[AndreaO1983]

We are a family of 5, and I try to keep our monthly grocery budget under $400 a month. I'm probably going to repeat a lot of things that have been mentioned. The biggest life saver when it comes to keeping a balanced budget is meal plans. If we didn't have a meal plan in place, we found that we would eat out or have to run to the grocery store for items in the middle of the week.

We come up with a meal plan every week, shop the flyers, and make sure that when we go shopping, we have full tummies. If we are hungry while shopping, we spend more. When we see good sales, we stock up on as much as we can. I only buy meats when they are on sale. We have talked about ordering a side of beef from a local farmer, but after looking over what we actually spend on beef, it wasn't worth it for us. A side of beef is $4.50/lb, and when I shop sales I can get ground beef or stewing beef for $2.00/lb and steaks and roast for $3.50/lb.

My children are into a lot of sports and my husband and I have crazy work schedules. So dinner time is really hard for us. In the winter months we do a lot of crock pot meals, or freezer meals. In the summer it's freezer grilling meals with pasta/potato/garden salads. A year ago I purchased the book "Fix, Freeze, Feast" after borrowing it from the library for 3 weeks. I love this book, and it has made my life so much easier. The only thing I don't like about this book, is that it doesn't have single meal recipes. It's all for 3-4 meals. "Don't Panic.... Dinner's In the Freezer" has a better format. It lists how to make 1 meal, 3 meals, 6 meals or 9 meals. But the reason I love "Fix, Freeze, Feast" is because of all the grilling recipes. I buy pork chops when they are on sale, make up the marinades for them, put them in a Ziploc bag, and freeze. The day we are eating them, we pull them out of the freezer in the morning, husband throws them on the grill when he gets home from work, and dinner is ready 15 minutes.

We also have a Costco membership, but we don't use it all that often. There are certain items we will purchase there. (Lunch meat, salsa, baby wipes, Ziploc bags and fuel). We shop at a discount store for all of our dry goods. And our local grocery store for product and meats. Because of the way we do our shopping, there are weeks when we don't have to purchase much. We have a stock pile of items in our freezer and pantry, so this week I've only spent $20 on fresh fruit.

If we forget to pick an item up at the grocery store, we change our meal plan to something we have already on hand. We stopped making trips to the grocery store more than once a week. Fuel costs add up if your running to the store every time you missed something.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I would like your recipe for potato soup. I just threw away a 10# bag of potatoes that had gone bad. I think I need to not store them in the plastic bag.

Great thread. I need to start doing some of these things.

I dice an onion and some cloves of garlic and get those going in a pan with some olive oil. Then I peel and cut all the potatoes, throw those in, barely cover with water and simmer until they are soft. Then I use an immersion blender to make it creamy, add lots of seasonings and parsley or oregano if I have it (if not, dried). I usually add 3T of light sour cream too. Then I let people add own cheese if they want it. My husband added leftover sausage to his (which I loved!!) This will taste richer if you use chicken broth to substitute for some of the water, but I usually just add that when I heat up the leftover soup since it will be very thick. There usually isn't much left at my house.

 

[pigletto]

We are a family of 5, and I try to keep our monthly grocery budget under $400 a month. I'm probably going to repeat a lot of things that have been mentioned. The biggest life saver when it comes to keeping a balanced budget is meal plans. If we didn't have a meal plan in place, we found that we would eat out or have to run to the grocery store for items in the middle of the week.

We come up with a meal plan every week, shop the flyers, and make sure that when we go shopping, we have full tummies. If we are hungry while shopping, we spend more. When we see good sales, we stock up on as much as we can. I only buy meats when they are on sale. We have talked about ordering a side of beef from a local farmer, but after looking over what we actually spend on beef, it wasn't worth it for us. A side of beef is $4.50/lb, and when I shop sales I can get ground beef or stewing beef for $2.00/lb and steaks and roast for $3.50/lb.

My children are into a lot of sports and my husband and I have crazy work schedules. So dinner time is really hard for us. In the winter months we do a lot of crock pot meals, or freezer meals. In the summer it's freezer grilling meals with pasta/potato/garden salads. A year ago I purchased the book "Fix, Freeze, Feast" after borrowing it from the library for 3 weeks. I love this book, and it has made my life so much easier. The only thing I don't like about this book, is that it doesn't have single meal recipes. It's all for 3-4 meals. "Don't Panic.... Dinner's In the Freezer" has a better format. It lists how to make 1 meal, 3 meals, 6 meals or 9 meals. But the reason I love "Fix, Freeze, Feast" is because of all the grilling recipes. I buy pork chops when they are on sale, make up the marinades for them, put them in a Ziploc bag, and freeze. The day we are eating them, we pull them out of the freezer in the morning, husband throws them on the grill when he gets home from work, and dinner is ready 15 minutes.

We also have a Costco membership, but we don't use it all that often. There are certain items we will purchase there. (Lunch meat, salsa, baby wipes, Ziploc bags and fuel). We shop at a discount store for all of our dry goods. And our local grocery store for product and meats. Because of the way we do our shopping, there are weeks when we don't have to purchase much. We have a stock pile of items in our freezer and pantry, so this week I've only spent $20 on fresh fruit.

If we forget to pick an item up at the grocery store, we change our meal plan to something we have already on hand. We stopped making trips to the grocery store more than once a week. Fuel costs add up if your running to the store every time you missed something.

Wow! I am also in Ontario and thought I was doing well this month for keeping our family of 4 just under $650! We do include pet food in that cost however, and I watch kids before and after school so I am responsible for snack time for up to 5 kids and sometimes breakfast for a few.

This is an ongoing process and I am getting better at it all the time. One thing that is a budget killer in this house is lunch items. I pack lunches for both kids, and sometimes my dh, 5 times a week. I would love to hear what some others are doing for snacks/lunch items. I do send leftovers in a thermos for the main meal, but I find the cookies/granola bars/cheese strings/ pepperoni sticks/ yoghurts etc etc get stupidly expensive.

Also those are excellent meat prices. Since I've only just started really working on the grocery budget again for the last month we've been using up what is in the freezer meat wise. I've only seen decent sale prices on chicken otherwise and we've been eating it one form or another 3 or more times a week. I refuse to buy beef at the prices I've been seeing lately. Hopefully there will be a decent sale soon and I can stock up.

 

[hsmamato2]

without reading your story...I'm going to say.....YES I don't know one person who couldn't successfully use a grocery budget.

 

[SM101]

My best advice for making quick grill grill options is to season/marinate your fresh meats, then portion appropriately and THEN freeze.

All you have to do then is to thaw out and throw it straight on the grill.

If you're throwing away stuff like half bags of broccoli then you need a better plan of what to eat that week AND how much you need per meal for your family. For example, it's me and my daughter, and we need about 10 oz of fresh vegetable per meal total. That sounds like a lot but we don't eat a lot of carb sides - more often than not, I don't serve a pasta/rice/potato at all, and if I do, it's a very small portion. So if I buy a 2 lb bag of broccoli florets from my produce place, I know that I can get 3 broccoli-only sides from it AND have some leftover to mix with other veg (like a couple carrots). And then I have to plan around that to make sure it's used up. (I also know that said bag will stay fresh about 8-10 days). And it just has to be ok with us that we have broccoli 2 or 3 times a week - or whatever other veg I have a lot of that week. I would never buy a 5 lb bag of potatoes because we won't eat them - I will buy 1 or 2 loose ones - it costs more per pound but it's cheaper than the bag I will waste most of.

So yes - one of the biggest things you can do to cut your food costs is to CONTROL WASTE. Don't think you are wasting much? Keep a separate trash can out in the garage where you throw all food waste that could have been eaten but was not - leftovers that weren't eaten, produce that went off because you didn't eat it fast enough, leftover scraps from plates at dinner - all of it. Look at how much is there at the end of the week and calculate how much that cost you. Throwing out leftovers? Cook less and have a plan for using what extra you do cook. Plan better so you're not overbuying fresh produce and have more than you can use. Serve smaller portions if people aren't clearing their plates. Only eating half a package of hummus? Buy a smaller package OR buy it less often so it's more of a treat and it gets finished OR stop buying it altogether.

Portion size is the other issue - I know if I keep my salted almonds all in one container, I will mindlessly chow through them....so I box them up in appropriate portions so I can have one portion and that's it. I buy meats in bulk, but break down and freeze in a size that is appropriate for dinner for the family (and if I want to cook extra, I can cook 2 bags).

Also - look hard at the processed/packaged foods you are buying. With very few exceptions, none of that is really good for you and it all costs more than it should - cut out as much of that as possible. Learn to cook simply using whole foods - it's much less expensive AND it's a lot healthier.

And I know with kids this is hard - but snacking IS expensive and is NOT as necessary IF you are eating appropriately at meal times. I have VERY little "snack" food in my house and it consists of a box of cut veggies, fresh fruit, nuts, cheese, and occasionally a little bit of leftovers or hard boiled eggs. That's it. That's your options. No chips, pretzels, cookies, empty calorie expensive stuff unless it's a special occasion.


Once you get in the habit of planning meals, shopping sales, keeping a stocked pantry and freezer and cooking from scratch - it becomes really easy because you're not stressing and wasting time trying to figure out what to make for dinner come dinnertime.

 

[AndreaO1983]

School lunches at our school are a little tricky. They have requested that the kids have healthy lunches. No sugary fruit snacks, no candy, no cookies, etc. They also request that there be no garbage. My kids have a sandwich for lunch, or crackers and cheese, or veggies with hummus. For snacks, we stick to fruit, veggies, crackers, mini flavored rice cakes, yogurt, etc. As for school beverages, we give our kids each one juice box (as per our doctors request) and a reusable bottle of water.
Because they don't get the prepackaged snacks at school, they don't care about having them any other time. We'll pick up granola bars, or fruit by the foot when they are on sale as a treat. For after school snacks we have fresh cookies, frozen yogurt pops, etc. I make up the cookie batter, portion them all out, and then freeze them. Pop a few in the oven whenever needed.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

My best advice for making quick grill grill options is to season/marinate your fresh meats, then portion appropriately and THEN freeze.

All you have to do then is to thaw out and throw it straight on the grill.

If you're throwing away stuff like half bags of broccoli then you need a better plan of what to eat that week AND how much you need per meal for your family. For example, it's me and my daughter, and we need about 10 oz of fresh vegetable per meal total. That sounds like a lot but we don't eat a lot of carb sides - more often than not, I don't serve a pasta/rice/potato at all, and if I do, it's a very small portion. So if I buy a 2 lb bag of broccoli florets from my produce place, I know that I can get 3 broccoli-only sides from it AND have some leftover to mix with other veg (like a couple carrots). And then I have to plan around that to make sure it's used up. (I also know that said bag will stay fresh about 8-10 days). And it just has to be ok with us that we have broccoli 2 or 3 times a week - or whatever other veg I have a lot of that week. I would never buy a 5 lb bag of potatoes because we won't eat them - I will buy 1 or 2 loose ones - it costs more per pound but it's cheaper than the bag I will waste most of.

So yes - one of the biggest things you can do to cut your food costs is to CONTROL WASTE. Don't think you are wasting much? Keep a separate trash can out in the garage where you throw all food waste that could have been eaten but was not - leftovers that weren't eaten, produce that went off because you didn't eat it fast enough, leftover scraps from plates at dinner - all of it. Look at how much is there at the end of the week and calculate how much that cost you. Throwing out leftovers? Cook less and have a plan for using what extra you do cook. Plan better so you're not overbuying fresh produce and have more than you can use. Serve smaller portions if people aren't clearing their plates. Only eating half a package of hummus? Buy a smaller package OR buy it less often so it's more of a treat and it gets finished OR stop buying it altogether.

Portion size is the other issue - I know if I keep my salted almonds all in one container, I will mindlessly chow through them....so I box them up in appropriate portions so I can have one portion and that's it. I buy meats in bulk, but break down and freeze in a size that is appropriate for dinner for the family (and if I want to cook extra, I can cook 2 bags).

Also - look hard at the processed/packaged foods you are buying. With very few exceptions, none of that is really good for you and it all costs more than it should - cut out as much of that as possible. Learn to cook simply using whole foods - it's much less expensive AND it's a lot healthier.

And I know with kids this is hard - but snacking IS expensive and is NOT as necessary IF you are eating appropriately at meal times. I have VERY little "snack" food in my house and it consists of a box of cut veggies, fresh fruit, nuts, cheese, and occasionally a little bit of leftovers or hard boiled eggs. That's it. That's your options. No chips, pretzels, cookies, empty calorie expensive stuff unless it's a special occasion.


Once you get in the habit of planning meals, shopping sales, keeping a stocked pantry and freezer and cooking from scratch - it becomes really easy because you're not stressing and wasting time trying to figure out what to make for dinner come dinnertime.

I really thought of myself as an experienced cook but did not know before this thread that you could put marinade in a bag with fresh meat and freeze! With the broccoli example, I always have good intentions of serving it all in a week - now that I'm planning, it will just get done or maybe I won't buy the big bags anymore if people are complaining about having it so much. We do buy granola bars and crackers for snacks. I used to make my own granola bars, so maybe I can figure out the cost of that and start making them again. Healthier I'm sure. Fruit snacks are becoming a staple, and they used to be a treat, and those are expensive.
It is definitely less stressful to have a plan for dinner BEFORE late afternoon. Loved having dinner figured out for tonight last night. All these suggestions have been great and it's good to see how many people do this successfully. I just need to remember: Yes, it takes time and effort, but I'll be saving money, which is what I need to do. Thanks!!

 

[Lisa71]

I always suggest a meatless day..not fake meat...a big bowl of lentil soup and bread is filling, nutritious, and cheap. My aunt in Montana gets venison or elk. Yuk!! I hate the gamey taste but a bean burrito I can do!! Homemade beans and rice and yummy!!

 

[SM101]

I really thought of myself as an experienced cook but did not know before this thread that you could put marinade in a bag with fresh meat and freeze! With the broccoli example, I always have good intentions of serving it all in a week - now that I'm planning, it will just get done or maybe I won't buy the big bags anymore if people are complaining about having it so much. We do buy granola bars and crackers for snacks. I used to make my own granola bars, so maybe I can figure out the cost of that and start making them again. Healthier I'm sure. Fruit snacks are becoming a staple, and they used to be a treat, and those are expensive.
It is definitely less stressful to have a plan for dinner BEFORE late afternoon. Loved having dinner figured out for tonight last night. All these suggestions have been great and it's good to see how many people do this successfully. I just need to remember: Yes, it takes time and effort, but I'll be saving money, which is what I need to do. Thanks!!

Preseasoning meat is a HUGE time saver....think about when you hit the grocery store and they have the seasoned meats all ready to go in the oven for a quick dinner. Same thing but you're doing it yourself.

Don't forget you can cook broc many ways to make it more interesting. ANY veg is good tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and roasted in the oven - broccoli gets crunchy and sweet like this (cauliflower is great too). Sometimes I'll also add fresh lemon and a bit of parmesan, garlic to it. Seasonings like Mrs. Dash are great to use as well. I do sometimes just steam veggies and eat plain with a little seasoning and butter but since we don't usually eat a carb side with dinner, I put a little more effort into the veg.

Instead of granola bars per se, why don't you put together nuts, dried fruits, etc (and bag it up in single servings) - simpler than making granola bars, less sugar, etc.

I'm not militant on food, but honestly, I feel sluggish, achy, and generally craptastic if I eat processed foods in any kind of quantity. I also can't go vegetarian - got really ill from that. I feel best if I stick to a mainly protein, veggie, non-processed fat (butter, olive oil, coconut oil) kind of diet.

 

[barkley]

School lunches at our school are a little tricky. They have requested that the kids have healthy lunches. No sugary fruit snacks, no candy, no cookies, etc. They also request that there be no garbage. My kids have a sandwich for lunch, or crackers and cheese, or veggies with hummus. For snacks, we stick to fruit, veggies, crackers, mini flavored rice cakes, yogurt, etc. As for school beverages, we give our kids each one juice box (as per our doctors request) and a reusable bottle of water.
Because they don't get the prepackaged snacks at school, they don't care about having them any other time. We'll pick up granola bars, or fruit by the foot when they are on sale as a treat. For after school snacks we have fresh cookies, frozen yogurt pops, etc. I make up the cookie batter, portion them all out, and then freeze them. Pop a few in the oven whenever needed.

lunches have always been a challenge in our home. I've got one kid who just doesn't eat sandwiches with the exception of an occasional pb&j, another who likes them but has a mom (me) who thinks lunch meats are grossly overpriced.

what I ended up doing was looking at what they tended to grab for lunch at home and began planning out meals that afford the kind of leftovers that lend themselves to making lunch.

ds will always go for leftover pasta, sloppy joe and chili. his school has microwaves available so I hit the dollar store and bought a couple of 3 packs of smaller microwavable containers. when I prepare any of these items I increase the batch size and fill the containers. these go in the freezer and I can pull them out the night before to defrost for lunch the next day (with chili I send a small container of shredded cheese, with sloppy joe a hamburger bun). dd is going to college but lives at home. sometimes she's going to be able to use the microwave on campus, others not. I got her an insulated wide mouth thermos. she loves anything soup so when I make it, again I make extra and put small containers in the freezer (2-3 servings). I defrost the night before and she has enough for lunch for a couple of days. for her sandwiches I prepare extras of some of our planned entrees-with meatloaf I make extra and cook it to be freezer ready in very small dollar store disposable pans (1/3 the size of a normal pan). freeze them and pull them out for several day's sandwiches. depending on what we're having for dinner the night before in grilling season there can be an extra costo chicken breast (which makes easily 2-3 sandwiches) or sliced tri-tip. the girl is also a junkie for a few salads I make-so if I'm making a batch of pasta or taco salad I know to make extra b/c she'll just take a container of that.

I know parents that STRESS over making kid's lunches, thinking they have to have 3-4 items in it (beyond the drink). realistically-how many times when you go out to lunch do you get more than 2 items in the meal? I just provide 2, and it doesn't nesc. contain a 'dessert' (when did dessert at lunch become the norm?).



just curious-for those that enjoy hummus, do any of you make your own? it's not difficult and very cost effective.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

SM101- I love roasting asparagus - that's my favorite, but haven't roasted broccoli in awhile thanks for the reminder! I do make trail mix, but my (spoiled lol) children get tired of that so have to mix it up. That's a whole other issue - having them pack their own food which I'm working on.

Lisa71 - When my DH used to hunt, we did 100% elk. I couldn't just supplement beef with it because the beef tasted a lot better than the elk and then no one wanted the elk. It does take getting used to. I try to make a meatless tostada night with beans, rice, guac, cheese and salsa and everyone but my DD11 loves them. She always asks where the meat is.

barkley - I do make my kids sandwiches and a fruit or veggie. Then I throw a granola bar and maybe some nuts in for their snacks. I never give dessert - just don't think they need that in the middle of the day. I keep buying cans of garbanzo beans to try making my own hummus but never do it. I bet it's so good to have it fresh.

 

[albarellic]

One of our biggest money savers was actually removing me from the shopping part of the equation. I plan out our meals with the Sunday papers, make a list, cut coupons.... and then pass it on to my husband. I have found that he is much better at sticking to the list than I am. I usually only go once every other month or so... and that's when we have a jump in our spending We shop at 3 different stores, 2 that are across the street from each other. One has much better meats and the other we do the bulk of our shopping in. The last sore is to Aldi's for fruits and veggies. He goes on his lunch hour since it's only a few minutes from his office. We have cut our grocery bill when I was doing the shopping down from about $250 for a family of four (no pets) to around $150-160 a week- over the course of a month that adds up to almost $400.

Another advantage to planning is minimizing waste. If I make grilled chicken I put an extra breast on the grill and we have big salads the next night with the leftovers or chicken quesadillas. The toughest part is when they eat everything and I was planning to use the leftovers for another meal Fridays in our house are soup night and we always have the leftovers for lunch on Saturday. Well... I tried a new recipe that went over so big... they ate the whole pot! It wasn't a very big pot but if no-one had eaten seconds there would have been enough for lunch.

 

[pigletto]

lunches have always been a challenge in our home. I've got one kid who just doesn't eat sandwiches with the exception of an occasional pb&j, another who likes them but has a mom (me) who thinks lunch meats are grossly overpriced.

what I ended up doing was looking at what they tended to grab for lunch at home and began planning out meals that afford the kind of leftovers that lend themselves to making lunch.

ds will always go for leftover pasta, sloppy joe and chili. his school has microwaves available so I hit the dollar store and bought a couple of 3 packs of smaller microwavable containers. when I prepare any of these items I increase the batch size and fill the containers. these go in the freezer and I can pull them out the night before to defrost for lunch the next day (with chili I send a small container of shredded cheese, with sloppy joe a hamburger bun). dd is going to college but lives at home. sometimes she's going to be able to use the microwave on campus, others not. I got her an insulated wide mouth thermos. she loves anything soup so when I make it, again I make extra and put small containers in the freezer (2-3 servings). I defrost the night before and she has enough for lunch for a couple of days. for her sandwiches I prepare extras of some of our planned entrees-with meatloaf I make extra and cook it to be freezer ready in very small dollar store disposable pans (1/3 the size of a normal pan). freeze them and pull them out for several day's sandwiches. depending on what we're having for dinner the night before in grilling season there can be an extra costo chicken breast (which makes easily 2-3 sandwiches) or sliced tri-tip. the girl is also a junkie for a few salads I make-so if I'm making a batch of pasta or taco salad I know to make extra b/c she'll just take a container of that.

I know parents that STRESS over making kid's lunches, thinking they have to have 3-4 items in it (beyond the drink). realistically-how many times when you go out to lunch do you get more than 2 items in the meal? I just provide 2, and it doesn't nesc. contain a 'dessert' (when did dessert at lunch become the norm?).



just curious-for those that enjoy hummus, do any of you make your own? it's not difficult and very cost effective.

Excellent ideas and I will be using some of them. Lunch items are a problem for me for a few reasons. One is my kids couldn't be any further apart in food preferences than they are (one hates fruit, one is a vegetarian etc). Secondly, I am not planning well enough in advance and therefore buying higher cost convenience items, thirdly I am simply sending too much food like you stated. I have this Mom guilt thing where I picture my kids hungry all day and end up stuffing more snacks in. And for the last hurdle, I spend more than I should because I want them to be healthy lunches (which isn't a bad thing) but if you go back to my second problem.. healthy plus convenient drives up the cost more.

I am tackling this issue this week. It's one of the biggest line items in the grocery budget and it's gotten ridiculous. Nobody is going to starve if they don't have exactly what they want for lunch or if the hummus is homemade vs. stupid little expensive individual cups from the store that cost three times as much.

 

[barkley]

Excellent ideas and I will be using some of them. Lunch items are a problem for me for a few reasons. One is my kids couldn't be any further apart in food preferences than they are (one hates fruit, one is a vegetarian etc). Secondly, I am not planning well enough in advance and therefore buying higher cost convenience items, thirdly I am simply sending too much food like you stated. I have this Mom guilt thing where I picture my kids hungry all day and end up stuffing more snacks in. And for the last hurdle, I spend more than I should because I want them to be healthy lunches (which isn't a bad thing) but if you go back to my second problem.. healthy plus convenient drives up the cost more.

I am tackling this issue this week. It's one of the biggest line items in the grocery budget and it's gotten ridiculous. Nobody is going to starve if they don't have exactly what they want for lunch or if the hummus is homemade vs. stupid little expensive individual cups from the store that cost three times as much.

I feel for you-both of my kids attended for 8 years each private schools that were strictly vegetarian so what we ate at home was largely a no-no for school lunches (and no cafeteria until the last couple of years). I ended up taking some of the recipes I still make for the lunches I mentioned above, figuring out at what point I HAD to put the meat in and kind of splitting it into the vegetarian lunch batch (for freezing) and the finished off carnivore version for eating at home.

with pasta I just pulled out some of the sauce before I added the meat so that was easy, with chili I found out when I had to prepare a big batch for a potluck at the school that I could either just eliminate the meat all together (it had beans in it) or the meat substitute 'crumbles' didn't taste to bad. when I do 'baked potato soup' I don't put meat into it (we put bacon bits on the top after serving) so for the vegetarian option i just substitute vegetable broth for the chicken i prefer.

the one insanely overpriced item i did keep on hand (in the freezer hidden) was a couple of the large walmart or Costco sized boxes of uncrustables. in a pinch these could get put into a vegetarian lunchbox and be thawed by lunch time (luckily no peanut allergy issues with that school). the kids would have eating these constantly if they had access to them but if i hid them behind the bags of trader joe's frozen kale surprisingly they never got noticed

 

[sksjasams]

I feel for you-both of my kids attended for 8 years each private schools that were strictly vegetarian so what we ate at home was largely a no-no for school lunches (and no cafeteria until the last couple of years).

Wow! Now that is a challenge!! I have never heard of a vegetarian school.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I read these grocery budget threads with interest and jealousy as well. We spend $1200/month for a family of 5 (2 of which are teen girls, the other close behind), we have a dog, cat, rabbit and fish, and we live in Bozeman, where the coupons are pretty scarce and groceries are pretty highly priced. We also eat things like turkey burger, fish, lots of fruit and veggies, dried mango, avocados, you get the idea...not cheap stuff. We do have a Costco where we spend lots of moolah - not sure if our Costco trips are a good thing or bad. I work until 3 when my kids get off school and then it's ferrying them to sports so it's usually making meals around 5 ish so know I should be doing more crock pot meals in mornings but I find that hard when it gets closer to summer since then I want to grill or maybe by then I'm tired of the crock pot. My big question is to do a budget, do we need to quit eating some of those things? Or do you all eat those too but plan and stretch meals better than I do? I do get the shopping the weekly grocery flyers to get what's on sale that week. We MUST start shaving some moolah off of our monthly bills so looking into cable, phone, etc. but thought groceries would be an easy spot until I started trying to figure out what budget to start with and whether I change what we eat. Anyone have any advice? Thank you!!

Chili , bean soup and lentils go a long way. I eat all the things you listed and buy organic. Try making a bean dish once a week and that will help.

 

[Burnedout]

Maybe your daughters can help with the granola bars etc. I portion out all the nuts and snacks in the house. It makes for an easy grab heading out the door and they go further.

 

[Sheaboys]

We are family of 7, all boys ages 16, 14, 12, 8 and 5. And they can eat!

I hit the meat market once every 3 months, spend about $250-$300, and seal a meal it all. I get steaks, both NY strip and sirloin, hamburger, boneless skinless thighs and breasts, ham steaks, and short ribs is usually what I get.

I shop at Stop n Shop, it has a scanner I can use, where I scan and bag as I go along, it helps me save a lot because I see how much I spend. If there is chicken or burger or pork on sale I buy it. Lots of fruits and veggies and sandwich meat for lunches. I buy anything on sale that we eat regularly, such as the staples in the cabinets, rices, noodles, pasta etc.

I buy all the paper goods, bathroom items, and snacks at Super Walmart. If I need all of these and groceries I shop Super Walmart, but I am not in love with their fruits or veggies and I do not buy any meat there either.

Spend on average, $200 a week, some weeks it is $130 at the grocery store and another $50 at Walmart. I don't cut coupons.

I used to do BJ's Wholesale, but I would spend more, and if there is a box of 80 fruit snacks the boys would eat the entire box in 3 days. If it is there, they eat it!

 

[manateesmom]

Would you be willing to share your recipe with us?

This is re: the pizza crust recipe - I use the one on the Fleishman's Pizza Dough Yeast! It's at my grocery store in 3-packs (yellow color on the packaging) near the regular yeast. I think it's fast acting yeast. Add warm water, a bit of sugar and salt, flour and oil, mix, then knead for about 4 minutes and it's good to go. Secret is to get it pretty thin if you like a crispier crust, otherwise it does a more breadlike crust which is also nice. It's good and elastic. I've experimented with a lot of pizza dough recipes and this has been the most user-friendly.

I'll check at home re: exact amounts, but it's the recipe from the packaging.

ETA: One thing we'll do with kneading dough is take turns as a family to keep it going, even DS4 takes a turn at it, keeps it fun.