Steph,
We have two kids , four total in our house too and no pets to but for as we are all allergic to them Our 15 year mortgage payment is $700/month including taxes, insurance, and PMI. The point of telling you our mortgage is that our grocery and supply bill comes to about the same!!! It drives me and my husband crazy. I read somewhere that you are supposed to spend about 10% of your gross income on groceries.
Once for a month we bought the really cheap foods and got our grocery bill down to $70 per week. But our health suffered. In Maine our fruits and veggies are quite expensive for about 7 months of the year until the farmers markets open up for the summer. Then we have gone the other way for our health we bought really healthy and boy does that cost. We are not really big prepackaged buyers either. It was the fruits and veggies and the organic meats that were adding up.
So now we accept that around $650 month is the best we can do both for our health and our pockets. The biggest saver for us was not buying any convenience foods. But then since we have gone wheat free, we have to buy the Thai Kitchen packs for road food if we are out for the day. They are just 59 cents per pack of soup and we just bring hot water. We pretty much never eat out, that saves a ton.
So after all this rambling, I totally get where you are coming from. For us it is our biggest budget item, besides the house. It is also one that you have quite alot of control over. Unfortunately for us with IBS, food allergies/sensitivities, and we are big vitamin takers, it becomes a choice between not just saving money but also our health and our kids health. If we could just subsist on Little Debbies snacks, we figure that they are the most bang(most calories) for the buck, then we would be golden. So even though you think that you are just dealing with money when buying food, health plays a big part especially for people who can't just throw garbage in and not get garbage out.
We comb through our recipts each week and try to do better each time, we go only once per week too. And we always shop with a list which is a big saver too. And never shop when extremely hungry!
Let us know how you do and what you find that works..
Cindy
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Re: Budget question mostly for moms.....or really any one who wants to answer!!!
