Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Groceries

Grocery shopping for a family of ten is no small task - keeping the bill down is definitely a challenge!!

I have tried coupon clipping in the past but I find it doesn't really work for me - I don't generally buy name brand items and I rarely, rarely buy anything ready made. Our area does not do double coupon days so getting a few cents off items that I don't really use or need seems silly to me. I do shop sales though and try to plan my menus around sale items. My husband's second job is at the neighborhood grocery store so I always know what the good sales are for the week. One really good advantage to not buying ready made foods is that if there is ever a reason to not shop for a week it is not too difficult to live out of the pantry - I can make bread, cook up some refried beans, make tortillas (thanks Cinnamon), and use whatever home canned goods we like (especially applesauce :0)! )

I try to keep our bill down to about $100 a week. I love the challenge and try to make it a game for myself. This grocery trip came out to about $106 I think and my daughter and I figured (if our math was right :0)!) that it was about $4 a meal. Not bad for a family of ten.

So what are your ideas for keep the grocery bill reasonable?

(we are living out of our pantry this week after deciding to donate our grocery money to Haiti relief - our church lost three dear missionaries in the earthquake and several more are seriously injured - we are praying for these special families and for all the others so seriously impacted by this tragedy. If you are looking for a good place to donate our Free Methodist denomination has had a mission field in Haiti for many, many decades and is a safe place to contribute
Blessings!!!
Christine

7 comments:

Cinnamon said...

Hello sweet friend~
I love all those groceries on the table with Essie sitting there just waiting for her yummies :-)

What a challenge to use all you have on hand and give your money to the Haitian people. God bless you!

Do you know where the church in Haiti is? Where your missionaries are? I'd love to show the kids on the map.

I did a whole post on eating out of our freezer and spending little or no money. It was amazing to find and use what was on the bottom of our freezer at the back of our pantry. You know the things you are given sometimes and never use. Well we used them :-) If you want to take a peek at it (or maybe you read it already) It's called "Whatcha' got stew".

~Cinnamon

Unknown said...

Very cool. I try to keep our bill around 100 a week as well. Sometimes (well most) I usually go over and rarely do I go under!!

Fruitful Harvest said...

I don't do coupon either....I'm like you in that I don't but the ready made or name brand stuff!
I we are a family of 8 and try to stay to about $500.00 a month.
I just did a Costco run and spent $200.00 and stocked the freezer with groung turkey that was on sale. I should not have to buy much later this month exept more flour to make our bread!

We too gave to the Haiti releif fund @ church!

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

Fruitful Harvest said...

I got the ground turkey at Safeway not Costco.....I bought all our veggies and can stuff at Costco.

Kimberly said...

While we have 10 of us, at home, i often feed much larger crowds 14-16 people once or twice a week. My food budget runs around 150.00 a week. I don't use coupons for the same reason. I shop at the local discount market. Our big freezer died this year, and we haven't been able to replace it, so i am unable to stock up on anything. Very frustrating...

knittykneighbour said...

We have a family of 7 and can usually keep our bill @ $100/week including house hold stuff. I love my freezer tho and this year we were able to buy another small one for $50, what a blessing it has been. We buy in bulk and don't eat prepared foods. Another thing I've found very helpful is that I keep my menu based around the same food. (We eat tons of rice and stir-fry)

My younger ones always enjoy the pictures on your blog.

Blessings,
~Heidi

Rebecca said...

I love this post. I am curious...does the $100 only include food or do you include household supplies also?