When I tell friends and family that I spend an average of $200/month on groceries, they ask me how I do it. What does my family eat? Where do I shop? Do I super coupon? How is that even possible? I have been feeding my family on this budget for several years now. It started when my husband was in graduate school and we were living on a shoestring budget. Fast forward a few years and now we’re paying for graduate school, trying to save for our first home and [insert long list of expenses]. I’m still trying to stretch every dollar. And after doing this for so long, I’ve learned a lot that will hopefully be helpful to you. Introducing:
For the next few weeks, I will post my weekly menu and a copy of my weekly grocery receipt so you can see exactly how and what I feed my family, along with a few tips and tricks. There are many different ways to look at money and food, so I’m just going to share what works for me and hopefully you can find things that will work for you. I really hope you enjoy this new addition to The Craft Patch!
To start things off, here are a few general things that make this tight budget work:
1. Nope, I don’t super coupon. I just can’t seem to get into it. If I have a coupon for something I would normally buy, I’ll use it. But I’m just not an extreme coupon girl. Instead, I choose meals that are inexpensive, I cook from scratch, and I stock up when things go on sale.
2. We eat oatmeal every morning. Cold cereal is too expensive and it doesn’t fill you up! Sometimes I make homemade granola, which is basically baked oatmeal with stuff added. I sometimes make refrigerator oatmeal for myself. If my kids don’t want oatmeal, they can have toast, but they almost always choose oatmeal. It’s what they are used to.
3. We eat leftovers, sandwiches, or simple meals like macaroni and cheese for lunch. Today my son and I had tuna sandwiches and grape tomatoes. I sent my husband to work with leftover pasta, breadsticks and cutie oranges. My daughter had a PBJ, banana, carrot, homemade cookie and reusable water bottle in her lunch for school.
4. I have a willing husband. He is so patient with me and my crazy ways. If yours is less than willing to cooperate, let me tell you that I’d rather spend more money at the grocery store than have it be a spot of contention in my marriage. I have learned to be flexible and generous with my husband. I try to occasionally surprise him with his favorite meals that don’t fit into our normal budget, and I cook his favorite dinners that are within our budget often. It’s give and take just like anything else in a marriage.
5. I have two young children that have been raised this way and don’t know any different. And I view that as a good thing because they are easy to please. If you have teenagers or older children, they cost more—because they eat more and because they want more. I still believe it is possible to apply frugal principles no matter what your circumstance, but your monthly dollar amount may be different than mine. And that is A-okay.
6. I am at home all day. If you are a working mom, hats off to you. I don’t know how you do it! I would be so tired by the time I came home at night, I don’t know if I would ever want to cook a single meal. It is a totally different ball game for me. I have the time to bake bread or start something in the oven. In short, I have more time than money. Again, you have to be realistic with your life and situation.
7. I am only including food in the $200/month total. I have a separate budget category for toilet paper, shampoo, office supplies, and all other household purchases. Sometimes I buy non-food items at the grocery store. I’m not fanatical about separating it out and keeping track. I figure it all evens out in the end.
8. We go without. I know this sounds harsh, but it’s the truth of how I am able to keep our budget so low. We hardly ever buy convenience foods, snacks, juice, soda pop, steak, cereal, crackers, chips, etc. I would love to eat gourmet cheese and real butter every day. I love a nice cut of beef. My husband has his own list (mostly things like Doritos and gummy bears). But we choose not to buy those things because we have financial goals that are more important to us. Eventually as our expenses decrease and our income increases, I will probably expand my food budget accordingly. But for now, we are eating on the cheap!
Click on the links below to learn all of my best tips and tricks for lowering your grocery bill!
Cheap Eats Week 1: Stockpiling and Flexibility
Comments & Reviews
Wow, I think you totally described our family situation (graduate school, house) except our 4th one is on the way! Haha. I currently work at home but won't when the 2nd one arrives. Looking forward to the series!
I'd say we spend more like $300+ on groceries, but that includes all of the paper towels, diapers, etc. We cook most nights & love trying new recipes but I will sub with cheaper ingredients (like cheese). We do buy lots from #8 though!
I've been married for 16 years and ever since then, I've made a monthly menu for dinners and make my grocery list at the same time. I do my majority of shopping only once a month. Obviously, I have to go back for milk, produce etc. but having a monthly menu keeps me out of the store, thus saving money.
While my husband was in medical school (want to trade loan paybacks ;)) I stayed home w/ our little ones and budgeted like crazy. We went without for a LONG time. (We had 3 children during med school, 1 during residency, and 1 after) We had a $100 food budget for many years. Prices have gone up since then so it's probably equivilent to what yours is now. The road to bigger paychecks is well worth all the struggling, sacrificing, and eating oatmeal. Butter and gourmet cheese are now on my grocery list- and worth the wait! You'll appreciate them a lot more when the day comes- and it will come!
@carrie
Carrie, thank you for your encouraging comment! I'm only six years behind you…but an ample budget seems very far away. haha.
I have tried going shopping once a month and just can't seem to make it work, but I know for a lot of people it really saves them money.
I am definitely going to follow this. My husband and I don't have any kids yet, but we have a very low budget due to lots and lots of hospital bills.
Are you using Deals to Meals or any service like that to price match and find the cheapest deals? Or just prepping super cheap meals?
@Naomi Hanvey
Sorry to hear about hospital bills. Those are no fun! I hope this series will help you save some money.
@Jessika Speer
I don't use Deals to Meals or anything like that. When I lived in a bigger city, I used to read all the grocery ads and price match at WalMart, but there aren't very many stores here, so I shop at Winco, which is an awesome store with great prices. I'll be sharing more of the details of how I do all this as the series goes along.
I'm excited to see your menus. I spend $200 a week on groceries, including household items like shampoo, tp, etc. I think I could easily cut that in half. I just need some recipes!
Thank you so much for starting this series! It's just what my family needs!
@amy mayen
You can do it Amy!
I'm excited to read this series! I'm with you, I literally make everything from scratch…including laundry and dishwasher detergent. The best I've been able to do was $60 for a two week period. 🙂
@Kaitlan Wow, that's impressive!
That's pretty much how we do it too.
One other thing we do is we stick to the list. If it isn't on the list, we don't buy it. (Exception – frequently used items we find at a great sale).
Sometimes we'll put a special treat on the list, but generally we forget.
Having a list keeps you from wandering around and grabbing things that catch your eye.