Where are my penny pinchers? Budget time

[Lil-Rokslider]

My wife and I are updating our budget, which means we're also looking back at all the ways we sucked at following our budget over the last year

We try really hard to be frugal people, while still enjoying ourselves. Looking back over the last year, the areas where we tend to get a bit reckless with our spending are eating out and my wife's target addiction........
Those are easy fixes, but what's got me scratching my head is our grocery budget.

For Context, we just had our 5th kid, so we're feeding a lot of mouths. My kids are 7, 6, 4, 2, and newborn. All they ever want to do while they're awake is eat snacks.

We try to eat healthy, real food, well rounded meals. We try to have leftovers from dinner for lunch whenever possible. I've got a couple freezers full of wild game, and I have a bunch of laying chickens. Yet, we somehow still spend around $1,800 per month at the grocery store!

Anyone with experience feeding a big family and keeping it affordable? Meal planning experts? Leftover and snack hacks? Grocery deal seekers? I need all your advice!

 

[Dunndm]

Cook at home more? That’s a decent way the wife and I saved money. We limited ourselves to only one meal out a week and it saved us a lot of money.
Another thing, plan out your meals were you can use 1 ingredient in multiple meals.
Start branching out and doing things with the kids and family that is either cheap or free. Go to parks, walks, etc.

I know this probably doesn’t help much, but it’s a thought hah


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[N.ID7803]

I feel the pain man. I only have two kids, but they are snack monsters. My wife and I tell ourselves all the time "why do we bother making them dinner". We buy most of our snacks at Grocery Outlet, not sure if you have one nearby, but they have name brand stuff and often brands you've never heard of for way cheaper than the big stores. We also will just shop whats on sale in the ad. Good luck!

 

[wyosteve]

What are you feeding them for snacks? I'd suggest apple slices, oranges, bananas, grapes.

 

[Haggin]

Do you buy groceries at Target? We did for a spell, and it was easy for the shopper (not me) to wander to the other side of the store.

For us, meal planning, eat out 2x per week or less, and buying in bulk saves $$. We raise our own freezer beef and pork too, but not everybody can do that.

We try to shop in store too. For us, being there and seeing the cart fill up is a better visual tool on cost than just clicking "add to cart" on the iPad.

ETA: You're spending $300/month each on groceries (excluded the newborn). Or figure $400 per each adult then $250 per child. TBH that doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility depending on where you buy groceries. There's 3 in our home, parents and 16YO, and we budget $1000 which excludes beef, pork, and eggs).

 

[fishsticks]

It’s not easy especially in inflationary times. Watching ads, stocking up during sales and buying bulk have always been our staples. Places like Costco can at times save vs the corner grocery but you have to watch. Having a freezer and breaking proteins down into smaller packages helps so you can bulk buy on sale or even buy half/quarter local beef (if you don’t have enough wild game.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Growing up we only had what my mother baked and that was limited. A snack was the fresh bread she baked on wed for the week.

 

[Laramie]

Something that helped me was every Sunday I grill 9 to 12 big chicken breasts. I let them cool completely and then slice. I keep a zip lock of those in the fridge along with a couple of different sauces. We all use this for salads, wraps, or just eat them plain when we need a quick meal or snack. We also buy bulk frozen fruit that we use in a quick smoothie or to make several different quick snacks that the kids love. Great mixed with Greek yogurt. We also buy flavored almonds in bulk. They are expensive but if you separate them into portion zip lock bags, they go a long ways and are a more filling, and a more healthy snack than the pre-packaged bs most parents feed their kids.

We eat out about once a month- I love to cook so do 5-6 suppers a week and my wife does the other 1 or 2. Again, having the chicken pre-done saves us on the nights we don't have time. It is so easy to make something fast if the meat is already cooked. We buy chicken breasts in bulk for about $1.75 per/pound.

On average we spend about $500 on groceries/standard household items per month and feed 4-6 per day. Of course, we have hundreds of pounds of wild game/fish to supplement. We also garden 6 months of the year.

 

[summs]

buy a dehydrator, and make your own healthy fruit snacks for your kids. Also, plan your weekly meals. After years, we finally have a whiteboard on the fridge to say what's for dinner.

Apple sauce base mixed with mushed fruit for diy fruit roll ups.

Knowing when to be frugal is half the battle. Dont skimp on things you need to be healthier, live longer, or make money. With 5 kids, should be a lot of hand me downs.

 

[CB4]

Snack Alternatives

1. Buy fruits and veggies for snacks (apples, carrots are our top 2)
2. Make bars or protein balls - my wife found a recipe for homemade perfect bars that are 10x better than store bought. (PM me and I will send it to you)
3. Kill an animal and have sticks, sausage, or jerky made

Make sourdough bread. Healthier and cheaper.
Meat and veggies for dinner. - Makes 2-3x what you can eat for left overs.

Dont buy junk. Shop the outsides of your grocery store, anything in the aisles are generally terrible for you.
If you can kill enough animals for your meat thats great. If not work with a meat processor and get a half a cow and a pig.
Sams Club or Costco are actually great for saving on things like peanut butter, chicken nuggets, meat, veggies, eggs, milk and fruit.

If you cut sugar out of your life you will stay fuller longer and also not crave it. Not to mention everyone attitude and energy levels will increase. I have a 2 year old and new born as well. Our 2 year old has had once piece of candy(Reese's PB Cup) outside of dark chocolate and that was the worst he has ever acted.

Lastly get your kids involved in the kitchen.

 

[Geewhiz]

I see people on here saying they are trying to cut back by eating out only once or twice a week. How about just dont eat out? Theres an easy way to save a chunk. Also ditch the snacks. I've got little kids. Yes they ask for snacks but if you actually make them eat their food at meal time they (most of the time) arent hungry between meals for snacks. My kids know that they better eat up at meal time b/c there won't be food available until the next meal. Snacks are spendy.

 

[CorbLand]

I dont have kids but my wife and I only eat out once a month and we each can get lunch for ourselves once a month. Other than that, its all made and brought from home. Saves us a ton of money.

Watch for sales and stock up. Winco had pork on sale for $1 per pound, we bought 40 pounds. They also had asparagus on sale for 68 cents a pound. We bought 35 and canned most of it.

 

[Geewhiz]

I dont have kids but my wife and I only eat out once a month and we each can get lunch for ourselves once a month. Other than that, its all made and brought from home. Saves us a ton of money.

Watch for sales and stock up. Winco had pork on sale for $1 per pound, we bought 40 pounds. They also had asparagus on sale for 68 cents a pound. We bought 35 and canned most of it.

I agree. pack a lunch and eat food you buy at the store.

1 person can easily spend $15/day on lunch alone, not to mention taking the whole fam out for a meal on a regular basis. The guys I work with like to go to lunch together. They take an hour and spend $10-15 on food each day. I bring a sandwich, take 15 and powerthroat it (according to them ) and then get back to work. Save the money and work an extra 45 minutes per day. I am fortunate to have an employer who gives us the flexibility to do that.

 

[WCB]

I would just get a month of receipts or a couple months and look at what is on there....Try to find coupons for items you regularly purchase.

I know it is small but my wife found a discount foods store. Most stuff seems to be damaged packaging etc. but the cost is normally like 1/3 of normal including fruits and vegetables. $2 or less for .5lbs of raspberries, black berries etc.... Great place for basic condiments...flour, spices etc. We find good deals on some other things also. We have literally compared similar receipts to standard places and have walked out with what would have cost us $300-$350 at Target, Walmart etc...cost us like $120.

Also if you see a good deal on things you know you are going to buy grab a few. We were at Target and I looked over and saw Spiral Cut ham for $1.50lb. bought 3 and those 3 were still cheaper than any 1 ham in there. We had ham dinner, Ham with breakfast and some ham sandwiches for lunch...multi purpose.

 

[CorbLand]

Another massive killer is buying coffee, energy drinks, pop, etc. I watch people spend 5-7 bucks a day on energy drinks. Shit adds up.

 

[william schmaltz]

No secret. Make your own food with plenty of leftovers and don't eat out. I got young kids too so I understand the snacks, but we're working on cutting it back. We will even leave a half eaten meal out and that can be snack. Teaches them to eat when they're supposed to eat pretty quick. Sometimes, they are needed and those apple sauce pouches, stick of cheese, or a banana are typically an affordable go to.

We've gone through 8 lbs of moose and 2 lbs of salmon since Monday. Tacos on Monday probably cost $10 and got 3 meals out of them, Blue Cheese Salmon and veggie Tuesday probably cost $10 and got 2 meals out of it, burgers and salad Wednesday probably cost $5 and got 3 meals out of it, Biscuits and gravy with fruit last night under $10 and that will be our lunch and breakfast next couple of days. Got 3 lbs of moose steak thawing in the fridge for tomorrow and will make a salad and baked potato with them probably coming in again around $10 and with that and leftovers, we will get back to the start of next week. I try to keep grocery bills under $150 per week and that includes diapers and household items. I can say with 100% confidence that the total cost for our salmon meat runs and shooting a couple moose this year was easily well below what it would've cost to buy equivalent from the store.

I had an old coworker who was always stressed about being poor while we were paying off massive debt. It was baffling to her since we made the same. She had a coffee every single day and ate our for lunch and supper at least 50% of the time. We sat down and added that up one day so she could see the light and it was almost sickening.

 

[ROKnROAL]

Damn man, can you even pull out of the driveway?

All jokes aside, big families are great, I come from one too. Main thing would be teach the kids to enjoy water, stuff like bublys are cheaper than soda and sugary juices. Better in the long run health wise as well

 

[BLJ]

In for more suggestions.

Eating out is a budget killer for sure.

 

[Rob5589]

Look at your grocery receipts and see what is a necessity vs want. Second, a newborn and 2 year old adds up to a lot in diapers and wipes; not much you can do about that right now. Costco, Sam's Club can save some serious coin over grocery stores. We buy beef in bulk, a quarter beef at a time. It ends up coming out to around 6.50/lb for ground, steaks, roasts, etc. Great way to save on beef with the current prices.

 

[grfox92]

$1800 a month is spot on for a family of your size.. we are $1500 a month, 3 kids 2, 5 and 8.

Side note, that $1500 a month was no where near over $800 a month 2 years ago.

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