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Post by tracyarts on Apr 6, 2020 15:43:12 GMT
Our budget has gone up for two reasons.
We're only doing grocery delivery. One delivery from one store, about every 10-14 days. No way to visit multiple stores to find the best prices, no picking the best deal among brands/varieties. We get what the shopper has available to pick, and it is what it is.
Some items that just haven't been available in the store, we ordered from Amazon, and usually can only find them in bulk packaging. So we're spending a lot more up front on some things than usual. But that's okay, we won't have to buy them again for a while. Still, it costs way more at once than we usually spend on those items.
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Post by katlady on Apr 6, 2020 15:48:33 GMT
Ours has definitely gone up since we are eating all our meals at home. But, it is offset by the fact we are not eating out as much either. We used to always buy lunch at work.
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Post by janamke on Apr 6, 2020 15:53:36 GMT
We are at about $250 per week for a family of 5 for groceries. That is up since there are 5 of us eating at home 3 meals a day, vs 2 kids eating hot lunch at school. That does not include once a week take out from a local restaurant or household supplies. Target/Amazon runs about another $200 a month for household cleaners, detergent, body care, etc.
We live where groceries are fairly expensive (Twin Cities, Minnesota). I don't shop sales or go to multiple places for groceries, 1 stop (or pick up) and done.
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Post by maryland on Apr 6, 2020 16:06:22 GMT
We probably spend about $1000 a month for 4 adults and one teen. Maybe more. We eat at home most of the time and my husband eats so much fresh fruit and vegetables, a big part of our budget. I have spent so much during the quarantine, and our meals are pretty crappy compared to what I can usually get. Stores are out of so much, and it's hard to find substitutes. I really should start keeping track. But I used to go grocery shopping every 1-2 days. Probably spend more doing that, but it's so stressful for me to mealplan for 2 weeks like I do now.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Apr 6, 2020 16:32:25 GMT
maryland I don't like to be tied down to a very specific meal plan, but I have made a list of meals that we have the ingredients for and pull from that when choosing for the day, or making my list for the next shopping trip (if we already used an ingredient that is needed). That has been helpful to me. I am struggling more with lunches. I don't want to be cooking two or three meals a day (and cleaning up from them) but we also don't have a lot of freezer space at the moment.
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Deleted
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May 20, 2024 14:35:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 16:38:51 GMT
I am struggling more with lunches. I don't want to be cooking two or three meals a day (and cleaning up from them) but we also don't have a lot of freezer space at the moment. We laid down the lunch law (lol) when this first started. Sandwiches/soup or leftovers. No "big cooking" for lunch. That said, we are getting into somewhat of a brunch routine, lol. I made a big egg strata Sunday around 11 that was a huge hit that we are having for lunch today. smittenkitchen.com/2009/12/spinach-and-cheese-strata/I used goat cheese as that is what I had that needed to be used up. Very flexible recipe and I got to use a heel of homemade bread. I did not use near the amount of bread called for, as DH likes egg bakes less bready and more eggy.
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Post by birdy on Apr 6, 2020 16:46:58 GMT
$120 per week (family of 4 with 2 teens). The past month, it's been significantly more as I stocked up on extra food so that when we are in the worst weeks of this pandemic, I don't need to go out.
I plan meals around what's on sale at the store (usually). Right now, I'm just meal planning and buying whatever I can get my hands on.
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ddly
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,947
Jul 10, 2014 19:36:28 GMT
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Post by ddly on Apr 6, 2020 16:54:16 GMT
I think we are around 800 - 1000 a month, including household cleaning/paper products, for 3. We haven't increased the amount we are spending due to working at home because we are eating the same lunches we would bring to work. I have a 21 yo ds that lives at home and he eats a lot. I think without him we would be able to reduce our budget significantly. We do a big shop every 2 weeks and DH picks up perishables throughout the week, well used to. Now we try to limit to 1 run during the week.
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Post by maryland on Apr 6, 2020 17:15:00 GMT
maryland I don't like to be tied down to a very specific meal plan, but I have made a list of meals that we have the ingredients for and pull from that when choosing for the day, or making my list for the next shopping trip (if we already used an ingredient that is needed). That has been helpful to me. I am struggling more with lunches. I don't want to be cooking two or three meals a day (and cleaning up from them) but we also don't have a lot of freezer space at the moment. I gave up on lunches. We stocked up on ravioli and soup and ramen noodles at the start of all this, and told the kids that's their lunches. I don't have the energy to come up with lunch ideas, and don't want to add to the endless dirty dishes. I really need to go through my recipes and come up with ideas for the next couple of months. I think if we had a second refrigerator that would help so much! I can't even find the food ours is so stuffed!
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Post by fredfreddy44 on Apr 6, 2020 17:24:02 GMT
Our grocery bill has gone up but our eating out has gone done to zero. Dh no longer gets free lunches at work and son is eating at home instead of the limited college amount we were giving him.
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Deleted
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May 20, 2024 14:35:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 17:26:13 GMT
Ours is just about the same. We don’t eat out a lot and I can still find good prices.
But last night I blew the budget and almost had a heart attack! I went to Taco Bell, bought 2 of the 12 tacos. Omg. Almost $35. But it was worth it, my son loves Taco Bell. He put in our new floor so he gets his favorite food and the guy at Taco Bell was very thankful, ( I think I got some extra tacos) for the business.
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Post by maryland on Apr 6, 2020 17:29:49 GMT
Prices have gone up quite a lot here, so that, combined with being at home all day - yes, our grocery budget has gone WAY up. But we're not spending on other "stuff". Yes, having everyone home all day does make a difference. We aren't spending money on school lunches now, so that helps. I don't keep track of food spending specifically (and am a little afraid to look at the breakdown the bank gives, TBH) but I think I spend about $1000-1100 per month. School lunch would have been about $250 extra. And going out to eat. My goal for this month is $750 but we will see how that goes. My friend spends $900 a month for two people and doesn't think she could reduce that. I think she definitely could. That does seem high for two. But I could see us doing that too! Maybe your friend eats a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. They can be expensive. Our family could eat a container of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries from Costco every day. I try to limit the amount of the costco fruit, or we would be spending crazy amounts (especially when it's off season). My husband gets mad because I will tell him I didn't buy him blueberries at costco if they are $8.99 a container. That's our running joke!
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Deleted
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May 20, 2024 14:35:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 19:15:24 GMT
We try to stick with $500 - $600 a month for our family of 4 (2 teens). That includes pet supplies, paper goods, medicines - everything.
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Post by chaosisapony on Apr 6, 2020 19:24:13 GMT
I’m throwing my grocery budget out the window until things stabilize. I feel like I had a plan and knew what worked for my family, but none of it applies anymore. We have never been home this much, never eaten at home this much, never cooked this much, never needed to keep this much on hand. I have no idea what is a reasonable budget. I can’t comparison shop to find the best prices. I can’t shop the sales. You have to get what you can, when you can. ^^^ This!
Since stock is so unsteady at the big stores I have been shopping primarily at smaller, local stores. Unfortunately the prices are much higher but they are more likely to have what I need and I encounter far fewer people. So it's a decent trade off. I have not totaled up how much I spent on groceries in March but it was significantly more than usual. My best guess between household supplies and actual food probably just under $500. For just me, one person.
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Post by andreasmom on Apr 6, 2020 21:01:03 GMT
I’ve seen significantly higher prices in the last couple of weeks. That plus not going out at all = way over budget. Once things settle down, we will for sure reign it in.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,870
Jun 26, 2014 22:49:09 GMT
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Post by tracylynn on Apr 6, 2020 22:25:48 GMT
I'm honestly still trying to figure mine out. I'm single - and would say I was spending around $200 a month on groceries, maybe a bit more. BUT - I just moved into a house in October after living in apartment living for 9 years.
I had no kitchen storage so really only kept food in the house that I would be eating in the next week or two. Even though I moved into my house, I kept shopping that way.
In the past month I've spent about $500 between 3 grocery trips and Costco stocking my pantry. Plus I have another $100 trip scheduled for pick up Sunday morning already. It makes me cringe a bit, but it's not just food. It's personal hygiene, cleaning supplies and everything else that I would normally stock and just never had room for before. I had to get caught up in a short period of time. After this next trip, I'm hoping I can cut my groceries back quite a bit. I will have to make another Costco run this month, but am hoping to push it to later in the month when Washington State should be on it's way back down ...
As far as eating out, my Starbucks habit is completely broken, which is good. I was spending $10/day there. So there's another $200 a month. Other than that, I might grab lunch or dinner, one time a week. So maybe a total of $250-275 a month in eating out.
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Post by susancinpa on Apr 6, 2020 22:38:44 GMT
I don't have a good way of getting an accurate average amount. I tend to stock up when things are on sale, but not stock up in a hoarding sense. So if the sales are good, I may spend more than normal, but then not so much for a few weeks as I don't buy those items until we need more, possibly during the next sale cycle.
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Post by Sorrel on Apr 6, 2020 22:38:49 GMT
We probably spend about 1300 a month for 5 people. We buy expensive stuff though. It’s been even worse now. I went yesterday and spent over $400 for stuff that would normally be about $280. Prices have definitely gone up.
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Post by lucyg on Apr 6, 2020 23:24:40 GMT
I think I was spending around $500, maybe $600 a month before. That’s for me, the 11yo who is normally here 5 days & nights/week, and then I feed his dad or my sister and BIL dinner a few times a week, too. It also includes routine household goods, TP, soap, etc. No pets. Occasional eating out and he buys lunch at school once a week, takes it from home the rest of the time. The 11yo is with his dad full-time for now, but I’m still spending about the same, due to higher prices, trying to stock up when I can, and also taking my mom to the store once a week, which means I’m shopping at least once a week, too, whether I need to or not. I haven’t eaten out in almost a month, and I miss it. But on the other hand, I’ve been using all that extra money to buy lots and lots of craft supplies (online) I probably don’t actually need. ETA I forgot to say, I usually shop the sales at Costco and the local supermarket pretty heavily. That has been less doable lately.
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Post by sawwhet on Apr 6, 2020 23:28:32 GMT
5 adults home at the moment. We are spending about $250 a week.
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Post by SunnySmile on Apr 7, 2020 0:12:52 GMT
I went through what we spent in March, including eating out, is around $400 which is way more than I thought it would be. I have been stocking up on things when I can, but the stores are rationing to 2 only of what you buy. We are only 2 of us here, but my daughter who is unemployed was rationing her food, so we put together a big box of food for her, so that probably accounts for a chunk of the increase.
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Post by Linda on Apr 7, 2020 2:01:49 GMT
Ours has definitely gone up since we are eating all our meals at home. But, it is offset by the fact we are not eating out as much either. We used to always buy lunch at work. I imagine that there's been a savings from not eating out here also - but eating out came from DH's discretionary funds so isn't impacting my grocery budget
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Post by ~summer~ on Apr 7, 2020 2:04:01 GMT
I just totaled up what we have spent in the last 3 weeks at Safeway, Whole Foods and a handful of take out and it was $1500! I'm shocked. Though to be fair we did 'stock up' and buy more than normal (we don't have a big pantry and don't usually have a *ton* of food in the house). I'm still shocked though....wow.
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Post by Legacy Girl on Apr 7, 2020 3:59:52 GMT
I'm guessing we're at about $200 per week for our family of three.
I'm in the same boat with the PP who said the budget for fresh fruits and veggies is high at our house, but I consider that a good thing. I have been able to rein in the budget a bit as DH has eased up on his vegan preferences. Being able to have all three of us eat the same meal really helps to contain costs. Nothing annoyed me more through the years than having him insist on expensive vegan meals at home, but then choosing to indulge in a full meat pizza as a "splurge" once a week when we were going out. All the while, griping about the grocery bills.
I'm also not a prepared foods person, so while Hamburger Helper and Velveeta Mac & Cheese would be cheaper, those aren't meals we would eat.
And I think our grocery bills have definitely been higher recently due to pantry stocking, eating all meals and snacks at home, etc. But we've really enjoyed the cooking we've done at home, so hopefully, we'll cut back on our restaurant budget once normal life resumes. We're definitely eating healthier, if not cheaper.
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Post by katiekaty on Apr 8, 2020 0:09:53 GMT
Every two weeks one big grocery shopping of 250-300 for 4 people 3 meals a day with snacks plus a “catch up” shopping anything we missed for meal preps, out of ormore snacks for about another 70 or so. That’s everything, food, cleaning, paper goods.
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Post by LisaDV on Apr 8, 2020 0:31:04 GMT
$1000 to $1500 a month for a family of 4/now 5 as my brother is here. This includes anything else I'd get at a store - laundry detergent, TP, napkins, medicine, alcohol. I really try to keep it to the $1000. DD is lactose free, gluten free, can't do dyes, nitrites, nitrates, and many other foods. I usually shop 3-4 stores every week to get the best prices and I buy in bulk online for things. Many things I have 2 of. Hers and ours. Ours is the cheaper version. However if it's a mixed dish I'm cooking, then I have to use her ingredients to make it. I'm really missing LF yogurt, cream cheese, and sour cream right now. I could only find them at Whole Foods, and I'm not going in stores right now.
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Post by littlemama on Apr 8, 2020 0:35:22 GMT
I would say we are spending more because I am having Shipt orders delivered twice a week so we always have fresh produce, bread, milk, eggs. I am tipping very generously during this time. We have ordered pizza once for pickup, but tipped the poor girl who was bringing the pizza out to the cars. We also ordered meals from.the caterer who did ds' grad party. She makes phenomenal food and is a small company. Delivery for that was 25 dollars plus I tipped 20.
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