How much to spend on food for large family?

amother

Mint

Sun, Jul 30 2017, 9:13 pm

Ways to save money.

I buy marcal toilet paper for 8.99 for 20 rolls when its on sale in key food. I get a few packs when its on sale so I dont have to keep checking for the sales every week.

I buy cheaper tissues either on sale such that I buy a lot and stock up or I find a 99 cent store that sells a bigger box of tissues for less, more for less and I stock up.

I try to buy cheap shampoos n toothpaste.
Deoderants are harder bc the cheaper ones sometimes cause itching.

I know how to find sales but not so much on food bc its hard to find sales on kosher foods unless you eat non cholov yisrael and .....so we spend a lot on food and eat noodles rice or bread during the week to save money to pay our rent. I dont know anyone who eats like us, but we also eat cheap carbs so that we can pay for the rent n tuition. I wish we can eat more healthy things but fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains, and chicken cost so much more money.

nicole81

Sun, Jul 30 2017, 11:13 pm

amother wrote:

That is extremely cheap, I'm amazed. Are there special discounts or benefits added in there?

No. (And I know you didn't mean any harm, but I take a lot of pride in my career and I actually find asking about benefits to be offensive!)

My husband is an excellent shopper and knows buy prices for every item we use, stocking up where appropriate. We also have the luxury of shopping at many different stores as needed, as he works in various locations throughout the week. We also use Amazon subscribe and save for some items.

I have menus of lower cost meat and chicken meals and repurpose leftovers (ie the 2 pieces of chicken left aren't enough to feed us dinner again, but shred them up and add beans, rice, and veggies to have a make-your-own burrito bar). I have a choose-your-omelet night almost every week; our buy prices have this come in at a max of $5 to feed everyone (imagine how much this can save in a month!). I make pizza (and pretty much everything) from scratch which the kids absolutely love, and costs $3 for a regular pie and a bit more with toppings. I could go on but I'm tired ☺️