$365 per week for food - normal? family 2 adults 6 kids

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amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 4:10 pm

I live in Brooklyn N.Y.

only food not including non food items

yes including chicken fish groceries fruits/veg

thanks

also
$400 con Edison month

naturalmom5

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 4:14 pm

Do you go to Shoprite on I and path mark or only heimishe stores

sequoia

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 4:17 pm

Gee, I'd love to go to Shoprite but I don't drive. Only Jewish stores within walking distance.

MaBelleVie

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 4:19 pm

How old are the kids? Teenagers and some pre teens eat adult size portions.

Con ed will depend on which appliances are included and how large your home is.

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 5:11 pm

open here

I pay con ed for light fridge precondition computer separate ful freezer
I live one floor . we have 5 rooms, one bathroom , two hallways and a kitchen.

My oldest 12 years youngest is 2 years

IMHopinion

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 5:12 pm

I think it's normal.

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 5:13 pm

open here
this happens when you type from a tablet Exclamation

mfb

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 5:18 pm

Con ed for a summer month sounds normal. I think to me grocery sounds a bit high but within normal range still.

flowerpower

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 5:21 pm

Food per week makes sense. Con ed for the summer makes sense too. They keep going up. We pay that amount too. Its nutsssssss.

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 5:23 pm

thanks ladies
trying to stretch worn dollars....

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 6:22 pm

our food bill is 200-250 weekly. 7 people, 2 adults + 5 kids ages 16-5. If you have older kids I think it makes sense that you spend more.

MaBelleVie

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 6:43 pm

amother wrote:

thanks ladies
trying to stretch worn dollars....

If you want to stretch them more you almost definitely can. Does anyone have special dietary needs? If not, food bills can be cut significantly.

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:01 pm

I'm adressing the amother who posted right before Mabellevie post.

You only have one less child than me. How is your weekly only 200 250. You included chiken fish fruits veggies and dairy?
Where do you shop?

LittleDucky

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:03 pm

It really all depends on how big eaters you and your kids are. I know some adults who eat really small portions and some children who can eat a full adult portion.
But in most cases, unless there are strict dietary needs like allergies, you can decrease the amount you spend on food. Yes, keeping kosher does mean our food budgets are more than the average consumer. But we can keep them down.

How do you shop for food? Where do you shop? Can you shop elsewhere (take a bus, get a ride, borrow a car etc if needed?)??

Do you make sure to turn off all electronic devices, lights, air etc when not needed?

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:11 pm

So the story is that I'm married to a husband who has limitations due to mental illness.

I carry the burden.

I work.

There is just so much I can do.

We dont have a car and I have severe varicose veins and cant afford the surgical socks so I cannot be on my feet for many many hours.

Basically whoever knows which is cheapest supermarket in Boro Park and where I can get the best deals on cleaning products, papergoods [tissues napkins disp gloves silver foil baggies dish soap sponges etc] will be doing me a great favor in sharing

thanks

LittleDucky

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:13 pm

Oh, and an easy way to cut electric bills is to unplug unneeded things from the wall. It's called "vampire voltage". It sucks some electricity from the wall even when off. It's only a little but with enough devices over enough time it can really add up.

amother

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:20 pm

amother wrote:

We dont eat meat (aside from leftovers) during the week. I cook everything from scratch. I buy milk, eggs, cheese at costco, and nuts, rice milk, flour, nut butters at trader joes, oatmeal and cereal at walmart. I'm good at paying attention to sale cycles and stock up on things like sugar, flour, oil, ketchup, pizza sauce, pasta, etc at sale prices. I buy produce in season. I buy whats on sale and menu plan around that rather than plan a menu prior to knowing whats on sale. I shop only from my list, no impulse buys. I try not to throw out too much food, so if there's veggies about to go bad in the fridge, I will make soup for my lunch even if I'd rather eat something else. we dont have much snack food in the house aside from homemade cookies and ice cream when on sale. most of our food bill is dairy, eggs, and produce.
I'm also lucky perhaps, my kids and dh prefer simple foods, they are very happy with french toast for dinner. We eat lots of rice, soups and salads. I eat leftover dinner for lunch.
We eat fish once a week, I buy a family package of tilapia which is actually more than we need but is surprisingly cheaper than buying less.

I anticipate our food bill increasing as our kids get bigger.

granolamom

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 7:23 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

this is true! a few months ago I started unplugging all of our chargers every morning and our electricity usage when down significantly. I also stopped leaving our urn plugged in all week. it takes only a few minutes to boil a cup of water, no need to keep that thing supplied with energy all the time.

Six boyz

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 8:16 pm

Quickaid pharmacy 13 ave 39 st for papergoods pampers soap...KRM supermarket or pathmark

fortunate123

Thu, Aug 21 2014, 9:03 pm

Are there any gemachs or charitable organizations that you can get the support stockings for your legs? That most be doubly painful, to have the varicose veins and no money to buy what you need to make it less painful. Maybe we mothers can donate anonymously for you to be able to buy a pair?

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