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S/O How much for a family of 5 a month?
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amother
Goldenrod


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 1:20 pm
In a big city.

Our tuition bill is 8000$ a month. Therefore we must find where to pinch pennies. I think our food bill is insane but can't figure out what it should be. No little babies who barely eat. 5 full eaters.
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amother
White


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 1:49 pm
Change schools.
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amother
Goldenrod


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 2:04 pm
We rather pinch pennies and keep them in our local yeshiva at this time. One child is more expensive, spec program.

That's why I come here to see if anyone can help . I know our food spending can probably go down but I am not sure how & by how much.
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mom!




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 2:11 pm
How much are you spending on food?
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amother
Maroon


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 2:14 pm
What do you guys eat during the week? Do you eat lots of meat? Do you check the prices or just buy whatever looks delicious?
Do you buy lots of frozen meals or cut up vegetables and that sort of food? Those are the things that really make the difference. Do you have a big freezer so you can stock up when there's a sale? Nosh is also expensive if your kids eat a lot of it. My husband would spend the almost half of our food budget on sweets and crisps if I let him. So now we said everyone can have 3 treats per week not more. If there's money left at the end of the month, there's more treats for that Shabbos or we use it to eat out. I also make sure I only take that amount of money with me that I'm supposed to spend during that week. I pay cash so I can keep track of how much I still have.
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amother
Goldenrod


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 3:06 pm
I am too embarrassed to say the amount embarrassed that we spend, it's completely unbelievable .

During the week I and children only eat eggs or canned fish for protein . We buy fruits and vegetables only in season and cut them myself. I don't spend money on bags of snacks, they takes apples, cut up vegetables. I make soups, quinoa , rice with vegetables most days. I make one big salad for the meal. Breakfast is also fruit, oatmeal. No milk, no cereal. I have been trying to watch the exact prices, I see tomatoes, avocados , peppers are very expensive so I can try to watch those amounts. I see if I buy pickles or olives it's a lot. I sometimes buy nuts for snack and I see that is a lot. For shabbos I buy 1 pack of chicken. A small amount of meat for the cholent. We limit how much challah. Sometimes I bake, sometimes I buy. But it seems to cost around the same. I don't buy drinks, just water from the filter. Sometimes the kids finish the grape juice from shabbos. Lets just say my weekly bill is larger than many posters spend n a month. Dh won't let go of his takeout. He insists on it, refuses that I should makeep it for him. He probably spends 50$ a day Sunday -Thursday. But even without that part I still end up spending an embarrassing amount. I don't necessarily shop at the least expensive store, usually the one that's more convenient but it doesn't add up why I spend that much more than everyone else.
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amother
Maroon


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 3:26 pm
Hmm that's interesting. I'm confused because you seem to really put effort into saving, you know what's expensive.. do you pay cash or credit card? Maybe you can make meal plans for the week.. check what's on sale in the supermarkets near to you. Can you use coupons? Do you keep the receipts? I try to go shopping only once or max twice a week. The more often you go the more you spend.
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amother
Blue


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 3:32 pm
I am also a family of 5 and spend about $900 a month on food.

We buy no take out, eat pizza about twice a month and otherwise never eat out.

I found a huge money saver is making a meal plan motzei shabbos for the week and then getting my groceries delivered on Sunday. Not walking into a store has been a game-changer for me - no impulsive buys.
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 3:35 pm
I think it depends a lot on the weight of DH and kids. If they eat 3 times the amount of others, then you've got the answer
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Zehava




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 3:57 pm
We spend about 350 a week, our supermarket isn’t cheap, and we also buy paper goods, tetergent, and some toiletries there.
But that would still be just a fraction of what you pay for tuition. I don’t know how people swing those amounts
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 08 2018, 4:03 pm
We are a family of 5 and spend around 250-300 a week on Food. I really try to keep it closer to 250 though.
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TwinsMommy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 12:11 am
your tuition per month is a lot more than we make per month. Smile unless you put an extra zero and meant 8 HUNDRED instead of 8 THOUSAND? RESPECT for those who pay full tuition! I would say $50 a day sunday through Thursday on takeout is total insanity, honestly. It might be THERE that's your achilles heel and not your groceries. Can you imagine how much you'd save if he treated himself to a $20 takeout meal once a month rather than a $50 takeout meal once a day? Do the math with him!
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mommy3b2c




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 6:37 am
If you don’t give an amount it’s hard to help you. And $50 a day on takeout is an absurd amount.
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amother
Royalblue


 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 6:51 am
The way I save a lot of money is by making kugels cakes and cookies for shabbos or some weeday snacks, I make healthy oatmeal cookies....this saves a lot of money bec one cake for shabbos dessert can be 10 or more but if u buy flour and sugar on sale then buy eggs, u can save a lot of money. Its hard bec I do work full time but I do it bec it saves a lot of money.

Besides for the takeout of 50 a day, what u described sounds like it shouldnt cost a lot bec its already cheaper foods. Unless theres something else you forgot to mention.
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thunderstorm




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 8:00 am
mha3484 wrote:
We are a family of 5 and spend around 250-300 a week on Food. I really try to keep it closer to 250 though.

We spend exactly the same and I only buy food once a week and use what I have in the house. This is excluding extra fruit that I like to buy for Shabbos. Sometimes the weekly bill comes out even more and I am very careful with prices etc and by exactly what we need. (Family of 6), all eating adult size portions.


Last edited by thunderstorm on Fri, Nov 09 2018, 1:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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SuperWify




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 9:22 am
Why does DH need so much takeout? Could it be your cooking “too healthy” for his likes? Maybe you can start cooking for him what he likes?
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simcha2




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 10:16 am
We're a family of 5. Honestly I don't know how much we spend on food a week, it varies a lot. Someone around $250 seems right.

But, I also dont understand hope you can spend $50 a day on takeout for one person. If he eats a whole pizza it's $18. If he gets 3 sushi rolls it's $25-35. Even if he got steak, it's less that $50 for one person. Something isn't adding up.

Assuming it's Monday to Thursday that's $200 a week. More than $10,000 a year.

Something is definitely not right on this.
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amother
Emerald


 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 12:09 pm
Some of the posters are saying they spend for 5 people x amount, but if 3 are little kids then you can't compare to the OP who said she has 5 adult eaters. OP I'm guessing you spend at least $4000-5000 a month on food because just for your husband it's $1000 a month for only weekdays. Unless that $50 includes supper for all 5? If he can cut that bill, and I don't know if this applies to you, if it doesn't you can ignore it, but if you can cut out the organic food (if you buy any), and cut out expensive items like avocado, nonseasonal foods, prepared foods, bakery desserts, and make a menu for the week, that might help.
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groovy1224




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 12:31 pm
I'm trying to understand your tuition bill. Your yearly tuition is 12 x 9,000 = 108,000?? For 3 kids?

Even if you eat stale crackers and spam for breakfast lunch and dinner, how is anyone (besides the clearly wealthy) supposed to be able to afford that?
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BetsyTacy




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Nov 09 2018, 1:03 pm
Many people have tuition for 10 months, so the total tuition bill would be $80,000 a year.
A quick googling shows Ramaz tuition at $32,000. An inexpensive mo high school tops 20K a year, so 80K for 3 kids sounds very plausible, especially if there is a child who is in more specialized progrma like Sinai, etc.

That is assuming that all kids are still in high school or younger. It certainly can cost a lot more than that afterwards.
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