Groceries: for suomynona

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Dec 23 2010, 10:22 am

I thought I had my receipt from this week's grocery purchases, but I don't. I do spend less than most people, I know. My budget is $80/week, but even if it was $150/week, for a month it still would not be close to 1K.
I do have a $50 overage right now due to stocking up for yoshon. It was $80, and is going down week by week.
My husband eats breakfast and lunch in yeshiva.
2 of my kids eat lunch at the sitter.
So I have 6 people eating breakfast (one of whom is a baby and doesn't eat much), 3 eating lunch, and 6 eating supper on a daily basis.
I do make meals for people (I probably made 3 in the past month -- one for a couple, one for a family with 4 eating kids, one for a family with 3 eating kids), and I do sometimes have guests. On the flip side, we go to my in-laws for Shabbos lunch once every 3 weeks or so.
Diapers I buy on Amazon.com now. I use swagbucks sometimes, but even without, I can get 204 Pampers size 3 for the both of my kids for under $30.
We have a few disposables for emergencies and I buy napkins and a few pans. But we mainly rely on dishes.

This week I stayed within budget and bought (off the top of my head):
Fresh produce:
5 lbs clementines
3 lbs apples
7 bananas
3 onions
5 lb potatoes
coleslaw bag
(I already had sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, lettuce at home)

Fish:
No gefilte fish -- I had bought a twin pack and have 1 in the freezer. Like you, I only make 1/2 a loaf if we can get by with that (e.g. not eating at home all the seudos).

Dry goods:
Tomato sauce
Pizza sauce
Mushrooms
Baby corn (bringing it in for Shabbos party)
Honey
2 boxes of matzah (buy 1, get 1 free)
1 box of cookies (shabbos party)
Container of pretzel rods (way beyond what I spend; my husband bought it thinking it was a good deal because it was on sale, but I told him we don't have brand loyalty. It cost $4-$5.)

Baking goods:
5 lb sugar
10 lb flour
Salt
3 disposable pie tins (I am making quiche for dinner on Monday and I don't have a milchig pan the right size -- I also like to freeze extra when I make the crust)

Meat:
1 whole chicken cut in 1/8s (I have another 3-4 thighs I'm taking out of the freezer)
1 package of chicken cutlets (to be cut into strips for stir fries)
I had 3 suppers worth of ground beef in my freezer, as well as cholent meat

Fresh:
Eggs
1/2 gallon of milk (I usually buy a gallon, but had a lot in my fridge still. My older son gets milk at school.)

Frozen:
2 lbs cut broccoli (bodek on sale for $5)
Green beans
Diced onion
3 whipped topping (making a dessert for a kiddush this week; not a regular staple)

What does my menu look like?
Tonight -- unstuffed cabbage
Shabbos -- challah, gefilte fish, chicken soup, juice chicken, potato kugel, green beans, pavlova, cholent, coleslaw
Sunday -- chicken broccoli potato casserole
Monday -- rolls, tuna quiche, split pea or sweet potato soup (haven't decided)
Tuesday -- honey garlic meatballs, spaghetti, rice, and corn salad
Wednesday -- baked ziti and chickpea salad

Based on what I bought and what was in my pantry, I definitely managed to stay within my budget and still serve pretty complete meals.

Lunches will be wraps (already have) or leftover challah or rolls leftover from Monday supper with lettuce and tuna salad or leftover supper, etc

suomynona

Thu, Dec 23 2010, 12:43 pm

Thanks for posting, HY.
I spend about $150 a week on my main grocery shopping. Then I do a smaller grocery shopping and spend between $10 and $25 usually. Then we usually buy fruits and veggies at the shuk for let's say $15-$20 a week. Then there's smaller shoppings at the bakery for challah etc. This is besides my meat and chicken order which I do every 4-6 weeks and spend an additional $150 each order.

I don't think I would be able to tell from one grocery bill why it's so expensive. Each week is different. We're always running out of something or another and need to stock up on it.

I'm currently spending about $100/month on formula, so that also adds obviously. And the dollar is bad now, and I earn in dollars, and spend in shekel.
Still I feel I should be able to get away with spending less.

I tried tracking my food bills for 2 months, but didn't make it until the end of the first month. It was just too time consuming to type out every single item.

I really think I would need to make changes in 10 different areas (food and paper goods wise) in order to see a significant difference. that's what's discouraging.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Dec 23 2010, 12:47 pm

chocolate moose wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Did you budget for Pesach ? Tishrei? Rosh Chodesh, birthdays ?

Yes. I have never made Pesach, but otherwise, yes.
Y"T meals are not more expensive when I get a roast and divide it for a few meals. I got a roast this R"H for 5.99/lb. It ended up being cheaper than serving chicken (I'm not paying for bones).
R"C -- I try to serve a bit fancier, like a pepper steak, again it's in the budget.
Birthdays? What costs so much? I don't make parties. I'll make cupcakes or buy if the school requires, but other than that, not much to budget for. As you see from this week, my son was shabbos tatty and still managed to bring in mezonos, ha'adama, and a bottle of grape juice that was stocked up in our home (when it was 2.50 for 64 ounces) without breaking the budget.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Dec 23 2010, 12:57 pm

suomynona wrote:

What I would start with is this:
1)Is it feasible to make your own challah/bread? It might even be worth it to get a mixer if you don't have one to make it go quickly. It saves a lot. I know it can be hard; I work too. But once I got a mixer, it became so much easier, and it really is not much of a patchka if you're not doing it by hand.

2)Buy produce that is in season. Even if you like certain fruits/veggies more, if it's not in season, don't buy. My kids can survive on basic fruits with nothing fancy like melon. If there is one thing to track in food expenditures, this is what I would focus on for now. Do you overbuy produce that goes to waste? Which is the cheapest (not necessarily per lb but per eating -- one apple vs one banana: which is cheaper for that 1 snack?) See what prices usually are, and you'll start realizing if prices have gone up tremendously. I think there is a lot of room for flexibility in this area.

3)Stretch your food. When making a stir fry, you can get by with a lot less chicken by adding in more inexpensive foods. I can stretch a stir fry with chickpeas for example -- I'm not compromising nutrition, but I am getting more bang for my buck.

4)Evaluate how much leftovers you have. Are you spending a lot of money making Shabbos chicken that you don't need during the week? Yes, use the leftovers that you have up (that's where one dish suppers come in very handy), but see if you can make less to begin with. For example, I made a carrot kugel last week that didn't get finished. It didn't surprise me; I didn't expect it to. I had wanted to make it into muffins and freeze the muffins we don't need, but my muffin tins were nowhere to be found, so I made it one kugel. We had it leftovers and we still have some left. Sweet kugels like that or apple kugel I prefer to make in muffins for that reason.

5)Can you consolidate your shopping to be one trip? You end up saving more because you have less opportunity to walk out buying more than you expected to.

suomynona

Thu, Dec 23 2010, 1:11 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

I make challah occasionally, but challah is much cheaper here than in the US so it's not such a savings.

Quote:

2)Buy produce that is in season. Even if you like certain fruits/veggies more, if it's not in season, don't buy. My kids can survive on basic fruits with nothing fancy like melon. If there is one thing to track in food expenditures, this is what I would focus on for now. Do you overbuy produce that goes to waste? Which is the cheapest (not necessarily per lb but per eating -- one apple vs one banana: which is cheaper for that 1 snack?) See what prices usually are, and you'll start realizing if prices have gone up tremendously. I think there is a lot of room for flexibility in this area.

We buy pretty basic stuff. Unfortunately I and my kids don't eat enough fruits and veggies. I'm not saying we would avoid buying cucumbers if they go up one week, but we don't really buy the out of season stuff.

Quote:

3)Stretch your food. When making a stir fry, you can get by with a lot less chicken by adding in more inexpensive foods. I can stretch a stir fry with chickpeas for example -- I'm not compromising nutrition, but I am getting more bang for my buck.

4)Evaluate how much leftovers you have. Are you spending a lot of money making Shabbos chicken that you don't need during the week? Yes, use the leftovers that you have up (that's where one dish suppers come in very handy), but see if you can make less to begin with. For example, I made a carrot kugel last week that didn't get finished. It didn't surprise me; I didn't expect it to. I had wanted to make it into muffins and freeze the muffins we don't need, but my muffin tins were nowhere to be found, so I made it one kugel. We had it leftovers and we still have some left. Sweet kugels like that or apple kugel I prefer to make in muffins for that reason.

I make exactly enough for shabbos. Rarely have leftovers and if I do, my husband eats it Sunday night

Quote:

5)Can you consolidate your shopping to be one trip? You end up saving more because you have less opportunity to walk out buying more than you expected to.

My smaller shopping is usually just stocking up on dairy, bread and veggies that we run out of in between big shoppings.

I'm not trying to brush off all your suggestions. I appreciate them! I'm just saying it's not so simple.
You mentioned your husband eats some meals out of the house. Maybe that makes a difference. We all eat all our meals at home.
Do you ever go away for shabbos? We never do.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Dec 23 2010, 1:42 pm

My husband eats in yeshiva breakfast S-F and lunch S-Th. I do mention this, but even if he did eat food from home, our expenses wouldn't double.
We don't go out for Shabbos; as mentioned we will go for Shabbos lunch (not our most expensive meal, being mainly cholent) once every few weeks. But we also have guests. This week my sister is coming for 1-2 meals. Next week, my married brother is coming with his wife. Etc. So it balances out.

About #5: Is there a problem with buying enough dairy to last the whole week? And instead of buying more bread, use leftover challah or make rolls...veggies, survive without or use from the freezer or cans...those little trips add up a lot. My rule is basically if we run out, we make do until our next shopping trip. I took a roll from the freezer for my son's lunch today since I had no fresh hamotzi.

suomynona

Fri, Dec 24 2010, 1:07 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

About #5: Is there a problem with buying enough dairy to last the whole week? And instead of buying more bread, use leftover challah or make rolls...veggies, survive without or use from the freezer or cans...those little trips add up a lot. My rule is basically if we run out, we make do until our next shopping trip. I took a roll from the freezer for my son's lunch today since I had no fresh hamotzi.

It just seems wrong that if I'm trying to cut down my grocery bill, the first thing I would cut down on is bread and cucumbers. Those are basic items. They don't cost that much. I would think I should cut down on more luxurious items first.
The milk bags here take up a lot of room and we go through them quickly. It's not so practical to buy a week's worth.
I agree that the little trips add up, but I stick to my list and it's all things I need.

Anyway this thread inspired me to start tracking my food expenses again. I'll let you know the verdict in 2 months Smile

Tamiri

Fri, Dec 24 2010, 1:23 am

suomynona wrote:

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Suo, if you want to know what I think, here goes. If not, just ignore: First of all, I think you are too vague about what you really spend. Abouts and approximately don't add up to $1000. You may be spending much more, you may be spending less. There is no way for you to really know, unless you are diligent and track your spending for two months, starting NOW (no chagim). Do you realize that EVERY time you walk into the grocery store, there is the temptation to overbuy. It's psychological. A customer will practically always "remember" something else at the last minute, even if they just went in for a bag of milk. I am aware of this, and it still happens to me: I see pasta on sale 3/10 nis, see a great bargain on Heinz ketchup and though I was just going in for one specific item, I end up spending more. Therefore, I try and am generally successful at shopping just once/week. I don't think your family is larger than mine so I see no reason not to bring those 5? 8? bags of milk home once/week and not go out again. Same with bread: buy 2 loaves if you need them, and freeze, taking out the number of slices you need when you need them. Your money isn't going on bread and cucumbers. But if they kids and you aren't eating fruits and veggies, you are spending on something more expensive to fill them up. Think about what that may be. Your meats and fish and chicken don't seem to be breaking the bank. If you are spending $100 (360 nis) on formula and then some more on diapers, sure your bill will be high. You REALLY need to check your grocery list, take a good long hard look at it, and figure it out. Even when we had diapers here, and 6 other people, my grocery bill was lower (cheaper meat and chicken, for sure, but still.....).
When the dollar is low, you should probably be doing even more to lower the bills, because otherwise you will be spending MORE than $1000.

willow

Fri, Dec 24 2010, 3:08 am

suomynona, you were so honest about your food expenses so I will be as well.

My bill is similar to yours except a large part goes to fruits and veggies. Yes I am going to buy cucumbers even if the prices become outrageous because that is a staple for my family.Do I feel guilty about it yes I do but For us hhaving variety in the produce department is for some like having their chocolate (pick your vice).

I never buy at a makolat but the store here is priced like one so there is not much choice.

We don't eat meat or chicken often during the week. I do make a lot and it lasts us all week.

I am very good about using up all the stuff before it goes bad whether it is dairy, leftovers or whatever.

It just adds up because we eat a LOT. All of us. ANd in addition we don't like the gloppy heimisha sameness in food. We like clean clear fresh and varied food choices.

edited to add diapers and stuff add up. We buy pull ups for dd and yes more expensive then regualur but it is important to self-esteem and it helps for the times she does go to bathroom. Yes I use a lot of paper goods and it is 'wrong' but for my mental health I can't be doing dishes all day right now.

Last edited by willow on Fri, Dec 24 2010, 4:09 am; edited 1 time in total