I went thru my grocery receipt

amother

Thu, May 18 2023, 9:38 am

To try and figure out what I spent 480 on. This doesn’t include meat or fruits and vegis and it turns out literally nothing was an extra except for whipped cream which I bought for yt. I need to buy heimesh hechsherim for school snacks and I’ve tried buying the big bags and dividing it but it doesn’t get u more bc the sandwich bags are so much bigger you end up with less then the recommended serving sizes. I shop in one of the cheapest stores in bp and I can’t figure out where to cut. I’m not buying luxury at all. I bake everything myself except I do buy box frozen pizza for Fri lunch. I have 5 kids 4 of them are older. And I still need to go to the fruit store which will end up costing me another 80-100. My kids eat a solid breakfast everyday like omelets or homemade pancakes for lunch the girls bring salads or sandwiches boys are still young enough they eat what’s served in school and supper I serve protein like chicken or ground meat carb and salad. I stopped buying fish because that became insanely expensive recently. Yes I can serve tuna or beans or pasta but no one is eating that and who gets full from just pasta. Last night I made pasta and pizza and almost all my kids and dh were eating the whole night they weren’t satisfied. No one in my family likes cholent just the meat potatoes and kugel. Am I the only one that is struggling with this? What are people doing to lower their bill without just having pasta for supper?

amother

Anemone

Thu, May 18 2023, 9:51 am

I've also reviewed this and come to the conclusion that groceries is not somewhere I can cut. Food is just a very expensive part of living and raising a family, I dont think your missing something, I think its just a fact. pinching here and there will only make you feel bad and not really help. I ended up deciding to find some other areas to pinch on if necessary instead of stressing about groceries. I switched to a different internet and phone service plan, switched some light bulbs to LED, and excepted some hand me downs from my sisters kids instead of buying all new...etc. If you need to cut back somewhere, groceries might just not be the place. its expensive and thats a fact.

amother

Babypink

Thu, May 18 2023, 9:55 am

Hugs,we're all in the same boat!
I don't fund anyone store to be cheap. Each store has some items cheaper some more expensive. We also tried the big bags of snack and besides for my extra daily job of preppiit all we didn't see any benefits(. Only way to really save financially by making popcorn and baked goods. ) as expensive as the snacks are we do find bingo to have several options that are cheaper and we do a stock up there one in two weeks. Ingo also always has frozen pizza for $9 sometimes less thats the best price unless getting sale Kollel. Rosters (and shoprite) are the best local salmon prices. About $5 per pound difference. Get the torah times weekly on Wed. And price check. Sales aren't always really sales just gimmicks but when they are you can do very well stocking up. Sounds like you will eat non heimish at home. So keep an eye on shop rite prices.
Hatzlacha

amother

Cyclamen

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:00 am

I think the people who say to.cut down either aren't realistic, they were buying loads extra to begin with, or their family eats very little.
Dh has been going on lately that our grocery bill every week is too high and I need to cut down. I tried explaining that by the end of the week there is no food left so I'm not buying too much. He still insisted so I tried it for a few weeks. Instead I had miserable kids and teens who insisted on money every day to buy themselves more food. So we didn't save a penny. And then I realised also that dh was buying lunch every day so I was the only one who was actually going hungry Can't Believe It

Anyway my point is people need to eat and food costs. It is what it is.

Highstrung

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:05 am

amother Cyclamen wrote:

Anyway my point is people need to eat and food costs. It is what it is.

I told DH to notice for himself how many times he opens and closes the fridge and cabinets and complains there’s nothing to eat or take to work for lunch . This can happen the day I do my weekly shopping . This is after spending $450 . It is absolutely insane. To cut down on groceries it means going hungry literally . People love giving ideas of what to cut down on. We are already at the minimum. It’s the reality of our lives. It’s also so much more challenging for me to come up with supper ideas because we end up always having so few ingredients in the house . Half the weekly shopping goes towards Shabbos. And then the rest of the week it’s “let’s see if we could make something from nothing”.

amother

DarkOrange

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:12 am

OP buying individual snack bags is expensive.
We buy HUGE bags at costco or Aldi and split into generous baggies and it comes out much much cheaper. Even buying large bags in shoprite, walmart...If you cant buy those hechsherim then maybe consider baking healthy muffins, cookies etc. That can be cheaper as well, and quite filling

amother

Starflower

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:17 am

amother DarkOrange wrote:

This exactly. I started baking a lot for snacks. Popping my own popcorn. The snack bags are a fortune. Luckily we don't need heimish brands so I've been getting pretzels and chips at the dollar store and dividing them which Def comes out cheaper.

amother

DarkOrange

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:19 am

amother Starflower wrote:

Yes, we make a huge batch of popcorn for literally a few cents. You can season it differently every week.
Snacks really eat up the grocery bill but you can really make them cheaper

amother

Cyclamen

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:22 am

Highstrung wrote:

What I'm doing right now LOL

We've already had pasta twice this week. And hot dogs one night. This is for a week that I didn't cut down, and I have 2 kids who can't eat pasta and hot dogs and dairy so I needed to give them a separate supper but it still saved me a bit.

I really don't know where the cutting down is supposed to happen from. I've already always been buying large snack bags and dividing into sandwich bags. Anything else?

amother

DarkOrange

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:22 am

Also OP, I dont know if you buy disposables? We found that using real dishes most of the time really slashed our grocery bill because we had to buy less plastic plates, cups and cutlery. And any disposables we buy is always bought at a cheaper non Jewish store.

Also essentials like spices, ketchup, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, other condiments, apple sauce, pasta etc is all WAAAY way way cheaper in walmart, target etc.
We stock up on non perishable things there and it saves a lot

watergirl

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:24 am

amother DarkOrange wrote:

This. Buy generic at non-heimish stores as often as you can. Less disposable items. Cutting down on disposables was the quickest way to take $200 off my pesach bill alone!

justforfun87

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:33 am

amother DarkOrange wrote:

Yes, we make a huge batch of popcorn for literally a few cents. You can season it differently every week.
Snacks really eat up the grocery bill but you can really make them cheaper

How do you season the popcorn?

ShishKabob

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:40 am

amother DarkOrange wrote:

my experience has been that the disposables are cheaper in the Jewish stores.
Also, many of you don’t realize that water costs tons of money each month. I’m not sure that it’s cheaper to use dishes anymore. And the time and effort to wash the dishes.

And a big and, those of us cutting down aren’t buying yogurts to begin with, it can’t be cut out because it’s not on the list to begin with.......

amother

Offwhite

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:41 am

Op it’s not about feeding your kids pasta or beans for dinner. IMO it’s about it’s about using those things (and other things like rice, farro, barley etc) to stretch the protein. So while we certainly do eat straight protein like chicken on the bone or meatballs, more often I stretch the protein by adding beans, rice or pasta, potatoes and veggies. We love chilis and casseroles and it’s the most obvious and delicious way to save money and also use a bit less meat.

amother

Babypink

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:42 am

It's great to use dishes and we often do but hashem gave us paper goods for a reason. If not using at all is going to make moms life with large family very difficult then it's not a savings. We have never found plastic dishes or cutlery at non Jewish stores to be cheaper! Buy in bulk yiddish stores when cases on sale (yes sales aren't pre covid prices but still better than off shelf)

amother

Ultramarine

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:43 am

OP do you buy prechecked lettuce? Checking your own would probably save you a lot.

Cutting down on snacks I see someone else already suggested.

Buying generics at a non Jewish grocery that can afford to sell them for cheaper can also make a big difference. Pasta, flour, sauce, etc.

Amarante

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:48 am

justforfun87 wrote:

How do you season the popcorn?

Just google seasoned popcorn recipes and there are loads of easy mixes. Pick those which appeal to you.

Kernel Seasons is premixed certified Kosher by the Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC). There may be other mixes but that has a lot of flavors

https://www.popcornsupply.com/.....nings

amother

Zinnia

Thu, May 18 2023, 10:49 am

Laundry detergent is a fortune locally. Are you doing that?
What about sodas, seltzer, bottled water? Those can shave off another bit.
Buy Andy boy lettuce and check alone. Peppers only when it's 2.99 a lb. No cherries or stone fruit unless it's really reduced.
Israeli pickles are cheaper then flaums/Williamsburg ones.
No frozen onions or garlic cubes etc

amother

Wandflower

Thu, May 18 2023, 11:19 am

I agree that cutting back is unrealistic. Kids and adults need to eat. If you are already buying the cheapest then you cannot cut back. If you have to buy ready made snacks or food items for your sanity, then you can't cut back either.
Popping popcorn is so unrealistic. I would have to spend too much time popping enough and bagging them, and they don't stay fresh. And the cleanup after. No thank you.
I just spent 515 for the week, not including shavuos. It's a bit more than usual because I'm exhausted this week and cannot bear the thought of cooking for shabbos so I bought a few things to take the load off myself. Don't worry I will still be cooking fish, putting together salads, soup, chicken, cholent, and baking a cake. Challah in my freezer except one I needed to buy.
We can't afford it but at least eggs went back down.