Food Budget Help!

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

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I did NOT read past the first page of this thread. However, very recently our budget has once again tightened and I have been making sure I am extremely organized with my food shopping and cooking. First of all I make a menu of dinners every two weeks and I keep the menu on our fridge. Second I make our grocery list according to those dinners, and of course have things available for breakfasts, luches and snacks. I have found this keeps me 100% within our budget. In fact I did our bi-monthly shopping today and found that I was under budget by $36!! The more I do these menus and shopping trips the easier it gets.

I am not a naturally organized person so this is a new skill set for me. I have been very consistent with this now for almost two months. It takes the guess work out of dinner time and now takes me about half the time to make dinner because I always have everything on hand -- and I do mean everything.

 

[vclark321]

I will agree with anyone about how EASY it is to just run out and get something off of the dollar menu, but that adds up. I suggest starting with small changes. If you go to big too fast, you will get frustrated and fall back into old habits.

If you participate with your SO and go get fast food, you are enabling and condoning the behavior. The only person you can control is you. Period. You don't have to go out if you cook. You can decline and eat your own dinner. She is an adult and is completely responsible for her own behavior. Make your dinner as usual and sit down to eat. Set the table and make an effort to set a pleasing table. Sit down to dinner and enjoy. You may have to deal with ruffled feathers, but because you love her, you must stand firm. If she wants to go out, then she can go. You can decline and save some money by you not eating out. She may, or may not, get tired of going by herself. The leftovers can be packaged up for individual lunches or other meals and frozen. It does take work and consistency and a WHOLE LOT of follow through to make it work.

I am not pointing fingers or trying to be mean or hurt any feelings. I am working on getting my Doctorate in Psychology and I am mesmerized by the human psych. You can always PM me and bounce ideas off me. Good luck!

 

[Elite Silkies]

I can not take my family of 6 to eat fast food for under $40. I can cook at least 2 meals for that, sometimes 3. I also do not cook 3 and 4 course meals, I make a meat and a vegetable or a salad.

I keep my meals very simple. I make a large pot of spaghetti and we always eat it the next day. There are many different ways to cook cheap and make it tasteful.

 

[Bella26420]

I only have one suggestion regarding meat. I'm struggling with the same issues, with just myself and my two daughters. We're getting better at planning out and coupon shopping, and I get them engaged in both so that I know they'll eat what I've bought.

If there are folks in your area with livestock, talk to them about cost sharing at butchering times. It will cost more up front, but will last a LONG time if you get freshly butchered meat. And it tastes better too:-} We happen to have a neighbor who raises a couple of steers a year for this purpose, and we buy several cuts from him 3 times a year.

And trust me, we fall off the fast food wagon regularly, but we are finally understanding how MUCH it adds up, even the dollar menu. $10 for three of us if we all order off the dollar menu. thats $50 a week, or $200 a month if we do this on weekdays.

Good luck!
Leisa (Ceara's mom)

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Agreed for the first part (everyone cookin to their own taste), but any amount of garlic is WAY TOO MUCH. I cannot stand the stuff.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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First of all, if this is a family budget issue, the decisions need to be made JOINTLY by both adults, not dictated by one person, even if that one person is the sole breadwinner. I'm thinking that she is feeling ignored and her opinions unvalued. She needs to be a part of making the spending choices that will reduce costs (heck, she needs to agree that the costs need to be reduced).

Crying your eyes out over dinner is not about the food. It is about feeling loved and respected and appreciated.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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??? The thread is about grocery costs. ANyways, I haven't seen a bag of chicken feed for $12 for years. Right now I am happy when I can get a bag below $19.

 

[hendrygg]

UPDATE:
This morning when she got back from physical therapy I had her some of of my mom's homemade biscuits cooked, from fried eggs fresh from our chickens, Fresh cheese I made, and peach jelly we made together. She then criticizes the eggs and eats just a biscuit with syrup. I just cant seem to do it right, ever.

 

[Glenmar]

What about fishing??

 

[ChicksterJo]

It seems like this is more than just about a food budget...but to answer your first post on here:
My SO and I met in Chicago, where I was going to school. When school was out and I was staying in the city (especially last summer, for my summer classes), I was a subletter for an apartment. That cost around 600 a month. Our food budget was about 30 dollars per week, give or take. We lived right behind a grocery store that had some really great selections on food, and high quality too. But our biggest help came from the downtown meat market. We were able to buy what was supposedly organic chicken for 69 cents a pound some days. On others, there would be striped bass for 99 cents a pound. We rarely ate beef because it was too expensive, but I liked getting lamb better and I got a couple packages from the grocery store across from us ONLY when the lamb was on sale. For meat, we usually had pork or chicken. I wasn't going to allow myself to be a college kid eating ramen noodles everyday. I knew how to cook and it was my responsibility to find out where I could find inexpensive but quality food. It wasn't farm fresh but I had to do with what money I had.

For veggies, they were a little expensive but I did purchase frozen veggies more often than not. I also got leafy greens because they were the cheapest. I was surprised and happy that I could feed two people on a $30/week food budget 7 miles south of downtown Chicago (and food sales are taxed there). Just keep scouring around for sales and if you can, figure out what you and your SO want to eat for the week and then buy the ingredients for those recipes. That decreases the amount of food that you waste (such as ingredients you don't end up using). Talk about what she wants too. Sometimes she might want to eat out, but let her know that you think that shouldn't be a regular thing. I had to change my SO's lifestyle when we met because before he met me, he was always eating out. It was convenient for him. But once he accepted my ways of cooking regularly, he realized that it is so much cheaper and he eats healthier, too.

If she criticizes the food that you make, just eat it by yourself. Make smaller servings so that you don't waste food if she doesn't eat her share. Ask her how she likes her eggs, as well? I know my SO will not eat a runny egg, only scrambled. It takes a little work to find out what foods the two of you like, because people have such distinct tastes and relationships with food. Good luck!