Checking back in... I have been away for a while. Insee this thread is still going strong. Nice!
Frugal on my friends!
Frugal on my friends!
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Wow, you put a lot of work into that information. I think you should post this information in a new thread so more people will see it.
Not bad - perhaps some of the things I noted, you do for convenience, because you could actually trim more. Good job!I was reading a post on a mommy forums about the cost of feeding our families. The amounts listed were a touch shocking to me. People thought they were being very frugal when spending ONLY 1200 a month to feed a family of 8.
I have a family of 6 and we eat on so much less than that. So I thought I would put together a sample menu and shopping list for a week. This is only a sample I wrote out based on a typical sorta week. It might give some ideas. Others might have ways I could make it a touch healthier. I have converted to making almost everything from scratch. I do cheat with a few box items like bread mixes. Anywho this is what I wrote down. Its hard for me to break it down into a week because I plan monthly but I did my best.
Shopping list
tomato paste 1.18
pesto ( walmart) $3 usually lasts me for at least 10 dishes
pasta 4 4 packages
meatballs 2 1 package - make your own, cheaper, healthier!
Irish oatmeal 1.79
2 gallons milk 5.58
Whole wheat bread 2.97 3 loaves
banana 2lbs 88
peanut butter 2.89 ( last price I had listed so its a couple months old)
jelly 1.79
pork loin roughly $4
eggs 2.78 2 dozen
beer bread mix 3 2 of these - make your own, cheaper
corn bread mix 1 2 boxes - make your own, cheaper
lunch meat 2 packages 5
cheese blocks 4 2 of these
cinnamon quick bread mix 3 2 of these - make your own, cheaper
salad mix 1.99 - cheaper to get the non-bagged, you can get over twice as much for the same price
bag carrots 1.99
bag apples roughly 3
canned green beans 2.76 4 cans
canned corn 2.76 4 cans
asparagus 1.99 1 package frozen
butter ? ( I cannot remember but will make a guess) $3
Sloppy joe mix .89
condensed milk ( for white sauce) .89
Parmesan 1.99 small but enough to make white sauce a few times
1 lb ground turkey 1.99
1.b ground beef 2.99
3lbs frozen chicken breast 5.49 - if you buy it whole, you have the carcass for soup
apple juice 3.38 2 bottles
cereal 3.38 2 boxes of the low sugar kinds they are cheaper
Kefir 2.79
scalloped potatoes 1.98 2 boxes - make it yourself, it's cheaper AND healthier
chips 1.99
cranberry orange muffin mix ( name brand starts with a K super yummy) 1.99
Danimals 4 ( 2 boxes)
mootubes ( just like a gogurt) 2 ( 1 boxes)
biscuits 2 tubes 3.98 ( makes roughly 32 biscuit cups to add the BBQ meat to) - Cheaper to make your own
1 package frozen ravioli 1.99
tuna 1.68 2 cans
Mayo 1.89 small jar
Total 107.85
Some things may be left out like salad dressing but these are more than 1 time use items. To even it out I also included several items like the Parmesan, pesto, and jelly that are multiple use.
This is actually very close to how we eat but there are 6 of us so.... but still we usually only spend around $400 a month to feed everyone. I added eggs which we provide ourselves. We also provide our own canned beans, corn, beats, jellies, and apple sauces. When I have time I also save money and make my own biscuits. We buy a ton of yogurt - you can make your own, and it's cheaper! (I used a thermos until I got a yogurt maker, add a bit of sugar/substitute and vanilla, or fresh fruit for the kids) and kefir as you can see. I have toddlers and these just make life easier. More expensive also but easier. The blocks of cheese are used in omelets and cubed for snacks.
I love love love the steel cut oatmeal. Its cheap at Aldi too and a half cup makes a HUGE amount of oatmeal. A bit of Cinnamon and my homemade vanilla YUM