JULY SUPERMARKET CHALLENGE

[brooklynn]

Okay, I'm thinking of restarting a thread I used to see on the old boards. Here's what I recall....

Each month set an upper limit for the $ amount you will spend at the supermarket or its big box equivalent. Post what you spend each week, each day, whatever. I usually divided my postings between actual consumable food and nonfood items like cleaning supplies and paper products. Also include eating out or ordering in as part of your grocery expenditures.

It was an eye opener at first and then it became a monthly challenge to stay in budget or even reduce what I spent.

Some of the ideas others came up with to cut costs were great!!

Anyone interested in trying this for July? Anyone remember this thread?

[danna]

Great idea I am in...........

[rosarugosa]

Me too. We definitely have the potential to save a bit on groceries in our household while still eating well.

[Fawn]

I'll follow along too. I have been buying too many prepared foods for the teenagers (canned ravioli, granola bars) and I need to just ask them to eat the leftovers from dinner instead. That should bring my food bill down.

[brooklynn]

Okay, we are on for July Supermarket Challenge. I have been sort of practicing by paying more attention to what I spend on what, etc. I heard on the news today that the average family of four spends $750-$1000 on food and eating out. We are just two in our household, so I have not idea if that can be right. Does that mean I should be spending between $325-$500 a month??

Let's limit our totals to just that, food and eating out. At least that is what I will do. I will track paper products and cleaning supplies separately. Let's face it, food and eating out could be, other than car and house, the biggest expenditures of our month! Good place to start saving money.

Let me know what you think of those spending statistics! Thanks.

[bunnys]

I think it sounds like a great idea. I would be interested in calculating food only bc it's not like I'm out of control buying scrubbing bubbles and vacuum bags.

My problem is figuring out what a reasonable figure is for a person who lives alone. As one person I do absorb all the cost of every meal I make but I also am the one who consumes it all.

Additionally, I have a very weird and restrictive diet and must go to the HFS to supplement the foods I purchase at the grocery store otherwise my diet would be VERY BORING.

Anyone know of any websites or resources where one can go and get a true idea of how much they should allocate for groceries per month? I have also been saving every receipt so far this year. I guess I could go through them and try and figure out what I'm spending. That is the point, right?

[bunnys]

I heard on the news today that the average family of four spends $750-$1000 on food and eating out.

I'm not challenging you but I can't believe that's a legit statistic. That would man the average person eats for like 51 bucks per month including all their meals out. That's $7.25 per day! I spend A LOT more on food per month and I cook ALL my meals. How do people eat that cheaply unless all they're eating is ramen noodles and McDonald's and mac-n-cheez? Is that how the average person actually eats?

[rosarugosa]

Bunnys: I believe that's a monthly figure, but Brooklynn can confirm.

[brooklynn]

The news program said that the $750-$1000 was for a family of four for a month. Do you think there is a government site where we can check?

[ljevtich]

In April - the last government USDA Food Plan costs: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodApr2012.pdf
The website: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm
In April for food and eating out we (DH at 55 and Me at 43) were under the Thrifty plan at $318.92 so by a little less than $7. From the website:


"The Food Plans represent a nutritious diet at four different cost levels. The nutritional bases of the Food Plans are the 1997-2005 Dietary Reference Intakes, 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and 2005 MyPyramid food intake recommendations. In addition to cost, differences among plans are in specific foods and quantities of foods. Another basis of the Food Plans is that all meals and snacks are prepared at home. For specific foods and quantities of foods in the Food Plans, see Thrifty Food Plan, 2006 (2007) and The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, 2007 (2007). All four Food Plans are based on 2001-02 data and updated to current dollars by using the Consumer Price Index for specific food items."
SO WOW - if it does not included going out to eat, we were WAY below the Thrifty plan.

So that news report was with a family of four with the most expensive (liberal) plan.

[brooklynn]

Thank you, Laura. Very interesting info!! I doubt anyone eats absolutely every meal or snack at home, but I could be just spoiled! Then again, you might be homebound and someone preps meals for you, etc. There can be all kinds of variations.

[ljevtich]

Well, actually when we were kids, we ate most every meal at home. My DH parents pretty much eat every meal at home. They do not usually like how food is prepared at the restaurants. There are folks who do it, and manage to save more money that way. We just don't...it is a treat though when we go out to eat. No McDs.

[Fawn]

Well, we are a family of four (one middle-aged woman, three teenagers) who routinely eat on less than $320/month. That would be less than $80 per person per month. And I just want to point out, that w/o the kiddos, I could eat on a lot less $$. I like split pea soup and black bean and corn salad. I would not be spending $20/month on organic milk, $10/month on range-free eggs or $20/month on organic meat if the teens did not live here. Here are the rules to eating cheap and I did not make them up myself:

1) Do not eat out. Prepare all meals from scratch at home.
2) Eat very little meat, use it as a condiment. Eat plant-based protiens.
3) Eat in season.
4) If you have the time, grow/hunt your own. Start w/ tomatoes in a pot on the sidewalk. Hydroponic strawberries. Quail/bunnies in the basement. Fresh roadkill.

Be creative.

[ljevtich]

Yup, we eat very little meat, mostly as a condiment. Now if I could just get away from the chips (popcorn, tortilla) I would be very happy. Only trouble is we crave the salt because we live in a desert environment, and you need salt to stay healthy as we drink gallons of water.

[iforonwy]

I read somewhere, maybe in another post on this board, that it is a good idea to go "old school" when shopping at the supermarket. By that it means take a basket not a trolley around the store. Well for the last 2 weeks I have been doing the grocery shopping on almost a daily basis. Our car is in for repair and even if it were here my DH has had an accident in the garden and will be unable to drive for another 2weeks or so. So I have only been buying what I can carry the mile or so, up-hill, back from the grocery store. I am a lot more focused and saving money! I track my spending on an Excel spreadsheet anyway and I notice that for June I spent about £60 less. I have also been taking the weekly coupon booklet from the supermarket a day or two before and working out a shopping list - but only if I need those things.

[brooklynn]

$14.68 on groceries so far this month....that will change soon!! I'm keeping track of cleaning,personal hygiene and paper products in individual categories.

[decemberlov]

I read somewhere, maybe in another post on this board, that it is a good idea to go "old school" when shopping at the supermarket. By that it means take a basket not a trolley around the store.

This definitely helps, I do this when I'm on a very very strict budget. Also shopping the parameter of the store is usually the most healthy...those center isles get costly as well.

[Fawn]

It's the last day of the month and I have spent $102 per person for July in my household..and that includes a lot of "frivolous" foods: non-calorie flavored drinks (mango "juice" and diet soda), ice cream (though the teens might not consider it frivolous), trying out new recipes with exotic and expensive ingredients like "anchovie paste" and "fat free cream cheese."


My point is, if we were truly broke, we could spend a whole lot less and eat even more healthy.


Maybe I should throw down a challenge for August? Who can eat the cheapest, healthily? Sort of a nutrition/calories/need.

OK. I am heading to the dallies/challenges thread