How much is your grocery budget?

Si taht food alone or does it included toilitres?

is it before or after coupons/

how mcuh do you save in coupons say in amonth?


Just call me :yup: :yup: nosey today

First of all great thread idea, let's keep these ideas flowing!

We really don't have a set budget. It fluctuates based on sales and coupons really.

Sometimes we'll stock up and spend a lot ($100) other times we just buy the essentials.

Well, when shopping I only carry cash and that is all I can spend. Usually for grocery shopping (food/paper goods/pet food) I carry $60 in cash along with coupons. 9 times out of 10, my bill will be around $160 before store card and coupons and after those are swiped, I usually end up paying $20-$40 out of pocket a week.....then the rebates get mailed off to get most or all of that money back. ;)

I normally spend $125-$200 a month depending on the sales
This includes food for a household of 6 & stockpiles, dog & cat food, cleaning, household, personal supplies and clothes.
I used to spend alot more but i've been able to widdle it down especially when the DH was off work. I hafta be strict though and make meals around the sales and I stock up when prices are real low.

I kept track in microsoft access until my computer got a virus and I had to wipe the harddrive. On average though I save about $1000.

To bad my stores don't double unlimited coupons! I donate as much as I can to the local food bank since they have helped us in the past. If we had unlimited doubles I know I could help out more.

Our budget is $200 per pay period (twice a month) maximum, and that includes food, personal care items, diapers, dh's cigarettes--everything. That is the flat-out maximum we can spend and I usually don't hit it. I usually make one big trip and spend around $120, and then make one or two smaller trips later in the pay period and spend a little more.

Coupons...I might save $10 a month with them. Most coupons in the paper aren't for products I use. Either a matter of the brand not being carried at my store, or it's for something like frozen snack foods that I just plain never buy. Or--in the case of shampoos--it's more expensive even with the coupon than the brand I usually buy. And then the diapers and such I buy at Sam's Club, and they don't even take coupons.

Also call me DUh today asI didnt' even answer

I aheva set amount each month for the 3 boys and me $350 each month

we do one big shop a month then jsut pick up milk fresh fruit as needed


I spend the $350 each month but before coupons my totall is $425-$475 so i save $75 to $125 a month in coupons.


I stock up when I ehv coupons and thinsgare on sale sos ay one month I amy buy alot of canned goods and then another frozen

I dont keep track very often. I go to stores as I pass em and know what deals they have.

Today I stopped and got a bit of everything.

Shampoo, tpaste
doggie food
milk
Tpaper
staples like ketchup, chicken, rice, noodles, a cheesecake (staple I swear!!!) Roasting potatos, crackers, cheese, green beans

Total was $39 and change before coupons and $14.50 after.

Lucky, break it down for us please.

What coupons did you use???

How in the world do you do it flowergal and luckcharms? I would love to know how to save more on groceries!

I'm sure double and triple coupons help a ton. I know food prices are more expensive back home, but I'm starting to look forward to being there just to use that store card and to get the double coupons again.

Some people swear by grocerygame.com, too...the thing with that is you have to have money available to start stocking up on stuff in addition to buying your normal food. I think that as you go, you wind up with enough of your normal food to get by at all times, plus what you've stocked up on...but right now, after I get all my regular groceries I really don't have any money to buy extra cans of peas, say, even if they're only 20 cents a can. Well, I could buy some, but I wouldn't be able to stockpile. I hope I'm getting the program right...it's not offered in my area so I'm not a member of it or anything. But those are the two techniques that I know of that lots of people use to get so many groceries for so little money.

Personally, I felt like I did well today, using $3.50 in coupons all at once. Had coupons for about 6 things and bought maybe 10-15...that's better than my normal average.

Oh lordy Ross........had to pull out my receipt!

2 Rice a Roni (99¢ ea) + 50¢ coupon tripled = 50¢
Colgate TP $1.50 + $1 coupon up to free = FREE
InnMaid Noodles $1.33 + 25¢ coupon tripled = 58¢ ? something like that
Suave Shampoo 89¢ + 50¢ coupon up to free = FREE

okay that's too hard....
I had a tearpad coupon for the crackers and cheese $1 off when you buy both and they double it so I paid approx 50¢ each

Coupon for doggie food doubled
coupon for TP doubled
Cheesecake had $1 coupon doubled

No coupon on
Milk
potatos
Whole chicken
ketchup
green beans

says at the bottom of my receipt that I have saved$2,484.46 using my Kroger card plus they don't add in the coupons on that so.........dunno.

I would say I spend $150-$200 per pay period also. So about $300-$400 a month. That includes all pet items too besides food and personal items. Sometimes I spend less. Depends again on coupons and sales.

We spend no more than 125.00 per month on all supplies and groceries for four people, two dogs, 7 cats, 3 frogs and a fish.

BUT I allow another 50.00 in the pphf account for handling fees to get coupons I need plus I trade every coupon I do not use from my local paper away for ones I do use. I get every insert that my paper has from 7 different people in my area (can't bring myself to dumpster dive though). My average is 400.00-500.00 per month prior to coupons.

Oh and I do alot of stockpile shopping so that I really don't need to buy things all the time such as I have 33 bottles of fabric softener, 20 bottles of Tide, two cases each of canned corn, green beans and peas, 27 rolls of paper towels, 17 packs of toilet paper...well you get the idea and that is just my downstairs shelving area (and not much of it to tell the truth, it is jam packed!!)

Hubby had surgery on his back in March of 2003 and was totally disabled. It was not done at work (he was born with it) and we lost his income, which averaged 3000.00 per month take home, within a two week period. I only had a part time job and disability takes months and months and appeals to get...we finally got it in July 2004. So I had to learn FAST!!

Lucky, don't you have the blinkie for the McCain's frozen potatoes right now? $1/off 1.........I have been using that one and getting them for FREE for almost 2 weeks now. I think I have 12 bags in the freezer........and the family loves them!

Kchurch79~~just go through all the coupons and maybe join a coupon train...that way you have a better chance of getting more of the ones you really use. It also helps to KNOW your store and know the "regular" prices, that way when they have a great sale, you know right away whether you are getting a great deal ~for me, $.50 or less! ;)

Yeah I have a ton of those blinkies, swiped em while working in a small grocery store the other day..........but I needed NEW POTATOS from the produce section yesterday, Liz loves those once in awhile LOL!

We are really bad at doing the Budget thing. And like others have said on some weeks we need more cleaning items and one week we may need more things like meats or of course medicine for colds. So each week it's different for us. But either way I use as many coupons as possible ! ;)

Hubby had surgery on his back in March of 2003 and was totally disabled. It was not done at work (he was born with it) and we lost his income, which averaged 3000.00 per month take home, within a two week period. I only had a part time job and disability takes months and months and appeals to get...we finally got it in July 2004. So I had to learn FAST!!

I feel for you hun, had the same situation. When DH went on disability he was our only income. Thank goodness for coupons!

wow, those of you that pull those insane low prices for the month... amazing. Unfortunately for us, stockpiling isn't too great, just no room for it all :( I'm not sure how much we spend, but 4 ppl back in college, $20-25/person a week... not including the occasional outting.

when i lived in an apartment i got creative for stockpiling LOL
kept boxed/canned goods under the bed in containers and in the back of the closet. Shoe holders (hang up kind with pockets) works great for holding seasoning, koolaid etc.

Fortunatly I have a house now which is muuuch better for 6 people. I'm proud of myself, I built a pantry this weekend in a spare closet next to the kitchen for extras.

I built a pantry this weekend in a spare closet next to the kitchen for extras.
We'd love to see pics of the pantry sometime, if you are comfortable sharing :)

we budget about 300/month for the two of us. my bf used to mock my coupon cutting abilities, but after club cards + coupons and "saving" more than we spent at the end of the receipt, he stopped. ;)

i buy as much as possible on sale. the only things we don't get on sale are fruit when needed (darn bananas...), veggies, bread, etc.

i do try to costco shop for bread though - two loaves of orowheat for the price of one at a supermarket! heck yes! remaining loaf goes in the freezer til we're ready to eat it. and costco shop for cereal when i can't get good deals (my local stores say "limitied quantities, might as well say "never in stock.").

there's so much satisfation in pulling out a handful of coupons and watching your total go lower and lower. of course one day i was at ralphs and behind this woman who had about 40 coupons. i wanted to bow down before her.

i wish i could stock up - i do that with things we get frequently, like canned soup, pasta, pasta sauces, etc. otherwise i don't have room for things like frozen potatoes. (plus my mom gives me food everytime i visit so our freezer gets restocked again that way... hehe.)

i had one of those shoe holders but i actually put shoes in there. hehe. i lost the little clips it from when i moved to my current apt though, so i can't use it anymore. now i use crates to store our shoes by the door.

btw i found target has cheap regular prices on some food items, so if you need something that's not on sale, you can always try there. i.e. barilla pasta at my local ralphs is 1.49 everyday, but at target it's 84 cents! can's of campbell chunky soup is only 1.52 everyday. walmart too has good prices, but it's too far, so i go only once a month. but mustard there is only 84 cents, compared to 2 or three bucks at ralphs. for french's... not the off brand ones.

oi... end ramble.

I got a :confused: question... what are double/triple coupons?

I got a :confused: question... what are double/triple coupons?

you have to ask your local supermarket if they do it, but basically you bring in a coupon for 50 cents off, and if your market doubles it, they'll give you the 50 cents off for the coupon, and the double the value of the coupon, so it's another 50 cents off.

some lucky people here have markets that TRIPLE so they would get 1.50 off instead of just 50 cents.

each market has restrictions - i.e. my local markets only double coupons up to one dollar (so if i bring in a 2.00 coupon, they'll give me 2.00 off and then 1.00 off to double.) and they only will double the first two coupons, and then face value for each one after that for the same deal (for example, let's say i have 3 1.00 off coupons for a can of soup. they'll give me 1.00 for the coupon, then double it, then do the same for the second coupon, but the third coupon they'll only give me face value.)

I see - thanks for making that clear! Would that kind of information/policy be posted on a particular market's website or somewhere in the actual store? Or is that kind of information not given out freely and one would have to ask about it?

Look at your store's weekly ad. It should say "Double Coupons" if they do. If you don't see anything mentioned, ask someone at the customer service desk next time you're in. Or call them & ask so you'll know ahead of time.

Thanks for the quick reply, teresa! I'll be sure to look at the ads and/or ask CS next time.

Oh heck YES they plug it!!! believe me, if they double, they advertise it to high heaven!

every 2-3 weeks i put in an order with Safeway. it ranges between 50-100 depending on sales. can't do coupons with home delivery. i average a little under $100 a month on average and thats just for me, i live alone.

Wow...I'll have to post my exact spending on the day that I actually go to the store. This week won't be a lot. When my Foodtown triples...I go nuts!!!!

I spend the most on stuff like milk and bread and fruit.

Anyone have winetags they don't need good in Jersey??
I'd be glad to send you a potluck of coupons in return!!!