"How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting

Platinum Member Joined: Aug 01 2005 Posts: 16943

tamiri, what do you use instead of toilet paper? Very Happy

and youre right, I just purchased a big mug for all my coffees,w hen I realized I was using 2 stacks of hot cups a week for my coffees!
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Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18306

I like to spend around $80/week on groceries. (I have 2 solid-eating kids, and one nursing one). Every once in a while it will be like $120, but the past few weeks it's been well, well under $80...More like $40-$60.

I did stock up on yoshon items (cereal, pasta, granola bars) summer time and spent around $100 then, but that takes us for about 7 months -- so $14/month divided by 4.5 weeks doesn't really affect my budget. (I still have bought some yoshon stuff later on, but that's in my standard grocery bill.) The good thing about stocking up like that is that I can always go with coupons (buy 3, get 1 free. Save $1.50 when you buy 2, etc)

I think how I do it is very reasonable. I come up with menus that are balanced as much as possible, but I am flexible and buy stuff on sale to fill up my freezer. We do eat fleishigs a few times a week, but done right, it can be economical (stir fries, stews, casseroles).

I definitely think this is reasonable where I live. I probably could get by on much less by removing fleishigs, but I'm happy what we're doing now and if we can afford it, why not? If I lived in a smaller city where kosher meat was a lot more, I think my menus would change to fit my budget.
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Platinum Member Joined: Aug 12 2007 Posts: 20496

Diamond Member Joined: May 26 2008 Posts: 2613

btmomofffbs my aunt makes homemade fish sticks.

Platinum Member Joined: May 22 2005 Posts: 13795

We make homemade fish sticks and my kids like them waaaaaaaay more than the store bought things. It's not hard.

Posted: Wed, Feb 25 2009, 1:57 pm Post subject:

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18306

Posted: Wed, Feb 25 2009, 2:03 pm Post subject:

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18306

Chava and Aidelmom, home-made fish sticks... wow.

Do y'all catch the fish yourselves, too? LOL! (Hey its Adar!) Laughing

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Platinum Member Joined: Aug 12 2007 Posts: 20496

In Israel, in a non-shmitta year, your best bet is fresh produce, and plenty of it. During the most expensive times of the year I don't spend more than the equivalent of around $30 on produce. In the U.S., I shopped at a cheap Koren place, and if memory serves me correctly I spent around $50 a week there, on average. More than 5 years ago.

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18306

BTmom, just get whatever white fish is the cheapest -- whiting, tilapia, pollock, etc -- if it's on sale, use that kind. It's really not that hard. Smile

Posted: Wed, Feb 25 2009, 2:22 pm Post subject:

You buy the fish and then egg it and coat it w/ bread crumbs and bake (or fry)? That's it?

Do you cut the fillet into strips first to make "sticks"? Would it stay together if I did that?

Platinum Member Joined: May 22 2005 Posts: 13795

I mix seasons bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. And yes, I cut them into strips.

This recipe is similar to the one I use, but I use far less oil on the cookie sheet:

Gold Member Joined: Feb 12 2008 Posts: 2386

We're 2 people - no fleishigs during the week and no fish, and I think we spend over $100 a week! That doesn't take into account chicken for shabbos or cheese which I stock up on every few months! I've cut down on soda during the week (as much as I can limit DH) and discourage his cereal buying habits, and make almost everything from scratch (including ice cream!) and we aren't makpid on chalav yisroel or yashan. I'm even cutting back on eating fruit Sad

Stupid, stupid Manhattan grocery stores. And toilet paper is only a once in a while expense for us. Don't know how you all do it!

Just out of curiosity how much does a box of pasta cost where you shop?

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18306

About $1.19 right now for a lb. I buy macaroni in 3 lb boxes though.

Gold Member Joined: Feb 12 2008 Posts: 2386

So by me its closer to $2 and closer to $3 for whole grain, so we are eating less whole wheat. I think in general all the basics cost considerable more.

Gold Member Joined: Jan 18 2005 Posts: 1546

I spend $100 a month give or take $20 - thats not including wine though.
here yogurt is expensive so I buy that just for friday afternoons, I treat DH to ice cream and frozen pizza once a month and it usually last the whole month (he enjoys it on motzei shabbos) we have 2 adults and 3 kids kah. in the past when $ was really tight I kept it to $50 a wk