S/O $150k a year- low food budget- how??

amother

↑ Gardenia

Today at 10:37 am

amother Lilac wrote:

Because many posters are saying that cold cereal is ok but yogurt is not. I'm not sure I understand the logic... yogurt is typically eaten in my house with some form of starch, its obviously not a full meal.

People are using the example of the small containers of yogurt as snacks which are typically nit eaten as part of a balanced meal.

If you are serving a fruit yogurt as part of a breakfast or as dessert for lunch, you are essentially limiting the quantity that would be served as eaten.

However as a snack it would generally be eaten in its own and could be eaten in larger quantities just as an ice cream bar would and it isn’t any different nutritionally substantially than nice cream but is marketed as a such.

amother

↑ Raspberry ↓

Today at 10:42 am

amother Gardenia wrote:

I love how this thread somehow became all about yogurt.

As I mentioned, we have gotten WIC benefits from time to time, and were entitled to large containers of fat-free or low-fat sweetened yogurt. My husband would sometimes take large amounts as a midnight snack and I pointed out how it's basically ice cream. The advantage of the prepackaged little yogurts is that they are easier to limit. And they're a treat my kids pack in their lunches.

↑ joker ↓

Today at 11:27 am

amother Topaz wrote:

Okay, so.... here's my opinion.

I don't buy yogurt because I think its too expensive. BH I CAN afford to have buy it if I was craving yogurt, but I don't buy in general, even though I like it, because it's too expensive.

What that means is, either I can buy yogurt, soda, takeout, energy drinks, fish.... OR I can try to save money so when my expenses grow IYH, I will have the money to marry off my kids, which if don't budget carefully, I'm not sure how that would ever be possible.

Just because I'm not on programs doesn't mean I can afford yogurt.

Ok maybe we need to specify costs.....yogurts run from .75 to 1.90 depending on choice chy etc
2$$ is wow!!!!

↑ joker

Today at 11:30 am

Op I'm with you and I think that's very normal from having discussed finances with friends. I find ur biggest savings will come from buying off brand stuff. After that your adding up pennies or severely limiting your families food choices. I don't see a practical way to get bills below 2k a month

amother

↑ Lilac

Today at 1:31 pm

amother Raspberry wrote:

And people eat ice cream all the time as a midnight snack... just saying. It's ok to eat even ice cream sometimes too.

amother

Winterberry

Today at 1:40 pm

amother OP wrote:

I’m shocked that I was the only one to point out that $1k a month on food for a family of 6 is very low.

Or is it?

I live in the tri-state area and according to my bank I spent $2,800 on food alone for my family of 4. That’s $700 a week. A few years ago I was doing $400/500 a week with the same family size but this was pre-inflation.

We rarely eat out or buy takeout. I did do a lot of food shopping for YT this month. We moved to a new city which kosher food is significantly more expensive as it’s limited here. Obviously, I buy from regular supermarkets as often as I can though- though food went up there as well!

Twice as month I go to a large grocery in a city an hour away from me, they have the best prices so I try to stock up as much as I can. I spend around $400/500 each time.

My kids take 4 snacks a day to school. BH they get school lunch.

Dinner costs about $20 a night, usually chicken or chop meat. Then there’s Shabbos each week, the occasional parties of BBQs, and meals we host… it all adds up very quickly.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is my food budget normal?

Family of 10- $650/week on groceries.
You are a family of 4, I can't imagine how that could be.

amother

↑ Raspberry

Today at 2:33 pm

amother Lilac wrote:

And people eat ice cream all the time as a midnight snack... just saying. It's ok to eat even ice cream sometimes too.

I know. But thinking yogurt is healthy and eating way more than most people would take of ice cream, and on a regular basis, is what I was referring to.

Amarante

Today at 4:08 pm

amother Raspberry wrote:

I know. But thinking yogurt is healthy and eating way more than most people would take of ice cream, and on a regular basis, is what I was referring to.

That is really the issue.

A lot of foods are marketed as "healthy" but they really are just the equivalent of candy or ice cream.

Most granola or granola bars are like that.

There is nothing wrong with a serving of ice cream or yogurt but it really is in the category of cookies, ice cream, pudding or equivalent.

amother

↑ Myrtle

Today at 4:41 pm

amother OP wrote:

I live in the tri-state area and according to my bank I spent $2,800 on food alone for my family of 4. That’s $700 a week. A few years ago I was doing $400/500 a week with the same family size but this was pre-inflation.

OP, I just want to address this point.

You have until now been shopping with the assumption that food costs whatever it costs, and making your shopping list based on what you want.

Those who have tighter grocery budgets factor the cost into their food choices. They will check what is on sale and make a meal around that instead of planning their menu before checking the sales.

They will look for cheaper alternatives if food prices go up. For example, they might try the $5/loaf gefilte fish even if they're used to the $9/loaf. They might decide to bake their own challah instead of buying. They might buy apples instead of peaches.

Of course you can't buy the same shopping list for the same price as you could years ago. But if you wanted to, you could adjust your buying habits to fit into the same budget.