S/O Finances $1000 a month for food?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Dec 19 2024, 11:28 am

amother Cherry wrote:

If you aren't checking your own lettuce you can save a ton there in a salad family.
When I buy bagged I spend $50 a week on (romaine) lettuce vs avg $8 on heads. So im highly motivated!!

Bonus, youre not constantly needing to run out for freash lettuce, forcing yourself to eat or throwing out wilted lettuce. And it tastes SO SO SO much better and fresher. My kids have become lettuce snobs and really dont like the package.

We check once a week and it stays crisp all week!

I would never try to check Romaine lettuce myself, it's way too hard (both labor intensive and worried I won't find all the bugs), so I'm crossing that off my list.

amother

Nectarine

Thu, Dec 19 2024, 12:07 pm

Family of 5, kids are very young. We probably spend between 300-400 per week. I make most things from scratch but we have tons of allergies so I spend a lot on chicken (the only form of protein one child can have) different varieties of flour and other substitutes for non allergy foods that cost a lot. We also eat tons of fruit and veggies which are expensive. I don't have an Aldi near me. I do also spend a lot on frozen cauliflower and broccoli since my kids love them and because of the severely limited diet, I have to get whatever nutrients I can into them.
If I wouldn't be making these things from scratch my bill would be at least $100 more I think.

amother

Magenta

Thu, Dec 19 2024, 12:22 pm

Family of 12.
From teens to babies.
$1200 monthly? Maybe little more.
Only family size foods. No baking goods besides bread and some crackers. I will bake a cake for Shabbas and some cookies. And challos. I would buy some chocolate and ice cream for Shabbasparty. Milk, cereal, eggs, fruits and vegetables only on sale or cheap. Every day we eat salad, check lettuce myself. Everyone has dinner at home, usually chicken on the bone, meat balls , schnitzel ….rice and beans once a week , once a week is dairy and it’s either pankage, baked ziti , tuna latkes…..pretzel and crackers for recess …. They eat breakfast and lunch at school.
If everyone helps and behave, I will make a steak dinner.
No take out. Motzei shbbas is frozen pizza with mushrooms, peppers etc.

amother

DarkGreen

Thu, Dec 19 2024, 12:55 pm

amother Nectarine wrote:

Family of 5 bh and similar. We don’t have allergies but we eat a lot of protein and fruit/ frozen veg.

I also count my takeout lunch (twice a weekish) separately because it’s a treat not food really lol. It’s in a different part of the budget.

Never paid attention to yogurts and snacks and not sure how to do that without stressing my 5 year old about money.

amother

Honey

Thu, Dec 19 2024, 11:16 pm

Family of 6 (4 kids). We spend about $800 monthly on food in groceries, but I'm not counting Costco stuff. We buy water, cheese, fruits and veggies in Costco. So probably about $1k total.
Main thing I save on is that I don't buy any premade food. No frozen pizza, knishes, etc. And also no cake or nosh. Just snack bags for the kids for school. And salmon is only for Shabbos. And no steak ever. Only YT.

amother

Pear ↓

Thu, Dec 19 2024, 11:27 pm

5 kids ages 2-17, living OOT
Probably spend $500-600 a week on just food
All 5 kids in school and none get any meals, so everything is coming from home. DH also eats lunch at home.

No Aldi where I live and chicken cutlets are 8.99lb, chopped meat is 9.99lb, and never go on sale

amother

↑ Mimosa ↓

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 3:19 pm

Today I spent $271 at gourmet Glatt shopping sales. This includes dinner for M-T (not tonight), meat for Shabbos Chanukah, snack bags for kids for school, cheese milk OJ bread cream cheese cottage cheese, 1 box of tablecloths and 1 napkins, 1 plastic bowls, chicken and veggies for soup, potatoes, pans, spelt matzah for dd for lunch, seltzer, flour.

Does not include my Walmart order- which was eggs, fruits, cereal, veggies, water, tissues.

This does not include my Shabbos shopping which will be Cole slaw mix, flanken for cholent, and if needed this week kishka and gefilte fish (I buy every other or every third week and freeze in portions.)

So in total my bill this week will be around $350 for groceries and that’s with trying to stick to sales.

My oldest is 10.

amother

↑ Pear

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 3:27 pm

Quote:

This sounds very realistic to me. People that are posting much lower numbers, the math is not making sense.

amother

Cognac

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 3:37 pm

couple + baby here and we live in yerushalayim. Your demograohic I assume is America since you put dollars but I’ll share anyway because maybe it will help others! Last month I took account of every single thing we spent on our grocery bill which was a little over $500. Taking account of everything you buy is really helpful. Also having a craving for anything that you would to get as take out- but make it yourself. Just exploring that you could make so much food with not so many ingredients is helpful.

We eat:
-tuna
-veggies (not as much fruit as depending on season it’s expensive in EY)
-salmon, chicken and meat are really for Shabbos
-homemade pizzas
-lots of soups- veggie, lentil, potato, etc.
-grilled cheese
-pastas
-breakfast: cornflakes, eggs, pancakes (homemade)

amother

Aster ↓

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 3:40 pm

amother OP wrote:

I would never try to check Romaine lettuce myself, it's way too hard (both labor intensive and worried I won't find all the bugs), so I'm crossing that off my list.

Have you ever tried checking? It's really not that hard. Once you get the method down, it's just another chore but doesn't take that long...
I've been checking for over 8 years, since moving OOT. I can't go back to the bagged lettuce, fresh is so much better!!

amother

Obsidian ↓

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 3:42 pm

amother Magenta wrote:

My family is around this size and I spend at least double that.
And like you, I bake my own challah, make my own dips, and cook everything from scratch. I buy in bulk and shop at different stores for cheapest prices.
I do feed breakfast at home and send lunches to school. But still don’t understand how you can manage that little
Pretzels and crackers are not cheap either!
And veggies and fruit cost $

amother

↑ Mimosa

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 4:28 pm

amother Aster wrote:

What’s the process?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 4:35 pm

amother Aster wrote:

Yes I did. Romaine lettuce is really hard, because its buggy! Before the bagged lettuce came on the market, we only ate it on Pesach and we would spend HOURS checking it.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 4:40 pm

amother Obsidian wrote:

I'm estimating the costs like this - $40 approx for a supper (three to four pounds of protein, starch, vegetable and drinks - we drink seltzer and water), $40 x 5 = $200 a week. We spend approx $250 for Shabbos - that includes Friday and motzei Shabbos - so you're up to $450 a week. Add snacks, breakfast, lunch, drinks, paper towels and tissues, and I'm trying to understand how a family can spend under $2500 a month.

amother

↑ Aster

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 4:56 pm

I usually get the heads from Walmart or Costco. Some times during the year they are more buggy then others, but usually they really aren't too bad. I do find bugs before washing, but after using the washing method I have never found a bug.
Cut off the bottom of the lettuce head (so the leaves separate) put water and soap (can use dye free) in a big bowl and mix it together. Add the lettuce leaves and agitate them in the water. Let soak for a few minutes. Then wash each individual leaf under a stream of water on both sides of the leave, making sure to rub each part of the leave and opening any folds.
You are then supposed to check 10% of the leaves to make sure there are no bugs.
(I learned this method from the head of the kashrus agency in my town)
It takes me about 15 minutes for 2 heads of lettuce. Wrapped in paper towels and put in a ziploc in the fridge, it can last for over a week!
I've been doing this for years and never ever found a bug after doing the above properly.

amother

↑ Obsidian

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 6:35 pm

amother OP wrote:

I can do dinner for less
But add in some healthy ingredients for people who need it, some special requests for certain foods - it adds up quickly, even when shopping smartly.

amother

Peachpuff

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 7:23 pm

We’re a family of 7. Kids aged 2-11. We spend about $1500 a month on grocery and dry goods. This includes soaps paper goods diapers etc. we buy stuff on sale and stock up. Suppers are usually 1 night leftovers from shabbos, 1 “proper” milchig (like home made pizza) and one easy milchig like mac n cheese Thursday night, and 2 fleishig usually shnitzel or chicken occasionally chopped meat.
We do Costco, bingo, Aldi, sometimes Walmart and fill in in more local frum stores for the rest.
We do get wic now so I think that’s about another $150 of products that we have use for. Maybe even less.

amother

↑ Copper

Sun, Dec 22 2024, 7:56 pm

amother OP wrote:

I just googled - the bugs found on lettuce are light green and tiny. There's no way I'm going to actually find all the bugs... I know I'm not good at these things. So I'll pass.

There are guides online (CRC, Star K etc) on bug checking. I invested in a light box and thrip cloth.
We lived OOT and couldn’t get bodek fresh anything, so I learnt. It takes me about 30 mins to check all my greens for the week, and there’s so much variety it’s wonderful. You can check kale, spinach, romaine…etc.
I find bugs occasionally, but romaine hearts (Costco especially!!) are often quite clean. The small bugs will show up on a light box. If u find, u do the process again. If u find 3 times, u chuck. Rarely happens.
Now we live in town, I still do this. I splurge when it’s hectic on checked greens but usually do this.
It’s doable:)