how much do you spend?

ok shopping for our food and pet food we spend about 125.00 a week, that is for two people and 9 pets.

Wow We spend like $110.00 a week on food there are 6 of us . If i have no coupons its like 140.00

we spend around $100 or sometimes less , there are 4 of us and a chihuahua (shhs we dont call him dog he dont know he is)

I'm not sure! I do Southbeach, which is all freshly prepared foods, which means more $$, but worth it. So lately I've been spending more because I cannot buy prepackaged meals!

My wallet misses those $1 microwave meals, but my body is happy to be eating stuff like lemon chicken with steamed veggies!

My brother watches the baby while I attend school so I also buy him groceries. I also buy my parents groceries because they watch Julián some evenings while I'm in class or studying.

That's why I'm not really sure how much is spent on ME and me alone.

My biggest tip for buying foods? Use coupons!! Most coupons are usually only for pre-packaged items but occasionally you can find some for meats, cheeses, and certain brands of veggies/fruits.

Watch your store ads that come in the mail. When you are near that store that is having their 3-for-$1 avacado sale or something, stop by really quick. Like sometimes I see Albertson's (NOT my regular store) has buy one get one free marinated chicken breasts and if I'm in the area, I stop by and can save myself up to $10 on that alone.

We spend about $150 a week (sometimes more) on groceries- 3 adults, 4 dogs, 2 pot-belly pigs.

some of you spend alot! or we just eat cheap...lol

We spend about $50 a week with 2 of us and 6 pets. I also use as many coupons as I can. I loved the Free bags of Dole Salad coupons I recieved!

DreamWeaver wrote:

We spend about $50 a week with 2 of us and 6 pets. I also use as many coupons as I can. I loved the Free bags of Dole Salad coupons I recieved!

ok Dream teach me how to shop like that. I do use coupons.

LOL, it is called being poor and living on an extremely tight budget. You learn to adapt.

We spend between $50-$75 a week - it's just 2 of us. I use coupons when I can and try to watch for sales. If I went alone it would be less tho - - my sweetie likes to add to the cart!

DreamWeaver wrote:

LOL, it is called being poor and living on an extremely tight budget. You learn to adapt.

you end up cutting out all the extra's like snacks , buy only the cheapest you can get. And only buying the nessasary items. You dont get fancy meals , only what tastes ok and fills you up. and If your house is much like ours most veggies are canned because they last longer and cost less than fresh. We have ate alot of hot dogs , spagettis. ramen noodles ect to get by , we call them filler uper meals.

I agree, Ramen is a filler upper for sure. I pretty much only like the flavor of their shrimp one though. I just can't get to the taste of the other flavors. I eat more lettuce and potatoes than anything else. As far as other veggies though, yep mostly canned. I can't do cheap hot dogs. I've tried different ones and they are just too rubbery. There are a couple of brands that I can tolerate, but of course, they cost more. Watch for sales and sometimes you have to get the next size up to save in the long run. For instance about a week ago WM had 12 pack of Sprite for $4.28 (of which I was not about to pay and was going to grab the 2 litter), but you could get the $24 pack for $5! I was like "WHUUUUUUT!" Cans work much better for us becasue the 2 littler goes flast. The cans you always have a "fresh opened" pop. You don't get extras unless it is on some super duper sale, then you might splurge on whatever that item is just that once. Of course you always maintain your staple items, you just buy the cheaper brand. Once in a while, in every dept., I find a product that you absolutely can not go cheap on and it is well worth the extra you have to pay for it because nothing else evens comes close to it.

I agree- certain things you just can't go cheap on -- we have to have Heinz ketchup.
I do the ramen noodles too! lol Sometimes I throw them in a cassorle dish with mushroom soup, frozen veggies and cheese - - casserole! We try to buy with the sales, they seem to rotate every 6 - 8 weeks or so. We only get Mt Dew so watch close for the sales and stock up then don't have to get more until the next sale hits. They just had a sale on 12 packs, if you got 5 they were $1.99 each.
I bake lots during the holidays which means extra things- well I've already started buying some of the things I know I will need. I get 1 or 2 things a week so it doesn't hit all at once.

If I was just buying for me alone and bought prepackaged and high-preservative meals, then I could get by on $30/wk! However, I buy all fresh so its more expensive. Now we start to see why the U.S. is so far down on the list of great healthcare. Because people have to sacrifice their earnings to make fresh meals. Otherwise, it's a cup of ramen for 30cents and that does nothing nutritionally for people, only causes things like diabetes and high cholesterol.

That is another reason why Europeans are so healthy. Yes, they have free healthcare, but they also prepare and eat very fresh foods. In fact, in Latin America, it is cheaper to buy fresh goods than prepackaged ones. Maybe the US should reverse those prices as well and we can start making healthier choices AND saving money.

If fresher is cheaper than prepackaged, people will be forced to eat healthier.

For example, I was on the road yesterday and had several choices of fast food places to choose from. There's all the dollar menus at Wendy's, Taco Bell and such and I could be filled on $2 worth. OR I could spend $6 at the Pita place for a whole grain pita, freshly cooked and lean meats, stuffed with veggies and condiments that only have the good fats, like omega 3's, not saturated fat.

That is what I mean by US Americans being FORCE FED CRAPPY foods!

I could walk down the street in México or Costa Rica and buy a freshly prepared salad of fruit or vegetables for $2. AND they were all locally grown, too! Here, our fruits and veggies have WAX, preservatives and pesticides in/on them (unless you buy organic) and they are being shipped from the other side of the country. It's really sad and its really a way of oppressing society, espeically the low-income population.

you are exactly right. we would love to have alot of the fresh veggies and such but because of the costs and sych we just cant afford to buy too much. We are forced to feed our families with sometimes unhealthy choices. I think they is part of the over wieght epidemic in the United States. The children are getting more and more over wieght. I dont believe that every single child over eats , its just what they have the options to eat thats the problem. When I was kid I had really healthy foods , we lived out in the country far far away from anything that resembled city. We most of what we ate was what was grown ot raised on the farm. I would love to have that back but I don't think my apartment complex will let me grow a big garden...lol

We actually eat pretty good around here, but we buy food that will go a long way. For example, my husband buys big slabs of beef that can be cut into 3 or 4 separate roasts. The slabs may run $17-$20, but you will get 4 full meals for 3 adults out of it. We usually put the roasts in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots and onions; and usually end up having enough left over to have the next night too.

We also buy things like peppers when they go on sale - lately they've been something like .88 cents a piece, which is ridiculous! Once they drop to around .54 cents, I buy about 12 and make big pans of stuffed peppers (with ground beef, rice, and tomato sauce)- then they can be frozen and baked later.

Also, we never buy chicken pre-cut or skinless. We always just buy a whole chicken. It's SO much cheaper that way, and you get so much more food for the money. We usually end up either roasting them in the oven, or making big pots of something like chicken and dumplings (which also goes a long way!)

And... gotta have the Jiffy Corn Bread. So good and so cheap!

WOW!!! WHere do you get that slab of beef for that much? Thats alot and at a to die for price. Please share.

I made dumplings tonight...usually the boys take all the dumplings so I end up adding some more veggies and turning the left over gravey broth into pot pie....

We usually shop at Walmart, but you just have to watch for sales and buy when the price is right. Watch after things like Super Bowl- by Monday all the giant slabs of ribs will be marked way down. Also days like St.Patrick's Day, you can find big packages of corned beef extremely cheap and put them in the freezer.

Ok, now I'm hungry.

Maybe you can start a new thread dedicated to healthy (AND AFFORDABLE) recipes, then everyone can benefit?

I'll start.

This is used as a side dish and depending on what you use, it can be vegetarian.

You can also use your creativity and mix up the ways to do it.

Zucchini rounds:
Zucchini sliced the same width
Paprika or any spices you like
Lowfat cheddar (or any kind) of cheese
any extra toppings you'd like (ex: pepperonni, chile, sliced tomato)

You spray a cookie sheet with extra virgin olive oil (buy this, even though it's expensive, it's an important and healthy staple needed at home). Place the zucchini slices on the tray, sprinkle with spices, top with shredded cheese, then top with any extra ingrediants.

Bake at 350degrees for 7 minutes.

Tip: Don't buy your zucchini's at Wal-mart, they are ridiculously overpriced. Try and buy all your fresh goods at Farmer Markets. You can get a lot of things at 3 for $1.

I've never eaten a zucchini believe it or not! Wasn't somebody on here talking about zucchini cake at one point ... I might be forced to eat it in cake form

Has anyone ever eaten a spaghetti squash? Is it any good?

I don't really have any recipes to share right now, but if I think of anything good, I'll be sure to post it.

oh I love both squash and zuchini. I like it all!!! Not many veggies I wont eat.I love lightly suateed squash and zuchini with sauteed onions salt n pepper

I like to take autmn time squash (buttnerut, acorn and the like) and bake them. Place some butter and brown sugar in the center when about done, Oh Yum! With my girls I would buy 2 squash, slice them in half and bake. We each had our own half and it would fill us up, it is so good.