Thursday, December 19, 2013

Thrifty Thursday! {impossible frugality}





We have been re-thinking frugal around here. Well, the kids haven't, of course.
They are impossible to deal with sometimes.
They have this notion that there is a grocery tree out back.
Actually, I have moments that I pretend to believe that too.
That's a whole other problem.

But wouldn't that be great?
A grocery tree.  Imagine it!



Let's move on.




I've been focusing on groceries the last couple of months, trying desperately to trim  
the ridiculous amount I spend each week.
According to this site, one can widdle-down the food budget
to $50 per person, per month.
At first, I was like...okie dokie...I can do that.

Well, it turns out that, okie dokie...I CAN'T do that.

I think we are spending around $100+ per person, per month.
Although...if I were to dig a little deeper in my research,
I'm sure I'd find a few boys who are each consuming
about $175 each...and two tiny girls, $10.
No, I take that back...Lucy is definitely keeping up with the boys these days!

See my problem?


So anyway, I'm NOT a coupon gal.
I've tried.
It doesn't work for me.
For many, many reasons.
One being that I don't want to be THAT lady in the grocery line.
And other reasons.
Don't make me list them all here.

But suffice it to say that if I do come upon a coupon for something
that we use/consume on a regular basis, I will do my darndest
to use it at my next shopping trip.
So that generally shaves off about 75 cents a month on my total food bill.
That kind savings is padding our retirement quite nicely.


And then there's the fact that I am a recipe junkie.
Between Pinterest and Food Network, I'm basically an addict.
There, I said it.
(And my name is Lori, by the way.)
A good third of my grocery list usually consists of ingredients for recipes that I simply must try,
that we will end up not liking at all, and vow to never speak of it again.

But I can't seem to break myself of this!
Each new recipe screams to me that it will be THE end-all one that will cause all my friends
and family to ooooh and ahhhh over my epic skills.
And at the rate I'm going, the odds are in my favor, really.



So, what's my point here?
My point is this.
Being thrifty and frugal is so hard...when you like to eat.
And we likes to eat!!



Ok so, do you all have any idea how much you spend each
month on food?
Do you try to stay within a strict budget?


Please tell me your magic formulas for keeping your food costs
super low.
(And don't say coupons and don't say rice and beans.
Although I have nothing against either.)

Please tell me you have magic formulas. Please.

Go.



I'll send you a Grocery Tree if I like your solutions!





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6 comments:

Addie Talley, Photographer said...

We usually spend about $80 a week for groceries and home stuff (detergent, trash bags, etc) and we have 6 in our family.

The biggest thing that has helped is making a meal plan for the week - and as we meal plan, we check the pantry and right down the ingredients we need (most meals have 5 or less ingredients so that helps) and during the week, we keep a list on the fridge of things we run out of, and then I combine both before we go to the store - and if it isnt on the list, we dont buy it.

Of course, all of our kids are 9 and under, so they dont eat as much as teen boys do either - but then, Im thinking at that age, they could probably help add to the food budget themselves... :)

cara said...

I try to do a rice dish, a breakfast night (where we have eggs or pancakes & fruit) & I usually double or triple recipes so we have leftovers for lunches. We don't use a lot of meat either. Good luck.

Holly said...

I still spend too much on groceries but we have a dairy farm. Retired cows supply my freezer, milk is free...and so is butter if I'm not too lazy to skim cream and make it.

A few ways I'm trying to shave a few bucks off our food bill...eat less cereal for breakfast, bake bread, buy less convenience foods (okay,but let's face it, convenience foods are cheaper than therapists!), gardening and canning. This past year our garden was a huge flop - except for the cukes. I got an entire clothes basket which turned into a disgusting pile of mush while one kid was in the hospital. I felt terrible about the whole thing until I found out I was one of many locals with the problem...gardening failures, that is, not rotting cukes.

Treelanetales said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
julie said...

Lori, I know you said you're not a coupon gal......BUT, I just have to say, I have been couponing for over 20 years and it is WONDERFUL!!!!!! I only spend about $200 a month on groceries and household items. That is for a family of 4 and it includes feeding our 5, four legged furry family members, too!

I used to worry about what people would think when I carried my giant coupon box with me into every store and I hated to hold up the line with my dozens of coupons. But, most of the reactions I get from people are good, usually the person in line behind me is amazed at my savings and sometimes ask me "How do you do that?".

kippi said...

Lori, I'm at about the same place as you. No matter how much I try to trim we spend about $800. This coming year will be a little different with only 3adults and two littles instead of five adult eaters. Wish I could help but I'm still waiting for it myself.

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