Comments on: MomAdvice Friday: Are You Staying On Track With Groceries?

By: JP

JP — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:33:00 +0000

After reading some of the comments regarding grocery budgets, I thought I should point out that your tax dollars and mine have paid for the construction of a food plan that is both -extremely- thrifty and nutritious.

Look at the Low Cost Basket on eighth page of this document: USDA Food Plans

By: thehomespunheart

thehomespunheart — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:23:00 +0000

Amy – Interesting you brought this up, because I have been struggling to stay within our budget as well. I have probably gone over $30 a month.

By: Tanya

Tanya — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:21:00 +0000

We have a family of five with three of us recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and one still in diapers. The gluten free food that we need to purchase is very expensive and it is hard to stick to the $100.00 a week budget.

By: Chocolate on my Cranium

Chocolate on my Cranium — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:02:00 +0000

I have a family of nine with a weekly allotted grocery budget of $100. I do go over once in a while but it’s usually because of the cost of milk. We buy about 8-10 gallons a week. I have six girls so I will not skimp on the amount of calcium they need! We make everything from scratch, including 16 loaves of bread a week (8 white, 8 whole wheat). We also plan our menus according to what’s on sale. The weeks my two oldest (ages 12 and 10) are in charge of cooking I make them do all the planning and figuring, and by golly if they don’t do better than I do!

I also roll-over my budget. Meaning any money we don’t spend on groceries one week, rolls over to the next week and so on. So if I only spend $85 dollars one week the next week I’ll have $115 for groceries.

By: mama k

mama k — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:55:00 +0000

I am not doing so hot with this lately. We were on a cash only budget for groceries and it worked great until I had a big vitamin purchase and used up all my reserve. Gotta get back on the horse!

PS I linked back to you today.
http://mamaknj.blogspot.com/2007/10/deceptively-delicious-aftermath.html

By: baseballmom

baseballmom — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:42:00 +0000

I am always over on the grocery budget. I have 3 boys, 2 are teenagers. I can’t keep enough food in the house. I think Aldi’s is great, but I still spend about $125 every 2 wks. plus te regular grocery store and of course Walmart.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:21:00 +0000

We, too, are struggling with our grocery budget, usually ending up at least $50 over per month lately. It is discouraging when that is the one area where I feel I should have some good control in our budget, but I take heart in knowing I’m still doing the best I can. It is just that things are getting more expensive. Milk and other diary going up are really hurting the cause. For the coming month I hope to use things from the freezer and pantry in hopes that will help us out a bit. Oh, and thank you for posting Freebie Fridays each week. Sometimes getting those samples in the mail is such a bonus to my day!

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:10:00 +0000

Amy,
What I wanted to say was too long for a comment. Thanks for the great blog! I love it.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/delightfuldays/415902/

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:34:00 +0000

Lisa- Our bread outlet prices went up so much that it was no longer worth it for me to make the trip there. They had marked up so considerably that I almost left when I figured it out without buying anything.

I think Aldi has went up too. It is more of a nickel and dime effect, but it is effective towards pulling me out of my budget.

Thank you all so much for sharing!

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:33:00 +0000

Kris- I most DEFINITELY struggle, but might have a harder time sharing that more than most people. I feel like it is my "job" to keep us on track and I really hate that I am not able to be more resourceful than what I already have been.

I guess this issue brings more challenges for me to be more creative than I have been with our money. Of course, I love having this platform to share and compare since I am still trying to figure things out too!!!

Thank you all so much for sharing- this is really insightful!