Assume a budget of $100/week for two people...

JuliaAnn, I too shop w a calculator, and people STARE in the store. The tax here is 9.3% on food, so I like to know before the checkout what my total will be! ldc

I don't care if people look, or what they think. Who knows, maybe someone will think its a good idea and do the same! It's how I keep everything under budget and if you have to put in the cost each time you add an item to the cart, it deters you from impulse buying!

So, i'm the one with the overloaded cart and a calculator as I shop for the month. Join me! Take your calculator next time you go too.

I have always shopped with a list and a notebook to keep a running talley ..

I started doing the grocery shopping at 10yrs old with a list and notebook while my mother sat in the car with my siblings ...I was the main cook even at that young age so I also did the shopping ..Mom would tell me how much we had to spend ..give me the money in a little change purse and in I went ..I learned early about comparrison shopping and making Abe Lincolin yell for mercy and it carried over thru raising my dear daughter and on to today ..

I live alone and I get FS and that is what I spend each month no more no less ($110).My full pantry and freezer allows me to be able to fix up a box of food when I hear of a need .
$30 of that $110 is spent on restocking my pantry and freezer each month ..The other $80 is spent on the months groceries .

When I have the extra payday a month ( paid every other week and I think it happens 3 times this year ) I use half to stock up on all the things not able to buy with the FS TP ...Dog Food ..Shapoo.. Bath soap ..laundry soap ..cleanning supplys ect..Half of the remaining goes into savings and the other half is mine to buy other things I may need (in April it will go towards my garden and canning suppliies )..Somehow this year I intend to garden in a small area as much as I can and cann and freeze any small amount offered as well as pick berries ..mushroom hunt and fish ...

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"The tax here is 9.3% on food"

THAT IS CRIMINAL!!!!!!

That's what I was thinking, too, YFR. In NC, a "temporary" tax on food was instituted in 1961. Temporary. Uh huh. I was born in the mid-'60's. We're still paying. Taxing food is unjust.

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The three divine teachers of man: worldly calamity, bodily ailment, and unmerited enmity, and there is but through God alone a deliverance from them. Maine Farmer's Almanac

I'm only eating mostly meat, fish, eggs, low carb veggies, nuts, and very few fruits, some cheese, butter and cream..so because I don't have any domestic animals most of my meat and dairy has to be purchased..

to save money here I would be best getting myself some laying hens and stock my pond with proteins to save $..

I don't use much in the way of grains and no sugar

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

You know, taking a calculator into the grocery store might just be one of the best ways to budget money. If the running total is right in front of your eyes, it stands to reason a person would be more inclined to stick to the necessities. I know when I was first on my own, I always allotted a 20 dollar bill for groceries AND stuff like laundry soap, dish soap, shampoo, hygiene items, etc. I was always able to get a lot of stuff, my friends were always amazed at how much I could buy. But of course that was back when food was probably less than half of what it costs today, or maybe 2/3 less....

I wonder how it would do here though? we usually don't get lettuce in the actual garden past maybe mid june....it starts tasting bitter once it gets hot. Maybe though planting it in a container somewhere shady might make it last longer?

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Ginnie..
http://ginniequilts.blogspot.com/
You can say what you want about the South,
But you never hear of anyone retiring and moving North.

Taking a calculator helps me big time not to overspend Julia. The running total does that! LOL

Ginnie, yes, in the summer you can place the container with lettuce and spinach seeds in semi shade. I am sorry for not getting back to folk about starting what I do, I meant to take photos but got wrapped up in homeschooling projects.

We easily do $15 a week, per person, and then buy extra food each month, and then I will buy "special" tems like pizza or steak for less than $200 a month per person. I couldn't give you a "list", because we dont use one. But we always have some sort of hot cereas on hand (corn meal, oatmeal, ect) meat is a lesser-used item here...we eat A LOT of rice and beans, and even got to where we LIKE THEM!!. We also make bread and eat canned/frozen vegies. We eat mostly in season fruits and veggies, because they taste better and are cheaper. Peanut butter is a big hit here, so we keep that on hand.

Really, we buy a lot of basics, I guess. For a bit, it was hard,while we built up our supplies enough to have stuff on hand to make whatever, but now it is very asy and we have lotws of extras to share. We never go hungry.

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Shara

"The only point to this life is to raise the children right."
~William K. Gilmore

"Being slightly paranoid is like being slightly pregnant - it tends to get worse."
~Molly Ivins

I spend about 200 a month for me and the three cats and Snoopy---that's on my big trip----then I go once more for things I run out of like milk, fruit and something I forgot last time. Total about 250.00

I start stocking up early for winter----like August----in the freezer and with things like toilet paper, soaps laundry det etc. so then I spend more.

I am very frugal whe it somes to food shopping.

I spend about 250.00 a month at the grocery store for 2/3 people.
I spend an additional 75.00 per month on fruit and veggies at the fruit stand when we are not gardening. So I guess that puts me at 325.00 per month for 2.75 people.. It's hard to figure cause we have guests.
I think it depends on your location also.

I average spending approximately $320 a month for two people, 17 dogs and 8 cats. Take away the pet food expense and I would probably be spending close to $50 a week for me and hubby. This includes toiletries/paper products/cleaners, although I buy quite a bit of that at Walgreens for next to nothing.

However, I bring home much more than what I've paid as I use coupons. I match them to weekly sales. Plus, I don't buy beef since my BIL always has one of his deer processed for us so we eat venison instead. I avoid pork, except when bacon is on sale. We also have chickens so I don't buy eggs. I usually put up enough jelly/jam and pickles to last us so I rarely buy those (unless I have a coupon that makes it free or pennies). I don't buy bread since I got a bread machine. I buy bread mixes in bulk from Amazon.com when they are on sale. I also can/freeze garden produce and fruit every year.

Things I buy weekly (although not every week because I stock up on sales and have plenty of butter, flour, etc. in the freezer and keep the pantry stocked):

Salad greens

Bananas

Fresh mushrooms

Organic milk

Cheese

Diet Cokes

Blue Bell Ice Cream

A frozen pizza for the night hubby works late (usually a cheese one that I add my own homegrown toppings to)

Those are the only weekly "must buys" that I can think of, other than dog and cat food. Everything else is what is on sale/what I have coupons for/what I'm running low of...generally things like pasta sauce, pasta/rice, flour, butter, cereal, etc.

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Yes yes yes! I think I have the idea but Id love to see a picture

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I will do it this afternoon I promise, with photos. It's been a hectic week!
I am starting up another with spinach so will be able to show it easier, and will show that and some of my lettuce ones.

Whats wrong with living on Beans, cornbread....and tater soup?

I was poor when I was younger....butter came from us kids churning it...and milk was a treat. We lived on beans and tater soup....I hated it!...now I crave it...funny how that works

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"If you tickle the earth with a hoe she laughs with a harvest."
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Real is Beautiful -Sherry in Maine

I am 47

beans, taters, onion slices, tomatoes, throw in some okra and squash and get the heck out of my way. I still can't get my mind around how much my momma could put on the table, HOT, with a 4 burner stove. Many times, you couldn't eat some of everything she put on the table because there wasn't room on the plate, .... or in your belly.
Ed

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"Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness."
Thomas Jefferson to George Washington 1787

I spend between $40-$50 per week on groceries, for myself and my husband (and I'm lactating, so I eat a lot!). We eat strictly whole foods and I stock up on something when it is on sale (today ground top round steak was on sale for the price of normal ground beef, so I bought 3 lbs to cook and freeze...I don't buy regular ground beef as it has all the nasty cow parts in it). My grocery list always changes constantly, as many things I only need to buy occasionally. However, these are the things we keep on hand all the time:

chicken (I only buy whole chickens, as they are the best value...and then I make amazing stock out of the carcass)
beef
canned tuna
vegetables and fruit
rice, quinoa, oats, and millet
many kinds of beans and lentils
butter
coconut and olive oil
whole wheat and white flour
whole grain pasta (been making my own lately though)
rapadura
orange juice
spices
popcorn kernels

I get pastured eggs from my neighbor, raw milk from a local farm for drinking and for making yogurt, honey from a local bee keeper, fish from the outdoor fish market, artisan cheese from the local cheese store, and I have a 1/2 acre garden. In the summer and fall I can, jam, and freeze tons of veggies and fruit for the winter. We are looking into raising meat chickens this summer and butchering and freezing them for the year. I make everything we eat from scratch, including homemade bread, pizza crust, and tortillas.

it's difficult to say what we spend for two per week, as it varies a great deal. sometimes we buy a ton of meat if sales are great, and nothing else. some weeks we just need a couple staples. I guess in reality it may end up being approx. $50. ea. a week on average. some weeks in winter we don't shop at all. that's what stocking up is all about. gets nasty...hub isn't going to work...we may not venture out for a couple months. summer we usually spend grocery dollars on fresh fruits and any store sales only per week. our appetites dwindle in summer, so salads go a long way.

For those that have asked for details about the instant cold frame to raise your salads cheap and easy, I am posting here http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/sho...45#post5041645
Photos will follow later when it warms up a tad.

Sorry for thread drift.