I have a budget of $100 per week....for 6 people.
Not sure exactly what you're looking for with regards to a list but I simply stock up on what's on sale. Sometimes we eat a lot of pasta simply because there's nothing else but no one goes hungry. I know, I didn't really answer the question. Sorry.

 

I wish I could spend $50 a week per person...I buy what is on sale, and then stock up on it until it goes on sale again...I probably spend $200 a month for 2 of us, and people do on less....I don't pay over $2 a pound for meat unless it is shrimp...I buy steak, pork, ground beef, chicken and fish...true some weeks I don't buy any meat, other weeks I buy a lot...krogers had ground chuck on sale one time for $.99 managers special...bought all they had..chicken I won't pay over $1.00 per pound...pork about $1.50 a pound...buy when on sale and stock up..now when I go to PA for a visit, I will buy Haddock for $5.99 or so a pound, but I can't buy it here in OH.

 

50 bucks per week? Heck there are some weeks I've ate out once a day every day of the week and still spent less than 50 bucks on myself for food. About 4 years ago I ate on 10 bucks for a month. Lost a bit of weight but I did it. I shop at salvage grocers. My usual grocery list:

Milk
Cereal
Rice
Beans
Spices
Bananas
Gram Crackers

I don't eat a lot of veggies or fruits during the winter. I get free meat from people who deer hunt. Usually I spend 20-30 bucks a week on food. During the summer I eat more veggies (because they are free, and wild fruit too). I buy cheese by the 40 block, buy potatoes during the fall harvest for 7 bucks for 50 pounds. Last year I worked at a cranberry bog, they told me I could have free cranberries by the 5 gallon bucket full. I want to try a month getting by on nothing but wild edibles.

 

I have a budget of $100 per week....for 6 people.
Not sure exactly what you're looking for with regards to a list but I simply stock up on what's on sale. Sometimes we eat a lot of pasta simply because there's nothing else but no one goes hungry. I know, I didn't really answer the question. Sorry.

You might think about applying for extra assistance if that is all you have to spend for six people, without having anything else for food like garden, hunting, etc. Heck, toilet paper runs a lot now days.........

 

I budget $650 a month to feed the 8 of us.

I buy what's on sale and I coupon clip like crazy. I usually save 40% a trip to the grocery store. That adds up to a lot!

I will note thqat my kids are getting burned out on Hamburger Helper as I was getting it for 25 cents a box. I usually have to double or triple the recipie, so $3.40 for hamburger and 50 ccents for the helper with 2 bags of 99 cent a bag salad makes a good meal for a total of $5.86.

It helps that I have eggs.

 

I think you have a very good list and I'll work from there.

• Agreed that things like peanut butter, flour, coffee wouldn't have to be bought every week.
• Given the prices, we would only have fish once every two weeks for filets, tuna fish maybe two other meals from canned.
• I'd eliminate the cereal and replace with whole oats.
• Depending on where I lived and how much dried milk was, I'd use dried milk for all baking.
• I'd extend the meat with oats, beans, bulgar, barley
• I'd include cornmeal for a complete protein when eating beans for meat substitute
  • Meats would be based on loss leaders/sales.
  • If you allow say, $10/WK for stocking up on sales, you can really get the cost down.
  • All baking from scratch.
  • Where are your fruits and veggies?
  • When salad stuff is high, we eat cole slaws
  • When rice is high, we eat more potatoes and pasta
  • When potatotes are high, we eat more pasta and rice....

Agreed that hunting and fishing really add a lot to what you have to spend. I can buy up to 30% more by shopping at save alot or aldis as compared to other grocery stores. I visit the scratch and dent stores, too. Mostly we raise most of what we eat.

I think the main reason people have higher grocery bills is that they shop for what they "feel like" eating and what is easiest to consume and they do this at walmart or other higher priced grocery stores.

Check out the tightwad tips threads for lots of ideas.

 

Great advice above....also, check for fresh berries in your area...we can pick blackberries out of the bar ditches here...and there are wild plums...wild garlic...some people will gladly let you have fruit they do not want...I dehydrated apples and made all kinds of apple products last year from a neighbor who let me have all the fruit that dropped on the ground. Some people who have to go on vacations or emergencies will let you water their gardens and you can keep the produce. $G has good name brands at half the price of the local store around our area.

 

I spend $300 for a family of 5 a month. Admittedly we don't buy much meat as we raise/hunt/fish.
Some of our basics.

Butter
flour (buy in bulk)
cornmeal(buy in bulk)
popcorn (buy in bulk)
fresh veg and fruits when not in season (although we can and dehydrate much of our own)
pasta
herbs and spices
olive and canola oil
milk (local)
t-bags (green and black)
coffee
sugar
lemon juice (lots)
oats
barley(bulk)
cheese
some canned veggies
baked beans
tuna/sardines
Shrimp when on sale
some cereal when on sale
yogurt occasionally
occasional frozen pizza although we do make our own too

laundry items and toiletries are included in that $300.

Going shopping once a month makes it so much easier to budget. I buy in bulk which helps, and stock up when things are on sale.

 

As for the salad stuff. I have a clear tote on my back porch with good size lettuce in it and it snowed today. I will be planting spinach in similar tote this week. For the cost of seeds it is so worth trying to find every available space to plant what you eat, even if you live in an apartment.

If you have to buy salad, do not buy pre-mix in bags. It is so much cheaper and better to get a head of lettuce, some carrots to grate, a cucumber and spinach and prepare your own. Lasts a lot longer!

 

If you have to buy salad, do not buy pre-mix in bags. It is so much cheaper and better to get a head of lettuce, some carrots to grate, a cucumber and spinach and prepare your own. Lasts a lot longer!

Except when you get the bags of salad for free with coupons.

 

That's true.

 

I spend $25 to $75 per week for 3 people, a dog and 2 cats. I won't make a list as it changes each week depending on what the sales are. I do not have a garden or critters to help fill the cupboards anymore. I sure miss my milk goats....

 

I've just checked our budget sheet, and we spend roughly $280/month ($65/week) on food for the two of us. I cook & bake everything from scratch, and buy organic where I can (this is important to us, and we go without other things like cable & cell phones to be able to afford to eat organic).

We have chickens for eggs & meat, but the garden isn't yet productive enough to feed us past January for most things - we had a total failure of the potato crop this year, and there's one jar of canned tomatoes left in the cellar.

In the winter I buy:
Flour (in bulk from a local co-op)
Oatmeal (in bulk from a local co-op)
Rice
Beans (navy, black turtle, red kidney, garbanzo, green lentils & red lentils)
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Turnips / Rutabaga
Parsnips
Red peppers (DH's favourite vegetable)
Mushrooms
Pasta (starting to make my own)
Beef (from the local farmer's market)
Pork (from the local farmer's market)
Tea
Fruit juice (apple, orange, cranberry)
Frozen fruit (blueberries, cranberries)
Milk
Cheese
Yoghurt
Butter
Oil (olive for cooking & sunflower for baking)
Sugar

In the summer & fall, our fruit & veg comes from the garden or the farmer's market.

I all make my own bread & breakfast muffins.

 

Not sure what you're looking for but you need to be stocking up on items you use when they are on sale rather then buying the same stuff every week,.

 

As for the salad stuff. I have a clear tote on my back porch with good size lettuce in it and it snowed today. I will be planting spinach in similar tote this week. For the cost of seeds it is so worth trying to find every available space to plant what you eat, even if you live in an apartment.

If you have to buy salad, do not buy pre-mix in bags. It is so much cheaper and better to get a head of lettuce, some carrots to grate, a cucumber and spinach and prepare your own. Lasts a lot longer!

The tote idea is fantastic...I think Im going to try it this week. We have been living on sprouts and baby greens picked from my windowboxes..

buy extra of what is on sale, as MTM suggested....I shop to fill my pantry, and I shop for disaster preparedness, and I garden and freeze, can and do a little dehydrating, and I only spend that much sometimes...I always have a small stash so a good deal does not pass me by.

Two days ago, I was in the local grocery store (Gerritys sure save) ...they had whole chickens for .49 a lb. I bought as many as I thought I could store...Cooked one for dinner, made chicken salad for lunch, and froze the bones for future broth making...all for about 2.50. I generally dont can chicken, as it is time consuming with the bones, but I probably should have.

I think thats the key...Opportunity meeting preparedness. Plus eating seasonally.

 

We spend a bit less than $100 for five people. Just a few years ago it was half that but prices have soared.

We do buy cereal but note that is an expensive item. It is much cheaper to use eggs and flour to make breakfast. Or make granola. All kinds of options with those sorts of items.

For us the dairy, mostly milk is a huge cost. We drink a lot of milk and eat cheese. Gotta get a cow.

We have our own chickens so they produce eggs for free most of the year just pasturing, no bought feed.

We have our own pigs so that is where most of our meat comes from - again pastured+dairy so no bought feed other than than winter hay.

Peanut butter is a must buy on our list.

Oil we get primarily from lard from our pigs. We buy a little olive oil - a luxury.

No coffee, alcohol, etc.

Not a lot of fresh veggies or fruit in the late winter but lots in the rest of the year. We do freeze and can a lot so there are those. For winter salad it is mostly cabbage and carrots.

I tried figuring out one week's worth a bit back:

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/2007/07/a-week-of-food.html

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

 

I use alot of approaches, I stock up on sale items, and check through coupons with store circulars next to them so I can get the best buys.

At our house we eat whats on sale that week. I usually have meat in the freezer which I buy whats on sale and break it into smaller pkgs with the vacume sealer.

We eat whatever fruits and fresh veggies are on sale, I have spinach and one lettuce in the garden that have been wintered over. I still have grape juice from septembers grapes I have plenty of beans rice, oats, flour and basics to bake and cook with.

I would have to say I would spend the money on

sale greens
sale fruit
milk
eggs if needed
Cheese
Butter
juice if needed
Peanut butter if needed
Sale meats or loss leaders


We typically have 5 dinners with meat and probably two without or with smaller leftover amounts

Lunches are very boring, I like tuna and egg salad, cheese sandwiches and peanut butter or leftovers. My husband will pretty much eat anything that he is served.

Breakfasts can be anything, I don't mind cooking or baking. I have a great recipe for waffles which taste great.

 

Beagebiz, I have the clear plastic tote upside down and plant in a tray on the lid, and use the clear tote base part as a mini greenhouse to cover the plants.

I am amazed at the results. It was an experiement as I was craving fresh salad. You could continue to plant seeds as you pull each lettuce.

Hope this is clearer than mud. LOL

 

Not sure what you're looking for but you need to be stocking up on items you use when they are on sale rather then buying the same stuff every week,.

That's how I buy. That's why I can't really answer the op. One week I might get all canned goods, and the next week it might be all tortillas and peanut butter! Just depends on the sales.

 

$50 per person per week?!?! Shoot, I'd buy any darn thing I want. In double. Plus some. That's a heckuva lot of money for groceries. I honestly don't think I could spend that much if I tried. Not on just groceries. I could spend it all if I had to, but a lot of stuff would not be grocery items.

 

Well, there are 4 of us.

1 gallon of milk
1 loaf of bread
1 BIG bag of cereal
POSSIBLY oatmeal
Some kind of meat: usually about 4 packages of a loss leader meat and 2 others
Ragu
Pasta
cheese
pet food
Fruits and vegetables
Misc like spices and such

This adds up to about $100 all together for 4 people.
I also spend $5-$10 per week on stored food like canned meat or whatever.

 

I feed a family of four and two very large dogs on $100 a week. Two of those family members are teenaged boys.

I buy a lot of things bulk. All my grains are bulk, beans, couscous, oatmeal, etc. I make ALL meals from scratch. "From scratch" doesn't include anything "heat and eat", or even mixes or sauces. The only "canned" thing I buy is tinned fish, like tuna, sardines, etc.

I *do* have a very large garden and can a LOT of fruit and vegetables. We raise our own livestock for meat.

I buy fresh fruit weekly, along with butter and a few small staples or "treat" items -- stuff like the occasional fresh lettuce (we typically sprout our own greens), or an avocado (yum!).

 

Quote "Except when you get the bags of salad for free with coupons"

Quote "I am amazed at the results. It was an experiement as I was craving fresh salad. You could continue to plant seeds as you pull each lettuce.""

Yep, and even cheaper still when you grow it on your porch instead of having to go to the store and buy it.

I've been slowly expanding our own production of food. I have a small orchard of various citrus, and judging from the number of blossoms they currently have, by next Sept. I should start picking a few different kinds of satsumas, couple kinds of oranges, lemons, limes, and kumquats. Even though we have had harsher winters than normal, we have had fresh citrus all winter from just the small number of trees I have. Also planted a few avocados a few years ago, and right now they appear to have tiny blossoms coming on, so who knows, maybe this year we'll have our own avocados too.

We buy bulk whenever we can. Started buying whole ribeyes at $2.99/lb. That's what hamburger costs! We buy it whole and then cut our own steaks, etc off it. We also have a lot of venison every year, which helps tremendously with food costs.

I also shop at the salvage/dented grocery warehouse. I have been saving a LOT of money doing that, but one has to be choosy and know how much things cost at other stores in order to find the good deals there.

 

Exactly! Think how many lettuce seeds come in a tiny packet! You could plant a few more every time you harvest a lettuce and enjoy fresh salad all summer long. I had lots of totes and several of the clear ones up in the barn, so figured, why not?

I am so thrilled it has worked and figured I would share with friends here. Like I said, am going to plant spinach the same way, and probably another long clear tote. We eat a lot of salad.

Saves gas going to the store!

 

Thanks for the idea of using the tote upside down as a greenhouse. Duh, I'd have never thought of that!

What variety of lettuce are you growing, just out of curiosity? I have terrible luck with it, it always tastes bitter.

Apologies to the OP for the thread drift...