Sunday, August 2, 2009

My Grocery Bill is INSANE!

Inflation, what inflation? I heard Mr. O say on the news this past week that his stimulus plan is fixing the economy. Honey, not at my house! DH and I are working on widdling down our budget the best that we can so that I can continue to stay at home at least for the duration of this pregnancy without completely depleting our savings. Ideally I'd like to stay at home with the kids until they start school but that remains to be seen.

Unemployment is over 13% in our area of FL so I might not have much of a choice but to stay home should I decide to go look for another job. Anyway - back to the subject at hand - My Grocery Bill!

Y'all, for the last several weeks I've spent on average of $170/wk. on groceries for two adults and one baby! This is pure insanity! Over the past 5-6 months I've seen my average weekly grocery bill go from $120 to $150, now to $170! I promise that we aren't eating filet mignon every night either. However, I do buy quite a bit of fresh fruit and veggies and I know that gets expensive. The good news is that we hardly ever go out to eat and I pack DH's lunch everyday. But, I am buying baby food and formula at the grocery store. Sometimes I'll see the baby stuff on sale at Target. If BJ's carries something that I use for DD, I'll get it there.

So, I need your help! If you're a coupon queen, please let me know what websites you use. Also, any links to frugal meal recipes, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone else noticed their grocery bill going up? I expect groceries to get even more expensive (along with everything else) if Cap & Trade passes in the Senate as well. I'm very concerned about the Obama administration bombarding our system with all of this new legislation that we (the Country) and we (tax paying families) can not afford. Any thoughts?

6 comments:

  1. I completely agree with this post..especially the last paragraph! Here are some things I TRY to do to save on groceries:
    -look at the sale ads online for your grocery store (kroger, publix, ingles, walmart, etc.)
    -don't buy groceries at Target!
    -print coupons off of coupons.com or other online free coupon sites (just google them)
    -buy your local paper for the coupon inserts that come in there

    A really cheap meal that I like to cook is tacos with spanish rice and canned corn.

    I hope this helps a little. =)

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  2. You said it sister!! Our family of 3's bill has gotten out of control.....I hate even going now. I have tried to cut coupons and go on "double" day. Living in a small town there are no big chains,,what gets me is that last minute stuff that I have to pay double for! I hope you get a lot of great ideas!! If you do, I would love to know!

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  3. It's insane how much my hunny bun and I have spent on groceries. The crappy thing is that we try to eat healthy, but eating healthy is more expensive than eating unhealthy packaged foods. It's like being punished for taking care of my body. Grr.... Anyhoodle-please let us know if you get any great tips

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  4. While I'm not at college and not paying for my grocery bill at the time (thanks mom and dad!), I know what you mean. And don't even get me started on Obama! Ugh! Anyways, I'm not sure if you are VIP customers at your grocery store, but when I signed up at Lowe's I wrote down my email address. They keep up with what I buy and whenever these items go on sale, I get an email every week or two. That way I don't have to spend a bunch of time cutting coupons, which isn't my favorite thing in the world.

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  5. afullcup.com is a good site to use to find deals each week

    It is tricky to learn to navigate, but once you figure it out it helps a lot. You have to clip coupons and match them to the sales from the grocery ads each week.

    I second the suggestion to sign up for the weekly emails for your grocery store. They will personalize the emails to your preferences and they sometimes include coupons.

    One last site that I find helpful is moneysavingmom.com. Good deals posted on all sorts of stuff.

    Good luck!

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  6. I only buy groceries for ME and it is ridiculous. Every time I go to the grocery store I think about how much families are spending. I don't use coupons though. I do look for specials, etc. I think you are doing the right thing with your healthy habits and not going out to eat + fixing your husband's lunch. Add up how much he would spend on lunches each week and how much you would spend if y'all were going out to eat. You'll probably see that you are still being thrifty!

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