| I spend about $30-$50 a week (depending on sales) for a family of 3. That is mostly spent on meat and fresh veggies or some fruit. Other stuff we use double coupons and get alot for free, like we don't pay for things like shampoo, soap, lotion, mustard, dog treats, sausage, chips/snacks, most of that I can get free all of the time using double coupons. Other things I wait for a sale and stock up, one of our stores periodically has a 10lb meat sale, you have to buy 10lbs. in order to get the sale price the most recent meat items that have been cheap were pork ribs $1 a lb, pork steak $1 a lb. then with current coupons I have been getting bacon for .50 a lb, sausage totally free, and ham steaks and slices for .88 a lb. Normally we are not huge pork eaters, but since we can get that really cheap right now, that is what we will eat. I have 120 lbs of cheap/free pork in my freezer. Then I will supplement that with chicken and beef when it goes on sale. With the recent rising cost of food, we have gone to one meatless meal a week, like baked potatoes and salad or something like that, or having "breakfast for dinner" eggs and bacon, or eggs and sausage one night a week. We all take our lunches, DH takes leftovers or whatever I can get for free or cheap using coupons (luckily he is not a picky eater), DD takes a lunch to school 4 days a week and buys one day a week. When I was working I took my lunch everyday, usually leftovers or a sandwich. We buy a gallon of milk a week, we are not huge milk drinkers. This does not include pet food. We have an apple tree, peach tree and 3 Mulberry bushes, so we don't have to buy fruit when those are ripe. This year we are growing our own strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries, potatoes, green beans to supplement our budget fresh fruit and veggies. Usually I give away extra apples and peaches or let them rot on the ground, but this year since I am not working I will be freezing the extras, making applesauce, that type thing. |