Grocery Costs

[mandy2552]

Hi all!

I live in Northern CA and the cost of groceries is pretty high. Does anybody out here have any tips for lowering costs (i.e. certain stores, types of foods that are cheaper, but healthy etc). I usually shop Costco and like to buy Organic fruits and dairy for the kids.

Thank you!

[Michael]

Here is a similar thread: http://daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28265

[hwichlaz]

cook from scratch, only serve one serving of the protien, let them fill up on sides. I shop at Safeway because I'm rural and still manage to almost feed them on my FP money. We don't have a Super Walmart or a Costco in our county.

[hwichlaz]

This menu is pretty affordable and includes shopping lists..
https://daycare.com/forum/showthread...929#post645929

[Leigh]

I cut my grocery bill by 40% by having groceries delivered. I get them delivered from a store that is more expensive than the one I used to shop at!

No more impulse buying. I'm not talking chips and candy, but even just fresh ingredients that I wind up not using. I plan my meals, enter my order, and they bring it to my door. We eat healthier (I don't buy junk food, and when I plan my meals, I plan them healthier than when I would open the fridge and pray that I'd find something that I wanted to cook!).

[daycare]

Home made meals. Nothing processed.
I only shop Costco and my farmers market.

I can spend $85 a week to free 12 kids daily. 5 days week.

[Josiegirl]

Originally Posted by daycare

Home made meals. Nothing processed.
I only shop Costco and my farmers market.

I can spend $85 a week to free 12 kids daily. 5 days week.

Wowsa! WTH am I doing wrong?
I think the best advice is plan your menu, shop sales, no impulse buying(where's the fun in that?? ), stick to basic, substitute meat meals with eggs, beans, etc.. Do you have an area where you can grow some veggies, even just a few pots?

I find I do so much better when I write out the menu plan but also find it a difficult thing to adhere to.

[daycare]

Originally Posted by Josiegirl

Wowsa! WTH am I doing wrong?
I think the best advice is plan your menu, shop sales, no impulse buying(where's the fun in that?? ), stick to basic, substitute meat meals with eggs, beans, etc.. Do you have an area where you can grow some veggies, even just a few pots?

I find I do so much better when I write out the menu plan but also find it a difficult thing to adhere to.

I meant feed. I don't have any hostages that need to be free. Lol sorry for the typo

[Josiegirl]

Originally Posted by daycare

I meant feed. I don't have any hostages that need to be free. Lol sorry for the typo

Pretty cheap for hostage money!!

[daycare]

Some staples I use a lot are rice, potato, beans, lentils, Quiona, oats and TONS of vegetables. I guess. I do serve processed whole wheat pasta noodle from time to
Time. I don't know how to make noodles. Lol. I hate noodles of any kind. They taste like rubber to me, well that's what I imagine rubbber would taste like.

I also grow zucchini, egg plant, peppers and basil. My kids eat all of it. Some don't even know. Let the blender be your friend. I make egg plant, spaghetti sauce that the kids eat like candy.

[LysesKids]

Originally Posted by daycare

Home made meals. Nothing processed.
I only shop Costco and my farmers market.

I can spend $85 a week to free 12 kids daily. 5 days week.

Now I have managed $60 for myself & 4 kids, but $85 for 12; what am I doing wrong lol

[Blackcat31]

$85 for 12 is great shopping for sure! Especially in Cali!

I live in an area where the cost of living is super cheap and even I spend more than that on groceries... lol!
Not much but more. I usually spend about $100-150 a week. Veggies are cheap!

I do NOT however buy staples such as rice, potato, beans and lentils as we eat VERY few of those things.

We mostly eat vegetables and proteins. We eat very little carbs and not much fruit either. NOT because fruit isn't good for you but because I know fruits are very rarely the issue when trying to get kids to eat well.

Most kids like fruits easily and without much pushing.

Veggies on the other hand are usually hard for parents to get their kids to eat so I focus heavily on them here.

We grow aLOT of the veggies ourselves (kids investing in the process are more willing to eat the product) and most the proteins are bought in bulk at Sam's or Costco type stores.

[daycare]

Originally Posted by LysesKids

Now I have managed $60 for myself & 4 kids, but $85 for 12; what am I doing wrong lol

Maybe I'm adding wrong, but that's what my cost breakdown was last two weeks when I shopped. BUT I guess I didn't calculate for the fact that I used a lot of already stored veggies and meat. I freeze most veggies when I have a large amount so I guess if I accounted for that it would increase the cost. But I know I'm pretty close to that, maybe a few dollars.

[daycare]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

$85 for 12 is great shopping for sure! Especially in Cali!

I live in an area where the cost of living is super cheap and even I spend more than that on groceries... lol!
Not much but more. I usually spend about $100-150 a week. Veggies are cheap!

I do NOT however buy staples such as rice, potato, beans and lentils as we eat VERY few of those things.

We mostly eat vegetables and proteins. We eat very little carbs and not much fruit either. NOT because fruit isn't good for you but because I know fruits are very rarely the issue when trying to get kids to eat well.

Most kids like fruits easily and without much pushing.

Veggies on the other hand are usually hard for parents to get their kids to eat so I focus heavily on them here.

We grow aLOT of the veggies ourselves (kids investing in the process are more willing to eat the product) and most the proteins are bought in bulk at Sam's or Costco type stores.

I wish I had your yard for veggies. I'm sure you would laugh if you saw my garden.

Also about 25% of my kids are vegan and about %40 percent vegiterian. I am almost 99% vegan lol so this is easiest for me. I let parents decide. And yes I only make one meal.

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by daycare

I wish I had your yard for veggies. I'm sure you would laugh if you saw my garden.

Also about 25% of my kids are vegan and about %40 percent vegiterian. I am almost 99% vegan lol so this is easiest for me. I let parents decide. And yes I only make one meal.

Hey a garden is a garden!
You grow things where and when you can!

I like meat too much to ever be a vegan/vegetarian

The two categories I can pretty much live without are dairy and carbs. But NOT all... I love wild rice, steel cut oats, whole wheat crackers etc but don't eat much bread, pasta or potatoes at all.

I 'used' to be a addict to those types of foods. I couldn't imagine a world without potatoes or pasta but now the thought of eating them boggle my mind... lol!

The up side of it though is that since cutting those things out of my diet (a few other things as well) and I immediately feel healthier and lost 40+ lbs I'd been hanging onto for year!

Sadly though even as I strive to feed the DCK's a healthier diet than I know they get at home it's disheartening to see that the habits don't always stick.

I took a couple of my previous DCKs a couple days here and there over the summer and I was disappointed to see that some of them (previously the biggest veggie eaters here) were now turning up their noses at some of their favorites..... apparently a year or two in school/being offered more appealing (sugar/carb heavy foods) options over ride years of healthy eating.

But atleast I know I did my part while I had them.

[daycare]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

Hey a garden is a garden!
You grow things where and when you can!

I like meat too much to ever be a vegan/vegetarian

The two categories I can pretty much live without are dairy and carbs. But NOT all... I love wild rice, steel cut oats, whole wheat crackers etc but don't eat much bread, pasta or potatoes at all.

I 'used' to be a addict to those types of foods. I couldn't imagine a world without potatoes or pasta but now the thought of eating them boggle my mind... lol!

The up side of it though is that since cutting those things out of my diet (a few other things as well) and I immediately feel healthier and lost 40+ lbs I'd been hanging onto for year!

Sadly though even as I strive to feed the DCK's a healthier diet than I know they get at home it's disheartening to see that the habits don't always stick.

I took a couple of my previous DCKs a couple days here and there over the summer and I was disappointed to see that some of them (previously the biggest veggie eaters here) were now turning up their noses at some of their favorites..... apparently a year or two in school/being offered more appealing (sugar/carb heavy foods) options over ride years of healthy eating.

But atleast I know I did my part while I had them.

my husband has his on grocery bill, I am a mean wife and won't buy his food. lol

he has eaten a keto diet since he was in his 20s. he eat zero starch and only eats veggie carbs, no fruit. I have never in my life seen him eat any candy, cakes etx.

I also hate potato and pasta. Rice is ok, but I could live without them. Veggies I could not live without and avocado. lol

NONE of my dcks eat well at home. One thing that i dread more than anything is that when we enroll a new child we deal with lots of meltdowns and crying at the table. Sorry, but we don't serve junk here.

eventually the kids come around, but it always takes time.

[flying_babyb]

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matches the coupons in the paper to the best deals. very cool site

[Renae82]

Originally Posted by daycare

my husband has his on grocery bill, I am a mean wife and won't buy his food. lol

he has eaten a keto diet since he was in his 20s. he eat zero starch and only eats veggie carbs, no fruit. I have never in my life seen him eat any candy, cakes etx.

I also hate potato and pasta. Rice is ok, but I could live without them. Veggies I could not live without and avocado. lol

NONE of my dcks eat well at home. One thing that i dread more than anything is that when we enroll a new child we deal with lots of meltdowns and crying at the table. Sorry, but we don't serve junk here.

eventually the kids come around, but it always takes time.

My husband and I both eat keto, I think that adds a lot to our grocery bill.
I am amazed to see some of the low grocery bills from those that eat fresh foods. Ours is an average of $260 per week for a family of 4 plus 6 dck. With the exception of pasta, crackers, and a few random other things I serve mostly fresh food. I only buy meat on sale and stock up. I have a hard time when it comes to fruit because I try not to repeat the same fruit in one week. So that gets expensive when I buy fruit that isn't on sale.
Veggies are much more reasonable and we have a garden as well.

[LysesKids]

Originally Posted by Renae82

My husband and I both eat keto, I think that adds a lot to our grocery bill.
I am amazed to see some of the low grocery bills from those that eat fresh foods. Ours is an average of $260 per week for a family of 4 plus 6 dck. With the exception of pasta, crackers, and a few random other things I serve mostly fresh food. I only buy meat on sale and stock up. I have a hard time when it comes to fruit because I try not to repeat the same fruit in one week. So that gets expensive when I buy fruit that isn't on sale.
Veggies are much more reasonable and we have a garden as well.

Try doing 3 different fruits each week lol... I have no choice because some of mine can't eat bananas, one can't have apples, but they can all eat plums, clementines and pears