Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I lost count (mainly due to going out to the pub a couple of times and not sticking to the separate purses thing) but I think I've stayed within budget. It's really helped being able to come home for lunch the last week and a bit rather than having to schlep everything I might want to eat for the day.

From this Thursday I'm getting a small organic fruit and veg box delivered - that'll be £11.50 a week to start with but I might go down to the half size box at £6 if I'm not getting through everything. I've got a lot of beans and rice so I shouldn't have to get a lot else in apart from condiment type things.

We did pretty well! No final numbers, but we are now in a habit of spending less and going less often - although we did make one late-night trip to the store for EB and chocolate chips to make a giant skillet cookie. Because.. you know, it was totally necessary. But other than that, pretty much we just go once a week for staples and veggies, and a quick top up trip to pick up bananas, some extra fruit and veggies, that kind of thing. I'd guess about $350 for a family of four (one doesn't eat though, just a wee one!), so not bad.

I didn't see a November food spending challenge so I'm just going to bump this thread. I started making a list of items in my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and it's ridiculous how much food I have on hand yet keep buying more. My personal challenge for December will be to limit my spending on food to $20 or less for the entire month. I can buy cat food at the pet store, so I won't be tempted to impulse buy at the grocery store.

I may have missed a few items but here is a long list of what I have to cook with next month. Not included are perishable foods that I'll use up over the next week like almond milk and fresh fruit. I see a lot of seitan, and bean & grain meals in my future. Also sandwiches because I can make my own bread when I'm not being lazy.

Chickpeas
Pinto beans
Lentils
Soy curls
TVP
Noodles
Macaroni
Couscous
Cornmeal (regular & polenta)
Quinoa
Rice
Bulgur wheat
Nutritional yeast
Carrots
Frozen spinach, cauliflower, & broccoli
Popcorn
Tea (bags & loose)
Vital wheat gluten
Chickpea flour
White & whole wheat flour
Active dry yeast for baking
Tapioca starch
Arrowroot
Corn starch
Sugar
Baking powder & baking soda
Canola oil
Mustard
Sriracha
Vegenaise
Toasted sesame oil
Soy sauce
Liquid smoke
Bouillon cubes
Herbs & spices

I am super intrigued and following along. My goal for the month is buying more squash on sale (and freezing a bunch), stocking up on dried beans, making my own bullion, soup once or twice a week, and seeing how smart I can be with a limited number of fresh greens. I'm thinking my seasonal produce snobbery should help with that one.

I've been a shameful disaster this month.

This is a great thread! My husband and I have instituted a new budgeting system that's so far going pretty well with grocery budgeting. We're using eebacanhelp.com, which is basically an envelope-based accounting system that you can share for free, with a website and mobile phone apps for two folks. It's been incredibly helpful. We use it to break our monthly budget into a weekly budget, which makes it much easier to stay on target. So far, it's been working pretty well.

I'm pretty stoked - I just got done with our Thanksgiving shopping, and even with that and our regular weekly shopping, we still have $20 left for the remainder of the week. That might just mean I budgeted way too much, but I choose to see it as a win ; ) And our bank account is still recovering but still looking better than last month!

Like everyone else, part of our high grocery expenses are attributable to maintaining a well-stocked pantry. I think after we get in the habit of keeping our budget and regularly tracking expenses, our next move will be meal planning so that we don't have to have a well-stocked pantry to get through the week - just a strategically stocked one ; )

I spent less than $50 in November on food (including going out to eat a couple of times). I had a ton of food in my freezer leftover from October, so I didn't have to do any big grocery shops the entire month. December might be a bit more expensive as I have a lot of dinner parties planned with friends, but I'm still going to try and keep it under $75 (I'm still eating my way through my freezer stash). Here's hoping that's possible! Usually when I have friends over for dinner, we all contribute a few things, so it never ends up being hugely expensive for any of us, which is nice.

I love hearing from the people who spend so little! It's so inspiring.

i spent 2.5x my monthly budget in november. it was terrible. luckily, i hadn't stepped foot in the grocery store in a week and a half.

I try really hard to not spend more than $75 per week in our household of three. I do try to include vet food but regularly do not succeed. If I spend $75 or less in a week I consider it a huge triumph, if I spend $75-$90 I consider it acceptable. Even though the boys still eat meat (roughly every other day) I find it a lot easier to stay close to the goal price. It depends a lot also if we are having people over and hosting a largeish meal.