Feeding a Family Frugally

I am able to feed my family well with less cost by shopping loss leaders.
Loss leaders are the specials the stores usually have on the front pages- those great deals that are to lead you into their store to shop - even if they take a small loss on that item- they hope to make it back many times over when you do the rest of your shopping there .

I also do some couponing although have been busy and haven't been organized with that so not doing much of that the past few months . Our stores do not sell liqueur so no wine tags and even if so for me personally its a gray area to remove a sticker or tag from something i am not buying to use it - to me its meant to go with that item its on so should only be used if that one is bought . Yes i know there is no legal ruling to say on that - just my personal preference in life . I do not look down on those who take coupons / tags off things they don't purchase and say they are wrong - that is up to them - i just feel odd about it- the thinking in my area is the store expects you to but the item to get the coupon - so don't do it - so may not save as much .

Many equate couponing with having tons of processed junky foods . Sadly sometimes the media showing the coupon queens only show the shelved stock they have- which often has a lot of hamburger helper and canned items and snacks etc and they don't show their freezer meats or their canned veggies they grew that summer - so people who have never couponed only see processed foods and get the wrong idea. I am sure some eat a lot of processed stuff - but many couponers don't even have a box of hamburger helper on their shelves .
I personally do not like the taste and to feed all of us would need 4 boxes and i can whip it up homemade just as easy - although if it came out to be free or under 25c a box i might buy some for my son at college or to donate to a food pantry .

For me couponing allows me to save some $ on items we use like cereals - toothpaste - paper and beauty aides so that i can use that saved money on meats and fresh fruits and veggies .
Sometimes it allows some treats that i normally wont buy unless a loss leader coupon special !!

And here's a secret - your kids- your husband - no one will die from starvation of they don't get their favorite treat for a few weeks . my kids LOVE fruit snacks but honestly since i haven't been keeping up with my couponing and haven't seen a cheap enough sale there haven't been any in the house for a good 2 months ...and yet they keep going along and actually after about 2 weeks of them not in the house they forget about them .


My stores also do not take Internet printed coupons unless its from their own site and even then there may be some issues because of a huge amount of fraud that went on a few years back where the stores lost thousands of dollars on free coupons people were using .

Even without couponing I am still able to do grocery shopping including all foods- pet food- litter etc for our bunny Mr Flopsy - beauty health- paper and cleaning for 500$ or less a month for 7 of us . I do buy some of the more expensive processed things to have my oldest take back down to his college house ( TV dinners - hot pockets etc )- but try to do that when its on sale only .

Although i know there are many out there who are able to do it for less- this gives me a comfort zone for my family - if i have a bad month financially- i can do it for much less if i need to. And i like knowing i can do that if necessary .
8 years ago i was doing it for 350 a month .

I do not live in some magical area where food is always the prices you will see posted here when i itemize a meal -they are usually deep discounted deals and i will stock up on them when on sale - so that London Broil for 1.69 a lb may have been in my freezer a month or so from a previous sale even though i am eating it today ( Good freezing techniques are a must for a frugal family !!!)

A good six years ago a family in my area with one less child than i have and whose children were younger than mine stated they spend over 1200$ a month on food .
At the time i was doing it for 400$ or 1/3 of that and was able to do it for 300$ or 1/4 of that if i had to .

Family members with just 4 tell me they spend 250 a week and that was a few years back so at this time i am still spending about 1/3 to 1/4 what the average family of 7 would spend on food in my area .

At this time i do allow my children to buy lunch at school and that figure is not included into my grocery bill . It was a decision made based on stress level time and affordability and the fact that even when i bought enough juice boxes - snacks etc to last the week somehow i was out buying more last minute and in the end i was only saving maybe 20$ a month - .

Two of my older kids who are in high school receive a monthly budget on the 15th of the month that allows them to buy a lunch each day OR they can buy partial lunches or brown bag and keep the money to buy something they want - go to movies etc . My way of teaching them budgeting choices just as i have to decide what to do with my monthly $$ so do they .
So that money is not included in my grocery bill either - but much of it isn't spent on lunches as they often take things in for lunch so they can spend the $ on other things.

We do the pantry principle - buy more when on sale and stock up . During this whole recent peanut butter crisis we were fine because mine had been bought way before issues were at hand and stored in my pantry .

With the pantry principle you rarely have to pay full price .

We go to a produce distribution center that has a stand and get our fruits and veggies ( which we eat a lot of here ) for about 30-50% off what they want in the grocery stores stores.

When i feel its cheaper i can go to a wonder outlet and a entemanns outlet and a pepperidge farm outlet if i am nearby one and get some items . They are not real close so its not a regular thing for me anymore.

We drink mainly water and milk - if we have soda its for a special occasion - Gatorade is bought when on sale for the oldest two for sports etc . My youngest 3 wont even drink soda they never had it when young so find the bubbles " weird " .
Because all 5 of my kids would have GI issues from apple juice and hated grape juice and my youngest had red dye issues and sugar sensitivities we really don't have juice boxes around but in the summer for freezing and taking to pool etc .
We don't really have kool aide or fruit punches or ice tea either .
Milk - OJ and the ice cold water that comes filtered from our fridge are our usual drinks ,
lemonade at times especially in the summer - hot cocoa in the winter .

So i think i save a lot on drinks compared to other families .
And when out at b-day parties - friends houses etc my kids ask for water much to the amazement of their friends parents who usually are offering soda and punches .

I will watch the meat departments at stores- certain stores i do not do this at because i am not happy with the quality when its finally marked down but many will mark down meats by 1-3$ or 50% off when its a day away from their sell by date . If i can find a good deal say the already on sale boneless chicken breasts and then get more off that's a great double play in the meat department .

I do not spend a lot of time wandering stores to do this - but if i come upon a good deal i stock up the freezer with meats .

We buy our milk at the local CVS or Minimart - we may pay 10c more a gallon but time wise and the fact we arent tempted to buy anything the store has sitting out saves us a lot more than the 10c we spend and sometimes its actually cheaper there - because CVS is hoping to get you to buy more or the Minimart if attached to a gas station will have it lower hoping you will get gas while there too.

Aldis- i go to Aldis once every month or two to stock up on some canned soups -snacks and other items that i use as ingredients for cooking . And sometimes just some specials they have on things and some treats for the kids ( they love their french toast sticks )

Bulk cooking - although i don't do 30 day cooking ( that would put me in a fibro flare for sure !!) i do bulk cook - if the ingredients for lasagna are on sale - i make 4 have one for dinner freeze the other 3 for future dinners .

Big ground beef sale ?? I bulk brown some ground beef - some i just put into freezer baggies browned to add to later meals - some i add taco flavoring to and freeze for future taco dinners and the same with sloppy joes . One time messy stove...... several dinners !!

Just a lot of little things i do and at this point just do subconsciously that are a big part of saving $$ when feeding a family .

Please feel free to add what you do to the comments !!