How I Feed my Family of 8 for $300 a month Q&A- Part 1

I have gotten asked quite a few questions since beginning my grocery budgeting series. I thought that it would be beneficial to others to share some of the questions I was asked, and my answers. So here we go!

I wanted to ask you, you only spend $70 a week on food. Is it just on fill in what you are missing?

The short answer to this question is, yes. I do try to only fill in what I am missing.

This is one of the goals you should have when trying to save money on groceries. If you're having to buy every ingredient for every meal, it will get expensive.

This is why I put aside at least $10.00 every two weeks out of my budget money. It is to stock up on the great deals. I am starting to get a nice stockpile going so over the last few weeks the money I have spent has gotten even lower. I have been spending right at about $60.00 a week for the last month or so. This has given me even more money to stock up on the loss leaders.

I do still have things that I will have to buy no matter what. Like fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, and meat. Those things will never change.

I have 9 to feed... but we haven't quite got it to $300. How do you convince the kids they don't need milk ? :) I buy whole milk, pour out about 1/3 and fill it up with cold water... no one complains and when it goes down, I add the other 1/3 plus more water! Any other tips?

You wouldn't believe how many people think it's impossible to keep a grocery budget low because they buy so much milk. It is very possible! We go through quite a few gallons every week. What I do is budget for 1 gallon a week out of my money. I then will work a few more gallons into my CVS deals or into a grocery deal that i'm paying nothing for. It works out.

About adding water to the milk to drink. We don't do that, but sometimes I will add a little water to a recipe when it calls for milk. I buy only whole milk, so adding a bit of water doesn't hurt anything when cooking. It's a great money saving tip!

I was just wondering when you say you feed your family of 8 for 300 a month, is that just for food or does that include other things such as paper products, feminine care, cleaning detergents, etc? If it doesn't include those how much do you budget for those other things?

This is the biggest question I get asked by people. The $300 does include everything! If you've read my whole series then you know that I use CVS and Walgreen's to buy all paper products, feminine care, cleaning products, diapers, and more. I will say that my budget before learning to shop at CVS and Walgreen's was about $100.00 a month.

The past several weeks (about a month) we have been spending around $70 a week. It's my husband and I and 3 kids-ages 6,almost 4, and almost 1. I feel like I have to be doing something wrong considering what you spend on your size family. I have been menu planning and I feel like that has already made a difference. I use organic soaps, shampoos etc. I know that cost's more, but I wondered if you have any advice. If I can find a coupon online I will use it, but I don't get a paper. I do a lot of scratch cooking. I don't buy many box foods at all. I don't buy snacks very often either. We do homemade crackers or cereal, or some chocolate chips etc. I'm just wondering if you could give me any helpful advice to get my bill down even more! I don't do the cvs thing b/c I don't use many of those products.

I wanted to put this question in here because I wanted to show how no two families budgets will be alike. If you feel it important to buy all organic, then do so unless of course you just don't have the money. I will buy organic when I can, and we garden as much as possible, but I am not all organic. If I was, then I would need to increase my budget.

For this lady, I would say, get the paper! You never know what coupons you may find. I also say to shop at CVS and get things even if you don't use them so you can get the items you do use free. You can always bless someone else by giving them the items you don't use. Look online, there are printable organic coupons. Plant a garden, raise chickens for eggs and meat, ask your local freecyclers for produce, make your own soaps and cleaners. Even with an all organic diet, you can still save money, you just have to get creative.

Please don't look at my budget and think that you're doing something wrong because you're spending more than I am. There are alot of variables at play when planning a grocery budget. The goal is to save what you can, to make changes in areas where you can save, and to think outside of the box. All of us can lower our budgets by some if we have to, but it may not be the same as what other's are spending.

I think that I will wait and post all of the CVS and Walgreen's questions in another Q&A session. I love questions, so if you have any please leave a comment, or you can email to me at alifeathome@gmail.com