[jackalexis]

Just curious. We are a family of four and I was recently laid off so my new job is saving money. We like to buy a lot of organic products and I am trying to cut out prepared foods. I am looking to budget $200 a week which needs to include diapers. Think this is fair? We live in central NJ. TIA.

[mindycat76]

Really good topic here.
My goal is $60 a week, but my savings spreadsheet says I'm averaging $99 a week. I am a family of three (me, DH, 4 yo DD). We also have 2 cats that eat their fair share. Anyway, I have gotten our average down to around $60 before. I would say $200 would definitely be doable for your situation.

[jessl]

I have a family of five. All together I budget 130 per week. That includes everything grocery related, not just food, and also includes newspapers, postage for trains, any additional inserts or coupon auctions I buy.

I don't buy a lot of organic but I do have one more person, so I think your budget is definately doable.

[cina409]

I have a family of 4 and I budget for $110, that is with my newspaper and the coupons I buy online. If I am under my $110 for the week I put it in a jar so when I see a great deal to stockpile I use my jar money.

[railroadmom]

I also have a family of four and my grocery expense is usually around $200/month - some months it's slightly over and some months it goes under. All depends on what kind of deals I get.

I found out that you need to shop around too. My husband went on a veggie kick a few years ago and the first time we decided to stock up at the grocery store, I couldn't believe how expensive it was. Then someone told me to try Aldi's - I couldn't believe the difference in price. Now I get most of his Veggies from there.

[hcsig]

We are a family of 3 (all big eaters) and it is usually around $200 a month for us. That includes a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, all of our newspapers/coupons, soda for DH, diapers, etc.

I think your budget is very doable, you just have to watch how you are spending everything and stockpile what you can. One of the big ways I save money is by buying what I can get on sale with coupons for diapers (it helps so much), when dd was first born I only did name brand expensive diapers (never again!)

[scrollic]

We are a family of 5. I average $70-$90 per week which includes everything.

[kristieboyd]

I spend about $200-250 a MONTH for my family of 5...includes all food, sodas, household items, toliettries, diapers & wipes.

The trick is to buy things in mass when there's a great sale & coupon combination.....not when you *need* it. Things are never on sale when you need them.

[Kamily828]

We are a family of 4 plus 3 dogs and 2 cats. Our weekly grocery bill is around $200 and that includes everything.

[nattsgirl]

Wel I am feeding myself and my boyfriend sometimes, so of course its a lot lower- Not to mention, Im not sure what it is weekly because when Im buying in bulk it usually last half the month or the month, but it comes to around $80 each time.

[jasmicita]

We are a family of 4 and average $300 a month. This includes cleaning products, health and beauty and baby items.

[JLCyr12]

I aim for $75 a week....some weeks I dont spend it all, some weeks I send a little more to stockpile a really great deal. But we're moving this summer so I should stop stockpiling for a bit I guess.....LOL

In my first trimester I quit EVERYTHING except for the quick necessity runs to Kroger...and we STILL stayed withing budget if I was careful....

[danielephant]

$40-$50 for the 3 of us

[cddwil]

jackalexis, your post says $200 per week and if i am reading right other posters are saying $200-300 a month..i am not to sure where i am going with this but i definitely think your budget is doable! i probably spend $300 a month and that's including produce, hba, cleaning, meat, etc.. do you shop at cvs and walgreens? if you do that would help cut your expenses down. hth, cddwil

[my3girlz]

We average $75 a week for the six of us, which includes HBA, toiletries & cleaning as well. In the summer it's sometimes a little more b/c I splurge on fresh fruits & veggies.

[aldrichmom]

We are a family of 7 with twins in diapers and we budget $75 a wk for everything. If we had $800 a month we would be eating like kings and queens!!!!

[bbqgal]

Just start couponing this month. Our average right now is $400-450. (Including paper and beer, 6 packs a week) We also buy a lot of fruits and fresh vegetable only. $350-400 eat out on top of that. We are only feeding 2 right now (with a dog) but the third is on its way. My goal is to reduce to $75 a week for food shopping and 250-300 a month eat out. (600 for both) Stocking up diapers and baby stuff now big time.

[bidzaway]

I spend about $75.00 too $100.00 weekly on average for a family of 3 (Me, and 2 daughters) - although once a month for one week I don't go shopping at all. I spend about $250 a month on groceries, drug store items, and 8 sunday papers (2 each week).

[AshtonsMommy]

For our family of 4 (me, hubby, DS 2 y/o and DS 8 m/o) we usually spend $100 per week. Like PP said, when something is free or practically free I buy so much that I am embaressed. Haha. But it is so nice to not have to worry about running out of shampoo/etc. Especially since we can't really afford HBA stuff at the moment.

What really helps is planning a weekly menu. I try to do at least 1 or 2 vegetarian meals (cheaper than meat) and I see that I can stretch my food further when I buy a whole chicken/turkey, because you can get like 2 or 3 meals out of that chicken!

I would love to get it down cheaper but we don't have a CVS that is close to us. I usually shop at Walmart.

Also I am going to be purchasing a chest freezer so if there are more free/cheap frozen veggies I will be able to stockpile those!!!

I actually think that $200 per WEEK is a lot for a family of 4 (but so is my budget of $100) As you become more familiar with couponing you will get better at your budget and can get it lower

[mamalle]

I budget $350 biweekly that includes everything: toiletries, dog and cat food, etc..
usually every other week I hit costco that is a bulk of my money. Now that Im starting to really buckle down and use more coupons I hope to decrease. so far this week I got it down to $72.00.. woohoo

[triciakay44]

I aim for $75 a week for a family of 5 (me, DH and 3 DD ages 2-5), 2 dogs and 4 fish. That includes diapers and everything home related-food, cleaning supplies, TP, PT, etc.. This is new to me as I've only been using coupons for about 2-3 months and I think *hope* I can get it even lower as I learn more! Now that I have about 2 years worth of soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc. I no longer have to use a big portion of my grocery budget for that stuff. I only wish I could get great deals with groceries the way I do with HBA items!

[jeewbee]

We are a family of 5 plus one large dog (kids are 9,7,5) and after stockpiling for a few months spending $500 a month, I am at the place where I can spend $50 a week or about $200 a month to feed everyone (includes all HB and cleaning stuff). I was feeling really bad for spending so much those first few months, but now I realize that you have to spend a little more at first to build up your stockpile and after it is built you can reduce your amount spent quite a bit. I think you could do just fine for your family on $200 a month just starting out, but I bet after a few months you could reduce it even further. HTH!

[mommalee93]

I have been seriously couponing since August, my budget then was $300-$400 a month for food only. Now I am spending $55 a week for food, H&B items, and cleaning stuff. We are a family of 4 with a cat. That is very do-able, we would eat like kings. We don't buy very much organic but we do eat lots of fruit and veggies!

[Alexdur85]

My boyfriend and I just moved into a new home.. we had NOTHING when it came to food. So we had to start from scratch. Just this month from HIS account (not mine or our combined accounts which I know we've spent out of) we've spent $254.94... OMG!!!

I need to start couponing more!! We're a family of 3, 2 adults one child.. but my baby (14 mos) eats more than I do!!

I honestly don't think you'll even spend $200 a week if you start to hardcore coupon.

[skbrush]

$50.00 +- depending on lunches and sales!!