Your list doesn’t strike me as particularly outrageous, minus the organic milk part. But you know what? I’m somewhat of the opinion that if it tastes better and you KNOW it tastes better, my budget can take the additional 10 bucks a month. So maybe I’m not the best person to ask.

And maybe I’m just not part of the Costco/Sam’s Club/Target bandwagon to buy random things, but I have ALWAYS found that when I go into places like that, there are SO many options I always end up spending more money than if I JUST go to QFC or Safeway. So…I guess I’m just not convinced that people save money at stores like that. Honestly, if I go into Target more than once a month, I can kiss 200 bucks goodbye. Actually going there on a weekly basis? Oh, goodness.

And as for saving money at Wal-Mart, I guess I have a limit to how far I’ll go to save money and Wal-Mart is most definitely my limit.

I live in Hawaii. Food that is brought from elsewhere to here is ridiculously expensive. I have no problem picking up the avocados that land on the side of the road. Or ask my neighbor if I can pick their oranges or limes or whatever they may have lots of. No problem whatsoever.
Just to give you an example one half gallon of Organic Milk is about 9 bucks.

Oh snap! I forgot to mention you could turn FREEGAN. You dumpster dive in grocery store bins after they close because they throw out perfectly good stuff. JB has dive gear. Send his ass out to do the dirty work!

Grocery prices here are rising, too: the whole petrol price / food inflation crossover and filter effect.

Man, those PD comment sections are insane. In your follow up post to the spanking one, where you quite reasonably say how you feel in certain situations has been ridiculously reacted to. The person whom claims to be rational when spanking whom sees said follow up post as an actual attack on her? Oh my God, the insanity. If she can’t see that as you reasonably trying to voice your perspective it’s reeeeaaaaaally hard to imagine her being as rational as she claims to be when it comes to reacting to a child’s behaviour and then issuing a smack.

Anyway, I think most people will understand where you’re coming from so I hope the the fuckwits aren’t getting you down :).

heh, someone mentioned Costco. The one and only time I went there was with a friend while they shopped. I emerged with a whopping crate of Power Bars thinking “great idea!” Never again! :)

P.S. Parent Dish is madness. I don’t know how you put up it. I think I’d rather be kicked in the stomach by Riley during a clothing change than have to read some of those commenters.

Btw, I left a comment up there to the effect that people who start flame wars in commen threads defending spanking can’t convincingly claim to have self control. I mean, wow. If you’re that pissed at a total stranger’s harmless blog entry you can’t really be trusted to lovingly hit your kid…not that there is such a thing as lovingly hitting children.

Just so you know, our shopping lists are about the same. Mine costs around 35€ a week. Viva la France, The Country Where They Consider Eating a God-Given Right.

$4.77 for peanut butter. That’s ridiculous. Mine is 1.75€ and it’s imported from the US.

A giant baguette backed 20 minutes ago costs .85. And the sea salted organic butter to melt on it: 1.50€

Something I learned during the course of my job, though it certainly isn’t true of *all* store generics, is that a lot of times the grocery stores will have contracts with the name-brand producer for the name-brand producer (think Kraft, Pet, Nabisco, etc.) to run batches of products and put the store-brand name on it, and it really *is* the same thing as the name-brand. Sometimes, somewhere on the package, is the name-brand producer’s logo. It would probably take a bit of research to figure out which products are truly the *same* as the more-expensive, name-brand versions, but….

I am a total coupon and sale nut. I’m the lady you dread in front of you in the checkout line with a fistful of coupons explaining to the cashier why this one doubles and then ending up at customer service because the new cashier messed it up and the store now owes me 2$ back. Yep- that’s me!

Tips: have you signed up for the formula coupon checks from the website? Sign up everyone you know. Those things are like gold! (they sell for more than 1/2 the face value on ebay so just sign up everyone you can and collect them from them).
The diapers and wipes and other name brand stuff – when ya got a few moments, check ebay for coupons. Buy them if you can use them. I know it sounds odd- *buying* coupons?! But if paying 7 cents per coupon will save you 2$ per pack of diapers and you are going through a pack or two a week, its worth the effort. be careful of sellers who overcharge on shipping.

I wish I had a delivery service for groceries. We live too far in the boonies. I’ve used amazon when they have a nice sale (like when I bought 40$ of popcorn for 25$ or somthing- hey, we eat alot of popcorn!).

Warehouse clubs are fine but you will end up spending more at one time. I bank on 150$ each trip minimum (which I do about once a month) but they do have some awesome stuff that I cannot find elsewhere (Sam’s club- blackened salmon fillets individually shrink wrapped and the shrimp wonton soup frozen in individual servings and the giant box of corndogs that my 10 year old lives on!!).

Generics: start small. Buy a small container(of diapers or wipes etc) because you may or may not like it. I like the generic CVS diapers but not the generic wal-mart diapers. Wipes- sorry, nothing compares to Huggies Supremes. I stick to it faithfully.

Oops- sorry, didn’t mean to go off. One of my fave subjects to talk about.

I’ve just been going over the monthly budget and the amount we’re spending on groceries each month is actually almost as much as, if not more (on some months) as we pay in rent.

I’m dedicating an entire entry to it, because it just boggles my mind!

My grocery list looks like this, but longer and worse and about $100.00 more I assume. This year I decided to only buy organic, and to try and have my cart be a ratio of 3/4 vegetables 1/4 hydrogenated, bleached, enriched, corn syrup, (you know the GOOD food). However this made my grocery bill almost triple. I then tried to make a weekly menu and buy everything for every meal in one trip, breakfast, lunch and dinner, that also doubled my grocery bill. I spend close to $500.00 a month at the least for two adults and two small kids, and one of those only eats boobie milk so he totally doesn’t count as having groceries bought for him, and one is potty trained so I’m only buying one box of diapers and I get those at Sams Club. Yet some how I still spend all of my money at the damn store.

But, I sure do eat good every meal!

only 2 things i cringed at were the baby wipes & the refried beans ($2–dude, they are beans!). the rest looked like regular prices. my rules of thumb are that (except essential items like milk) i don’t buy anything that isn’t on sale or that i don’t have a coupon for and i try to stick to the list, but this is me shopping at a regular grocery. we don’t have a delivery service here.

I’m also a diaper brand whore. Oh yeah small note. I was totally married to Pampers Swaddlers. But then Huggies sent me a free sample of their new super soft baby diapers, and the inside felt like A QUILT. I noticed the pampers swaddlers were sticking to my little guys tush when he pooped. You may want to try out the new huggies baby diaper, Oh they are called Huggies Gentle Care and they totally kick my previously loved Pampers ass!
http://www.huggieshappybaby.com/products/index.aspx?diapers

I register on Huggies and Pampers every time I’m pregnant then they send me samples of each of their current “NEW” diaper so I can make sure before I buy and stuff.

Just saying. They are super softer on their little man parts.

dude groceries just suck…..I just recently signed up for the grocerygame…saw it on babycheapskate…hoping that will help me!

I also hear you on sticking with certain brands…I too swear by Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes…although now knowing that Huggies makes the Costco brand I will be giving them a try.

Your list and prices seem par for the course to me. It really stinks how much groceries are costing. It’s scary when your mortgage payment and your monthly grocery bill are roughly the same number. Sigh.

Go for boxes of diapers and wipes.

I know Walmart is horrible but you can save time by taking your local grocery store sale ads there. If Walmart is not cheaper then what is on sale they will honor the price. This way you don’t have to run to four different stores to get the sales price.

I also go to the dollar store for cleaning items. You can get name brand cleaning suppies for a few dollars cheaper than Walmart or Target.

It’s hard to say because I know the PNW is much more expensive than my area… but I’d say you can find it cheaper if you’re willing to do some research locally.

I don’t use coupons because I don’t have time to clip and search online, and because they’re usually for things I wouldn’t normally buy anyway. But I do know the day the local stores publish their sales flyers in the paper (Tuesday) and take a quick scan through them to pick up their dirt-cheap deals. I buy skinless chicken breasts at $1.99/lb, beef roasts at $2.99/lb, butter at $1.50/lb, 5 lbs of sugar at $1.50 this way. We stock up when an item’s on sale, a month’s worth or so, so that we can make it until it’s on sale again. It’s the only way I know of to save on the basics.

We’ve also given up diet soda and taken to making iced tea for our beverages, which saves us loads and is healthier too. Oh, and I’ve got two or three soup recipes that are dirt-cheap to make and feed us for 2-3 nights each. All that helps keep our food costs down.

If you’re interested, read ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE by Kingsolver if you’d like to understand our “food crisis”. Her solution isn’t possible for me, but I am way motivated to make some changes after reading her book– esp. in avoiding corn-based sugars and frequenting our local farmer’s market (once it gets going again).

Hey I wouldn’t feel too bad about using disposable diapers over cloth. As far as total energy use goes, they’re about even. I mean, all the energy that goes into washing the cloth ones; heating up the water, running the washing machine, and if you’re using a service, the gas they use carting your diapers around…
Disposable diapers don’t mean you’re going to rot in global-warming hell.

We use cloth diapers and wipes for our babies. We have 2 in diapers too. Not only is it better for the environment, but it’s better for the boys and their boy parts. Did you know they suspect the heat and chemicals trapped in plastic diapers are one of the main the reasons for male infertility?

Oh, and I disagree with the idea that cloth vs. disposables use the same amount of energy. Water is used in the production of every paper diaper, not to mention the chemicals added. Plus the idea that your diapers GO somewhere to be dumped and never to bio-degrade is kind of disgusting. Did you know it is illegal not to dispose of baby waste down the toilet? Who do you know who does that, who uses paper diapers? If you don’t believe me, read the diaper package. Trying to assuage the guilt of using disposables by saying it’s the same as cloth is not going to change the fact that every diaper you throw away is still around, and will be hundreds of yrs from now. Yuck.

I don’t have time to read through all the comments, so this is all probably repeat info, but: I would absolutely get a Costco membership and get some of your stuff there. Not everything, but I would imagine diapers, garbage bags, toliet paper, etc. would be much cheaper. Also, not everything comes in large-sized jars! Stuff like marinara sauce, chicken broth, refried/black beans, and soup come in small “pallets” of 6-8 cans, which is very convenient. And don’t forget the cheap gas!

As for your veggies, forget Amazon! Anywhere is better than there. I know this is out of your way over there on the Eastside but the Ranch 99 Market (on Aurora in Edmonds) and/or Uwajimaya downtown is the cheapest place to get veggies, and they have a bigger selection (less than a dollar/pound for baby bok choy). Also good for cheap tofu & tofu products, Asian noodles, and even fresh seafood.

I am too lazy to read the 121 comments before me, so forgive me if I’ve repeated someone else!

As far as formula and diapers go – all I can say is COSTCO COSTCO COSTCO. (or Sam’s) Sam’s has the Pampers, we use Huggies and I pay about $38 for well over 100 ct pkg of size 5’s. And WIPES! I absolutely LOVE the Costco Kirkland brand wipes. It’s about $15 or so for at least 700 wipes and I see you are paying almost half that much for Huggies wipes for a lousy 180 wipes. I started out using Huggies wipes, but once I discovered Kirkland I won’t go back. Plus I buy a big box and it lasts for quite some time. And I use them for EVERYTHING – post-meal cleanups, shopping cart wipe downs, restaurants, and of course – diapers.

Also – as convenient as Amazon sounds (and since I live in Michigan I can’t say much more about it because that service doesn’t exist for us) I would imagine you pay a little more for that convenience. Sure, going to multiple stores sucks but if it means saving some money, I’m all for it. I have found lately that the Wal-Mart Supercenters (with a full grocery store) have REALLY good prices. I paid $3.27 for YoBaby yogurt that was over $4 at my Kroger grocery store. I have read that, on average, Wal-Mart’s grocery prices are about 20% cheaper. Food for thought!

Costco (kirkland brand) wipes and diapers. I swear to you they rock. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Pampers and tried several generics with blow out results before trying the Kirkland brand. They are fantastic. They are also 10 cents less per diaper than Pampers (at least at the size 4 price) so that translates into up to $30 a month.

And you CAN walk into Costco and walk out with just diapers and wipes. It is possible.

Also, your formula is about $1.38 an oz from Amazon and about $0.90 an oz from costco!

You probably won’t get down this far, but…

Your pricing isn’t really that far off from my local grocery stores. If the time savings and brain savings (not having to wrangle two kids at the grocery store more than is necessary) and gasoline savings are worth the maybe $10 you’d save on those identical items – keep shopping at Amazon. Seriously.

Target is the best price in my town for paper goods (toilet paper – the same pack at our local albertson’s is $3.89 MORE, paper towels, kleenex, etc.), garbage bags, ziplocs, shampoo, conditioner, cat litter, vitamins, laundry soap.

While we do have a Sam’s Club here, I can get the exact brand and flavor of everything I need at Target for the same price or cheaper. We buy food stuffs at Sam’s on occasion, and definitely use it when we’re gearing up for a BBQ. The non food items really are cheaper at our Target.

Holy crap, missy. I know it is the devil, but Walmart is soooooo much cheaper. Everything about that place is evil, I know, but the prices… so much cheaper

I feel your pain too … I’ve actually moved to using more canned fruits rather than fresh and I only but what is fresh when its in season — when the prices are lower. For the diapers I would recommend bulk – Costco, BJs, Sams Club, etc … or at least Target when the brand you prefer is on sale. I find that I can compromise on brand preference when I can buy 200 diapers for $35 … versus 40 for $15. I’ve had to train myself to really think, “where in the sam hell am I going to store this 15 gallon bucket of pickles?”

I was just over on the western side of Washington (I live closer to Spokane) and I have to say that some of the grocery prices there are *absolutely ridiculous*.

I paid $6.99/lb for the same chicken breasts I can get over here at Costco for $2.99/lb. If I buy them in a regular grocery store here, like Safeway, they’re $4.99/lb MAX. Also, yogurt was way more expensive. I get a certain brand of yogurt here for $.89/cup, and over there it was $1.09/cup. It was like that with everything I bought!

So, while I definitely agree that prices are going up everywhere, you people on the western side of Washington are taking it up the behind.

Have you ever seen the infomercial for the “Ped Egg”?(http://www.pedegg.com/index-alt2.html?directLoad&uid=354F15DD1158DCC5AEBF825D6B616EA3)
This product will totally solve your dry, icky heels! I was a bit leery of trying it out but did so after hearing rave reviews from a friend. Even after one use my heels looked & felt incredible. It works WAY better than a pumice stone. Get yourself to a Bed, Bath & Beyond or Target to buy one & I promise you won’t be disappointed!
*disclaimer- I am not an employee of the Ped Egg company, just a major fan of their product :-)

Such and interesting topic, I came back today to read more…

Seconding Lesley on the Glytone Heel and Elbow Cream. Magic. I buy it for myself (at the dermatologist) and for my aunt and mother and mail it to them.

Would it be redundant if I suggested Costco?

The secret to Costco is to really know the prices of the items you buy most frequently, and do the math. Oh, and don’t go in there hungry.

Go without JB and the kids. Have a list and stay out of the middle (books/clothes/candy). Bring a bottle of water and your patience. And try not to go on a weekend, unless you can hit it the moment they open. Tues-Wed-Thur nights tend to be really dead times.

Once you start going regularly, you sort of get over whatever it is that makes you think a 30 gallon bucket of mayo is a good idea and you don’t end up with a bunch of crap you’ll never eat.

I make a “major” Costco trip every 5-6 weeks or so, for paper products, cat food/litter, nonperishables, frozen foods, cleaning/laundry supplies etc. I will go about 2 additional times per month, run to the back corner of the store and pick up produce and fresh hummus and fresh pesto (I think my kid bathes in both). They do have a fair amount of organic (at least in Portland), but I’m not wed to organic, and our family of 2 eats a TON of fresh produce, so buying 4 pounds each of pears, strawberries and kiwi is doable and without waste.

When the weekly food ads for the “regular” stores come out, I peruse them to see if there is a killer sale on anything I need immediately or that I have room for and can/will store in my pantry or freezer. I refuse to go to more than one store, tho’, unless there are some hella good deals at multiple stores. I really use the regular store to “fill in” what I need between Costco trips, or to get the things that are really not practical for me to buy in bulk.

For shampoos, toothpaste, etc., where I am brand-loyal, if I see them on sale, I totally load up on as many as they will let me buy. Last night I bought enough shampoo, deoderant and toothpaste at Rite-Aid to (seriously) last until the end of the year. It was all buy one get one free.

No one has mentioned WinCo, I don’t think. They are pretty cheap on almost everything, but those stores overwhelm me, I don’t know where anything is, and the other customers in the two WinCo stores closest to me skeeve me out. I go there a couple of times a year, pay next to nothing for a ton of groceries, then do not have the intestinal fortitude to go back for another 6 months.

One last thing–I really try to minimize the number of times and/or number of stores I enter during the course of a week or month. That’s why I don’t run to 15 different stores to grab the best bargains at each. I have a certain lack of self control, and can NEVER stick 100% to my list. I’m better off paying a couple of extra dollars in 1-2 stores than I am going to Target for a good deal on TP and coming out with the TP, some new dish towels, a pair of shoes and the lastest seasonal tchatchke.

You should check out the grocery game http://www.thegrocerygame.com. I have cut my grocery bill from about 900 per month to about $500 per month. You subscribe to a “list” which tells you what coupons to match with sales at a particular store that week to get the best price. The idea is to stock up as much as you can while it is on sale so you don’t need to pay full price.

It’s just my husband and I and we spend about $300-$350 a month on groceries. Sometimes even $400. We do the majority of our shopping at our local Walmart Supercenter, because it’s hard to find prices lower than theirs. Every now and then, Publix and Winn Dixie have great sales and Winn Dixie always has awesome specials on meats and poultry if you have the Winn Dixie card, but good gracious- food is getting epensive!

Between groceries and gas prices, I’m pretty sure that we are going to be in the poor house soon. This whole recession/EVERYTHING GOES UP WITH THE PRICE OF GAS thing sucks. Each week I try to spend less on groceries and, even with a not very full cart, I somehow spend more. It sucks!!

Amen sista! I hear you. I’m so, SO frustrated with our grocery bills rivalling our car payments, I could scream. I’ve followed a ‘plan’ with my grocery shopping for several years, that until recently worked great. When I get Safeway’s circular every Tuesday, I sit down with it and my cookbooks/recipes and plan a menu according to what’s on sale each week. Then I make up my shopping list and check my pantry and fridge to make sure I’m not buying something we already have. Worked great! This past week, I bought the regular stuff like milk, eggs and cheese, and then the ingredients for 2 recipes. Two recipes that did NOT consist of 14 karat gold OR crushed diamonds. And yet…..the bill was astoundingly high. I got light headed before swiping my debit card.
Late last week I got a flyer from Dinner’s Ready, which we’ve used before. It’s a meal prep service that has all the ingredients for the meals you choose wrapped up in ziplock bags, ready to go into the freezer. The meals are delicious!! We used it a couple of years ago after our son had major surgery, and recently got a gift certificate for our friends whose kiddo was at Seattle Children’s hospital for 15 days. It’s great to not have to fuss around with chopping etc., just throw it in the pan/baking dish and follow the printed instructions. ANYWAY. The flyer I got was an advertisement for their May menu, and there was a note that explained that their prices weren’t increasing. The company has a contract with their food supplier which guarantees their prices staying where they have been, even now that groceries have gone sky high. I ordered 6 meals, and will pick them up on Friday. Each of those 6 meals at 4 servings each, will last my husband and I through two meals. So for our family, it’s 12 meals for $145. I just might ditch my menu planning altogether if we can stretch these meals as far as I think we can. I’m fairly certain there’s a branch of this place near you? Anyway, that’s my plan of action for battling the crazy grocery increase.
And this concludes The Longest Comment Evah.

i may shop in the belly of the beast, but wal-mart supercenter is the bomb! i aways use couopons and also the price-matching feature.

my neighbor and i are both having gardens this year and have agreed to share food, so we will have more variety.

i also go to the roadside farmer’s markets and get great deals on home-grown veggies. i am not going organic, just going more natural and eating healthier, not so many processed foods. organic is too expensive here!

aso, you can make a cheap and nice scrub for your heels by mixing salt and olive oil. leaves your feet nice and soft. i have heard of using sugar instead of salt , but i don’t want to deal with ants!

My family of 5 (DH, 16 yo, 2 yo, 10 mo and I) have a monthly food bill of about $1200 (YEAH – TWELVE HUNDRED). I cook most of our food and I do shop at Sam’s club (paper products, some meat, diapers, wipes). My husband brings his lunch 6x week from the house, and I bring mine 3-4x week. I plan my meals to make at least 6 servings (4 dinners + 2 lunches). I shop the farmer’s market (not cheaper, but better products) when it’s open (4 mo a year). I generally don’t buy store brands and very little junk food makes it into the house. While I don’t think we’re extravagant, some changes could be made and probably, will have to be. But then, I’m in Alaska. Whole milk from the dairy 100 miles away is $5 a gallon. Gas is $3.89/gal. Just some perspective. So Sundry, I don’t think your bill is really out of line.

I know that it has already been said here but Target has surprisingly great prices on food. Do any local grocery stores have delivery in your area? You get all the benefit of shopping the weekly sales without the hassle of driving there. There is usually a charge for delivery but it is usually small. Best of luck! :)

It is a quite interesting post but quite difficult to understand for me –

Do you know about diapers.com? They sell the huge boxes of formula, diapers and wipes along with baby food and other stuff. If your order is more than $50, you get free shipping! Awesome site! I order from them once a month (I have twins) and I get my order within a week. You should check it out!