How can I feed a family of 5 on $300 budget?

[Guest]

I feed a family of 5 on about that, sometimes less. Now that the

kids are growing, it’s getting harder to do. We have a pre-teen, and

two elementry school kids here, so it’s getting tough!

Anyway, here’s what we do:

Eat less carbs, and more proteins- they keep you full longer, so you

ae less likely to want to eat again an hour later, or to eat more at

each meal.

Shop loss leaders- the cheap sale items that fill the ad’s each

week. Plan your meals around what you can get cheapest. Only buy

meats that are on sale, and buy enough for several meals. Stick some

in the freezer, and use some up quickly. Do this each week to have a

nice variety of meats on hand.

Make filling meals with cheap items- casseroles are great for this.

Add a meat, a cheese, a carb, and a veggie or two, and you have a

tasty casserole that feeds the family with some left overs.

Clip and use coupons. If you eat spaghetti once a week, and a jar of

sauce costs $2 normally, let’s say it goes on sale for $1.50, and

you have a coupon for $.50 off. Suddenly, you saved 50% so you can

afford to get 2 jars at the same cost. Even better if your store

doubles coupons- you can get 4 jars for the same cost.

Stock up on items that you eat more often when it’s cheaper, to

avoid paying more the next week. If you know you eat canned veggies

3 times a week, and this week they are on sale 4/$1 instead of 3/$1,

spend $.50 more to cover an extra week of veggies.

Another thing- if it’s fresh, it’s better for you! Start shopping

farmers markets, and getting fresh items at the store. It’s

healthier, and can often be pretty cheap!

Make fillers & side dishes up that are inexpensive when you lack the

extra money for expensive meats and what not for main dishes.

Buy generic, but don’t assume generic will always be cheaper. Items

on sale are often the same price or cheaper than generic. Add a

coupon, and it’s a lot cheaper than generic.

don’t be a slave to a brand name. try the generics if it is cheaper.

more often than not, generic tastes exactly the same (or sometimes

even better!) than the brand names.

lastly- plant a garden. even if it’s a few tomato plants, and a few

stalks of corn. the seeds are much cheaper than the end product, so

you’ll have a lot of “free” food once it starts to grow in.

— in Budget101_@yahoogroups.com, “mkroom4trble”

wrote:

>

> Can anyone suggest on how I can manage this? I have 300 to spend

on

> grocery every month but I can’t seem to make it last. Thanks.

[Author]

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