How Do Families Do It?

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
I started eating oatmeal for breakfast and bean or rice based meals for lunch and dinner and cut my grocery bill by hundreds of percentage.
 

302cj

Old Mossy Horns
They do the same at Sam's, and Food Lion just started that here about a month ago. My wife uses it all the time now. It used to take her the better part of Saturday morning to do the weekly shopping, but now she can get it done in just over an hour. (Takes us 25 minutes one way to get there).

As far as food prices, I'm pretty sure the cost of food comprises the lowest percentage of our income than ever in recorded human history. Especially here in America. Mankind has never had so much extra money to throw away on wants. Looking at inflation-adjusted prices is an eye opener.

We eat a lot of stuff that doesn't come from the grocery store. Right now I can pull out of the freezer about 10 different species of animals that were sourced from our outdoor pursuits, and it should be more. We just planted about 10 different varieties of produce in the garden, and we've still got plenty of it canned on the shelf. I know a lot of folks enjoy seeing how much they can source on their own without the grocery store.
I didn't know Food lion was doing also.
 

UpATree

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I also recently started ordering all my groceries online. You really only get what you want no wondering around picking up needless items. It cost 5 bucks but I would spend more than that on junk. An added bonus is I do not have to stand in line and watch people buy steak with my money and beer with theirs.


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Wal-Mart advertises that they sell pickup items at the same price as in-store, and I've never paid a pickup charge at mine; is yours charging for pickup? I do sometimes pay the $7.95 for them to bring them to my house if I'm busy. Heck, it costs me most of that to drive to Wal-Mart and get them. Either way, it's Wal-Mart prices without the Wal-Mart experience.
 

double

Twelve Pointer
Wal-Mart advertises that they sell pickup items at the same price as in-store, and I've never paid a pickup charge at mine; is yours charging for pickup? I do sometimes pay the $7.95 for them to bring them to my house if I'm busy. Heck, it costs me most of that to drive to Wal-Mart and get them. Either way, it's Wal-Mart prices without the Wal-Mart experience.

My walmart does not offer grocery pickup. I have been using lowes foods


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NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I've noticed when you add "gluten free" into the mix it drastically increases TIME and COST spend shopping! :mad:

\Edited to add, I don't get the "free = more $" concept. Well, I do in the gluten free issue, gluten is quite common, so you have to take steps to "keep it out". But (don't mean to hijack), ethanol free gas is wildly more expensive than gas where ethanol has been ADDED. Why is it not cheaper, seeing as how fewer steps were taken?

Just curious.
 
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bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I've noticed when you add "gluten free" into the mix it drastically increases TIME and COST spend shopping! :mad:

\Edited to add, I don't get the "free = more $" concept. Well, I do in the gluten free issue, gluten is quite common, so you have to take steps to "keep it out". But (don't mean to hijack), ethanol free gas is wildly more expensive than gas where ethanol has been ADDED. Why is it not cheaper, seeing as how fewer steps were taken?

Just curious.

Aw man. Let's not get on the ethanol laced fuel crap. That is the biggest scam that has been pulled on the American public that I can think of.. (I know there are others such as govt healthcare, global warming, etc that qualify also) When all the numbers are crunched, any advantages (if any) are obliterated. Worst gasoline fuel mixture in the history of gas. Well, that's my opinion anyway.
 

TheCloudX

Ten Pointer
Contributor
My wife and I have had this conversation a lot lately. A lot.

As I've been looking for work and wanting to make the career change to higher education, one thing I know is that income will be a significant cut. Honestly, even if I stuck in IT it would be very difficult to make what I was making at my previous job. We have streamlined our expenses significantly over the past few months, and with the average salary for jobs I'm looking at, we'd be just above water (all bills and savings accounted for), assuming her job is having an off month (which has been more frequent lately). If we have kids, I don't even know how we'd make it - and statistically, we'd be considered middle to high middle class.

My hats off to yall who are able to make it, even more so to those that have a single income family.
 

PPosey

Twelve Pointer
Dont buy meat unless it's on sale, then buy alot and freeze for later, budget alot, save ahead so I do not have to borrow. Cheap phone plans and Dish plan. Jump through every hoop I can at work to make more $$$$, people bitch about not making good pay but are not willing to earn it, they complain about high payments and interest but take out loans. Most of my coworkers seem to live paycheck to paycheck but they go on multiple cruises a year and all have new cars. All have payments as well and if they miss a couple of checks the collector will come knocking.
 

double

Twelve Pointer
Dont buy meat unless it's on sale, then buy alot and freeze for later, budget alot, save ahead so I do not have to borrow. Cheap phone plans and Dish plan. Jump through every hoop I can at work to make more $$$$, people bitch about not making good pay but are not willing to earn it, they complain about high payments and interest but take out loans. Most of my coworkers seem to live paycheck to paycheck but they go on multiple cruises a year and all have new cars. All have payments as well and if they miss a couple of checks the collector will come knocking.

Most of this country is one broken leg away from bankruptcy. Most have little to no savings and no disability insurance. It is amazing the credit I pull and see folks maxed out completely and wanting another car payment.


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aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Most of this country is one broken leg away from bankruptcy. Most have little to no savings and no disability insurance. It is amazing the credit I pull and see folks maxed out completely and wanting another car payment.


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And this is with a good economy.

You'd think people would have learned something from the "Great Recession." The stat I've heard is most people can't come up with $400 for an emergency expense.
 

gremcat

Twelve Pointer
I have 5 children ( 4 of them boys), we easily spend 1000-1200 per month on groceries and it STILL seems like we never have anything to eat! We shop at Costco mostly, Aldis and a few others as well.

I resemble this comment, except only 2 options in reasonable distance
 

gremcat

Twelve Pointer
I also had two of our three vehicles breakdown after 8k in Maint, one needs another 8k and it got traded, the other is my diesel 7.3 and I’ll probably fix it at some point, bunch of gaskets/o rings, it’s 2wd so not good in NE PA mountains in winter, went to dealership and had a bit of sticker shock, we have 4 kids and my income is above average, my wife has the ability to stay home, we have a vacation rental under the house that all but covers the mortgage, I still lost sleep over the cost of a new vehicle, putting that kind of money into something that depreciates so fast is crazy, ended up with an ‘18 4Runner TRD so retention value should be good and not as many gizmos to break, we have the 00 Sienna that has 90k on it and Lord willing gives us another 100k, I see people all the time in brand new cars paying for 8 years that have been unable to pay basic bills, If I didn’t travel a lot and have to worry about Mama and the kids I’d have found an old clunker and carried on, If the economy slips it may be worse this time around, then again if they succeed in digitizing money negative inflation will be their correction path, I don’t like that at all
 

Southern

Ten Pointer
I tend tp get much better meat prices and meat quality at meat stores in smaller towns. Butcher shops, IGA, Piggly Wiggly etc in several towns I travel to have much better meat and generally better prices especially when they run their weekly sale. I have one on the coast, one in the mountains and several mid state that I hit when traveling. I always have a good cooler in the truck.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I couldn't handle having kids. My god the diapers alone that I see my SIL's go through! Nieghbor and I were just talking, their 3 daughters are now onto college plus. They went from having a FULL large city trash can every week, to one almost full single trash bag every week.

I don't mean this in a bad way at all. But I do feel that the ability to impregnate or be impregnated requires no license, thought, or planning. It simply requires an action. But the results of said action are more impacting than probably any other choice we make in life. All of us.

Imho, committing to a 30 year mortgage has less impact than committing to having youngins either now or at any other time in history.
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I couldn't handle having kids. My god the diapers alone that I see my SIL's go through! Nieghbor and I were just talking, their 3 daughters are now onto college plus. They went from having a FULL large city trash can every week, to one almost full single trash bag every week.

I don't mean this in a bad way at all. But I do feel that the ability to impregnate or be impregnated requires no license, thought, or planning. It simply requires an action. But the results of said action are more impacting than probably any other choice we make in life. All of us.

Imho, committing to a 30 year mortgage has less impact than committing to having youngins either now or at any other time in history.

Accurate observations.

When younger family members have asked me the secret, one of the first things I tell them is: have your fun but don't marry young, & don't marry the wrong girl (boy), and don't be making babies before you're ready. A bad marriage / unplanned baby is a recipe for financial disaster.
 

PPosey

Twelve Pointer
Accurate observations.

When younger family members have asked me the secret, one of the first things I tell them is: have your fun but don't marry young, & don't marry the wrong girl (boy), and don't be making babies before you're ready. A bad marriage / unplanned baby is a recipe for financial disaster.
Thats a fact, did not marry till I was 28 or have kids till 32. Still with the wife after 22 years, oldest starts college this fall, youngest is 2 years behind. Started saving for their education when they were born. Hurts less that way, Both should be able to get through their first 3 years on what we have saved and working some on the side themselves. Son should make it all 4 as he plans on doing the community college deal for the first 2 years to nail general ed and megatronics.
 

Firedog

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
How do families do it.. like anyone does anything else they problem solve and figure it out.. likely has always been the case. Food can be expensive, helps to have venison, tuna, turkey, etc in the freezer. If the ends don't meet, make more rope.
 
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