Monday, February 8, 2010

What does the weekly shopping list for a family of 6 look like?

You probably could not care less about my weekly grocery shopping list.  But I thought it would be fun to 'document' it now so that when my 3 boys are teenagers I can look back and laugh at myself for moaning about how much my little guys ate.

I've mentioned before that I try to menu plan and shop for a whole month in one trip.  Those shopping trips are only staples and meat.  I have a very small kitchen, pantry and refrigerator/freezer so I can't do a lot of stocking up.

So here are some things I buy weekly:
  • 5 gallons of milk
  • 4-5 loaves of wheat bread
  • 24 apples
  • 2 bunches of bananas (approx. 12 total)
  • another 2-3 pounds of fruit (whatever's on sale)
  • 5 lbs. of baby carrots (this is actually every 2 weeks)
  • 1-2 lbs. of raw broccoli
  • 1.5 lb. of sliced American cheese
  • 1 box of raisins
  • 3-4 boxes of dry cereal (mini wheats, cheerios, 'sugar' cereal)
  • 1-2 dozen eggs
  • 1 box saltine crackers
That's just my weekly shopping list.  There's always something that I've run out of or am about to run out of that gets added to the list.

How much does it cost me? $75 to $100 every week (depending on how much other stuff is added to the list).

Let me be clear.  This does NOT include meat, chips, soda, snack bars or any kind of junk food.

One of my goals for this year is to spend less at the grocery store but seeing my list this way makes me realize I'm not buying junk - I'm just feeding SIX hungry people!

7 comments:

Rachel said...

Tell me about it! :) We are in the same boat.

Flamingo said...

5 gallons of milk???? good gravy! we only go through a gallon a week:) i was doing $75 a week for a family of 5 for everything, diapers, beauty, cleaning...i kicked butt let me tell ya:)

now, i'm about $100 to $125 per week. i'm insistent on lowering it again.

Stephanie said...

That makes me feel better. :) We don't go through nearly as much milk - I have only one real milk drinker among the girls, although my husband likes a bowl of cereal at night before bed. But we go through a lot of food too!

Annette W. said...

For our family of 4 we buy four gallons of milk! I try to buy meat when it is less than $2 a pound...can't always, but pork and chx brst you can. Roasts...I stock up!

We have been eating a lot of raisins too... 1 box every two weeks.

I love that you eat so much fruit!

Wherever HE Leads We'll Go said...

What a good way to see what you are spending money on. I would love to see our grocery bill go down, but that is easier said than done (especially when I don't usually do the shopping - not that I am complaining about that!).


We are not big mild drinkers in our house. We buy the smallest one we can find and usually end up throwing some out.

Amy said...

Remember when we spent $35 each week? And didn't go hungry?

Stephanie Kay said...

5 gallons does seem like a lot of milk but remember we're eating cold cereal most days for breakfast. I should have mentioned that 1 gallon is whole milk for Sam. He doesn't usually finish it in a week but he drinks most of it.

$35... those were the days. Now I spend that much each week on milk, bread and fruit.

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