How We Accomplish a $50 Grocery Budget

I have actually read of people who budget less than us and I think that is amazing and I applaud anyone who can do it for less than this. In our family of four, fifty dollars a week seems to work for us and I was asked to share ways that we save on the extras in our grocery budget.

- We do not buy a lot of paper products, the only exception being toilet paper, which I haven’t figured out a way around yet. We use cloth washcloths for faces & dirty hands, another set of cloth washcloths (in a different color) as baby wipes, cloth diapers, cloth napkins, and microfiber cloths (purchased inexpensively at your local wholesale club in the automotive section) for cleaning the house.

- I just buy toilet paper in bulk and usually purchase this when our local Meijer runs a good sale on their store brand of toilet paper. Our toilet paper is our Kleenex. I know…we live a glamorous life!

- Our dishwashing soap and detergent are purchased at Aldi and I have been really happy with the performance of both of these products. I actually prefer the Aldi brand dishwashing detergent over other store brands and I have tried many including Wal-Mart & Target. This seems to perform the best in our dishwasher and we have hard water. To make sure that it performs even better though, I fill our little dispenser on the door with white vinegar and this helps cut down on spotting on our glasses. Periodically cleaning my dishwasher with a citrus drink mix (Tang or any other citrus type drink) also helps our dishwasher performing well and keeps it looking nice & clean.

- I make the majority of our household cleaners utilizing white vinegar and baking soda. If I do purchase any cleaners, I love The Works cleaners that I purchase at our local dollar store. This brand works well, again on those tough hard water stains, and the price is great!

- For hand soaps, I buy the dollar store brand. I received some of those pretty foamy soaps from Bath & Body Works as a Christmas gift and I just refill these foamy dispensers. I fill the soap dispenser about ¼ of a way up and then the rest gets filled with water. Give it a shake and you have foaming hand soap. One dollar can fill four hand soap containers for us and this lasts a long time. The foaming hand soap containers also work really well for baby soaps as it extends your bottles a lot longer.

- We don’t buy expensive shampoos or conditioners. I try to watch for good sales at our drugstore or I purchase Suave hair products which give us the most shampoo for our money. Leave on conditioners are made out of filling spray bottles with a ¼ the way full of conditioner and adding water. Give it a shake each time you use it and you will have leave on conditioner without the price tag.

Here are some other entries for saving on your grocery budget:

Cleaning the House:

Disposing of the Disposable Items
Frugal Solutions for the Swiffer
Microfiber Obsessions
Frugal Carpet Steaming
Solution for Cheap Trash Bags

Toiletries:

Homemade Skincare Products
Foamy Soap
Making Your Own Cleaners
Cloth Diapering 101
Frugal Momma Bath Tips

Saving on Groceries:

Wholesale Club Shopping
Grocery Shopping
Sam’s Club Click N Pull
Quest to Find Cheap Baby Food
Saving on Groceries

Please feel free to share ways you save on your groceries! What is your grocery budget? How do you accomplish it?

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