What do you include in your "grocery" budget?

[spanky66]

I include only what we eat. Other things such as cleaners, shampoo and cat food PNs(personal needs) I guess I do a little different then most. Since I make only about 900 a month I typically spend only a couple 100$ on food...I guess this is why I got into the coupons...I find it stretches that 200$ and often times doubles it as far as the value of items. Not what I actually spend..I had to put a lot of the extra money that we have left towards a stockpile( which is growing) I watch the sales like a hawk and use coupons. Unless it can not be helped I don't buy anything unless I have a coupon and it's on sale..Otherwise if I have really good coupons that will double and will expire soon then I buy even if the item isn't on sale. I still save quite a bit. The stockpile helps a lot because some weeks I don't get 40 hrs which means lower checks. When I don't have a full check I don't have a lot left after paying the monthly bills. The stockpile is a savior

[TheatreMama]

We have a family of three, myself, diabetic husband, and one year old son. Our grocery budget includes eating out, groceries, HBA, and paper/cleaning products. We budget about $310 a month and normally do not go over that budget. We eat a lot of veggies because husband is diabetic and can have an unlimited supply of non starchy veggies. We use coupons and cooking at home to save on that bottom line. We are also going to try growing some of our own veggies in a small garden this year. We pull our grocery money out of the bank account in cash each month and it goes into an envelope. If it runs out, we have to figure out how to eat out of the pantry until the next paycheck. If there is extra, I go to my favorite grocery store and buy myself a gift card. That way I have it if I run low another month! It is also great to give my husband the gift card to keep in his wallet so that he can use it if he has to grab something on the way home from work. Helps remove the temptation of spending the money elsewhere! Hope this helps!!

[neelia]

I include all consumables: food and HBA. I have a human family of 2, just my husband and I. But I include pet food too. I have 4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 rats. I actually just include part of the dog & cat food because I feed them raw about half the time which is bought at the grocery store.

We're working on a budget. I got off the couponing/budgeting wagon for a while while we lived at parents houses. Now we're (finally) in our own home and budgeting is crucial. I'm trying to keep a budget of $200/month on groceries for us, meat for the pets and heath & beauty items. Last week we spent $60, so I need to trim it down a bit this week.

[chocat]

It's just my husband and I and 3 rats. i have a 300 food budget and a 80 household budget... and an 80 a month redbull budget.

if i can buy it with food stamps ( :( ) then it's part of the grocery budget, if i have to use cash it's household money. i take $20 a week in cash, get a roll of quarters for laundry and then have $10 left over to buy soap,paper products,etc.

the red bull budget came about because i used to work nights (DH still does) and red bull is consumed like crazy. FS will pay for it but as our buying of red bull grew, our food on hand shrank, so it gets it's own money now instead of just lumping it in when i go grocery shopping.