Hi, I'm new around here and this thread caught my eye. Forgive me but I didn't read all of the posts. I thought I would throw out what we do and maybe you can derive some ideas from that
When we first began paying attention to our groceries it was in an effort to eat healthier. So we started buying as much organic food as we could find at our local grocer. Our grocery bill doubled. Then we started learning about processed foods, HFCS, nitrates, nitrites, food dye, etc. and began to filter those things out of our home. We were still spending a LOT on organic milk, organic meat, and organic veggies. Eventually my sweetie lost his job and we could no longer afford all of the organics. Then we discovered a wonderful little thing called a farmer's market. We live in PA so they're all over the place here. We found out that all of the meat and produce sold there is all natural - no chemicals, no hormones or steroids and so on. Then best thing was that the food we bought at the farmer's market was priced about the same as the non-organic food at the grocery store. Then we found a store called Aldi for nearly everything else. We are paid every two weeks so we do our shopping every two weeks. Before we head out to do the shopping we sit down and make a list of about 12 dinners. This serves two purposes: first, we know exactly what we are going to buy at the st.ore and second, we don't find ourselves at 4:00 staring into the fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner. The reason we only pick out 12 dinners is because there are some nights that we feel lazy so we'll have leftovers or make something super easy like pancakes. LOL. We also limit our meat consumption to three times a week. Also, we combine some meals. For instance, I'll make chili one night, the next night I'll make meatloaf and the third night I'll boil some noodles and grate some cheese for home-made chili mac. I also like to cook a whole roaster chicken and then we can use the leftover meat in wraps or enchiladas.
We also have a problem with fruit and milk so we have to pick it up throughout the week. Some of the ways we've tried to limit these expenses are to consume less milk. I'm not sure if it's a topic of debate on this board or not (if so, I'm sorry) but I don't feel that cow's milk is very healthy for people anyway so we limit it and the kids only drink it in their cereal and I use it for cooking sometimes. As far as the fruit goes, we buy a lot of dried fruit to eat when we run out of fresh fruit: raisins, apricots, apples, etc.
Our family consists of two adults and four kids (soon to be five) and I budget about $250 for groceries every two weeks. This includes the intermittent trips to buy a couple gallons of milk and/or fruit.
I hope this helps some! We're still working on ways to improve the way we eat and the way we spend money so I know how you feel. Good luck
, greenrootsmama! You sound like you have a lot to offer! And congratulations on soon-to-be 7th family member 
