Food Budget

ancientsanskrit

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Times are tough and people are finding it harder and harder to make ends meat.

I'm just curious of the demographics of TCS in regards to budgeting your cats' food?


Me, personally. I'm on a tight budget being in school and loans up to my neck! I estimate I spend roughly $12 a month which provides 2 cans/week (Purina Friskies/Fancy Feast--My guy loves the Turkey and Giblets) and Purina One dry formula.
 

-_aj_-

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sounds crazy but ill get the cats food first then budget for my food

i spend roughly £40 a month on food for the two of them we have a brilliant pet supamarket all foods are just over cost price and then i think about £15-£20 litter/litter bags and freshener
 

whiteforest

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I also get my cats food first. I've been living on potatoes and canned soup, while the cats get beef and venison! I spend about $45-65 on cat food monthly, plus the cost of litter. The fiance and I spend about $150-200 on our toiletries and food, but it's the human food budget that gets cut when we don't have the money.
 

zoeysmom

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I don't even think about it, to be honest. I just buy a bag of food when their current one gets low and keep a stock of cans in the pantry. I'm not willing to sacrifice the quality of their dry food at this point, and their wet is probably as cheap as I can get anyway (~90 cents/can and they don't eat much of it, so it's not a budget breaker anyway).

I would sacrifice in other areas, such as their toys (I can make my own), water fountain (do they need filters?), and litter before I looked at changing their food to a lower quality dry.

I should probably keep track of how long a bag of food lasts...it's looking like it is lasting just under 2 months at this point...so I guess my dry budget is about ~30/month.
 

*pepper*

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I did have to downgrade in food just a tiny bit, because I have 3 kids and can't take away from them, they come first honestly. And to be perfectly honest. They still look the same (coat is still shiny, stool are normal and not smelly, etc). Wanted to add, I still won't feed cat chow or like as it is pretty poor quality and you end up feeding more anyway.
 

j fred muggs

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this my sound crazy, but i buy there food first. i am on disability. a fixed income, if you want to call it that. and yes, they come first,with food and cat litter. i spend 100 dollars easy. it's funny. one of ya'll posted that you didn't even think of it, just bought it when you needed it. i used to do that to..didn't think twice. then i .......shall we say saw the other side,
and then was brought back..thak you dr.s. but sence then..disability sucks...i went from 60 k to 15 k and its a pain in the rear...but the cats, come first, i will do with out, there not going to do without, its not there fault.
and..whats that point system all about, up by my name?
i looked in my profile, must have over looked it. didn't see anything about it
 

cococat

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I don't have to spend a lot on food as I only have one cat on purpose, but I would try really hard to never ever feed my cat grocery store anything, even if that meant I had to cut costs on my own personal food. I feed Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, canned and dry.
 

firedancer722

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I had to think about the food costs when I was considering adopting two cats from the shelter. They have a special where you can adopt one cat for $75 or adopt two for $80. I almost did it, but I knew I'd be pushing it just to buy premium food for one cat. I'm not saying people should get rid of multiple cats or anything, just saying that money was definately an issue when I was considering food / litter costs.

I'm still thinking of getting Willie a playmate though. He came from a home with a lot of other cats and I can't help but think he's a little lonely at times.
 

sharky

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lol... 8 months ago I had one small dog and one cat .... then there were two dogs ( one huge and one small) and two cats ... then two cats became four ... then big dog passed .. 5 small ones .. four cats the food bill is roughly 10 a month more for the same brand
 

littleraven7726

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We added a kitten and are back up to 3 cats total. My budget is still about what it was last year when we had Raven
with us. I budget for their food (about $60/month), but it's flexible by $10-20 above what I expect to spend. I just put Nabu on a different dry food, but it's just for him and I expect the food to last a while. When I buy dry food that is something I know they like, I wait for the sale on 17-20lb bags and get it then. Petsmart has sale prices in cycles it seems. We use a lot of wet food, so that's what I really have to watch for the best prices on.

I cut corners on litter, either Special Kitty Scoop or Tidy Cats Scoop on sale (preferably with coupons). Target has Tidy Cats on sale every so many weeks. The cats are pretty flexible so it's not an issue. They just care that I clean it often.
 

sakura

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Natural Balance Ultra Dry Food - $15 a month for 2 cats (because I feed dry and wet. If I fed my 2 cats only dry food, it would be about $30 a month). Natural Balance just reduced the size of their dry food bag, so I don't know if this price is the same anymore. They each eat 1/4 cup a day. I always buy the largest bag possible because the food is less expensive that way.

The least expensive food I would feed my cats is Diamond Naturals. It's pretty cheap too, I think I could feed it to my 2 cats for $20 a month if I fed only dry food and no wet (or something like that, I did the math once).

Wet Food (Natural Life, Meow Mix, Chicken Soup) - $15 to $25 a month (Wal-Mart had a ton of Natural Life on sale for $0.50 a can, which is super cheap and it has good ingredients). I know I could save by not feeding as much wet food but I just can't bring myself to do it.

So I spend $30-40 on food for 2 cats.

I've been buying the really cheap litter at Wal-Mart (it's their store brand) but I just can't stand it so I'm going to have to spend a little more and get something else. It's $7 for 28 lbs. I need about 1 1/2 boxes a month.

I don't pay for our dog food but my SO's dog food is about $45-50 for 2 months worth of dry food (Eagle Pack Holistic Select Large Breed Puppy). He also eats 1/3 can of the By Nature wet 95% meat wet foods and those are about $1.59 a can or something like that.
 

artgecko

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Hmm..
I really don't like to do the math either


-Three cats
- Use WBCL, so that's ~$30 a bag (lasts about 1,1/2 months)
- Dry food is Nutro Max ~$20 a bag (on sale, lasts about 1,1/2 months)
- Wet food (this is the biggie)...Go through about 9oz a day.... Probably ~$35 a month

So...Roughly $69 a month for 3 cats (~$23 per cat)

I'd probably reduce the quality of their litter first (although I HATE clay litter), followed by reducing the quality of the canned food..although that is though to do without getting cans with fish in them.

It's hard to keep track of their expenses, as I usually buy things in bigger bags or larger quantities to save money...So I buy less frequently.

I also really try only to buy things when they're on sale...especially the dry food and litter.

Art
 

urbantigers

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I'm on a tight budget at the moment but, like others, I buy cat food first then see what's left for me! I buy the same as I always have but I'm making a bit more of an effort to find special offers and stock up when I see them.
 

~*regina*~

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Lets see... I never really thought of this.
I have 1 cat and she eats Wellness Core dry. That's prob about 10.00 a month and then her wet food which is the Wellness no grain runs .99 a can, she gets one a day so 30.00 a month on wet.
Total $40.00 on one spoiled rotten kitty food
and 15.00-20.00 on cat litter (because I can;t stand a dirty litter box!

Wow I spend alot on here... maybe I should cut back lol, j/k. I could never do that because I finally found a food that is working good for her.
 

althekitty

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Gosh, I have never really thou ght to add it up!! I buy different wet foods as my kitty is soooo fussy and gets bored easily and won't touch anything fishy. I think I spend about £60 on wet foods and prob another £10 a month maybe a bit more on cat litter and stuff! I could save a lot if I ordered off zoo plus but he is so fussy that I dare not buy a load in cas he won't eat it. I am sick of throwing good food away.
 

angelwing

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I've never really noticed before but I probably spend around $40/month on food and litter for my two kitties. If they need it, they need it. I won't cut back.
 

arlyn

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I have no income to speak of really, but I buy the pets' food first, then worry about me.
The indoor kitties get Nutro dry and Friskies canned and I buy the canned at Sam's Club @$18/48-6oz cans, and I spend roughly $24/month on their dry.

Outdoor kitties get Cat Chow @ roughly around $10/month
Dog get Nutro dry $30/month
 

dave_l

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I've been keeping track of all my kitty costs, and I spend about $1.60 per day on food for Slasher and Ripper, or $0.80 per day per kitty.

I leave dry food out all the time, and they eat about one cup a day of that. I'm currently mixing Eagle Pack and Innova.

I also give them one 5.5-ounce can of food most days, alternating Eagle Pack with various other brands (Innova, EVO, California Natural and Wellness).
 

proudmamiof4

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wow! I have 5 cats that eat mostly wet food! I feed them a rotation of wellness,felidae,evo and blue spa (right now) and wellness core dry.I feed each cat about 6 oz of wet a day!and leave the dry out and they just nibble.I spend about 150.oo a month on just food.Not sure about litter because I HATE a stinky box and I change it out completly about 2 times a week!
 

denice

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I bought a bag of their dry food yesterday and it went up again. I feed California Natural and I used to get an 8lb bag for $13 then they changed their formula about a year ago and it was a 5lb bag for $13. Today a 5lb bag was $17. A 5lb bag lasts about 3 weeks and I have just about given up on getting them to eat wet food. Everyone I have tried they will nibble at it for a few days and then they quit even doing that.
 
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