How Much Do You Spend on Groceries

I probably spend about $500 per month (me, hubby & O. 7 yo boy). I save more when I plan my meals for the week and shop from a list! (In a perfect world, I would do that every week!)

for 3 of us we send about 250-300 a month on everything. We go about once a month unless we are totally out of something. Good Luck. Espically with the costs of everything its amazing how much you spend for the little amount of groceries you get.

I spend no more than $300 at the grocery store a month for my family of 4 (two B. under 5). We eat as organically and fresh as we can.

We are at $100 a week(includes diapers, formula and other toiletries) for our family of 7. This is our beans and rice budget- literally we have beans and rice 2 or 3 times a week! It's oatmeal for breakfast- sandwiches and fruit for lunches, crackers, carrots and marshmallow for snacks- and then we have lots of potatoes, mac'n'cheese, spaghetti and beans and rice. We also do a lot of soups with homemade cornbread or biscuits. But hey, we will be debt free in Feb!!!!!
~C.

I am currently feeding 4, 2 adults, 2 kids, plus friends/playdates. I would wager I spend about $200/wk give or take. Costco runs are usually extra and sometimes not.

We eat mainly oatmeal, eggs, Costco sausages/bacon, whole grain breads, homemade oatmeal pancakes, milk and fruit for breakfast.

Dinners are rice or potatoes, meats like salmon/fish, chicken, steak, roast, veggies or Italian style pasta meals. Stews also. Soup to clean out the frig, with homemade rolls or biscuits.

I like to purchase several items in bulk like rice (s), oatmeal, pasta(s) at Costco. No prepackaged, preseasoned kinds. Just the real deal. This saves a lot over the year.

I seldom buy Starbucks or any other coffee or smoothie type drinks when I'm out. Even though we can afford it I think it is a complete rip off. Seldom means about twice a year.

And when we eat out, I make my kids order water, b/c I'm too cheap to spend $2.75+ on a sugared drink.

We don't drink any soda at home.

When I was a single mom, I spent about $100/wk, give or take. And I will admit that I have a spoiled pallette. I like real food. I don't purchase pre-packaged meals. I think they are unhealthy and just not worth the money for what you can make from scratch.

We spend about $80-$100 a week. I clip coupons, buy meat on sale and in bulk to make more than one meal with. For example, I bought a ham the other day (a really small one) for $6. We're going to have ham with it one night and then use the bone/extra bone meat to make split-pea soup with the next day. We eat really cheap lunches at home (turkey sandwiches, pbj, chips, fruit and iced tea) and my hubby takes leftovers for lunch to work. Making a weekly dinner menu will help you save a ton money!

There's going to be a huge variation from place to place. We spend about $600/month for our family of four, and, for around here, that's middle of the road.

You might also want to consider how many meals you eat at home. We average 20 meals/week. Someone who orders out 2-3 times per week and buys lunch every day will have lower grocery bills, but higher food bills on average.

For our family of 4 (me, hubby and 2 under 4) we spend around $400 on groceries. For us, that includes stuff like paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, and those other kind of non-grocery essentials.

Usually between $20-$40 per week (including TP, cleaning items, and pet items) for a family of 3-4 (we do foster care so we have 4 about 1/2 the time). I am a couponer and I rarely pay more than 50 cents per box of cereal, canned goods, boxed side dishes, etc. I shop the clearance meat section and usually get meat for 50% off. I buy bread at a bakery outlet store and I pay between 0- $1 per loaf for the really good stuff. The only thing I pay full price for are milk and eggs. My family eats well and healthy and we survive on 1 income. Some months because my pantry and freezer is so well stocked we don't go grocery shopping for anything other than milk and eggs.

I spend $80 a week to feed a family of 4, plus a little girl I watch 4 days a week. We don't buy much packaged food at all. We're lucky here, though. We have sprouts and sunflower market grocery chains which sell produce and high quality meats for very low prices. We do lots of pasta and rice, and eat lots of leftovers. There are tons of sites online where mom's blog on keeping prices down on everything in the house! Google it when you have some time!

Good luck! =D

I budget $50 a week for a family of two. But that includes me packing lunches 5 days a week for myself and... making breakfast and dinner 7 days a week for both of us. I also pack snacks for the afternoon bus ride for both of us. This amount includes coffee beans, and almost no processed foods and mostly organic items. And this amount includes having 3-4 guests over for dinner on Sunday:) I also buy all my drinking water(10 gallons a week costs $4.40) with this budget. So I think I am doing okay, but would be doing much better if I was driving somewhere cheaper for groceries, but I usually just walk to the co-op. In the long run it is much cheaper since I don't have to pay for gas or insurance on my car;) I also don't eat everything I buy during the week. I have a stockpile of dry foods like grains and legumes some canned foods for emergencies. I could seriously live on my pantry stockpile for at least 6 months if I had to. I also have a system right now where we go to the co-op everyday on our way home and spend 4-5 dollars, and then spend the rest of the budget on the weekends. It works out really well to pick out fresh produce for dinner everyday and fruit for breakfast the next morning.
Thanks for asking this question, I love talking about food:)
From last weeks receipts:
4.40- 10 gallons filtered water from dispenser
1.22-1 pound of organic long grain brown rice;lasts two weeks
9.95-2.5 pound bag of skinless frozen chicken breasts;lasts several weeks
...3.95- loaf of organic sprouted grain bread
1.19- pint of half-n-half
3.47- half pound of fair trade coffee
5.95- package of free range roasted deli turkey
3.95- 13oz tub of miso
3.00- one pound tub of organic salad greens
3.95- four pounds of organic sweet bell peppers
1.50- one half pound of organic broccoli
3.99- 2 pounds of organic baby carrots;lasts two weeks
4.95- half pound of feta/Greek olives in oil
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
49.97-total

The week before I got a giant bag of organic apples on sale for 5 bucks, and a big bag of nori on sale for 3 bucks, and a big 4 pound bag of kamut grains for making pancakes/waffles for 4 bucks.(my daughter loves waffles without syrup:) All those were enough to last into this past week. I still have enough kamut and nori for the current week. I am pretty good at buying stuff I will actually eat in bulk, and watching out for sale items. I usually buy in bulk with proteins, grains, and legumes. With veggies/fruits I find it is cheapest to buy things that are in season. I limit myself to one 5 dollar luxury item per week, last week it was the Greek olives:) I do not buy or drink milk, and limit cheese too. I am a very disciplined shopper, and waste very little food in leftovers/trash:) I also make a lot of soups:)

Sometimes $400 a month...I like that because it means for fruits and vegetables and a better variety of snack foods. Then we have some months where it's about $200 for the month give or take. That means rearranging the freezer and pantry to see what I have and can just supplement with stuff from the store....meal making is definitely not as fun! :-)

We are a family of 4 with a 4 yr old and 2 yr old (and both eat like bottomless pits)

I spend $540 a month, which is $135 per week. I also have two little ones, 3yrs and 10m plus me and my hub. I do buy all of our paper goods, laundry supplies, dish soap, shampoo, garbage bags, etc from that as well. My little on is eating baby food which is actually so expensive!! I really need to start whipping up his food at home and save some money. So actually for me I find that number to be a challenge!! I am really looking forward to the day when we can budget more for groceries, and I know as the kids get older we will have to:D But we set our budget and are faithful to stick with it. I shop at Wal-Mart and try to catch sales on meat etc at other stores whenever I can. I buy a lot of store brand items. I do spend a little on meat sometimes because I like to serve my family fish often and I do get a good amount of fresh fruits and veggies, but I think you just can't skimp too much there if you can possibly help it. $600 a month sounds very reasonable to me!! I say you are doing a great job:)

I think it kind of depends on where you live... we're in NY, so it's pretty pricey. Having said that with two adults and a toddler, we spend $500 per month (give or take). I love to cook and do so at least 5 nights a week (usually 6). We do take out on Fridays, but other than the occassional dinner out, we eat at home. DH and I both pack our lunches and all three of us have breakfast at home.

My husband, I, and my 2 and 3 year old spend about $700-800 per month at the grocery store. This includes diapers, cleaning supplies, etc.

You're a little more rural, so you probably have higher prices, but we spend around $600 a month. We eat no processed foods, and I make most things from scratch, using whole foods. You can find coupons for those things, as well as find them online for good prices. Check out www.heavenlyhomemakers.com. She has great recipes, as well as has great connections for good deals. She knows her stuff! She's pretty rural, too, I think, so you may find her especially helpful. GL!

i spend around $150 a week for a family of 5..that includes me , hubby, 11 yr old son, 10 yr old daughter and 19 month old daughter..oh and 2 dogs..but that covers everything, diapers, paper products, dog food..etc

It is just me and my 6 yr old son and I spend about $600 a month and I buy store brand stuff and use coupons as much as possible. Get yourself one of those credit cards that accumilate points for gift cards towards shopping. For instance my shoprite card is used only for shoprite and when i accumilate enough points I get a $25 gift card to shoprite :) Every little bit helps!

I spend between $1200-$1500 a month which includes all groceries, vitamins, toiletries, diapers etc. I have 5 kids ranging from age 17 to age 7 months. I don't buy junk food at all or prepackaged food. My kids have food allergies and I buy a lot of organic foods as well. Since grocery prices have gone up and I'm trying to see if I can stay at $1000 a month for everything, I've been making a lot more beans and rice. I've been trying different ways to make them fancy and delicious. Good luck to you!!

I'm happy to do about $300 every two weeks for a family of 5. And I'm happy with that. I used to do it for about $200 every two weeks and am trying to get back to that point!

Compared to the responses below, I spend alot, but I do group in there, everything I buy at walmart, even if they aren't truly groceries, and the same at costco too. And there are only 3 of us that aren't eating breastmilk. :)

Wow I am amazed that some people can spend so little. For a family of 3, we easily spend $500 a month on groceries and toiletries, but like one mother said, we eat healthy and eat most, if not all meals at home and pack lunches. I have found that I cannot cut coupons, as healthy, whole foods do not come with coupons. When I shop I shop the perimeters of a store and avoid all the middle isle of processed foods, which is probably why I spend more than most here. It would be interesting to find out if those that spend so little eat out more than those of us that spend more or is it just the difference in food choice?

Wow--
I can't believe people can get away with so little. We spend around $1000/month for 4 of us (6 yr old and 2 yr old). However, we eat all organic and we have to buy specialty products because we have lots of food allergies (dairy, soy, gluten, peanuts, etc). That amount also includes going out for food once or twice a week.
J.

This varies ENORMOUSLY by region. Just for example: a regular old half gallon of milk in a normal store round these parts (aka not discount store or organic store) costs $3-$4 per HALF gallon. Lunch meat $9-$10 per lb.

I bend over backwards to avoid those prices (like tradejoes has milk for 1.60, and I can drive 20 minutes to get lunch meat for $4 a lb), but cost of living is just high around here. For a family of 3 I CONTORT to keep us at or under $600 per month. But healthy food is also important to me. I've fed us on as little as $100 a month, but we're talking ramen & oatmeal . When my son was on formula, oy, $20 a day on formula is something I do NOT miss.

But yah... by region. I spend $600 a month by squeezing blood out of rocks. In some places we've lived or travels we can eat the same kind of diet for as little as half or LESS than I spend here. If I could just buy everything at 1 store (instead of 5), and buy what I wanted as I wanted it, it would be about 1000 a month.

One way to figure out groceries is to look at house prices. Where I live a standard 2b/1b starter home is about half a million. A nice 3-5 bedroom 2+ bath is 600-900,000. Where my dad's family lives in Illinois (not chicago) $100,000 buys an *awesome* 5 bedroom on a double lot gorgeous house. Here, 100k is the downpayment on a crackerbox.

For our family of 4, its just under $500 a month. I would love to have it less than that. I see some people can do that thru couponing. If only I did not have to work all day and had more time to do that!!!

We spend an average of $450 a month on groceries. Then we also spend around $150 on diapers, cleaning supplies, deoderant, TP, etc. I cut coupons for things like soup, cereal, granola bars, etc., and all the toiletries we use. I stock up when our store has caselot sales. I'll buy a case of tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, cream of chicken, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, etc. We have 2 kids (5 & 2). We eat LOTS of fruits & veggies. The only processed foods I buy are crackers, granola bars, & cereal. I cook at home at least 6 nights a week. We usually eat out 3 or so times a month. My hubby takes his lunch (usually leftovers) and we (me & the kids) eat PB & J for lunch quite often. When chicken breasts go on sale, I'll buy a ton. (I bought 20 lbs the last time it went on sale.) I'll stick them in bags of 2 & keep them in the freezer. The same for ground beef, pork chops, boneless pork ribs, etc. I plan my meals for the week based on the weekly ad. I buy enough for that week's meals. I write the list of meals on the fridge and then when lunchtime rolls around, I pick one of the meals and get it ready. That way, when it is 5pm, I don't have to worry about what to cook for dinner.

In the summer, we have a garden with tomatoes, a variety of different pepper plants, watermelon, cantaloupe, beans, peas, corn, pumpkins, potatoes, onions, garlic, cucumbers, carrots, and zucchini. I freeze the corn, bottle the beans, and store the onions, garlic & potatoes for us to use in the winter. Our food bills are considerably less in the summer.

In one week, we usually go through 1 loaf of bread (I buy wheat & it is a bit more $), 1 box (3 pk) graham crackers, 1/2 box saltines, 3 gallons of milk, 1/2 gallon apple juice, 1 box cereal (like Cheerios, Corn Chex, or Raisin Bran), 6 or so bananas, 8 apples, a bag of mini carrots, 2 heads lettuce (1 iceberg & one leafy), 1 box of cherry tomatoes, 1 bunch of celery, 2 bunches of broccoli, 5-6 oranges, 1 pineapple, 1 watermelon & 2 cantaloupes (when in season), 9-10 peaches/nectarines (when in season), 10 lbs of potatoes (we eat them a lot), 5 onions, 8 bell peppers, 1/2-1 lb cheese, 5 lbs rice, 1 pkg noodles, 1 pkg tortillas, and whatever meat we would use. We don't drink soda or punch, we only drink milk, water & juice. I only buy chips for special occasions. I make the treats we eat (cookies & cakes). I make homemade spaghetti sauce and jam. Even with all of that, I wish I could spend less. But, we're healthy & happy.

Good luck with your new budget. I hope you can find some ideas to help. Reading all the posts makes me glad that I only have to pay Utah prices and not NY's or Seattle's! : )

-Shellie

if i'm lucky, i can work 100 into grocery's, maybe 200....

I spend about 600/month for a family of 6. I get the feeling it is a little more expensive around here. Our lunch meats are $9-10 a lb also. American cheese is about $6 a lb. A gallon of milk is about $5 (whole milk). A loaf of bread is about $3.

I spend a ridiculous amount of time in the grocery store. I compare prices, ounces, sales...on almost every item. I only buy frest fruit and veggies. I buy tons of meats. (including the occasional on sale filet mignon) You can eat relatively well on a budget. It just takes a lot of work....and a lot of time. Fortunately my grocery store has a little marketplace with wi fi. My kids can sit there when they are absolutely sick of my turtle pace...lol!

roughly $1000/month. Family of 6 (4 sons)

Updated

roughly $1000/month. Family of 6 (4 sons)

We live somewhere very expensive! It really varies what your groceries cost depending on where you live! A half gallon of milk here is $3-$4. Since we moved here from Alaska where milk and other groceries were even MORE expensive I thought it was great. I'm now realizing more inexpensive areas of the country have much much cheaper groceries!!!! We cut coupons and buy things on sale. I try to roast a chicken and use the meat for 3 meals every other week. But we spend about $800 a month on groceries for a family of 4. I guess I have some things to learn about how to save $ on groceries!

About $500 for me, my dh & dd... but I find I spend less if I only go once a week and shop exclusivly from my list.

When I run in to pick things up I tend to impulse shop and buy things that are yummy and I want, but we do not really NEED.

I also found I was able to save more when I started buying enough for each dinner that would let me use it for lunch the next day (ie roast chicken for dinner, chicken salad for lunch)

I was looking throug the responses and realized I spend an astonishing amount of money on groceries. I feed my family VERY healthy, only whole foods, which are more expensive, but jeez!! We spend over $1000 per month easily.

I usually spend around $400-500 for a family of 5; however, sometimes more...

We spend roughly, anywhere between $200-400/month on groceries for a family of 4 (our kids are 2 & 4). It depends on which meals we decide to make and whether or not we need to buy diapers/wipes. We plan ahead ALL of our meals (dinners, lunches and breakfasts (which usually just consists of cereal during the weekdays) and snacks). We make a list before we go shopping and STICK TO IT. We also ALWAYS use what we already have in the house to make meals out of. We actually used to spend way more, until we started the lists and planning. It has really helped cut our costs. We also dont buy pop or a lot of junk food. We splurge on a treat for the kids now and then, but not often. They eat 3 meals a day and usually have a mid-afternoon snack which is either goldfish/animal crackers, fruit/raw veggies, or graham crackers..something along those lines.

Good luck with cutting costs! It can be a challenge! HTH :)

I would like to know how people are eating so cheaply? What kinds of foods do they eat? I spend about $450/mo for me and 3 kids. When my husband is home, we spend LOTS more because he goes out to eat daily for lunch and often for breakfast, too.

I try to stay under $250 for just groceries (not toiletries) for my husband and I and our 2 year old, but I usually go a few dollars over. I coupon and try to stock up on good deals to try and maintain at least a 3 month supply in my pantry. We don't eat out very often, maybe once or twice a month for dinner, and my husband buys lunch two or three times a month. So for all our food, including eating out, we average around $300. I make a lot of our food from scratch, including making all our bread, tortillas, most of our pasta. Food is on the cheaper side where I live. You can usually find a gallon of milk on sale for less than $2 and a dozen large eggs for $1 or sometimes even less.

I have been watching our budget for the past six months and we average around $525-$550 a month for a family of four (1 and 3 year old). This includes diapers, wipes, and all tolitries. I try to limit my shopping to 1x a week and buy for all meals. We usually eat at my parents 1-2 times a week and eat out 2x a month (this comes from a different budget though). I bring my lunch four out of the five days to work and eat out 1x a week (comes from a different budget too). My husband prefers the easy to make meals when he's home so we buy a lot of pizzas, frozen burritos, etc. This includes dinner for five nights and breakfast stuff, which the kids and I do not eat a lot of since they are in daycare and eat there (since we pay for it!). We both drink soda (him more than me) and always have juice or some additonal things to drink. We also usually have a lot of snacks in the house - poptarts, granola bars, pudding, yogurt, string cheese, applesauce cups, etc that are easy to grab for the kiddos. We don't eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies though :(

For the 5 of us we spend about 500.00 - 600.00 month- that includes paper products, toiletries etc.

Good question. I am very interested to hear others answers.

I try to stay below $100 a week, but seems I am always picking something up through the week. Those running in and grabbing a few items every couple of days is where I fall short with my budgeting.

Recently, I have really made a concerted effort to do menu planning and that does seem to be helping me curb the expenses a bit.