Monthly Grocery Bill for Family of 5 - Belmar,NJ

I am part of a family of three...husband, myself, and 5 month old daughter. We spend approx. 340 a month (170 every two weeks) on groceries, paper towels, diapers, formula etc. So I wouldn't say you are to far off.

I think that you aren't far off. It's expensive esp with diapers, pull ups and formula. One idea to save on cleaning products is to use baking powder/vinegar/water. Cheaper and healthier. Also, I agree w/ cutting pull ups if you can (use diapers, except for maybe at night). Coupons are a great way to save too - they do add up. The other suggestion is to try to shop less frequently to be more planful. Good luck!

This doesn't directly answer your question but helped our family: For about 6 months we kept every receipt from every grocery purchase (or household staple like laundry detergent) AND restaurant meals on a WEEKLY BASIS.

Every Monday I would tally the receipts and post it for our whole family (4 - husband, me, teen & tween).

Boy did that make us aware of what we were spending and where we could cut it down. It became like a game trying to beat our weekly "personal best" figure. Also, the Monday tally was helpful because it would keep us in "check" for weekend restaurant excursions (i.e., we knew we'd blow our "personal best" sometimes if we went to our favorite place).

Whatever amount you're spending, you can probably cut it 10% without breaking a sweat or anyone in your family even noticing. Good luck.

If that amount includes diapers, wipes, formula and pullups....yes. It's normal. If you can get your 2 year old out of pullups you will see a huge savings.

;

We are a family of five, with myself, husband, and kids 7, 6 and 4. I try to keep our spending around $500 for groceries, plus we have our dairy delivered, so that's another $65. I can usually keep the groceries between $400-500, but that means making a lot from scratch and not many pre-made or processed foods. If I had to add in diapers, formula, baby food, and pullups, I'm sure that would make it a lot closer to what you are spending.

Hello N. ~ I also have a family of 5 plus pet (15 month old, 5 yr old, 16 yr old, myself & hubby) I was easily spending 500 plus per month on groceries. Do you use coupons at all? I just over the last month have cut our bill in half by serious couponing; I am still buying all my favorite name brand foods & all the normal things that we use...I don't know what stores you have in NJ but for instance our Kroger will double coupons up to a 1.00 my kids love cheerios that 2.99 box of cheerios cost me .99 at Kroger...I do have a favorite grocery store that I shop at but they only double to .50 so it's a matter of deciding of where you're getting the best deal...you can also stack coupons so for instance Target has "store" coupons & recently had a coupon for 1.00 off of band aids & I had a manufactures coupon for .50 i used both coupons together & only paid like .32 plus tax....I do shop a couple of grocery stores on different days...for your family of 5 to start (if you do/want to coupon) on sunday get 2 newspapers for the coupon inserts & start there; once your comfortable (it is overwhelming I buy 5 papers now) add another paper; it is also time consuming at first matching sales ads w/coupons....I do my couponing when the kids are napping & also after I put them to bed...hubby & I sit together coupon & watch tv...he loves helping me out b/c i'm saving the family money (I do stay home....there is only one income coming in)....diapers can be cheap...who would've thought :0) (i buy huggies) CVS pharmacy recently had diapers i purchased 2 jumbo packs for 12.98 plus tax i had 2/3.00 huggies coupons their store coupon their extra care bucks from a previous purchase...I also recently did the same thing at Walgreens 2 packages of huggies big package of huggie wipes for about 18.00 then received 5.00 coupon which i used to buy toilet paper (cottonelle) I bought 2 packages (18 rolls) for 4.50 plus tax used the store 5.00 coupon plus manufactures coupon that i had....the bulk of our grocery bill has been diapers, paper products & baby food (yay...my little guy is on solids so no more baby food) sorry i know this is long but i didn't think that i could save as much as i have; it works & i'm not giving up anything i still buy fresh fruit & veggies & all my name brands. My 5 yr old also has dairy/egg allergies so I do have to buy certain things which has also been pricey. Anyway, Feel free to message me if you want.

I have a family of five and we only spend about $200-$300 a month on groceries, this also includes pull ups and such. I think it just depends on where you live and where you shop. I live in FL and I've heard that a lot of things up north are a lot more expensive.

NJ is very expensive! Do you all eat the majority of your meals at home? What about you and your husband? DO you work....take food from home? What about paper products, personal care items like shampoos and razor blades, and cleaning supplies in addition to the diapers and baby items? Do you buy those at the supermarket too? I buy almost everything at the supermarket unless something is really cheap at Walmart or Target. If its JUST food that you are spending 700 dollars on (I know diapers and baby formula included then its probably a bit high. But if you buy other thingsand eat most of your meals at home then I think its probably normal. We live in NJ too, are a family of 3 and I spend about 400 dollars a month at the supermarket. I do buy diapers, prepare most of our food from scratch, and eat almost all of our meals at home. I also use coupons and buy what is on sale.

Wow, I have a family of 3, and we can spend that much ourselves. We also don't have diapers or pullups on our list (we use cloth). I think that is because we like to do a lot of cooking, and that includes some high quality stuff. I think I need to start looking more at our grocery shopping and see how we can cut this back. Thank you for your post, it really has me thinking now.

Yeah it adds up quickly! I have five as well. I buy my cleaners, healthy and beauty and much more from an all natural company and save money by doing so. It helps out a lot! I love their products and it save the trip to wal-mart. The grocery store is expensive for these items! Try switching and that can help!

M.

I've got a family of 3 (me, my husband and our 22 month old) and we spend roughly $40-$50 per week. I'm a big coupon user and stock up when items are on sale and can be matched with coupons.

I vote for ditching the pull-ups. They actually hinder potty training because the child thinks they are just another diaper. My son often takes his diapers off to sit on the potty and them we just put it back on him (if its dry). If you're ready for potty training, go straight to underwear. Its a much faster way to do it (and cheaper too!).

We've always been really frugal, getting everything on sale, etc., and have rarely been able to get our monthly expenses as low as $700. If you can keep it at $700, you're doing great.

We spend about $650 for our family of 5

I don't think that is too much, especially with a baby. Diapers, formula and baby food can easily add $100 per week. We have a family of 6: myself, husband, 6 year old, 4 year old twins and a 9mo. I allow for $800/mo for groceries and other expenses (including gas, entertainment, ect.).

I spend $150 per week on groceries, leaving $50 for gas and miscellaneous items. I thought as the kids outgrew diapers and formula, my grocery bill would go down, but as it turns out, they have insatiable appetites. So what I save on diapers and formula, I spend on food in an attempt to fill them up. Last week I had to start making 2lbs of meatloaf instead of one because 1lb just wasn't enough for everyone (the 9mo eats from the table now too).

Hope this helps, good luck

That's about right for a family of 5. I have a baby and it costs about $125 extra dollars per month, so total, my monthly cost for 3 of us (2 are out and not at home for most of the time) is around $500. What has worked for me is sitting down and actually planning my meals according to what is on sale and using my coupons.