How much do you spend each week on groceries?

[Nik's Mom]

I'd say that we spend about $200-$300 a week lately for a family of 4. We just moved from another state, so I've had to stock my cabinets with new spices, etc. Plus we just started buying organic and gluten free products and those items are so much more expensive. That has really put a dent in our budget. Prior to the Gluten Free and organic groceries, it was $150-$200 a week, and that was with my Mother living with us.

 

[runwad]

I've been keeping track of my spending since January and my goal was $400per mo for my family of 5 but I'm coming in around $500-$550..so around $125 to $150 week. I only shop sales,always use coupon and tend to go to 2 or 3 stores a week to stock up on loss leaders. I cook almost every night. We rarely eat out or get take out. We live in NE Ohio.

 

[jakoky]

hi there, we are a family of 5 and i spend around 175 a week on groceries...i really wish i could spend less, but i have soooo much trouble being cheap in this area...between milk and cheese, it must cost me 25 dollars a week, then add in lots of fresh fruit and veggies and everything else...I will say though, any neighbour could come buy and ask me to borrow just about anything, and i probably have it ...
sharon
me, dh, dd - 17, ds -14, and dd -12
WDW-dec 04-9 nights at the pop
DL-may 06-10 nights at the CCI
DL-sept 07-10 nights at the HOJO

: Sometime in 09-Planning a 12 night DL trip for my daughters graduation and my 40th ...Seems wayyyyyyyyyyyy to far away :banana

 

[eliza61]

I spend around 150-200/ per week on groceries. the problem is that they are not buying as much.

 

[HerdOHuds]

I spend around $200-$300 a week on groceries and another $50 for the occasional lunch out. This is for 4 pre-schoolers and 2 adults. We also have my parents over at least once a week. We try to do fresh foods as much as possible, and I don't clip coupons. I do the local Super Walmart each week and don't have the time or energy to cope with shopping around or coupons. I do know from experience that SW is the cheapest place in town and ours is even cheaper than the SW two towns away.

 

[Solomonsmom81]

Since i started CVSing, its cut down on my supermarket bills alot. I no longer buy any shampoo, medicine, etc or anything that CVS sells. WE have 4 people in my family - the two kids are 6 & 8! I only spend about 65 a week on food - I don't buy mostly frozen veggies and not much fruit! i try to buy in bulk when something is on sale - we also eat out or order in about 2 or 3x a week.

lisa

live in NYC

what is cvsing?? why dont you have to buy anymore??

 

[canadianmom2three]

I guess if I stopped buying fresh fruits and veggies, and ate out 2-3 times a week, my bill might also drop to $65....unfortunately my kids LOVE fresh fruit and veggies, and we don't eat out hardly ever, so I'm spending around $150 a week. We are a family of 5, kids 11,8 and 5.

 

[tonilea]

I spend $75 per week for the four of us and some meals for my MIL. DH and I are discussing having to increase it to $100 per week since DN came to live with us and prices are increasing. That includes everything but petfood.

I always have at least two types of fresh fruits and an assortment of fresh veggies.

I shop mostly at Wal-Mart Supercenter and do price matching (saves about 40%). I also stockpile sale items.

 

[lisaross]

-not sure - for example we each chicken cutlets alot, and i like the thin sliced so when they are on sale, i buy about 4 packages or so. I cook pretty simple - chicken cutlets one night - perhaps meat loaf 1 night - pasta w/sauce - sloppy joes - i buy most of the kids snacks at CVS now - i have also been trying to get my milk there as well - bread i buy at Costco - um cereal i only buy when its on sale and i buy a ton - same for pasta sauce - i don't know - today i bought OJ at King kullen 1.99 on sale so i got the limit which was 2. I have been trying to use coupons, so for example king kullen had 11oz Maxwell house on sale for 1.99 i had a 1.00 coupon and they doubled it so free - go limit 2! i eat yogurt for lunch usually - my husband eats out -

hope i helped a bit oh and if you don't cvs check out the boards on this site!!

lisa

I live in NJ. I hope you don't mind my asking, what do you buy for $65 a week? Especially in NYC. I think you could teach me a thing or two about saving $$ on groceries. Please!!! Thank you!

 

[lisaross]

/This also does not include dog food or any toiletries - like i said all toilet paper, papertowels, tissues, toothpaste, shampoo - i get at CVS
!

I live in NJ. I hope you don't mind my asking, what do you buy for $65 a week? Especially in NYC. I think you could teach me a thing or two about saving $$ on groceries. Please!!! Thank you!

 

[Crisgw]

For our family of 4 (DS' are 3 and 5) I spend 250-300 per week on groceries.

 

[1of6]

We have dropped down to about $125 a week for a family of 6 (kids are 11, 9, 6 & 4.) We gave up eating out for lent and haven't had more then 5 meals out since Easter.

 

[IDoDis]

/This also does not include dog food or any toiletries - like i said all toilet paper, papertowels, tissues, toothpaste, shampoo - i get at CVS
!

What about breakfast? You said you don't buy cereal unless it's on sale, so what does your family eat the rest of the time? Do you eat cereal every day and stock up when it's on sale? That alone could cost $25 when you stock up (dependingn on how much you buy)
Also, what about fruits and veggies? I also think you need to factor in the cost of gas you are spending driving to the different stores to get the bargains. If you use a gallon of gas going to/from a store to use a double coupon, you mght also be spending $3 - $4 in gas to get there and back home again.

I try to limit my grocery trips to once a week since gas has gone up so high and I price-match whatever I can. For a family of 4 we spend about $170 per week (including paper goods, cleaners, etc.). We are in New Mexico. I don't feel so bad looking at what others are paying. A few months ago, I was reading posts where people were spending like $50 - $60 per week for a family of five. I've thought about trying Angel Food ministries, but don't know if the food would be the kind we eat. We tend to eat lower fat meals and higher protein. Also, DH makes himself a blender full of fruit smoothie with protein poweder each morning which is a huge budget buster.

 

[jmpellet]

CVSing is done by taking advantage of the items that give extra care bucks (ECB) with a good return rate. Each month they offer a number of items for free after ECB, others might be spend $20 and get $10 in ECB. Once you get going you can continue to roll the ECB and get other items you need. Many stores in my area are now carrying more stuff (not meat or anything) but a variety of different breads (even local stuff such as Portuguese in my area), milk, eggs, butter, pasta, and other staples. Not to mention other required items such as toilet paper and toothpaste.

Regarding traveling around -- I try to plan trips to wherever together like on the way home from work, etc. For breakfast I certainly do stock up on cereal when it goes on sale. I probably have 30 boxes right now. We eat a variety of thinks for breakfast such as eggs and do not eat cereal every day. I buy the fruit that's on sale for the week and on the occasion we go to Sam's Club I buy it there.

They probably sell protein powder at CVS

 

[marypoppinswannabe]

It's just me and I spend about 75.00 a week on food. However, I am huge fan of fresh fruit and veggies and it adds up really fast.

After this thread, I think I am going to consider CVSing.

 

[3disAddicts]

For 3 of us, including toiletries and cleaning supplies, about 80.00 a week.

 

[mefordis]

/This also does not include dog food or any toiletries - like i said all toilet paper, papertowels, tissues, toothpaste, shampoo - i get at CVS
!

Thank you! Kudos for being able to spend only $65 per week!

 

[mom2my3kids]

We are around 600.00 a month but that includes everything, still way over my budget of 400.00 that I like to spend.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I live in No. Cal. Luckily I have a Super Walmart so that really helps out, they have great prices and it's a 1 stop shop for the most part.

I spend $100-$150 on groceries per week. That includes all food, paper products and diapers. Does not include pet food.

2 adults, 2 kiddos

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I spend about $175 a week for everything for 7 people, 2 adults and 5 kids. That does not include eating out at all because that comes out of my entertainment budget, but we still only do that about once a month and that's either ordering pizza or going to McDonald's (we're big spenders, I know ).