Family of three how much should it cost

[C_leen]

My H got real ugly about the cost of groceries a few years back. However, he often was the one declining to eat left overs and turning down repeatedly what I had purchased and planned. So I stopped grocery shopping. I stopped cooking too. He wasn't working at the time and I just dropped it all in his lap rather than deal with his rude and judgmental behavior towards me.

All of a sudden, Aldi's was acceptable. Years ago he had banned me from shopping there. All of a sudden it was OK to eat pasta with meat being not the focal point. All of a sudden, he had a meal plan and we followed it. He started to grasp that groceries had spiked. The amount in containers had gone down. Meat especially had spiked. The cost of paper goods, cleaning supplies and toiletries were a tough balance between having stock on hand, catching good sales & buying a decent enough product that it lasts. He learned a lot the hard way. Buying cheap detergent that didn't clean. Buying paper towel that would shred immediately. Buying some crappy cleaner that left oily smears...

Now we are a team again and do pretty well between Aldis, local grocery stores, Target and Big Lots. The one spot I still splurge is I will hit a high end deli periodically when I have no prep time. It is still cheaper to buy prepared food in the deli than eat out!!

 

[andiraye]

We live in NYC where food prices are insane. We spend about $175-$215 per week on groceries. We try to order canned and packaged goods online from Walmart. Even without coupons (which you can't use online) it costs about 30% less than our local chain stores (forget about the mom and pops).

I'm not exaggerating in the slightest. I did a detailed comparison about a year ago and a family size box of Cheerios at Walmart cost about 30% less than a small size at the local store. A double pack of toilet bowl cleaner cost half of what a single bottle cost locally.

 

[superme80]

Another vote for going shopping with her. I spend average about $200 a week for a family of 5. I cook from scratch as much as possible and I buy generic when I can. I live in Northern California so price are pretty high. I live 20 mins from Target or any big grocery store, so I have to figure gas and time when I go shopping.

 

[DisneyMandC]

This must be regional. With sales and coupons I get 12 rolls of cottonelle for about $4.

Havanese and I live in the same cheap toilet paper area, because $12 a package is way too much! I spend about the same on Cottonelle when Kroger runs a sale on it. I will occasionally buy the huge package of it at Costco when they have a sale, but I still rarely feel Costco has a better price compared to when I use coupons and sales.

And that is weird that Trader Joe's is so expensive in your area, Marionette. Havanese is right that we are in a VERY saturated grocery market here, particularly since one of our local chains sold out to a big chain a couple of years ago. Around that time, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Fresh Market all moved in. Aldi just moved in this year, and TWO Wegman's are currently being built here as well. We also have those crazy huge Kroger Marketplaces springing up all over the place. Trader Joe's is definitely very cheap here, but it's too far from me to be economical to go to, along with Aldi (unfortunately). I make out pretty well with Kroger though, especially when they run mega sales. I also really appreciate the personalized coupons they send out, and I will often have some for money off produce.

For DH and I, we usually spend about $75 per week, and that will often include something like a pack of porkchops and maybe some steaks on sale once every six weeks. For chicken and ground chuck, I shop Fresh Market's $2.99 Tuesdays.

 

[redsonja76]

I do think that perhaps you should do all the cooking and all the cleaning and all the shopping for a month to see what's really involved before you criticize. We are a family of 4 with two dogs in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and we spend around $200/week. Sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes a Costco run raises that price. Sometimes I'm too tired to coupon and chase sales, sometimes I just need to order pizza. I also only buy quality ingredients, not the cheapest things I can get, so that's a factor too that we are unwilling to change.

 

[redsonja76]

For chicken and ground chuck, I shop Fresh Market's $2.99 Tuesdays.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE $2.99 Tuesdays!!!!! But I hate the lines lol!

 

[tvguy]

I also only buy quality ingredients, not the cheapest things I can get, so that's a factor too that we are unwilling to change.

These days with soos much consolidation in the food industry, every brand of a product may actually come out of the same plant, and be identical. You have to be very careful because a high price may have no relationship to any difference in quality.

 

[Divslp]

OP's budget includes personal hygiene, cleaning and paper products.

But I'd love to see a sample shopping list from you. Wegman's and Trader Joe's aren't usually for budget-minded shoppers.

I don't buy personal hygiene, cleaning and paper products every week. I buy that in bulk from Costco and it lasts our family many months.
We are in Maryland and our trader joes and wegmans are easily obtainable for budget shoppers. There are even times when wegmans products are cheaper than trader joe's (especially for organic dairy). Off the top of my head, I buy (but not limited to these):
Organic milk
Organic half and half
Organic eggs
Chicken breasts/thighs
Whole wheat bread
Org baby spinach and lettuce
Org bell peppers
Org baby carrots
Org grapes
Org blueberries
Org strawberries
Peas
Bananas
Red potatoes
Tomatoes
Ginger, garlic
Organic yogurt
Coffee
Chickpeas
Cheese
Org sour cream
Nuts
Lemon/limes
Rice

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

These days with soos much consolidation in the food industry, every brand of a product may actually come out of the same plant, and be identical. You have to be very careful because a high price may have no relationship to any difference in quality.

I read it as not eating rice and beans every night, but you raise a good point.

 

[ceecee]

I spend probably $50-$80 a week for two adults and a teen, mostly vegetables and fruit. We eat fish and chicken but no red meat. I spend more now that I am buying more organic. The detergent, paper products make the bill higher but it usually doesn't go above $80. We are in Ohio may be cheaper here?

 

[tvguy]

I read it as not eating rice and beans every night, but you raise a good point.

LOL. All the so called health experts say we should eat more beans.

 

[LovesTimone]

Grab a cart and do the shopping, all of it. Yes all of it and you will see what its like. You might want to take your wife so when you faint, so she can tell the paramedics what happened... If they are women you might just get left in the aisle.... I really don't understand how you can make a decision, or a comment when you are not full aware of the cost of things.

About a year after DH and I got married, he made a similar comments and judgments, so he went with me, 1st to walmart for cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, personal care items, and a few grocery i.e.: Gatorade, bottled water, soda. While there he did get what's on the list and he added in several things that weren't on the list. he did looked shocked at the total, but he did not say anything... I never said a word. After that we hit the local produce stand which we both agreed that fresh is best, got the list and extras, again not a word. Then to the grocery store, on the ride over there he was like we aren't through yet, I said nope. So again he had the list, he did very good, but he threw in items, that he wanted to try, and lots of extras. When the cashier told us the total, he looked completely shocked, sorta green and pale all at the same time, so we checked out and headed home, he added up what he had spent at all three stops, and it was about 75 dollars more than what I normally spent.


I did have quite a lot of coupons for that trip, that we used at Wal-mart and at the grocery store... so without those more like 100 dollars.

You need to get a education on the cost of everything before you make a assumption...

 

[Marionnette]

I don't buy personal hygiene, cleaning and paper products every week. I buy that in bulk from Costco and it lasts our family many months.
We are in Maryland and our trader joes and wegmans are easily obtainable for budget shoppers. There are even times when wegmans products are cheaper than trader joe's (especially for organic dairy). Off the top of my head, I buy (but not limited to these):
Organic milk
Organic half and half
Organic eggs
Chicken breasts/thighs
Whole wheat bread
Org baby spinach and lettuce
Org bell peppers
Org baby carrots
Org grapes
Org blueberries
Org strawberries
Peas
Bananas
Red potatoes
Tomatoes
Ginger, garlic
Organic yogurt
Coffee
Chickpeas
Cheese
Org sour cream
Nuts
Lemon/limes
Rice

That's an impressive list and I wish that I could duplicate it. But there's no way that a similar shopping list would total under $100 for me and my household of 3 adults and I would need to add a lot more things in order to keep everyone happy. Of course, a lot is very dependent on quantities...pints vs. gallons, pounds vs. priced by individual piece, even the type of nuts purchased.

 

[Judique]

I'm extremely budget minded and Trader Joe's is a weekly stop.

The problem with me and Trader Joe's is I want all the 'extra' stuff. I go in there and don't leave with meals for a budget.

I get wines, beers and italian sodas. Chocolate, cheeses, crackers, breakfast bars, premade meals, flowers, dips, chips and any number of other temptations.

When I decide to cut down, it's Costco and Aldi's and the local sales flyers. No Wegman$, no TJ'$.

 

[rdevine10]

We are a family of 4. (and my kids are not little so they EAT- typically much more than me!) I average about 800 a month. We live in the northeast and eat mostly organic produce and meat. We do not buy a lot of processed foods- and we bake/cook from scratch most of the time.

Typically I bulk shop- every 3 to 4 weeks I do a HUGE shop. I bulk buy meat, certain types of produce, staples etc. Then the off weeks I just run to the local store and buy milk and some random produce we need.

I shop at during the big shop all of the following stores on the same day (yes its an event!!!): Aldi's, Trader Joe's, Costco and Stop and Shop (and walmart for some random items) Sometimes I stop at Whole Foods to (for the 1 or 2 very random items I cant find anywhere else).

I find bulk shopping keeps the budget down and I meal plan based on the items in my house. Also, FWIW, I am gluten free and my daughter is dairy free. My kids do not buy lunch and my husband and I bring our meals to work. We ALWAYS eat our leftovers (typically for lunch). And we buy a lot of organic whole chickens, which we can get 2 to 3 meals out of.

cleaning/hygiene/papergoods are in included (pet supplies are not). But we buy most hygiene and papergoods in bulk. BTW I buy my tp at Walmart- Angel Soft 12 rolls is only $6 something. BTW- I clean a lot with vinegar, peroxide and baking soda- all of which are VERY cheap and not toxic.

I used to be an avid couponer/sales shopper. Not anymore- coupons are often only for processed items. And, we dont get too much of that!

 

[tvguy]

I still think the best way to save money is to plan your meals in the store, around what items are on sale. Today salmon fillets were and cross rib roasts and steaks were $4.99 a pound. Ribeye was $13.99, so we passed on that. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were $2.98, down from the usual $4.99 a pound, so we got those.
I bought Avocados at Walmart for 40 cents each, instead of at the local grocery store where they are $1.25 each.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I live in Richmond. The grocery business is unbelievably competitive here as we have more grocery stores per capita than anywhere else in the country. I'm within 5 miles of a Food Lion, Kroger, Martin's, Whole Foods, Walmart Super Center, Target with grocery section and if you go another 5 miles we have Fresh Market and Aldi. I'm sure I'm still leaving places out.

I'm guessing this depends on what you're buying vs. what I'm buying. But I am super value conscious (single mom) and I find Trader Joe's way outperforms when it comes to quality vs. cost.

I live in Richmond and I am shocked by this. We have a plethora of awful places to shop (most of those you mentioned). Target's tiny grocery section is negligible. I LOVE Trader Joe's and Whole Foods but I HATE Short Pump with a passion and don't go out there that often. I am, however, beyond excited about Wegman's coming to Richmond in the spring (and on the south side no less!!).

 

[Marionnette]

I still think the best way to save money is to plan your meals in the store, around what items are on sale. Today salmon fillets were and cross rib roasts and steaks were $4.99 a pound. Ribeye was $13.99, so we passed on that. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were $2.98, down from the usual $4.99 a pound, so we got those.
I bought Avocados at Walmart for 40 cents each, instead of at the local grocery store where they are $1.25 each.

I think that meal planning on the fly is actually a huge waste of time, as well as a haphazard approach to grocery shopping. Imagine getting to the meat counter to find that there's a great sale on salmon, but wait! You need to return to the produce aisle to buy lemons (which are not on sale) and fresh dill! Or even worse, you get all the way home before you realize that you don't have any lemons in your refrigerator.

Checking the circular ahead of time is a much more efficient way to shop and had you done that, you would have known that the chicken, salmon and some cuts of beef were on sale so that you could decide what else you need to pick up even before you enter the store. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't take advantage of in-store specials when you come across them. But you shouldn't just plan your weekly menu based on the idea that you'll just walk into the store and see what is on sale.

 

[havaneselover]

I live in Richmond and I am shocked by this. We have a plethora of awful places to shop (most of those you mentioned). Target's tiny grocery section is negligible. I LOVE Trader Joe's and Whole Foods but I HATE Short Pump with a passion and don't go out there that often. I am, however, beyond excited about Wegman's coming to Richmond in the spring (and on the south side no less!!).

I've lived in a lot of places as an adult (Chicago, Northern Virginia, Tampa, Raleigh, and Richmond) and IMO the grocery store options we have are excellent and because of the competion, prices are very low. I live in Short Pump (and don't hate it--what's to hate about living five minutes from a Nordstrom. But I'm also excited about Wegman's.

 

[tvguy]

I think that meal planning on the fly is actually a huge waste of time, as well as a haphazard approach to grocery shopping. Imagine getting to the meat counter to find that there's a great sale on salmon, but wait! You need to return to the produce aisle to buy lemons (which are not on sale) and fresh dill! Or even worse, you get all the way home before you realize that you don't have any lemons in your refrigerator.

Checking the circular ahead of time is a much more efficient way to shop and had you done that, you would have known that the chicken, salmon and some cuts of beef were on sale so that you could decide what else you need to pick up even before you enter the store. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't take advantage of in-store specials when you come across them. But you shouldn't just plan your weekly menu based on the idea that you'll just walk into the store and see what is on sale.

The real specials are the in store ones that aren't in the circular. The "Manager's Specials" are where you really can save money.
At my store they will season and meat, fish and chicken for free, so no need for lemon or dill, but they are always available in my spice rack, fridge, or in the case of the dill and lemon, my backyard.