Family of three how much should it cost

[Minnesota!]

Agree with pp - I think Trader Joe's is one of the cheapest places to shop!

 

[Marionnette]

Agree with pp - I think Trader Joe's is one of the cheapest places to shop!

Not around here. But then again, the Philadelphia market area is highly competitive when it comes to groceries. Trader Joe's is very pricey when compared to the local chains. I can't think of anything that I would buy at Acme or Shop Rite that I could find for less at T.J's. That includes organics, grain-fed, free-range and guaranteed non-GMO products.

 

[havaneselover]

Not around here. But then again, the Philadelphia market area is highly competitive when it comes to groceries. Trader Joe's is very pricey when compared to the local chains. I can't think of anything that I would buy at Acme or Shop Rite that I could find for less at T.J's. That includes organics, grain-fed, free-range and guaranteed non-GMO products.

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.

 

[tvguy]

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

Charmin is on sale at Target this week. $13.99 for 12 rolls. That is the SALE price, not the regular price.
http://www.target.com/p/charmin-ult...12-mega-plus-rolls/-/A-16161348#prodSlot=_1_3

 

[crisi]

Charmin is on sale at Target this week. $13.99 for 12 rolls. That is the SALE price, not the regular price.
http://www.target.com/p/charmin-ult...12-mega-plus-rolls/-/A-16161348#prodSlot=_1_3

36 rolls is $15.99 if you are willing to buy Angel Soft A little more than the $.33 a roll havaneselover is paying, but that is before applying any coupons, using your Redcard, or shopping at a cheaper place than Target.

 

[mefordis]

family of three how much should it cost for groceries for a week? I think my wife spends too much money on groceries. Also included is soap. Shampoo. Paper towels etc. Maybe I need to do it myself. Told my wife to limit it to 200 a week she said a it can't be done. We live in southern New Jersey. We don't eat fancy meals either no steaks no fish.

Is it you, your wife and kid? If so, how old? I'd say about $200 a week is reasonable, $250 if she shops at Whole Foods. No way could you get by on $100 a week in NJ.

 

[dfchelbay]

Go shopping with your wife to see where you think things can be cut, reduced etc. Maybe your eyes will be open to how much things cost, or perhaps you'll see the wife is spending too much. Look at the list before you go and while you both are shopping. Only after you do the homework will you know wherein the issue lies...over-spending or things cost more than you thought. Enjoy your time together while doing your recon...lol

 

[marthachick]

I don't think you can base a budget on 1 shopping trip. Sometimes you can go shopping and spend very little. And the next week, you're out of everything. And you need to include paper goods, toiletries and cleaning supplies, because, in reality, that's part of your expense. I think OP needs to go shopping for at least a month and count 'fill in' trips. Then, he and DW need to sit down and figure out how to save. My DH used to fuss about the cost of groceries. I refused to go shopping for a couple of weeks. He went and realized that I do bargain shop and he never complains anymore. He just didn't realize how expensive food is anymore.

 

[potterfanatic]

I don't think you can base a budget on 1 shopping trip. Sometimes you can go shopping and spend very little. And the next week, you're out of everything. And you need to include paper goods, toiletries and cleaning supplies, because, in reality, that's part of your expense. I think OP needs to go shopping for at least a month and count 'fill in' trips. Then, he and DW need to sit down and figure out how to save. My DH used to fuss about the cost of groceries. I refused to go shopping for a couple of weeks. He went and realized that I do bargain shop and he never complains anymore. He just didn't realize how expensive food is anymore.

We did that too. Now whenever my husband comes shopping with me he just leaves to get the car ready when it's time to check out. It hurts too much to see it I guess. lol

 

[havaneselover]

Charmin is on sale at Target this week. $13.99 for 12 rolls. That is the SALE price, not the regular price.
http://www.target.com/p/charmin-ult...12-mega-plus-rolls/-/A-16161348#prodSlot=_1_3

This toilet paper math is confusing! 1 roll of Ultra soft mega plus equals 4.5 rolls???

 

[tvguy]

This toilet paper math is confusing! 1 roll of Ultra soft mega plus equals 4.5 rolls???

Yup. And 1 regular roll today equals 1/4 of the size of a roll of TP 15 years ago.

 

[justmeinflorida]

Charmin is on sale at Target this week. $13.99 for 12 rolls. That is the SALE price, not the regular price.
http://www.target.com/p/charmin-ult...12-mega-plus-rolls/-/A-16161348#prodSlot=_1_3

36 rolls is $15.99 if you are willing to buy Angel Soft A little more than the $.33 a roll havaneselover is paying, but that is before applying any coupons, using your Redcard, or shopping at a cheaper place than Target.

We buy our TP from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...-keywords=toilet+paper&sprefix=toilet,aps,191

 

[HHMcG]

Before I say anything else, I think you should do the grocery shopping for a month or two and see how you do. I do all our grocery shopping and if DH criticized it he would need to find another place to eat.

We are a family of 5 in S. NJ. We average $200+/week. I usually have a $300+ week followed by a $100 week so it averages out. Locally, I swear by Shop Rite.

Not around here. But then again, the Philadelphia market area is highly competitive when it comes to groceries. Trader Joe's is very pricey when compared to the local chains. I can't think of anything that I would buy at Acme or Shop Rite that I could find for less at T.J's. That includes organics, grain-fed, free-range and guaranteed non-GMO products.

Thank you for posting this. I could have sworn they were pricier when I checked them out years ago. I was thinking I was going to have to drive 20+ minutes thru traffic to go to Trader Joes from now on.

 

[tvguy]

Before I say anything else, I think you should do the grocery shopping for a month or two and see how you do. I do all our grocery shopping and if DH criticized it he would need to find another place to eat.

We are a family of 5 in S. NJ. We average $200+/week. I usually have a $300+ week followed by a $100 week so it averages out. Locally, I swear by Shop Rite.



Thank you for posting this. I could have sworn they were pricier when I checked them out years ago. I was thinking I was going to have to drive 20+ minutes thru traffic to go to Trader Joes from now on.

Did all our grocery shopping for 20 years. 10 years ago my work schedule changed, since then DW and I do the shopping together. Took her a while to look at the bottom and top shelves for the lowest priced items, not the eye level shelves.

 

[Vernie822]

I try to spend $75 per week for my fiance and I. Some weeks we may be out of town and spend less but generally we pack lunches 5 days a week and eat dinner at home all but once or twice per week.

I shop at Aldi's and Wegmans mainly. I do shop the sales at Giant Eagle because they often have BOGO free meat. Some weeks I spend closer to $100 or even more depending on what we're having.

One thing that helps for me is meal planning. Planning around what I have in the freezer, what meats are on sale, etc. I plan a dinner each night of the week and lunch is leftovers. I make my list based on what we'll be eating and then any additional stuff like fruit, breakfast items, and snacks. I honestly don't buy much outside of my list.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

I'm also in southern NJ.

For a family of 4 I spend about $150 a week including toilitries. That's with a teenage boy and 9 year old girl. My DS can eat and DD likes lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I'm not a coupon clipper but do buy sales. I will say we are hispanic and rice and/or beans is on our menu at least 3 times a week. And my kids love chicken.

Once my son moves out I see us being around $100 a week.

Would you tell us how you make your rice and beans?

 

[Julylady]

I think you should do the shopping (or do it together) for a month to get a sense of how much things cost. For example, does this amount include lunches for all of you or do eat lunch out? How many times a month do you go out for dinner? Pick up dinner to eat home? Do extra expenses like birthday gifts also come out of this same money? You said it included things like paper towels and shampoo? How about laundry detergent, hair products, new bath towels, feminine supplies? I purchase those things out of my weekly budget and they can really add up.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I would say for 2 adults we average about $75-$100 per week without toiletries. My husband and I always do the shopping together. We shop weekly, usually at Kroger and Costco but sometimes at the local Indian grocery as well (for Indian ingredients mostly, but sometimes they have great prices on produce too). We start by looking at our local Kroger ad and crafting some meals around sales items. For example, last week eggplant was on sale so we ate homemade babaganoush with pita bread, olives and tabbouleh (cost approx. $2 per serving) as one dish and had eggplant and okra curry (cost approx $1.50 per serving) for another dish. When we cook we usually have enough for 2-3 meals, so leftovers go in our lunches or eat again for dinner. Sometimes we will freeze leftovers for later. If you don't eat leftovers, it is a budget killer.

We supplement Kroger with Costco. We buy things like eggs, rice, salad fixings, breakfast bars and rotisserie chicken. We also buy organic meat here in bulk and freeze. We fill up with gas for the week at Costco, since premium gas costs about the same as regular everywhere else and it combines trips. We buy very little processed foods which is healthier and saves money, but means that we don't get a lot of groceries through coupon deals. We do coupon for toiletries and personal care products and make most of those purchases at Target. Since we stock up during sales, I would say this cost is maybe $15 per month, but it's not spent every month. Maybe $50 one month and nothing for the next few months.

We also eat out one night every week, at Chipotle, using discounted gift cards. This costs about $11 each week.

 

[whitney250]

Depending on if I have to buy laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and shampoo/conditioner... my typical grocery bill for 3 adults is in the $250 range. I do notice that it has gotten more expensive the healthier we are trying to eat, feeding 26yo DH and 20yo DBIL takes a lot of food lol

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Would you tell us how you make your rice and beans?

I really don't go by a recipe. It's all by memory. I would go to youtube and look up "Puerto Rican rice and beans." I've seen videos on there.

I make white rice with either kidney beans, white beans or pink beans on the side. Or rice with gandules which is our red rice with pigeon peas. Sometimes I put ham and corn in instead of pigeon peas. Or chicken for arroz con pollo.