Grocery Budget for 2 - How are we doing?

[4HppyCamprs]

One way that maybe you could cut back is by making some ingredients do double duty. It looks like for your meal plan you have to buy beef, chicken and pork. See if you can get creative with recipes that call for similar ingredients.

 

[KaLyn]

One way that maybe you could cut back is by making some ingredients do double duty. It looks like for your meal plan you have to buy beef, chicken and pork. See if you can get creative with recipes that call for similar ingredients.

This is what we do! Find recipes and plan meals that use common ingredients so you buy less.

 

[bdcp]

Your budget doesn't seem high to me. We live in No VA and it's more expensive here. We're empty nesters, so just DH and I. We spend $150-$175 per week on groceries, including cleaning products. Plus DH goes to Costco about once/month for toilet paper, paper towels, chicken breasts, cereal and some snacks where he usually spends about $100. I don't clip coupons and I shop at Wegmans and use name and store brands. I do buy sirloin and 95% lean ground beef. I buy what I want and don't worry much about the total. We couldn't spend half that and begin to eat well. DH and I take our lunches to work most days. It really does depend on where you live. My DS and DDIL live in NC and believe me, their food prices are definitely lower than ours.

We also eat leftovers when we have them. Moreso in the winter when I make chili, soups, stews, etc. I grew up eating leftovers and DH didn't, but he's learned that most of the above meals are better the second time around.

 

[NokOnHarts]

When my DH and I were first married we were spending over $500 a month on groceries for the 2 of us. Now, 10 years later, we spend about $375-400 per month for a family of 4 including most toiletries. What helped was limiting my shopping to only once a week (I realized the more I went, the more I always bought) and making my shopping list for the week from items I already had in the house and planning meals around what I had on hand. Also, planning my meals around what is on sale in the grocery ad. I never buy full price items unless I have to, always shop sales. The other thing we do is plan at least one meal per week for leftovers, and usually that is 2 meals per week. So most dishes we make during the week we make in bigger batches and then eat the leftovers the next day or change around some ingredients and make the leftovers into a new dish. For instance, using your leftover chicken for making chicken soup the next night, etc. Whatever it is, never throw away the leftovers, get creative in making them into something new! It takes some more work but we eat really healthy, yummy meals (including all lunches), for a pretty good price. It's worth the effort for me, good luck to you, you can do it!

 

[si-am]

We are 2, and we spend on average $60-$70 per week on groceries. However, that's really only 5 meals (Sunday night through Thursday night) and lunch leftovers because we eat out on weekends.

We could cut our costs if we needed to, but we are okay with that for now.

We also shop around the perimeter of the store, mostly, and don't buy many processed or frozen foods.

 

[kristinradico]

I too agree that seems a bit high. We are a family of 5: 2 adults, a 2,5,8 year olds and a huge dog. I average about $150 a week plus about $150 a month at Costco. I do use coupons on some items, maybe about $10-$15 a groccery shopping trip.That includes everything from fruits to dog food to cleaners to diapers! I honestly think thats too much and try hard to go under, but for some reason I always end back up with these numbers.

 

[SimplyMagical]

We are 2 and we usually spend $175 per week. We do not buy any processed foods.

 

[charming23]

It is my my mom and I and we average $75 to $100 a week for groceries and household items. That also includes pet items. I coupon which helps a ton. Like today I went to target to stock up on household items (trash bags, paper towels, etc) and cat items (wet food, dry food, treats, and litter) I used coupons plus their cartwheel app and saved over $34. These items will last me three months. I also use coupons on some grocery items. I try to not buyt a ton of convience foods and stick to the perimeter of the store as others do. You can find coupons for healthier items it just takes some digging. Try coupons.com for printables.

 

[Marionnette]

We are 2 and we usually spend $175 per week. We do not buy any processed foods.

Every time I see someone post this, I wonder just how they define "processed food".

Do you grind your own grain? Butcher your own steer? Never purchase anything in a can, carton or box? Do you get raw milk from a dairy? Press your own olive oil?

Or are you just saying that you don't buy convenience foods such as Hamburger Helper or frozen veggies?

There's a difference and it depends on how you define the phrase. While I don't use boxed mac & cheese or serve hot dogs at home, I'm not above buying a box of Shredded Wheat or using frozen vegetables to complete a meal. If you're buying a gallon of homogenized milk or a loaf of whole wheat bread, you're still buying processed food in my definition of the phrase.

 

[AlternateEgo]

I have a family of 6 and I budget about $100 a week, including household items. We don't have any animals and one of those members is a 12 month old. I don't buy formula (he's breastfed) and I don't buy diapers (stocked up over a years supply before he was born).

 

[TLuvsD]

I use the CouponMom.com website. You can choose where you want to shop, and it will match up the coupons (I just sort them whole coupon insert by date, I don't use many, but they do add up). CouponMom also does a list for CVS. I buy the stuff that generates ExtraCare Bucks first, then do a second transaction with the stuff that is just on sale. You can use those EC Bucks right away, that way I don't forget about them.

Costco does have an annual fee, and they sell large quantities. It can save money, even for smaller families. CouponMom does a Costco list, but I don't recall using it.

 

[ellie05]

I think your grocery budget is really high we spend 480 a month for the two of us. We eat all organic lots of veggies and that includes all paper items and cleaning items. And I don't coupon we mostly buy our groceries at trader joe's and other small organic markets. We eat out about twice a week and that comes from a different budget (we spend about $200 a month eating out). Also our dog food budget is separate and we spend about $140 for two bags of dogs food we have three big dogs.

 

[Minnesota!]

family of 4 and our monthly budget is $350 - which we rarely spend all of it. I would think you could get that down to at least $75/week.

 

[ilovemk76]

I live in southern NH (just north of Boston) and I spend between $150-$200/wk for 7 adults and that includes all of our paper products and toiletries.

We also eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and meats. I rarely use coupons because even with coupons on brand name items I can buy the store brands for less. Our stores don't have double or triple coupons.

$150/wk for 2 people sounds high to me.

We spend about $500 per month. That does not include toiletries or paper products.

Your budget seems really low. 7 people eating 21 meals a week is 147 meals. There are also snacks and toiletries/paper products. That equates to less than a dollar per person per meal.

 

[sunkissed4]

We're a family of 4 and spend about $75 a week on groceries. Most toiletries are free (seriously) and stockpiled in my linen closet.

Couponing sounds difficult and like a waste of time, but it really isn't. I started 2 years ago following a coupon web site and it takes a bit to get started. I get two newspapers a week and just follow the sales. I try to only shop the sales and then stock up on non perishables when it's a good sale. I never pay full price for boxed or frozen foods. I'm able to save so much money on that stuff that we have plenty left over in the budget for meats and produce.

If you shop a sale with a coupon, it's almost always cheaper than the store brand. I'd look online for a coupon match-up site for your local grocery stores and start there. Most sites make it very easy for you to learn. Good luck!

 

[southlakejr]

It's just DH and I , and we spend about 300-350 a month on groceries, not including pet food, etc. We live in a fairly expensive area (SF Bay Area) and do not coupon at all. We also don't eat rice, pasta, bread, etc. or a lot of the normal "budget stretcher" foods. We don't eat a lot of dairy either.

I pick two proteins per week usually, two fruits, and buy our veggies in bulk at Costco. This week was porkchops and chicken thighs. Veggies are cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli. Still have some leftover brussel sprouts. Fruits were pears and cuties. Also purchased sweet potatoes, bacon, and eggs. We have a good amount of ground beef in the freezer if we decide to mix it up with burgers one night.

We tend to stock up on meats when they go on sale, cook some bulk things like carnitas to freeze, and generally don't shop the inside of the store save for a few frozen or canned veggies here or there. I know that we could cut the price down even more if we worked at it, but we're comfortable with what we spend now.

 

[AquaDame]

That seems high considering all the things you aren't counting... we buy as much organic/non GMO stuff that we can too and don't think we come near to that. Do you have a meal plan and strategerize how to maximize your meat/veggies into several large meals for leftovers/lunches? I bet you can get that number down - right now you have up to $600 a month for two!

 

[threeboysmom]

I think that sounds about right. I spend $100/week on groceries for 2 (and honestly I don't buy much - my fridge and cupboard are always pretty sparse), but I also budget an additional $100/week for eating out. I do not cook over the weekend so $100 is easily spent on one dinner out, plus fast food for the other meals.

Lunch during the work week is on top of this (!) if I don't have any leftovers from dinner the night before to bring for lunch, so I'm easily spending $200+ a week for 2 people! YIKES!!

I'd love to cut down, but I really enjoy my weekends off from work, and not cooking/cleaning is a huge part of that. But now that I'm seeing that I'm spending close to $1000 a month on food for TWO PEOPLE, man oh man. I need help!!

 

[hsmamato2]

I think that is really high...150 per week,plus 100 for toiletries and paper,plus eating out/fun money....yikes! our family of 4 (big guys) budget is usually 75.00-100.00 per week for food,includes pet food,tp,paper towels,etc etc. I don't feel like we miss out on a lot of stuff, but I tend to make a lot of food from scratch,that makes a difference, and we mostly buy store brands....I don't coupon, but I like discount groceries like Aldi,PriceRite,BigLots,etc. I watch for sales, and buy what's a good price.
example, my family LOVES hummus,last week at Pricerite the Sabra brand (their fave) went on sale from 3.00+ down to 1.49. I bought 12 of those babies. stacked in the fridge with store brand corn chips and carrots in a jar is all the snacking they want for a couple of weeks(if they last that long,not kidding) When something you love/use a lot goes cheap,buy a LOT and store accordingly.
I also keep that budget separate from our eating out/etc. budget...

 

[TwoMisfits]

There are ways to cut down your budget, but probably only so far. It's always a trade-off of "if I stop buying x, will I then no longer want to cook and just eat out?" Then, you've compounded the spending, since eating out is almost always more expensive than whatever groceries you buy.

As an example, if buying $10/lb lunch meat (like roast beef) for 5 sandwiches for lunch each week keeps you from buying 5 $8 sandwiches out, you're ahead. Yes, you could cook and slice your own beef cheaper, but if you plan to try it by buying a chunk of beef and never get to it, now you've bought the chunk of beef sitting in your freezer AND you're buying lunch all week.

So, I guess I just wanted to send the following advice...If you're buying what you like to eat (and thus not eating out), if you're eating all the food you buy (without throwing out a lot of stuff gone bad), and if you're trying to stock up/shop sales where possible, your budget may just be higher than most. Comparing yourself to others may not be the best way to gauge your budget...