grocery budget for 2 people

[dakcp2001]

What is realistic? I am spending way too much!

 

[ancestry]

I can't advise you on two people as it has been a long time since I only cooked for two. There are six people in my house -- DH, myself, DD-19, DS-15, DS-8, and DD-8. We spend about $250 per week on food and household necessities (toilet paper, soap, laundry, etc.).

 

[usnuzuloose]

It would all depend on your eating habits. Are buying processed foods? Are you meat eaters? How much do you think you are over spending? Me and my husband spent about 200 for 6 weeks. We eat chicken, pork loin, pork chops. sandwiches. About every 2 months I spend maybe an extra 150 for paper products and stocking up on dog food and their treats. In fact I just bought enough to last them about 8 months.

I am also on one of the coupon trains. I do save quite a bit with that. I use the flyers from the stores and their specials as well.

 

[charming23]

My mom and I spend around $300 a month but that includes household products as well.

 

[Leshaface]

For my hubby and I, it's about $350-400 a month

 

[Marionnette]

What is realistic? I am spending way too much!

Totally subjective. A lot depends on where you live. An how you eat, cook, and your appetites.

Do you eat organic? Vegetarian? Need a low fat, gluten-free or restricted diet of any kind? Do you avoid processed foods or embrace them? Do you have a freezer? And lots of storage space so that you can stock up on sale items? Do you lean towards gourmet cooking or are you a one-pot-does-it-all kind of cook?

I happen to like cooking and experiment with a new recipe at least once a week. So my shopping list includes lots of fresh herbs, unusual condiments and wine. I also have a large upright freezer for and a basement storage area with 3 sets of metal shelves for stockpiling canned goods. I can take advantage of sales and stock up when I can. I also freeze casseroles and leftovers rather than eat them later in the same week. I can feed the three of us on $80/week because DH is never home for lunch except on weekends and he usually doesn't get a chance to take a lunch break most days at work. DS#2 is at school and eats in the cafeteria. Heaven forbid he should pack a lunch!

We spend a heck of a lot more when the other two kids are home from college. DS#1 can eat as much as the DS#2 and DH combined! And DD eats a vegetarian diet, so there's a whole 'nuther way of shopping for her!

 

[williamson_ja]

I am an especially big cheapskate, so I spend hardly anything. We eat meat only 1-2 times per week. At any rate, my family of 6 spends about $60/week on food only. Maybe $70 including all grocery items. I get all my fruits and veggies from a food co-op. I cook from scratch every meal.... make my own bread, tortillas, buns, etc. Make hot cereals for breakfast. Dinners are made from rice, beans, veggies, etc. Soups are very cheap (and delicious). It took me a long time to transition to this way of eating, but a little at a time, you can make big changes. We used to spend double what I spend now. I was making more money then and had fewer expenses.

 

[aubriee]

My mom and I spend around $300 a month but that includes household products as well.

For my hubby and I, it's about $350-400 a month

We spend $300.00-$400.00/month.

 

[ChisJo]

We live in an area that doesn't have great coupon capabilities, but I watch flyers for deals and plan my meals around those, and use coupons when I can. I also do groupon, living social, and get good deals from those sometimes (for example..I just got a groupon for $60 worth of meat for $25 from a local butcher, or $15 worth of fresh veggies for $5). However, my husband and I budget no more than $400/month, and we ONLY reach that if we have to buy meat (which we only do about every 3 months), and we eat meat every day. I also make all my meals from scratch, we hardly eat out, we eat tons of veggies and fruit. I sometimes make bread from scratch but we have a bread outlet right by our house, so its easy to get some cheap bread if I don't have time to make it. We have a fruit/veggie outlet type store close to our house too and that saves on produce. I no longer splurge at the grocery store, and I won't buy off of my grocery list (unless its on sale & I have a coupon for it). If we don't need it, I won't buy it...period! I don't buy soda/chips/candy because its just so bad for you, and expensive!

 

[si-am]

My husband and I spend about $250 per month on groceries.... BUT we eat out on weekends.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I've been purchasing all of the cleaning supplies and food for my bf and I for the past five months. The first time we went out together he was just throwing things in the basket and it was about $250 when we checked out (he paid and what we got food-wise lasted about a week and a half). I was floored and asked if he wanted me to take it over . I now spend about $300-$320 a month and that includes cleaning supplies (toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc.) and dog food.

We're not breakfast eaters (I just have a big canister of oatmeal at work if I get hungry for something) and he eats the crappy-for-you $2.99 special at Wendy's every day for lunch (I don't factor that in to my spending for the rest of the stuff as it's his money). I tried buying lunch stuff but he's on the road constantly and in and out of his office so he never knows where he'll be for lunch (and the man loves his $2.99 special ). I buy either a half gallon of milk and a box of cereal (Special K vanilla and almond) or make peanut butter and banana sandwiches for my lunches.

We eat at home every night except occasionally (1-2 times a month) we'll go out to eat with my parents (they always pay though). We do eat meat with every dinner (I could [and have] give it up but he couldn't). My co-worker and my Mom give me all of their leftover coupon pages from their newspapers (I don't buy the newspaper) so I get a lot of coupons that way and I print some online. I go online and look at a couple of stores' weekly ad's and then put our dinner list together from that. I shop once a week with a calculator (so I know how much I'm spending as I go along) and I only take whatever that week's grocery budget is out in cash from the ATM before I go shop. That way I don't spend next week's grocery budget money and I make sure I'm staying on track.

At first it was difficult as I didn't really know how much things I was buying actually cost. Now I have a general idea and that helps with the planning.

I also make as much as I can from scratch. I don't buy the boxes or frozen packages and I read the label to make sure I'm not getting a bunch of junk (i.e. the off-brand of salad dressing usually has a lot better ingredients than the name brand, like most of Kroger brand salad dressing have sugar and most other brands have HFCS). And most of the time I buy off-brand if I don't have a coupon or it's a better deal.

I don't assume Walmart to have the better deals either. I used to never shop at Walmart and about a month ago I did as everyone goes on and on about how much cheaper it is. The tampons, toilet paper, scrub sponges, dishwasher detergent, and paper towels were all $1-2 more than what I buy them for at Kroger or Food Lion .

I'm planting a garden soon and think that will save on some items (if I can get anything to survive ).

 

[Disney845]

We budget approx $300/month for 2 adults. This includes all grocery foods, household products, and cat food (1 kitty). We previously were spending anywhere from $400-500 on just groceries (household stuff wasn't counted in that), so we are way down. We could be even lower if I was inclined to be even more frugal.

Things I do to save at the grocery store include planning the major dinner meals for the week before ever going to the store, not eating a lot of meat (for example, 1 lb of browned ground beef creating 3 dinners), shopping the buy 1 get 1 free sales (Publix), using coupons when I can (I have been slacking on this lately).

One of the best things I am now trying to do is find creative ways to use leftovers. I was one of those people who hated eating leftovers. Now I try to repurpose and even though it may not be as frugal as other people I think I am doing well.

Don't buy as much prepared foods. For example, if you need snack foods try baking those Jiffy box muffin mixes in mini muffin cups, if you like garlic bread with your italian meals don't buy the NY or Pep Farm brand texas garlic toasts, use a light spread of butter (or your alternative) on sliced sandwich loaf bread and top with garlic powder and italian seasoning and cook in toaster oven. SO loves gatorade, but it is less expensive for us to buy the big tin of powder and mix it ourselves than to buy the prepared bottles. I do the same with Iced Tea (brewed, not powdered) and make it myself.

 

[angierae]

We spend $300 a month, but with DD gone ten nights a month to have dinner with her dad, and DH working a lot of evenings, it's kinda like buying for two people. I'd like to get it even lower, and will be working with a $240 budget in April and May to see how I do. (I stock up on things, so if I can get to the end of 2 months and still have a pantry full, I'll have succeeded - if I have to drain my pantry, not so much.)

 

[bettymae1121]

If I told the DIS what DH and I spend on food each month, you'd all drop dead from shock! But eating healthy and organic is something that is important to me, and in my area, that's what it costs. I've tried to get it lower, and have never managed to do it. I've given up and have just accepted that this is what it costs us to eat, and I focus on saving in other areas.

I will tell you one big savings I did manage. I cut out the soda and starting home brewing ice tea to drink. I save at least $40 a month, and tea is much healthier of course. We also installed a kitchen mount water filter and don't buy bottled water. Pre-packaged drinks can add a surprising amount to a weekly food budget, and is probably one of the easiest places to trim back on.

 

[shamrock30]

DH and I also spend a lot more than the other posters here, but we live in the northeast, eat some organics, and the rest is "natural" foods. We don't eat beef or pork but we do eat chicken and (ocean caught, not farmed) fish. I'm frugal in many areas, and I cook from scratch and rarely eat out, but I don't scrimp on groceries.

 

[pat fan]

DH and I also spend a lot more than the other posters here, but we live in the northeast,

Thank you I was starting to think I was crazy! I live in N.E. and it's pretty much the two of us, a cat & a dog and I'd LOVE to spend $300 a month! It is hard for me to pin down exactly how much I DO spend, because the college boy comes and raids the pantry & freezer at least once a month and the DS living on his own does once in a while as well.

I think I will try and shoot for $300 a month and see how I do. That is one bill I would LOVE to get down!

 

[si-am]

I posted $250 earlier, but I didn't include household stuff or cat food in that total. If I included that, my number would be much higher. (We spend about $60 a month on cat food alone because one is diabetic, so they can only eat canned, high-quality/no carb stuff).

 

[charming23]

If I told the DIS what DH and I spend on food each month, you'd all drop dead from shock! But eating healthy and organic is something that is important to me, and in my area, that's what it costs. I've tried to get it lower, and have never managed to do it. I've given up and have just accepted that this is what it costs us to eat, and I focus on saving in other areas.

I will tell you one big savings I did manage. I cut out the soda and starting home brewing ice tea to drink. I save at least $40 a month, and tea is much healthier of course. We also installed a kitchen mount water filter and don't buy bottled water. Pre-packaged drinks can add a surprising amount to a weekly food budget, and is probably one of the easiest places to trim back on.

I agree that cutting out pre-packed drinks saves a ton of money. Two years ago I would say we spent at least $40 a month on pop and bottled water. Now we spend $4 every two weeks for two six packs of pop at the grocery, they are made with real sugar and one bottle lasts me three days. We bought a britta pitcher which saves us a lot of money.

We are starting to switch certain things over to organic and I have found Trader Joe's to have the best prices in our area. My main focus of the moment is organic meat which can be expensive but it is important to me so I get where you are coming from.

 

[shamrock30]

Thank you I was starting to think I was crazy! I live in N.E. and it's pretty much the two of us, a cat & a dog and I'd LOVE to spend $300 a month! It is hard for me to pin down exactly how much I DO spend, because the college boy comes and raids the pantry & freezer at least once a month and the DS living on his own does once in a while as well.

I think I will try and shoot for $300 a month and see how I do. That is one bill I would LOVE to get down!

LOL, we live in the same $$$$ state.

 

[Golf4food]

When we got married almost 8 years ago we had a $300 per month budget for groceries and household products. Now it is $600 per month - higher prices, eating healthier costs a little more, etc.