How do you determine your grocery budget?

[StuckInKS]

We have 8 people (2 adults, 4 teens, a 10 yr old and a 9 yr old) and spend at least $75 a day at the grocery store. We used to spend more like $1,500 a month before the pandemic, but we also ate out several nights a week. I thought eating at home for a year would save us some money, but apparently not. I would love to get this number down and put the money saved towards other things like our Disney vacations, but I'm not sure how to determine a reasonable food budget. How do your all determine your grocery budget?

 

[Missingmypooh]

Are you meal planning?

 

[Chickinvic]

What types of food are you buying?

 

[stsomewhere]

DO you shop everyday? less trips= less impulse buys. plan out meals. Go by yourself or have your groceries delivered to stop impulse purchases. It's difficult to see where you can cut back without seeing what you are buying.

 

[Chickinvic]

I try to shop once a week and prep all my veggies on the weekend so they are ready to go all week. I chop peppers, broccoli, celery, etc. I buy my mushrooms pre-sliced in 1lb packages. I try to make at least 1/2 the plate full of veggies, then add a protein such as marinated chicken breasts, etc. We are staying away from starchy things as much as possible as my husband is Type 2 diabetic. I find, planning meals ahead, and limiting the frequency of shopping does help save some money.

Another thing I love is making a large batch of something like spaghetti sauce, soup, etc. Cook once and eat several times (things like that freeze really well, so you don't have to eat if for 5 days straight lol).

 

[TwoMisfits]

We have 8 people (2 adults, 4 teens, a 10 yr old and a 9 yr old) and spend at least $75 a day at the grocery store. We used to spend more like $1,500 a month before the pandemic, but we also ate out several nights a week. I thought eating at home for a year would save us some money, but apparently not. I would love to get this number down and put the money saved towards other things like our Disney vacations, but I'm not sure how to determine a reasonable food budget. How do your all determine your grocery budget?

So, you're around $2250/month right now with no eating out for a grocery budget. If we go back to your old budget that included eating out, you were probably at $2300/month (if we assume a family of 8 eating out 2x/week would probably be $200/week minimum).

So, you have saved money, or at the very least, not spent more while probably eating healthier.

So, then the question becomes, how much less can I spend to still keep everyone eating healthily and happily. In that area, it probably becomes a matter of how much work you want to put in to achieve a certain savings goal. How much meat, fish, and produce breakdown do you want to engage in? How many things are you willing to make from scratch and how often will you do it? How many stores are you willing to shop at? How many sales are you willing to monitor.

Without doing a lot of work, you can probably knock 5-10% off your budget by just being a little more attentive to loss leader sales and planning meals around the seasons and the sales (and stocking up when possible). But after that, it's a question of time and money, and which way you want that to go...

 

[robinb]

I think that feeding your family 3 meals per day on less than $10 per person per day is doing pretty good!

A lot of people "shop the sales" and freeze meat or keep a secondary pantry with cereal, snack food, canned food, etc that they bought when they were cheap. I use the website https://flipp.com to see the sales around me all in one place. They have almost all the sales circulars that used to come in the paper on Sunday and Wednesday. You can "clip" an item you're interested in and it is added to your list. They have an app that syncs up with their website so you can access your list at any time. I meal plan and I will sometimes plan my meals around what is on sale. I would also recommend that you get a Costco membership if you have one within a reasonable driving distance. You will save money buying in bulk if you have so many people to feed. Another place that has inexpensive, yet good quality food, is Aldi's.

 

[Merlin's Magic]

Our grocery budget for 4 adults is about $250/week, sometimes $300.

I think a family has to budget buy knowing what they already spend or eat so they can meal plan and look for good deals to stock up on.

Our ways to save money:

We try to look through the advertisements and buy seasonal, staying to the edges of the grocery store for most of our shopping. It means there's a lot of cooking from scratch or eating more plain foods. Like, I'll buy a large container of whole milk Greek yogurt ($3) instead of 8 flavored ones ($8.80). The whole milk version is more satisfying to the body and it helps to mellow the tang a little, and each person can top theirs with in-season fruit, honey, granola...we have cute little parfait glasses that help to control the portions.

TBH, though, your grocery budget is going to depend on your habits and tastes. We have a rule of being intentional: if someone wants a snack, they can't take the whole container of something. The rule is to get a plate or snack bowl and put it there, then put the container away. Meals are only at the table. Drinks are water, coffee (no Keurig here), or tea. When we had 3 adults in the house, we did the 2-person Blue Apron meal plan (stretching it to 3 with adding on from the grocery store). It seems like it would be more expensive, but it really helped us expand and learn to use ingredients different ways and keep a better pantry. Instead of just pasta, rice, and potatoes for starches/grains, we now keep barley, couscous, farro wheat.. I substitute dandelion greens or swiss chard for kale or bok choy in meals when the price is better. After we had enough of the cards we stopped our subscription. And there are other little ways to save money. I found out the deli in the grocery store sells the ends of the cheeses and meats they sell, putting them off in a corner of the premade food section. It's deeply discounted, so we use those for homemade mac n' cheese or the ham or turkey in omelettes.

 

[kcool]

We budget $400 for 2 weeks. That is 3 or 4 adults and includes pets and household items. We live in south Texas, so have a relatively low cost of living. I do free H‑E‑B curbside and meal plan. We also eat out 2 times a week. Whataburger “Friyay” (our coined term. Lol) for about $20 (we buy 1 meal and 2 extra burgers or chicken sandwiches. It is a bit more if the 4th person is home). Then we bring in a decent meal on Saturday. Usually no more than $50/$60. Those 2 meals are not included in the grocery budget.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Meal planning and meal prepping! It saved us when I was out of work and we went down to one income. I got out of the habit for a while, but now I'm back into in preparation for baby #3 coming this summer. We're currently 2 adults and 2 kids (6 and 4).

Every 8 months or so we buy 1/4 cow from a local ranch. It's approximately $500 up front, but then we don't buy beef for 8 months. There's no doubt at all in my mind we save a ton of money there.

I spend 1 day every other week making a 2 week meal plan. I usually do a Walmart grocery pick up order so I don't even need to go into the store and it helps me keep track of what I'm buying and how much I'm spending.
The next day is prep day. I wash and cut all fruits and veggies, cook up or separate any meat that needs it, and then I start to assemble. I make burritos for the freezer (breakfast and bean/beef/cheese), breakfast sammiches, lasagna and stuffed shells, separate chicken to marinate and then grill, 3lbs of seasoned chicken and taco seasoned chicken in the crock pot, spaghetti sauce to portion into several meals, sloppy Joe's, etc.

2 days of planning and cooking/cleaning and most of our meals are ready to go for the next two weeks! We're also simple lunch people: sammiches, soups, salads, leftovers, etc.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

DO you shop everyday? less trips= less impulse buys. plan out meals. Go by yourself or have your groceries delivered to stop impulse purchases. It's difficult to see where you can cut back without seeing what you are buying.

Yes. I have always had trouble with grocery budgeting because I’m such an impulsive buyer and I go off list.

I have saved SO much by ordering online for curbside pickup (we have multiple free pickup options in our area.) I stick to my list and I don’t grab unnecessary items like I would in person at the store. I spend way less, and I love that I can see how much I’m spending as I fill my cart, rather than the shock at the checkout counter. I am much more intentional about my purchases ordering online.

 

[barkley]

that's allot of people so i don't see the dollar amount being off the charts as compared to the per person amount i spend monthly. that said-i'll add on to excellent comments below...

So, then the question becomes, how much less can I spend to still keep everyone eating healthily and happily. In that area, it probably becomes a matter of how much work you want to put in to achieve a certain savings goal. How much meat, fish, and produce breakdown do you want to engage in? How many things are you willing to make from scratch and how often will you do it? How many stores are you willing to shop at? How many sales are you willing to monitor.

Without doing a lot of work, you can probably knock 5-10% off your budget by just being a little more attentive to loss leader sales and planning meals around the seasons and the sales (and stocking up when possible). But after that, it's a question of time and money, and which way you want that to go...

another factor in this equation is storage space-do you have a standalone freezer? a large pantry (or other suitable food storage area)? it's hard to stock up w/o a place to put it.


i take advantage of meat sales and meal plan around them. i also look at what cut of meat is on sale and see if can be adapted to what i want to make but traditionally costs more-pork roasts go on crazy low price sales so i have a meat grinder attachment for my kitchenaide that i use to grind it up and portion in air sealer bags. i pay less than $1 per pound for my breakfast, italian and andouille sausage that way (super easy to season-quick google search provides the spices). beef roasts are often on sale for less than even lousy fat percentage ground beef-the chain supermarket butchers will grind it free for you but you pay the lower price (i've saved over $3 per pound this way). turkeys go on sale after the holidays (hams will be rock bottom come next week) so i grab a couple to go in the freezer for other times of the year. i've got a kid who likes hot dogs-come next month around memorial day the sales will be on and i'll stock up (good time to buy condiments as well).

non perishables-i watch for sales. i know what the normal price is for items i use so i recognize a good sale. today for instance-local chain had campbells chunky soups (all varieties) for 99 cents per can. i can't make some of those soups for that so i got 6 cans each of 5 varieties. same store had a couple of varieties of canned veggies for 55 cents per can if you bought a minimum flat of 12-i bought 4 flats (use by date isn't for over 18 months and they will be used by then).



all this said-there are some prepared foods that cost me less than i can make them for so i double up on the savings and stock up when they come on sale (family size lasagnas come to mind). i am also a huge fan of $11 tuesdays at papa murphys-we get 3 different large pizzas and that provides dinner and lunches for 3 days (you can freeze and reheat after cooking) for a family of 3.

 

[easyas123]

I fully admit I don't cut up vegetables at the beginning of the week, nor do I pre pack lunches. Simply making up a meal list with a few extra options and ordering JUST THAT stuff has reduced our grocery list a ton!

I have saved SO much by ordering online for curbside pickup (we have multiple free pickup options in our area.) I stick to my list and I don’t grab unnecessary items like I would in person at the store. I spend way less,

Exactly this.
Admittedly we also stock up a few times per year our freezer (have a butcher we use, husband is also a hunter so we eat venison, and I will hit Costco...with no goal in terms of stocking up although if they have rack of lamb or pork tenderloin I do tend to pick up a few)

It was really surprising how much my grocery costs went down - and I wasn't skimping on anything - just by buying what I needed for a few planned meals.

 

[tvguy]

Do your menu planning in the store based on what is on sale. Walmart, Sam's Club and Costco are your friends. Buy store brands, unless the name brand is on sale for less Without seeing what you are buying, I can't be more help than that.

 

[RamblingMad]

My Disney budget is usually $100 a person. Some days we go over. Some days we're under. I haven't looked at pricing lately, but I might have to increase this to $125.

 

[afan]

Granted there's just two of us, but we meal plan differently. We know what things are our go to's so I look for the stuff we use for those to go on sale and then stock up. This way we always have the stuff we eat often and I've saved money vs having to go to the store because we want to have it for dinner that night and we're out of chicken stock. We're conscious of expiration dates and will only buy what we'll eat but that also allows me to have enough that I can wait for the next sale. Though I am starting to get concerned that my brick of Tillamook is going to be gone before it goes on sale at the price point I'm happy with.

And that's the other thing, watch the sales and know what price point is a 'ok I'll buy a couple' vs 'I'm stocking up at this price" because things don't always go on sale for the same price. We don't have a lot of options for grocery stores, so we have the one we shop at every week and then I watch the Safeway ad and only go there for loss leaders. One trip there last month I used self check out and it told me I'd saved I think over 20 and my total was like 13 or something, it was all loss leaders for them. The guy next to me said his savings was around 7 and his total 20 something and I thought 'you're doing it wrong, this store is way overpriced to begin with why are you shopping here for non sale stuff?' Part of it is knowing where to buy stuff though, I'm not buying anything but groceries at Safeway unless it's at a really good sale or I'm desperate and can't stop somewhere else. Also watch the Target ads, those combined with Cartwheel can give you good savings and tuna goes on sale for $1 a pouch there just like the grocery store.

 

[Tattylou]

I’ve given up on a budget for groceries. I just buy what we need and like ... and just know it’s going to cost more than I ever would want to spend on food for two adults and two children. It is what it is at this point. I’d say average 350-400 a week including the cat food and other household items (ie paper towels, dish soap, etc). I wish I was a sales and coupons person, but I’m not. I’ve tried to be and I’m not.
We live in Massachusetts- near Boston = high cost of living.

 

[808blessing]

Wholesale club for most things, especially protein choices. When you see a sale, buy enough for 6 weeks or so because the sales usually rotate and you can buy again. Look for stores that regularly put your favorites on sale. In college, I made this lesson using a fake grocery list of 10 items and then mock shopped it (using sales/coupons) at 3 different stores. I ranked the stores that way and favor one store. It still holds true decades later!

 

[DLgal]

I’ve given up on a budget for groceries. I just buy what we need and like ... and just know it’s going to cost more than I ever would want to spend on food for two adults and two children. It is what it is at this point. I’d say average 350-400 a week including the cat food and other household items (ie paper towels, dish soap, etc). I wish I was a sales and coupons person, but I’m not. I’ve tried to be and I’m not.
We live in Massachusetts- near Boston = high cost of living.

This is where I am as well. I don't have the mental energy to meal plan and shop sales and look for the lowest price.

Food is one of life's pleasures and we like to eat what we like to eat. I am at the point where I don't even look at prices anymore. We probably also spend between $300-500/week on food and household goods for the 4 of us. I am at the store every 3-4 days. We have enough money left over for savings every month, so I don't worry about it right now. Our other spending categories have gone down significantly, so it all balances out.

OP, can you afford the amount you are spending on food? Is everyone well fed, healthy, and happy? Honestly, for 8 people, I think you are doing great. Unless you find yourselves spending excess money on convenience foods or low quality stuff and you want to reign that in, I don't think you need to feel guilty about how much you are spending.

 

[barkley]

I am at the store every 3-4 days.

even if we still lived in very close proximity to any grocery stores i don't think i could handle shopping that frequently. i'm down to once, maybe twice a month tops (thank you local dairy for ultra pasteurized milk that's good for a month and a half ), and i was reminded today when i went how much more cumbersome and time consuming the process has become. got to find the que of carts that have been sanitized, got to coordinate going down the aisles with the correct directional arrows, everyone takes so long getting items off the shelves, the produce sections was horrific-had to stand in line to get an item b/c no one was willing to intrude on someone else getting their one item of produce out of an area that held 12 different items. then it's the 6 foot spacing between customers at checkout-i'm all for the safety of it but i can't put my stuff up on the belt until the other person has already completed their entire purchase. a grocery trip that would have taken me 20 minutes tops pre-covid was closer to a 75 minutes.