How much do you spend each week on groceries?

[turnlisa]

My DH does the shopping and we usually spend $180 at the regular grocery store and about $35 at the market with the good produce. We haven't been using Sam's as much as we should. We have decided to make an effort to do this more. We are a family of 4 - DSs are 6 and 11 plus our dog and cat. Prices are definitely going up and I can't wait until the garden takes off. We eat from there for the end of the summer and definitely save a lot of money. Oh, and coupon clipping is on our horizon!

 

[mefordis]

A lot of it will be stretched for more than a week but I just got back from the store and I spent $80 (after spending $650 this past Friday). I bought diapers and a few small items. We live on Long Island if that helps. We don't waste anything. We will use every last bit of it. I buy a lot of fresh produce. I try to cook everything I can without using anything processed. Overall I average about $300 a week. Sometimes more sometimes a little (very little) less.

This sounds like us. We live in NJ, about 40 mins from NYC. I think we spend around the same and shop similarly.

I don't know how we could get by on $150/week like it seems is the norm for a family of 3. I buy a lot of organic veg/fruit and organic meat. Also nuts, good cheeses, etc. I'm sure I could cut it down but not to $150. I think I'll challenge myself this week to spend just $250 for the entire week.

 

[bdcp]

About $160/week. I don't try to stay under a particular number, but that's about what it usually is. It's myself, DH and DS(22). Before DS came back home to finish college locally, I was spending about $120/wk. Between him eating a little differently than us and costs increasing, my bill went up about 40%. I just buy whatever I feel like buying for that week or two and the basics that my family requests for their lunches and snacks. I found, which I've seen reported by consumer groups also, that all coupons do is make me buy stuff I wouldn't normally so I don't use them and haven't for years unless I come across one for something I am buying anyway. A better use of manufacturer's dollars would be to discount their products (rather than printing and distributing coupons).

 

[kldmom2000]

Approx. $200-$250 per week including pet food/litter but NOT including health and beauty products, laundry detergent, etc... for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids and 2 cats

 

[mickeyfan9194]

$100/week here for 2 adults and 2 teenagers in Minnesota. This includes everything except dog food.

I shop sales and use coupons at two different stores (but they are across the street from each other, so no extra driving). I CVS for all our health & beauty and paper products. We don't eat out hardly at all anymore--too much garbage on the menus. We all brown bag our lunches. We buy lots of fresh fruit and vegies. No soda or juices--we prefer water (tap). We don't drink a lot of milk either. We rarely buy any chips or ice cream. Eating healthier for us actually LOWERED our food bill!

 

[NicksMommy]

We pay about $500-900 a week on food, this does not include my trips to Sam's club for paper goods and extras... This is for a family of 3 - I buy a lot of meat and already finished meals. I take my son who is 3 with me and we end up with a lot of un-needed sugar snacks... Why? because is easier to buy than fight with a 3 year old in the store!

 

[extremesoccermom]

Technically there are only 4 of us: DH, me, DS18 and DD13 but I babysit my sisters 3 kiddos 3 nights a week so I feed them dinner and evening snack. They are 16, 6 and 1.
I have a monthly budget of:

400 Food (including 2 dogs - one 25lb dauchsand and one growing 45lb 4 month old German shepard/Akita mix) this is for breakfast, lunch and dinner
100 Household which includes shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, paper goods, garden supplies, pool chemicals, cleaning supplies...
40 Out to eat - usually one sit down a month or 2 1.00 menu FF trips.

We are in St. Louis, MO and I do shop the sales and coupon
We hit up to 9 stores at various times during the month depending on where we are headed for practices and travel to and from work.
Dierbergs
Schnucks
Shop n Save
Aldis
Trader Joes
Walgreens
Target
Kmart
Sams

 

[belle231]

Okay so i use to spend alot a week on food but not so much anymore. I live in PA and there are three of us. I look online first for the store with the best deals then i go to "sharp shopper" which is a discount store i usally buy paper towels toilet paper laundry det. etc. then i go to the grocery store for frozen food and such then i head to walmart. I ALWAYS use a calculator now i use to spend way more then i needed too. Now i pick how much i am going to spend and dont go over. I make a grocery list of what i need and "dinners" and leave money for buying extras i end up spending 150 every two weeks. Its alot of work but i am use to it and it works out in the end only spending about 300-350 a month on groceries.

 

[stahshee]

we spend 130- 140 a week on just fruit, veggie , milk and bread, butter, cat food
. I use coupons and I shop sales
we also go shopping about every 6 weeks and spend 400 on stocking up.. We are a family of 6 and we live in no mans land NY

 

[Jengonz1982]

I average about $150 to $225 a month for groceries,and such. I've been hardcore couponing for over a year. I've been CVS'ing for almost 18 months now as well. I have my own stockpile pantry. I shop mostly at Winn Dixie,with coupons. I shop at Walmart sometimes to get the Smore's cereal,and occasionally fresh fruit. My children are not into eating that much fresh fruit,but they'll eat applesauce,or canned fruits alot. I purchase canned veggies because I have no room in my freezer to store alot of frozen veggies.
I get all of my household,health and beauty supplies from CVS.
I eat lunch out atleast 1 once a week,so I budget for about $50 EXTRA for that expense.
I feed my 4 yo dd,my 8 yo dd,and sometimes I'll give food to my mom as well,with that budget.

 

[punkin]

It's gone up. I used to spend about $400 per month for a family of 4. Now it is up to almost $500. I also try to drive less, so I don't comparison shop as much as I used to.

 

[annsteere]

I spend about 100/week for three of us. Adding to the pantry whatever is at a good price that week.

DH spends---whatever he wants! If the weather is nice and he gets in the mood to grill, he goes shopping. Has a personal theory that frozen burgers or chicken don't grill as well as fresh so he buys meat at whatever price it happens to be today. Then, potato salad from the deli rather than homemade and whatever fresh veggies and fruit happen to look good to him.

I'm trying to figure that he spends less than going out. And, like a previous poster said, it's much cheaper than marriage counseling.

 

[runwad]

I spend about 100/week for three of us. Adding to the pantry whatever is at a good price that week.

DH spends---whatever he wants! If the weather is nice and he gets in the mood to grill, he goes shopping. Has a personal theory that frozen burgers or chicken don't grill as well as fresh so he buys meat at whatever price it happens to be today. Then, potato salad from the deli rather than homemade and whatever fresh veggies and fruit happen to look good to him.

I'm trying to figure that he spends less than going out. And, like a previous poster said, it's much cheaper than marriage counseling.

ahahaha, its a man thing, my DH is the same way. For every dollar I save he spends so we always come back to zero.

 

[patsal]

I do the majority of my shopping monthly with trips weekly for fresh fruit, veggies, milk, and cold-cuts...

Monthly w/ all toiletries $375.00
Weekly for extra's $25.00

On month's with 5 weeks I drop the montly by $25.00 so that it is the same each month...

$475.00 for a family of 4 (DH, me, DD15, and DS12) If we eat out, it comes out of this budget, so needless to say, we don't eat out often.

Looks like we shop pretty much exactly alike! Judgiing form where you live most likely the smae stores as well! I really don't like grocery shopping so getting stuff monthly and then just the fresh foods from the perimeter weekly really saves me time and energy!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

$75/week average for the five of us: dh and I, ds15OnSunday (5'9", 120lb, constantly eating), dd13 (ballet dancer 5x/week, also constantly eating) and dd8

Dd13 has multiple food allergies, including soy, which pretty much eliminates any prepared foods. I can't even buy canned soups. We do not eat out. The kids and dh pack their lunches every day. I work from home so I eat at home.

I cook and bake almost everything we eat. I shop at a Pepperidge Farms outlet for their 100% Natural Whole Wheat Bread (no hfcs btw), buying 10 loaves at a time at $1.89 or less, which I freeze. I make our own tortillas but I do buy pasta.

I have a garden but during the winter, once we've exhausted what I've "put up" I buy IN SEASON or frozen organic fruits and veggies.

I shop at three different grocery stores plus Costco, CVS and Walgreens. I rely on www.HotCouponWorld.com and the posters there for helpful sale/coupon match-ups when I don't have the time to figure deals on my own.

 

[stahshee]

It's gone up. I used to spend about $400 per month for a family of 4. Now it is up to almost $500. I also try to drive less, so I don't comparison shop as much as I used to.

I do not compare shop as much becuase I do not want to waste gass. Also I dont buy the paper my mom gives me her coupons and news paper when she is done

 

[Sgt.Tibbs]

I try to keep my grocery bill under $150 every 2 weeks for a family of 4. But, that doesn't include toiletries, paper products, cat food, dog food and litter. If I had to guesstimate, I'd say all that adds another $150 per month.

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

It varies for us. But usually for a family of 5 we spend about $500 a month. There are some weeks I only spend $70, there are some weeks I spend $150. It depends what is on sale, if the store I shop at have buy 1 get 2 free meat, I usually spend more, because we stock up.

I know the store you are reffering to. I will only buy the buy 1 get 2 items. They tend to up the price of everything else in the store. If you are in the Southern part of the state, you might want to check out 90 Meat Outlet. Their prices are always good and will sometimes even be better than Big Y's b/1/g2 prices.

Back on topic......We are a family of 3 w/1 dog living in Norther CT. If I had to break it down our weekly would be around $40-50 per week. I don't do weekly shopping like most people. The only things I shop often for are dairy/bread/produce. I shop for most items in bulk from Wholesale/Discount stores, CVS, Target, Walgreens. I also bulk cook. Shop the sales and ALWAYS with coupons. And I do stockpile. I also buy some generic (not much)but, I can buy 2 family size frozen pizzas for $3.99 instead of 1 for $7.99 and they taste the same.
Just an example: I purchased 40 lbs of fresh boneless chick breast and 30 or 40 lbs of ground beef for @ $108.00. The last time I purchased this much it lasted me for 5 months. This will be our staple for approx 75 meals.

For those of you looking for ways to cut back on the food budget. This is the place to be. Over the years I have learned ALOT from the Budget Board. I have changed my whole way of thinking when it comes to shopping and cooking.

 

[heartsy77]

I realize I spend more because I feed more than most. I personally have: 2 girls, 2 step kids ( one is almost 16 and a boy thank god he is only here every other weekend because he never stops eating!) my DH and myself. I run a daycare out of my home which equals currently: 10 kids about 45- 50 breakfasts a week, 8 lunches, 50 after school snacks and 15 diners a week. I do get reimbursed through the USDA for the daycare kids food, I used actually make a little money ahead of the food program with smart shopping ; however, since food prices have risen that was wiped out. I spend anywhere between 125-210 a week at Walmart, on misc household stuff which includes some food. Then I hit the actual grocery store for about 110- 120 a week. Some weeks were are hitting the $300 mark for sure! The sad part is I live in upstate NY which is supposed to have a lower cost of living then some of you so $300 is really a lot! One thing I have noticed since food prices and like have risen I used to think Walmart was usually the cheapest for food items; however, I have found that my Price Chopper grocery store has sale items cheaper than Walmart. For a three pound tub of SMART BALANCE margarine spread it is over $8.00 @ walmart at the grocery store it is only $5.99 regular price!

 

[brandylouwho]

Family of 4, 2 adults, a 4 year old and a 1 year old

We consistently spend $125 per week at the grocery store. We laugh because no matter what we decide to buy our bill is always very close to that number.

That doesn't include our dog food, cat food & litter or diapers. Those would average another $20 or so per week ( I am guessing).