How Much do YOU spend in Groceries per Month?

[DawnM]

We can and have for years spent about $500-$600/mo for 5 of us and two dogs, including cleaning supplies.

But we have a bit more $$ now and we upped our grocery budget to $700-$750.

 

[mirage0306]

About $1K/month, but that includes sam's club as well as the grocery store. My younger ds cannot have any food dyes or most preservatives, so we have to shop at specialty places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, which are really expensive.

My husband also cannot have dairy products, gluten, or soy, or grains/beans. He eats a ton of fresh produce and lean meats, which gets very pricy too.

ETA: We also eat out *very* rarely--once, maybe twice a month. So this total is for pretty much every meal.

 

[TinaMcTeer]

My family of 5 usually spends about $600 on groceries a month. An additional $100 for paper goods, cleaning products and dog food.

My parents faxed me a list of things they want to have here when they visit and shopping today their list totaled over $400. They are going to be visiting for 5 days and then they wanted some canned goods for the Rv. I just about had a heart attack when I saw the total. NEVER have I had one transaction total that much!

 

[ellone]

About $1K/month, but that includes sam's club as well as the grocery store. My younger ds cannot have any food dyes or most preservatives, so we have to shop at specialty places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, which are really expensive.

I also avoid artificial colors and flavors, but that's a diet choice on my part (I don't think they're healthy for you). I also avoid GMO (genetically modified organisms). Meat has to be from animal not treated with hormones or antibiotics. Dairy from cows not treated with rBGH - this is because I don't think it's good for you and it's also not good for the cows (they have more udder infections). Lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and organic for those items that are considered the 'dirty dozen.' We rarely go out...when we do it's the eat in section at Whole Foods.

So right now we spend about $900 a month for 2 adults and 1 toddler. Will go up since the infant isn't eating any food yet.

 

[jennyjinx3]

About $1K/month, but that includes sam's club as well as the grocery store. My younger ds cannot have any food dyes or most preservatives, so we have to shop at specialty places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, which are really expensive.

My husband also cannot have dairy products, gluten, or soy, or grains/beans. He eats a ton of fresh produce and lean meats, which gets very pricy too.

ETA: We also eat out *very* rarely--once, maybe twice a month. So this total is for pretty much every meal.

I feel for you...I work in "food" retail and I cannot believe how much more expensive just the gluten free food it. Highway robbery

 

[LJSquishy]

I spend $300/mo for my husband and I. This includes all household & toiletries (laundry detergent, toilet paper, shower gel, floss, makeup, etc) as well as food. it does not include eating out which we do a few times per month...usually one sit-down meal and a couple of fast food trips like Subway, etc. I'm trying to get my costs down even more and I know I can by sticking more closely to my grocery list.

 

[nancygirl1]

There are 5 in my family...myself, my husband, 3 teenage boys and 3 cats. We shop not only at the grocery store, but at Bj's and Whole Foods as well as the pet store. We spend about $1200 a month sometimes more. I do not coupon nor do I always shop sales. We buy everything at the grocery store...paper, toiletries, cleaning products, etc. Two of my sons are in college so our bill does drop somewhat when they're not home. But, the money we give them for school more than makes up for the drop in our grocery bill.

 

[taaren]

This question comes up so often it should be a sticky!

The answer is so subjective that no number anyone gives could have any relevance.

If you don't live in the same area, cook the same kind of meals, buy the same kinds of groceries and consume the same quantities, then there are too many variables to make a valid comparison from one poster to the next.

I agree with this. For us, groceries are ridiculous in our area due to the high cost of shipping things in (and local products are tastier, but even more expensive due to the high cost of land that gets passed on to the consumer).
We only spend less than $200 or so on groceries per month, but we eat a lot "out" at about $10-15 per meal (enough for three people, not each) because a home cooked meal will usually run us more than that (portions are often quite large at local take-out places in Hawaii) so our eating out bill runs from $300-$400 per month. When I want to cook something I can't get out or am just hungry for my own recipe of I often end up spending $25-30 on the ingredients for a single meal ... to give you an idea of why, milk here is $5 per gallon ON SALE, ground beef usually runs $3-5 per pound. Tourists are always scandalized by the price we pay here in 'paradise', but you can't really compare one person's grocery bill to another's since geography is a game changer unless you're talking to a neighbor who has a very similar diet to you.

 

[mama2ella]

I would say around $350.00 a month for food and household supplies. We also eat out quite a bit.

 

[shaylahc1]

Some of the numbers in this thread seem really low....I'm not sure I could even buy paper goods and toiletries for a month at those prices We are a family of 6 and we spend about $1100 a month. That includes all toiletries, paper goods, and cleaning supplies (toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, feminine hygiene products, shampoo, toothpaste, deoderant, razors, laundry detergent, etc etc etc). It does not include pet food. We do not coupon and we eat most of our meals from/at home. We eat good, high quality food---I often try new recipes and it's not uncommon for one nice meal to run about $20-25 for ingredients. Meat is very expensive where I live, as are dairy products. Oh and produce---I could spend $40-50 a week on produce alone. I could probably save some money if I shopped elsewhere, bought lower quality or generic foods, but I prefer to cook with name brand favorites. I don't love having a high grocery bill but the work and sacrifices in name brands/quality, shop around at a bunch of different stores, or clip coupons and eat foods that I buy only because I have a coupon (and I've played that game before) are not worth it to me.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

There's just me and my son and our two dogs at home right now, and I spend about $100 a week at the grocery store (including food, personal hygiene, dog treats, etc.). We are vegan, so we don't have any meat, dairy, eggs but we do try to eat a lot of fresh produce which can be expensive at this time of year in Canada. During the warmer weather I will buy a bigger percentage of produce at the farmer's market (we are lucky to live in a town with an excellent farmer's market about 10 minutes from my house, and there is a huge Mennonite farmer's market about 20 minutes in the opposite direction). I also have my son and his wife and four kids over for dinner or lunch at least once a week, and my other son, his girlfriend, and my daughter are over at least once a month, so that means extra money on food as well. We hardly ever eat out - maybe once every three or four weeks.

Coupons are not as plentiful here in Canada, and coupons for vegan foods seem to be rarer still, but I do find some handed out when I go to vegan food fairs and other events and I'll use those. I do try to watch for sales - for example, this week our local store has all their low-salt canned beans on sale, so I will stock up. I find peanut butter goes on sale every three months, roughly, so I try to buy enough when they have the sale that I don't have to buy more until the next sale.

Teresa

 

[DawnM]

I have posted this before, but it is worth posting again. If you really need to cut your grocery bill, there are some great ideas in this free e-book. I don't use it as much anymore because quite frankly I am tired of being in the kitchen. Making my own everything means a lot of prep.


http://www.budget101.com/ebooklet/ebooklet_fam4.pdf

And, as I googled this, several other "how to feed your family for XXX amount" came up. It is worth the search if you are indeed on a tight budget and need to cut your costs.

 

[Tdad]

I am spending about $600 for 3, in addition, we dine out a lot

 

[Couchy]

DH and I spend between $400-500 a month. This includes some paper products once every 4-6 weeks ( napkins, paper towels and toilet paper)
We buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. I would say at least $40 a week for the 2 of us. Then usually chicken, and fish and stuff for a homemade pizza. We make our own granola from things found in the bulk food aisle. A couple boxes of Kashi cereal and granola bars and maybe a box of crackers. Oh and DH eats oatmeal.

I am always amazed at how few bags of groceries all that money actually gets. The bill is actually closer to $500 but we mostly eat fresh produce, and whole grain foods with no high fructose corn syrup so those foods tend to cost more.

 

[sayhello]

I am spending about $600 for 3, in addition, we dine out a lot

If you ate out less, and shopped more carefully, you might be able to afford to go on ABD's!

Sayhello

 

[ZephyrHawk]

For just DH and I (well, and the cat), groceries and other houshold necessities generally come out to about $400 per month. We generally eat out (fast food) at least once a week.

 

[dvcbnd]

We spend $800 a month easily for a family of 5. We are two adults & three children; ds17, dd12 & ds10. That spending doesn't include eating out. I also use coupons & buy what's onsale. Personally I feel that alot of it has to do with the cost of living in your area. We live in the NYC area & the cost for groceries is high.

 

[mrodgers]

Glad to finally see some realistic numbers being posted. Get tired of seeing the " I spend $150 for my family of 20..." balogny.

Trying to hold below $250/week is starting to get difficult. Soon the $150/week gas budget is not going to work either.

 

[Riverhill]

Max $400 a month for a family of 4 including all cleaning supplies etc... I am a big list maker and figure out 14 meals ahead of time and just by the ingredients for those meals. Same thing for breakfast and lunch each day. Rarely have snacks, pop or treats.

 

[poohguys]

Since Christmas time we have been around $600 a month for our family or 3 and one dog. I have managed to keep it under $100 a week for the last two weeks. We all bring lunch everyday to school/work and have pizza every Friday night. I want to try to keep it around $400 a month.