How much do you spend on groceries per month?

[Eureka]

We are a family of 5. Live in Northern NJ. We don't deprive ourselves of what we want and I tend to stock up on a lot of food, especially when it is on sale. We don't spend much money going out to dinner (maybe a pizza or Chinese take out once in a while). I would estimate that we spend around $800/month on food per month, maybe a little less. Is this figure way out of line? I always buy stuff that is on sale but I work full time and go out every day for lunch (probably $6/day average, so around $120, just for me), everyone else brown bags it. Is this the norm for a family of 5? Just wondering.

A lot of it will depend on how old your kids are. Mine are teen boys who are athletes and they A LOT! I’m in the DC metro area and we probably spend about $1200/mo on groceries for the four of us, plus a cat. That includes cleaning supplies, paper goods, toiletries and pet supplies. I don’t budget for groceries like I did when we were younger and had less money. Now, I just buy what we need and want. I do use coupons and shop sales though. And the kids and I pack lunch. Dh tends to go out.

 

[Jaime4004]

We spend about $600/month on groceries for a family of 5 (two teens) in the northeast. Doesn't includes toiletries or dog food. The boys and DH eat lunch a few times/week at work and school, so they are bringing it the other days. We also go out to eat as a family about once/week on the weekends.

 

[kandb]

We budget $2,000 a month for groceries and $1,000 a month for dining out. Family of 4 in Seattle. Half of our grocery budget is spent on wine.

This is my favorite response. I didn't include my nightly glass (or 2) of wine into our budget. I think you also won the most spent. Seattle must be expensive.

 

[kandb]

Wow, I am surprised how much money a lot of people spend on food. I think the cost of food has really gone up the last 5 years or so. I remember getting chop meat on special sometimes for 99 cents per pound. Now it's $2.99 when it goes on sale.

 

[Lvsdisney]

We spend about $500-$600 a month on food. We're a family of 4, but the 4th (DD) doesn't eat much. I don't include alcohol in that since I purchase that at our state stores/beer distributors, so another $100 for that. We're in the NE.

 

[LilyWDW]

I spend about $200 a month on just myself, but that amount also includes all my OTC meds (so all my allergy meds, sinus meds, pain meds, etc.), kitty litter, paper goods, plastic baggies, and the like. So really I think I spend about $150 a month on actual food at the grocery. Then I spend about $15-$60 a month eating out depending on what we are doing at work (the team goes out for lunch every Friday and I may or may not join depending on where they are going).

I do as much shopping as I can at Aldi and then fill in at Meijer usually and rarely Kroger. I will sometimes spend a bit more one month in order to stock up on a good meat deal. I could also spend less, but I have food restrictions due to medical reasons and I am allergic to soy which is used in a lot of "cheap" foods.

 

[Hikergirl]

Family of 5 (2 teen boys and an adult dd) we spend probably $1000 on groceries a month. That doesn't include eating out, school lunches or lunches at work for dh.
In the summer it goes up probably another $500 a month because we entertain friends and buy more alcohol.

 

[MillauFr]

Seattle must be expensive.

Yes...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sa...-122.316201,47.676605,-122.320128_rect/17_zm/

 

[larissawbb]

Yes...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sa...-122.316201,47.676605,-122.320128_rect/17_zm/

Just wow! That house would go for 160-180 around here but the taxes would be the same.

 

[OhMari]

I get fresh produce from early summer to late fall every week from a Garden Share. My cost is $150.

We spend around $500 a month on food. We eat our left overs for lunch. We probably spend $200 a month on cleaning products and soaps, Kleenex etc.

 

[jacksmom]

We are a family of 3 with a son in junior college, we rarely eat out any of our meals. We take bkfst, lunch and snacks/drinks with us each day. We spend about $230 a week including household cleaning products, paper products, hygiene products and over the counter meds. I do try to budget and meal plan, I eat vegetarian so lots of fresh fruit and veggies. We eat pretty healthy, but it’s getting harder! We do have a small garden in summer that helps some. We live in NC.

 

[dosekies]

Family of 2, we spend about $350 a month and about $100 a month for takeout.

Family of 2 and this is about what we spend as well. Unless my fiancé comes to the store with me, then the $350 ends up being the weekly amount

 

[Sundowner2]

Family of 4, spending about 300 a month. We do simple meals, not much meat. We spend another 100 or so a month meals out.

 

[MEM]

Family of four adults in the Greater Boston area. We spend about $600 a month on food plus another $100 on non-food items as well as expensive food for our two dogs. DH does all the food shopping, pretty much Costco and Market Basket with a monthly trip to Trader Joe's (too tempting to go more often $$$$) Since we never eat out or buy take out while at home, we put $100 a month into our Disney vacation food budget. DH is retired and I am the breadwinner so I pack my breakfast and lunch every day. Neither DH and I can drink alcohol anymore due to interactions with our meds so that budget item is gone. If DD21 wants her wine, beer or hard cider it comes out of her paycheck. I would like to do better with our budget but DS23 eats enough for three people yet is still a beanpole.

 

[AnnaS]

Right now we are a family of three adults and I average $800 - $900 a month with the Costco run - average every two months - $250 average per trip. Also, many times one or two of my married sons will come over on a Sunday or sometimes Saturday. Average twice a month - that morning will make a run and average another $50 to use with whatever we have in the house.

I can't keep up with produce.

 

[sk!mom]

We budget $2,000 a month for groceries and $1,000 a month for dining out. Family of 4 in Seattle. Half of our grocery budget is spent on wine.

Salute!

Family of 3 adults. We spend about $1,000 to 1200 per month. Dh and I pack lunches. Adult DS works at a grocery store. I think he normally buys two meals at work. He must as he doesn't take anything from home.

Our total includes all household needs including OTC meds, toiletries, etc... It also includes wine and beer. We buy lots of produce and high quality meats- salmon, Prime beef. At this point in our lives, we don't really budget. We buy what is healthiest and what we enjoy. Very little packaged prepared stuff.

DH and I average maybe $50 a week on one meal out.

 

[DisneyHardin]

There are just 2 of us and we live in Louisville, KY. I spend $50-$70/week in groceries. We do eat out dinner about twice a week and DH eats out lunch some days, so probably about $100/week is spent in restaurants. I try to be VERY frugal with my groceries and only buy meat that is either on a great sale or marked down in the "Managers Special" area. I also stock up when things are a great price since we have a deep freeze.

 

[1st*toright]

I'm trying to keep our grocery spend to about $650 a month (including cleaning products, personal care items etc.) Family of 4 in the northeast. Doesn't include meals out- we don't eat out often, but we tend to eat at pricier places when we do eat out, so averages out to something like $100 a month.

I've really been working at this - used to be at least $1200 for groceries and we could easily spend $500 on eating out in a given month. Our closest grocery store is a Whole Foods, which did not help. Fortunately there is an Aldi, Costco and a fantastic asian market that are also nearby, so we pretty much only buy meat and a few other specialty items at Whole Foods anymore. Still eating well, just being much more mindful of using up everything we buy and shopping where prices are better, rather than always going for convenience.

 

[pigletto]

Probably 450 to 500 a month for our family of 3 (dd20 lives on her own now). That did include our Costco dog food but my labs weren’t doing well on it so I’ve switched to a much better food and I doubled that budget. So I would say we are now at $550-$600 all in. I work from home and am able to cook most days which helps keep the bills low. Ds and Dh take a packed lunch. There’s nowhere to buy food at ds’s school and Dh works through his lunch most days. All of it helps the budget.

We very rarely eat out anymore, as I prefer to put that money in the vacation budget.

 

[jsmla]

We're a South Louisiana couple (empty nesters) and spend around $400/month at a local grocery/Target plus another $100 monthly (paper goods, laundry detergent, toiletries, etc at Sam's. This includes all household paper/cleaning/pet supplies but not lunches at work for DH. We set out probably once a week.

My main store is definitely not the cheapest but it's extremely convenient and provides excellent service. As small business owners we try to patronize local places. I do buy most of our non-food stuff at Target or Sam's.