What is YOUR weekly grocery budget?

[bettymae1121]

Right now it's summer so I'm spending $150 a week for two adults. Yes this is high but we buy A LOT of fresh fruit in the summer (it's just so yummy). When I say a lot, I mean I have fruit as my lunch 7 days a week. In the winter that should drop down to $125 or even less a week as the fresh fruit isn't in season any more. I also buy a lot of organic items, which add to the bill. But I find that organic quality tends to be a lot better, especially with dairy and produce. They are so fresh they last longer in the fridge so we through less spoiled food away.

I've tried to cut it down to $75 a week and it just isn't happening. DH winds up getting hungry and runs out to the quick-mart for snacks so it just runs it back up to the $125/$150 range. Only other way to cut is to go back to non-organic and I'd rather not do that. I'll save money in other areas of the budget first.

ETA: Even with non-organic the best I can do is probably about $100 a week. I buy mostly fresh foods and so I can't coupon much.

 

[neatokimmo]

I spend $40 a week for an adult and a toddler. With produce being so cheap right now, we can't eat all of it in a week so I'm getting a stockpile again. I can buy 30 pounds of tomatoes at the farmers market for $6-10 depending on who I talk to. All squash is 50 cents a pound or less. Nice bell peppers are 50 cents.

I really need a little deep freeze

 

[Nik's Mom]

Right now it's summer so I'm spending $150 a week for two adults. Yes this is high but we buy A LOT of fresh fruit in the summer (it's just so yummy). When I say a lot, I mean I have fruit as my lunch 7 days a week. In the winter that should drop down to $125 or even less a week as the fresh fruit isn't in season any more. I also buy a lot of organic items, which add to the bill. But I find that organic quality tends to be a lot better, especially with dairy and produce. They are so fresh they last longer in the fridge so we through less spoiled food away.

I've tried to cut it down to $75 a week and it just isn't happening. DH winds up getting hungry and runs out to the quick-mart for snacks so it just runs it back up to the $125/$150 range. Only other way to cut is to go back to non-organic and I'd rather not do that. I'll save money in other areas of the budget first.

ETA: Even with non-organic the best I can do is probably about $100 a week. I buy mostly fresh foods and so I can't coupon much.

Still watch for coupons. Most of my coupons are for toiletries, cleaning supplies, paper goods, etc. Every penny counts these days.

 

[agustinboucher]

I use coupons for the daily veggies and other grocery. We are a family of 5 (including a dog); we try to keep our weekly budget for grocery and other miscellaneous stuff upto $150. But it may stretch up to $200 if we end up meeting some surprise guests on weekends.

 

[disneymom2one]

Family of three - 2 adults and a teenager. We're on the high end - about $175 a week. That includes everything - cleaning supplies, dog food (two big dogs). We could spend less but I'm a huge supporter of Publix and rarely shop anywhere else. We also eat healthy and I don't compromise the budget for that - no red meat or pork at all and what meat I do buy is the absolute healthiest I can find. I do match coupons to sales and Publix but Publix doesn't double in Florida.

 

[heatherwillmom]

I must not be doing as well with my budget as some of you. There are 4 of us, me DH (who is diabetic & needs snacks), DD 16 (who eats constantly & weighs 95 pounds), & DS 14. We also have 2 dogs & 2 cats. I go to Walmart for most things, groceries, animal food, cleaning supplies, & other household things once a week. I spend $175-200 per week. I pack DH lunch daily. I usually come home for lunch. When kids are in school, I pack their lunches too. We buy about 2 of the 24 packs of soft drinks weekly & about 2 gallons of milk. I stop occassionally at Ingles for extra things through the week like produce. I don't use coupons although I am thinking about starting to use them. I think I need to rethink my budget.

 

[Mommee]

Family of 6, one a constantly eating teen boy....$225/week

That includes EVERYTHING-DH takes lunches to work, kids are home now but it will include school lunches once that's back in session...ordering pizza on Saturday nights, cleaning supplies, health and beauty, paper products, the run to the store to get the forgotten item, the occasional fast food meal when we're on the run, etc.

I found it was very easy to "kid" myself into thinking I was spending a LOT less by only counting my weekly big shopping trip, but that little mid-week stop at the store, the trip to Sams to stock up on meat, and the weekend pizza..well, that money IS spent, too, so I now just include it in my budget.

 

[kldmom2000]

We average about $200 per week.... 2 adults, 2 kids ages 10 and 7, and 3 cats.

I buy mostly organic so that drives the price up... I try to coupon as much as possible, but in the summer it's harder with the 2 kids in tow anxious to get out of the grocery store

 

[charming23]

It is just my mom and I at home and we spend about $50 a week on groceries, so $200 a month. We eat at home and utilize leftovers a lot for lunches. If we add on household/expenses and cat items it is an extra $50 a month. We get a large bag of cat food once every three months and buy enough litter at the beginning of the month for the whole month.

I do this by using coupons and planning our meals based on sales. We always have a variety of fresh fruits and veggies. I also stock-up our freezer when I see things we use at a really great price.

 

[WeRblam]

We average about $200 per week.... 2 adults, 2 kids ages 10 and 7, and 3 cats.

I buy mostly organic so that drives the price up... I try to coupon as much as possible, but in the summer it's harder with the 2 kids in tow anxious to get out of the grocery store

After reading several of the posts here - I have to chime in! One word - COUPONS is the way to go. I have a family of 4 (2 adults, 1 21 yo and 1 17 yo and 1 puppy (golden retriever), I spend about $150 on average. Most of this is meats, cheese, vegetables, cold cuts for lunches etc. I stockpile everything else! Examples:

I get mustard for free - I use a .50$ coupon at Stop and Shop which doubles. Mustard (small bottle) is .99$
Utilize CVS extra Care bucks. Get toothpaste, shampoo, contact lens solutions for free
Staples - back to school in August specials. Penny sales, get glue, pens, paper, notebooks for pennies

If anyone is interested, I have a link to a coupon site which details how to get the bargains, what is on sale for the next few weeks (grocery, drug store, freebies, etc). Just PM me and I will email you the link. AND ITS FREE - lol

 

[#1hoosierfan]

I don't really have a budget, but I would say that we spend about $150-$175 a week for the four of us and two dogs and one cat.

The baby is still in diapers, and the 3 year old still wears a pull-up at night. The dogs have to have "designer" dog food because the lab has tummy issues, and that runs $28 every 3 weeks or so. We also do a lot of organic.... milk especially. I spend over $7.00 a week on 1 gallon a week.... the baby drinks a half-gallon of whole milk, and the 3 year old drinks a half-gallon of skim. DH and I are not big milk drinkers. I also buy a lot of fruits and veggies. I "waste" a lot of money by buying the pre-cut fruits and veggies, but I find that we eat so much more when it is so convenient.

Last year before I had my second baby, I did a lot of couponing and price matching. The savings were TREMENDOUS. I really need to get back into it......

 

[DonnaL]

Well, we currently have four of us.....DH, myself and two twentysomething DS's at home (our youngest on summer break from college and our oldest...newly engaged and moved home until the wedding next July to save every penny toward a home purchase) and I've been averaging about $175 weekly.....now keep in mind....most weekends everyone is on their own.....so I only plan meals for maybe 4 nights a week, plus workweek lunches. It was an adjustment for me to go back to buying for four people since for the past few years we had been empty nesters(except for summers) and some weeks only spending $50 at the grocery. I do try to buy certain things in larger quantities when on sale so every week my list is usually different.......i.e. when detergent is on sale BOGO I might purchase 6 or 8 bottles and then not need it for two months or more.....same thing with paper towels, toilet paper, soap. The basics are usually the same every week.....fruit, veggies, dairy items. I also try to plan menus for the next week with whatever meats are on sale this week and if it's a really good price I might stock up a few extra packages for a week when not much meat is on sale. I find a good portion of the weekly bill does go toward lunch items.......especially deli things like lunch meat and cheeses.....so try to make sure at least two of my dinner meals will provide leftovers for lunches the next day to avoid buying a lot of deli stuff.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I guess we don't really have a "budget" per say, I usually take $160 a month out and do the big order, and then make runs to the store as needed, like on Monday night i ran to "get a few things" and spent $40.