What's your family food budget?

[winnieofpooh]

My husband and I are trying to determine how much house we can afford. We're going to start trying for kids soon, so I want to factor a family food budget into our overall budget before buying a house to make sure we can still afford it after having kids (we already know daycare and "startup" kid costs). That being said, how big is your family and how much do you spend a month on groceries?

We live in a medium/low COL and have access to Walmart/Aldi, so generally can get affordable groceries. Right now we spend about $400-$450 a month for two people, which includes all household items and any eating out as well. Is $1,000 for three kids too low? Too high? Just looking for some real world examples.

 

[Sadeesmom]

One adult & one teenager here.
We keep a separate dining out budget.
For household items (cleaning products, shampoo, etc) we spend ~$40-50/month.
For actual groceries (mostly from Aldi & Walmart), $130/month total.

 

[davper]

If you have no plans to change your eating habits, it is safe to assume that you will spend the same per person. But families tend to eat out less because of the cost. So this would adjust downward.
Then of course there is changing of your habits and eating less expensive food, I know families who feed five on $100 per week and couples who spend $500 a week.
How likely are you to change what and where you eat? You should try it for a few months to see if you are willing to change.

 

[siren0119]

We were very broke when my oldest was born, and for a couple of years I kept us on a strict $50/week budget ($200/month) for two adults and a baby/toddler. (This was 12 years ago, so not exactly in the stone ages lol) I guess I never grew out of my frugal cooking and with two adults, two preteen boys and a dog our total budget for all grocery/pet food/paper goods and toiletries tops out around $500-600 a month. I don't include dining out in our food budget as that's a treat and budgeted separately. We eat almost entirely fresh food and purchase meat in bulk when we can.

 

[JenBush]

There are a ton of examples family grocery budgets on Pinterest and various blogs. I’d start by looking at some of those and consider how your eating habits could fit into one of those budgets.

 

[stephk1981]

First decide if you are formula feeding or nursing. I nursed our first, but formula fed our second. Formula is a huge cost, especially if they end up needing a ' special' formula. We easily spent $250 a month on formula and diapers. Our youngest is now 2 years and 5 months and finally toilet trained yay!!!! We are a family of 4, two adults, an almost 12 year old boy ( eats SOOO much.) And DD 2....normal eater. We rarely eat out, I cook all 3 meals, our grocery bill is normally $300 a week( or 1300-1500 a month now that we don't buy formula/ diapers.) We eat a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, and my DH and DS are big meat eaters as well.....which can be expensive. Good luck, so exciting starting a family!!!

 

[firefly_ris]

We are a family of five and normally spend around $450/month on food, in Western New York. That does not include any non-food items we get at grocery store or Sam's Club like paper towels, toilet paper or cleaning supplies. It also does not include the occasional treat of a dinner at a restaurant (with 3 kids that doesn't happen much). Right now our monthly food spending is higher than that because of Instacart pricing and delivery fees.

Now and then we will have a higher month when we do basement pantry stocking.... like buying a lot of beans, rice, chicken broth, meats for the freezer all at once, etc. But then that will balance out later since I then don't need to buy those things for a while. Once a year or so we also split a full cow or pig with a family member from a local farm, which is a one-time per year cost that then affects meat purchasing the rest of the year.

I also am a deal searcher and rotate grocery stores based on who has good deals that particular week. I'll typically start with Aldi, and then split weeks between Wegmans, Walmart and Tops depending on what I'm looking for (artisan, specialty stuff is my Wegmans stop for example, but those are not every month type purchases anyway so I save a lot by just not entering Wegmans as much as I used to).

 

[TwoMisfits]

My husband and I are trying to determine how much house we can afford. We're going to start trying for kids soon, so I want to factor a family food budget into our overall budget before buying a house to make sure we can still afford it after having kids (we already know daycare and "startup" kid costs). That being said, how big is your family and how much do you spend a month on groceries?

We live in a medium/low COL and have access to Walmart/Aldi, so generally can get affordable groceries. Right now we spend about $400-$450 a month for two people, which includes all household items and any eating out as well. Is $1,000 for three kids too low? Too high? Just looking for some real world examples.

I'd take your average "per person" and just keep adding as you add a kid...early kids have pampers and formula, so even when they aren't eating much, you're buying "extra" products at the grocery...then, once they leave diapers and pull ups and formula, they tend to start eating, but then getting picky, so you might buy things you wouldn't buy for you...and then they hit tweens and teens and start out eating you...and this assumes an allergy-free kid...have a kid with an allergy, and they will cost more than your average per person...

But, I'd add $200-$225/person, probably the higher at this time b/c groceries are the one inflationary area right now...and that's where I'd set a budget...

 

[barkley]

My husband and I are trying to determine how much house we can afford. We're going to start trying for kids soon, so I want to factor a family food budget into our overall budget before buying a house to make sure we can still afford it after having kids

just as a suggestion-when considering these calculations take into the numbers the costs of owning a home that aren't included in those 'how much house can i afford' calculators. by this i mean-

on average how much do the property taxes increase per year in the area you are looking at

what can you anticipate in increased homeowner's insurance for the area

what are the bonds/levies in existence or potentially anticipated (it's great to move into an area that is promoting all the new/improved schools, parks...planned over the next decade but those expenses come at a cost to homeowners via imposed bonds (not all places allow these to be voter approved).

then there's the age of the home and upkeep/replacement/repairs. even a brand new home will eventually need replacement of items as they age, and it's much easier to be able to pull from savings you set aside each month for these purposes.

One adult & one teenager here.
We keep a separate dining out budget.
For household items (cleaning products, shampoo, etc) we spend ~$40-50/month.
For actual groceries (mostly from Aldi & Walmart), $130/month total.

not to pry but i have to ask-how much dining out are you doing that you can feed on groceries 2 people for $130 per month? that is less than a food stamp recipient gets for a household of 1 (and it's not meant to meet their entire nutritional needs). we live in a low cost of living area and even before prices started to go up b/c of all that's happening w/ supply vs. demand there is no way even the best bargain shopping, bake from scratch/home gardeners/canners could have managed 3 meals per day on that budget.

 

[DisneyHardin]

not to pry but i have to ask-how much dining out are you doing that you can feed on groceries 2 people for $130 per month? that is less than a food stamp recipient gets for a household of 1 (and it's not meant to meet their entire nutritional needs). we live in a low cost of living area and even before prices started to go up b/c of all that's happening w/ supply vs. demand there is no way even the best bargain shopping, bake from scratch/home gardeners/canners could have managed 3 meals per day on that budget.

I was pretty impressed by that total too. There are just 2 of us and I'm VERY frugal with looking for deals, Manager Markdowns, coupons, etc and I still spend about $250/month at the grocery.

 

[Sadeesmom]

not to pry but i have to ask-how much dining out are you doing that you can feed on groceries 2 people for $130 per month? that is less than a food stamp recipient gets for a household of 1 (and it's not meant to meet their entire nutritional needs). we live in a low cost of living area and even before prices started to go up b/c of all that's happening w/ supply vs. demand there is no way even the best bargain shopping, bake from scratch/home gardeners/canners could have managed 3 meals per day on that budget.

We usually eat out 1-2 times per week. We don’t snack on processed foods-it’s almost all fresh fruits and veggies-a few of which we grow ourselves. We don’t eat any fish, and very little beef-mostly chicken. We buy half a hog about every three months. I cook in bulk-usually for four or eight and then freeze the leftovers to be warmed up later. Cooking one big meal is cheaper & easier than cooking two or four small meals.

 

[TwoMisfits]

We usually eat out 1-2 times per week. We don’t snack on processed foods-it’s almost all fresh fruits and veggies-a few of which we grow ourselves. We don’t eat any fish, and very little beef-mostly chicken. We buy half a hog about every three months. I cook in bulk-usually for four or eight and then freeze the leftovers to be warmed up later. Cooking one big meal is cheaper & easier than cooking two or four small meals.

Does your teen get school meals? And do you count the 1/2 hog in the groceries, or is that a separate buy?

 

[Sadeesmom]

I was pretty impressed by that total too. There are just 2 of us and I'm VERY frugal with looking for deals, Manager Markdowns, coupons, etc and I still spend about $250/month at the grocery.

See my other reply. For further details, we keep it simple. For example, breakfast is usually egg muffins (I like ham & cheese with either mushrooms or spinach, but you use pretty much whatever you want). And some type of bread-toast or waffles or muffins.
Lunch is either leftovers or a simple cold cut sandwich with baby carrots and either a banana or grapes.
Dinner is protein based due to stomach issues, but revolves around either chicken or pork.

 

[Sadeesmom]

Does your teen get school meals? And do you count the 1/2 hog in the groceries, or is that a separate buy?

No, she takes her lunch & then comes home to eat second lunch after school.
Yes, $40 of the $130 is a sinking fund/envelope for the hog.

 

[Lilsia]

Babies are extremely expensive. Diapers alone will cost an arm and a leg and formula is outrageous. Our kids are adults now and so they get some of their own food when they go out but we spend about $500-$600/month at the store. This includes household, non-food items also. But we don't exactly economize. We buy what we want. I would highly recommend buying a house that you can afford on 1 income. When our kids were young, I stayed home with them and cooked most meals, and I don't remember how much I spent. I know it was a lot with 2 little ones.

 

[Tattylou]

My kids are 10 and 11. Our food and household items amounts have definitely more than doubled since having kids. I can't believe how little a lot of you spend per month. I'm jealous. I do live in a high cost of living area - my groceries/households items are about 300 a week, including cat food, paper towels, etc. That does not include eating out.
If you think babies and daycare are expensive, wait until you see how much sports cost! I was paying 550 a month for club baseball for 2 kids and then there is the additional cost of their other sports, camps, etc. My experience has been kids start expensive and stay expensive!

 

[barkley]

We usually eat out 1-2 times per week. We don’t snack on processed foods-it’s almost all fresh fruits and veggies-a few of which we grow ourselves. We don’t eat any fish, and very little beef-mostly chicken. We buy half a hog about every three months. I cook in bulk-usually for four or eight and then freeze the leftovers to be warmed up later. Cooking one big meal is cheaper & easier than cooking two or four small meals.

i cook in bulk as well and it is a savings. the killer to our budget that you mention would be the fruit and veggies. now, i eat allot of salads so i'm always getting greens/tomatoes but aside from things like celery and potatoes, despite being a big growing area-fruit and veggies are high cost items (zucchini and squash are considered a good deal at almost $2 a pound, mushrooms are over $2 for 8 oz, spinach is only worth it if cooked same day due to the organics going bad so quickly, vine tomatoes before the virus were per pound over $2, now they are over $5 , bananas are about the only affordable at less than $1 a pound-native to us apples and cherries are crazy expensive). eggs are still affordable (if you can find them), we got good deals on pork and chicken pre covid (both less than $2 a pound) but these days it's nuts. if you can do it on the amount you say-it's impressive.

I would highly recommend buying a house that you can afford on 1 income. When our kids were young, I stayed home with them and cooked most meals, and I don't remember how much I spent. I know it was a lot with 2 little ones.

i can't argue with this. my 2 are 2 1/2 years apart so there were allot of years of dual daycare, then dual before and after school care. back in the 90's i was paying $1000 a month for infant/toddler daycare, now the same place charges $2000 a month (i just checked cuz i was curious) and it's only and few hundred less when they age up into 'preschool'. now i understand why there seems to be so many more stay at home moms at least during their kid's younger years than there were when mine were little.

 

[2TxAgs]

My husband and I are trying to determine how much house we can afford. We're going to start trying for kids soon, so I want to factor a family food budget into our overall budget before buying a house to make sure we can still afford it after having kids (we already know daycare and "startup" kid costs). That being said, how big is your family and how much do you spend a month on groceries?

I would highly recommend buying a house that you can afford on 1 income. When our kids were young, I stayed home with them and cooked most meals, and I don't remember how much I spent. I know it was a lot with 2 little ones.

OP - kudos to you for thinking ahead and trying to get info on what people spend. I agree with Lilsia - I think buying LESS house than the numbers indicate you can afford is a very smart decision. As I've told my children about having money in savings, it gives you options. If you buy at the top of what you can afford, each new expense that comes along can bring stress to your life. Give yourself room to breathe and take vacations and roll with the changes rather than worrying about making ends meet.
All the best...

 

[HeatherC]

Family of five here in Massachusetts. High cost of living. My kids are young adults but back home because of this virus. I would say monthly food runs about $220 a week. We eat very well. Lots of fruits and fresh meats and vegetables. Also includes breakfast, lunches and dinner. I would think $1000 a month as a budget would be more than enough to consider when budgeting. I would imagine it would come in as less but it’s always good to have some leeway in the budget.

 

[tzolkin]

I would highly recommend buying a house that you can afford on 1 income. When our kids were young, I stayed home with them and cooked most meals, and I don't remember how much I spent.

I agree with this. You can't be certain right now how your career will change in the coming years so it would be ideal to buy something you can afford on one income. Perhaps one of you may get laid off. Maybe you'll decide it's best if one stays home. (You can save a lot of money on food by staying home because you have more time to budget and cook.) If you do both work, you'll have to factor in the cost of daycare for three kids that could easily be one person's entire salary.

It's good to hear that you are creating your own budget to determine house affordability. The calculators and estimates the banks give are WAY off from what people should actually be spending. I just did one with our new salaries and it says we can afford a $697k house which is absolutely ridiculous. (We just downsized from a $240k house to one that was $90k+renovations).

That said, $1000 a month should be a good budget for a family of 5. We usually spend around $600 (buying whatever we want, not "budgeting"). Add on whatever you may spend eating out, but that's always optional and something you can cut back if you need to tighten your budget.