Your monthly grocery bill and a celebration for me lol

[budafam]

We're at $240ish for a family of 4 and 3 dogs per month. It is give or take some months depending but usually I allow $60 per week and don't even come close to it.

 

[mombrontrent]

We're at $240ish for a family of 4 and 3 dogs per month. It is give or take some months depending but usually I allow $60 per week and don't even come close to it.

Wow, that's amazing! I already posted above about our family of 5 (no pets) spending $1000/month . We must be doing it wrong! I live in Cananda and we don't have the coupons you do there. I maybe use 3-4 a month and usually only in they are under the product in the store waiting for me to throw them in the cart with the item. We don't get coupons in the paper (once a month or so their might be one coupon booklet but it's mostly cleanig and beauty supplies or junk). Never have a double or triple coupon day here. I do live in a larger city near Toronto so we have lots of differnect grocery stores to choose from. On Friday I went to a cheaper store and spend $75 on produce and and sale items. Then on Saturday my Dh went to a more expensive store for meats and deli itmes and a few sale itmes (another $100). Them Sat afternoon we both went to Costco and spent $160, only about $100 on food though. That wasn't ANY toiletries and I still didn't get some thing I needed like juice boxes because I couldn't find them at a decent price and I know they always go on sale so I'll wait and the kids can take thier refillable bottles if I run out. I try to buy in bulk and on sale and we shop at diffenrent stores for diffenent things. We are often in one grocrey store or another every few days. The thing is we are not even big eaters and I'm a vegetarian and my DD's don't really eat much meat either. Well maybe my 11 year old son is starting to be a bigger eater, I can't imagine how much he'll cost me in the years to come We just like cerntain or more expensive things, like my DH HAS to have this certain turkey lunch meat (only one kind will do and it's $2.99 for 100gm when it's on sale). He won't just put a slice of American cheese on his sandwich it has to be sliced provolone or swiss from the deli I could go on and on about things like that and it's mostly him, but funny enough he's the one who likes to complain about how much we spend on groceries.

 

[Band mom!]

We spend about $1000 a month. It was more, but this year oldest son is in college and he eats there... Of course on weekends he comes home I take him to store and stock up on some things for his dorm room. DH likes meat at every meal, I don't, but with him and two teen boys still at home it's hard not to spend that much. We like fresh fruit and veggies and as someone else posted above, that gets expensive. The only 'buget' store around here is Sam's, which I love buying bulk, but it's ustually at least $200 every time I go in there and only thing that last a long time from there are the cleaning supplies. And with teens comes teen friends... just about every week we feed a few extra teens. and with college boy comes college friends. (truthfully, I don't really mind all the kids being at our house)

I remember being in my 20s and only spending about $25 a week for food and thinking it was a lot!

 

[leight]

Wow- some of your bills are making me jealous! I started couponing in july and have shaved my bill from $700-750 to $400-450 a month and I am thrilled but would love to get it down to $300! I don't see it happening. We are a family of four and have one dog, one cat. I am including all home supplies, beauty, paper, pet supplies in my totals. A big part of my totals are the lunch supplies. DH drives a truck so can't take leftovers. The rolls he likes never go on sale and we tend to really use only boar's head cold cuts. DD#1 takes a lightly buttered roll and rolled up lunch meat- for some reason she dislikes sandwiches. But her rolls are made by Publix and I do flash freeze them and individually wrap so that I am not losing $ to mold. DD#2 is my easy one- she takes some lunches and buys some at school. I bring a lot of leftovers to work for lunch/dinners for myself so I am saving on my food! I do have a freezer in my garage and stock up on sale items- like meat and individually wrap for convenience from family size packages.

I haven't totally mastered the CVS/Walgreens sales and that is my next focus- have to start saving more on beauty and cleaning supplies and maybe that will help.

 

[Alexander]

We spend at least $600 on groceries and we don't buy any beef or pork (we live on a farm and raise our own). We do buy a lot of produce and dairy products. Produce is priced very very high in the winter, but in the summer months, we'll likely save over $150/month by not having to buy those (grandma has a garden).

Like an above poster, we have a teenager who we just can't seem to fill-up! I also very rarely use coupons, just don't have the time!

 

[marmalade]

We spend at least $600 on groceries and we don't buy any beef or pork (we live on a farm and raise our own). We do buy a lot of produce and dairy products. Produce is priced very very high in the winter, but in the summer months, we'll likely save over $150/month by not having to buy those (grandma has a garden).

Like an above poster, we have a teenager who we just can't seem to fill-up! I also very rarely use coupons, just don't have the time!

We are huge meat eaters in my family. My husband hunts so we always have venison in my freezer. I am not a fan of venison so I don't cook it that often. But I am always telling my DH I wish we had "cow season" , then I would get excited about him going hunting every weekend for 2 months out of the year.

 

[tar heel]

I can only assume you folks with the crazy amounts either have access to a commissary, grow a lot of your own food or DON'T HAVE TEENAGE BOYS. I fed three 16-year-olds last weekend. We grilled out hamburgers and they ate three each (4-5 ounces). We went through a couple summers when all three of mine were home all/most of the day and used two gallons of milk a day. My 16-year-old probably eats more than you feed your families for dinner for his after-school snack! He also buys two school lunches every day!

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

We spend about $1,000 a month on groceries and I shop twice a week. We are busy people so I buy a lot of ready to cook items - pre-marinated chicken, shrimp on skewers already seasoned, etc. Whole Foods has an amazing section of stuff like that.

 

[LaDonna]

I can only assume you folks with the crazy amounts either have access to a commissary, grow a lot of your own food or DON'T HAVE TEENAGE BOYS. I fed three 16-year-olds last weekend. We grilled out hamburgers and they ate three each (4-5 ounces). We went through a couple summers when all three of mine were home all/most of the day and used two gallons of milk a day. My 16-year-old probably eats more than you feed your families for dinner for his after-school snack! He also buys two school lunches every day!

I have an 3 yr old boy and a 11 yr old boy, won't be too long I'll be dealing with that teenage hunger lol At least I'll have one gone maybe before the other reaches his teens.....
mine do take their lunches school
I do make all my own cleaners and even taco seasonings and such, I make homemade rolls, but not sandwich bread. We don't' buy a whole lot of fresh veggies but we do have tons of frozen veggies, we definately have to have our vegetables every day! I do tend to see if I can make something homemade before buying it in the store, just the other day made my own chocolate syrup because I was out and a few weeks ago made my own hotdogbuns because didn't fee like running to the store

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

We have a "clarance meat" bin that is usually 50% off b/c it needs to be sold within the next 2 days. I buy a lot of meat from there and shop in the mornings before it is picked over. If it is not from that area I wait until there is a good sale and get 3-4 of he same thing and put it in our freezer downstairs.

Our budget for a family of 4 is about $400 give or take. I try very hard to use coupons, but also buy things that are healthy and we would use anyway. Using facebook has helped me learn about coupons more (following some successful couponers on FB and reading their blogs) and has made me more aware of being careful with what I am buying.

 

[marie1203]

We spend $380 a month in the two of us but DH eats like 3 people it must be all the working out. Sorry I forgot to add I am a vegetarian and we eat a lot of fresh produce which could be expensive last grocery bill we spend $5 in mangos .

 

[mrodgers]

Another creeping up to $1000/month with 2 young girls and a cat. We usually buy 1 pork and 2 chicken product per week. We get our beef from my in-laws who raises them.

1 pork roast, a package of chicken which is the no hormone or antibiotics, knock off $10 for a plant that my wife bought and our last grocery bill was $224 for the week.

The week before she decided to go to the grocery store over Walmart and spent $260.

Both weeks she used coupons. Saved $1.50 both weeks with 2 coupons each. I've been hunting coupons for her for a month now and that's all there was to use. Again, there are 0 coupons in the 4 newspapers that we have available. Those 4 coupons came from a month of printing out coupons on the internet from a stack about 2 inches thick. I was printing everything, but it is nothing we would use.

66 items on the Walmart receipt for $224. 77 items on the grocery store receipt for $260. The grocery store lists the savings from sale items, which was $22.90.

 

[mombrontrent]

We spend $380 a month in the two of us but DH eats like 3 people it must be all the working out. Sorry I forgot to add I am a vegetarian and we eat a lot of fresh produce which could be expensive last grocery bill we spend $5 in mangos .

We love Mangos!!!!!!! Just bought two cases at Costco for $7 each case. Mmmmmmmmmmmm Mangos!

 

[williamson_ja]

We love Mangos!!!!!!! Just bought two cases at Costco for $7 each case. Mmmmmmmmmmmm Mangos!

I got mangos in my last order with our local food co-op. We get 6 extra mangos for volunteering to help as well. I spent $15 for one share of fruits and veggies and got: 3 heads lettuce, 5 zucchini,2 lb carrots,1 celery, 6 tomatoes, 8 apples, 8 oranges,7 mangos, 3 cantaloupe, strawberries, 7 bananas, cauliflower, and 3 lbs asparagus.

Definitely look into your local food co-op if you like delicious fruits and veggies!! If you volunteer to help out, you get even more than the regular share.

 

[Tamopher]

Wow, I'm impressed. It's just my husband any myself and we are spending about $500 a month on groceries. We eat very clean with lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Lots of fish and chicken. I dont coupon either.

 

[heatherleigh]

I do not know what our monthly food bill is, but I will estimate about $950. It is probably pretty close to a grand- or somewhere around that mark. We are a family of 6, and do not coupon. I'm a poor shopper, and pretty much purchase whatever I like. I am going to change that today though. My husband is going to pick up a Sun. paper, and I'm going to try out the whole coupon-thing. I'm curious as to how much it will save. I need to get organized too. I've had coupons for things, then completely forgot or left them at home, so I didn't get to use them.

I spend a lot of $ at Costco, and shop there about twice a month. I spent about $200 the other day, which is a lot for me. I'm a sucker for the sampling stands though. I always wind up buying everything I sample (well, not quite, but almost). I want to get on a budget.

 

[Kitikat]

We are a family of 6 and our grocery budget is $200 a month.
We don't eat meat at every meal and always try to have fresh fruit and veggies. Plus I have a 17yr son that is trying to put weight on before going in to the Marines in june.
It's not always easy but I try to shop at the store that double $1 coupons.

 

[bjgrazi]

We are a family of 4, and I spend between $900-1,000 a month on groceries, that doesn't include paper goods or feeding a dog & 2 cats. I can never find coupons for what we purchase. We do not eat any processed foods at all. We don't drink soda or eat junk food. Everything we purchase is whole foods. I go food shopping on average twice a week because everything we buy is fresh.

I'd love to be able to spend less than $500 a month.

 

[jakoky]

Wow,some of these posts of 200-300 a month for families of 4-6! A little jealous here,another Canadian! What I would love to see,we spend about 800 a month, is the amount of food and different foods we all have! My pantry and fridge and freezer are completely full,and is shop sales a lot and use couons whenever possible! We are a family of 5,with extra teens eating here a lot! And something I am very curious about, for those who spend so little, are limitingwhat u allow your kids,especially teenagers,to eat? I have 3 teens,and in fruit alone I spend a fortune! We just went thru about 18 bananas in 2 1/2 days, and I can't/won't stop them from eating....there can be so many reasons people are spending such different amounts, and am curious about it, and definitely jealous

 

[mrodgers]

What I think is, those saying they spend $200/month aren't telling that they eat out 4 times a week.

How about that? How often do you eat out? We spend near $1000/month because we don't eat out. We have 7 breakfast, 7 lunches, and 7 dinners for 4 people per week.

At $200+/week, we are completely out of food by the end of the week.