How much do you spend on groceries a month?

[nesser1981]

I've been trying to cut back on our spending and groceries is a place I'm really working on.

So,

How much do you spend a Week/Month?

How many in your family?

Do you repeat meals during the month?

[nesser1981]

Originally Posted by nesser1981

I've been trying to cut back on our spending and groceries is a place I'm really working on.

How much do you spend a Week/Month? I was trying to keep our budget to $150 a week, but I went shopping this month for the entire month and spent $380, I'll need more milk & eggs I'm sure. And I think I under estimated on shredded cheese and chicken, so I'm looking at probably another $30 for the month.

How many in your family? 4, me & the hubby, plus the kids, 7 & 4

Do you repeat meals during the month?Not usually, I try to do something different, but I'm thinking about doing a kind of rotating meal plan, I think it might save money.

[taracotta7]

I make a monthly menu..........I write in that menu 2-3 left over nights which I name "Do it Yourself Nite" for people to eat left overs, sandwiches, frozen pizzas......whatever. The only plan is I am not cooking a meal that night.

All other nights I cook. It is me, hubby, 7yo son and a 2 yo son.

I shop every two weeks.........I spend about $300 each time but that also includes any hygiene or cleaning items we need.

I really want to get better at my spending and start couponing more. I will get there eventually.

[MamaBee]

Hmm... I'm not sure I can answer this... right now I'm stocking up for the winter...and we have been getting alot of produce from my mom's garden.

How much do you spend a Week/Month?
We spend average $100 on meat at the butcher - majority goes into the freezer, so some months don't need meat... others, low - depends on what is on sale. Then we get milk and butter at the gas station (we buy milk in bags and butter is way cheaper at the Kwik trip than any store). Then the rest is probably around $250, collective at different food stores... but I buy a lot of organic and all natural foods - very little processed food.

How many in your family? 3 (two adults and one kid age 5 going on 13 in how much he eats!)

Do you repeat meals during the month? Rarely - except kiddo loves tacos, so we have that at least once a week... but I really struggle with the same meals, yet don't know what to make. haha. One of my goals come school time is to meal plan all 3 meals and get back into freezer meals.

[Darcy Baldwin]

We spend about $350-400 per month. I will duplicate meals in a month, or make a companion meal that makes use of the same protein or side to change up for a second meal. Or I'll duplicate a meal 2-4 times to freeze the extras for another month. We've actually increased our grocery budget to be able to purchase more whole food than we were doing before, and accommodate hubby's different menu for lunch.

[Milmomma]

How much do you spend a Week/Month? Around $400-450 includes, laundry soap, toiletries, etc.

How many in your family? 4(myself, husband and two very hungry hungry hippos, I mean kids)

Do you repeat meals during the month? I definitely do. We have picky eaters, but like to eat as clean/healthy as we can. I buy groceries weekly cause I get fresh veggies/fruits each week. I try to use coupons when I can. It seems like most coupons around here are for processed things which we have been cutting out/trying to avoid. If anyone could break my budget down more and save me more I'd be up for it!

[NeverendingJen]

How much do you spend a Week/Month? I budget $150 per paycheck(2x per month), and that includes vitamins, hygiene items, medications, pet supplies, and alcohol. I rarely use all my budget and we roll that extra over into our food fund for long term storage.

How many in your family? 2 adults

Do you repeat meals during the month? yes. We do a lot of salads and pastas, and repeat them since we like them and they are different based on what produce we get.

[ayaandjudah]

Keep in mind that I live in the metro NYC area which is very expensive.

We spend about 800 ish a month, sometimes more. Recently I've gone to organic produce and natural meats so our spending has gone up.

It's my, DH, 7 year old, 5 year old and 15 month old that might eat me out of house and home.

I do repeat meals, lol, we tend to eat the same things each week

[pewtertm]

We spend 100-150/week for 2 adults and a 6 yr old. That includes toiletries, dog food, cat food, cat litter, any meds, etc. We buy a good deal of our meat, dairy, fruits, and pet supplies at Sams (no Costco in Oklahoma, although rumors persist that they are looking around...there's a ban on selling wine in grocery stores here, and that's kept them out of the market acc to the news)

I would love to get some sort of meal planning going. It's frustrating with picky eaters. Rachel is definitely picky...eats very little meat (srsly, she will eat bacon, a hamburger or sausage patty, or spaghettios w/meatballs...that's it). The hubby loves pork, but I don't eat pork. He also loves cheese, and Rachel and I don't. And while I'm happy with a salad for dinner (and Rachel will go with that as well), the hubby won't. He'll have one on the side, but he's a carnivore and wants some meat on his plate.

[Sherri Tierney]

We are a family of 4. Our weekly 'grocery' budget is $100. However, this includes not only groceries but toiletries, paper products, etc. Basically, anything Walmart sells is included in our 'grocery' budget. So if I buy a gallon of paint while I'm at the store, I take that out of groceries. I'd say actual FOOD portion of our budget is roughly $50 - $70 a week.

I definitely repeat meals throughout the month as my kids have favorites that they want every single week (like Taco Tuesday and Pizza Friday) but I do try to mix things up when I can. During the school year I repeat less and actually spend less on groceries because the kids aren't home eating every 10 minutes. I feed them breakfast at home and then send their lunches and I still spend way less during the school year because during the summer they pick all day.

I use coupons when I can. Mostly I use coupons when I find a good one for something we regularly eat and I can stock up on it. We do try to eat more fresh fruits and veggies and less processed food so my coupon savings tends to go towards toiletries, cleaning supplies and such. If I were more organized I could easily cut my budget in half. I shopped for 3 weeks worth of meals at once and spent $75... I had a plan though and I haven't been so good with that lately.

[nesser1981]

yeah, my extras are usually included in that budget too. I'd just bought dog & cat food, etc.

I have super picky eaters too, Cooper doesn't really like meat at all, he'll eat it if its a cut of meat that's been cooked, like chicken or pork. He will not eat a hamburger to save his life! LOL!

[nun69]

including all the tolieteries, dog food, cat food and groceries, I just spent $700 yesterday at the commissary!!! but that should pretty much last us the majority of the month except for bread, milk and eggs. There are 7 of us which include a 20 y/o, 19 y/o, 11 y/o, 6 y/o and 5 y/o! Especially since Abby & Ben will go to summer camp 2 weeks this month...this also includes snackage foods for the kids when they are not in camp.....I usually repeat tacos, breakfast for dinner and spahetti (or some kind of pasta with sauce)....those are easy and everybody like them!

[SweetMelissa]

We are a family of five and we spend between $350 to $400 a month on food. That also included special food for my daughter who has food allergy's. I try to coupon when I can and do weekly meal plans.

[mummytothree]

How much do you spend a Week/Month? I spend about $200 a week on my weekend grocery run (the big one) and then about $20 bucks more through out the week getting fresh bread/fruit/veggies. I have a $1000 dollar grocery budget for the month. I have never gone over it because if I don't have the $$ I don't spend it...but some months we spend less and it will carry over to the next month so when that happens I usually buy us something "special"!!

We also get some things "free": My dad raises chickens (the small roasting kind) and gives us 10 to 20 through out the year so we never buy that. Also he gives us most of our veggies...he has a HUGE garden every summer and cans EVERY THING...so I only buy like 1 or 2 bags of broccoli every week the rest is canned stuff from him. We also get a small amount of beef from him too (like roasts/streaks) from cows that he butchers. We don't eat a lot of beef though so those are more for like special occasions....like once every 2 to 3 months...now if we ate beef more it would help...but we have cut almost all red meat from our diet.

How many in your family? We have 7 in our family.

Do you repeat meals during the month? Yep...especially during the summer when it's to hot to cook and also because hubby and I are watching calories!!

Some other things that I do that helps is make ahead breakfasts, so we avoid EXPENSIVE cereal and frozen stuff. I make pancakes/waffles on the weekend and then freeze them for during the week.

I make our own granola bars.

We have like 3 meatless meals a week.

We actually only eat a serving...once we started counting calories we realized that we were all eating like 2 or 3 servings of stuff and that was obviously costing us more!! So we only eat 3 to 4 ozs of meat. 1 cup of veggies. 1/2 c of "starch"/grain.

I also try and make all out "bread" items with my bread machine. This is the hardest one to keep up with....so sometimes I end up at the store grabbing buns at that the last minute!!! But it still does help when I do, so it!!!!

[KateD]

We used to spend about $600 a month for our family of 4 (including one teen and one tween boy), but it's gone up the past few months since I've started cooking more local whole foods. I can't really say how much we're actually spending on food, though, since toiletries & paper products are included as well as any cookbooks & kitchen appliances that I get. I have been meal planning, which really helps, and we do repeat meals throughout the month.

[~*Liz*~]

How much do you spend a Week/Month? approximately 400/500 month (also includes household needs/toiletries etc.) I do one big meat buy in bulk from a local place for the month (they mix and match to make 2 cases which equals 250) and then I do a weekly stop off for fresh items, a few frozen items and anything that might run out )

How many in your family? 7 (weekends there are 8 mouths to feed)

Do you repeat meals during the month? Yes (mainly lunch and breakfast items) - I do rotation of meat and sometimes it will be similar but not completely the same. For instance I am doing a pot roast tonight, and next saturday I have another roast night planned (but it's bar-b-que)

I do SOME couponing- and I also do Kmart rewards. Watch for their 10/10 sales and earn gift cards and reward money to spend. (which I have been saving up since the 1st of the year for Christmas shopping) So my grocery budget also boosts my holiday budget as well

[Stacey42]

We spend about $600 a month including paper towels, laundry detergent etc. I suck at using coupons but I shop sales. We have 4 grocery stores lined up from the far end of town to the near end, with the generally cheapest at the far end so it's fairly easy to get some stuff at one store, then go to the next for other things, then to the next to get the best prices.

There are 4 of us, me, DH & the boys (8 & 9)

I meal plan out a couple weeks at a time so get the most use out of fresh produce & allow for some use of leftovers, though we are not fond of leftovers unless they are made into something else - leftover chicken cacciatore used in chicken casserole. I do some make ahead stuff, cooking enough things at once to use in 2-3 different meals but I don't repeat many specific meals in a month because I have a large selection of recipes to choose from and I love trying new ones. Though I have more winter type roasts, braises & stews that require the oven being on for hours than I do summer type stovetop & grilling recipes so I tend to fall back on tacos, spaghetti & soup & sandwiches in the summer.

[MissKim]

We spend $800-$1200/month on groceries/Walmart supplies. So that includes toilet paper, dog & cat food, trash bags, etc. We are a family of 5. Me and DH. Kids are 18, 16 and 12. My oldest is a vegetarian, so I usually have to buy him frozen dinners/veggie burgers so he has something to eat for dinner. I refuse to plan 2 meals so I try to make sure he has something around that he can make for himself if the main dish is something he can't eat. If it's something where I can just leave out the meat for him -- pizza, tacos, spaghetti -- I do. But not everything is like that. My 16 y.o. dd also eats healthy. She probably costs me $100 in greek yogurt, pounds of bananas, organic cereal, fresh veggies, etc. that I probably wouldn't buy if not for her. Yes, I repeat meals. When I plan a week's worth of meals, I try to have a pasta night, a Mexican night, a sandwich/salad night, a chicken night. Pasta might be spaghetti one week and ravioli the next, but it's still pasta. Mexican might be tacos one week and enchiladas the next, etc.

I would love to cut down on our food budget, but I'm already planning before I step in the store, buying store brands, etc. We just have 5 adults eating and it's not cheap at all. Oh, and we very rarely go out to eat so that drives up our grocery budget. If we go out for a meal, it's almost always Subway and we just get subs and bring them home.

[kelley]

I spend 800ish a month. We are a family of 2 adults and 5 kiddos. We definitely repeat meals because we have our favorites, but I also do lots of new recipes mixed in. We do a lot of the same sorts of things for lunches because we homeschool, so that is a really busy time of day. Lots of quesadillas with whatever veggies we have in the house, sandwiches, pitas, salads. My kids will eat pretty much anything.

Also wanted to add that I don't do a lot of coupons because most of the things that there are coupons for are name brand processed things, which I don't buy. If I do buy that stuff, it is store brand, which is always cheaper anyway.

[SeattleSheri]

I have no idea! I just looked at my bank statement from the last two weeks and I've spent about $320. That doesn't include the groceries my husband has purchased. There are four of us, two adults a 8 yr old and a 5 yr old. We also eat out quite a bit too ... so I'm sure that doesn't have a positive impact on our food expenses, lol. I eat out for lunch almost exclusively during the week (not included in the $320 and probably about $7 per week day). During the school year, we pay for school lunches, which I think is about $5/day.

[lauracw]

Wow, we are way over spending! I'm doing 600 - 700 for a family of 4, one of which is baby! I have super picky eaters, both my daughter and hubby and neither of them is picky in the same way, lol! I want to do freezer meals and I'm going to look into it once schools starts. I repeat meals all the time, since they are so hard to feed. We never eat out though.

[kristijoy]

I spend about $125 each week. That probably includes some toiletries, dish soap, paper products, etc... I buy lots of natural foods products since we are vegetarians. Kiddo is a picky eater, so I buy things for him that are different than what DH and I eat. I buy organic eggs from the diary down the street. They are definately more expensive that what you get at the grocery store, but so yummy!

We have 3 in our family (2 adults, one 5 year old).

I do lots of freezer cooking, so I repeat meals about twice in one month. I think the freezer meals have helped keep our costs down while giving us interesting food to eat.

For us, my DH keeps track of our 'food budget'. In otherwords, food we eat. In addition to groceris, this includes all the lunches out, dinners out, quick snacks at the coffee bar, etc... We moved to the country last year (where there aren't convenience foods). My grocery bill went up because we are farther from big cities, so I can't shop at Winco's or other discount stores. But our 'eating out' costs went way down!!

[kscwgirl]

Ugh okay so this is one thing I really want to change after we move. We eat out more than we should and meals here are not healthy really but they are cheap and easy. Most of my problem is that I work full time and then I come home and try to cook and blahhhhhh. What I want to do is have a meal plan and shop and already know what I'm going to cook when I get home instead of struggling to figure it out. Blah. I suck.

Anyway. To answer your question no, I have no idea what I spend. Sigh.

[emmasmommy]

i spend about $150-$200/wk.
we have a family of 4 but i also babysit and feed those kids when they are here as well. in reality i probably feed a family 8.

[rach3975]

We spend on the high side, $200 a week for a family of 5. We eat tons of produce, pack lunches (except for 1 kid buying at school), include non-food items in that amount, and have to accommodate 1 vegetarian (me) and 3 picky eaters (including DH). We usually eat out 1 meal a week, on Saturday night.

We repeat meals because it's so hard to find healthy meals that everyone here will eat. I eat a big salad for dinner every night, but I feed the rest of the family on a 2 week rotation:
Monday is pasta night
Tuesday we alternate chicken or beef entrees served with homemade bread
Wed is leftover pasta and meat
Thurs alternates Mexican night and breakfast for dinner (both usually meatless)
Friday is our 1 "convenience food" night (chicken nuggets, pizza, fish sticks, etc.)
Saturday we eat out
Sunday is DH's night to feed the kids while I go to the grocery store, so it varies

[Jennilyn]

Not including take-out meals, I spend about $450 a month for my family of four. Heck yes I repeat meals throughout the month! LOL I hate cooking so when I find something that is quick and easy, I make it a lot!

[tanyiadeskins]

Wow...what do you guys eat for dinner that you can spend so little me, please help a mama out! I am so serious, I would love to know!

If we are including pet food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries which I do purchase when I buy groceries, which lately is at WalMart or Publix, I am spending 500 to 700 every two weeks. We have two adults and 3 girls, 2 are teens. I am praying it goes down even a little when school starts in a week!

[jessica31876]

entirely to much. I honestly dont really know. We make a couple trips a week to the grocery store and spend between 30 and 50 each time we go. So probably around 150. That will go down when summer is over and my son is eating lunch at school though. Oh and that is for 3 of us. Ironically I spent the same thing when it was five of us but I notice a lot of stuff has gone way way up in price and I do not value shop as much as I used to.

[jessica31876]

Tanyia do you have a winn dixie near you? If you do check out their bogo free sales. If you can make it to albertsons which I only know of one in the area and they may even be closed too now they have buy one get two free sales. I stock up on staples when they have those sales. That is one way to save. Another way is to get ads and compare prices and shop at the different stores for the different things. I could make our cost way lower but we primarily shop at publix since the next closest store is about five miles farther down the road. Publix is the most expensive grocery store in Florida IMO. Now some things I will only buy at publix like frruit. The fruit is always better quality there. And their fish too. Always better there. Winn-Dixie I like for any beef products and staple type stuff cause they have the BOGO sales alot.

[Sarah8914]

I think we spend about $350 a month, including diapers and TP and all that. Lately we have had to make extra trips for milk--apparently we're drinking a lot of that lately! And some produce. But that's because we shop every 2 weeks. It might be a little higher lately because we are trying to eat healthier.

There are 6 in our family. The baby (15 months...) doesn't eat a ton. The others are 3, 5 and 7. We have a bunch of picky eaters, but they still eat.

We usually repeat a few meals. We make a menu, 2 weeks at a time, and we have 3-5 meals that we repeat usually. Ones everyone eats really well... or my personal favorites. I think making a menu is a great thing for budgeting... you always know exactly what you need and can avoid extra things.

And we pretty much never go out to eat. Maybe once a month. Maybe. And never fast food.

[NatalieKW]

The national average is $100-$150 per person a month.

We have a family of five and we probably spend about $200 a month. However, that is actually really low for the amount of food that comes into our house. My in-laws buy all of our Sam's stuff. So we almost never buy meat and cheese. They also get us Bountiful Baskets, so we don't buy a ton of fruits and veggies.

I make meal plans and they are a life saver cause I HATE deciding what for dinner every night. We do rotate meals through the month, but not all of them. So, in a thirty day month, I make dinner just about every night (unless we eat at my parent's house on a Sunday) and I probably make about 15 different things.

[tanyiadeskins]

Originally Posted by jessica31876

Tanyia do you have a winn dixie near you? If you do check out their bogo free sales. If you can make it to albertsons which I only know of one in the area and they may even be closed too now they have buy one get two free sales. I stock up on staples when they have those sales. That is one way to save. Another way is to get ads and compare prices and shop at the different stores for the different things. I could make our cost way lower but we primarily shop at publix since the next closest store is about five miles farther down the road. Publix is the most expensive grocery store in Florida IMO. Now some things I will only buy at publix like frruit. The fruit is always better quality there. And their fish too. Always better there. Winn-Dixie I like for any beef products and staple type stuff cause they have the BOGO sales alot.

Yea know we do have a Winn Dixie here, its off Lake Mary, I am going to check it out, there was an Albertsons but they just closed I don't know I always tend to shy away from Winn Dixie cause growing up in South Florida, they were always ïckier"(for lack of a better non mommy term lol) than Publix lol but I am gonna at least check it out! thanks for reminding me!

[Darcy Baldwin]

Tanyia -

We don't buy convenience foods often (some staples for us like taco shells, a few emergency boxes of mac-n-cheese, crackers occasional cereal and pasta), rarely buy anything out of the freezer section (fruits/veg and hash browns (since I'm too lazy to make those myself)). We don't eat many expensive cuts of meat. I coupon (and yes, you CAN coupon successfully w/o the crap foods), I stock up when there's a good sale, and we eat fairly simply most meals.

I have 2 big male eaters, me and a 9yo boy.

[pewtertm]

After reading through this thread, I've been sitting here working through what we spend...ouch we spend nearly 50 bucks on milk alone each month. Sometimes I wish we had a jersey cow in the back yard!

[nikkiARNGwife]

I'm going to answer this based on non-deployment years lol. When Brian is away I don't cook much at all so our grocery bill goes way down.

Normally when he's home though I'd say it's about 300-350 a month on regular grocery trips. I also have one big Sam's club trip a month which is between 100-200 dollars and then maybe 20 a week to pick up staples like milk eggs bread or produce which I am constantly running out of. Summers a little less b/c we grow our own veggies and stuff. That's a family of 4 and one pup who thinks he's human too lol

I do repeat our favorite meals...and we have leftovers a lot b/c I tend to prepare way more than we will eat. Either that or I freeze it and pull it out again later.

[YepBrook]

Yikes... we spend a lot.

We spend about $150 a week on groceries. That includes toiletries and paper products (napkins, TP, paper towels, etc.). I don't feel like I buy an obscene amount of food, either. I do have expensive taste in food. I like to buy plenty of fruits & veggies (some organic), and free range eggs, and other things that I could go cheaper on... and we buy deli sliced meats & cheeses for DH's sandwiches he packs for lunch which run about $9 per pound. Also, we buy coffee and beer weekly. So, that adds up.

But I will say that our increase in grocery costs means we are not eating out during the week. I cook 4-5 meals a week and we eat out as a family once a week. DH packs lunches most days. And I drink coffee at home as much as possible instead of going to Starbucks. So, our grocery bill is higher, but our eating-out is greatly reduced. So, it pays off.

[Darcy Baldwin]

interesting tidbit today...

http://www.gallup.com/poll/156416/Am...ncome-180.aspx

[YepBrook]

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

interesting tidbit today...

http://www.gallup.com/poll/156416/Am...ncome-180.aspx

Interesting that it says men spend more than women. That is true in our house! But he LOVES grocery shopping and I hate it, so he goes 3 out of 4 times. When I send DH he spends about $20 more than I do. I try to use coupons if it's something we use (which, unfortunately, most coupons are for processed foods I don't buy) and I take advantage when the grocery store has B1G1 free. DH ignores sales completely.

[kim21673]

We have 5 in our house....DH, me, and three boys (6, 4, 1)

We shoot for $125 a week, but usually end up spending a bit more than that. We typically spend more the first two week of the month and less the last two. This does NOT include a trip to Costco...we usually spend $200 there a month.

This $$ includes household items, bathroom stuff, diapers, wipes, etc... too...not just food

[pewtertm]

It doesn't surprise me that men spend more...we spend more if the DH goes shopping with me. He adds some impulse buys to the cart. Kids add to it too (well mine does anyway LOL).

[Milmomma]

Originally Posted by pewtertm

It doesn't surprise me that men spend more...we spend more if the DH goes shopping with me. He adds some impulse buys to the cart. Kids add to it too (well mine does anyway LOL).

This is the same in my family. Grocery shopping is part of my "me time" my husband tells me. Otherwise when I have to take them I end up....

[Freckles]

Wow... I guess I live in an expensive country! That, or we need to budget better!
I spend +/-200 € (that is $250) every week at the supermarket. That includes also the non-food but doesn't include bread, which we buy fresh every day (so +€12). We are a family of 4. My kids do eat a lot, and so do we. We have fresh vegetables from our garden, so I don't buy many of those at the store.

[rach3975]

Reading this thread made me feel like we're spending so much more than most of you, but we're in line with the Gallup results Darcy shared. I'm actually surprised men spend more. On the rare occasion DH shops, he spends much less. Problem is that he never gets enough to last the week and I end up having to shop a 2nd time.