Monthly Grocery Budget

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Hey all,

I wanted to get a feel as to how much you spend on groceries every month. We have been packing our lunches every day and preparing dinner every night (for both cost and health reasons). I'm trying to pinch pennies a little bit more these days, so I'm certain we can trim our monthly budget. Currently it's $400 a month.

Major things such as meats, we will usually get once a month, maybe once every two months. Things like vegetables I tend to purchase once a week. I'd say I can spend $40 bucks a week on vegetables, so that's $160 per month. Even if I spend $140 a month on everything else (which I can see being totally fine), I'm able to cut the budget by $100.

Just want to hear your thoughts on how much you spend.

Thanks!

redoakcircus

$800-$1000 roughly for a family of four. That includes non-edible stuff like diapers. We don't try to cut costs though. We just buy what we like.

Lounmoun

It kind of depends on how many people you are feeding and where you live how low you will be able to go.
I'd say our food budget is about $400 a month for our household of 2 adults and 1 teenage girl.
We eat almost all of our meals and snacks prepared from home. We do eat meat... not every meal. We are not on special diets or buying all organic or anything like that. Costs are not as high here as some places.

ninerbuff

For 3, it's about $450. Meats are always on the list, along with fruits and vegetables. We don't eat a lot of bread or cereal, but I do by a couple of cartons of eggs (18 pack) a week.

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cwolfman13

About $800 - $,1000 for a family of four...but this is more than just food...basically that's our monthly expenditure for all of the different things we need for which food is a substantial portion...but we have diapers, dog food, alcohol, clothes, etc. all wrapped up in that number...we've never bothered to break it out, mostly because most of our shopping is done at Costco.

malibu927

$1000-1200 for my parents and myself. And then $150-200 stocking up at the butcher shop every other month.

Vune

$140 for one and a half people. My boyfriend and I split weekend costs. I subsist on fruits, veggies, eggs, tuna, and cheap cuts of meat throughout the week. I used to buy fresh fish when it was on sale, then the cod worm happened.

ti807910

My husband and I spend about $400/month but that can sometimes include big ticket items like needing to buy more olive oil or huge bag of basmati rice (about $15 each) which can throw it off. Some weeks we spend as little as $60/week. We eat all of our meals at home and are vegetarian which helps a ton. It is so cheap to buy our food. We don't buy organic, because it gets crazy expensive. Things we splurge on are veggie specific items (like fake meat products or veggie parmesan) though we don't buy those often.

Some of recipes we rotate weekly:
Rice and beans - At least 4 servings. 2 cups of rice and 1 lb bag of beans... Total cost is less than $2.
Baked potatoes with cheese, chives and broccoli - 2 servings, Total cost is about $3.50
Pasta - At least 4 servings. onion, pasta, can of tomatoes, spices. Cost is about $3

Jennloella

between 1200 and 1600 depending what's on the list, (we host a family dinner once every other month, participate in work potlucks, etc) this is just food- does not include formula, diapers, dog food, bathroom stuff, etc. we shop at whole foods, safeway, and costco. There's six of us and to be honest I just get when we want/need. we eat healthy, but I do not price compare or cut coupons.

Lasmartchika

About $200/month for us two... it really depends where you live and where you shop.

urloved33

I am at 140.00 a month for one person

spygirl821

I spend about $300/month to feed myself and my boyfriend. It would be lower but I eat an entirely vegetarian/whole foods/organic/non-gmo diet which can be pricey. I highly recommend growing your own food to cut down on costs! All spring/summer I grow as much food as possible & can it to cut down on the all-year grocery costs

nicola1141

Like some others above, we're at about $800-$1000 for a family of 4, including diapers, toiletries, cat food, etc.

jonnyman41

no idea about the dollar to the pound but I live in the uk and spend roughly £ 200 every two to three weeks for three adults (One grown up son) That includes dog food and also laundry and toiletries e.g washing powder. Don't try to cut the budget but do look for bargain offers like fresh meat packs on 3 for £10 etc. That includes foods for packed lunches too

SuggaD

around $500 for 3 people

notnikkisixx

I spend between $200-$300 to feed myself and (occasionally) the boyfriend. I buy a lot of produce and higher-quality foods...so I think that is why it is so high. Also, sometimes my booze budget falls into my grocery category.

NateMcG76

About $1k here, but that's everything for the month. Food, toiletries, cat stuff, laundry, cleaning.. Family of 5.

mkakids

In Chicago here....I feed 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids (7,5,4)) on $500 a month. That includes all health and beauty items, and all paper products. It does not account for our animals or the baby's items like diapers and formula.

We eat meat with every meal...75% beef. The rest chicken. We rarely eat eggs. My kids INHALE fruit. This week I bought 9# of clementines, 6# bananas, 5# apples, 4# plums, 4# grapes, 8 kiwi, 1# guava and 3# strawberries. If I'm lucky that will last the entire week.

Athijade

Way too much. Right now I am at $500 a month for myself but that does include more then groceries. That amount also takes into account what the cats need, cleaning supplies, paper products, health and beauty, etc etc. So it is really a catch all section.

I also can't always buy what is on sale or what the coupons are for due to having a medical condition that is very food sensitive.

JoRocka

I spend about 40$/week on food. I don't typically dine out myself- but I eat with my BF out for dinner at least once when he is here- sometimes twice- but he pays typically so it usually does not come from my budget.

that's about 160- but add in random trips- higher bills for "essentials" or when there is a big can goods sale- and or when I go out to eat by myself- I'd say 200 is a comfortable number for monthly food.

JohnBarth

My wife and I probably spend $4-500 on groceries each month. I'm of the philosophy that I really couldn't care less about my grocery bill because it's hundreds of dollars less than if we were dining out regularly as we have in the past.

Dragn77

For my family of 2 (myself and my 18 yo daughter) I budget $200/mth. Thats strictly for grocery items. I have a staple of breakfast foods I always get (oatmeal, grits, eggs...additionally kiddo sometimes likes to have poptarts and cereal since she needs something fast for school days when she leaves the house at 6am)

I cook a servings size of 4 for dinner, and that covers leftovers for lunch the next day..which kiddo generally packs to take to school. We're not big snackers..usually just some fruit and veggies on hand for that. Generally speaking, fresh fruits and veggies are the bulk of my grocery bill...and I often only spend about $150. We eat out once a week, sometimes once every other week...my eat out budget is about $100 plus whatever surplus from my grocery budget added to that, so in total, I spend about $250-300/ mth on food.

HeidiCooksSupper

Probably about $400 for the two of us though but it's hard to figure since our spending for groceries includes paper and cleaning goods, kitty food and litter, etc. I've been semi-joking lately that we need to eat more grain and bean-based meals both for health and to have enough money to support the vet needs of 3 elderly cats, the youngest of which is 16.

DiIDE

It must be cheaper in the us than in Australia. For two of us it's around 150 a week, and I don't buy convenience foods in jars or packets etc. we eat a lot of fish and chicken but when I buy read meat it is always the best like eye fillet steak which is around $40 a kilo but we only eat a small amount.

Need2Exerc1se

I grow a lot of our food so what we spend varies by season. Right now is the highest because the root cellar is almost empty, so most fresh vegetables must be purchased. It was also a lousy hunting season this year and we only got one deer so we've bought more meat than usual. I think we are spending about $500 a month for 2. If you remove alcohol from that, about $400.

In the summer/fall when veggies and fruit from the garden are plentiful, we spend about half that.

brendak76

mkakids wrote: »

In Chicago here....I feed 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids (7,5,4)) on $500 a month. That includes all health and beauty items, and all paper products. It does not account for our animals or the baby's items like diapers and formula.

I'm in the Chicago area too and that used to be our food costs for 4 people. But my little ones grew up and are now 2 teenage boys and oh my..... We are in the $800-$1000 month category for food, toiletries, etc. No soda, alcohol, or pets, and I shop Aldis and sales. The amount of food my boys go through here is astonishing.

RoxieDawn

For 2, around 500.00 plus extra trips for fresh milk, eggs and things we run out of...

brdnw

for me and my gf i feel like I spend like 500 a month

softblondechick

$300.00. We eat a lot of steak, veggies, and I am always buying random spices. That is for two people.

Sydking

about $400 AUD sounds right for the two of us.

goblue8426

about $500/month for two adults. i cook quite a bit, we make food for all breakfasts and 4/5 weekly lunches, and we are meat-eaters. it's often cheaper in warmer months when i can get more at the farmers market.