Weekly grocery bill
Brocksterdanza
Posts: 208 Member
My wife and i are almost 2 weeks in to eating clean again and this is something that came up in our discussion. We are also working on tightening the reigns of our spending and waste for financial reasons. We have a 4 year old daughter as well. We calculated that in the last several months, we are spending nearly 850 dollars on food. Now granted this is groceries and eating out. I see all over the Internet that families of 4 or more are eating for under 600 a month. How do they do it? My wife says eating cleaner is much more expensive. Is this true? What are the tricks? How much do your families spend? Thanks all!
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Why do you feel the need to eat clean. ...depending on what I eat I can spend £20 in the week on good quality nutritious food.0
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In eating clean i mean healthier... we are working on hitting our macros and cutting out the processed foods as much as possible.1
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Depends where you live.
Here in Tasmania, food is expensive.1 -
I'm in the United States.0
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Brocksterdanza wrote: »My wife and i are almost 2 weeks in to eating clean again and this is something that came up in our discussion. We are also working on tightening the reigns of our spending and waste for financial reasons. We have a 4 year old daughter as well. We calculated that in the last several months, we are spending nearly 850 dollars on food. Now granted this is groceries and eating out. I see all over the Internet that families of 4 or more are eating for under 600 a month. How do they do it? My wife says eating cleaner is much more expensive. Is this true? What are the tricks? How much do your families spend? Thanks all!
Hey, sounds like you need to learn how to shop. So I live in Canada and this is what I do / use cause in America you guys have 1000000 coupons + store discounts... like way more deals then here (also everything is cheaper for you)
I use an app called Rebee and Flipp (they are the same thing) to go through flyers. I then price match with those apps when I'm in the stores, I shop at different stores for different things. IE walmart sells chicken for $18 for a pack, you can get almost the same thing from Costco but it costs $26 there... so I almost always buy it from walmart. Fish I only ever get at Costco, talipia is like $22 per pack for about 7 pieces, veggies from Costco are awesome too but I use the flyers and price matching at other stores depending on what i want.
umm... idk what else to tell you, there are somethings that are just stupid expensive but eating chicken/ fish and veggies isn't expensive, all the replacement healthy crap is though. Just don't buy the expensive replacement stuff, like I'm gluten free...but I don't buy gluten free bread... cause it's stupid expensive.6 -
When we are mindful about eating out, my family (2 adults, 1 kid) can get by on $600 a month in an expensive area. We do not "eat clean," but we do cook from scratch, sometimes even including bread but not always. To keep to this budget, we cannot eat meat every day. It's just too expensive, so we do a lot of bean dishes. I make a weekly meal plan that includes meals where ingredients overlap. For example, one of our meals this week is roti wraps with kale and potatoes. I know I will only use half a bunch of kale for this meal, so we are also having a white bean, kale, and chicken sausage skillet for another meal. This strategy is especially great for pricier items, like good cheeses.
I'm sure you can probably eat cheaper off boxed macaroni and hot dogs, but I've never cooked like that, so I can't really draw a comparison from personal experience.
There are some good resources for cooking on a budget. I like the budget bytes blog. Also, the good and cheap cookbook (which is free as a PDF on the author's website) was written with SNAP families in mind. I've liked everything I've made from both of these sources.6 -
There are luxury items in all categories. So cost depends on what you buy and how much you have to throw out. Eating clean can mean anything, healthy and processed foods is unprecise too. Protein rich foods are usually the most expensive, so if hitting macros means you eat a lot of lean meat and fish, it will be expensive. Cooking from scratch with simple single food ingredients can be cheap if you know what to buy. Any claim of a food being "diet foods", "health" food, "organic", all adds to the bill.
If you stick to basics like rice, pasta, oatmeal, beans and lentils, milk and butter, tuna, eggs, pork and chicken, oil, peanut butter, apples, oranges, bananas, potatoes, onions, carrots, frozen vegetables and berries, and look at the price tag, your moneys will go a lot further. Plan meals, buy in bulk, buy in season, cook, avoid waste, are the main "rules" of this game.5 -
I feed our family of 7 for a little less than 800 per month. I make all our dinners ( my husband and I eat out maybe once a month).my husband takes salmon, tuna or chicken in his lunches most days.
Breakfast is toast, eggs or oatmeal most dinners are chicken, fish or pasta plus veggies/sides once a week we have pork/beef.
I do buy some "snacky" things like crackers but most snacks are cheese, yogurt fruit etc. The only drinks I buy are our milks and coffee and an occasional package of juice boxes for the kids0 -
kommodevaran wrote: »There are luxury items in all categories. So cost depends on what you buy and how much you have to throw out. Eating clean can mean anything, healthy and processed foods is unprecise too. Protein rich foods are usually the most expensive, so if hitting macros means you eat a lot of lean meat and fish, it will be expensive. Cooking from scratch with simple single food ingredients can be cheap if you know what to buy. Any claim of a food being "diet foods", "health" food, "organic", all adds to the bill.
If you stick to basics like rice, pasta, oatmeal, beans and lentils, milk and butter, tuna, eggs, pork and chicken, oil, peanut butter, apples, oranges, bananas, potatoes, onions, carrots, frozen vegetables and berries, and look at the price tag, your moneys will go a lot further. Plan meals, buy in bulk, buy in season, cook, avoid waste, are the main "rules" of this game.
That bolded bit for sure.
IME the people who don't spend a lot fall into one or more of the following:
1) menu plan from what is on special each week
2) shop multiple stores for the best prices
3) meal plan and/or batch cook
4) use shopping apps and coupons
5) prioritize $ over nutrition...not you, but a lot of people on coupon sites
Cheap protein sources (eggs, dark meat chicken, fattier cuts of meat, beans/lentils) don't really work for me because either I don't like them, or they have a higher proportion of calories to protein. I spend probably $135-ish on protein supplementation a month just for me.
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Type "Healthy eating on a budget" in the search (link to search is above the first post usually). I am on mobile so copy-pasting the result links is too much hassle. This forum is full of discussion threads with great advice on your topic. There is even a "healthy eats for cheap" group where you can swap ideas and recipes.
In general, if you think you must buy certain "magic" foods or shop at special stores to eat "clean", yeah, it will be expensive and won't give you much added value. If you tale a cue from the hundreds of folks here who eat healthy and cheap by reducing eating out and processed foods and buying healthy cheap staples and cooking from scratch most days, it will probably be cheaper to eat healthy regardless wher you live.
Buying in bulk, preferring farmers markets or certain cheaper stores, buying in-seazon or frozen/canned and food prepping for the week seem to be the most -often quoted strategies.
Foods people seem to count on a lot:
Chicken (or other meats)
Eggs
Beans (can buy dried, even cheaper and healthtier) lentils etc etc.
Staple fruit and veg like apples, carrots, cabbage, whatever is cheap and accessible wher you live
Frozen fruit and veg - cheaper, less waste, and often picked ripe and with fewer chemical used to preserve appearance
Rice
You've got all the basics of a healthy diet right there...1 -
My wife has a cousin who was a stay-home mom and raised 7 healthy kids in a trailer on her husband's minimum wage job feeding them what she could put together from a list such as Wiseandcurious posted above.1
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What everybody else said here. I feed my family of four (including two teenage male eating machines) for around $600 per month. This includes soda, junk food and frozen/convenience food for said eating machines and boxed cereal for the hubby. Oh, and plenty of taco fixings. Can't feed teenagers without tacos. The rest is veggies, fruit, chicken, tuna, rice, potatoes, quinoa and dried beans of several varieties.
We live in SW PA, by the way. Cost of living is not so bad here.2 -
This stuff might be super simple (and a lot of yins are probably doing this), but I was surprised at how much I saved by doing this:
- The less packaged/processed the food is, especially with some produce, I've noticed that it's cheaper. A 5lb bag of cut kale/collard greens is cheaper per pound than the prepackaged/boxed kale salad blend, and buying a head of kale ends up being cheaper per pound than the 5lb bag of chopped kale. The chopped pepper/onion mix often ends up being double/triple the price for the same amount of unprepared peppers/onions. Cut and washed strawberries are often more expensive at my grocery store than the unprepped ones. Dry beans are cheaper per pound than canned beans.
- Buy in bulk. The 900g container of Greek yogurt (and portioning out 150g) is often cheaper per 100g than buying 6 150g containers. A 5lb bag of green beans is often cheaper per lb than the 2.5lb bag (I always try to buy in bulk and plan my meals around those foods so that little goes to waste, or I choose sturdier products that won't immediately go bad)
- Store brand/generic everything -I've noticed very little difference in quality, but I often can save 30%+ compared to if I bought a national name brand. My town is getting an Aldi, and I am anxiously waiting for it because of all the amazing (and cheaper) produce and packaged goods (I feel like a little kid impatiently waiting for Christmas). Local farmer's markets are also really good for produce/groceries and tend to be a bit cheaper.
- Buy meat on sale and then freeze it. If there's a really good deal on chicken, I'll buy in bulk and freeze whatever I won't be able to eat up that week.
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About $350-550 a month on food
Family of 3- 2 adults, 1 teenage girl
Kansas, USA
No special diets. Everyone eating food prepared at home except one meal per week. Not eating organic.
Meal planning is helpful for spending less. Eating several meatless meals per week (dry beans and lentils are cheap). Eating less beef and more chicken thighs or whole chicken. Making a big pot of soup once a week. Using what we buy. Buying generic or store brand items. Sticking to the carefully made grocery list. Only going to the store once a week- if we run out or forget something it goes on the list for the next week.
I drink mostly water.
I eat things like:
Breakfast- Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit, cottage cheese
Lunch- sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers
Dinner- something different every night of the month.
Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles, cottage cheese
I post recipes and my monthly meal plan on my blog. https://lounmoun.wordpress.com/
I find food ideas on Pinterest a lot.
http://www.budgetbytes.com has tasty cost conscious recipes.
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My boyfriend and I spend between $50-$75 per week on groceries, depending on if we are out of certain staple items. This comes out to $200-$300 a month. We eat a lot of eggs, maybe 8 or so a week. We also don't go out to eat. We might go for a Sheetz a run every other week, but that's about it. I personally love overnight oats (oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit) and tend to alternate eggs with toast and oatmeal for breakfast. My boyfriend is big on eggs in the morning and if he is not feeling that he will have cereal. We always have wraps/sandwiches for lunch. I try to roast some bell peppers each week to use in those. We don't buy expensive lunch meat and never pay more than $4/pound. Is it lower quality? Probably, but we are broke lol. Supper is when I really get creative though. I cook one meal that will feed us for two suppers. I do this 3 times a week and the last day is kind of a "free for all" sort of day. I make a lot of soups/stews, tacos, casseroles, stir-frys etc. I try and make one new recipe a week. We also do a couple of meatless meals each week. Last week we had homemade veggie burgers and this week we are trying a chickpea curry. Meal planning helps A LOT. I spend about an hour each week making my menu, grocery lists, and then matching each item to the best price. We shop at 3 different store. Food Lion, Martin's, and a discount grocery store called Sharp Shopper. Sharp Shopper is incredible and I would look to see if you have something similar in your area. Almost everything that goes in the cart is $1 or less. We have gotten produce, spices, dried beans, frozen vegetables, snacky foods, rice, and so much more for amazing prices. We get our eggs there for $0.67 a dozen. I also use apps like ibotta, checkout 51, and savingsstar to save even more. I try and use coupons when I can, but not usually. Also generic brands are so much cheaper and taste exactly the same. I only buy generic brands. I find that a little preparation and shopping around goes a long way. Good luck! EDIT: I also use a protein powder if I find my macros are off for the day. I tend to eat too many carbs and not get the protein I need. The powder I get is a generic brand that is $10 for 12 servings. I buy it maybe every other month, as I don't use it every day.0
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Reading through this topic is amazing. You guys are amazing to eat on $500-$800 per month. My family of 4 adults (in Southern California) spends over $1500 per month on food (groceries, restaurants, fast food).1
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Warning: long post, because I'm a nerd with budgets.
I like to track the costs of foods, so I know what a real bargain/sale is, and then buy when things are cheap. That being said, certain things are ALWAYS good buys compared to other things, so I shifted my way of eating so those things are the staples of my calorie intake.
While trying to cut calories, I need 12,600 calories per week. I put everything in comparison to how many calories and nutrients something has. Here's what I've learned (for my region in the US). The following give me the best "bang" for my grocery budget and can make up a significant portion of your calories:
Bulk dry rice, 10# bags of potatoes, 5# bags of onions, 2# jars of peanut butter, dry beans/lentils, bananas, olive oil, dry oats, big tubs of mixed nuts, bulk sesame/flax/sunflower seeds, mayo, butter, no-brand triskets, tortillas, blocks of cheddar cheese.
These ^^ are less than $0.0016 per calorie. If I ate ONLY THESE ITEMS, I'd spend less than $20/week in groceries. These are the basic staples. Most meals have a portion of their calories coming from these. The money saved by buying these can be used to buy things that are still good bargains, but cost a bit more in exchange for variety and nutrition. Here's some more costly-but-worth-the-cost foods:
sweet potato, apple, olives, dried fruit, ezekiel brand bread, wasa crispbread, pork/chicken (when it's <2.50/lb), ground beef (when it's <$2/lb), ground turkey (when it's <$1.50/lb), eggs, parmesean cheese, canned herring (at walmart), canned tuna, frozen spinach, frozen broccoli, cottage cheese, milk, cream cheese (my lists are longer, these are just the highlights)
^^the above 2 lists comprises the majority of my "budget" grocery list. Things like the crisp bread and ezekiel bread occasionally go on sale, but they're good buys (in my mind) even without a sale. Anything not on these lists is, essentially, considered a "luxury" and optional. But you'd have to make your own lists of what fits your lifestyle.
$850. So let's say including your kid, you eat 6000 calories per day between all of you. That's 180,000 calories per month. So you're spending $0.0047 per calorie. When you're looking at food the next time at the grocery store. Read a label. Do the math. If it costs more than $0.0047 per calorie, ask yourself if it's worth the cost. For instance, my protein powder is ~0.008 per calorie. If that's ALL I ATE, I'd spend about $108/week on food. Being mindful that my protein powder is an expensive piece of my budget keeps me using it sparingly when needed to supplement (as it should be considered).
Good luck, don't give up eating healthy. Just learn what is a good buy and thoughtfully buy the things that are important.5 -
Plan your meals around what's on sale instead of shopping for a specific menu plan.
Stock up on sale items/ bulk items. It's different each week so eventually you have a big variety. Portion and freeze what can be frozen. Dry goods keep a long time (check dates on any mixes lIke pancake, cakes, etc.). Frozen fruit and vegetables almost always cheaper and more nutritious (picked and frozen IN season vs fresh out of season picked green and unripe so it can be shipped and stored longer). Fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season are much cheaper.
Buy first/check sales circulars then plan meals. I spend half what you spend for 4 of us and we eat very well.
Eat at home more often.1 -
Reading through this topic is amazing. You guys are amazing to eat on $500-$800 per month. My family of 4 adults (in Southern California) spends over $1500 per month on food (groceries, restaurants, fast food).
From your perspective @424a57, why is that? Lots of eating out? Food generally more expensive where you live? Throw out food a lot? Eat truffles/foie gras a lot? Life standard (costs and salaries) double that of other states? Just curious, I am not in the US so wondering what a double (or triple) difference can come from.
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First of all, your exact location in the US does make a difference in how much food costs (shipping costs, taxes both for the wholesaler/retailer, competition among retailers, how much is locally grown, etc) so the best comparison would be to someone else in your general area.
I spend about $60 a week for myself and live 30 minutes outside Milwaukee.- I eat out once per week but no more
- I minimize my alcohol consumption
- I make my own seltzer with a SodaStream and rarely buy a soda
- I frequently shop at Aldi's for staples. They often have excellent produce with great sales.
- I plan my menu for the week on Thursday when the sale ads come out. I see what meat is on sale and plan and buy accordingly
- I eat a lot of eggs (currently 59¢ a dozen at Aldi's)
- I buy fruits and veggies on sale or in season
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I'm in New Jersey in an affluent area. We aren't affluent, we just rent here.
I spend about $800 a month on groceries. This includes all of our breakfasts lunches (I eat at home, husband brings his lunch) and dinners. We eat out maybe 1x a week. I shop at the least expensive supermarket usually 2x a week as we're always running out of something. The $800 also includes cat food and cat litter for 2 cats
When we lived in a different part of the state prices were a little lower, and I had ready access to a Trader Joes and probably spent a bit less.0 -
I have found if you buy whole foods like produce, nuts, some dairy, and meat it's not more expensive than other processed groceries. Of course it's more time consuming with prep and cooking, but I think the end result tastes better and is more gratifying. I try to hit sales - Whole Foods will do organic mangoes 10/$10 and will purchase a couple of ripe and mostly unripe fruits so they last longer, same for avocados. Organic carrots and loose bulk kale are pretty inexpensive per pound. I avoid prebagged items like salad and apples. Harris Teeter does awesome sales on organic berries. I will buy several pounds and prep them when I get home. Some of them I will freeze. Organic cheese is another one I will wait until it's on sale, find coupons, and buy in bulk. Shredded cheese is great in the freezer, and doesn't need to be thawed to use. Same with meat - buy in bulk on sale and freeze. Fresh raw nuts are also a great option, and fresh organic 1 ingredient peanut butter is pure heaven. I wait until those items go on sale and stock up - both are also very versitile. I've found apps like Ibotta and Checkout 21 offer rebates on several of these items, including produce, nuts, eggs, and milk. Saving Star also offers produce rebates, but you have to make sure you get it at a store they are partnered with (i.e. Harris Teeter, not Whole Foods). We also buy a case of macro bars a week which are great for quick snacks. Our grocery bill is usually $100/week, but often includes our water (18 gal $.38/gal), a suppliment (I take a multivitamin, magnesium, and a vitamin b complex, usually one of those is on sale with coupons so I will get a couple of containers). Other things that are relatively inexpensive and versitile are organic steel cut oats (Red Mill) - when on sale with coupons it comes out 1.25 for 2 lbs at Harris Teeter. Harris Teeter will double coupons that are .99 or less, but sometime will double coupons $2 or less which provides a lot of free shopping. Some decent coupon site for organic items are Common Kindness, Hopster, and LOZO is good to track down any coupons that are current (it's a database you can query - and they will provide links to printable coupons). Farvado is a good app to check weekly sales, and they also will let you know which coupons are available and their sources. Feel free to hit me up if you have questions or want more info.0
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@WBB55 - I tried to pm you but the app doesn't let me. Your post is AWSOME! Thx for sharing. I'm a math geek so now I have some number to crunch lol.0
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So much good advice here. I plan meals based on what is on sale, batch cook a lot, and also plan meals based on what fresh produce is in my fridge so nothing goes to waste. I cook all meals from scratch.1
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MorganMoreaux wrote: »@WBB55 - I tried to pm you but the app doesn't let me. Your post is AWSOME! Thx for sharing. I'm a math geek so now I have some number to crunch lol.
aww shux. You should be able to message me, but I don't usually respond to much PMs.0 -
Family of 4 in Canada (but pretty far north). We spend $1000-1300/month on groceries. Usually $250-400 at Costco every 2 weeks, depending on which items we need to restock. Then smaller trips to the regular grocery store for yogurt, milk, and bread as we run out. We go out to eat 0-6 times a month.0
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When we're at the top of our game, we spend £50/week on groceries for 2 adults and 1 7 year old. This includes things like toilet paper and detergents but does not include eating out.
Our tricks are:
- Always use a list
- Keep a standard list in the house that you can use to make your weekly shopping list from. This is a list of items you must have in the cupboards, and from which you can make basic meals to last a week.
- always tally shopping as you go, either with a calculator or manually - I round up to the nearest 5p to make this easier.
- Use cash. We take the grocery money out weekly. Having cash in hand makes it easier psychologically to not overspend.
- Only shop once a week, no cheat trips in between, and never shop when hungry.
- Less meat. Our standard list has no meat on it, just things like beans, lentils, dairy for protein. We only buy meat if we have money over after the basics.
- German discount stores are the BOMB. I love Lidl in particular but Aldi as also awesome and is expanding into a lot of countries. Honestly, if not for Lidl and Aldi, we could not live on this budget. They are a bit odd (lovably eccentric) but once you get used to them you will never go back.
Also, this stuff takes practice. When we started budgeting, we had a higher grocery allowance, and have gradually shaved it down as we got smarter and better at it. And we eat well - it isn't all beans and rice, and we can fit meat in most weeks, often a big joint for the slow cooker which stretches really well. It makes money for trips, for fun things, and for savings. Budgeting is awesome.
(obviously how low you can go depends on food prices in your area and how practised a cook you are - YMMV).
ETA I'm in Scotland. Not sure if the exchange rate now - I think £50 is around $75 ish?
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We spend for 2 people around £200 a month (though I'm not good at racking). but that doesn't include the £100 on alcohol on payday
or the once weekly meal out or our food for work.
I do my drinks order from Asda then food shopping from Tesco, Morrisons and Iceland
From next month aiming for 2 food deliveries a month @ £50-60 a time.0 -
We barely do it. We coupon, compare ads, and buy what's on sale. We spend 200-260 a month for a family of four0
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We cook most dinners from scratch. We spend £400 per month for two adults and two children, aged 6 and 10 (this is actually a little above the average spend for a four-person family). My tips:
- Cook double, triple or however many portions and freeze all but one for the following week(s).
- Snacks for children on weekdays can be cut up cheese (not the pre-packed stuff aimed at them), left-over vegetables and fruit. We keep staples of peppers, cucumber, apples, bananas, carrots and plum tomatoes.
- Buy big hunks of meat and break them down yourself.
- Plan out three-four meals at a time. I know a lot of people go for weekly shops, but that created waste for us - as life sometimes gets in the way.
- Buy potatoes, rice and dried pasta in big portions. It keeps.
- Bulk up protein with beans and lentils.
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