Grocery Bill

CassieR6

Hello there! I know I have asked this before but I just did our numbers and we are spending about $1000 a month in groceries!! To me for a family of three (Wife, Husband, and 4 year old). This includes food, household items, and beer typically. So its all! Oh and we are in Southern California. So is this average or above average???

independant2406

I found this online:


"The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average American spent $6,443 annually food." (this was from 2009)
http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/budgeting/average-american-grocery-bill.htm

If you divide that number by 12 months and then multiply by 2.5 (number of people in your family) it'd work out to be about $1342 per month for an average American family the size of yours. Seems a bit high to me but the cost of living is alot higher in other parts of the country so that may contribute to it.

I checked and my husband and I spend about $700 a month on food/groceries. (this includes eating out) We don't have kids yet. We live in Indiana. If we had a child to feed I don't think it would be unrealistic to add another $200-300 a month. So what your spending seems pretty normal to me...

Hope this helps!

ValerieMartini2Olives

I spend about 300/month for myself, a toddler and my boyfriend (who is a very big/tall man) who is here every weekend.

zdyb23456

I shop for a family of 5 (3 of them kids ages 5, 3, and 2) and in the past year spend on average $350/month. This includes food, cleaning items, paper products, personal care items, toiletries, etc.

I use coupons and combine my coupons with sale items. I live in Virginia.

saraharnoldnelson

$600-700/mo average for family of 4 in WA State here.

Ninkyou

I spend about $600-700/month for a family of 4 1/2: Myself, Hubby, 6 year old, my elderly mother and my unborn child.


It helps to shop on a weekly basis and shop the sales at your preferred Grocer. Also... coupons. It's worth it. I saved like $35 last week alone in coupons. Maybe that doesn't seem like alot, but when you add it up, it begins to accumulate. Even if you only save like $2-3, it'll start to snowball.

MysteriousMerlin

Ours is around 600 for a month, for 2 people, in southern Illinois. including toiletries

mam479

Goodness, when I first read this i thought you said $100 and I was sitting here like "HOW." Growing up my family only spent ~$400 on groceries which is ~$580 adjusting for inflation.

However, you're in SoCal and with the drought, food prices are rising. Honestly,you'd get a better idea if you asked your friends and neighbors or other people in SoCal. Because the cost of groceries is very dependent upon area. What I spend in Pittsburgh is much different than my sister in Virginia and my friends in NYC.

Tbaby1514

We spend an average of $2600 per month on food for the 4 of us. (Baby not included, he's BF) About $2000 of that is spent on groceries, the rest is at restaurants/take away food, we typically eat or order out once a week. I live in NY.

Topsking2010

We spend an average of $2600 per month on food for the 4 of us. (Baby not included, he's BF) About $2000 of that is spent on groceries, the rest is at restaurants/take away food, we typically eat or order out once a week. I live in NY.

WOW!!!

NoriDupuis

I spend about 300/month for myself, a toddler and my boyfriend (who is a very big/tall man) who is here every weekend.

how do you keep it so low?
ther is just me and my boy friend 2 cats and a dog and we are looking at 800 a month

Cortneyrenee04

A little off topic, but I got our monthly grocery bill down a lot when I stopped buying paper towels and napkins like crazy each week. The boy of the house would use so much so I spent like $20 on cloth napkins and it saves us a lot of money. (And it's not that much extra work.) Stuff like that adds up and could be better spent on food - or better yet, beer!

AliceDark

I live in Southern California, and spend $300-$400 for myself and my BF.

Francl27

NJ... $700-800 or so for 4 (two 6yo kids).

arditarose

Sometimes I spend 20 bucks a day on food, sometimes only 10. So I'm going to estimate that I spend between 330-400 a month on food for myself in NYC

Jennloella

we spend about 1600 a month on food. My husband myself, a 12 year old, 9 year old, 1 year old, and 4 month old. So this includes formula. This does NOT include bathroom stuff (toothpaste, makeup, shampoo), cleaning supplies, petfood, or diapers. I get all that somewhere else and doesn't figure into my grocery bill. I don't cut coupons or anything resembling cutting coupons. If it's on sale great, if it's not, oh well I need it anyway. We shop at Trader Joes, Safeway, and Costco. We're in Northern Cali

Beautifulreflections

Family of 5 (two adults, three teens) Vegas....I budget $150/week and usually stick within that while doing my weekend shopping. Its the stops on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (because we run out of this that and the other thing) that I have never kept track of and assume its likely another $100 or so a week.

iiiEllie

5-700$ for two of us, depends on sales. East coast of Canada

mitch16

At least $1000 per month spent at the grocery store (a lot of Whole Foods, a little Stop n Shop) for a family of 3 (myself, my husband, and a 14 year old boy who hasn't started eating me out of the house yet). This doesn't include restaurants (usually 2x per week), pet food, cleaning supplies, or most health and beauty items. We live in Boston.

chivalryder

I *easily* spend at least $400/month on myself here, in Southern Ontario.

Kellyfitness128

I'm not sure what the average is, but I only feed myself and spend about $60 a week on groceries, so $240 a month. I eat a vegan diet and live in northern california

EDIT: I usually go out to eat once a week or so, which I didn't include in the $60 grocery bill.