Grocery Bill

TannaBanana27

We spend around $300/month for two adults and a small dog and 5 cats....oh! and my 15 yo son who is here every other weekend. This is for all foods,paper products, laundry & toiletries (which we also supply to our two daughters away at college) etc BUT I am a stay at home wife and I have the time to coupon and comparison shop. We are pretty average....I do make all of our meals at home each week except two-- one we eat out and the other we take a 'picnic' packed lunch. We do try to minimize processed foods, but are not brand specific on most things. If it can be made from scratch I will usually do that to avoid many of the boxed and frozen items. He is a server and eats "free" at his job for 5 of his lunches each week which is a help as well.

dmlove128

Im glad you asked this question. I just got in from the grocery store! Its just two of us, so we spend about $680 a month on food, other items for the house, and we order out once or twice a week...We live in north of NJ. I wish I had more patience of cutting coupons...i'd like to give it a try...

LeslieTSUK

i'm single, i spend around £35 to £50 a month tops, roughly $50 to $75
near manchester england

TheVirgoddess

Family of four and we spend about $800 a month on groceries, toiletries, etc. We're in Texas.

Shalaurise

I am in the SF bay area with my husband and daughter (6 years olf )and my food bill is about $1000 a month. If I am cooking at home a lot then it is $250 a week at the cheepo warehouse grocery store. If I am eating out, I tend to spend about the same amount a week.... my electric bill is just lower. This does NOT include household items like dish soap, laundry detergent, Kleenex, trash bags cat food/litter or the like.

simplydelish2

I lived in LA for 20 years - groceries, with the exception of a few items, are pretty close to the same price as they are elsewhere in the West.

When I saw your number - my first thought was you must eat filet and lobster and drink lots of beer. I typically spend less than $250 dollars a month on groceries and household items (dish soap, laundry soap, etc.). Not a beer drinker but do have some soda and bottled water in that number as well as extras for entertaining (I have guests 2-3 times a month). This is one person (higher income, rarely eats out, eats well). Even at 2.5x that is a budget of $625 a month - substantially lower than you are currently spending.

My take is if you can easily budget that $1000 per month and you are purchasing what your family enjoys, you really don't need to compare yourself to others. If you need to cut the budget and you are looking for some numbers, I'd guess you could use $600-700 as a great starting point.

amberj32

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???

That sounds about right. I also live in Southern California. It's me, SO, his mom and my 21 year old daughter spend about that for food and household items. (no beer)

kommodevaran

I thought this was about Grocery Bill, second cousin twice removed to Trader Joe

seltzermint555

It's just my husband and I, and I don't consider dining out or toiletries/HBA items to be a part of our grocery bill. But we only spend around $200-250/month on groceries and that does include alcohol. We don't dine out a ton, but at least weekly...so if including the meals out we're still WAY under $400 per month for the two of us. Probably around $300-350 (total including restaurant meals) most months.

I think it helps that we favor store brands/generic and fresh foods like produce, staples such as rice/lentils/etc, nuts in bulk, and we don't buy meat and stick to frozen seafood most of the time. Neither of us are big snackers. But we DO have our moments...every month our groceries include prepared vegetarian patties/bacon/etc, nicer chocolate, noosa yogurt, and other items that are NOT store brands or necessities.

I'm sure a big part of it is the area I live in (Mid-South) having a really low cost of living...but when I travel and happen to check out grocery stores, I RARELY find prices that shocking so I don't know...I really think I'm just a frugal shopper to be honest. I used to be married to a different man who was morbidly obese, as was I, and we bought tons of convenience foods and a lot of prepared and packaged stuff...and our grocery bill was NEVER over $300/month. I usually spent $100 on food every two weeks and that fed us as well as some bachelor friends who joined us for dinner at least 2-3 nights per week.

But I'll add the disclaimer that I'm so cheap to me spending more than $4-5 for twelve double rolls of toilet paper just makes me cringe, and I go through 1-2 rolls of paper towels in a YEAR, if that. I am a weirdo when it comes to spending money on recurring basics and I'm the first to admit it. For example I could never just grab some hair products in CVS for $12 when I know the same thing is $4.50 at Big Lots. This is true of me whether my bank account is ultra-flush or lacking, too. No change in my crazy ;-)

PhoebeGrey

I spend about $600.00 monthly on groceries and household items for me and my husband. Although I grow a lot of veggies and fruit in summer months. I know I could spend less but we try to eat mostly organics and locally grown foods. We live in the Northeast, USA

HannahLynn91

I spend about $500-600 a month for myself, husband and 3 dogs.

socalkay

Myself and 3 pets costs between $300 and $400 for food and household items (TP, paper towels, cleaning stuff, shampoo, cat liter, etc). This also includes food for wild birds.

If you live in California, check out the 99 cent Only stores. I get a lot of fresh produce and staples there and, yes for a buck an item.

libbydoodle11

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

Same here only I am in Norcal. $370 is my max per month. I give myself a budget of $20 per day.

inkedmommy67

My daughter, dog, cat, and I cost about 300 a month. She's two. o.o I make everything from scratch.

PokeyBug

Wow... Grocery bills are crazy in some parts of this country! I can feed my family of 4 for about $600/month. I am a stay-at-home/homeschooling mom, and my husband works close enough to come home for lunch, so that includes all of our meals. I'm glad I live in the South, lol.

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

Same here only I am in Norcal. $370 is my max per month. I give myself a budget of $20 per day.

Right. But I am not frugal. I go to the luxury/organic bodega on my block instead of the big grocery stores 20 blocks away because I'm lazy. It costs more.

FaylinaMeir

I eat mostly organic from scratch (homemade) food for about 200-250 a month for the two of us. That's about 1500 calories average a day for me and 2500-3500 a day average for my husband. We do just fine and we live in Nebraska.

I shop at whole foods, trader joes, and costo. With the very rare like juice from walmart grabs or rice from the asian market.

It's doable you just have to have commitment to it. I also don't eat as much meat as most people, we buy maybe 4 pounds of beef a month and a chicken? I dunno it varies.

Previously I was supporting 6 mouths for about 400-450 a month. It's again do-able.

Negative_X

When I'm on a cut, I spend about $200 a month, when I'm on a bulk... I lose count, haha.

stopbeingsocool

First post on this forum, but I spent 250 max per month for me and one other adult, but it normally averages closer to 180-200. It may be worth mentioning that neither of us eat a lot, however, both around 1500 calories a day. Last time we went shopping, I spent a good 3-4 hours planning our trip and where to get what based on ads and prices I know. After I shop, I generally get a receipt that says I saved almost as much as I spent, thanks to b1g1 free deals. We live in a very rural place and can only grocery shop two times a month, since it's an hour drive, so I have to plan well. I cook from scratch a lot, and like the poster above me, we do manage to shop at trader joe's and whole foods sometimes. I have a small garden, though, and chickens for eggs, and by next year, I will have goat milk and chickens for meat. My per day budget for myself is around 3 dollars.

Baconist

Okay...as a single person I see I am spending far too much on food...just for me I spend $200-400 a month...I make my own bread, unless I am pressed for time, because I don't eat HFCS and the breads without it are $4/loaf here. Generally, (not always as this week shows) I prepare all my own meals as well. I don't drink soda or beer or use disposable towels or napkins or girl stuff. The cats cost me ~$20/month. Oh, I shop the sales too.

So for me, your grocery bill doesn't seem high at all. I am wondering how you manage to keep it that low.