Average Monthly Groceries

StarArly

$160-$360 a month for 2. We also eat at restaurants a lot probably at least once a week. Definitely the cost has gone up lately because I'm eating a lot more fruits and veggies.

Abigailblue39

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding?
About $ 220 per week (includes stuff like detergent, toilet paper, diapers etc..) for 2 adults, a 2 year old and a Great Dane (fresh veggies and fruit, frozen fish, milk, German muesli bread, cheese,chicken breast, chicken breast and again chicken breast - The Dane eats chicken breast, too)

2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch?
I only eat an apple for breakfast and I always pack lunch: salad and some chicken or fish on top.

3. Do you dine out often?

2-3 times a week. A lot of times, I eat half, the other half I eat for lunch the next day

4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP?

no, I've always been that way, only since MFP I buy less cheese and more chicken breast

getting my budget smaller:
since the nanny quit, we're about half what we used to spend... wonder why???
I also don't throw away food, I keep left overs for the next day.
I shop 2 times per week, when I went once, fruit and veggies would spoil.
Make your own salad dressing.
I don't buy pre cut fruit/veggies, its more expensive.

PamalaJoy

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding? about 100/wk. for 4 of us. If you count pet food, dry goods (paper towels, laundry soap etc. it's a lot more)

2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch? My husband always makes his lunch from dinner the night before. So I cook for 5. If we have "fend for yourself" night, he'll take other left overs. (I still don't have cooking for 4 down very well. I always cook too much!)

3. Do you dine out often? Usually once a week. Fast food lunch on Saturday for hubby and I while we run errands. Take out pizza every couple of weeks or so. A really nice dinner out is a rarity. And my budget numbers don't include any of this.

4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP? Too soon to say. I suspect it will go down because I'm not buying the junk foods as much. Truthfully I'm still eating what I love, just less of it. And I've become VERY aware of the caloric cost of butter! YIKES!

I did a budget last year or so and was told we were waaayyy over the national average on groceries. But at the time I included cleaning supplies, pet food, livestock feed....it adds up!

"Just thought it may be an interesting conversation!" This is! Thanks! It makes more sense to see how others are doing with groceries than some arbitrary budget calculator. And I've wondered how expensive groceries are in other parts of the country (ok the world). Thank you for an interesting thread!

kittyloo123

i just shop for myself. Probably about $150 per month. I go for lunch probably once a week. Thats 6 bucks. Buy mostly fresh, but still pinchin' my penny's hard. I want fresh, but on sale. I'm not that picky.

jhuntl01

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding?
About $ 100 per week (includes stuff like detergent, toilet paper, pet food etc..) for 2 adults, 2 teens an 11 year old and a 7 year old, a saint bernard, a hound dog and two cats (oh and 35 chickens, 5 ducks and 4 turkeys)

2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch?
My husband is in college to be a minister so he is home all day with the kids (we home school) and I eat breakfast at home and pack my lunch

3. Do you dine out often?

We used to do fast food often, but our food budget decreased (plus I am trying to get fit) and therefor we don't eat out at all anymore.

4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP?

No because the money is not there, however we have become more frugal in order to get the fresh fruits and veggies (I'm sure others have noticed, but proccessed foods are cheaper than real ones)

Swimgoddess

I'm a SAHM and hubby makes his own darn sandwiches (lol).

We spend about $550/mo for a family of 5. Didn't have to buy a drop of formula with this last baby and doing elimination communication cut our diaper usage in half.

We eat fast food maybe once a week and go out to a sit-down meal about once a week on average.

youngmomtaz

I am in a small town in Manitoba, Canada. We are about 150km from any center larger than 1000 people. I spend $500-$600 each month to feed 5 of us. Groceries are very expensive here but we budget well, bake everything we can and buy whole, work required to prepare foods. Not easy but saves me big bucks. According to the manager of the local grocery store many families my size are spending over $800 each month so I am proud of myself for keeping the budget reasonable and healthy!

bloodbank

My family of 3 (self, husband, & toddler who gets probably half of her food free via breastmilk) spends about $800/month on groceries, which are comprised entirely of whole foods. However, I'm in Canada, and for the lowest earners in my province, minimum wage is $10/hour - stuff here doesn't seem to be nearly as inexpensive as in the US. We do all of our own meals, eating out maybe once every 2 months or so.

alslau02

We try to stay under 400 for a family of two. Sometimes we are over by a bit and raid the restaurant budget.

Alaranio

Mine is around $250.00 for a family of 3. We eat out atleast once a week. So if that adds in about $150 more, $400.00. I pack a lunch some times and starbucks infrequently. I actually spend more now that I have joined MFP. Getting better quality ingredients and snack options. I shop at the military grocery store, farmer's market and Fresh & Easy.

mericksmom

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding? * My weekly budget is 40-50 bucks for everything including gas so monthly it is 200 on the high end for 3 people and 3 pets (1 turtle, cat and dog)

2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch? * I am a stay at home mom/work from home so my meals are at home, my son will be packing his lunch for school and my husband takes something with him, sometimes home made food other times canned or bagged goods My husband also get 50% off meals at work making it about 1-2 dollars per meal (he has personal budget of 120 a month for cigaretts and gas and food for work)

3. Do you dine out often? *As a family we do not eat out often, at tops maybe 2 times a month once would be take out/pixxa delivery and the 2nd would be a treat out at a steak house....if we dont do that then it would be fast food

4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP? * I have had this budget set in place for a while but I coupon now, If I cant budget it in then we will have to go without that week, It has pushed me to be more creative and to cook and freeze meals for later for the family. Planning meals and spreading expensive things around as thin as I can. I am lucky that I have a good cheap butcher in town and can get my vegetables pretty cheap from the same store, and Frys has been helpful making manufactured coupons worth $1 and taking competitor coupons as well.

i_love_vinegar

I was using the Suze Orman budgeting tool on the Oprah website (yeah, you can pause here to chuckle at my dorkiness)
and it said that I was more than 20% outside the national average for groceries. The National average is $371 per month.
I spend about $500 for two of us, but we pack breakfast and dinner and go out to eat less than twice a month...
so my question is, if you feel comfortable sharing...
1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding?
2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch?
3. Do you dine out often?
4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP?

Just thought it may be an interesting conversation! And if there is some super secret to getting my budget smaller, I want to know what it is

My mom buys the groceries, or I buy a meal plan usually. I think my mom spends that much per month, and with my meal plan I spend that much as well. ^.^ We eat very healthy food though...almost everything is organic/all-natural and/or local.
There are 2 of us.
We make our own breakfast/lunches.
We dine out a couple times per week, usually.
Bill has stayed the same.

When I have to shop for groceries alone, I usually don't spend much money though...and buy very good groceries. I'm cheap, and enjoy taking my time comparing EVERYTHING. o_O

1_up

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding?
We spend about $225 a week on everything (food, formula, soap etc). 4: 2 adults, 5 yr old and a 9 month old. I live in PA

2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch? yes

3. Do you dine out often? Once every 2 weeks

4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP? Increased around $50 bucks a week, since trying to eat more healthy.

suzycreamcheese

I dont know what the difference is in cost of living over there, but i spend £100 a week usually, which includes everything, like washing powder, washing up liquid, toiletries, etc etc. That apparently works out in USD as $163 a week. Thats for 5 people and a dog

yogavegan

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding? our monthly budget is around $300 for 2 people.
2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch? Always at home or packed when I am not at home. Mostly shop at Wegmans and Whole Foods.
3. Do you dine out often? We go out one time for dinner on the weekend, and I go out to lunch every other week. My partner, D, orders lunch out once in awhile.
4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP? It has decreased but not because of what I am buying health-wise, we are both vegan, and have been eating this way for the past few years, but I started tracking my spending and planning menus for the week, and buying in bulk more often, taking the time to chop veggies and use what I find at the produce stand. I plan our menus around what I know I will find in season from the local farmers and supplement with dried legumes, tofu and tempeh. We don't use coupons unless they are an overall savings on the bill, because I have found coupons to be for processed food more often than not. Never seen a coupon to save on produce, and that is what the bulk of our food budget is. All produce is either organic or locally grown (preferred). We make everything from scratch, pizza dough, granola bars, trail mix, etc. We buy pasta and bread for now, but will go back to making those in the winter. When we go out to eat or order chinese take out, it is enough to last for at least 2 meals, if not 3. We stretch those meals!

CARNAT22

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding?
* Online its £60 weekly (we get all our heavy stuff delivered) but I probably spend another £30 on fresh produce throughout the week. This is for 2 adults.
2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch?
* I buy stuff to make make breakfast and lunch whilst I am at work. So I buy a loaf of bread for my weekly toast, buy salad stuffs, some chicken etc - I reckon this adds at least another £15 per week but is much cheaper and healthier than buying my lunch daily.
3. Do you dine out often?
Once a week on average (be that a take away or dinner out or a ready meal - I always keep my choices as healthy as possible though) as I am the chef at home I try to have one night a week "off duty" . On an average week we'll probably spend £40 on a few drinks and a bite to eat out..
4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP?
* Decreased as the amount of crap [and wine!] we buy has decreased dramatically

Edited to add - looking at our average spend it's just under £150 per week / £22 per day / £7 per meal (or a whopping £600 a month!!) which is a hell of a lot for 2 people!!! However this amount does include all meals, all snacks, all treats, cat food and litter, tolietries, cleaning products, etc..

Plus I have just stopped smoking so am saving myself £200 a month (which is going into a savings account!)

phinners

Ours is high.

We shop for 4 - 2 adults, 1 teen and 1 baby. Weekly grocery shop is around £130 (not sure in dollars sorry). Then we top up with 'fridge' stuff in the week such as milk/bread etc. We eat out a lot, or at least I do - I take the baby into town and have a coffee out or a light meal (I have a gastric band so dont order a big meal, maybe just soup or a kids meal). We also eat out with family.

We probnably spend a stupid amopunt of money on food shopping, but also this includes baby stuff/wipes, laundry items, personal hygiene items.

stephyy4632

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding? I spend 175-200 everyother week -- and 2adults 2small kids (age 6 and 4)
2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch? DH packs lunch daily for work and my odd packs lunch for school daily- while myself and YDD eat at home for bf and lunch
3. Do you dine out often? saddly yes but trying to cut back some
4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP? its actualy gone down alot since joining ( I use to drink a 12pack of soda each day and now I don`t drink any unless we are out so thats 4-5 per day less than before alone)

MrsJax11

Thanks, guys! I am somewhere in the norm, then....I recently started shopping at the Sam's club again and I have a deep freezer to store meats in. I am taking advantage of the b/s chicken breast at $2/lb, and will bake a whole chicken and see how many meals we can get out of it. I am realizing that 1 pound of chicken doesn't make 1 lb cooked now that we weigh/measure everything. I am also addicted to greek yogurt, which is pretty pricy for yogurt....and we buy very few processed foods -- the rare pasta, bakery bread, tricuts, almond milk...and getting produce a the the farm stand. When I laid it out I figured $30 a week for meat, 40 for dairy/perishables like cheese, eggs, yogurt, bread, and then 55 for produce. I like to have wiggle room in my budget for a treat and monthly purchases of dog food. I go so detailed with the planning that I even figured the cost of gas to drive to the Sam's versus the grocery store! Our goal is to pay off our credit cards and student loans, as well as bank $12,000 by this time next year...so budget is needed!

BethanyCee

1. What is your usual weekly grocery budget? How many people are you feeding?
I spend about $80-$90 a week. Though I can normally stretch it out for a week and a half. This is for one person, but keep in mind I also live in an INCREDIBLY expensive area. Food costs in the NYC area are absolutely outrageous. When I visit my parents in Pennsylvania their grocery stores make me weep, they're so cheap.

2. Do you pack breakfast or lunch?
I pack lunch almost every day.

3. Do you dine out often?
On average, I would say I go out to eat maybe once or twice a week. It's been a little skewed this month because I've been traveling a lot.

4. Has your grocery bill increased or decreased since MFP?
Increased by A LOT. It's at least doubled. I used to just buy a couple of boxes of pasta, a 24 pack of coke, and a bag or two of chips and I'd be set for two weeks. That's a whole hell of a lot cheaper than buying fresh produce and proteins and healthy grains. And it would last me longer as well. There's the added cost of how much food I waste too. When I started MFP I just didn't have the shopping skills you need to buy healthy food. I was wasting a lot of fresh food because it would go bad before I could eat it. Like I said, i used to do once or two trips to the grocery store a month, and that's not going to cut it if you're buying lots of fruits and veggies. I've gotten a lot better and don't waste nearly as much as I did in the beginning, but I think a lot of people don't realize that it's a totally different skill set.