What's your budget?

pnieuw

We buy all of our groceries on our Visa card (to get 2% cash back) and in July, we spend $615 for our family of three (ten year old boy). This includes all household items, too, like laundry soap, so food is probably $550 a month.

We ate out once in July, and I take my lunch to work every day, so that covers all meals for us all month. Works out to 270 meals, or about $2 each meal, plus all our snacks. Not bad.

Healthy eating is expensive, though. Box of Kraft Dinner is 99 cents. Proper salad, lean protein and some fruit or veg costs more, but it so much better tasting, too!

SparkleShine

UGH! I know I spend too much! For my husband and I and our 2 kids I spend at least 150.00 a week. I'm not very good at couponing though.

letsdothis2010

Grocery shopping is so depressing for me. It's just me and my boyfriend, but I swear we spend about $400-ish a month. Thankfully we split that! We don't even eat a lot of processed foods (usually cereal, yogurt, granola bars). We just eat a lot of healthy food (1300 & 1800 calories respectively)....and it's so expensive.

cedarhurst2006

Being unemployed, I try to strategically shop. I will shop at Trader Joes for certain things, Almond Butter, but go to Aldis to get alot of my produce and paper products and baking ingredients. Coupons, coupons, coupons!!!

midwesthiker

$300 a month for my husband and I and our college age daughter and our pets (2 dogs & 3 cats). About $50 of that is spent on the pets!! (4 of them are old so when they are gone we are staying with 1 pet)

For meat: I buy chicken when on sale and freeze it. We buy our beef 1/4 a cow at a time. We get venison from my brother in law, usually one or two deer a year. My father in law gives us fish a few times a year and we sometimes go fishing. (But I hate cleaning them!) Anything else is purchased on sale. I am lucky I have a large upright freezer to store it all in.

I buy veggies, fruit, and dairy each week at whichever store has them on sale. I also am not picky on type or brands - I get the sale kind. I also garden, and can all of the tasty treats I grow. I have raspberries in the freezer already to use the rest of the year. Green beans are just starting and I will freeze those. Peas should be up next.

I buy rice, cereals, baking stuff only on sale with a coupon and try to hit double coupon days if I can. My goal is to save at least 20% of the total with sale/coupon. Some weeks I hit up 3 stores, but they are all in a 2 block radius so I don't feel too bad driving there. If it is a really good sale I go a few times that week on my way home - usually do this when chicken is on sale due to a one package per person limit.

I make most food from scratch and bake my own bread. I also work full time, take care of the house and weed the gardens and flowerbeds every week. I am a busy person, but I find that it is very rewarding to eat the stuff that I made rather than something from a box or a freezer bag.

epoint

There's a program in place in Georgia for farmer's markets to accept EBT cards:

http://ebtfarmersmarket.com/node/4

Maybe your state does it too? Doesn't hurt to check. But as far as the food delivery goes, I belong to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and I get fresh veggies/fruits for $15 a week. Not delivered directly to my house, but the pick-up point is only about 10 minutes away so no big deal for me to pick it up. It has really lowered my food budget because I try to base a lot of meals on that delivery, plus it inspires me to shop for more veggies and fruits in my local Super-H Mart. Do you have one of those nearby? They have great prices on produce.

fabulouslyfun

For our family of 4, we spend at least $800 per month (includes paper products, soap etc).

I whine and gripe about it every month. I know that we could eat cheaper, but I don't want to sacrifice the healthier stuff. I tend to buy the better cuts of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit even when not in season.

I notice with a lot of healthier food, ie Peanut butter, bread, cereals etc... the more fiber, less sugar or fat, is more expensive and in a smaller package.

Interestingly, when in Washington last month (we are in BC, Canada) stuff like granola bars, jam, condiments, cheese were way cheaper especially when on sale. I came back with about 8 boxes of granola bars and a bunch of mustard!

fitby2012

My husband, toddler, and I probably spend about $90 per week on food. If they ate more of what I eat, maybe $65.

AmyEm3

Honestly, I don't know. I bet if I did the math I would be shocked. We try to shop for the best bargains, but also aim for the highest quality food. I'm sure food is the biggest expense after the mortgage payment. It's worth it.

Sheesh, yeah I know we spend a lot but I haven't added it up. We bought a 1/4 cow from a neighbor a few months ago so we haven't been buying red meat lately. My husband goes deer hunting and fishing when he has time. I've been trying to cut back on our expenses but it still seems like we spend a lot. I have a vegetable garden and try to can/preserve/freeze as much as possible. I've been trying to make bread and other stuff homemade more often. We have our own chickens for eggs. But we live in a rural area and the other food costs are $$$$. Just under $5 for a gallon of milk. We're a family of 5 with three kids who seem to eat a TON lately. If I had to guess, I'd say we spend about $500 per month and that includes stuff like toilet paper, etc. It is worth it that my kids eat well though so we sacrifice in other areas.

cedarhurst2006

...and I'm not talking about calories. :P I was looking at a food picture thread and it really made me curious. I mean, I know there is a lot of diversity here, and it would seem in today's society your wealth equates to your food's health factors. So, what's your monthly food budget? How do you shop so that you can eat healthily enough, if your budget is on the low side?

I live off of foodstamps with my daughter and her father, and he inputs his money as well. But he also does all of the shopping, so I get zero say/ability in choosing what I have in the kitchen, since I'm totally dependent at this point in my life. It's a struggle. I am guessing about 300.00 is what goes into our food buying, per month, including stamps, for all three of us.

Search the subject "Mug Bread" in this forum. Healthy and cheap and a filling bread/muffin. The Flaxseed meal package was $2.99 and the rest of the ingredients are pretty inexpensive. I also like it because it is quick & healthy.

TheRoadDog

I guess I should feel guilty for the amount we spend on food each month; but I don't. We struggled for many years. In the 70's I lived on Turkey Pot pies, because they were17 cent apiece and I was saving up to buy a house. We are now no longer struggling. We are comfortable and properous, because we put in the hard work in the beginning. We have no budget for food. If we want it, we get it. I love to cook and that can get expensive.

Mybetterme

Anybody live in California in these posts and have teenage boys. I use coupons and spend way more then anybody here. I know it's a lot and would like to cut it down. What can 4 people all 11 and up eat 3 meals a day 7 days a week for 100 or even 200 a week. We easily spend 300 a week. Anybody that claims this 100 a week and lives in so cal can I shop with u and cook what u do for a weekand see how u do it. Cause I thought I was frugal. Even those veggie co ops things from my sons school wants 120 a month for vegetables.please help.

TheMaidOfAstolat

I spend around $100 a week on myself, my daughter, and 3 dogs. I buy local, fresh, and do not buy more than we can eat. This also includes any paper products, cleaning supplies, dog food...ect. I love the farmers market and I use coupons as often as I can. If possible grow as much produce as you can, become friends with a local farm for eggs, fresh dairy, and meat (thankfully I am a vegetarian so I can save that money). Also...start keeping a log of what you consume daily, weekly, monthly and it will let you know what you need to keep in stock and use coupons for or if it truly is an every once in a while item that you can splurge on.

Kaycurrier

I live in Cali, bay area, one of the most expensive places in Cali, also use to live in SoCal, San Diego

For my husband, our son, and I
we spend about 400 hundred a month, sometimes more, sometimes less
we never waste anything, if there are leftovers, even just for one person, we eat them for lunches
we portion all of our meats into small portions so that we do not cook to much
I also make a monthly food menu and look for sales and use coupons
I buy all my produce from farmers market and local fruit store
we never have more than two boxes of cereal open
I make most stuff fronscratch unless it is cheaper to buy prepared, like sauces and stuff like that

our eating out bugdet is separate, because honestly for three people (one is 2 so he is usually free or shares with me) it is sometimes cheaper to eat out, but not often , twice a month or so

leopardlushh

I saw you live in Eureka, CA...go to the Winco there! It's inexpensive compared to other grocery chains and you can buy large quantities of poultry for inexpensive prices and freeze them. The produce there is decent but I'd rather spend $20-$40 on produce than unhealthy junk food. I've bought plenty of healthy food from there that can feed a family and be used for left overs.

Just curious why you have no choice in the shopping??? Maybe you guys can make it to the store as a family and set an example for your child.

lilyinlove

We are a family of 4 boys 3 dogs and a cat, we spend around 80£-100£ a week on groceries. That is around 160$

Elmaunie

I spend about £150 every fortnight on the big shop that we get delivered and probably around another £30 a week to top up on milk, bread etc; probably another £30 a week on takeaways. That covers me, hubby, 2 boys - 10 and 12 who have packed lunches for school, 3 cats and a dog. I don't buy processed or boxed food. My family are my guinea pigs and I experiment on them with my random concoctions regularly lol.

My biggest problem is that the fresh stuff is all gone or goes off before we can get another shop in but I can't justify doing another big shop (and paying a fiver for delivery!) any more often than that. I spend a depressing amount of the month living off the credit card and so frequently can't take advantage of the weekly farmers' markets here. Then I totally shoot myself in the foot by buying takeaways when I'm not able to make it home at a decent time lol. I work full time, hubby is at college and we're currently renovating a house that's falling apart. The kids have been great at pitching in and helping but it leaves us with little time in the evenings. They still need to eat at a normal time and when we all get home they just head off to bed.

Argh! This is why I'm broke and fat!!! lol

CARNAT22

2 adults, 1 cat.

I spend roughly £50 a week on the online shop (heavy goods, cat litter, tins, store cupboard items) Plus another £30 a week on fresh food - meat, veg, salad, fruit. Another £10 a week on lunch stuff and another £10 on bits and bobs. So that is £100 a week - £400 a month!!!! Jeez!!!

I do cook at home every night, this does include my lunches every day and OH's lunches most of the time though!