Monthly Food Expenses

JDMPWR

Im wondering how much everyone else is spending monthly with all your food that you buy at the grocery store plus supplements.

I try to trim the fat from my spending when it comes to food but it's not easy when you go to WF's and Trader Joes.

Please share.

I know with protein I am spending about 600 bucks a month on food and thats not including beer, alcohol or dining out(which I RARELY do).

Can you guys please share?

taso42

I never did the math. I'm kind of afraid to. But money spent on food is money well spent

runnercheryl

I spend £160 on groceries each month (approx. $250).

I'd say about £120 of this is my usual food and drink, and the other £40 is for treats including better quality meat than we usually have, and occasional unhealthy foods that don't fit into my weekly shop.

carrie_eggo

I know I spend about $800 a month on groceries for a family of 4 (two kids ages 3 and 7). About $100+ of that is due to me watching other kids during the week. I plan nearly every meal though. That helps a lot. I'd spend a lot more if I didn't plan meals and go with a list. Plus that's not counting any beef, because we buy it from a local farmer 1/4 - 1/2 a cow at a time.

Sorry, that probably doesn't help you much....lol

pg3ibew

Married here with 3 adult children(19 and 18 twins), all males.

We spend about 1200 US dollars a month. That is before we run out of Milk, bread, Etc., mid week.

lkm111

My family of three has a food budget of $350. I am able to make it by only shopping sales, buying meat in bulk when on sale, and wasting nothing. Leftovers are usually lunches that week. I use my crock pot a lot. Still get fresh fruits and vegetables. I sometimes use coupons, but not religiously. I don't have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods near me. My shopping consists mainly of Marsh (local to Indiana) and Kroger.

MrsCon40

As a vegan my meat bill is nothing For me alone, including protein powder, now that I'm trying to eat at maintenence+ I spend about $150 a month. Total we spend about $400 per month (including eating out once a week)

dried legumes, tofu and tempeh on sale is cheap. we do splurge on 'sausage' and some fake meat.

All of us are "in training"
daughter is vegan, too - 12 years old, but 5'5"/130 so she eats A LOT
husband is omni so we do buy some lunch meat and cheese but he eats vegan dinner with us 90% of the time

What also helps us is buying very little alcohol. Husband is sober and I'm a light weight

Lift_hard_eat_big

Just for myself, $800-900/month
But that includes groceries, supplements and eating out. Nearly $600 a month on eating out. I'm single and don't have much time to cook :-(

meshashesha2012

i probably spend about $300 a month which seems like a lot since I live alone. I think about this every time i go grocery shopping because i do eat a lot of food throughout the week. i also only shop at TJ and WF.

paulamarsden

about £250 a month for the two of us.

im a food snob, supermarket tart.

for the UK people, i do waitrose once a month for a stock up on unusual stuff and faves, then top up with organic veggie boxes delivered, sainsburys, asda and tesco.

i always have a full chest freezer

rebeccap13

I think it averages out to about $50/week for food and supplements. Eating out would maybe be about $25/week. Trying to cut that down for financial and health reasons.

mrsbastone

600-800 (not including if we eat out, which is rare) a month for a family of 4

parsnips1980

i spend about 40-50$ a week for myself. ive found that avoiding meat seems to help, and replacing it with cheaper (and healthier!) alternatives like eggs, tofu, and canned beans. a lot of times people say produce is the culprit, but if you've got a walmart with a grocery store nearby you can get a lot for not much money. last week i was amazed when i bought one avocado, a bag of onions, one yellow pepper, a bag of little carrots, a bag of spinach, broccoli, 3 apples, 3 oranges, mushrooms, 2 tomatoes, and a can of kidney beans for 12.50$!! i was blown away.

Justjoshin

I never did the math. I'm kind of afraid to. But money spent on food is money well spent

I started to do the math a few weeks ago. Once I broke 250 for the week, I figured it was safer to stop than to freak myself out.
I buy quality, tasty, foods. I'm going to enjoy them instead of letting the money factor bother me.

If I factor in supplements, I'm much higher than that.

kittenmitton

um....like $20-30/month rsrsrs. Some months I go over and buy big things in bulk, like oatmeal, rice, beans, and things like that that I can eat over the course of a few months, so most of my grocery shopping is just buying produce and such.

CoryIda

I have the exact dollars and cents in a spreadsheet at home, but my guesstimate would be between $500-600/month for a family of three.

HeidiMightyRawr

£300 a month for my partner and I - and that's with trying to keep it to a minimum! We get a lot of fresh meat though, which probably makes up a lot

I don't include protein supplements in with that, that's always separate. £40 a month for protein for both of us.

seattlerain

Family of 31/2...

We spend on groceries around $400

Dining out is a entirely separate expense that probably is double our grocery bill..

CTK3989

I have a family of 4 and I spend $400 a month on groceries.

runnercheryl

about £250 a month for the two of us.

im a food snob, supermarket tart.

for the UK people, i do waitrose once a month for a stock up on unusual stuff and faves, then top up with organic veggie boxes delivered, sainsburys, asda and tesco.

i always have a full chest freezer

Oooooh, organic veggie boxes.

I thought I was a food snob, but I've never had the money for those. In comparison to my fiance, I spend loads. I think he spends about £50 a month, and with my £160 I feel a bit greedy. :ohwell:

I'm not a 'full freezer' type, though. I buy EXACTLY what I need, so each week my freezer, fridge and cupboard are bare.

JDMPWR

I am still totally lost how some of you have a family and can eat on what I eat alone in a month. I am with Josh and Taso when I say it's about the quality of food.

I am going to become the Food Diary Creeper now....

Wendi_S

Family of 5 - between $1200- $1300 a month.

MB_Positif

Honestly, I wish I knew! I am pretty sure for the 3 of us we spend about $500 per month on food, but probably another $200 or more eating out.

jamk1446

I never did the math. I'm kind of afraid to. But money spent on food is money well spent

I started to do the math a few weeks ago. Once I broke 250 for the week, I figured it was safer to stop than to freak myself out.
I buy quality, tasty, foods. I'm going to enjoy them instead of letting the money factor bother me.

If I factor in supplements, I'm much higher than that.

I agree with both of you guys. I know I spend a lot for a family of 5 but I buy quality food and we don't eat out much. Easily $1000 a month, probably more.

MissJay75

We spent $175 per month in 2011, which I am upping to $200 per month this year for our family of 4. That includes all food and toiletries and household things like light bulbs, batteries, paper towel, etc.

A couple ways I am able to make it this low is 1) I am a dedicated (although not extreme) couponer. 2) My father-in-law is a hunter and we are able to supplement with venison we sometimes get from him. 3) My father is a farmer, and I have access to really inexpensive and sometimes free produce . So I spend a lot of time and energy canning, drying, freezing, jamming, juicing etc.

AmyEm3

About $600-700/mo for a family of 5 (two adults, 8yo, 6yo, 3yo). BUT that doesn't include a lot of our meat as we buy a quarter of a cow at a time and my husband hunts deer so we also have venison and he also goes fishing a lot as well. I also do a lot of gardening and can/freeze/store what I'm able to. We eat out maybe twice a month? My kids eat ~one or two school lunches per week so that's an extra expense. That amount does include things like toilet paper and shampoo and laundry detergent.

coquette87

For myself, about $250. Mostly because it's winter and absolutely nothing except root vegetables is in season here, so just about all the fresh fruit is imported. It'll probably drop substantially in spring/summer as fruits and vegetables come into season and I can buy more stuff local.

paeli

My grocery bill was getting a bit out of hand the second half of 2011, averaging around $400 per month just for myself and occasionally my BF every other weekend (he does eat a lot more than I do, but still...)

I've tried to make an effort to lower my food costs, so for Jan and Feb i'm looking at around more like $250 average just for me. I know I could do better, i'll keep trying! haha.

That said, I don't see food as a place to compromise on cost. I'd rather buy quality fuel for my body than live off happy meals every day. Duh

epona_mus

We spend ~$800 a month - 2 adults, 3 teenage girls at home, 1 married + son in law nearby and often eat with us. Our kids are homeschooled, so we provide all meals, 7 days a week. We are vegan-ish (some of us eat no meat, some of us do) so we eat a lot of meat-free or meat-optional meals. We buy our beef on the hoof from a local family, plus my husband hunts and fishes, so we are well-stocked in venison, duck and salmon/halibut most of the year.

I cook in bulk, so I tend to shop at warehouse stores every 2 weeks, and I have 2 pantries, 2 freezers and 2 fridges and a cold-store to store everything. I buy most of my stuff in bulk, and then buy a few things at the regular grocery store.

Noadi

Around $175 for just me. I try very hard to keep to my budget and not go over that amount.

amyrobynne

We kept our food expenses for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 young kids) at $600/mo for everything including toilet paper, etc, from 2008-2011 while I was on a strict budget. I went lax on the budgeting last spring and the baby started eating more (now we have 3 boys ages 8, 6, and 1.5) and it went up to $800/mo. I started shopping at Aldi for a bunch of stuff recently, so I need to look back and see how that's affecting things.

We buy 1/4 cow once a year, I can A LOT of stuff using food I grew, picked on farms, or bought at the farmer's market. I use coupons on double-coupon day. We get organic produce and dry goods through a co-op with friends along with earth-friendly cleaning supplies and paper products. I try for mostly unprocessed food.