How much do you spend on groceries?

jess7386

Realistically, I probably spend about $150-175 a week on my fiancee & I. However, this number is probably skewed because we live right in the city/eat a lot of organic/hormone free fruits/veggies - it also includes all our TP, toiletries, etc.. Going out we are equally awful, probably $250 a week between us (2 nice meals on weekends).

I do use coupons & shop at big box stores much of the time, but it still adds up. Though I feel OK with spending a lot on healthy groceries as I know the importance of the good food I'm putting in my belly & how much it will save me in healthcare costs over time!

Serah87

$600 a month for a family 4, includes everything, toiletries, laundry soap, etc.

kaylalryan

family of 4... 3 adults (husband, myself and foster adult) and 1 child (age 4)...we spend about $80 a week. We shop at the co-op in bulk grains, sale or seasonal produce, organic dairy (limited) and meat when on sale. If it's summer or farmers market season I can take this down to $50 a week.

Pinkgingham_19

I'm canadian, but for two of us, usually around 100-125 a week at the grocery store, 15 a week on coffee, and maybe a 100 dollar Costco trip once every 6 weeks.

Eating out, we save it for special occasions so maybe once a month?

MD1978

Dang I need to take lessons from some of you Our family of 4 spends around 200-230 a week on groceries including pet food and cleaning/health products. We don't eat out often maybe 1-2 month.

LanderRose81

My budget for our family is $100-$120 every 2 weeks. That feeds two adults, an almost 13 year old plus our cat and dog. That includes all non-food items too, toiletries and cleaning supplies. I do cut coupons and check the sale ads (I mostly shop at Meijer but I do pick up some stuff at the Dollar Tree). That does NOT include the bulk of our meat however. My husband hunts and fishes so our freezer usually has venison and fish in it. Also this year we are raising pig and cows. So right now our freezer is full of pork that we didn't get from a grocery store. I still buy chicken at the store. We don't eat out very often but we do like to order pizza!!! Usually that is every other Friday on grocery day...I hardly ever cook on grocery day. :laugh: We typically spend $20-$30 on pizza night. MMMMMMMM pizza

lowpro1983

For my bf and I, we budget about $300-400 per month for groceries.

aimeehaven

I am trying to spend around $100 a month on food for myself. I shop generally at Save a Lot and Aldi's but buy certain things at Wal-Mart and Wegmans ($1.99/lb for boneless skinless chicken breasts). I generally make something in the crockpot on the weekend and that will either be my lunch or dinner every day for the week. I buy frozen veggies unless they are in season or on sale. Same with fruit but I have been pretty lucky in that aspect. I've been finding great deals on fresh fruit. 39 cents per pound for bananas and $1 for 12oz container of fresh blackberries. Sometimes you just need to shop around a bit to find deals. I am lucky that all of these stores I shop at are within 2 miles of my house and 3 of the 4 are right next to each other BTW these prices are for Buffalo, NY

cwolfman13

Between $200-$250 per week...that usually also includes our beer, wine, and spirits. Other incidentals like diapers, tooth paste, dog food, etc can push those numbers up, but they are usually once per month incidentals. The biggest issue we have is that we shop at Costco for about 80% of our goods...we can go in their with a list of essentials for the next week or two and they may total around $200...but we end up buying all kinds of misc crap...sometimes I feel like we can't get out of there under $400...well, I can if my wife isn't with me; if she's with me, watch out...gonna be a big bill. Actually, I think I've curbed her Costco enthusiasm somewhat when I just went over our latest Costco Amex bill. Just because it's there doesn't mean we need it.

SheOwens

Wow. I am also surprised at how little most of you spend. There is 3 of us in our family, but our daughter is 17 and rarely home. I spend at least $200 a week on groceries. Plus we eat out several times a week. But I guess that explains why we waste so much food each week too. Always throwing out rotten veggies and meat that we don't get to. (I hate freezing food).

In Central New York/Finger Lakes area......

Well this question really got me thinking, so I just did a spreadsheet and totaled all our grocery bills and restaurant receipts from Janauary and it was almost $1000. What an eye opener!!! This of course includes non-food grocery items. But still. WOW.

Derpina7

Just myself, about $40/week. Half of which is fresh produce (in Edmonton, AB). I do however go out socially quiet a bit, so on average probably spend an additional $20-$40 eating out.

lumbeendnking

We usually spend 100-125 dollars a week on groceries to include paper goods, etc. Thats for a family of four...

basslinewild

For my boyfriend and I about $250 a month. We eat out once a month if that. I do buy a lot of Subway though. (It's in the Walmart I work at.)

Edit: I'm in central NY

scotcl

My family of 5 budget $850 a month for all groceries/toiletries...and we typically hit that average across the year...some months less and some months more. However, we also can a lot of produce from the garden and 80+% of our protein comes venison, chickens for eggs and butcher hens for the year.

jivitasa

Too freakin' much! :grumble:

I'll admit that half of our cart is usually fresh fruit and veggies. And we also tend to stock up whenever there's a good deal. But we're around $200/week on groceries for a family of 4 (that includes toiletries and paper goods).

This^^ I swear I don't know how it adds up sometimes. Family of 4, but that does feed us all breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. Oh, and Leeroy the boston terrier too!

muwchck

It honestly depends on how good of a sale I find. For my family of 4, we receive about $600 a month in food stamps. I have a feeling that's about to go down. But I can feed us on about $20 a week if I shop really well, and I'm really careful.

Sheacat

I live in Ontario and we spend about $150-$200 a week for a family of 2 adults and 2 small children (4 and 2). I go shopping every 2 weeks, I plan out our meals (all of them and snacks). This includes everything from shampoo, cleaning supplies, dog/cat food, tylenol, etc. We buy our meat from a local butcher and we do buy mostly organic, so I could probably lower that if I were willing to let that go.

we also eat out about once or twice a month, usually subway or pizza.

Going4Lean

about $200 a month , but that is because either my mother or grandmother are always calling me over to eat.

Alisha_countrymama

50-75 a week. Somtimes 100, but not very often. That is for me and my son.

stina1980

About $500 a month for family of 3.

lilteepot

It's just me, and I keep a separate budget for pet supplies/food, as well as personal items (tp, shampoo, etc). I budget $120 a month on groceries for myself, and I only allow myself to eat out about 2 meals a month (typically special occasions, girls night out, etc). I live close to my office, so I go home for lunch every day, but if I depend on Subway for lunch or dinner on a busy day, that comes out of my grocery budget. There are months when I don't spend it all, but the extra gets left in the budget and typically gets spent the next month or so to replenish the freezer (meat) or more expensive items. I'm in Ohio, and the overwhelming majority of my shopping is done at Kroger or Aldis.

PamelaGatorMom

Family of 4 we spend about $150 - $175 a week on just food groceries & eating out (not counting household items like cat food, toothpaste, TP etc.)
With a "big eater" husband and 2 very active kids in sports they can EAT!
We do spend a large part of that on fresh fruits & veggies, seriously my family goes through a bag of baby spinach, bunch of bananas & 6-8 apples each day! Not counting other fruits & veggies we eat.

lamilli09

We spend about $100 every two weeks, give or take $20... this is for two people and includes most additional stuff, like cleaning supplies and health products. We probably spend a little over $200 a month on groceries.

But, this doesn't include dog food, eating out, or vitamins/supplements. Can't wait until it's farmer's market season again

XtyAnn17

Since eating healthier 125-175 a week for a family of 4

HeatherOberholtzer

Family of 6 here and we spend about $150 a week (with coupons) this includes paper products, cleaners...etc

AlongCame_Molly

We live in Tempe, and we spend about $250 a month for myself my husband, our toddler and our cat. We might go out to eat once, MAYBE twice a month, and that might add up to an extra $50-$75/month. (And every three months or so we spend $70-$150 at Costco to stock up on frozen chicken breasts, cheese, ground beef, toilet paper, diapers and wipes, and other here-and-there staples.)

We do it by building meals around produce that's in season/on sale, buying and freezing meat on Manager's Special, and avoiding prepackaged things, like frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, french fries, etc. If we want those things we make them at home, and they always turn out better anyway. And we don't drink alcohol and VERY rarely buy soda, so I'm sure that saves a lot, too.

devan33

We have a family of 6...with 2 teenage boys. We budget $300 every 2 weeks. That includes household items. We probably spend an extra $20 or so if we need to restock fruit, milk and bread through the week. We don't buy much in the way of snacks. We eat out once a week usually...and the cost of that depends on where we are going... Sit down meals are expensive...pushing $80 including tips...But we can keep it closer to $25 if we have pizza or some other carry out. Saturday is our "free day" and that is usually when we eat out.

k8blujay2

wow i'm surprised how little some of you spend a month on food!! i feel like i spend a lot more probably 600 a month for me and the boyfriend (he eats a lot)

what stores do you guys usually shop at?? thanks!

I shop at Target and our Safeway store (Tom Thumb)... I comparison shop between the two, since Tom Thumb has made that pretty easy with their store app.

Sharonks

About $600 per month including non-food stuff like soap, cleaners, TP. This is for a family of 4, hubs, me, and two upper teen step kids so they eat like adults. Right now hubs is working in another state so I expect it will go down a lot. I work and go to school full time so don't have time to cook for the kids so we buy them easy to prepare stuff because they don't want to cook and hate my food anyway. So my portion of the bill is lean protein, veggies, fruit and a little whole grains. Their portion is frozen chicken patties, frozen burgers, instant potatoes, burger, hamburger helper etc.

We live near Portland, OR. Last gallon of milk I bought was 2.50. eggs were 2.50 for 18. Produce has been about $1 per lb depending exactly what it is. I have several special dietary needs which I think makes our bill a little higher. When I have time to cook, grow a garden, have chickens and rabbits etc the bill can be quite a bit lower.

Wanting2BSkinny

bump