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The USDA ( US Dept of Agriculture) has a pdf file that states how much the average family spends on food per month according to the number of people and ages in the family.
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This is incorrect. The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) is not how much families spend on average, rather, it is the cost of a market basket of foods (calculated from the CPI-Consumer Price Index) that can be used to cook healthy, thrifty meals designed by USDA nutritionists. The meal plan requires cooking from scratch and a moderate amount of cooking knowledge and equipment (ie roasting pans, etc.). The average family spends far more than the TFP. As an aside, the TFP is part of what goes into determining a household's food stamp allotment.
If you can meet the costs on TFP, I think you're doing quite well (note: the TFP assumes you don't have a stocked pantry.) When you first see the TFP you might say . "Heck, no problem!" But then if you start figuring that you needed to buy every single ingredient, you'll see it's much harder to stay on budget-- another reason why establishing a well-stocked pantry is so important for limiting food costs.