How much do you spend on groceries?

[Watson Inc]

I spend about $175 per month (1 adult).

[snafu]

Jason if you added fast food & restaurant meals to your food sum it would more accurately reflect the food total.

Great you realize that diapers and non food items can be bought for less at W/Mart or bulk. A simple menu plan makes a big dent in both food costs and heart health. Needn't be elaborate, something like Sunday roast chicken or beef or pork as you prefer. Monday Pasta+ sauce,

Tuesday plan-over Sunday for example BBQ sauce over chicken, non meat Wednesday = grilled cheese, or stuffed omlette, Thurs. any style fish, Friday is buffet of leftovers which could be baked on a pizza shell. To each meal add a side dish like potato, rice, pasta, salad, veggie and simple dessert like Chocolate pudding or fruit & cookies.

[devils_advocate]

We were probably spending $700-$800/month but we've reduced it substantially to about $450/month. I really have to question those who have kids and say they're spending $300 or less on groceries, diapers, toiletries, etc. I suppose if the family uses cloth diapers and just eats PB&J and hot dogs every day (or they eat out all the time and don't include it in their grocery budget) that could happen, but otherwise I just don't see how it's possible.

[getforfree]

we spend less than 300, and about $6 of it on diapers for my dd, she uses them only for sleep, just in case, so about 20 diapers is enough for a month.

The kids are little, so they don't eat much, they waste more than they eat, so most of the time, I finish up their plate, and the cat gets some of it.

We eat lots of rice, potatoes and pasta. I usually buy huge package of meat, about 14 lbs, whatever is on sale, less than $1/lb, separate it in smaller packages, and it's enough for more than a week. We also eat hot dogs about 2 times a week, they are so cheap, 64c/lb. We eat a lot of soup, the cheapest and the healthiest food.

We rarely drink soda, we buy frozen 100% juice, mostly apple, because it's cheaper but still 100%. I mix it with grape kind, so it would taste better.

[DebbieL]

My daughter is 14 now, and I don't think she's ever really eaten enough to make much of a dent in our grocery budget. She has an expensive fruit juice habit (which I think is much better than pop, etc.). That is about the biggest expense for her. I buy mainly healthy food (fresh veggies, fruit, chicken, etc). The amount she eats doesn't really add up to that much. During the school year I will give her $2 to buy lunch at the cafeteria about 2 times per week. All totalled, I would guess that she adds maybe $75 (at most) to our grocery expenses per month.

[Lindahfx]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I find it really hard to see how someone in a family of 3 or 4 is able to cook full meals and have all of their household items for only $50 per week. I'd love to know how you do it. I have a blog and just posted a breakdown of our recent grocery bill into categories. Are we allowed to post the link to our blogs? If not, I'll try to post something on here but you can't create tables so it makes it hard to line things up.

[PrincessPerky]

We used to eat on 400 a month (or less) with the same 5 kids (though one was nursing at the time)

We ate a lot of beans, and white pasta...plus cheap whole wheat bread (had high fructose corn syrup in it) Not to mention hardly any real meat....

A sample week menu would be...
-Quesadillas..cheap cheese, and cheap salsa, on white tortillas (now we use whole wheat no meat)
-chili (with any cheap beans, and cheap tomatoes, and chili powder, not mix, no meat, maybe homemade corn bread)
-Rice (white, prolly fried, cheap frozen veggies, and cheap teriyaki sauce)
-pasta (I'd say beef, but it was beef bullion...some additional spices..on white pasta, plus a veggie) Or could be Mac n Cheese w/veggie
-potatoes (soup or parsley...no meat, but maybe chicken bullion, with a veggie of course)
-Spaghetti (cheap tomatoes, cheap sauce, spices, white pasta, maybe homemade biscuits)
-PB no J at the park or out somewhere else (with fruit)

repeat ad nasuem...till you find meat WAY cheap on sale. (or carnivorous husband has a fit and buys hot dogs around once a month he did that, eww) Also about once a month we had tuna with veggie and bread for dinner. That is NOT cheap! (4 cans of Tuna to share, at 1$ each! plus the cost for bread and veggie!)

Lunch was leftovers, breakfast is whole wheat English muffins or whole wheat toast, or oatmeal, with fruit. (breakfast was the first to go healthy...)

Snacks were/are apples, cheese, and plain yogurt mixed with frozen blueberries or strawberries (for the longest time that was cheap yogurt, but now due to ped recommendation it is Sonyfield farms -that switch alone made the grocery bill jump!) Or homemade muffins (made only when sharing necessary) We also had trailmix, made from mixing our own dried fruit and nuts, used to be a lot, but the nuts are not cheap, so I cut it down.

I couldn't go back down to that 400 a month without giving up all the whole wheat flour, pasta, bread (no high fructose corn syrup) tortilla shells, brown rice, and such, not to mention the splurges on fresher fruit and carrot sticks...course it is only 500. (that doesn't include the once or twice we eat out, nor the Weekends where we may or may not get a free meal once. It does include 'non food stuff' like detergents and toilet paper. (though no other paper products are bought anymore, also only bleach for cleaning)

[Lindahfx]

Okay, I've read the rules and added my blog URL in my signature. If someone could have a look at my post from today and provide me with any feedback, that would be great.

[Aleta]

Linda: I would suggest separating your food items from all other items. I have categories for toiletries, pet food, household supplies, beverages (sodas, beer, wine). Orange juice, milk falls under the food category. I also have another category for hair care which could include haircuts, hair colors that I do myself, etc. I allocate certain amounts to each category each month and of course, some months you don't spend as much, but you will spend it the following month, so I end up escrowing that money and moving it out of the month and transferring it to the money market. You just need to start somewhere even if its where you are and see how much you can lower each category.

[PrincessPerky]

Errr, 174 in one week..is that like an out of norm stock up? buying baked goods for a party that is unusual? Now my husband would love permission to buy 34$ in meat...I hope it was a LOT of meat.

Anyway point is.....I could easily slash the meat, treats (what are those?), and baked stuff (umm doesn't that count as a treat?) you on the other hand have to look at what is important to you, and what you wont mind cutting, or at least not mind much.

Don't try to go to bare minimum overnight, try for cutting one category at a time IMO....skip the mag, find it at the library, next month buy flour and bake your own fav treat (healthier too)

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Today 900.00 Canadian = 855.26 USA

We do not budget, but I just tallied up that we spent $449 on groceries for 3 people last month. We generally do not buy cleaning items, personal care or cosmetic items at the grocery. Individually our food items may be very cheap, moderately priced, or even expensive. I'd say in the last couple years we buy a lot more expensive items than we used to. We shop at two very low price groceries where they usually have no brand names; at the biggest chain grocery in the area which has many, many choices, but run of the mill prices; at an import grocery which has superb prices, especially on bulk items like lentils, rice, nuts, all kinds of grains; and at a store which calls itself a farmers' market, but really is not--we get great produce prices there when we buy in bulk on whatever fruit and vegetables are th4e current special. We usually have to freeze portions of the vegs, lest they spoil before we get to them. We also shop at an ethnic grocery in our neighborhood and spend, relatively, a lot of money for some things, but the quality is unbeatable.

We also have a garden and get vegetables from it, and some fruit most years, but not this year. That makes our summer produce spending lower, but not much lower at all the rest of the year, as we usually do not have enough to can or preserve. WE might have enough sweet potatoes under the ground this year to live off of exclusively for a month, though.

We also buy wine, not counted in to the above because we apparently were still using what we had stocked up on from Costco from a previous month. I think we had lunch out about six times, just two of us, not the three. That would have been fast food. I don't think we went to a real restaurant last month. But that is not counted into the groceries, either.

[skydivingchic]

Our grocery bill runs right at $400 per month for 2 adults. We live in a high cost of living area and the bill includes bulk paper products, and a few hygiene items like shampoo. I know we could cut, but it fits in our budget, so I don't bother.

[mud]

Well its just myself, I get free food all week, then i buy meat, and snacks to eat on the weekend, i spend usually 50 a month. Gotta love my george foreman

[ktmarvels]

My suggestions for cutting down the grocery bill:

*Make a price book. Scope out the prices of things you normally buy at several of the local stores. You may be surprised by the variety of prices at different stores...and find that the prices at your favorite store may not be as good as you thought.

*Read the weekly ads. I go through them and see what's on sale or a good deal. I know if it's a good deal because I have a price book. I'm personally not quite to the point where I plan meals based on the sales, but it is a money saving tip.

*Use coupons. You can find coupons in the paper, from online coupons sites, in the stores, or trade for them. I was surprised to find coupons for some items like meat and produce. All coupons help...provided it's for something you normally buy or it replaces that normal purchase.

*When you find something really cheap, buy a lot of it (aka stockpile)! It's even better when you can combine coupons with sales. This means that when pasta goes on sale you buy 4 lbs (or more!) rather than the 1lb you'll use for tonight's dinner.

Slowly but surely as the stockpile grows and your awareness of prices grows, you'll find good deals and your grocery budget will shrink.

[Aleta]

Adding to KTMarvel, it becomes a greater savings with coupons when it is a buy one get one free. You're only paying for one and using a coupon, which reduces it even further. Also, check out the newpapers for coupons offering items for free. About two months ago, I got a great Soleil razor free with 2 blades with it. I believe it was about a $7.99 coupon. Two weeks ago, Hershey's had a coupon for a free bag of chocolate up to $2.99.I have gotten free cat food ( 3.5 lbs) Last week, there was a coupon for a free can of dog food.

If I shop right, I have only to buy when things are on sale, because you can stock up as the above poster said. There are some items that will not go on sale, so you have to know that.

I used to have a price book before I knew there was a need for one. I need to do that again. I'm seeing too many different prices for the same things in the same stores that I shop.

[DebbieL]

Here in Canada, coupons aren't quite what they are in the US. We do get some, but usually for products that are already the expensive ones, or things I don't use, etc. There aren't double coupon type deals or anything either. I find it is usually less expensive to buy the no name of something than to buy something with a coupon that is for the name brand product.

[lfw]

I spend anywhere between $70 and $80 a week for groceries (for 2 adults). Paper products and toiletries I generally buy at CVS with coupons and my CVS card. I have to say, I do better at CVS than with groceries.

I use coupons for groceries and read the flyers weekly but I still usually end up only saving about $4 - $6 a week in coupons. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong?

[My English Castle]

Man--my sympathies to you Canadians out there with the grocery prices.
We just returned from a trip to Canada, and I found the prices on many things really much much higher than in the Midwest US.
But the health care money must come from somewhere!

[Seacoast_01]

$800 to $900/month. (Wife, myself, 2 kids and a dog).

[herm4]

About $300.00, for two adults two kids, two dogs.