How much should it cost to feed your family?

[Tree0164]

A comparsion of 5 years is that my food bill is on average about $600 dollars now a month with 3 boys under 11 years ago.

[terces]

Tree---- it just gets worse and worse as boys get bigger.

I have two boys 13 and 18 and I'm happy if I can keep our monthly grocery bill close to $500. Looking at the chart I can see why. Basically my boys are in the most expensive categories. Definitely explains alot.

[rosemary_sanders]

How much should it cost to feed your family

It depends upon your family size and the age of the children. When my 3 children were younger (1 girl, 2 boys) I spent an average of $650 per month. Now I spend between $375 to $550 per month. Having a garden helps, as well as shopping the "Reduced Sections" at the grocery stores. Also, I bake muffins, cookies and birthday cakes to incorporate healthly ingredients and save money. Try to stock up on staples for your pantry, it really helps when there are times you don't have a lot of money for groceries.







kajeet: the cell phone service for kids.

[RAYT721]

A safe formula is to budget for around 15% of your takehome income (weekly/monthly) for food. If you can't work in that ratio, you'll need to adjust other budget categories to compensate. I use a formula of 10% savings/emergency, 35% housing, 15% transportation, 15% food, and then the remaining 25% of our income for disposable needs like cable tv/internet, phone, gifts and entertainment, minimal credit card debt, etc.

We don't have a very high income so our categories provide lower budgetable amounts but we manage. If one night we have steak, another we'll have grilled cheese.

We do use coupons, shop by sale flyers, plan ahead, don't shop hungry, no kids to lug for impulse, etc. The more you shop around the outer end of your store, the healthier the ingredients. Portion control is also important to reduce food costs and wastes. We use our freezer. We only pay cash for groceries. We don't go out often except for $1 side salads from Wendys instead of individual ingredients. We take multivitamins to insure nutrition. I pack lunches and snacks for work.

The food budget, however, is a priority right after housing and transportation. I'd rather go without consumer splurging than food. We eat well, exercise, and take time and make time for family communications about goals, dreams, wants and needs.

[whiteirishtiger]

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJan2012.pdf

family of 3 .. my 7yr old son, 60's mom, and I'm in my 40's

we are said to spend 454 on the thrifty plan but spend about 325 to 350 a month. we do most of our shopping once a month .. only going back for milk, eggs, and other items you go through faster or expire sooner.

the amount we spend COULD be lowered as we give food away to friend, family, or neighbor that is in need. we also spend about 10 - 12 / month on discount chicken to feed our 3 cats. this chicken isn't something I'd eat or feed my family but I'd go fishing with it if I could (.55/lb on sale at Shop n Save).

[aukxsona]

Depends on the season

I can feed my family of 8 for as little as $300 or so dollars a month, depending on the season.

Let me explain how I do it...

We fish to catch some meat and hunt to get some more.

We raise chickens and goats for eggs, milk, and meat. These are not as financially cheap as hunting or fishing, but it is a much steadier flow of food.

I garden every year and only high production/high cost produce. I am working on adding more perennials which require less work and are very expensive in the store. We currently have two pear trees that produce and two peach trees. This supplies our jam for the year btw. We have plums that are wild on our property that I make jam into as well. We have persimmons here, but the pulp is frozen and used in baked goods.

I can food in a boiling water bath or pickle foods. I'm not very fond of the pressure canning so just avoid foods that need that.

I ferment my own kraut. I make my own cheese using vinegar. I have even made our own ice cream and butter, but we rarely have enough cream for that.



With all of this you would think I would never need to grocery shop. The truth of the matter is I do have to every month. In the winter every week. I can not can enough food for the whole winter. I don't have the space. I do freeze a lot of food though too. I buy in bulk beans, rice, flour, oats, sugar, powdered milk, oil, and other staples. In the winter we rely mostly on the store and our costs go up by almost $300. The chickens stop laying, the does dry up, fishing is a no go, the garden dies, and our supplies saved back from the heavy production days only supplement what we need daily.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I used to be safely under thrifty but food prices are crazy. It's getting so expensive food.

[aukxsona]

I used to be safely under thrifty but food prices are crazy. It's getting so expensive food.

It wasn't that long ago that $300 would get me everything I need from the store without gardening! I understand high food prices trust me.