How much do you spend on your monthly food budget?

[jeffrey]

How much do you spend on food each month and how many people do you have in your family. Do you have any special tricks that help you to keep within your food budget? What do you find is the most difficult part of staying within your budget each month?

[kork13]

It's just me for now, and I normally budget $150/mo for groceries, plus $100/mo for eating out. Some months I'll eat out less, and use that excess toward groceries, so I guess $250/mo is reasonable for me.

I don't really have any "tricks," I just try not to buy much in the way of snacks & junk food, which are really meaningless calories for you anyway (potato chips, soda, snack cakes, and fruit snacks aren't filling, so you'll only have to buy more *real* food to feel full). I find that I spend more in moths that I do get some of the junk foods, so in general I just never buy it at all.

Part & parcel with that, though, is that those fresh, less-processed foods are often more expensive than their pre-cooked & frozen counterparts. I can buy all the fresh meat & vegetables for a big batch of stir fry and spend $6-$8, or buy a frozen bag of pre-done stir fry for $3. I do get more servings out of my fresh ingredients, which helps, but it just means that I need to plan for leftovers if I'm gonna make cooking affordable. I guess that might be considered a "trick" for controlling the food budget -- batch cooking & leftovers. Make a big batch of food (enough for 3-6x what you actually need for a single meal) then use the leftovers to feed you for the next few days.

[Reggie]

I try to always stay under $200 per week. It's me and my 7 year old daughter. I usually build my weekly menus based on food that is in season. We eat a high protein diet with limited processed foods. I buy 10 pounds of chicken and 10 pounds of fish each week. I choose fish based on what's on sale each week. Veggies and fruit purchases are purely based on what's in season and cheap. Right now food prices are pretty awesome and I'm loving it. We do not eat fast food and seldom go to restaurants.

[FrugalSensei]

I live alone and I've been keeping it under $150/month but I almost never eat out and I watch for sales. I also try not to buy too many snacks. I think my biggest savings tactic is to buy meat on sale and in bulk. The bulk purchasing buys me the time needed to wait around for the best deal. I'm also a soup fan and can generally get a few extra meals out of any bone-in meats.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I'm single and my food bill is similar to that of Kork's bill on a monthly basis. On a side note, I have come to like Nathan's hot dog, however, at $6.49 per pack in the future I'll probably go with Hebrew National or Ball Park unless Nathan's is on sale. Notice on the receipt as well that California doesn't have a food tax but everything else for general sales taxes are nearly 10% here (I believe 9.5% to be exact).

[JustBill]

I'm single and my food bill is similar to that of Kork's bill on a monthly basis. On a side note, I have come to like Nathan's hot dog, however, at $6.49 per pack in the future I'll probably go with Hebrew National or Ball Park unless Nathan's is on sale. Notice on the receipt as well that California doesn't have a food tax but everything else for general sales taxes are nearly 10% here (I believe 9.5% to be exact).

At that unholy price, it's interesting to read the name of your cashier.

[hamchan]

When my 13 year old daughter is here we spend 500 and when she is not, and it's just DH and I, we spend 350. This includes household and toiletries, but not pet food or litter.

DH has to stick to a diabetic, cardiac, and renal diet, so that eliminates most convenience foods including stuff like canned soups, jarred pasta sauce, bottled salad dressing, frozen meals, etc. We have to limit carbs, protein, saturated fats, sodium, and potassium. As you might imagine, cooking for him can be challenging. We eat lots of stir fry, salads with chicken or shrimp, certain Indian dishes, tacos and burritos. We also sometimes do spaghetti or other pasta dishes, beans and lentils, and soups. But we have to limit those somewhat. We love vegetarian Ethiopian food, but it is super high in potassium, so we can't have it too often.

[ideasonfinancing]

I always put it on 150 a month. I live alone and I am out most of the time because of work. I do not pack my lunch. Most of the time, there is still some left for me from the 150 that I have set. I add these excess to my monthly allowance to work.

[marvholly]

I allow myself $25/week for all food, HBA, cleaning supplies, cat food & litter.

I VERY seldom buy junk food (soda, chips, sweets) and regularly cook, basically from scratch, chicken, fish, eggs and ground meat. Steaks & pork chops are a 1-2x/month treat. I VERY seldom eat out (1x/month) and then usually use a coupon or voucher like resturant.com or groupon.

[Reggie]

Several people are posting $150 A MONTH. Is that correct? What are you buying? That seems way too low for an entire month. I can't get to that number in a week. We are just two skinny little women. I am missing something!

[riverwed070707]

I aim for $300 for our family of 3 but occasionally (especially in the summer) I tend to get away from my menu planning and we end up spending $350-450. Planning our meals, including a couple meatless every week, is by far the best grocery $$ saver for us. We also do a lot more entertaining in the summer which also accounts for the higher spend.

[elessar78]

We spend $400/month because we eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.

[MonkeyMama]

$500/month for 4 - includes two voracious children - plus a cat.

Rarely ever eat out.

Avoid empty calories (junk food) and liquid calories (juice, milk, soda alcohol). We actually buy *all* of the above, but just don't drink with every single meal - buy in low moderation.

Don't assume anything - we buy the bulk of our food at a higher end grocery store because they have the best sale prices. (Most around here didn't get the memo because they'd just assume it was too expensive).

We've had the same budget for the past decade or so - even before we had kids. We just try to change and re-strategize with the times. For now we have plenty of fat in the budget, so to speak. We could shop warehouse clubs/buy more in bulk and use more coupons. We splurge on meat and nuts and fish and alcohol and that kind of stuff. I am sort of beside myself with my tall and ravenous boys being teenagers in a few more years. BUT, we are also shifting to a more ethnic food diet in the meantime - we are finding how cheap lentils and spices are and the rice/beans combo makes a complete protein which is helpful for growing boys. We've also eaten a lot less meat over the years.

Last night's dinner: Indian spiced lentils on rice (YUM), baked brocolli and homemade banana bread. All of the above cost absolute pennies to make, but was a filling and well rounded meal.

[bigdaddybus]

$1000 a month total for my family of 6. (mom, dad, 13,11,3,2)

$680 a month at the grocery store (all household items...including pullups)
$200 a month out to eat
$120 a month school lunch

[Reggie]

I love lentils but they are too high in carbs for me. I am going to start adding in more beans but I don't eat rice or baked goods made with flour. I'm also not sure i could go meatless. I need a lot of protein to maintain muscle mass.

Maybe I should look at buying more when things are on sale and stocking up. I have a fridge in the basement that I can use for more than alcohol. Noone uses the bar in the basement anymore anyway.

These are all good thoughts.