How much do you spend on Groceries?

[Moemg]

We are at $400 for food ,household supplies & wine . We eat out usually two or three times a week so that adds another $400 a month.

 

[JustCurious]

So one person never eats at home?

Something like that.

 

[NW-Bound]

Instead of dollar amounts, I will say that our total food cost is a bit more than 7.3% of our total living expenses.

That's low compared to the 10% I have seen for the average in the US. I guess we either eat little or inexpensive food, or spend too much on other stuff.

 

[Sunset]

For 4 weeks, I'm trying HelloFresh for 4 meals per week.
I am getting $20 off per week , and perhaps another $20 from Amex.
Basically just to have some variety and force me to make new and different meals from normal.
This will raise our grocery bill, but that is totally fine.

 

[DEC-1982]

Currently we budget $400 for our family of 4, we have a teenager and soon to be teenager. We budget $100 a month on "date night" but in all reality it's more entertainment than actual food.


I estimate our grocery budget will be $300 when the boys are out of the home.


Whats your grocery budget?

Very impressive OP.

We (2) are spending just below $700. I think the organic items are driving up our costs but it's an acceptable trade-off.

 

[iloveyoga]

We budget $800 per month for 2. This includes wine and household supplies but not dinning out.

I don't track this very closely, but this amount is near what we spend for two, here in central Iowa.

 

[SmallCityDave]

Do we think it could be the cost of groceries in a given area? I would hate to see Koolau's numbers.

I wonder the same thing - are the cost of groceries so much different from city to city or does one household have so much more disposable income that they don't care and buy whatever?


As for us our $400 grocery budget (for a family of 4) isn't restrictive we buy whatever we want but we do buy a fair amount of store brands for the stuff that doesn't matter too much but the majority of items we just stock up when it's on sale (we don't do much with coupons).



I've seem all too often people on food-stamps and the junk they buy (energy drinks & lobster) and it is crazy how much they spend on groceries.


A while back we were at the store they had milk on sale 1 gallon for $1 or 1/2 gallon for $1.50 (same brand) I watched a guy looking at the milk for about a minute and he bought (2) 1/2 gallon jugs, that just made me scratch my head. I couldn't believe how many other people I spotted with 1/2 gallon jugs, the prices were clearly marked....



We have 2 types of grocery stores in our area one is very trendy and the other one is no frills but the prices are lower.

 

[Camellia]

We are at about 1400 monthly for 2 adults and 2 kids. That includes toiletries, eating out 2-3 times a week, and dining while on business travel, as well as moderate amounts of beer and 1 bottle of cheap wine.

We like our local restaurants and really want to support them. They are important to our city economy. I also don’t skimp on certain things, like fancy cheese and pastured eggs.

 

[googily]

Now that a Whole Foods has opened two blocks away, monthly budget for groceries for my household of one is approximately $25,000.

 

[SonofCohoes]

893.00 last month for 2 of us plus some company for TG and past week.

 

[Rianne]

DH makes huge batches of bean/goulash which we freeze and always makes a wonderful dinner with long grain rice and vegetables (big savings). Also make batch of bone broth to drink or add to soup. We do buy quality meat/fruit/vegs. We like creative egg dishes for dinner. Occasionally go out to eat. We enjoy breakfast out more than anything. Monthly grocery bill $600-$800 month. DH loves good wine.

 

[Choices]

Pretty much averages $600 a month for groceries and toiletries, cleaning supplies. Dog food and booze are not included.
We spent another $250 on eating out. We live in a resort area, entreees run about $25 a plate. Not many good, inexpensive Mexican places around.
I do seem to be always cooking...

 

[Another Reader]

Now that a Whole Foods has opened two blocks away, monthly budget for groceries for my household of one is approximately $25,000.

Stop being so cheap. Otherwise Whole Foods will lose its' reputation as Whole Paycheck!

 

[lucky penny]

Now that a Whole Foods has opened two blocks away, monthly budget for groceries for my household of one is approximately $25,000.

My Texas relatives refer to Whole Foods as "Whole Paycheck," so when one opened a couple of blocks from me 2 years ago I ignored it at first. After I checked it out, I certainly understand that you can spend a lot there, but it's worth noting that their prices on some items are very good. E.g. 99 cents per pound for oatmeal is about half the per-pound cost of a large container of Quaker Oats I used to pay elsewhere. A package of 6 very nice frozen salmon filets is $19.99 (my go-to dinner). I recently bought some 16 oz cans of pumpkin for 99 cents each (I like the small size, use it for various things including desserts with greek yogurt & raisins).

I'm sure these prices are not rock-bottom but they compare favorably with other supermarkets near me (in NYC). Plus, now that I have an Amazon Visa card, there's an additional 5% off. (And I always bring my own bag & get 10 cents back!)

Full disclosure: I buy higher-priced items there too. (They have some excellent, chewy multi-grain English muffins...)

 

[Scuba]

We love good food and don’t generally buy processed food. We don’t shop sales either. We eat a lot of fish and when we eat steak, we buy center cut filet mignon. Our grocery bill for 2 (food only) is about $800/month. We spend another $800-$1,000/month eating out. We don’t go to super premium restaurants that often, but regularly eat at non-chain restaurants with good food where lunch for two can easily run $50-$60 with tax and tip. Dinner with a drink or wine runs $80-$150.

Our alcohol spending varies, mostly wine, but averages $250/month or so. We go for months not buying any, but then make a big purchase of a few cases once in a while.

 

[Katsmeow]

My Texas relatives refer to Whole Foods as "Whole Paycheck," so when one opened a couple of blocks from me 2 years ago I ignored it at first. After I checked it out, I certainly understand that you can spend a lot there, but it's worth noting that their prices on some items are very good.

This is my experience as well. I used to live 45 minutes from the closest Whole Foods. Now I am 3 minutes away so I pop in there more often. I am selective what I buy there but there are some things where the prices are good or at least competitive. Also if you are an Amazon Prime member and have the Prime Visa card you get 5% off. And, there are sometimes special sale prices for Prime members that are very, very good.

Even if not on sale, I often buy organic produce there as it tends to be competitive in price with other stores in most instances and is fresher so lasts longer.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Dave, people on food stamps now use debit cards so how can you possibly know if they are on the program?

 

[juju4169]

I am at $150-225 per month for 1 person on plant-based diet including fish and eggs. Varies depending on need to restock on dry cat food & litter purchased in bulk (2-3 months) and makeup (3-6 months). All paper, cleaning and personal hygiene products are also included in groceries. I don't drink except on special occasions.

I sold my car this January to force myself to walk or take the bus to work and to save money so I order through Shipt and have it delivered. I order mostly the heavy items that are difficult for me to handle with arithritis. I shop Lidl and Target with Shipt. I walk to Fresh Market and Harris Teeter for fresh produce, bakery items, special sales. Still a fan of Dollar Tree but check labels for food items marked China and Chile.

Also, partly because I don't enjoy cooking and because I am used to cooking a family sized dinner, I make a lot of whatever 2-3 times per week and freeze extra for work lunches and whenever I want to eat more than a nibble for dinner.I

I allow myself 1 $15-20 meal per month with family and $20 per month at the university convenience store for lunch treats.

 

[grasshopper]

Dave, people on food stamps now use debit cards so how can you possibly know if they are on the program?

Easy peasy, Dave's not here.

https://childrensmuseums.org/images/Museums-for-All-Toolkit/Examples_of_State_EBT_Cards.pdf

 

[gamboolman]

For Ms. gamboolgal and I - we are budgeting $2K per month for us for groceries and eating out when we retire next year to the Spring / Woodlands in Texas.

We hope that we are way high - but are used to $250 for a meal for us at expat restaurants in Lagos on the rare occasion we get to Lagos from down in the Delta. If you have a few drinks....$400 ish.....

In the Delta it's Ramon Noodles, Beans & White Rice with some mystery meat from the Bush tossed in.

Average about 2 bad food poisonings episodes a year and they are GD miserable. We send over lots of Pepto Bismol in our annual shipment from Texas to the Camp in Eket / Port Harcourt, Nigeria

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

I do most of our grocery shopping.

I lump wine & food & personal care & household supplies [tp, cleaning supplies] all together. I normally spend between $50 and $80 per week [so $200 to $320/month].

We eat most meals at home. We go out to eat one night a week.

With the election over, my wife just ended her campaign for office [she was running for an office in our state house of representatives]. I am her campaign treasurer, I had to close out her campaign bank account. With the last $95 from her campaign, We are hosting a party for the volunteers, that provided all the booze and food for her party.

 

[slowsaver]

On average, $269.33 per month on groceries for DH and me.

Sounds pretty cheap, but we actually spent $970/month (average) eating out at restaurants. If we ever need to cut back, I know we can save a bundle eating at home every night instead.

 

[Omega]

For 4 weeks, I'm trying HelloFresh for 4 meals per week.
I am getting $20 off per week , and perhaps another $20 from Amex.
Basically just to have some variety and force me to make new and different meals from normal.
This will raise our grocery bill, but that is totally fine.

I know someone who does this and loves it. She posts photos and the meals look amazing. I would love to try it, but I haven't priced it out. I'm sure it's a fortune.

 

[SmallCityDave]

Dave, people on food stamps now use debit cards so how can you possibly know if they are on the program?

It's really not too difficult if you are taking in the sights and sounds.

 

[ER Eddie]

Wow, $400 a month for a family of 4, that's impressive. You must really be conscientious about your spending.

I spend about $500/month just on me.