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Post by iamkristinl16 on Apr 6, 2020 13:03:20 GMT
A friend and I were texting yesterday and the subject of grocery budget came up. She is curious how much people spend for groceries and household supplies per month. I am also curious, and want to really cut our grocery budget for this month. I know that it will be easier this month since we already have a good supply of food, but curious what people spend in general (we have a family of 6). Based on what I have seen in the past, I think both she and I are on the high end of spending, although what I spend is not too outrageous for our family size. I know we could reduce it, though.
I would say that my best tips for budgeting are to pay attention to prices (although for me this usually means buying things at more than one store) and create a meal plan (this is usually difficult for me to stick to but I have been doing better now that we are home all of the time).
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Nanner
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Post by Nanner on Apr 6, 2020 13:10:05 GMT
Prices have gone up quite a lot here, so that, combined with being at home all day - yes, our grocery budget has gone WAY up. But we're not spending on other "stuff".
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johnnysmom
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Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Apr 6, 2020 13:21:17 GMT
Lately (the past few months) it's been hovering right around $150-170/week for 4 of us, that doesn't include stuff we get from Amazon (TP, paper towels, dog food, etc). I'm still spending that now but feel like we're getting less (took freezer inventory and trying to use up some stuff) because the brands (or off-brands) I usually buy simply aren't available and sales aren't happening.
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Deleted
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May 10, 2024 5:41:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 13:24:30 GMT
This thread caught my eye, as I just had to have a talk with my mom about this subject. She is scandalized at what we spend on groceries in a week. The conversation started on Friday with her being very upset about how prices have gone up. She is ticked that now instead of spending 40-60 dollars in a week, she is spending 60-80. Sigh. (and before I get taken to task on seniors fixed income, let me say my mom, bless her heart, is super cheap and can totally afford another 20-50 dollars a week in groceries) We are a family of 4 who is vegetarian and the eggs/mike we drink is from local farms that supply our co-op. I am totally used to paying 6 bucks for a gallon of milk and 4 dollars for a dozen eggs. Our grocery budget is about 180-200 a week, and that includes cleaning supplies and dog food. I challenge the kids if we can keep it under 175, we can get a treat on the way home. Yes, I make a weekly menu, and if there is a really good deal on something (Aldi had blueberries one time for .19 a pint, so I bought about 10 and froze them) I will stock up as I can. I would be interested to what others spend, the only person I ever compared this to was another friend and while she has 4 people in her hh too, she shops at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) and thinks nothing of spending 400 a week on groceries.  |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Apr 6, 2020 13:24:31 GMT
Prices have gone up quite a lot here, so that, combined with being at home all day - yes, our grocery budget has gone WAY up. But we're not spending on other "stuff". Yes, having everyone home all day does make a difference. We aren't spending money on school lunches now, so that helps. I don't keep track of food spending specifically (and am a little afraid to look at the breakdown the bank gives, TBH) but I think I spend about $1000-1100 per month. School lunch would have been about $250 extra. And going out to eat. My goal for this month is $750 but we will see how that goes. My friend spends $900 a month for two people and doesn't think she could reduce that. I think she definitely could. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 13:27:40 GMT
We spend about €60 a week on groceries, that includes stuff like loo roll, laundry liquid etc.
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Post by Linda on Apr 6, 2020 13:27:57 GMT
ours is significantly higher at the moment
-more people home - I was feeding dinner to 3 every day but breakfast/lunch only to myself M-F. Now I have 4 people for dinner and 3 for breakfast/lunch three times a week and 4 the other 4 days.
-meat selection is so limited, I'm spending much more on meat than usual
-snacks - so many snacks
-gluten-free - our house has been GF since Feb 1 and that has increased spending...bread is $6 for a tiny loaf vs 2.99 for a big loaf
plus we added in a produce box (which I love but with shipping is $28
My grocery/spending budget is $200/wk - typically that includes anything extra I want like scrapbook supplies, a mocha frappe, photo printing, a new tee-shirt...
This weekend, I spent $140-ish at Aldi and $80 at Publix plus the $28 for the produce box. Next week I HAVE to cut that back to 200 or less in total
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Post by Basket1lady on Apr 6, 2020 13:29:18 GMT
I’d say we spend about $500 a month on groceries for the two of us, including paper products, cleaning products, and toiletries. We do shop at the commissary, so that keeps the costs down. But I also don’t worry about ingredients or their costs. I just make what I want. However, I do make most of my food from scratch because of food allergies, which keeps the costs down. I can make a loaf of bread for under $1 instead of the $4 loaf to buy. Even if I buy croissants, they are only about .80€ (less than $1).
We only eat out when we are traveling, which also keeps our budget down. Except on Friday nights, we get an order of frites from the shop here in town, which is 2€. So not a budget breaker.
Not only do you have 6 in your family, but 5 of those are boys and 2? 3? are teens. That’s a lot of food! So I’d look at the number a person is feeding and how many meals a day are eaten at home. For us, that $500 is about $9 a day per person. That seems like a lot, but that’s $3 a meal and it includes the toiletries and such as well.
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Nanner
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Post by Nanner on Apr 6, 2020 13:30:59 GMT
Prices have gone up quite a lot here, so that, combined with being at home all day - yes, our grocery budget has gone WAY up. But we're not spending on other "stuff". Yes, having everyone home all day does make a difference. We aren't spending money on school lunches now, so that helps. I don't keep track of food spending specifically (and am a little afraid to look at the breakdown the bank gives, TBH) but I think I spend about $1000-1100 per month. School lunch would have been about $250 extra. And going out to eat. My goal for this month is $750 but we will see how that goes. My friend spends $900 a month for two people and doesn't think she could reduce that. I think she definitely could. It's just 2 of us, and we are spending about $800/month. And that's with a full freezer and pantry. The only thing I can figure out is that its because it's DH shopping these days, and he doesn't look at prices.
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Post by Basket1lady on Apr 6, 2020 13:34:32 GMT
Prices have gone up quite a lot here, so that, combined with being at home all day - yes, our grocery budget has gone WAY up. But we're not spending on other "stuff". Yes, having everyone home all day does make a difference. We aren't spending money on school lunches now, so that helps. I don't keep track of food spending specifically (and am a little afraid to look at the breakdown the bank gives, TBH) but I think I spend about $1000-1100 per month. School lunch would have been about $250 extra. And going out to eat. My goal for this month is $750 but we will see how that goes. My friend spends $900 a month for two people and doesn't think she could reduce that. I think she definitely could. So that’s $1,350/4 weeks in a month = $337.50 a week. Divide that by 7 days = $48.21 a day. Divide that by 6 people = $8.03 per person per day. So you spend a dollar less each day than I do. |
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SabrinaP
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Post by SabrinaP on Apr 6, 2020 13:37:41 GMT
Right now I'm up to about $200 per week. Normal for us is between $150 - $200 a week.
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Post by Monica* on Apr 6, 2020 13:38:33 GMT
I'd estimate currently we're spending about $900 for the two of us, but that includes an uptick in the meal delivery services we use (I am ordering more meals delivered per month that usual). Pre-pandemic, I would estimate closer to $750.
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brandy327
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Post by brandy327 on Apr 6, 2020 13:48:25 GMT
We spend what I feel is a small fortune. LOL We basically have 5 adults, even though 3 of those are teenagers. Our cost has gone up a little because I've been spending the extra using instacart from our local grocery store (vs the couple I shop at during normal times 45 mins away).
Normally I would pay $200-250 per week. That doesn't include paper products or dog food. Most of the time it's on the $200 side. And now we're spending around $250. But everyone is home all day for all meals.
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Post by catmom on Apr 6, 2020 13:56:16 GMT
Normally our monthly budget is $700, including groceries, meal delivery (ie hello fresh) and some household items like TP etc. Eating out isn’t included in this. I just checked March and it was up substantially to $1100. That’s because we arrived home after vacationing in February, plus we bought a 2-week quarantine supply and had to buy a lot of extra groceries to cover not eating out. In fact our eating out budget is usually $300-400 each month so altogether we were about even in March. Now the alcohol budget, that’s another story!
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Apr 6, 2020 14:00:09 GMT
I’d say we spend about $500 a month on groceries for the two of us, including paper products, cleaning products, and toiletries. We do shop at the commissary, so that keeps the costs down. But I also don’t worry about ingredients or their costs. I just make what I want. However, I do make most of my food from scratch because of food allergies, which keeps the costs down. I can make a loaf of bread for under $1 instead of the $4 loaf to buy. Even if I buy croissants, they are only about .80€ (less than $1). We only eat out when we are traveling, which also keeps our budget down. Except on Friday nights, we get an order of frites from the shop here in town, which is 2€. So not a budget breaker. Not only do you have 6 in your family, but 5 of those are boys and 2? 3? are teens. That’s a lot of food! So I’d look at the number a person is feeding and how many meals a day are eaten at home. For us, that $500 is about $9 a day per person. That seems like a lot, but that’s $3 a meal and it includes the toiletries and such as well. Yes, the boys are 8, 11, 17, and almost 15. And then DH and I. DH is still working so he doesn't eat breakfast or lunch at home. Although he should be taking lunch with him. |
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Post by Merge on Apr 6, 2020 14:11:29 GMT
In this new normal, about $200/wk? That's for two adults and an older teen. I'll freely admit that we're spending more on wine and liquor than we did before. We've never eaten out/ordered in for dinner more than once or twice a week at most, so no big budget switch there. My normal grocery bill is more like $150/wk and TBH the additional is mostly wine and the meat I'm buying to keep DH happy. I've only been cooking plant-based meals or vegetarian for over a year and he would eat out at lunch to get his meat fix, but since that's not happening any more, I buy whatever meat he wants to grill for himself and DD. That adds to the bill.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on Apr 6, 2020 14:16:30 GMT
Ours is all kinds of out of whack as I'm having to make one run to Hy Vee every week vs Aldi and paying 3x as much for certain things.
I break ours down by protein, if I'm looking at a roast, how many meals can I get out of it? If I can get our beef down to $5 a meal then I'll bite (family of 4) I can get chicken at Sams which gets divvied up and we like the thin pork from Aldi, one meal usually around $3-4. Around $150 bucks a week if you add in my every 2 week trips to Sams/Costco.
Now? it feels like I'm dropping 50-100 bucks every time I set foot in Hy vee. Now part of that is because I've got 2 birthdays and Easter in the next 2 weeks all of which involve more expensive proteins. But part of it is I can't be picky about where certain things come from. Hy Vee has everything we need in one stop. Plus a good portion of that money has been sunk into Microwave popcorn. Good Lord, when did my kids start consuming 3 bags per day? We had a meeting about that one. It is now rationed.
One of the things I'm hoping to take from this experience is becoming a better meal planner. My mom was excellent at this, she enjoyed cooking and had a vast collection of recipe books. With my shopping routine so drastically changed and a real need to have a list before walking in the store I'm hoping to get into a meal planning routine that works, which means I'll stick with it once I'm going into the office every day.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 14:19:04 GMT
I would say we are around $200 a week. That includes anything we pick up for the house like toilet paper, kitty litter, printer ink, shampoo, etc.
Some weeks I can get around $150. Other weeks, I'm closer to $250.
ETA: since this madness started, I'm doing bigger trips less vs smaller trips more. My last trip was $225-ish and that included a couple of extras.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Apr 6, 2020 14:21:49 GMT
I haven't looked at the numbers, but I suspect we are running about the same as before, if not a little less spent. The reason is that while DH is working from home (more meals here), he has quit buying Snap Kitchen (work lunches) and has quit hitting Shake Shack, etc on the way home from work, as well as ordering take away all the time. I've already dropped a little over 2 lbs from not eating all that restaurant food!
My best tips for budgeting would be make a list and stick to it, meal plan, buy extra when a good sale happens. If you are able, always leave room for something that is a treat to perk up moods. Most importantly though, DO NOT grocery shop when you are hungry! I did this a couple of weeks ago and the amount of cr@p that made it home was embarrassing!
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Post by playingcinderella on Apr 6, 2020 14:24:00 GMT
Since quarantine we are at about $200/week. Includes paper products, toliteries, etc. It was about $160 before but add in school lunches and still about $200/week. We are feeding 2 kids (10 & 12) and 2 adults. Almost no processed foods as DH cooks entirely from scratch.
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Post by Suziee2 on Apr 6, 2020 14:31:23 GMT
Not much in the way of sales here. Senior shopping at Kroger I spent $170 last week and $165 this morning. $20 for Dave's Killer bread both weeks (for us and for neighbor), about $20 for Tylenol, $30+ for fresh produce, $20 for chicken, $45 for dairy/cheese/eggs/fresh pasta and then stuff. Way, way more than I typically spend, but much of what I bought is hard to find. I did find 2 store brand antibacterial wipes. A very old man was eyeballing them, so I just took one. He thanked me for leaving one and took it.
I feel like I am well stocked on everything now. Just keeping up with bread, produce and if I can ever find fresh chicken tenders (only chicken I will eat - DH not so picky.)
Being home, I like to have options. DH is pissed that I am spending so much, but happy when we have something he wants. There are only 2 of us!!!
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cycworker
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Post by cycworker on Apr 6, 2020 14:42:05 GMT
About $350/month
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 14:43:56 GMT
I spent between $180-220 a week. Every meal has always been home cooked due to severe allergies and medical needs.
We are still spending the same but I average about $200-230 due to shopping Instacart and paying a 25% tip.
ETA: family of 4, one on medical formula who needs 1-1.5 gallons of purified water a day.
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Post by ~summer~ on Apr 6, 2020 15:01:46 GMT
I don’t know exactly - I would guess $400-500 per week. Family of 5 with 3 teens and food is very expensive in Bay Area. I spent $80 yesterday just on organic meat. We also get take out sometimes.
Edited - I’m going to total up the last 3 weeks curious if I am off...
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Post by snugglebutter on Apr 6, 2020 15:04:52 GMT
Family of 7, including 1 teen, 1 tween boy who out-eats the teen, 2 younger kids and a 1 year old. Normally, I shop the sale flyers at 2-3 stores a week, stocking up on the best sales, so the amount I spend per week varies a lot. Now that I am just at one store each week, we are spending around $180/week. Though the week Dh went to Costco it was about double that, so it balances out to 225/week. Some prices are higher, we've bought a few treats and I'm often getting a few things for our elderly neighbor. The only extra meals at home we have right now are Dh's lunches, because he normally eats at work for free.
I also bought some extra staples in the month of February (around $100) so we would probably spend a little more if I hadn't done that.
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maryannscraps
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Post by maryannscraps on Apr 6, 2020 15:16:10 GMT
We're up by a bit -- the 22yo boy is home now. We always get takeout Thai food on Fridays, and the order is bigger now. We haven't been out to the decent restaurants we normally go to a couple times a month, so we save some there. We always eat breakfast at home, and DH always takes a lunch to work. so no difference there. Mostly the vast amount of snacks the boy is eating. I don't normally snack, and DH is eating what he generally always has.
I don't really keep track of the exact amounts.
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Post by myshelly on Apr 6, 2020 15:22:21 GMT
I’m throwing my grocery budget out the window until things stabilize.
I feel like I had a plan and knew what worked for my family, but none of it applies anymore. We have never been home this much, never eaten at home this much, never cooked this much, never needed to keep this much on hand. I have no idea what is a reasonable budget. I can’t comparison shop to find the best prices. I can’t shop the sales. You have to get what you can, when you can.
I’ve been doing pick up for years, but since this all started it’s unpredictable what I will or won’t get, so my strategy has been to put several varieties and sizes of something I need in my order in the hopes that I’ll get at least one of them. Sometimes I get 0, sometimes I get 1, sometimes I get all of them. I have no idea what my actual $ total will be until I pick up my order and see what was fulfilled and what wasn’t.
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Post by kibble on Apr 6, 2020 15:23:27 GMT
There is 3-5 of us. It's myself, my husband and my 18 year old plus every other weekend and one weeknight my 2 stepkids. Right now we have all 5 for the week.
My budget is $200/week. That includes personal care and cleaning products, but does not include school breakfast/lunch for mine (which is another $100 a month)
I did a huge shop this past weekend and spent $746 at BJs and $240 at Target (yikes) definitely the most I've spent in one week.
but, other than perishables that should last us 2-3 months, so hoping the next couple months I'm just spending $50 a week.
I agree, prices seemed higher to me this last time on almost everything
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Post by freecharlie on Apr 6, 2020 15:30:53 GMT
We spend about $800-1000 a month
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moodyblue
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Post by moodyblue on Apr 6, 2020 15:37:03 GMT
For two of us, I used to budget about $600 a month, including all paper products and basic toiletries and cleaning products. Now on my own, I really don't pay much attention to what I spend, and buy whatever I want, including prepared stuff.
This morning I spent about $500 at two stores. A small amount of that was for me; most was for my brother and his wife. I’m doing his shopping since he’s a dialysis patient and super high risk. I’m hoping this is enough for a good two weeks, plus stuff for the freezer. He’s normally on a pretty tight budget, but needs a high protein diet because of dialysis, so I’ve bought some meat and eggs at prices he wouldn’t normally pay. Some of it is availability and some because I’m picking up the cost so I added things he doesn’t normally splurge on.
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