How much does your family spend on food per month?
I began tracking our spending (family of 2 adults) this year using Quicken. On average, we eat out 2 or 3 times for dinner per month. I was shocked to see that my #2 expense (#1 is the house payments and maintenance) is our grocery/dining expense. These costs do not include alcohol, but do include visits to coffee shops and the like. So for the first 9.5 months this year:
$9,241 (15% of all spending)
Breakdown:
$6666 groceries
$2075 restaurants
$448 coffee shops
$52 fast food
That's about a thousand bucks per month. We generally do not buy junk foods or convenience foods, organic foods, or other premium fare. We do tend to use fresh produce/fish/meats. We know a lot of people who eat out much more often. Some rarely prepare meals at home. I can only imagine what their monthly expense is, but it's gotta be more!
Bruin For our family of four (2 adults, 2 teens) I spend roughly $750 a month. We very rarely eat out, maybe get a pizza once a month if that and I try to stock up when items are on sale and use coupons. I buy very little prepared food, opting for more fresh produce and meat/seafood. I think we eat very healthy.
Kate S. Easiest home budget savings - don't eat out. Taking a lunch instead of buying one is usually a 5x savings.
Even easier budget savings - don't spend $4 on a single coffee.
Biggest grocery store expense - meat. I heard once that a top savings expert called meat a "condiment". Sprinkle it on top of the real meal. Something like mac & cheese is like 50 cents a person, but a simple pork chop without a filler is $3 or more. Cut up the pork chop and serve it with noodles and you get 4x the number of meals. Treat it like a condiment. ;-)
Because carbs alone aren't a healthy diet, fill out with fruit & veg. Tasty, healthy, & cheap.
GC I have a strict grocery budget of $350/month for a family of 4. Two adults 2 children. We do not eat out... plain and simple, we just can't afford to. Each week consists of one meat less meal and also one breakfast for dinner. Fridays are usually a store made pizza with salad (that's my day off...lol). Coupons are your friend but only if the item is on sale and will be used. Sadly we spend more on fuel for my husband to commute than we do on food. We made the choice a long time ago to lead a simple life, no frills, so that at least one of us can be home to raise our kids...sometimes it's not easy, but we are doing it.
Cobra We are a family of 4, 2 adults & 2 teens. I am very good with using coupons but I would say our grocery bill is still about $1,000 per month. It includes all our food, paper products (paper towels, tp, etc), cat food & litter, cleaning products, etc. I always buy store brand when it is on sale to get the best price. We do buy some chicken, ground turkey &/or pork when on sale, very rarely buy red meat. Do get lots of produce, since I only eat a salad for lunch at work. Husband will usually eat leftovers for lunch and kids go thru 1 package of ham for lunches. We don't stop for any coffees/donuts, etc. Eat out maybe once a month. We don't drink alcohol or smoke so that's a big savings. I have been told that our grocery bill is too much. I really wish I could save more somewhere/somehow, but I just don't know how to do it.
AMomTooCobra, I'm working on it -- my goal is $600/month for 2 kids / 2 adults + 1 adult some times, but that includes lunches for just about everyone as well... If I don't save 25% on my grocery bill between savings card and coupon, I get all bent!
trekster3 I spend way too much these days! I write down the cost of every item as I put it in my cart, to ensure I have enough money. So this really gives me a great look at prices and how they go up and what these items cost at other stores. Shop Rite is really the best! I don't buy anything unless it's on sale. I do half my shopping at Walmart. Getting as much as I can there, but only if it's cheaper. I also visit the Dollar store to get whatever I can. We paper bag lunch and do not eat out. It is such a treat for me if we get invited to someone's house for a meal. That's my night off!! I don't understand how when things go up in price it's usually a 50% or more increase. I've been laid off, my husband hasn't gotten a raise in 3 years. How do they justify this! It's all just greed and absolutely ridiculous!
AMomToo - A good place to start is breaking down the bill even further. Out of the food, paper products, cat food & litter, cleaning products which is the biggest one? If it's food, break the foods down even further and start to work on the items with the most $. One of the things you have to consider is you're not just 2 adult & 2 teen, you have cat food listed as well. You're feeding 5, not 4.
Cobra: I think you win --- would love to see menu's!
Family of 4, 2 teens, eat-out pizza/Chinese once a week
$719 per month, average savings = 39% or $459.
about 458 items bought per month, avg price per item = 2.21
Low carbs = higher price --- lots of fruit, veges, protein.
mistergoogle You have to know it didn't start out this way, it was a long time in the making to get it that low. It helps that as things are on sale I have stashed them so there are many things that are not purchased monthly but I have at my disposal...canned goods, anything that freezes well (fruit, veggies, cheese, bread/rolls, meat, lunchmeat), cleaning, bath and paper products. We have 1 dog and 1 cat...they are figured in separate but still only cost us $40/month (dry food only, and walmart litter).
We do a lot of smoothies for quick breakfasts,and I have recently become hooked on green monster smoothies for lunch. No soda, juice is always diluted (believe me you get used to it). Crockpot cooking is your friend, there is so much you can prepare and freeze ahead of time. Mexican meals are cheap...tacos, enchiladas. I add black beans to everything...it makes ground meat go further. We have a mixed green salad with dinner almost every night, its a healthy filler!
Coupons, coupons, coupons...but I am not a freak about it. I maybe spend a half hr or so a week clipping and printing. Google the store you frequent + matchups....it will bring a list of coupon deals for that week...others have already done the work for us. Many can be printed, most are found in Sundays paper. Just like a diet...make small changes till they are routine!
Cobra,
You are right. Stretching your meals with vegetarian fillers, using coupons, not any soda or garbage processed foods, and besides saving you money, stretching juice with water is the healthiest thing you can do as far as juice is concerned. I do it often for the health benefits.
You can save SO much money eating vegetarian, but I won't even say how much I spend because I don't think anyone would believe me.
Are you all including detergents, toothpaste and other non-food items(paper towels, TP, etc? )in your figures? I'm trying to see how I measure up to everyone else!
Jams Here's a website that will give you what's latest on sale and where alot of the deals are.
It's www.livingrichwithcoupons.com. I also print internet coupons for savings. Hope this helps!
DianeF One way to save is to eat a lot of pasta and rice. There are so many ways to make a meal with those 2 staples.
putting in a manageable garden helps, then freezing things for the year. Meat should be at the low end of the food pyramid, they now say it should only be twice a week. I only buy meat when it is on sale ( a really good sale) then I buy a lot of it and divide and freeze. The trick is to wait for the things you use to go on sale, then buy them up in bulk. Stay away from pre-packaged food as much as possible. Even at that it is still expensive, and prices are only going to go up. Have you noticed their little tick of making the boxes and jars smaller!
sm About $350 a month, family of 4, with one kid away at college and a vegetarian, its cheaper when she's not home. LOL! The other one isnt home a lot to eat, but I make sure I have the "staples" for him. Chef boyardee, eggs, cereal and PB&J - he's happy! Once a week we'll get take out, thats it. DH brown bags his lunch for work. His big "splurge" for the week is 24 pack beer. HAHA! Man has to have his goodies.
Bruin - you really need to re-evaluate your spending and cut back. :)
botheredbyu It would be hard for me to day and I am sure I would be shocked if I kept track as Bruin did.
For a myself and my dog - I would say I spend $250 at the grocery store, produce places, walmart ( for other non-perishibles).
GC....you never mentioned what you spend. ( if you want to mention it that is)
Is everyone including all their toiletries, Paper products, cleaning supplies, laundry deteregents etc?
Firefly I would say somewhere around $350.00 for 3 adults..I buy mainly what's on sale and use a lot of coupons..Spent $189.00 last night and after discounts and coupons it was $130.00, no meat other than a small pack of ground beef and a boneless ham. Don't forget the digital coupons you can add on to your Shop Rite card..you get the digital coupon plus a regular coupon if you have one. On a side note, any coupon people going to Shop Rite today..there's a coupon for 4 12oz bags of Manischewitz Egg Noodles in the flyer (at the door). This is for egg noodles that are great for soup, $2.49-$2.99 a bag. I got $8.96 off on the coupon.
Bessie I asked the same thing Firefly, because i do figure all that in, and I'm sure that's a big part of it-all sorts of cleaning supplies, paper products, detergents, shampoos, soaps, toothpaste, and miscellaneous things like kitchen gadgets, baking stuff...the list goes on! It's expensive to live!
My figures are only for food. I even have the figures for all the paper products, personal care items, and household supplies, they are separate. Now I gotta get as dilligent at cutting back as I am at record keeping. Actually seeing where the money is going was the first step for us getting a handle on things. Jerseycash, you made me laugh, I would love to be in the 1%! GC's plan of using meat like a condiment sounds logical. I think we might be losing money buying lunches out too often when we are at work.
jerseycash....love pasta and rice and yes they are filling and very unhealthy. At some point you will be paying the Dr bills and scripts to make up for the money you saved.
@Firefly..no it does not, we are trying to limit ourselves to twice a month and that's usually pizza or chinese food. @Jerseycash5, we also supplement with pasta and rice but smaller amounts of those, trying to buy whole grain pasta and brown rice. We usually can eat a smaller amount of the carb when supplemented with beans and veggies. It certainly is a balancing act and always good to try to eat healthy while buying what your budget allows. Sometimes it's hard to worry about the future when the concern is putting dinner on that table that night. We're lucky because we're a family of 3 adults, can't imagine what it's like to feed a family with children and buying for 4 or more.
Would love to hear from the $350 clubbers....on what they do, but Bruin, with me at $719 but including paper, cleaning, pets,etc., here's some quick tricks.
1. SR receipts tally three discounts: PPC/Mfg coupons, PPC/store coupons, and On Sale savings (ps -- they don't add to the total savings but must be some PPC double counting going on so I just use my own total). You can use these to figure out how to save more:
- my savings = 39%, however I got that discount because I maximize sales and coupons
= of that 55% is sale prices (use those circulars!), 26% is mfg coupons (worth cutting while watching sports (to prove you're manly)), and 19% is SR coupons (get that Warren reporter)
So you can track this against your clipping time to see if it's worth it, but nothing better than $1 off coupon on top of a 50% sale!
2. They also count the number of items. Divide total price paid by number of items to get your price/item. Overtime this will tell you was it an expensive week (i.e. bought Tide, Bounty, and Ianimal's steaks) and whether your prices are getting hit with inflation. Wipes out a lot of variations (college kids coming n going, etc.). This number will tell you whether you are really driving your price down.
3. Use the circular. You can go on-line, register, and click on circular to create shopping list. Print at "less detail" mode to save paper. Prices will appear UNLESS you look a week ahead --- need to what until Sunday of that week for prices to print. Now you have clicked all the sales for what you want and have coupons for and are loaded for bear!!!
4. Shop those promo's. I have free PC cameras, motion dectector light switches, more SR clothe bags that I can ever use, from the promos. PS --- they don't turn up on-line so you need paper circular to find them
5. Don't buy to throw out. If you are throwing stuff out, you have missed the point of coupons, promo's and freebies.
6. Credit Card kickbacks. Everytime I shop I use by CC with True Rewards to rack up points. Today I am eating my free Panera bagels and getting ready to pick up $100 in free stuff at Staples. Make those SR purchase work for you.
I guarantee with these steps you will save money without sacrificing quality of life. However it will take a few weeks for you to see a pattern, and a few more weeks to adapt to a lower spending mode. Given your level of retentiveness (i.e. tracking), it will be fun and automatic. And after a frew months, it is just a way of like and does not even take extra time. Actually saves time and angst.
This was a real surprise! Single & don't cook.
Every meal is out.
Breakfast 5.00
Lunch 10.00
Dinner. 40 - 70.00
I also confirmed with CC statements. Average 2K per Mo!
MikeL MikeL - you need to do 1 of 2 things - or both........... get married or start cooking! or both!:)
Okay - I did include out to eat so I feel a bit better. I agree about the future vs. now. Damned if you do and Damned if you don't.
5-6 people $250 a week. This includes all cleaning, paper products, personal products fresh food and no junk food. Also includes meals out BUT we do not do that often. I use coupons that I can find and buy only meats that are on sale. I honestly do not know how many of you do it. We can not eat rices and pastas all the time as we are diabetics, heart disease diets. No processed foods etc. Between food and gas we are always trying to catch up.
Christine Marriage - if you are both working and cooking at home, may be cheaper then what you are doing now. ;)
Christine, just curious, what is your typical menu like at home? Does your daughter eat the same as you and Bergey? Do you only buy fresh veggies or frozen too? Salad dressings from scratch if you eat a lot of salad? We also try to eat more fresh and healthy foods with the early onset of diabetes here.
FF - It's not that I mind, but I didn't say because I get company supplied lunch. So my numbers are thrown off by that. I checked my grocery store bills and they run almost exactly $100/mo. for me and two cats. That's the whole bill so it does include the cleaning products, paper products, etc.
Bessie, YES everyone eats the same as I do. I do not cook anything different if they do not like what I am making. I have dine this since they were little ones. Our typical day for us.
Breakfast-quick cereal or oatmeal and fruit & coffee
Lunch-a tuna sandwich (lowcal bread) fruit naked ice tea.
Dinner-A protein 2 vegetables and a carb.
Snack-fruit or popcorn
I buy fresh veg and frozen but the ones that have no additives (salt sugar etc.)
This diet was given to husband during a diabetic class and we all do it. His numbers are down now but he is on insulin. I am losing slowly and so is daughter. Its h ard because she is a teen and goes out with all her friends so I cannot watch her all the time.
I do not buy any junk food in the house at all. I feel if I have one of my cravings I make myslef go out and get it most times I wont so it works. We do have treats on special occasions (birthdays and hoolidays works out to at least 1 time a month) So he feels it is enough.
Everything is so expensive and I have cut what I can. I buy store brands because they are cheaper etc. UGG
One more thing dressings we stay away from at least Bergey and I do. We use olive oil and vinegar. Mostly just vinegar. Dressings are filled with fat, sugar, salt and are expensive. The kids like them so I ony buy the ones that are on sale and with coupons. the only thing they like is ranch.
Wow! Typically food store bill alone for the two of us and the cat runs at least $400 a month. This I must admit does not include eating out(which we do quite a bit) nor the Omaha steak orders every so often nor a lot of paper products and staple items that we buy elsewhere. But, I do appreciate the above suggestions to economize as we are now at a point in our life where that has become a necessity.
joyful Huge differences. I don't know how you do it GC...Let's say lunch ( brown bag type ) cost $3 a day x 5 x4 - that would be another $60 and I am not sure if $3 is an accurate amount. Still that's amazing GC...What about eating out - or getting take out at the Legion - did you include that. I need to cut back someplace...Mine is more than double yours.
Njchia FF - Not inclusive of the Legion, the amount I quoted is just the bill from the grocery store because I checked the exact amount from my CC bill. I always charge it for the points, so I know it's accurate. But still, I can do a Legion and a Sunday breakfast for both for $12 a week. I usually don't do the Legion on the dinners, but burger nights which are $5. A whole dinner for $5 is still doing good.
$3 per lunch is definitely doable - if you buy rolls on sale for .99 x 6, get one package of 2.99/lb turkey and one package of 2.99/lb cheese, with a bit of mayo and lettuce you're still at $1.50 per sandwich when you make six at a time. Even if you eat two, you're still at $3. Or a SR mac & cheese is only .33 plus a bit of milk. Pasta is dirt cheap. Instead of two sandwiches, one sandwich and a pasta salad. Conventional pasta is .75 a lb on sale, but at an Asian market there are noodles for .25 a lb.
Ready made anything kills you. (although I will admit the dirt cheap Encore for $2.50 ea is 3 meals or more) Lean Cuisine may have only a couple of calories but they're over $3 per meal. Pickles can cost $2 a jar yet make your own with cheap vinegar and sugar is .60 for twice as much. No frills SR oatmeal is $1.29 and it lasts a MONTH. A min-sized box of Fruit Loops is $3 but an over sized box of SR corn flakes is $1.29 and even .99 on sale. When the sale comes buy 5 and you're set for 6 months. Save your biggest buying like two 18 lb bags of cat food for Oct/Nov so you get a free turkey. Enough so it's a new year before you buy more meat.
It's one of the keys - if something is cheap, not just sale cheap but cheaper than a normal sale, stock up. Take shampoo at $2. Cheaper shampoo is $1.49, on sale for .99 and on super sale for .68. When the .68 comes, buy 12. You'll be set for the whole year and instead of $24 you spend less than $8.50. Can-can. No reason to buy any canned veg until the .20 a can sale comes along. For the cats, I belong to the Purina club and get $2 off coupons. And on top of that when I buy 5 bags of cat food and send in the proof, I get a certificate back for one free. If it's a name brand, there has *got* to be a coupon out there for it.
It's all about being educated. You have to know when $1 is too much, and when $10 is cheap as sin. You have to watch the prices like a hawk and buy like crazy when it's below regular sale price. That and see where most of the $ is going. See how many people here are checking up on what they're spending with tools like online credit card analysis, or grocery store bills.
PS. Have a family that was born in the Depression. Thanks mom. ;-)
GC I was referencing your lunches ( if you paid for your own on week days) That would increase your food bill.
Well at this point in my life I try to eat healthier. Not on any medications *knock wood* though2 of my siblings are and Type 2 Diabites seems to be all the rage for the over 50 crowd. I will cut corners else where but not on my health - well not anymore.
Wish I could garden and put up veggies as there is a big savings there and they are so good.
Thanks for all the tips. I guess I have become picky about certain brands for some things but I still will stock up on things. Sam's Club, BJ's and Costco can be good for buying in bulk too.
PS:
"Snack-fruit or popcorn"
Christine - I know we've done it before, but I think we need to have a little conversation again about the popcorn thing. Not even good for healthy people. ;-)
FF - Yes, I understood. That's why I said $3 is not that hard and even better is possible.
Bessie - The husks are very irritating to your insides. For someone with Crohn's or Colitis, it's a potential risk of very serious flare up.
Oh, very interesting..I didn't know that. See, you learn something new everyday here.
GC I do not eat the popcorn Bergey and the kids do! I am a fruit person......My niggest kick is graham cracker and PB&J. Kills the sweet tooth QUICK! I can never do popcorn. Put sme down very fast. LOL!
$400.00 month...my spouse and I have an empty nest..we only eat together for supper...we both have cereal for breakfast...my spouse has lunch or a snack...I drink water all day...and avoid all snacks...we have a home cooked dinner together...I have always been comfortable eating two times a day...rather than the customary three times a day...we dine out sometimes...when the holidays approach ...our food bills increase...but we accept that...to enjoy our time with family...
oldman Family of 4 -----2 adults, 2 children under 9, it varies honestly depending on what i can AFFORD to buy, but we probably spend 600.00/month on food :/
icicle This is a great topic. I really don't want to know how much we spend on food. I just want a full pantry, a full refrig & a full freezer. There are only 2 of us (adults), but I think our monthly food purchases are WAY outta whack with what I'm reading here.We consider our "food" bill to include paper products, toiletries, pet supplies (for 9 pets) and we always stock up on sale items. There is no way meat will ever be considered a "condiment" in this household, but it is a great way to look at better nutrition.
Slade Over the last 9 months, we've averaged about $515 per month at the supermarket for 2 adults and 3 cats, but that includes more than just food. However, it doesn't include coffee, which I get mail-order from Peet's. That's another $75/month or so.
I stay away from processed carbohydrates and buy mostly lean (and some not-so-lean) meats and fresh produce along with dairy, but I stock up on meat when it's on sale and vacuum seal it and freeze it for future use.
I also try to minimize food costs by deliberately making extra for dinner and taking leftovers to work the following day. Today is chicken breast wrapped in bacon and topped with dijon mustard accompanied by steamed broccoli. Sure beats a tuna sandwich....
ianimal WOW ianimal - you eat good, spending that much. ENJOY!
I also have 1 dog and 1 cat and Walmart is great for their food.
Thanks ianimal - Now I want a chicken breast wrapped in bacon and topped with dijon mustard accompanied by steamed broccoli.
We spend about $1,000 a month 2 adults and 2 in High School, plus 2 dogs, this includes food (breakfast, dinner, lunch for the adults 4 days a week), paper products, dog stuff.
It does not include Lunch for the kids, as we give them money at the beginning of the week each week for lunch at school.
We usually eat out on avg once per week, and order pizza on Fridays.
Jean09 I can't really say for sure what my husband and I spend, because some weeks we won't shop at all and other times we'll go a few times. Thankfully, we have a full size freezer in our basement and extra pantry shelves so we can stock up on things when they go on sale. We probably spend on average $40-50 per week for 2 adults and 1 dog. Obviously, we don't buy food for Lucky every week and we stock up on her treats when they're on sale with coupons. Now that we're eating healthfully again, we're not buying any of the processed junk, but more produce and dairy. My husband works near some of the inexpensive farmers markets and grocery stores in the Paterson/Clifton area, so he does some of the shopping for those items.
Tracy we spend around $600 per month on food. we shop at Whole Foods and buy all organic. I broke it down and per meal, the 3 of us are eating each meal for less than $2. we eat on average 4 times a day. when we decided to go all organic, we realized that meat was a huge chunk of our budget and then we realized we didn't really need all the meat! we eat 5 out of 7 meals a week vegetarian. that in itself was a huge money saver. we buy all local fresh organic produce which may cost more than other popular grocery stores, however I realized that it lasts 5x as long. I noticed that I was always throwing produce away days after we got it from other stores yet I have never had to throw any produce away since shopping at Whole Foods. another huge money saver is that we only buy what we need. my husband goes online to vegkitchen.com and looks thru the recipes and picks 10-12 out. I go behind him and write down the ingredients I will need. then we buy those items. that's it. a lot of people buy things they don't need. I am proud of the way we are managing our grocery bill and still eating all organic. it's worth it!
Shanell We spend about $600-$700 a month for 2 adults, a 6yr old boy, who eats constantly, 1 dog and 2 cats. The higher number would include cat litter, paper goods and cleaning stuff. I try to stock up on boneless chicken breasts when they are on sale which is what we mostly eat. I use coupons and shop what's on sale weekly, including CVS and Target sales besides the supermarket. I try to stick to "the list". Husband takes a sandwich for lunch and Friday is always pizza night;) I used to make pizza Fridays but after all is said and done, one night a week for really good pizza is worth it:) We don't go out to dinner often but rather enjoy eating out on vacations or special occasions. Not a lot of red meat or processed/frozen foods. I usually don't plan meals that much ahead of time unless its a special occasion. I cook what I feel like and what's in the house.
blackcat Still tracking, averaged 1, 077 per month past 12 months.
9,185 groceries
2,871 restaurants
775 coffee shops
88 fast food
$1,000. A month for a family of 8. All organic, grass fed and sometimes local. I make everything from scratch, we do not eat out or have pets. We buy no pre packaged foods and only drink water or tea. When our garden is producing, that number is less.
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