Grocery Budget

[Anonymous]

We spend about $800/mo for a family of four (2 teens) plus eat out about once/week. I also buy my lunch at work a lot (probably another $100/mo). We do a mix of regular and organic from Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Giant and Target.

[Anonymous]

Oh my gosh! I am freaking out a little right now. I pay $400 a month for one adult, one 2 year old, and one 5 year old. These budgets everyone else is listing scare me. Are my children going to start eating so much that we can't afford the mortgage?!

[Anonymous]

Wow, I guess we are high. We spend closer to 900 per month for two adults and one toddler. But I am including all household supplies in that number: paper towels, deodorant, soap, random hardware, diapers, etc. So there is a lot of miscellany I take out of the "food budget."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my gosh! I am freaking out a little right now. I pay $400 a month for one adult, one 2 year old, and one 5 year old. These budgets everyone else is listing scare me. Are my children going to start eating so much that we can't afford the mortgage?!

IME, one teenage boy = two normal adults.

[Anonymous]

About $1000/month for two adults, one teenager and one in elementary. This amount includes basic household items other than food (not sure how to break that out). We also spend about $200/month eating out (about 1 dinner out per month, plus occasional ice cream run, work lunch, starbucks, etc.)

[Anonymous]

We are below 600/mo, family of four, both children pre-K. Organic only for some dairy, vegetables and meats. One DC buys lunch at school, DH takes lunch to work. We hardly ever eat out.

[Anonymous]

Approx $450 pr month. Kids are 3 and 7. Most items from TJ, veggies from Korean market. All four bring home made lunch to work/school/daycare.

[Anonymous]

We rely on a built-in budget called "we can only eat so much food every month." As long as we only buy what we eat (used to have a lot of wasted food) it doesn't cost too much. 4 people, most groceries from TJ/WF/Giant for $600-700/mo. Sometimes less, sometimes more.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. For two adults and a 17 month old we spend about $800 at the grocery store. That doesn't include paper products. We buy a lot of organic for the baby and a lot of those organic squeezy packets w/fruit and vegetables.

IN addition to this, we also have a separate budget for dining out. What we spend on dining out (lunches and dinners) ranges from $400 - $750/month.

[Anonymous]

Holy crap, I spend between $250-400 a week for a family of 4, I pack all lunches, so that's 21 meals a week for 4 people. I am a bit OCD re organic, wild caught, humane, etc. I shop primarily at Whole Foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, I spend between $250-400 a week for a family of 4, I pack all lunches, so that's 21 meals a week for 4 people. I am a bit OCD re organic, wild caught, humane, etc. I shop primarily at Whole Foods.

You could cut that significantly by switching to a farmers market for your meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're at $1200 or so for a family of 4 (kids are in elementary). Almost every meal at home, packed lunches all round. Pretty much all organic, with grass-fed meat, etc. so I consider our grocery budget pretty lavish.

This except we are at about 1700-2000/mo at WF plus paper, non-perishables, and things like ketchup and mayo from Safeway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, I spend between $250-400 a week for a family of 4, I pack all lunches, so that's 21 meals a week for 4 people. I am a bit OCD re organic, wild caught, humane, etc. I shop primarily at Whole Foods.

You could cut that significantly by switching to a farmers market for your meat.

I hear this a lot, but when I have visited the Farmers Markets near us, the prices seem to be actually much higher than WF or MOMs. At best, I break even. Am I going to the wrong markets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, I spend between $250-400 a week for a family of 4, I pack all lunches, so that's 21 meals a week for 4 people. I am a bit OCD re organic, wild caught, humane, etc. I shop primarily at Whole Foods.

You could cut that significantly by switching to a farmers market for your meat.

I hear this a lot, but when I have visited the Farmers Markets near us, the prices seem to be actually much higher than WF or MOMs. At best, I break even. Am I going to the wrong markets?

I haven't noticed any savings from our Farmer's markets either. If you can find the right CSA that delivers near you, there are more savings there, but then you get what you get. South Mountain Creamery was on par with WF when we had deliveries, but that was more for dairy and beef/pork. CHicken and fruits and veggies were not a easy to get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy crap, I spend between $250-400 a week for a family of 4, I pack all lunches, so that's 21 meals a week for 4 people. I am a bit OCD re organic, wild caught, humane, etc. I shop primarily at Whole Foods.

I am so happy to hear this, because this is our family, too, except we're vegetarian, so we're not even buying meat. I do buy a ton of organic fruits and vegetables, but no amount of recipe planning has been able to get my weekly grocery bills under $300/week and usually it's closer to $400.