How much do you spend on groceries a month?

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 3 adults (2 parents and an au pair) and 2 children. we spend about $200 per week, sometimes more but not usually less. I shop Giant, sometimes Whole Foods for a treat. We eat out about once per week, sometimes twice. I try to take lunch to work, but lately have been bad about that.

[Anonymous]

Family of 5, we spend about $800.

[Anonymous]

about $100/week - family of 2, and a 1 yr old. That doesn't include our meat, or diapers. That's probably an extra $100/month...but to be fair $600month is realistic.

[Anonymous]

14:18 here. Maybe I can revise my estimate, although the food/goods expenses do tend to add up pretty quickly! Maybe up to $75 for meat at whole foods once month; Yes! for a few items at a time, total about $50 each week (convenient to house); and $100 at Giant every week. We buy paper goods at Target, eat out - maybe - twice a month, and eat 95% of lunches at home with DD (I am SAHM and husband works at home). We also like having friends over and tend to cook for them when we do. So maybe I was on target for about $200/week when I add it up and average it out. Even if this is repetitive, it was a good exercise for me! I guess if we ate out more, our grocery bill would be less, but such are our choices. Thanks, OP.

[Anonymous]

2 adults and 2 children (2 years and 4 months), we spend $120 a week, purchase mostly organic (Trader Joes) and strictly things on sale from Harris Teeter, Giant, Bloom, or Shoppers (all within 2 miles of our home).

If you spend a little time doing research, clipping a few coupons, there's really no reason you can't spend under $150 a week on groceries and still eat organically. I'd say we eat about 70% organically, which includes chicken, beef, and turkey.

[Anonymous]

What is SF?

[Anonymous]

SF= Safeway

[Anonymous]

I spend about $150/wk for our family of four (2 boys, ages 3 and 5). I shop at Wegman's because its cheaper and good quality. I buy organic milk, but nothing else organic. A typical shopping list for us would look like this:

4-5 apples
3-4 pears
box of clementines
4 bananas
string beans
parsley
lemon
grapes
carrots
4 potatos
fresh parmesan
cheddar cheese
1 lb. box of pasta
spaghetti sauce
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. hot dogs
hot dog buns
3 bags frozen veggies
3 gallons organic milk
half-& half
2 boxes cereal
2 cans diced tomatos
1 box corn bread mix
two steaks (strip)
.75 lb fish
1 pkg. chicken breasts
3/4 lb deli meat
1/2 lb deli cheese
2 loaves bread
1 pkg breakfast sausage
1 carton eggs
1 bag rice
1 box mac n'cheese
1/2 gal ice cream

I think we eat pretty healthfully, and I don't buy premade food. But I usually plan to cook 4 nights a week. 2 nights a week we have leftovers. And one night we usually order pizza or get some other type of carryout. It helps that my kids don't tend to be big dinner eaters. They go through cereal like mad, but dinner, not so much. And, my shopping list doesn't include paper products or laundry detergent, which we get at BJs,... but really, I bet we spend no more than $10 a week on paper products/detergent, etc.

I'm in Vienna. And while I have been in the Whole Foods, I avoid it like the plague unless I'm getting myself something special. That place is outrageously expensive.

Those of you who are spending $200-250 a week... what are you buying?? Or is it just WHERE you are buying it? I'm sure its a bit more expensive if you're shopping at the social safeway... or Whole foods.

[Anonymous]

We are feeding 4 (2 adults, 4 yo, 1 yo) and i spend about $120/wk on groceries. This does not include alcohol but it does include any paper goods, cleaning supplies and detergents. I do most of my shopping at Giant with periodic trips to MacGruder's (3x/mo) and maybe once every 4-6 weeks shop at Safeway instead of Giant. Here's what I think helps keep the bills low:

1. I go to a big grocery store once per week. That's it (all I have time for!). I make a careful list and menu plan before I go. If we run out of something, it goes on next week's list. I found that even picking up "a few things" mid-week would result in a $40 bill, and now that we have two kids and I work FT, I just can't get there anyway!

2. I watch sales for things we eat regularly and stock up, usually combining those sales with coupons. Progresso tomoato soup, particular kinds of pasta, our favorite black beans, etc. This also works well for paper towels, laundry detergent and napkins.

[Anonymous]

9:28 here, i hit the submit button too early.

3. We eat some vegetarian meals. I don't eat meat ever, but the rest of the family does. They don't bat an eye at an entirely veggie option a few nights per week. When we do buy meat, I get the "big value" packs, make a few of the chicken breasts that night and then freeze the rest for another night.

While some of the coupons are for junk, they also have good ones for sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, cereal, etc that keep the total on those pricey items down a bit. (I got two HUGE boxes of grape nuts for $1 a few weeks ago. Made me happy )

ALso, I bring my lunch to work but DH does not, so that's one less meal to feed from our set. We don't eat out much anymore, but we do order chinese 1x/mo.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 4 - 2 adults, 2 kids (4 yo, and 16 month old), oh and a dog. We TRY to stay at $250/week. This includes diapers, laundry stuff, wine and beer. It's very hard. I try to plan the menu weekly, we use only organic meats and dairy (and have a child with food allergies so cannot do anything with preservatives and certain ingredients). I feel like I barely make it each week and think it's ridiculous. I guess I just stink at managing our food bill - but I'm trying!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Those of you who are spending $200-250 a week... what are you buying?? Or is it just WHERE you are buying it? I'm sure its a bit more expensive if you're shopping at the social safeway... or Whole foods.

We'd love to have a Wegman's, too, but not everybody does. We spend up to $200 a week in MD, family of 4 (kids 4 and 6). We shop mostly at our nearest store, a Safeway. We've learned they can't accept WIC vouchers because their prices on staples are too high. (WIC isn't an issue for us, but I found it interesting that the prices are measurably higher than WIC's acceptable limit.) Despite the fact that we're probably paying a little more, I'm glad not to spend the extra time and money doing most of my shopping elsewhere. I do make trips to Harris Teeter on occasion (for their double coupons and $10 off coupons which come from time to time). And we do shop at Whole Foods once or twice a month as a treat. Their meat is much better, their produce is often better, they have fabulous cheeses, etc. We'll go to WF for holiday meal shopping soon...

[Anonymous]

Does anyone shop at Shoppers Food Warehouse?

[Anonymous]

95% of my shopping is done between Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Costco. I only pop into Giant/Safeway when I need something super conventional not available at the other places or if I'm in a big pinch. What shocks me every time I go into a Giant or Safeway is how pricey and how cruddy the produce is. I buy seasonally and on sale, so I end up spending less on produce at WF then I'd pay for not great quality conventional stuff at Safeway and Giant. Costco has really increased their organic offerings. Recently at the Fairfax Costco (not at Pentagon City yet, unfortunately), I bought a huge thing of not just organic but free range eggs in responsible packaging. Yay!

I stick to organic only for dairy/eggs and the top 20 must buy organic foods (apples, pears, potatoes, etc.--you can find a list online). Meat is only no hormones, free range, etc. The way my family eats means that we would not save money shopping at Giant rather than WF. I'm very flexible when I go into WF, etc. Though I have some staples I always buy, I go in looking for the good deals. Sales are quite good at WF, I find. The most I spend there is when I am having a dinner party or otherwise have a specific grocery list where I'm not flexible. Then I can spend a fortune. I also buy on sale and freeze. But if you're a mac and cheese and hot dog family and go to WF and just buy whatever slop you usually get at Giant, etc.--yeah, WF is going to be really pricy.

We eat so much more healthfully by buying seasonally and being flexible--we try more things and experiment.

[Anonymous]

Wegmans is great! Just not conveniently located for most of us. We need some in the inner suburbs, man!