How much do you spend on groceries per month?

[Anonymous]

$1200 at the grocery store for two adults and one toddler. I cant figure out where the money goes. We buy a lot of organic, including lots of organic fruit pouches for the toddler, but no alcohol. We also buy some frozen meals that we take for lunch. I feel like we have to track and cut back to get to $1200. It's crazy. We shop at Giant in McLean which I think is crazy expensive and doesn't help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a family of 3 with some leftovers sometimes:

Taco night for $10ish - 1lb of ground beef on sale, taco seasoning packet, bag of taco chips, some cheese, salsa, sour cream, beans, etc.

Baked potato night for less than $10- some unbreaded chicken tenders on sale, potatoes, salsa, sour cream, lemon juice, cheese, etc. fresh or frozen green beans.

Salad night less than $10 - head of romaine lettuce, cut up lunchmeat (turkey/ham etc), cheese, salad dressing, hard boiled eggs, etc.

Breakfast for dinner - $10ish eggs, bacon, cheese, toast, sliced tomatoes, fresh grapes, etc.

Sometimes we have sandwiches + chips + carrot/celery sticks. That's super cheap too.

We don't eat steaks, porkchops, etc. - not huge meat eaters.

In the winter I make a lot of soups that we eat with toast and some fresh veggies.

Where are all the vegetables? This is what kills me. If I want to eat fruits and vegetables then our grocery bill runs $700/mo for 3 of us.

And where do you get taco ingredients for $10? In my hood it's
Beef - ~$5 if you can find a small serving (but don't really know because we don't eat meat since it's too expensive)
Shells/chips - $3/4
Cheese - $5
Sour cream - $4
Salsa - $5
Beans - $3
And this sucks because it doesn't include fresh lettuce or tomato

Huh. Grass fed ground beef$4.99 lb
Tortillas---99 cents (where'd the cents sign go?) a pack of 8
Lettuce: $1.49 a bag at tj's
Tomatoes---pot on the balcony
Cheese-grated off a $3 block, not all of it
Beans---$1 a can
Sour cream---$1 container, used at least twice
Salsa---make your own or buy on sale

new poster here.
Where are you finding sour cream for $1 a container?
Really, where?
At my grocery it is at least $2-3 for 8 ounce of the store brand.
And tortillas for 99 cents? Again at our grocery (Giant, Safeway, etc) 8 of them are at least $2.

Where (exactly--location of store) do you shop??????

Not PP, but I shop at the Aldi's in NE DC and those prices are about right. My homegrown tomatoes did horribly this year so I buy whatever tomatoes are on sale.

Also, I only buy fruit that is in season and try to stick to fruits that are less than $2 a pound. That means, for example, we gorge ourselves on fresh strawberries in June and do not eat them for the rest of the year. If I'm craving peaches in the winter, we eat canned.

[Anonymous]

Family of 4 - around $1200.

I shop at - Costco, Whole Foods, Aldis, Giant, Korean supermarkets for very cheap veggis.

I have economy of scale because I buy in bulk. That also means that I always have more than enough to give to my neighbors when I cook. We entertain a lot and so buying food wholesale makes sense for us.

[Anonymous]

Some of these figures seem like outright lies.

[Anonymous]

2 Adults and one DC, mainly shop at Giant in Mclean with occasional trip to Costco and Balduccis - about $1200 on average. Some months more if we are doing a lot of grilling.

[Anonymous]

OK, maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time adjusting to increase family size. It was just my teen DD and I, and I would spend about $350 per month and that was with mostly organic fruits and veggie and meats/dairy. In July, I had a friend and her teen DD move in with us (no money, no job), and I am struggling to feed everyone. This last shopping trip, I had to go to conventional (non-organic) food again, because I just can't afford to eat how I use to and it's making me crazy!! My grocery bill has now doubled it seems and it's hard. Unfortunately, my pay hasn't increased. So need to start trying to budget about $600 for food, but don't know where to pull the money. My friend still looking for work so she home all day and eats everything. Sorry, I don't think this was the right forum for this, but just venting a bit I guess.

[Anonymous]

About $700. Family of four, including two teens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these figures seem like outright lies.

Like two adults eating out 2-4 times a month for $70? Unless you are just getting a pizza and two cokes, that is pretty far-fetched.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these figures seem like outright lies.

Like two adults eating out 2-4 times a month for $70? Unless you are just getting a pizza and two cokes, that is pretty far-fetched.

You forget, on DCUM Chipotle is "eating out."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these figures seem like outright lies.

Like two adults eating out 2-4 times a month for $70? Unless you are just getting a pizza and two cokes, that is pretty far-fetched.

You forget, on DCUM Chipotle is "eating out."

Even at Chipotle, a burrito and a coke is $10! So you could go out three times, and also get chips and guac at least once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About $700. Family of four, including two teens.

Do you cook at home for all 21 meals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About $700. Family of four, including two teens.

Do you cook at home for all 21 meals?

The question was, per month, so it would be 84 meals.

[Anonymous]

Family of 5: about $800 per month. Shop at Giant and Costco. Never go out. 2 kids get lunch at school (part of tuition) and pack lunch for third child. DH and I pack lunch.

[Anonymous]

Family of 4 with 2 under 5 and we spend about 900 on groceries and another 200 on eating out. Groceriy bill gies up when we buy steak/burgers/seafood.

[Anonymous]

Family of 4 $800-$900 a month. I shop mainly at Costco and Aldi. We eat out less than once a week, including lunches.