We have a 13 yr old, a 20 month old, and DH and I. We spend 100 a week on groceries but it is with a fair deal of effort. We make everything at home, dont eat out much and are good at taking a day every three weeks and doing simple freezer meals like homemade mac and cheese, swedish meatballs, chicken burritos etc....It definitely cuts out a lot of fuss and money to do bulk freezer meals as long as everyone likes them. We are pretty hooked on eating two a week with a side we make fresh and then the other days we make homemade things like pizza, chicken curry, big salads and sandwiches using our panini press....We pack lunch for my son every day but he takes a sandwich, a homemade treat like cookies or brownies, and two pieces of fruit ( bananas, apples mainly).....we dont buy chips or individual wrapped snacks of any sort.
We also dont do soda for the most part and limit anything that is luxury in price like imported cheeses or special meats.
So, yes, it can be done for cheaper but we were easily spending as much as you before we sat down and declared a budget and now that we are used to it is is actually fine for us. We all made dinner together last night and everyone is well fed and happy about it. First few weeks were a bit rough realizing we were having to leave certain things from the cart but I think now we have turned a corner and are really proud at how little we waste and how organized the kitchen and fridge have become.

I agree with the posters that point out that quality food, fresh vegetables etc. are just plain expensive. I refuse to eat boxed anything. We do eat out on the weekends and our grocery bill is around $900 (meals only) for the 3 of us.

We pay about $600 for food only two adults and a toddler, and we are not extravagant, so that doesn't seem crazy to me.

We spend the same. High quality and yummy food is a priority for us. I have no regrets. I'm frugal in lots of areas (we don't have cable) but I have no problem hitting the Whole Foods olive bar.

Unfortunately, no. Food prices have really gone up too! I paid $6.69 for a gallon of organic milk last week at Giant. 4 sticks of butter was $4.99. That is really high.

Frugal Poster here...

What are you buying?

We're in the same boat with only 2 kids, and sometimes it's more like $900. We don't eat out much, so this covers almost all our meals (including lunches for everyone). We do organics a lot of the time but not always. We don't eat tons of meat. We cook more or less from scratch (not too many convenience foods) and eat leftovers. Going to Whole Foods once or twice a month doesn't help, but we've found that our regular, cheaper grocery store is pretty mediocre in terms of quality, so we do like to splurge on nice cheese and that sort of thing on occasion. On the positive side, I know that if necessary, we could cut back.

We found that it isn't because we are buying more but prices have gone crazy high.

If you're spending it on healthy, quality food that you all enjoy, it's worth it.

Are you purchasing only food items for cooking/eating meals?

I mean, that "30-day time period", not $30

We spend about that, with the caveat that some things I buy don't get used up within that $30 time period. (for example, I just bought a $15 bottle of macademia nut oil that'll last 4 mos.)

We are 2 adults, 1 grade schooler.

We spend almost that much with two kids.

I also have three kids. I spend about $150 a week, so that's not much less than you. Mine really increased when my oldest hit teenage years.

I think so. We got three kids... so I know our grocery bill will be a bit higher than a one or two kid household... but damn. 800 bucks?! I just want to know what others spend... especially if you have a semi-large family.