$300-400 a month for our family of six. I meal plan before each grocery trip each two weeks. I rarely use coupons. We don't eat red meat and very little dairy. I'm very into eating healthy for our family and almost always incorporate fruits/veggies in each meal. Our kids pack their school lunches and reuse a water bottle everyday so we don't buy juice boxes. If you budget and plan, you can skim your grocery bill.

Anonymous wrote:I struggle monthly to keep our food budget to $1K a month for a family of 4. That includes eating out, but that happens very rarely (maybe dinner 2x a month and a couple < $10 lunches).

Its high because, I cook almost everything from scratch, we host often, and we keep kosher (meat, chicken, and cheese are at least 30-50% higher). However, I buy only on sale (stocking up when possible), I used coupons, and often go to several stores to get the best deals.

I wish we could get away with $750 a month.

This sounds about like us, but not counting most of DH's meals. He eats breakfast and lunch at/near work, and travels a lot, so that just screws up any attempt to factor him in to the equation. I wish he would carry his lunch in to work, but if he did that he would never leave the office, which he needs to do. I shudder to think what his yearly lunch expense must be. Our kids are 3 and 7.

Anonymous wrote:I find that Harris teeter is about 20-30% more expensive then safeway or giant for the same conventional stuff. I would only pay a premium for wf or wegmans. ditch Harris teeter

12:35 again. I agree 100%. Trader Joe's is another trap. I only shop there if I'm having a party.

We're about $600 a month at Harris Teeter and $100 a month to South Mountain Creamery.

2 adults. 2 growing girls (10 and 8)

12:35 here. Sign up for something, anything to get ideas. I use eMeals but there are so many others. The cost of the membership alone will be recouped when you start saving on groceries. This, and Google. Seriously. You just Google the ingredients you have and plan a meal around it. The internet abounds with recipes.

I basically plan two weeks in advance. On the weekend I take a quick stock of my pantry/fridge/freezer. To the Google for recipes using things I already have; the meal plan and other recipe sources help for filling in the gaps. Then I make a list of everything I need for those recipes and all the staples I need for breakfast and perhaps lunches.

Every Monday morning I place a Peapod order to arrive at the end of the week (usually Thursday or Friday); then I have ingredients for meals for that Saturday through the following Thursday/Friday. I have my meal plan already written down and tacked to the refrigerator. No guessing each night what I am making. You get out whatever needs to thaw the night before and get to work when you walk in the door at night.

I usually plan at least one crock pot recipe (hello, soup, chili and whole chicken in a crock pot (google it - it's ridonk how easy it is) and and my rules are that no weeknight meal can take longer than 30-45 minutes to prepare from start to finish.

Does this take some time/work? Yes. But once you have done this for months it becomes routine and you have a stable of recipes to fall back on. I make my grocery lists and meal plans in a Google doc so that I always have a running record of what I've made in the past. I hyperlink it to online recipes - you can pull them up on the iPad or such in the kitchen for while you are cooking.

One other thing - I do not plan a meal for every night of the week. I usually only plan for 5 meals b/c inevitably we will eat out one night and end up at a friends house for another. I also plan for meals that take fresh produce for earlier in the week so it doesn't go bad before I can use it.

Questions? Let me know. I'll do my best to help. This system has totally changed our evening routine and saved us so, so so much money. Seriously. Like $250-350 a month. We used to waste a ridiculous amount of food. It's embarrassing to even say that.

do you all live in DC? I am scrupulous with our budget. This is dinners and breakfasts. 2 adults and a 1 year old.

$120/MONTH at Harris Teeters w/tons of coupons
$35/week at Trader Joes
$50/week DH lunches with colleagues in their cafeteria
$50/week eating out one time on the weekend

$660 and that's no meat, no dairy except yogurt for the baby, me having coffee for breakfast and leftovers for lunch, no snacking....

We are about $500/mo for 2 adults and 2 preschoolers. That doesn't include any lunches (except ones made from leftover dinners) and we eat out or do take-out about twice a week. That also doesn't include paper products or other household supplies. I do all food shopping at Whole Foods. I'm pretty OK with this level of expense, but I know if I put some effort into it, I could cut costs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:approx $210 a month...2 adults and a 7 and 4 year old. Made sure my kids were potty trained before 18 months old to cut down on diaper/pull up expense.

what do you eat?

Nothing, apparently.

$550/month for DH, nanny, myself, and 1 year old DD.

That includes everything - all food, paper goods, booze, cleaning, cat, etc.

And we never eat out - I cook dinner everyday and a lunch almost everyday and all of DD's food.

Anonymous wrote:I just reviewed my spending at Harris Teeter for the month of Dec. Holy crap! Something has to change. I spent approximately $750. That's for 2 adults, a 5 yr old, and a 2 yr old. That doesn't include diapers or paper goods. It doesn't include beer or wine.

Can others chime in with what your montly grocery budget is...food only please. I make breakfast at home everyday and pack lunches for everyone. Dinner gets made at home about 3-4 times a week.

December is probably high because of the holidays. We spend about $700 a month on groceries but that includes two teenage boys.

Anonymous wrote:approx $210 a month...2 adults and a 7 and 4 year old. Made sure my kids were potty trained before 18 months old to cut down on diaper/pull up expense.

what do you eat?

$80 a week at Aldi for 2 adults and 1 9 year old. Breakfast and dinner at home.

approx $210 a month...2 adults and a 7 and 4 year old. Made sure my kids were potty trained before 18 months old to cut down on diaper/pull up expense.

$175 every two weeks for 2 adults, one 5 year old. Does not include school lunches or whatever DH is spending while at work.