Grocery Poll

74dragonfly

How much do you spend each month on groceries per family member over 2? 

I think we spend way too much and I'm setting a budget and want to get a sense of what other spend. 

Thanks. 

For confession sake we spend $500 for a family of 3. 

74dragonfly

PS ignore my siggy, its old. 

CinemaGoddess

We spend $560, including toiletries and other non-food items. 

jorkz821

I think this is really regional. Our lowest is probably 600 for a family of 3 and I regularly blow it.

jbatch

I think we spend about 300 a month for basically the two of us.. Breastfed baby probably doesn't count..

LadyXaverian

CTGirl30 said:

I spend about $150 / wk for 3 people (2 adults + 2yr old. DS is an infant).

This is us exactly. About $150/week for 2 adults and a 2 year old.

BeachBum73

I regularly spend at least $200 a week on groceries and toiletries/paper items.  There are 4 of us + my stepson when he decides to visit.  I keep trying to get that number down.  Target is my biggest vice.

74dragonfly

Wow, so maybe I'm not spending as much as much as I thought. 

We live in a HCOL area (San Fran Bay Area) but produce is cheap here. Cheap and awesome. 

LaceFace14

Approximately $700 for 5...but really 4 because DD2 doesn't eat food. I hear groceries in Canada are pricier but I don't know.

jorkz821

KKDRAGONFLY said:

Wow, so maybe I'm not spending as much as much as I thought. 

We live in a HCOL area (San Fran Bay Area) but produce is cheap here. Cheap and awesome. 

Yeah. When I was visiting AZ last fall, I was blown away by the cheap and awesome produce. In November, for goodness sake.
I'm in Canada. Food is not cheap here unless you grow it yourself.

CinemaGoddess

I live in a HCOL area (Seattle) and the only way you get good produce is if you go to the farmers market.   It's not even that cheap there.  It's just better than you get in the grocery stores. 

So I shop at the Asian markets, where the produce is cheap but not necessarily the best out there. 

chardonnay24

We spend about $150/week for 2 adults and a 2 year old.

LoveActually4

Ugh. We spend a least $200/week for me, H, SD(16), SS(12), dS(2.5) and DS(8months).

Having 2 in diapers right now is killing us.

catycate

We try to keep it below $100/week, but it usually ends up being about $120 or so. 

pghmortdoll

For me, dh, ds (13 months) and four cats I spend about $800 per month. This includes diapers, cat food and litter, toiletries, cleaning supplies and paper products. I buy processed foods more than I should and I could plan trips and stick to the list better than I do. Target is always on the way home... damn target.

There is a farmer's market near my new job... I need to make a point to get there. And meal planning would help me greatly.

Eleventy11

CTGirl30 said:

I spend about $150 / wk for 3 people (2 adults + 2yr old. DS is an infant).

This is also us...that's just for food groceries. I have no idea what I spend on the other necessities.

msdrdg

We are around $100 a week plus once a month $100ish to BJs for paper products.

thatoneredhead

Thats about what we do when account for eating out and lunches at work

rhymeswithhugme

That seems pretty good, I think. We are 3 and we spend about $800, lol. That includes protein powders, shakes and vitamins.

MrsT0514

Meh. All if these replies make me feel like we definitely overspend. Its usually about 150 to 175 a week for me, DH, DS who is an infant, our dog and cat. This includes non food items and toiletries though.

shannonmur

catycate said:

We try to keep it below $100/week, but it usually ends up being about $120 or so. 

This is us. 2 adults and one almost 2 year old. But if I get a good deal on meat one week it can dip below 80 the other weeks. I try to do the farmers market for fruit and veg but sometimes I'm a lazy ass.

tarebear9891

Entirely too much. $180-$200 a week. I clipped that down some when I tried couponing but I don't have the time now. I do meal plan though.

Edit: I forgot to say, we have two boys who are 3 and 4. And a 110 lb dog.

shadypines

Monthly-$200-300 family of 5. I'm extreme couponer....Probably a extra $150-200 at costco every other month......

ETA

meg_2006

$250/month.  We don't have a lot of money.  I plan at least 2 meat-less meals per week, and beef only once a week.  We buy mostly store brands.  I use coupons when I can, but not often because they are for name brands and we don't buy a lot of those.  I go every 2 weeks and everybody in the family gets to pick out 1 snack.  Other than that, I meal plan and stick to the list.  

This is about what we spent before DS.  Since it's hard to make a meal for just 2 people, we always had some extra.  That's what DS now eats.

wino2006

I spend $900-1000 per month for our family of 4. We pack lunches and eat a lot of organic. I buy organic meat, eggs, some dairy and most of our produce. I won't buy food with artificial additives, preservatives or food dyes. I haven't figured out a way to cut back. I try to buy things on sale. Coupons don't work for us because it's usually for processed sh*t we don't eat or buy.

MJHershey

I think we spend too much too.... $500-$600 for us and DS1 (who is 2).