QUESTION:
"How much do you spend a month on groceries?
I spend about $1200 and only have two kids, so I feel like I am spending too much. What is your budget? How do you stick to it?"
RELATED QUESTION: I Need Help Budgeting for Food for a Family-of-Five: Advice?
TOP ANSWERS (AS SELECTED BY MODERATOR):
“Family of 4, approximately $500-$600 a month. I buy pet/cleaning/paper supplies with groceries as needed - that includes snack items for the kids and were feeding 2 dogs and 1 cat. I always make a meal plan before I go and usually shop for 2 weeks at a time. I find that if I only get stuff for a few days at a time I end up buying more things impulsively on each trip, costing me more bc I’m there more often. When I shop for 2 weeks at a time I will only go back if we run out of a necessity (milk, laundry soap, dish soap, etc.) Once the snacks I bought are gone, we don’t get more until the next trip. Anything you can buy in bulk saves over time. With our meals, ill buy the family pack of meat, even if I don’t need all of it. Portion it out into Ziploc bags and freeze it. I also try to plan meals around meat sales.”
“I spend no more than 200 a month in food shopping with a family of 7.”
“We have a family of 4 and spend about $600/month between Costco and the grocery store. That’s including cleaning supplies, paper towels, diapers, wipes, etc. I used to spend more but started making a weekly meal plan and sticking to it. I also cut back on buying snack foods, which saves a lot. I let my kids pick out one snack each every week. If they want a snack between meals, they usually have fruit or something now.”
“Family of 4 regularly with my bonus daughter part-time and we spend about 350-500 tops on food. I make meal plans and don’t buy “name brand” stuff for everything. I also go through ads and shop at different stores to save money.”
“Not sure if you have a sharp shopper or Aldi where you live but check into other grocery stores or go to multiple places. We spend about 350$ a month family of 2 adults one toddler. I go to about 4 different grocery stores for different items that are cheaper at different stores to accommodate our food allergies.”
“$1066 per month for 5 kids and 2 adults, I buy in bulk at Walmart and use the rest at Aldis and fresh produce market we always have the pantry stocked but I like to have extra in case of emergencies. I live in upstate NY so groceries cost a lot here.”
“We try to keep it at around $100 a week for my husband, toddler, and I. But we’re also lower-income and would probably spend more if we could. We do go over a little so I would say about $500 a month at most. We also include household and hygiene items in that, like diapers, wipes, cat food, litter, soap, etc.”
“$500/month approximately (family of 9). Sometimes it’s a bit more if I’m stocking up on things to replenish things. I don’t include any paper products, laundry items, etc in my grocery budget. Like others mentioned it can vary greatly based on where you live.”
“I have a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) & I spend about $800-$1000 monthly. I will do one big haul that’s usually around $500 & that includes the paper products (this includes diapers & wipes for my 18 mo old) & cleaning supplies etc needed for that month & then it’s between $50-$100 a week to replenish & things that go bad too fast like fruits, veggies, milk, eggs, etc.”
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. I have 4 kids and I spend no more than $700 a month on groceries.
