Grocery Budget?

[spiffykerms]

My budget is $200 a month for 2 adults. But that doesn't include HIS lunches. He eats out each day. Also, he contributes $xx within a month if we need more things at the grocery.

Usually I stock up when there's a sale too.

[krullex]

My grocery budget is $400 a month for 5 (2 adults, 1 teenager, 2 small children).

I stock up on things we use when they are on sale, never buy meat at full price, meal plan, and cook from scratch. On most weeks I just buy a bunch of produce, milk, and eggs. Everything else I buy in bulk when it's the best price.

Ok soooo the average month has 30 days @400/month that works out to a food budget of $13.30/day.....for 5 people...ok....thats $2.66 per person per day. This isn't even realistic in canada. What on earth are your eating even 3 meals of rice and black beans costs more than $2.66 a day. Your budget is busted.....give me some real numbers.

My family of 2 adults and 1 infant spends about $20/day on food. This figure realistically includes alcohol, hygiene, restaurant costs, pretty much anything that goes in your mouth. $600/mth is a modest food budget for 2 adults and an infant. $400 for 5 people sounds nearly unbelievable. Let me know if you have good evidence of your budget i would love to live on $400 for food....digesting money sucks. I'm open to advice.

[Aviallani]

Ok soooo the average month has 30 days @400/month that works out to a food budget of $13.30/day.....for 5 people...ok....thats $2.66 per person per day. This isn't even realistic in canada. What on earth are your eating even 3 meals of rice and black beans costs more than $2.66 a day. Your budget is busted.....give me some real numbers.

My family of 2 adults and 1 infant spends about $20/day on food. This figure realistically includes alcohol, hygiene, restaurant costs, pretty much anything that goes in your mouth. $600/mth is a modest food budget for 2 adults and an infant. $400 for 5 people sounds nearly unbelievable. Let me know if you have good evidence of your budget i would love to live on $400 for food....digesting money sucks. I'm open to advice.

I agree! I have 2 adults, a 3 year old and an 11 year old and our budget is around 800$ a month. That's with coupons. My husband takes left over dinner to work for lunch so I end up buying a bit of extra meat for each meal. I make dinners from scratch, not boxed foods and premade meals. I can't seem to get our budget any lower without us running out of food part way through the week. This also includes cleaners, laundry soap, and all the other incidentals.

[jaba]

My family of 2 adults and 1 infant spends about $20/day on food. This figure realistically includes alcohol, hygiene, restaurant costs, pretty much anything that goes in your mouth. $600/mth is a modest food budget for 2 adults and an infant. $400 for 5 people sounds nearly unbelievable. Let me know if you have good evidence of your budget i would love to live on $400 for food....digesting money sucks. I'm open to advice.

600$/month for 2 adults and one infant is way too much, we spend about half that and have the same amount of people in the house. Look at the bragging section, those braggers are full of ways to use coupons and save lots of money. Of course the obvious way to save money is to cut the alcohol and restaurant trips.

[kevico2]

I'm with Missgodiva2U. I make a lot from scratch. I always buy lots of basics: flour, rice, eggs, sugar, coffee, salt,peanut butter, jelly, milk (powdered also - it's expensive 15-19$, but in a recipe that calls for milk, I dilute some in the water) - save the good stuff for drinking, cereals..etc...
I make about 12-15 pie crusts every 2 months (quiches, jello pudding pies..etc...) and I always make sure I stack my canned items: tuna, ham (great for salads as well as sandwiches) veggies. Again, like missgodiva2u, I make lots of soups, then I freeze them.
Once in a while I make my own bread, but I'm not that committed to make it every week.
Definately use your coupons (obviously)!
Also, if you want, have a meal exchange monthly. Once a month, make one meal (say lasagna) x 5 and exchange with 5 of your friends. Kind of like a cookie exchange basis... Not only will you save on 5 meals, you'll get new recipes and new ideas and your family will appreciate the variety.
Well, I hope that works, I know it does for me.
Incidentally, your question was "how much do you spend a month", we spend roughly 250-300$/month (1 cat and 1 dog, 2 adults and 2 children under 10)
Good Luck!

[blueegg]

So, you're already using coupons and looking for sales, the next step is to only buy necessities when you get bonus pts. I take advantage of every SDM bonus day - combine it with your coupons and the sales of the week and you're practically paid to shop.

[itsjustmebub]

that's what i'm hoping to do with the $75 in optimum points i just earned ... all food pretty much. should cut down the next grocery bill that's for sure!!

[itsjustmebub]

If you can get to the stores more often, check out the loblaws chains (fortinos/rcss/no frills) for those delightful 50% off stickers for meats/fresh items that need to be used within 1-2 days. I get a ton of things like that! Just paid like $2 for 3 large steaks yesterday that are perfectly fine for grilling today.

[krullex]

I enjoy titilating my taste buds. Life without the occasional meal layered with suculant flavours sounds....well....bland. Here's a favourite pasta dish:
-500g fettucine $2
-1 cup chicken stock $0.50
-500g of spicy italian sausage $5
-1/2 red onion chopped $0.75
-1 red or green pepper chopped $2
-cayenne pepper $0.10
-cornstarch to thicken stock $0.10
-fresh basil $1

this will feed a family of 4 for $11.45 for supper...i believe it is affordable and loaded with flavour. I'm not sure what you peeps on $400/month for 2+ people are eating but if your budget is a bit higher...like an average $800 for 4 people than this is for you. Keep in mind $800/mth for 4 people works out to $6.66 each per day. I think some people arent reading there bank statements right when coming up with these budget numbers.

[thecountess]

I don't have a set budget every week or month either, I just kind of wing it and spend more on certain things some months to stockpile and less other months.

The biggest change I made with my own shopping habits is to stop buying everything all at one store. For convenience sake, it may be preferable to shop at one, or even because you like that store the best, but stores have different sales on things. I've noticed there isn't one store that has the lowest price on everything, you really do have to shop around.

[casperjj]

We have 2 adults and 3 children (6, 3 and 1). I spend $135 per week including diapers, toiletries, etc. That's about $550 per month. I'm lucky enough to have 4 large grocery chains within minutes of each other and I go to each to get the sales. We eat a lot of chicken and pork (not much red meat). We eat fresh veggies and fruit rather than frozen/canned because I find it cheaper. Before shopping, I scan all the fliers and make my list for each store. I stock up on meats and cheese when they're on sale and I get enough to last several weeks. I buy fruits and veggies that are on sale which I'm finding great because it gives us a lot of variety. I use coupons for things I need. I only started getting into coupons a few months ago and last month ended up overshopping because I had coupons (ex. granola bars, etc that we don't usually eat) Its only a good deal if you'd normally buy it anyway.

[itsjustmebub]

great post casperjj!

[vibrantflame]

I don't have a budget per say, but I need to work on one. I know we spend too much on coffee and eating out. If I don't include the cost of feeding the pets, and no toiletries or baby supplies, I would estimate between $200-$400 a month (that's not including coffee or eating out). That's for a 2 adult, 2 children family (not including baby's formula in this either). I would estimate closer to the $200 a month. But we eat a lot of rice and pasta meals, I use ground beef a lot (just recently bought 40 lbs for $40), and tuna cans bought for .79 a can. 1-2 lbs of ground beef makes a meal big enough to last us all two-three meals, as does 2 cans of tuna. I also make a lot of healthy but dirt cheap foods like shepherd's pie and chili.

I'm keeping tabs on everything this month, so I'll add it up at the end and see how close I am to my estimations lol (probably way off base)

[avoncallingu]

Maybe it would help to suggest to a friend that you buy in bulk together or cook up larger quantities and then share. - A pot luck type of arrangement. We only have a small freezer but I try to boil the goodness out of any bones that come with the meat we buy. Turkeys after Xmas and Thanksgiving - then freeze for when you're not sick of the taste! As I've said before - it's either time or money. If you don't want to spend as much, you'll have to substitute your labour for that of the food processing companies. As for the fact that the other two members of the household won't eat soup - thicken it up with some flour or cornstarch and call it something exotic. Pasta can be purchased very cheaply and rice (although that has gone up in price this year) - add them to soups or "fancy them up" and use as filling side dishes. Hope this helps.

[callaroz]

We were spending a ridiculous amount on eating out and groceries last year, but I've really started budgeting and I'm really surprising myself with how much I can save. I wanted to challenge myself and only spend $75 a week on groceries. There are 2 adults and a 3 year old in our house. I've actually been doing so well that I've only been spending $50 a week on groceries and household items. I swear we are not starving! We have a garden which has swiss chard, onions, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, peas, strawberries & squash. I also buy everything in bulk and cook as much as I can from scratch. I make my own bread every week and it costs next to nothing! And it is sooo easy to make!
Here is the recipe:
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.


I have cut out so many processed things. Instead of buying Uncle Ben's flavored rice packets I buy a big bulk bag of rice. I stock on up things whenever they are on sale. I may not need 8 bottles of shampoo, but when I can get them for free or next to nothing it's hard not to go for a deal like that! I never used to buy in bulk, but it really saves so much! I noticed myself in the store the other day almost going for what I *thought* was a good deal. Pasta was on for $1.24 a box, then I realized I could get a box 5 times as big for 4.99. I may not have needed that much pasta right at that moment, but it saves you $$ in the long run. One thing we have given up is expensive meat. I normally don't purchase chicken breasts or steaks unless I can get them for a very good price. Chicken drumsticks are pretty cheap and I buy big family packs, divide them up and freeze them. DH and I aren't big meat eaters, so 2 or 3 drumsticks is fine for a meal. I can get 5 or 6 meals for about $6 if I buy the family packs on sale!. I always plan my meals ahead, I used leftovers and don't waste anything. For example, I purchased a $7 beef roast. I made beef dip the first night, had leftover beef dip the second night and on the third night I marinated the remaining beef in some teriyaki sauce and cooked it up with some veggies and served over some rice. That $7 roast went a long way...and other than the beef stock and buns I didn't have to pay a cent for anything else...all of the veggies were from our garden. I never imagined I'd be feeding a family of 3 for $50 a week, but it is possible. Also, I find that we are eating even healthier than we were when we were eating expensive processed junk! I have had a few weeks where I have gone over $50 (by a few dollars), but I always make up for it...I've had weeks where I've only spent $30.