How much do you spend on groceries?

Question

We live in Arizona and we are a family of four. I stay home with my two small children all day. I shop at Walmart and do the price matching, or I go to Fry's when they have good specials. I don't buy junk food (chips, cookies, icecream, etc.) I only do that on special occasion. I still end up with a 600 dollar a month grocery bill. Any suggestions? We eat out every once in a while but for the majority of the time I cook every night.

Or is this normal?

Answer 1

It is not you...the food store prices have been going up regularly...I spend about the same and it is me my hubby and our son......I am battling the same problem....using coupons only does so much...I buy in bulk and that helps some.....

Answer 2

We have a family of 4 also, and our bill evens out to a bit under $500 a month, but we eat VERY well and we entertain a lot. I have a deep freeze and a garden, and those are probably the best cost-cutting tips I could give anyone when it comes to the family food bill.

I routinely buy meat in bulk when I see a good sale. A while back, I bought a couple of large, frozen geese for under $10. Why? The grocer wanted to get them out of his freezer and I had one at home. When I see fish on sale (recent ones - salmon @ $2.99lb and tuna @ 3.99lb), I'll buy 10 - 15 lbs of it and store it in the deep freeze. The applies to meat and poultry.

Also, our garden provides a lot of our veggies. We grow squash, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and several other things. These provide a lot of our veggies throughout the year. I will use the tomatoes to make a marinara sauce and I freeze or can it. Later in the year, when we want spaghetti or lasagna, I just thaw a batch of sauce. The squash and beans never last long enough to freeze or can.

These two items cut our food bill down unbelievably. I can feed 15 people for under $25, and NOBODY will feel even a little stinted.

Answer 3

Well, I am fairly close to Chicago and my wife and I spend about $110.00 a week. Keep in mind that includes dog and cat food, cleaning supplies, air fresheners, shampoos etc. Pretty much anything you buy in a grocery store is called groceries on our budget.

When my daughter is home for the summer or when both kids are home for any amount of time, the bill goes up quite a bit. I would say annually, under the above circumstances, we spend about 6 thousand and it really is mostly just for 2 of us. Plus I hunt and garden and pick wild berries etc.

Answer 4

We're a family of four (I work and husband stays home with the kids--ages 3 and 2) and we spend about $800 per month on grocies (in Atlanta, GA). This also includes diapers, too (for both boys).

I've recently become VERY conscientious about our grocery bill. What I've found that helps is sit down one night when it's quiet and you can think, and plan out all your meals for the week (or two weeks, if you go shopping only twice a month). Make a list of everything you don't have that you need for your recipes, and buy ONLY what you need for meals and snacks. Also, look for coupons in the Sunday paper, and check your local stores' sale papers. Also, look for a grocery store in your area that doubles coupons. Here, we have Kroger, and they'll double coupons up to $0.50. I actually got some name brand Hellman's mayo. last week for $1.00 for a HUGE bottle. (It was on sale for $2.00, plus I had a coupon for $0.50 off, double that, and my Hellman's mayo ended up being cheaper than the super cheap generic GENERIC store brand, lol. Buy generic when you can (some things just CAN'T compare with name brand, but as a rule, generic/store brand items are pretty decent quality in most cases). Try to limit your grocery shopping to once a week or, better yet, once every two weeks. The less you go to the store, the less tempted you are to pick up "little things" that you don't really need. How many times have you gone to Wal Mart to get a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, and come out of the store $50 poorer and with 3 or 4 bags full of stuff that you didn't really NEED? Obviously you'll probably have to make little inbetween trips for things you run out of, fresh produce (unless you use frozen), etc. Just try to get in and out as quickly as possible and when you pick up something you *think* that you need (that's not on your list), sit back and think, "Yeah, these really cute outdoor plastic plates would be nice for the party we're having next Saturday, but they're $10... Paper plates and plastic forks would cost me only $3.00." Every little bit adds up...

Answer 5

OK, this is just my opinion. It sounds a little high. You're on the right track though. My first thought is to look at how much waste there is. Like, do you freeze leftovers for another night? Do you shred your own cheese and freeze it? (Block cheese is cheaper than pre-shredded.) You can buy the dried beans instead of canned. Don't eat too much processed food like mac and cheese or frozen pizzas. Only clip the coupons for stuff you normally eat. Make grocery lists and stick to them.

It's just me and my hubby, and we've cut our grocery bill from $500+ to about $300 a month on average.

Answer 6

In my home it is myself and my 17 year old son (he eats for 2 lol). When I cook I make a meals that can be stretched for a couple days. I make larger amounts of things like chili, spaghetti, goulash, and stews then I put into containers to freeze for the following couple of weeks. I often put enough into one larger container for a full meal and then I use the smaller containers for individual portions. I can take them to work with me instead of buying lunch meats and such. Plus they are great for the "eating machine" to heat up when he is suddenly hungry.

Instead of buying salad ready made, I make my own. It is less money, better quality and they seem to have longer shelf life than the bag stuff.

I make my own pizzas here at home, again making extra for the following days lunches. It can be frozen too.

I also buy in bulk. For example, I will but larger packages of ground beef and break it down into hamburgers and 1-1 1/2 pound sized packages (tip I found that if you use the freezer bags, put the meat in it, flatten it down pressing the air out that it will stack better in the freezer and take a lot less time to thaw out).
I break down packages of other meats as well. If I buy a beef or pork roast I usually buy the larger cut and have the butcher cut it in half for me. Same cost, 2 meals. When there are left- overs, of the roast, I shred the meat, cover it with BBQ sauce and let it set in the fridge for a day to soak up more flavor. Then we have BBQ sandwiches for a meal.
I do not always buy named brand items, though there are some things that are actually better in brand names. I don't but the ready to eat meals as they are expensive and they are loaded with chemicals and extra salt and sugar. Instead of drinking soda all of the time, I make iced tea or lemonade by the gallon.

Make a grocery list and stick to it. I do my "big" shopping once a month going to Aldi's and Walmart. I also go to the local farmer's market for fresh produce when in season. I spend approx. $250.00 a month on groceries.

I hope some of these ideas helped.

Answer 7

Do you have an Aldi's in your town? Or other warehouse type groccery store? I could spend $150 there, and get triple what I could at our local Angelis Groccery store. I go to Angelis, buy a few gallons of milk, meat & veggies for the week, and still spend well over $80. It's a terrible thing that you need to spend so much $ to get healthy food, hey?!

Answer 8

Normal. Sigh...........I've raised 4, youngest is now 14, I spend way too much on groceries and like you I do the bulk of my shopping at Super WalMart and watch for specials, even with kids moving out I still spend too much.

Answer 9

I usually spend about 600 also were a family
of five.thats for breakfast,lunch,dinner and in
between healthy snacks.we used to go out a couple
nights a week and now we limit that and save
125 a month...milk alone is so high these days..

Answer 10

we are a family of 5 and we spend about the same($600) clip coupons that saves alot. I saw on foodnetwork that there is a website called the grocery game and it tells you when to use the coupons to get the items cheaper. it is called www.thegrocerygame.com.......