How much is reasonable to spend on food for a month?

[LoisLane]

I just went shopping...we are a family of 6, and this included diapers, but I bought a months worth of groceries and spent $600! I am feeling like this is overkill, as I still have to make weekly trips for milk, eggs, salad stuff, and bananas, so help me out! Is this reasonable? It seems like food has gotten SO expensive...

Maybe I need to coupon more...

[silliness7]

We're a family of 9 and I can get all of our meals plus our happy comfort food - snacks and whatnot for $600 a month.

 

I'm sure it partly depends on what part of the country you live in and where you shop too.

 

ETA: Holy Smokes...my addition was off. I fixed it :001_smile:

Edited September 17, 2010 by silliness7

[Virg]

I am pretty careful and have a family of 6. I spend about 600 a month total. It doesn't give us any snacks or fun things though. I agree that the area you live probably really affects prices :)

[LoisLane]

Wally World and sales at the local grocery...UGH I hate shopping! I am hoping to become as good at it as you obviously are! Any tips and tricks for keeping the budget down? I do have a menu made for the month, lots of crockpot meals! It seems to come out to about $10 a bag at our local grocery. Walmart is more just because diapers don't fit in a bag!

[dansamy]

We're a family of 9 and I can get all of our meals plus our happy comfort food - snacks and whatnot for $350 a month. Our grocery budget has been slashed to $150 for the month and we are cinching in those belts! No fun!

 

I'm sure it partly depends on what part of the country you live in and where you shop too.

Oh, please teach me! I spend $750ish for 5. I obviously need a lot of help in the food department.

[dripdripsplat]

We're a family of 4, so I'm not sure how much this helps you out, but we spend about $150/month.

 

We recently made the commitment to not shop at Walmart anymore, so the expense has gone up a teensy bit (maybe $30?), but we really try to take advantage of farmer's markets. You can get some really amazing prices on produce at them. But it does truly depend on where you live. We're in AZ, and I'd consider it pretty cheap, but when I went to visit grandparents in MA, our compared prices and our food bill would easily have doubled. But they also don't have any farmer's markets in their area...

 

But, boy, those diapers do get expensive, don't they?

[NavyWifeandMommy]

for our family size I was told the average is $800 a month. there are five of us for now. Another will be here hopefully in a year or so. I tend to spend about $600 but try to make it cheaper but I don't have other stores to shop at. I either buy at base or I have to change currency and shop locally which cost even more. There are days I miss Food Lion or WalMart.

[dm379]

We spend probably close to $900 for a family of 4. Things here are pretty expensive plus we never eat out.

[Carrie12345]

For almost two years, I managed to keep our grocery bills (family of 6) down between $100-150/wk. with serious couponing and stockpiling. All of a sudden, I've found myself spending $250/wk! Somehow, our bill has DOUBLED, and I haven't really changed a thing. Prices seem to have gone up, and coupons/sales seem to have gone down.

[lynn]

I just went shopping...we are a family of 6, and this included diapers, but I bought a months worth of groceries and spent $600! I am feeling like this is overkill, as I still have to make weekly trips for milk, eggs, salad stuff, and bananas, so help me out! Is this reasonable? It seems like food has gotten SO expensive...

Maybe I need to coupon more...

 

 

I was thinking that's about right. I spend I little more because we purchase organics and greenwise or Amy's meats. Other than that I have noticed prices have gone up a bit on just about everything from say a year ago and I don't think we've seen the end of that yet.

[Cera]

we spend around $1000 at the grocery store each month (food and household supplies for a family of 4). This doesn't count the lunches dh eats out or an occasional dinner out.

[teachermom2834]

I have a family of 6 and spend about $500-$600 monthly (sometimes I am able to stretch this to 6 weeks) at Sam's plus a couple small trips to Kroger for milk and produce. I do bread and almost everything from scratch but do not eat organic nor do we always eat fresh produce. We do a fair amount of frozen veggies.

 

I like to coupon every few months and stockpile health/beauty stuff.

 

It really sounds like you are doing okay. You spend about what I do and I have cut back a lot. We do very few extras and don't eat out.

 

We have a 9.75% tax on groceries here. That packs a punch!

 

Marie

[LuvToRead]

For my family of 4, I spend about $150 to $200 per week on just groceries. Probably another $50+/week on household stuff. I shop at a small town grocery store.

 

It was much cheaper when my in-laws raised grass-only fed beef. I would buy a whole cow from them at a really, really good price.

 

Some weeks I only spend $100, and I rarely hit the $200 mark. I rarely buy pre-packaged stuff, but my family loves Triscuits. I will buy ice cream when it's on sale. Meat and fresh produce add up. I do tend to buy stuff like white wine vinegar, which is completely unnecessary. But I prefer it when I make Italian dressing. We use a lot of extra virgin olive oil, too.

Edited September 16, 2010 by LuvToRead

[LuvToRead]

 

We have a 9.75% tax on groceries here. That packs a punch!

 

Marie

 

Oh my, our grocery tax is 1%.

[Sherry in OH]

For almost two years, I managed to keep our grocery bills (family of 6) down between $100-150/wk. with serious couponing and stockpiling. All of a sudden, I've found myself spending $250/wk! Somehow, our bill has DOUBLED, and I haven't really changed a thing. Prices seem to have gone up, and coupons/sales seem to have gone down.

 

:iagree:

Sale prices are now last year's regular price. Coupons for the items I buy are rare. I spend about 100 a week to feed 4.

[DarcyB]

We spend about $350 for a family of 4 per month. We don't buy a lot of processed foods, don't buy a ton of meat because it's expensive (though don't rely on beans because no one likes them), and rely heavily on freezer meals and things I've put away.

 

 

If you're looking to cut back, see where you're buying pre-done/processed foods that you can cut back on and replace with homemade versions or delete altogether. That was a big budget buster for me back when.

[2squared]

We are at $700 for a family of 6 - groceries, toiletries, and cleaners. I could get it a little lower, but I'm not willing to cut our gallon of milk/day and fresh fruit habits. However, I'm also not planning on increasing the budget once #5 arrives. We'll see how that works.

 

I make most things from scratch, and we do eat a lot of meat. Well, my skinny kids just eat a lot. When I was cutting down our grocery bill, I determined our budget busters were waste (raw ingredients going bad before we ate them and leftovers not getting eaten) and pre-prepared items. I moved us to almost all frozen veggies and that made a huge impact. I also slowly began making things that came in a package from scratch, and we now eat leftovers for lunch. I also looked to see how I could buy the same things for less. Instead of buying skinless, boneless chicken in the meat dept, I buy whole chickens or chicken pieces in the freezer section. As a bonus, my dh now thinks I'm a wonderful cook b/c our food tastes much better.

Edited September 16, 2010 by 2squared

[Jennifer in MI]

It really depends on how you shop. I buy all organic food for my family and we spent around $180/week. It's recently gone up from $150 because of my two bottomless pits! That, and prices just seem to be going up and up. But, we are blessed to have a Trader Joe's two miles from us.

 

I did find ways to make it a little cheaper. When I make a meal with meat in it - we use very little meat. When I make nachos, I use 1 pound of meat and then add cooked lentils to it and spice it as if it were taco meat. That amount of meat/beans will last us for lunch for two more days too!

 

I stretch the meat from one chicken into two meals and then the broth lasts another meal for soup.

 

We've also been doing a lot of vegetarian meals. Pinto beans and corn bread and potatoes and broccoli and salad is a YUMMY meal!!!

 

I make all of our breads from scratch. I make all of our cleaning supplies (mostly vinegar and baking soda).

 

Even with doing all of that, I'm still spending that much. But, again, I buy all organic - so that will up the price a bit.

[Ottakee]

We spend $80/week on groceries for the 5 of us--plus a bit extra here and there so I figure about $350/month for the 5 of us. We also buy a 1/4 or 1/2 cow for our beef so that would add about $10/week to our bill. So a very round figure would be about $400/month for the family.

 

Now, we only go through a gallon of milk every 7-10 days. We have chickens so we have our own eggs. Then I rarely buy meat at the grocery store---I buy the skinless boneless chicken breasts when they are under $2/lb and stock up until the next sale.

 

Our meals are quite simple. Last night was home made veg. beef barley soup made with left over beef roast, carrots, onions, barley and tomatoes I got for free from a friend at church. Along with that there was applesauce and rolls (day old).

 

I don't buy a lot of junk foods---1 bag of chips and jar of salsa a week, rarely any packaged cookies, crackers (other than saltines), boxes of cereal (we go through less than 1 box a week).

 

I do use my crock pot a great deal which helps.

[Jyniffrec]

l I determined our budget busters were waste (raw ingredients going bad before we ate them and leftovers not getting eaten) and pre-prepared items. I moved us to almost all frozen veggies and that made a huge impact.

 

We did the same thing. I have heard the frozen vegetables are often better than the fresh vegetables you can get in the grocery store.

[unsinkable]

We are at $700 for a family of 6 - groceries, toiletries, and cleaners. I could get it a little lower, but I'm not willing to cut our gallon of milk/day and fresh fruit habits. However, I'm also not planning on increasing the budget once #5 arrives. We'll see how that works.

 

I make most things from scratch, and we do eat a lot of meat. Well, my skinny kids just eat a lot. When I was cutting down our grocery bill, I determined our budget busters were waste (raw ingredients going bad before we ate them and leftovers not getting eaten) and pre-prepared items. I moved us to almost all frozen veggies and that made a huge impact. I also slowly began making things that came in a package from scratch, and we now eat leftovers for lunch. I also looked to see how I could buy the same things for less. Instead of buying skinless, boneless chicken in the meat dept, I buy whole chickens or chicken pieces in the freezer section. As a bonus, my dh now thinks I'm a wonderful cook b/c our food tastes much better.

 

Love this! That is so sweet!

[Prairie~Phlox]

I do not buy organic and I do coupon. We buy our beef from my parents since they farm. I cook a lot from scratch, try not to buy a lot of processed, though there are some things that dh likes, so oh well....we do the best we can and are going to die some day anyway. I spend anywhere from $400-600/month and this includes eating out, my goal is to stock up more in the summer and buy less in the winter since dh is self employed. It usually averages out yearly to be about $475/month.

[pooh bear]

We spend between $50 and $70 each week, for a family of 3 and two dogs.

 

I save about $100 each week with store sales and coupons.

[TXMomof4]

For almost two years, I managed to keep our grocery bills (family of 6) down between $100-150/wk. with serious couponing and stockpiling. All of a sudden, I've found myself spending $250/wk! Somehow, our bill has DOUBLED, and I haven't really changed a thing. Prices seem to have gone up, and coupons/sales seem to have gone down.

 

:iagree: I have a standard two week grocery list and buying exactly the same items has gone up between $50-75. Prices seem to have stabilized somewhat, but I heard on the news that pork prices are going to be super high this fall. Wheat also is super high right now because of the wildfires n Russia.

Luckily, there's not a ton of places to eat out here so I'm not terribly tempted that way. Even at $200/week for groceries - that would barely cover 4 meals at not-fast-food restaurants. Does make the budget tight though!

[Snickerdoodle]

I think what is reasonable to spend for food depends on many different factors such as cost of living in the area you're living, medical dietary restrictions and your overall philosophy with regard to what you consider "food".

[Nakia]

We're a family of 9 and I can get all of our meals plus our happy comfort food - snacks and whatnot for $350 a month. Our grocery budget has been slashed to $150 for the month and we are cinching in those belts! No fun!

 

I'm sure it partly depends on what part of the country you live in and where you shop too.

 

Can you please let us know how you able to feed your family for $150 per month? I would love to know some of your secrets! :D

[elegantlion]

We budget 100/week for food for a family of three, plus one large dog and one cat. We don't buy organic, but we don't buy a lot of processed food either. With food allergies and one growing child we really need to spend more. My dh takes his lunch to work and we generally get take out about once a week.

[QueenCat]

We budget $650 for a family of 4. That includes food, toiletries, paper products, dog/cat food/litter. It does not include eating out, which is a separate line item in the budget.

[Farrar]

It depends so much on where you live. At my grandmother's in rural GA, the farmer's market is a place to get AMAZING deals. This summer, I spent $25 there buying things to put up that would have literally cost $150 at my farmer's market. Plus, she has a Wal-Mart down the street. At my house, the farmer's market is a place to get gouged. The nearest Wal-Marts are more than 40 minutes away in directions I never need to go. I simply could NOT feed my family of 4 on $150 a month as some people have posted. Not living in an expensive area.

[sweetbasil]

We're a family of 6, too, and I spend under $400/mo.

 

This doesn't include diapers, which I wait to buy on a really good sale and stock up for several months. Diapers work out to about $60/mo.

 

I will say this -- I now spend $350 on the same groceries that used to cost me $250. :(

[Tutor]

We're a family of 9 and I can get all of our meals plus our happy comfort food - snacks and whatnot for $350 a month. Our grocery budget has been slashed to $150 for the month and we are cinching in those belts! No fun!

 

I'm sure it partly depends on what part of the country you live in and where you shop too.

 

We are about on par with this. We are a family of 6, and we spend between $200 and $250/ month and that covers meals, snacks, and cleaning supplies (which I am learning to make myself). My dh is on a dairy-free/ gluten-free diet which increases our costs some. We eat as much organic, free-range, cage-free as we can and grow what we can (although this year our garden completely died after the person who offered to care for it while we were on vacation neglected it for fear of running into a snake. Grrr...)

 

ETA: Just wanted to say that after reading posts here, talking with friends, and listening to/ reading various financial information (Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett, gov't brochures, etc.), we are most definitely on the low end. I remember almost falling over when DR mentioned that he thought $800/ month was the minimum he thought a family of 4 should spend on groceries! That seemed amazingly high to me, but now I am realizing that we're just odd to have such a low budget.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Tutor

[Greeny]

We are a family of 4 and very particular about the kind of food we eat. We eat high quality and organic whenever possible and I have been spending between $800-$900 a month. Even when I used to be less picky about our food choices it was impossible for me to spend less than $500/month.

[mama2cntrykids]

Don't get me started with the rising food prices! I used to spend roughly $100-125/week for us (6). Now, I spend roughly $145/week. Granted, it also includes tp, paper towels, dog/cat food (every two weeks), cleaners when needed, etc.

 

I would love to spend less, but I feel like I can't cut much else.

[rafiki]

.

[Renee in NC]

For almost two years, I managed to keep our grocery bills (family of 6) down between $100-150/wk. with serious couponing and stockpiling. All of a sudden, I've found myself spending $250/wk! Somehow, our bill has DOUBLED, and I haven't really changed a thing. Prices seem to have gone up, and coupons/sales seem to have gone down.

 

Last year, I was feeding 2 more people than I am now better food for less money.

[Nakia]

We are about on par with this. We are a family of 6, and we spend between $200 and $250/ month and that covers meals, snacks, and cleaning supplies (which I am learning to make myself). My dh is on a dairy-free/ gluten-free diet which increases our costs some. We eat as much organic, free-range, cage-free as we can and grow what we can (although this year our garden completely died after the person who offered to care for it while we were on vacation neglected it for fear of running into a snake. Grrr...)

 

 

 

How?!? Share your secrets, please.

 

I make my own cleaning solutions, buy the cheapest detergents (dishes and clothes), and don't buy any paper products. We eat pretty healthy, but not much organic because it is ridiculously expensive here. In the summer, we get almost all our veggies at the local produce market (cheap!), and in the winter we eat what I have put up or buy mostly frozen. We eat tons of fruit. I am learning to make everything from scratch, which is taking a while because my mother never cooked a thing she couldn't use the microwave for, but I am working on it. I have stopped buying cereal, because like a pp said, it is so dang expensive. My kids would rather have eggs anyway. I baked all our bread for about a year, and that was wonderful, but I really don't have time for that anymore. Looks like I am going to have to make time. I know it's not much cheaper for me because I don't grind my own wheat, but it's better for my family. The one other thing I need to work on is that when I work on the weekends, my husband tends to feed the girls whatever is on hand, and that's usually something like frozen nuggets and boxed mac-n-cheese. I need to cook some stuff during the week to freeze for him to heat up on the weekends for them. I have got to get the rest of the processed foods out of the house.

 

We tried a garden once, but our soil is so rocky, it just didn't work, and plus we don't have the room for it. We have planted some fruit trees on our property. We have dairy goats that we are going to breed this fall, and we will hopefully be able to get some good milk while we build our little herd. We are also planning to get chickens for eggs (not ready to butcher yet!).

 

Anyway, just wondering what we can cut.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Nakia

[Alyce]

That includes some snacks. We buy most of our food from Aldi's. I've found that generic brands almost always taste just as good as name brand stuff. We have even found a brownie mix that we like way better. It's seem to have more of a chocolate taste. I don't buy pre made foods. I make things from scratch. When we go to Aldi's we spend about $50 dollars a week. We also have a SAM's account and we go there about once a month. For our meats we buy a sirloin tip or pork loin and have the butcher their cut them for us. buying the whole and having them cut it up is way cheaper than buying the pre cut stuff. We also buy all our paper towels and toilet paper there. No we don't have a closet we can put those end so they are put discreetly in a corner of our dining room. We use a lot of ground turkey instead of ground meat. It has the same consistency and many times the same taste as ground beef. We used to buy chicken from our local turkey plant but lately the pieces have getting smaller and smaller (we buy tenders) so we've begun buying them at SAMS which has increaded our cost slightly. I know buying pre-packaged food and meals are easier but in the long run they are much more expensive.

[RoughCollie]

The USDA can tell you how much your food should cost you, based on their four food plans: Thrifty, Low Cost, Moderate, and Liberal.

 

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm

 

If you look in the footnotes, they have a link to the very long articles about what goes in the market baskets they used to come up with the costs, including calories needed for each person.

[Nakia]

The USDA can tell you how much your food should cost you, based on their four food plans: Thrifty, Low Cost, Moderate, and Liberal.

 

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm

 

If you look in the footnotes, they have a link to the very long articles about what goes in the market baskets they used to come up with the costs, including calories needed for each person.

 

That's a very interesting link. We usually stay around the low cost prices, so I guess we are doing pretty good. I'm shooting for thrifty though! :D

[cjbeach]

How?!? Share your secrets, please.

 

Anyway, just wondering what we can cut.

 

Yes, please share!!!!!! I'm spending about $800 a month for a family of 5 (though dh is a big eater) and we pretty much shop at SavALot or Aldi. :confused:

[QueenCat]

How?!? Share your secrets, please.

 

I make my own cleaning solutions, buy the cheapest detergents (dishes and clothes), and don't buy any paper products.

 

:confused: No toilet paper?

[RoughCollie]

That's a very interesting link. We usually stay around the low cost prices, so I guess we are doing pretty good. I'm shooting for thrifty though! :D

 

I stay at the low cost level, at most spending the average between low and moderate cost. The thrifty level is impossible because of the high cost of fresh veggies, fruits, and whole grains. I marvel that a pound of fresh spinach costs $5 -- and a pound of cheap meat costs from $2.79 to $3.

 

On page 72 of the October Reader's Digest, they show 2 food pyramids side by side. One is the federal dietary guidelines and the other depicts the federal subsidies for food production from 1995-2005.

 

Here it is online, courtesy of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:

http://www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/pork_versus_health_pyramid.html

Edited September 16, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Nakia]

:confused: No toilet paper?

 

We just use our hands. We make sure and use hand sanitizer after. It's all good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol: Kidding! Yes, we buy toilet paper. I meant to say no paper products other than toilet paper.

[Ottakee]

The USDA can tell you how much your food should cost you, based on their four food plans: Thrifty, Low Cost, Moderate, and Liberal.

 

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm

 

If you look in the footnotes, they have a link to the very long articles about what goes in the market baskets they used to come up with the costs, including calories needed for each person.

 

OK--I need to spend almost double each week at the grocery store to make the "thrifty" plan. Even adding in any eating out, etc. we spend less than that a week on food.

[RoughCollie]

OK--I need to spend almost double each week at the grocery store to make the "thrifty" plan. Even adding in any eating out, etc. we spend less than that a week on food.

 

How do you do it? Do you mind telling me what you buy, in general? Are prices particularly low in your area?

[Renee in NC]

We are about on par with this. We are a family of 6, and we spend between $200 and $250/ month and that covers meals, snacks, and cleaning supplies (which I am learning to make myself). My dh is on a dairy-free/ gluten-free diet which increases our costs some. We eat as much organic, free-range, cage-free as we can and grow what we can (although this year our garden completely died after the person who offered to care for it while we were on vacation neglected it for fear of running into a snake. Grrr...)

 

ETA: Just wanted to say that after reading posts here, talking with friends, and listening to/ reading various financial information (Dave Ramsey, Larry Burkett, gov't brochures, etc.), we are most definitely on the low end. I remember almost falling over when DR mentioned that he thought $800/ month was the minimum he thought a family of 4 should spend on groceries! That seemed amazingly high to me, but now I am realizing that we're just odd to have such a low budget.

 

I can't even fathom spending that little. Not even a little bit. So, I am assuming that you don't eat meat - even 1 serving of meat per person per day would take 1/2 of your budget! (3 ounces net meat times 6 people times 30 days times $3/pound is $101.25.) No milk for everyone or just dh? Even 1 serving per day for each of the other family members would be 10 gallons a month or $30.:001_huh:

 

So, what do you eat? A sample menu please!:D

[Ottakee]

For comparision I feed:

 

Me--usually a but 1-2 meals a week here at home

DH--usually all but 1-2 meals a week at home and pack lunches

22ds--all but 1-2 meals a week at home but only 3 lunches a week

14dd and 13dd all but 1-2 meals a week at home but they do eat lunch at school (at 40 cents each I can't pass it up)

 

We are in the midwest so prices are likley more reasonable. I shop Walmart and Aldis and other stores if they have a good sale and a I have coupons. I did do Savings Angel for a while and that helps if you mess with it--some things were very good prices.

 

Looking at my pantry (and I pantry shop a lot--getting the basics when on sale and just eating from them, not buying stuff to make certain meals) I have $1 cake mixes and $1 frosting, and basic canned goods all bought on sale or at Aldis. We only go through a box of cereal a week, one load of bread per week, and 1 gallon of milk a week. I do buy pop for dh and ds for their lunches. We get 1/2 cow from a local farmer so I never buy beef at the store (that works out to about $10/week) and unless it is really cheap, the only other meat I buy is skinless, boneless chicken breasts at $2 or less a pound--then I stock up. We don't eat many fancy breads--just a $1 loaf of white bread a week and then 2-3 packs of assorted day old breads/rolls/etc.

 

For breakfasts this week we have had fresh fruit, mini bagels, sausage, eggs (have our own chickens), cereal, toast, etc.

 

For lunch, I pack dh a sandwhich, yogurt, carrots or cucumber or salad, some chip type item and then usually 1 sweet item. Ds takes something similar or a can of soup, ravioli, etc. to heat up. The girls eat at school and I eat left overs.

 

Our suppers are simple:

Golash (hamburger, tomato soup, and elbow noodles), bread and butter, applesauce

Beef roast, mashed potoatoes, gravy, corn, applesauce and rolls

Veg. beef barley soup in crock pot with left over beef and left over rolls and a salad

Fish Stick, tator tots, mandarin oranges

Sloppy Joes, fresh veggies, chips

home made chicken noodle soup with home made bread

spaghetti with home made sauce, garlic bread, applesauce and maybe a salad

chicken on the grill with rice and a veggie

 

In the winter I do a lot of soups, stews, etc. where I combine various left overs and odds and ends into something.

 

We are all healthy and well fed but I wouldn't call our diet a super healthy diet---we do get our veggies in but not always as many fresh fruits.

 

I find that if I try to plan my grocery shopping around a menu it costs me a LOT more as I need to get lots of special items to make the meals. If though I plan my meals around what is on sale (and I mean a GOOD sale--like 50% off or more) and what is in the pantry, then I do much better.

[flobee76]

It depends on what you eat.

 

We eat non processed meat, fruits, and veggies, rice and oatmeal and spend $1,000-1,200 a month for a family of 5, 4 males. We do not eat out.

 

When we were eating processed stuff we spent $600 per month, but felt yucky.

 

The difference has truly been amazing.

 

Eating REAL, unprocessed foods is more expensive... doesn't make sense, does it??

 

I haven't read through all the posts, but this is where our family is at. We cut processed foods out (with the exception of a few treats here at there), we don't eat out very much and our grocery budget has gone UP!

 

We buy grass-fed beef by the quarter.

We only eat organic fed, "free-range" poultry.

We buy raw milk.

I try to get all of our produce from the farmer's market.

We have our own chickens.

We grow many of our own vegetables in our backyard.

 

For a family of 5, we spend about $500-$600/month on groceries.

[ScoutTN]

Just groceries or including household supplies and toiletries?

 

Just groceries we spend about $600/month. Household supplies like TP, foil, laundry detergent etc. adds another $40 or so. And toiletries, including pull-ups here add another $60. We don't eat much prepared or processed food and we cannot afford to buy much organic.

 

Eating out is entertainment, not groceries, in my budget.

 

Prices have continued to go up in our area over the last three years. I used to keep a spreadsheet of local prices and it was discouraging!

Edited September 16, 2010 by ScoutTN

[MotherGoose]

I spend probably $120 ish a week for 4 (including diapers and alcohol) but we also have a large garden and I also shop at the farmer's market. Don't know where you are, but www.southernsavers.com has great coupon matchups with store sales. I also love drug stores (CVS) for coupons etc for getting toiletries cheap/free. I make sure to stock up on laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, dog food, oatmeal, and other staples when they are on sale and I have a coupon. I just got 10 8 oz chunks of Kraft cheese for $10 with sales & coupons.