Where does your family fit?

[ocelotmom]

Well, that's how I would do it, but that's not the assumption this specific chart is based on. I would make a chart and call it "Food Expenses," and it would include any cost for any food or drink consumed by the family, because I think few people eat all of their meals at home anymore.

 

Because the chart assumes all meals eaten at home, it is a food cost chart, and there's no reason that I can see that food expenditures on meals eaten out can't be lumped into it. Just as you don't have to make adjustments because you're cooking from scratch vs. eating exclusively high-end frozen meals.

[BlsdMama]

 

Ugh. I get irritated when people scoff when I complain about how expensive it is to feed my family. They scoff like they can do better because they don't spend as much so in their head I must be wasteful, lazy, and buy luxury items that are not needed.

 

The minute you go Gluten Free or Gluten Light you're in a different ballpark.

 

 

Look at ANYONE'S weekly menu.

 

Take out every grain product. Now, take that cost and multiple it by a minimum of 3 or 4. Why? Because you fill up on grains. It takes twice as many veggies or as much meat to fill you up. Meat is at least four times the amount. Even eating in season, you need a lot more veggies to feel full on a grain free diet.

 

The truth?

 

People only afford to eat cheaply because of grains.

 

Truth.

[mommaduck]

The minute you go Gluten Free or Gluten Light you're in a different ballpark.

 

 

Look at ANYONE'S weekly menu.

 

Take out every grain product. Now, take that cost and multiple it by a minimum of 3 or 4. Why? Because you fill up on grains. It takes twice as many veggies or as much meat to fill you up. Meat is at least four times the amount. Even eating in season, you need a lot more veggies to feel full on a grain free diet.

 

The truth?

 

People only afford to eat cheaply because of grains.

 

Truth.

Even worse when you have a child that can't even eat many of the "gluten free" stuff because of rice flour being used as a replacement.

[nukeswife]

We fall between moderate and liberal, but that includes all eating out and any other things we'd buy at the grocery store/walmart. I've never sat down and figured just food, I include all pet food, paper products, detergents, etc.

[butterflymommy]

I am amazed looking at this chart. If we were buying in the "liberal" category we would be spending more than $2500 a month for a family of 9. We spend $1000 month at most, that includes a lot of non food grocery items.

 

I spent about $150-180 at a big box grocery once a week.

 

Then I spend $30 each time on two trips a week to a local ethnic grocer that is really cheap. For example a gallon of milk is 2.70 there! That is insanely cheap for around here.

 

We get takeout on birthdays to the tune of $40, and that's 9 birthdays a year, but even with that factored in we spend less than the thrifty category.

[AdventureMoms]

We fit in the "Low" category right now for a family of five (2 women, 1 4yo, 2 2yos), which startles me because we mostly eat what we want, plus the adults eat grain-free, mostly natural and some organic foods, including a lot of free-range eggs. The kids still eat some grains, though a lot less than most. We eat a lot of meat and some cheeses. We are looking into buying half a grass-fed cow, which will probably bring the cost up, possibly to the "moderate" level (our meat is conventional right now). We are rural and fairly low cost of living. Though our groceries don't seem much more expensive than when when I lived in Chicago

[BlsdMama]

 

We get takeout on birthdays to the tune of $40, and that's 9 birthdays a year, but even with that factored in we spend less than the thrifty category.

 

Anytime you care to share how you do takeout for $40, I'm ALL EARS! :) We drop over $100 on a takeout meal and we'd LOVE to eat out more often, but frankly, that's not in the budget. :D

[Mrs Mungo]

So, if I'm reading this right...

 

On thrifty weekly I would add in:

$35 for ds

$37.20 x 2 for 2 dds

$41.70 for dh

and $37.10 for me?

That would equal $188.30?

 

On low cost it would be:

$46.20

$46.10

$46.10

$53.80

$37.10

equalling $229.3?

 

We fall into low cost. I cook 3 meals a day. We actually go through quite a lot of snacks as I have skinny kids who need fattening up. But, that includes lots of yogurt, avocados, cheese, stuff like that versus junky stuff. That includes toiletries, pet food, paper products, household cleaning stuff, etc. My figure doesn't include eating out, but that's balanced out by the toiletries and such.

[Mrs Mungo]

Anytime you care to share how you do takeout for $40, I'm ALL EARS! :) We drop over $100 on a takeout meal and we'd LOVE to eat out more often, but frankly, that's not in the budget. :D

 

How many people do you have in your family?

 

When we do Chinese delivery, it's about $40, and we have leftovers. But, I only have 3 kids.

 

eta: Ah, never mind, I see now, you were asking someone with the same number of kids as you. :)

[cin]

We are low-cost, in an area with a low COL. We do a LOT of produce, and do organics on whatever we can at the local grocer. I do farm markets in the summer. next year, I hope to have a nice sized garden.

[razorbackmama]

For just food we are below the thrifty plan.

[HomeschoolMamaOfTwo]

We are well under the thrifty plan for just groceries. We eat a lot of produce but I coupon as well, which does help. I don't get papers, I only do coupons that I can print out or sign up for. We eat healthy things and avoid HFCS, food dyes, and trans fats. We do organic dairy. We do eat lunch out on average twice a week, even with that factored in, though, we are still in the thrifty category. I'm in the SE, maybe it is a lower cost of living? Not sure.

[Catwoman]

We spend considerably more than the liberal plan for families much larger than ours (we only have one child -- ds12.) and that's only what we spend eating out. (We eat out a lot.)

 

I have to be honest -- I have no idea what I spend on groceries each week. I don't keep track at all. I know it's hundreds of dollars a week, because I know I spend at least $200 a week at BJs and at least another $200 at Sam's Club every week -- but we buy other things besides just food there (like paper products, DVDs, etc.,) so I'm not sure of the breakdown between food and "stuff," and I still go to the grocery store and the produce store for quite a bit of food, but I don't keep track of how much I spend. I don't clip coupons or check sale flyers, and I rarely bring a list with me, so those are other reasons for my general cluelessness.

 

Are we supposed to include eating out in the total?

 

Edited to add: We're in a high COL area.

[Lady Florida.]

If I stay within budget, we fall between Thrifty and Low-Cost. My budget includes pet supplies, household goods including paper products, and health and personal care items. I also allow for snack food.

 

The only times I don't stay within budget are when I don't meal plan or stick to my plans, and when I let dh go to the grocery store unsupervised.

[Lady Florida.]

For just food we are below the thrifty plan.

 

 

If I only counted food, we'd be below the thrifty plan too.

[lisamarie]

Fall under the thrifty level by about $100 or more. Huh. I wonder if they're taking into account using coupons, shopping sales, etc. Or is this the amount it should take if I were to just goto the store and buy whatever I needed regardless of cost and sales.

[Scarlett]

I have to be honest -- I have no idea what I spend on groceries each week. I don't keep track at all. , so those are other reasons for my general cluelessness.

 

 

:smash:

 

I couldn't find the finger wagging emoticon. ;)

[I.Dup.]

Anytime you care to share how you do takeout for $40, I'm ALL EARS! :) We drop over $100 on a takeout meal and we'd LOVE to eat out more often, but frankly, that's not in the budget. :D

 

You can get 4 Little Cesar's pizzas, they're $5 each.

 

Order off of the $$$ menu at any fast food.

 

We get chicken & rice bowls from a teriyaki take out place and split them up between the kids.

[Scarlett]

I couldn't figure out if we were suppose to count paper products and toiletries in this total....my goal is $150 a week counting pet food, paper goods etc. That would be an ideal week of not eating out or only eating one day.

 

That is for dh and me and ds12. When dss11 is here during the summer my bill goes up, but not by $40 a week.

 

That puts me firmly in the Thrifty column I think. It feels thrifty. I"d love to spend more.

[TravelingChris]

We fall in the low cost to moderate category and that includes pet food and cleaning supplies. I would say it is usually more in the low cost category but I have to think about holidays too. We don't do anything at all to save money- nothing except buy more when on sale and use the commissary. But in terms of food, we drink milk, Kona coffee, and juices. We eat meat that isn't that cheap including expensive sea food at times. We can't buy lots of things because of dd's allergy, including organic items. We also buy fruits, things like cucumbers and lettuce, expensive cookies, so I really don't get how people spend so much more unless they live in a much more expensive area or eat a lot more. We do cheap breakfasts here- yogurt for the adults plus Honey Nut cheerios (gotten on sale) for dh, maybe a slice of bread for one dd and some cereal for the the other. I didn't include eating out.

[Kim in Appalachia]

We came out under the Moderate cost plan but over the Low cost plan, but that includes all household items, including dog food, cleaning supplies and toiletries. I'm feeling better about my food budget! I have felt like I over spend. We've being increasing the number of convenience items and it feels like I spend a fortune. But this helps. Oh, and I didn't even include my one dd who is in college, but I still was buying for her this summer which is where I took my numbers from. So I guess that means I'm closer to the Low cost plan.

 

I am suddenly feeling very responsible. :001_smile:

[bluemongoose]

I did the family of 4 with 2-3 and 4-5, added on a 1yo (he's actually about 8mos) and an 8yo. I came out in the moderate category. That is not surprising to me, food cost has gone up a lot where I live, and we are a family with food allergies--that definitely increases the amount we spend.

[Jen in PA]

 

Take out every grain product. Now, take that cost and multiple it by a minimum of 3 or 4. Why? Because you fill up on grains. It takes twice as many veggies or as much meat to fill you up. Meat is at least four times the amount. Even eating in season, you need a lot more veggies to feel full on a grain free diet.

 

The truth?

 

People only afford to eat cheaply because of grains.

 

Truth.

 

:confused::confused::confused:

 

I eat minimal grains, and no wheat. I do not buy gf replacement products. I would still have no problem staying on the thrifty plan (in my low COL area) and feeling very well-fed. The rest of the family do eat wheat, but even when I isolate our spending I cannot see myself adding much to our grocery bill.

[Parrothead]

 

That puts me firmly in the Thrifty column I think. It feels thrifty. I"d love to spend more.

I've thought a time or two today that maybe I ought to do some liberal spending a time or two to see what I can get. :D

[PeacefulChaos]

We fall under 'thrifty'.

[Scarlett]

I've thought a time or two today that maybe I ought to do some liberal spending a time or two to see what I can get. :D

 

Well, after I said it feels thrifty I got to thinking.....we eat ok. Not organic, but we have a fair share of fruits and vegetables and meat every night....I try to do one meatless night, but not always possible.

 

I'd like to eat more organic....that would be fun.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I've thought a time or two today that maybe I ought to do some liberal spending a time or two to see what I can get. :D

 

Really, really good cheese. :tongue_smilie:

[TravelingChris]

Now if I include eating out but exclude pet costs and toiletries and household goods, I think we are still in the same category. Usually low cost but sometimes moderate, particularly around holidays. This has really surprised me since I don't do anything to try and budget. Several factors are in play here-1) Most of our going out is lunch and that usually costs about 6 dollars, for dd and myself. Dd's allergies have made it cheaper. She can only eat the cheap stuff. Plus I have everyone buy off a dollar menu or something like that. Dh and I go out alone only about once every three months or so. Otherwise, we don't go out that often since we can only take dd to a few places. Sometimes for Sunday lunch. 2) No one eats much. 3) We aren't specifically doing organics or anything. 4) We are probably shopping in an average cost area, not a High cost area.

[Jen in PA]

Really, really good cheese. :tongue_smilie:

 

Cheese is my favorite splurge food. :001_smile:

[Cindy in FL.]

We fall in the moderate category mostly with some tendency to liberal at times.

 

Cindy

[butterflymommy]

I was skimming this thread earlier and someone mentioned a blog that has the ultra-low-cost grocery plan. I once tried feeding our family (9 people) on $100 a week. It was more of an experiment than out of necessity. I did manage to do it and no one was hungry, but we were eating the same thing over and over again and certain "luxuries" like 100% fruit juice and whole wheat flour were out. We pretty much ate homemade white bread with various toppings, pancakes, french toast, oatmeal, eggs, roasted chicken, soup, apples, carrots, spinach (bought frozen), cheap nuts, rice, beans, potatoes, homemade pizza. For beverages we had milk (limited), water, and homemade lemonade. Dessert was cookies, cakes (no frosting). It wasn't that bad but it wasn't the healthiest fare (though still better than the average SAD IMO) and it was very repetitive.

 

I would agree with the PP that it's grains that can feed a family cheaply, or more precisely, starchy foods, like rice, wheat, potatoes, oatmeal, and beans.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

:confused::confused::confused:

 

I eat minimal grains, and no wheat. I do not buy gf replacement products. I would still have no problem staying on the thrifty plan (in my low COL area) and feeling very well-fed. The rest of the family do eat wheat, but even when I isolate our spending I cannot see myself adding much to our grocery bill.

 

You don't menu plan by any chance, do you? I would love to see a weekly menu at your house. I feel like we're constantly fighting the food costs vs. wheat/grains battle. How do you manage it?

[ssavings]

:confused::confused::confused:

 

I eat minimal grains, and no wheat. I do not buy gf replacement products. I would still have no problem staying on the thrifty plan (in my low COL area) and feeling very well-fed. The rest of the family do eat wheat, but even when I isolate our spending I cannot see myself adding much to our grocery bill.

 

We are wheat-free. Here, specialty "gluten-free"/ "wheat-free" foods cost an absolute fortune. Triple or more the price of wheat products (ie, $2.50 for an 8 oz box of wheat-free pasta noodles, $6/lb for gluten-free oatmeal). Honestly, we'd go from below the "thrifty" level to moderate/liberal if we bought the wheat-free specialty foods.

 

Luckily for us, are allergies are such that we can just eat other carbs (potatos, sweet potatos, corn/corn flour/popcorn, rice) and those are pretty affordable here. If we couldn't eat those, it would be very, very expensive. A

[Laura Corin]

You don't menu plan by any chance, do you? I would love to see a weekly menu at your house. I feel like we're constantly fighting the food costs vs. wheat/grains battle. How do you manage it?

 

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. If I buy potatoes in large bags they are £0.58 per kilo.

 

When I visited Ireland a few years ago, two forms of potatoes were regularly served with a meal.

 

Laura

[Onceuponatime]

We fall under thrifty, but I don't feel like I'm being thrifty. It just feels normal.

[Pawz4me]

Moderate mostly, with a tendency toward liberal at times. But that includes all groceries, toiletries, cleaning/laundry supplies and food/supplies for four pets.

[Lady Florida.]

I took what we spent/month in our grocery budget, divided it by the number of people in our family and divided that by 4 weeks to get the food/person.

 

 

Unless I misunderstood, you're supposed to find the gender and age range of each member of the family, then add those amounts. When I was figuring out the amounts I found it to be pretty accurate for our family. Ds 15 eats the most, and his dollar figure is the highest in our family. That's followed by dh, then me (I eat the least).

[Catwoman]

:smash:

 

I couldn't find the finger wagging emoticon. ;)

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.

[Barb_]

We fall right between Low Cost and Moderate. That's factoring in the occasional trip to the beer/wine store and any lunches out, date nights, and take out pizza. No toiletries, cleaning supplies or animal food. I do shop the sales and rotate stores and we live in an area where there's a LOT of grocery competition, however we are lucky that we don't have to factor in cost as a major consideration when deciding what to have for dinner. So we are careful but not super-conscious of cost, if that makes sense. I have a harder time keeping my budget under the liberal mark when we spend the summers in the Chicago area.

[Nestof3]

How many people do you have in your family?

 

When we do Chinese delivery, it's about $40, and we have leftovers. But, I only have 3 kids.

 

eta: Ah, never mind, I see now, you were asking someone with the same number of kids as you. :)

 

Our Chinese takeout is less than $20 -- must be the area. We get a pint of cx and broc, a pint of cx and cash, a pint of veggie lo mein, and a pint of veg fried rice.

[missmoe]

We are in the moderate plan and in a high COL area. I am trying to be wiser about what I spend on food. I do have food storage, so the amount I spend includes foods I buy ahead of time for lean times.

[southcarolinamom]

Thanks to Aldi's and a few other stores, we fall into the thrifty column .... 2 adults plus 2 teenagers ... $37 x 4 = $148. I spend less than $100 a week on grocery items.

 

I spend $100 or so a month on Wal-mart type items, i.e. medicine, drugstore items, paper products, etc.

[Plateau Mama]

The minute you go Gluten Free or Gluten Light you're in a different ballpark.

 

 

Look at ANYONE'S weekly menu.

 

Take out every grain product. Now, take that cost and multiple it by a minimum of 3 or 4. Why? Because you fill up on grains. It takes twice as many veggies or as much meat to fill you up. Meat is at least four times the amount. Even eating in season, you need a lot more veggies to feel full on a grain free diet.

 

The truth?

 

People only afford to eat cheaply because of grains.

 

Truth.

 

This is not the truth. 3 of the 5 members of our family are GF, 2 by choice one due to allergies. If you the fruit/veggies & meat that are on sale your cost doesn't really rise that much. You actually are hungrier and eat more on a grain diet vs a high protien/high fat diet. We eat mainly Paleo and we fall between Low cost and Moderate right now. And this include buying my DD GF/Dairy Free replacement treats (bread, cereal etc). If I didn't buy her bread that was $6 a loaf I'd save a ton of money. Once I figure out the Paleo a bit better I can meal plan again and I have no doubt I can get back down to between Thrifty and Low again.

 

 

:confused::confused::confused:

 

I eat minimal grains, and no wheat. I do not buy gf replacement products. I would still have no problem staying on the thrifty plan (in my low COL area) and feeling very well-fed. The rest of the family do eat wheat, but even when I isolate our spending I cannot see myself adding much to our grocery bill.

 

:iagree:It's the GF replacement products that are expensive. Real food (fruits, veggies, beef) aren't what makes GF eating so expensive!

[Kathryn]

We fall under thrifty, but I don't feel like I'm being thrifty. It just feels normal.

 

:iagree:

[ocelotmom]

So, if I had to add that on top of groceries, we would be way over the "Liberal" plan, kwim??

 

Yes, you have to include eating out. If you don't include eating out, you're reducing your grocery budget (because you're preparing fewer meals at home) while most likely increasing the total amount spent on food.

[BlsdMama]

 

:iagree:It's the GF replacement products that are expensive. Real food (fruits, veggies, beef) aren't what makes GF eating so expensive!

 

Hmmm. :confused: I don't know because we don't do replacement foods.

 

And maybe I'm seeing a big difference because of the number of kids?

 

I can buy a loaf of bread (good bread) for $3. That loaf will feed the kids. Toss chicken breast or something on it. I can get by with minimal meat because - hey, bread makes them feel full.

 

Now, go gf. Now they eat the chicken and the toppings - lettuce, tomatoes, etc sans bread. Do they eat the same amount of meat? No, they triple it. :) Now a nice slice of chicken breast isn't so expensive. And when you go from a 1/4 to a chicken breast to a 1/2 it's not so much times one. But I suppose when you go from 10 times 1/4 equals 2.5 breasts to doubling that to 5 breasts and then take that times five days - you've gone from 12 breasts to 25.

 

Dinner is the same. A small serving of meat is fine if you're serving it with thick slices of homemade bread slathered in butter.... But once you get rid of the bread, you fill up on meat.

 

I can honestly say we've doubled our meat consumption trying to be gluten free. And probably doubled our produce intake as well. None of that is as cheap as boxes of pasta, crackers for snacks, a loaf of bread, pancakes, etc.

 

The biggest thing I noticed the two weeks we went COMPLETELY GF/grain free? We were STARVING! And that was being conscious of consuming protein.

We are not completely GF/grain free now, but trying to be grain light, for whatever that's worth.

 

I'm GOOD with it - I mean I'm glad they are getting more fruits, more veggies, more meat and less grain. But, at the same time I can say our food budget is mind boggling. I told DH we need to just permanently move it to where it's been the last six months instead of kicking ourselves because we can't stay below our ideal.

 

And, yes, we do some splurges. We drink good coffee and it saves me from buying coffees. ;) We do buy Tillamook cheese simply because I didn't know ... I just didn't 'til we moved here and I admit that one of my fears of moving back to the Midwest is not being able to get Tillamook, lol. We eat a ton of berries (thank you Costco) a lot of yogurt, a lot of fruit and veggies.

 

There is one big perk coming from inflation that I can see.

 

When your hamburger is almost $5/lb, then you don't mind spending $6/lb on fish, or $7/lb on shrimp or $6/lb on roast once in a while. Perk. ;)

 

 

And, btw, I'm VERY grateful for this conversation today. I needed the motivation to plan food and thanks to the inspiration, I went and got everything sliced and marinated for dinner.

 

Thai & Chinese on the menu tonight thanks to my WTM inspiration thread. And I even kicked the guilt and went and got everything for a couple courses because it's a LOT cheaper than eating out. :lol:

 

Guilt assuaged.

[ssavings]

Hmmm. :confused: I don't know because we don't do replacement foods.

 

And maybe I'm seeing a big difference because of the number of kids?

 

I can buy a loaf of bread (good bread) for $3. That loaf will feed the kids. Toss chicken breast or something on it. I can get by with minimal meat because - hey, bread makes them feel full.

 

Now, go gf. Now they eat the chicken and the toppings - lettuce, tomatoes, etc sans bread. Do they eat the same amount of meat? No, they triple it. :) Now a nice slice of chicken breast isn't so expensive. And when you go from a 1/4 to a chicken breast to a 1/2 it's not so much times one. But I suppose when you go from 10 times 1/4 equals 2.5 breasts to doubling that to 5 breasts and then take that times five days - you've gone from 12 breasts to 25.

 

Dinner is the same. A small serving of meat is fine if you're serving it with thick slices of homemade bread slathered in butter.... But once you get rid of the bread, you fill up on meat.

 

I can honestly say we've doubled our meat consumption trying to be gluten free. And probably doubled our produce intake as well. None of that is as cheap as boxes of pasta, crackers for snacks, a loaf of bread, pancakes, etc.

 

The biggest thing I noticed the two weeks we went COMPLETELY GF/grain free? We were STARVING! And that was being conscious of consuming protein.

We are not completely GF/grain free now, but trying to be grain light, for whatever that's worth.

 

I'm GOOD with it - I mean I'm glad they are getting more fruits, more veggies, more meat and less grain. But, at the same time I can say our food budget is mind boggling. I told DH we need to just permanently move it to where it's been the last six months instead of kicking ourselves because we can't stay below our ideal.

 

And, yes, we do some splurges. We drink good coffee and it saves me from buying coffees. ;) We do buy Tillamook cheese simply because I didn't know ... I just didn't 'til we moved here and I admit that one of my fears of moving back to the Midwest is not being able to get Tillamook, lol. We eat a ton of berries (thank you Costco) a lot of yogurt, a lot of fruit and veggies.

 

There is one big perk coming from inflation that I can see.

 

When your hamburger is almost $5/lb, then you don't mind spending $6/lb on fish, or $7/lb on shrimp or $6/lb on roast once in a while. Perk. ;)

 

 

And, btw, I'm VERY grateful for this conversation today. I needed the motivation to plan food and thanks to the inspiration, I went and got everything sliced and marinated for dinner.

 

Thai & Chinese on the menu tonight thanks to my WTM inspiration thread. And I even kicked the guilt and went and got everything for a couple courses because it's a LOT cheaper than eating out. :lol:

 

Guilt assuaged.

 

I think theres a difference between trying to reduce all grains/paleo diets, and just avoiding gluten specifically. We eat a lot of grains that aren't wheat, so our meat/produce consumption hasn't gone up. I'd serve that chicken on brown rice (to replace the bread), or the meat with a baked sweet potato. But we're not trying to eliminate grains, just to avoid gluten due to allergy.

 

But, yeah, with no grains, it'd be very expensive!

[beezus]

We fall within the thrifty plan even with eating out. Only one of us is a meat-eater though, and we seldom go out to eat at any place fancy.

[AdventureMoms]

I think theres a difference between trying to reduce all grains/paleo diets, and just avoiding gluten specifically. We eat a lot of grains that aren't wheat, so our meat/produce consumption hasn't gone up. I'd serve that chicken on brown rice (to replace the bread), or the meat with a baked sweet potato. But we're not trying to eliminate grains, just to avoid gluten due to allergy.

 

But, yeah, with no grains, it'd be very expensive!

 

Less so than you'd think, really. We have eliminated grains at meals and the kids get them only occasionally. We don't do alternate starches much. I find our meat consumption has stayed pretty much stable - we've increased our fat consumption and our veggie consumption, and we all feel full. DW and I often skip meals due to lack of hunger (skipped lunch today because after 2 eggs and sausage gravy we were SO NOT HUNGRY for lunch). We do spend a little more on good fats than we used to spend on grains, but overall it is not the HUGE increase it is often made out to be.

 

If I make bread or cookies or something (from almond flour or coconut flour) then yes, that is ABSURDLY expensive. But we do it rarely, so it works out. Plus the food made with almond flour is so much more filling that we don't eat much of it at a sitting. I go through a $9, 1lb bag of almond flour about every week or two. So that's an added expense $20-30/mo. Coconut oil is $7.50/lb (amazon) and I go through 2 of those a month. Everything else is about the same. So going grain free has cost us less than $50/month. And we no longer buy bread, cereal, pasta, or rice, so it comes out pretty close to even...