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$1000 Per Month on Groceries Normal?

AudioMayhem

AudioMayhem

Active Member
I have a family of four, Myself, wife, 5yr old son, 2yr old son.

I'm trying to make a reasonable budget so we started keeping track of our grocery expenses last month.

So anyone with a similar sized family think this is normal?


Thanks!
 
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I'm a younger guy but I work at a grocery store and seeing regular customers spend $250 a week isn't uncommon, if that helps.
 
as long as you aren't buying too much junk food and throwing stuff out because you cant eat it before it goes off you are likely doing ok .
 
Do not know about price differential but up here for a family of three who tries to economize we can average $150 - 200 per week. Admittedly Jr is 27. Mother is pretty careful when buying and watches the dollar.
 
No junk food or soda, but we did have a problem with left-overs getting lost in the fridge then thrown out do to spoilage.

But since I bought a new refrigerator the lost left-overs problem has mostly been solved.
 
My 23 year old son and elderly mother and I spend $600.00 per month. Our second largest bill next to the mortgage. :sigh:
 
A quick web search says that's a pretty common figure for a family of four.

Between that, health insurance, rent or mortgage, vehicle I'm amazed how people squeeze by. Based on what the median family of four income is a lot don't.
 
Food cost are insane! My wife and I buy lean beef...and those prices are sky rocketing. It is a main reason why we don't eat a lot of beef.
 
We watch the sales papers of the 3 local chains. Each week, we stop by and load up on the items that have a long shelf life. It is not unusual to have a year worth of coffee, peanut butter, or tuna fish in the pantry. These are the things that we are going to buy anyway and can be had for 1/2 or even 1/3 what people who buy week to week spend.
 
souphippie said:
Food cost are insane! My wife and I buy lean beef...and those prices are sky rocketing. It is a main reason why we don't eat a lot of beef.
Click to expand...

Speaking of prices, went to buy a pack of wieners the other day. $8, EIGHT DOLLARS for a pack of wieners. Admittedly they're not your basic mushdogs, but still they're not artisanal (they were Ambassador brand, my favorite commercial brand) and not even a pound?? Wow...
 
I spend less than that, but I only buy what's on sale and avoid junk/snack and prepared foods.
 
With pork tenderloin and lean ground beef being approximately the same price I'll eat pork tenderloin all day.

That said, $1000/month for a family of four is fantastic these days. When my three boys were younger our house was the preferred hang out for their circle of friends and it wasn't uncommon for one or two to spend the night. This meant we were buying for a family of six, with four of them teenage boys and the appetites that go along with them. If you do the math with $5.00/meal as the target, a family of 5 with 3 meals/day will consume 450 meals/month. This results in 450 meals X $5.00 = $2250/month, ours was a bit over this amount with the extra mouths and dining out included.

Hope this puts things into perspective and you can relax you're not going over board with your grocery spending.
 
I agree with the others, feeding four people on about $60 a week each is average. Also that food prices have gone crazy, not pointing fingers but stuff is expensive. We eat a lot of eggs, and cook a lot of chicken to balance out the more expensive treats.
 
Does that include other essentials like TP, PT, diapers/wipes, batteries, health and beauty, motor oil, etc...(its interesting the many different things that can end up in a walmart cart for me), or is it strictly just food?
 
I categorize spending in Quicken, so I can tell you:

In the last 12 months, for one person, I spent $228/month average on "groceries," which includes non-food items bought at the supermarket and bulk food items bought at Sam's club. I also spend (guessing more here) roughly $12 for restaurant lunch 20 days a month, so $468 a month total food costs (and often, I eat half and bring half home for dinner). Prorating my grocery costs, and guessing that half my lunches get split into dinner, I should be able to make my own lunches and all dinners and bring my monthly total down to $342, or about $85 a week, without being any more careful of what I buy. But lunch out with coworkers is one of my favorite splurges while I am employed at a good job.

I should note that I buy little meat, mostly chicken in large packages that I break up and freeze, or the same for hamburg (spaghetti sauce) or stew meat; but I do regularly buy some more costly things like lunch meats, cheese, and prepared deli salads, dark chocolate, nuts. I also buy fresh salad makings, and some of that goes to waste because of being a single person and being unable to use it all up before it turns.

So, I would say my example could be considered towards the high end compared to what is possible if you are more careful.
 
Costco can save a family a lot of cash, and the quality is getting better all the time with lots of good organic foods... price seems around 50-60% of what you'd spend at a traditional grocery store.
 
The wife and I (and the dog) spend between $800 - 1000 per month at the grocery store. I questioned the amount, and she told me it was because we quit buying junk food and started buying healthy stuff instead.

So there you are.
 
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