what's your average grocery bill?

[mzteris]

I'm trying to figure out a budget so I'm roughly estimating what I've been spending at the grocery.

I was going to try and set up a poll so it could be more anonymous - but variables like family size impact what you spend - and ages impact what you buy, I think.

I'm spending avg 600-800/mo just for groceries a family of 3.5 (don't ask about the .5!) that includes a teenaged boy and a younger son who eats as much as the teen!

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I spend about

$1200-$1500 a month. Three kids, 17,15,11 and my husband and myself.

The 15yo eats virtually non stop, hence the enormous bill. :eyes:

[Broken_Hero]

33. Boy, teenagers can put a HUGE dent

into your grocery bill...My wife and I had two teenagers for roughly 3 months, back in 04...good grief, kids would cut through bread/cereal/milk/cheese/lunch meat, like no other...It felt like I was going to the store every day...

Oh, and soda/koolaid...man, those kids ate more than I do, and I'm HUGH...

[IndianaJones]

2. 700/mo. Three small kids and wife. nt.

[KitchenWitch]

3. Roughly $500 a month for 3 of us.

[spinbaby]

41. That's about what we spend

About $500 a month for three adults. Plus about another $120 a month for six cats:eyes:

We eat very well but don't buy convenience foods--home cooking all the way even when we drag home from work tired. It helps to pre-plan what you're going to cook tonight. Also helps to cook stuff that makes good leftovers. Tonight was a pot of chili made with half local grass-fed beef and half TVP.

[KitchenWitch]

43. It is two adults and a six year old here

But both my husband and I are extremely tall (over 6 feet), and thus, we eat more than many adults.

[Squatch]

4. No idea. My woman does all the shopping for my dinner.

:hide:

[achtung_circus]

5. No idea, I pay room and board and eat well.

but Time mazagine recently looked at food expenditures around the world


http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373664,00.html

[tigereye]

45. that was fascinating

such a discrepancy from $1-5.00 to $500 per week.


I think we spend about 5-600 per month for 3 of us. But my son is entering that "eat us out of house and home phase."


Interesting how there aren't as many fruits and veggies on the more Western tables...

[MrCoffee]

6. no idea...MrsCoffee banned me from accompanying her to the grocery store

somehow, whenever i go with her, we end up spending about $50-75 more and come home with many, many bags of chips, cookies, etc.

i'm no longer allowed to go to the grocery store. i live under an authoritarian regime, i tells ya.

[Midlodemocrat]

7. I had to ban Mr.Midlo from Costco.

I always ended up with an enormous bill when he went with me, so now I go when he is out of town.

[Capn Sunshine]

66. You can't go into Costco and get out for less than $100

the wine prices alone create a frenzy
Next thing you know you have a 5 gal jar of mayo and a box of meatballs the size of your head

[supernova]

8. About $100/week

is average. Sometimes it's more like 70-80 and other times it's 120 or so. Depends on whether I need other things than just food.

edit: I forgot to mention that I shop almost exclusively at either Whole Paycheck or Costco now.

[LSK]

9. less than $50-75 per week?

One person.

:shrug:

[catmandu57]

10. Either we're living cheap or in the right place

For the two of us we average 250.00 per month, the scot in me kicks in whenever we go shopping, it's usually Marshmallow that overspends.

[eyesroll]

11. Between $70-$80 no matter what I buy, no matter how often I go.

I can go every three weeks and spend $75. I can go every two days and spend $75. I can buy one bag and it's $75. I can buy an entire carload and it's $75.

I seriously don't get it. (Sucktastic budgeting, I suppose.)

We've got two adults, and a 5-year-old girl who's here on weekends. And a cat.

(Also two birds, but we don't get their food or supplies at the grocery store.)

[tigereye]

46. what's in the one bag when it's $75?

enquiring minds want to know.


:hi:


I practically have to buy 2 gallons of milk every 2 days now since my son is getting really tall.

[eyesroll]

49. Perhaps a slight exaggeration...

Maybe there's a big tub of cat litter and a jug of laundry detergent outside the bag. :D

That's the good thing about non-primary-custodial stepparenting, I suppose -- H's food bill is really small.

[tigereye]

59. B is starting to eat us out of house and home

he ate 6 chicken hot dogs at school for lunch.... :wow:

[RebelOne]

12. I spend about $100 a week for my two dogs and myself.

And that does not include meat because I am a vegetarian, though I do buy ground turkey for my dogs and cook it into their dry food.

[hedgehog]

13. At least $15 0 to $200 a week for four of us plus 3 cats and 2 dogs. .

I threw in the milk bill since we drink enormous quantities of skim milk. My bill is a little higher than normal because I've been buying more and more organic food.

[Nickster]

14. Somewhere around 450-500 a month for two adults. Lots of vegetables in that.

[grasswire]

15. about $800 for three adults, two teenagers

One of them is a real picky eater, so that saves us a little bit. Ha! But the other is a cross country runner.

btw, I'm including paper products and laundry, etc. in this estimate.

[Lyric]

16. About $400

For a family of two active, adult women and one seven-year-old boy who eats more than either of the adults do. But we'd probably spend more if we could afford to. Our diets don't have a lot of variety.

[datasuspect]

17. i eat at fancy restaurants all the time

[mainegreen]

18. I send my servants out to do my shopping, so I have no idea.

They bring the food to my personal chefs, who make my meals, which I eat while watching my personal circus troop perform.
Except in the mornings. Then I have my personal orchestra play soothing melodies.

[redqueen]

19. About the same as you...

Mabye more like $700-800 per month.

[NMDemDist2]

20. just the two of us, I used to be able to feed us on about $60 a week

now it's closer to $100. we eat out one meal a week (breakfast @ about $20 including tip) and one pizza night every other week @ about $20 also which I did not include in the total so technically it would be around $120-130 per week.

Hubby gets 5 lunches a week but my job doesn't allow me to cook 3 days a week so the pre-prepared foods increased our budget....

[Phillycat]

21. When I was single? $40 a week. Now? $120 a week.

:wtf: It's just the two of us!

[Mojambo]

22. Around 80 bucks every couple of weeks

I eat out a LOT.

[hfojvt]

23. I don't understand why these bills are so high.

What are you people eating?

I finally decided to track mine and was kinda shocked that I was spending so much - $120.96 for the first month, $117.98 for the second, and over $110 for the third. I buy lots of stuff I don't really need either - pop, potato chips, cookies, candy bars, gummi bears, and have started to eat yogurt too, which I find to be kinda pricey.

I didn't include dog food, but that's less than $10 a month for a forty pound bag. I also did not include eating out, which I almost never do. Except for two pizzas I bought recently, I did not do any eating out over the three months, plus weekly and twice-monthly lunch meetings.

So are you people eating more, or just more expensively? A couple of things I never buy - meat, fruits and vegetables.

[supernova]

24. Could it be that your grocery bill is so cheap

because you don't get any groceries?

"A couple of things I never buy - meat, fruits and vegetables."

:P

[LSK]

25. do you live on a farm??? how do you not buy meat, fruits or vegetables?

[hfojvt]

28. except for the Kiwanis lunch and a pizza with beef topping

I never eat meat, fruit, or vegetables. Sometimes I buy some bananas, but it is a challenge to eat them before they rot.

I know I should be dead (of malnutrion, if not by a mercy-killing) but I seem to be reasonably healthy, except for an inability to digest potatoes and other vegetables. I think most Americans have too much meat in their diet, but I am a couple of parsecs away from being an expert.

Which adds more to the total cost I wonder - the meat or the vegetables? Canned vegetables did not seem that expensive way back when I thought I could eat them.

[bicentennial_baby]

31. so...what in G'd's name do you eat?

I don't get it...

[hfojvt]

36. rice, rice

baby

also

bread, milk, cereal, cheese, crackers, cookies, juice, flour, eggs (in the cookies), jello, biafra, crow, soup (mostly only when I get sick, so not too often), yogurt, my own words, malt-o-meal, peanut butter, jam, humble pie, high fructose corn syrup, and pasta la vista baby

[Book Lover]

35. If you don't eat meat, fruits or veggies...

just what the hell *do* you eat?! Bread all day?

[hfojvt]

38. Man does not live by bread alone

He needs donuts too :donut:

[Book Lover]

42. Mmmmmmm...donuts

[KitchenWitch]

40. Meat, fruits, and vegetables - ding ding ding

That is why our bill is what it is.

[Phillycat]

57. Ah,America. The only country where people can be overweight and malnourished

at the same time.

[hfojvt]

72. malnourished, perhaps

but 155 pounds is NOT overweight for a guy almost six feet tall.

[Left Is Write]

78. How many people are you feeding?

[mzteris]

26. thanks to everyone who posted -

so I guess I'm in the right ballpark - though maybe a little high (and I didn't even include the "eating out part! :( We're VERY busy in our household.)

Now to figure out where I can scale/cut back - besides the eating out part. Of coure, the less we eat out, the more the grocery bill! lol... and sometimes damnit the time and convenience is just worth it.


We don't buy meat, but do buy meat-substitutes. Vegetables and fruits of course.

I included general household supplies in that grocery bill. The dog and cat food - well those are separate bills altogether. I don't even want to go there. :P

[NMDemDist2]

29. stick to the outside of the grocery store

every time I head down a center aisle it costs me at least $5

[tigereye]

47. when my son was small and both Husb. and I worked full time

and were very tired, I used to joke to friends that my child thought that food came in a bag and was delivered by a guy named George. (George was almost a part of the family there for a while.)


When we started to work somewhat less and weren't sleep deprived, we started to cook more. I don't buy red meat, though, only fish and chicken.

[bullwinkle428]

79. $60-70 per week for just me -

I try to eat more protein than the average person, and eat a fair amount of beef, chicken, seafood, eggs, lots of skim milk, and whey protein powder. I buy most of my stuff from the "outer ring" of the supermarket, so of course that would be mostly produce, meat, and dairy (and alcohol)...the "big bucks" items, but it seems to keep me healthy so I'm sticking with that.

[philosophie_en_rose]

27. It varies.

I probably spend an average of about $20-30 per week. However, I also go to Costco every few months and spend about $100 on groceries and misc household items.

[ceile]

30. Around $300 a month.

Just 2 adults and 3 cats (and sometimes 2 dogs).

[Broken_Hero]

32. A month, for my wife and I...

roughly 200 bucks a month or so...(I do the shopping).

on edit:to turn 2, into 200

[Mugu]

34. Probably about $10 a day for 1 adult, 1 very large dog, and 3 kitties.

A local restaurant saves scraps for the animals so I don't have to buy any canned pet food just dry.

Regards, Mugu

[Mutley]

37. $40-60

Depending on what I have to buy. But I am One Person, and I don't consume a lot.

[Tektonik]

39. I used to be able to survive on 25 bucks a month

but now I spend closer to 100 because I'm eating out a lot more

My mom used to feed 3 adults + 2 kids (when my sister moved it become closer to being 4 adults) on less than 100 per week, but my oh my the coupon collection we had, and if there was a good deal to be had, we had that food stocked for weeks at a time. I remember a two month period once where the only drink we had was cherry 7UP :9 . Curse those double coupons.

[haele]

44. Used to be about $75 a week. Now, around $140, even with coupons.

Three people, including a picky teen, four cats, one dog, two birds and a bunch of fish. The critters all come in now around $60 a month for their food. All the increase is inflation - and I've started using coupons more regularly for a savings of around $12 a grocery trip. We haven't changed much on what we bought, but it's the costs of staples - fresh fruit and veggies, milk products, meat (from a local butcher that's still cheaper than the supermarkets) and eggs have all pretty much doubled just over the summer. This includes the once every two weeks "eat out" night, but that usually doesn't cost us more than $20 for the family.
But gods, we must have actually wasted around $200 so far this year just on food the teen "just had to have, or she wouldn't eat" that she would take a few bites of, put down, and walk away. And she refuses to eat leftovers, or eat anything I cook (even when she wanted me to cook it for her), it all just ends up in the trash or feeding the critters if it's something that I can't eat - which it usually is, being microwavable crap instead of something even halfway healthy. It's all a power play, we know it, but until we recently added up the cost and informed her that she could have gotten the new Ipod nano she wants with the money spent on her wasted food, she couldn't understand what she really was doing to the family with her tantrums and dramatics. Maybe that will slow down some of the wastage, but if prices keep going up, the cost of food is going to overtake our $800 or so a month medical bills.


Haele

[DarkTirade]

48. For the last week my budget has been about double what it usually is...

but that's because I've been sick and buying vitamin c and sudafed and tissues and chicken soup, while all the food I bought previously has been sitting in the fridge or freezer waiting until I was feeling well enough to eat it.

[Left Is Write]

50. About $100 a week, not including general household items.

Sometimes I get by for less, but it always seems like I need to restock at least a few staples every time I go to the store.

[Kali]

51. oh god

three teens+

keep in mind almost all other household products plus some petfood is included. I would say at least $600/month and that doesn't include much junk at all. If we are "flush" there might be a few meals out and some extra treats, but even beans are pricey with three teens around. And have you seen the price on flour tortillas? and the rip-off packaging of only 8 or 10 instead of a dozen?

[mzteris]

52. don't you just love

smaller packages and/or smaller product sizes???

THREE teens? Yikes!

I don't know what I'll do when my youngest hits his growth phase. He's ALWAYS eaten about as much as the adults in our house - even when he was like 4 years old.

My teen used to eat like a bird but this past year, he's turned into an eating machine. lol...

[Kali]

56. hell I look at my biggest cooking pots and pans and think "nope that's

not going to be big enough to have leftovers":rofl:

I think the three of them eat enough for that huge family with the 30 kids. Hopefully a couple of them will leave soon and I won't have to buy restaurant size utensils and a buffet steam table!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

53. About $150/week

for us, our ages 20 and 9 year old kids, 2 cats and a dog.

We've cut back on a lot of things as prices have gone higher.

[triguy46]

54. $55/week....

But just wife and me and we eat out on Friday nights and Saturday nights.

[Scooter24]

55. For 2...About $600-$800

It varies depending on what we're hungry for. Some specialty and imported foods cost a lot more.

We normally throw a dinner party every month and that can cost $1000 or more depending on how many attend, etc.

[MissMillie]

58. wow... I do pretty well for my household

there's just two of us. I do a big shop every other week, and that will usually cost me between $100 and $125.

I would add another $25 per 2 week stretch for incidentals (milk... or an occasional treat).

[caty]

60. We spend

$75 - $100 per week for two adults.

[clyrc]

61. About 900 a month for 3 adults, two children and 4 cats

I could live on dried beans and cornbread and fruit, but I've got some picky family members who can't. Part of the food bill comes from the fact that I live overseas and American food is higher than in the States.

[cutlassmama]

62. that's what we spend for the same amount of people

[Lethe]

63. usually about $30 a week

I go to the store usually once a week and its around $20. But I do make small trips during the week sometimes that are $5-$10.

I eat pretty good too.

[dropkickpa]

64. Between $200 and $250/month

for me and Dropkid. I clip coupons, buy on sale, and cook 90% of our meals from scratch. I shudder to think of what my bill would be if I bought more convienience foods.

I went over that this month when I made a trip to the Strip District (local area with lot of produce stands, butcher shops, italian deli's, ethnic food stores, and the big ass fish market) but it was worth every penny, as everything I got was ultra yummy (did you know Dropkid can eat a 1/2lb of broiled fish? I didn't!!!).

[bicentennial_baby]

65. Ohhhh, I miss the Strip!!

And da 'burgh!! x(

[dropkickpa]

67. I'm dangerous down there!

I could blow my whole month's budget on the fixins for one fabulous (and huge) meal down there without trying if I let myself.

[hippywife]

68. Anywhere from $70-$100/week

depending on if we need laundry soap, dog food, cat food, cat litter. There are two adults, two dogs, and a cat. We don't buy meat but lots of fruit and veggies, a few meat substitutes. Read all labels and don't buy things with enriched flour or HFCS, corn syrup, or hydrogenated oils. Don't eat out but maybe once a month and then it's nothing fancy. Pack both of our lunches for work. Our weekly treat is a Red Baron 4-cheese pizza on Fridays that I load up with mushrooms, onions, and pepperoncini slices. I bake all of our cookies, breakfast muffins, and make my own yogurt and jams/preserves, and occassionally peanut butter when I have time.

We used to be able to get by on $60/week but we are eating better food and prices have gone up in general so...

[stuntcat]

69. $400 - $450 a month (?) - 2 people, 3 cats, 20+ squirrels

We've saved so much money by never eating out. and I use coupons and watch out for sales and stuff.

[madeline_con]

70. Hey, Teri

We have two adults and a 12 y.o. Our bill is about $120 a week. That includes dog food, prescriptions, toiletries, detergent, paper products like T-P, paper towels, etc.

[mzteris]

75. hey!

:hi:

Sounds like I need to take shopping lessons from you!

How've you been???

[madeline_con]

76. I thought you were moving...

far away. Socrates is well. He has a new address. I'll send it to your mailbox.

It's good to see you kicking around DU. :patriot:

[mzteris]

77. wisconsin IS far away!

:P

Though closer to Soc!

I've been so remiss.

Life - gets in the way of contact sometimes. But I haven't forgotten my old friends. nope.

[ileus]

71. Family of 4 = 550 month +/-50

[billyskank]

73. Say £80 a month, maybe

That's a wild estimate though.

[Omphaloskepsis]

74. I spend more on beer and smokes.