How much for groceries per month?

[bivenator]

Family of three, and I do 2/3 of the shopping and 2/3 of the cooking. My expenditure for the 2/3 is between 275 and 350 per month. Was scrutinizing the account and realized the wifey is clocking in with 400 to 500 in additional grocery store expenses. WTH?
Do you know what you spend?
With 800 spent that comes to about 27 per day. Seems high.
This is compromising my ability to save for that suspension refresh.

[Noah930]

I think I recently calculated we spend about $900/month for a family of 4. And we don't eat out, much. So total monthly expenditure for food may be around $1000.

[genrex]

Same story here. My wife isn't always happy with the foods that I bring home, so she supplements that with foods that she likes. For 3 people, we're averaging about $750 per month in food. Plus going out for dinner twice a month, add another $150.

Good luck with your suspension rebuild.

_

[bivenator]

Thanks, will put pimp hand back in holster as ours don't seem that far out of line. Still room for improvement. It is the difference between Koni and Bilstein. Hope she doesn't read over shoulder.

[aigel]

I find that processed foods and ready to eat stuff from the frozen section is extremely pricey compared to cooking things from scratch. One time I had a family in front of me at Costco that spent $700 on a regular size cart full of food which runs me about $200-300 tops, Turns out that these guys had only ready to eat meals: hot pockets, microwave hamburgers, orange chicken, corn dogs, cookies, cereal, snacks etc. I was amazed, looking for the flat screen TV or the digital camera hidden in there, but it really was only food that added up to that total.

I have never calculated my food bill. I would not save on food anyway - we love food and buy only the best stuff we can find and cook from scratch. I'd hate to drink cheap beer to save a buck, or eat wonderbread ... That said, we do compare prices for comparable products and plan purchases accordingly.

G

[944Larry]

Originally Posted by aigel

I find that processed foods and ready to eat stuff from the frozen section is extremely pricey compared to cooking things from scratch. One time I had a family in front of me at Costco that spent $700 on a regular size cart full of food which runs me about $200-300 tops, Turns out that these guys had only ready to eat meals: hot pockets, microwave hamburgers, orange chicken, corn dogs, cookies, cereal, snacks etc. I was amazed, looking for the flat screen TV or the digital camera hidden in there, but it really was only food that added up to that total.

I have never calculated my food bill. I would not save on food anyway - we love food and buy only the best stuff we can find and cook from scratch. I'd hate to drink cheap beer to save a buck, or eat wonderbread ... That said, we do compare prices for comparable products and plan purchases accordingly.

G

I've never even tried to figure it out. Probably don't want to know either. I have noticed a nice increase as of late in prices.

[glewis80SC]

Family of 5 with kids 24,17 and 12 we are at $1000-$1200 a month. Dont each out much.

[LeeH]

$1000/month for the three of us in 2011. Last year we spent right at $1000 total eating out.

[IROC]

My wife is hard core into tracking this stuff. We were spending at least $1300/month in groceries + eating out and she has not got us down to $600/month in groceries + about $300 in eating out. This a family of four, but my son is only 2.5.

I don't think people realize how much money is actually spent on food. It's huge and it's also the part of the budget where you have the most control.

[Aggie93]

We average $850 per month for a family of 4 (2 pre-teen girls). That does include everything spent at the grocery store, not just food. Then another $500 per month dining out, with most of that being lunch since I've been too lazy to pack the last year or so.

[gamin]

Wife and I $400 per month.

[Rot 911]

Damn! My wife does the shopping, but I pay the bills so I know what we spend. We average around $350 a month for family of 3. And I thought we were eating pretty well. Can't imagine what you guys spending $900 a month are eating.

[jcunning]

Two people, no kids. We spend $480 on groceries and $60 on dining out each month. This includes very little processed foods, no frozen dinners, etc...
We could drop this down to $450 or $400 if we eliminated some of the more expensive items like fresh fuit, almond milk, & nuts.
Also, this money includes enough left over food for lunches all week.

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by IROC

I don't think people realize how much money is actually spent on food. It's huge and it's also the part of the budget where you have the most control.

+1

Once my wife and I started tracking all of our expenditures to the cent, I was absolutely blown away by what we spent on food... I knew from my days as a poor student and poor startup guy I know how cheap you get by, so finding out that I was spending nearly as much on food as on my mortgage was a real eye opener.

[craigster59]

I do all my shopping at Whole Foods, so around $12,345.00

[red-beard]

Scott,

Where do you shop and where does your wife shop? That can make a lot of difference. HEB, Fiest and Foodtown are the cheapest around. Kroger is nearest to us, though. Randhalls is awfully expensive.

James

[stomachmonkey]

No idea where you guys are shopping but we go once a week.

Family of four.

Average is $100-125 a week.

[Jim Richards]

~$450/mo for me and my wife, including a modest amount of dining out.

[pete3799]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I do all my shopping at Whole Foods, so around $12,345.00

He said per month........not per week.

[MRM]

Family of five, here. We're comfortably higher than what the lists, even with the wife's expenditure. My family is the oposite. Mywife does most of the shopping in part because the thinks I spend too much. Actually, we do most of the shopping together, but she does most of the solo shopping. My trips do tend to be more expensive because of what I buy. My wife will run us dry on things I consider staples (not counting beer) so every couple of weeks I do a run or two of big things that are disproportionately expensive. She thinks we can live without the stuff I buy, but if we went very long without it, the family would revolt. Even she would miss it. That's why I need to keep buying and restocking those items.

Maybe something similar is going on with the OP. The wife is getting stuff that is used but is disprportionately expensive.