OK, Lylah got me thinking about this after she wrote that her family spends $100 on groceries per week for a family of 4.

Wow. We spend way more than than for 3 of us. I haven't added it up lately, but around $800, if I don't count my husband's lunches at work (but do include occasional takeout).

So I am curious -- ballpark, what does your family spend on food per month?

So funny because I was thinking the same thing after reading her post! Each week we spend exactly 200 at the grocery store. We buy pretty much everything at this store b/c of the discount on gas so that 200 includes diapers, sun screen, vitamins, toothbrushes and all food stuff. Some weeks it is less and I wish it were every week that it were less. I'm afraid I'm not so good at keeping track right now. DH doesn't tend to spend too much during the week on lunch since he either brings it with him or keeps supplies on hand there.

NAtaly, is that 800 for the week or month? Please tell me month otherwise we're coming to your house for those lobster lunches you seem to be serving!!

Oh, no, month, of course

Since I stopped eating meat and most dairy in December, I've found our grocery bill has gone down dramatically -- for just me and my son, I probably spend about $ 250.00 a month on groceries. Unless I feel like a spinach orzo salad from Whole Foods, then it's more like $ 600.00.

Family of 5 - about $800 per month.

On my way into work this morning there was this very question on the radio. One woman said they spend $800 per week!

Ummmm....It's actually for all 7 of us (about $400-$450 per month)

When it's just the 4 of us, it drops to $60-$75 a week. ($250 to $300 a month). I buy in bulk, so if it's a Costco month, my weekly grocery bill is a lot less but I drop $200 at Costco.

But, like I said in one of the comments at The 36-Hour Day, I do almost all of our cooking from scratch, so I'm buying raw ingredients. And I also go grocery shopping to replace what I've used from our pantry and deep freezer, so I'm usually stocking up on sales. Except for produce, milk, and eggs, I almost never pay regular price for anything. 3 of the 5 kids can't eat wheat, 1 of the 5 can't have any dairy, and that cuts waaaaay down on eating out and pre-made meals (like already-roasted chickens) at the grocery store.

We also garden, and I'm still using up tomatoes that I canned and froze last fall.

I guess what I'm saying is that our food bill isn't the norm (and certainly can't be trimmed down any more than it already has been without some major lifestyle changes), but the fact that the gas for the car costs more than food for our family feels just wrong...

$800 a week??? What is she buying???

Okay, we put ourselves on a strict budget a few months ago and we spend $125 per week on groceries and all other household stuff like cleaning supplies, shampoo etc. That's for the three of us.

Well, I have been amazed at what we can do without. Not like the old days when I just bought whatever I wanted. Sigh. I make a lot more stuff from scratch, like oatmeal cookies for the kiddo, in big batches and freeze them in dozens. I won't buy, like, processed cookies anymore.

I try to use coupons whenever I can. A Costco just opened here and I'm tempted to join so I can do the bulk-buying like you Lylah, but I'm sort of afraid it'll open the floodgates and I'll inadvertently end up spending more than before, you know? (Is it really worth shopping at Costco??)

Hopefully in a couple more years I will have a proper veggie garden up and running. I would love to be doing what you are doing now, Lylah, and eating my own veggies and maybe fruits, too.

One thing that helps - as you have noticed, Kristen - it's cheaper to go without meat. I'm vegetarian and my husband only eats it when we go out. So that makes it easy to save. I do spend more to get the organic dairy and eggs, though.

I can definitely imagine how some people spend hundreds a week, although $800 is a heck of a stretch! Lots of meat, processed foods, and stuff like milk and orange juice really adds up.

I use to shop at Costco but have stopped because I each time it was 300 -400 and I would go home with ...HUH? and then still trekk to stop and shop for the basics.

I love Costco for Olive Oil and baby Wipes.

Our bill is like $600 a month. I have been recently shopping at Trader Joes and love it!! You get 4 avocados for 4.00 vs other places it's 2 for $4.00. Plus I feel so healthy shopping there.

We are still in the Diaper stage so that right there is 30.00 for a box of 76.

Nataly...I am coming over for dinner because I think it could a nice fancy dinner! LOL!

The lady who is spending $800 wkly, was it the lady from that show Me and kate plus 8???

I was just talking about this the other day at work!

I am horrible at keeping track of what I spend where, but I have this month kept track of what I spend on groceries, and I am shocked that for the four of us I'll finish the month of May over $600. I didn't do the greatest job of tracking the little stops for a gallon of milk, or one of our 4 weekly produce runs, so it may be closer to $700.
That being said, we do eat meat at every meal. A and I probably wouldn't miss it, but M and husband are dedicated carnivores, and we do go through more than a gallon of milk a day, and as the girls are dedicated fruit junkies, we usually go through 12-15 oranges, 1/2 peck of apples, and a bag of grapes, plus the 5-6 pound of tomatoes and daily green peppers (M thinks they are to be eaten like apples).
Maybe I should turn the flower garden into a vegetable garden. My great-grandmother always did a ton of canning, but I do love my daisies.
Lylah-how large is your garden and how much time do you spend canning?

We are a family of 6 and spend about $800 a month on food -- we have also cut back a TON lately as it just seems we are getting less and less for the same money!
Our biggest hitters are milk and fruit...we go thru so much of it each week! I have never tried a farmers market as we don't have one close by....are those generally cheaper for fruit/veg?

Well, the good thing is that my twins are now potty-trained...so WOOHOO...only diapers for the baby! That should save a bunch!!

Linda

Way to go Lylah! I strive for $80 a week to feed 3. I haven't reconciled budgets in a long while so I'm not sure of actuals. If I think about my weekly trips I think I probably get pretty close but that doesn't include our weekly vegetable subscription of about $25. But that number is strictly food. I'm working hard to buy other stuff elsewhere so I get a better idea of food costs. And I've been keeping a price book. This week cereal is on sale at Kroger and I had enough data to know that while it looked like a great deal, it really wasn't. That was kind of fun!

In past years I've grown some vegetables but we're probably moving soon and if we have to sell our house empty, neglected flowers will look better than overgrown vegetables.

We spend $25 a week on groceries, food, soaps, etc. But before anyone freaks out, I also live in Guatemala. So, it´s a lot cheaper here and we eat very little meat, mostly just fresh veggies and fruits, plus pasta and rice (and beans, of course!). I´m rather worried that when we go back to Canada, it´s going to be SO expensive to get fruits and veggies. :S

Our food budget used to be 300 dollars a month, but we recently upped that to 350 with the food prices going up. Like a lot of others, we don't eat meat at home, so that does help our bill. We shop at Costco for certain things, but have to go to the regular grocery store for other stuff. I'm not very good at shopping the sales though...mostly I just buy what I want. But I do cook from scratch at least half the time...So it's a trade off.

For a family of 3 I spend around $80 per week. I cut coupons every week and stock up on things we use regularly when I see it on sale (instead of waiting until we need it to buy it). Between coupons and sales, that $80 I spend each week includes anywhere from a 20% to 40% savings. Some weeks though I don't go at all b/c we have enough food stocked up.

This is one area that I have tried to shave off of dramatically. I have never been a coupon clipper, but have started watching ads and have joined www.grocerygame.com
And started using thier stockpiling system. I budget $400/mo for the five of us, but try to come in under every month. I stopped doing the big shopping trip every weekend and started shopping a few times per week to take advantage of in store specials and meats that are "Reduced for Quick Sale". Like others have said - I "cook from scratch" for every meal. I make extra servings of dinner to pack for our lunches the next day.

wow, i am impressed - how do you manage the savings? is it mostly from the cooking from scratch and bulk/coupons? How do you have TIME to do all of that? i would like to know your secrets as i would love to cut my food bill in half! (no i do not want to admit that i also spend around $800/month on groceries - and that's with out meat and not counting eating out! eek!)

One of the questions should be, "do you shop with a shopping list or not?" Sticking to a list will save you a ton of money on groceries.

OMG, there are five of us, and three are teenagers. I can't seem to get out of the grocery store for under $230, and then I'm usually back in there to pick up a few things later in the week, so maybe another $40 - $50 then. And then there's paying for school lunches and a quick sandwich a couple times, and it's RIDICULOUS!

I have three boys (7, 9 & 11), so I know this will change in no time, but we spend about $700 a month on groceries and household stuff (soaps, tp, etc.) That doesn't include eating out. We fluctuate a lot depending on how disciplined we are...eating at home, no junk food, etc.