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Kathryn
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 5:04pm | IP Logged
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I know this is a personal subject so not sure how much feedback I'll get, but what do you think is an average amount for a family of 6 to budget for grocery store...strictly food. What about eating out? I'm just overwhelmed at what we spend. I do admit to eating out more often than I'd like but even when we do, it's usu. a buy one get one or kids eat free so we're still eating out relatively cheap but obviously not as cheap as home cooking. But then I have no prep or clean-up! 
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jawgee
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 5:39pm | IP Logged
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We spend about $600/month for all of our groceries and household needs (toiletries, pet food, etc.). We only eat out or take out once or twice a month - definitely under $100 there, probably closer to $50.
I make sure to shop at the cheapest overall store in our area. I coupon (although it has taken a backseat lately) and meal-plan based on the sales at my grocery store.
I like to buy meats that will last at least two meals ( a few weeks ago I cooked a roast in the crockpot that ended up feeding us for three meals - once as a roast and twice as taco meat). Rotisserie chicken is a quick and easy favorite - it's only $3.99 for a hot one at our store (less if I buy it cold the next day). The first day is chicken with a potato and veggie side, the next day is chicken soup/pot pie/curry or something like that. I also try to plan at least one meal a week that is vegetarian.
I don't know about you, but my almost 10YO eats like a HORSE. Wow, it's tough to keep up with him lately!!
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Mimip
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Strictly food we are also about $500-$600. We live in very expensive area and our grocery stores don't double coupons or anything like that so I shop strictly what is on sale and then meal plan.
We also don't make our own bread or anything like that. We don't use the oven during the summer months as its too hot so I do a lot of crock pot and skillet meals and my rice cooker works overtime in the summer.
Kathryn, we eat out a bit as well but I don't feel as bad when it is planned into our week. When I plan our week out I look at when I will be home the most and what stuff needs to be done in the evenings. We know that some local restaurants have those kids eat free that you were talking about so I actually schedule those in. We also have a water only policy when we eat out that helps with the bill as well.
Oh and I'm with you Monica, my 11 and 9 year old girls are starting to eat us out of the house!
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juststartn
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 7:45pm | IP Logged
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There are 7 of us, and I end up spending @$800-900 every month (that's including eating out, and other things on the recipts like diapers, assorted cleaning products--although since I make my own, its not much, and the taxes tacked on on the end, and OK has something like a 9% sales tax).
It really depends on the month, and DH's work schedule.
Rachel
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lapazfarm
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We are a family of 7 and I just went through our bank statement and calculated what we spent last month on groceries. I was shocked to find that we spent $1800 last month on groceries alone. YIKES!!! Way over budget!
Granted, we live in an EXTREMELY expensive area, but I really wasn't expecting this number. I never buy pre-packaged food (except cereal)and cook almost exclusively from scratch. I buy generic when possible, cheapest cuts of meat, etc. So I am not even sure where I can begin to save. There are only 2 small independent grocery stores in town so not much potential for "shopping around" for bargains. 
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Angel
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 8:31pm | IP Logged
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I have found the USDA Cost of Food at Home data to be helpful as I've tried to set a budget.
(Here's the Alaska and Hawaii data, Theresa, but remember it's for the "thrifty" plan *and* it's for last year. It looks like food costs are up about 5% in the lower 48 since last May.)
Working on the grocery budget has been my project for the past year. I've learned to use coupons and to shop sales. But I do buy organic as much as I possibly can, grass fed meat and butter, free range chicken, and -- due to health issues -- I really need to eat grain-free. There are ways to cut costs on all of those things, but I still can't take advantage of the cheapest meat sales or grain-based dinners that minimize meat. In addition,trying to do everything from scratch to save money backfired on me this spring when baseball season hit and I didn't have time. We ended up eating out a lot more than we wanted to, or than was good for us. To combat eating out, I upped my budget a bit so I could add in some convenience foods -- like GF sausages and nitrate-free lunchmeat.
We're a family of 9, so bigger than what you're asking about, but my budget for food, toiletries, OTC medicine, paper products, and diapers bounces around between $1350 and $1450/month. (I account for bulk purchases (like a side of beef) by spreading it out from month to month. So when I say we spend $1350 to $1450 a month, I've already taken about $100-$200 out to account for bulk purchases. I spend about $1150-$1250 at the store every month.) I'm not sure how much of that goes for food. $1100 or $1200 maybe? (I don't break it down because it takes too much time.) I have 2 in disposable diapers and 6 boys ranging in age from 14-1. We live in the South, and compared to the Northeast (where we had been living) prices are definitely cheaper here.
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Kathryn
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WOW...with the first 2 replies, I thought I'm grossly underestimating and then the other replies I'm under. However, my total is food only. I count all other "non grocery" items separately. In fact, I keep everything in a Money program so I can run a tally each week, month, year etc. to see where our money goes. I love it! I just thought we were waaay over on food but even looking at that USDA guide, it says we would be considered in the "thrifty" plan!
Guess that explains why my husband looks at me strangely and says "uhh, are you kidding?" when I tell him I bought 1# of ground meat to make hamburgers (and still expect leftovers!).  I guess I'm just not used to feeding sooo many folks. My mantra of "cook once, eat twice" needs some serious tweeking.
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Kathryn in TX
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MNMommy
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 9:07pm | IP Logged
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Our family of 7 spends $700/month on everything - food, toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc. I spend it all, but I'm able to get some things from the wish list.
Kathryn wrote:
| My mantra of "cook once, eat twice" needs some serious tweeking. |
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Last year I had the same quantity adjustment need. I'm guessing in another year or two we'll hit that point again. Our eating out has been curtailed waaaaay back since the days of 1 or 2 dc.
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Jennifer
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JodieLyn
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It's hard to always cook from scratch and cheaply.. but I can tell you that if we eat out.. even cheaply it's over $50.. if I buy corn dogs, tater tots, baby carrots and ranch dressing, and paper plates.. it's only about $20 and I only have the cookie sheets for cooking (cover them with foil and those can be tossed).. so if it's replacing a time when we'd otherwise eat out.. this is a great savings. But certainly not every day or even all that often.
I tend to think that that Cost of Food data gets way out of line the more people you add.. even with their adjustments.. since without trying to be super thrifty.. I still come in $500+ less than they say for the thrifty plan for our family..
with 11, we spend about $850 on everything I buy at the grocery store.. so that includes soaps and paper products etc.
You can use 1# of meat for things.. even for our family.. I do it all the time but it has to be in some sort of combined dish or sauce.. the smaller you chop the more bites you have with some meat in it.. I can do speghetti sauce with 1# of hamburger.. I add a bit of beef base/bullion to boost the beef flavor in it.. and I made sausage gravy for over biscuits with 1# of spicy breakfast sausage.. but I have to add the spices to keep the flavor from being "watered" down.
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KackyK
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Where you live really does make a HUGE difference, and not just whether you are in AK or HI. When our inlaws come to us from NY, we are in VA, they can't believe some of our prices, even at the same stores (ex. Wegmans).
Have you heard of Angel Food Ministries? For the first time last month we ordered from them. It did help. We had to buy two of the big boxes of food to accommodate our size family (10 altogether), but in the end, it was still cheaper. Not everything has been the tastiest top of the line and there isn't anything organic. But it could get you over any humps! There is also a gluten free box of breaded chicken items. I'm happy to have those so when we have a fast food night, here or there, my dd age 6 can have her beloved chicken nuggets again!
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Erin
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We spend about $1200 a month on food for a family of 11. This is Australia though and food is far dearer over here. Although our country town is far cheaper than many other places.
If you are trying to cut down obviously eating out needs to be minimalised. We eat chips once a week (but it is really cheap in our town)
Making a weekly/monthly menu and shopping to the menu really helps.
We shop once a month and that reduces, or at least fortnightly rather than weekly helps.
Then cutting out processed foods helps.
Do you buy nappies? Cloth is cheaper.
Sit down with your receipts and ask some questions as to what is really necessary or not.
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lapazfarm
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Sitka is expensive, even by Alaska standards. (One of the downsides of island life.)
For example: Milk is $5.69/gallon here. We drink about a gallon a day, so that's $170/month right there.
Part of the problem is that now that I have to be gluten-free, I cant do a lot of the baking I used to do to help cut costs. And gluten-free flours are not cheap. But Dh and I just met with some folks starting up a food coop,which will be focused on healthy, whole, organic and bulk foods so hopefully that will help with finding a cheaper source for gluten-free baking supplies.We'll see if it comes out any cheaper in the end.I have my doubts.
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stacykay
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We spend, roughly, $1,500 per month on groceries (add $500 to that for each Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.) That is for dh, myself and our six boys. I make most everything from scratch, and we eat a lot of fruits and veggies, which can add up. My boys (the older ones) work out a LOT (usually two hours a day plus running.) So they tend to eat more than average.
We do eat out about once a month, usually our favorite Mexicantown (affordable) restaurant after Mass, and it is close to $90. If we ate at a "regular" restaurant, it would be over $100. (We stopped at a Wendy's over the weekend, driving back from picking up a son at camp, and for dh, myself, and three youngest boys it was $40!)
I'm always looking at ways of cutting our grocery budget, but it just isn't happening!
Oh, and I shop at our local grocer and a local produce market.
In Christ,
Stacy in MI (dss ages 23, 20, 16, 13, 9, and 7)
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juststartn
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Whew! I am glad to see I wasn't way over what most of you all are spending! It is hard to tell, though, given geography (we're in Southern Oklahoma).
Since I don't break my shopping down by food vs not food, I don't have an exact breakdown. But my figure is pretty close, I think.
Rachel
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knowloveserve
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I think we spend about $600-$700 on our family of 6 (incl. toiletries and other stuff at grocery stores). And cost of living in Western Washington is fairly high..
I could feed our family on $400 a month. But we eat well... REAL foods for the most part. We make cuts in other areas of our lifestyle in order to eat quality foods.
The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and while we have our occasional "ghetto" meals of trashy foods, we steer clear of that stuff as much as possible.
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Kristie 4
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We are around 800-900 for a family of 6 (two teenagers!). That doesn't include bulk meat or fruit, but does include paper products etc. We do live in Canada and I am pretty sure it is quite a bit more pricey up here in the North!
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Kristie in Canada
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RyaneM
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Do you guys know about www.mint.com ?
I've just started using it to track our grocery spending. It seems to work well since I tend to use our debit card for most purchases. I can easily log in and see what I have spent in different categories (ie food, gas, home improvement).
Just thought I'd share.
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SallyT
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We're anywhere from $500-$1000 for a family of six, depending on how frugal I'm making the effort to be. Our costs can spiral out of control, and holidays are always expensive, but I'm making the effort to shop carefully. My husband does a low-carb diet, which means more meat than I've ever bought before, and that adds up, but at this point he's more willing and able to eat beans and not gain weight back, so we do a lot of beans.
I'm also trying to buy "real," though as I wasn't really buying packaged convenience foods to begin with -- always been a scratch cook -- there's not that area to eliminate from the budget. I buy things like olive oil, coffee, butter, and some frozen veggies and meats (not "real," as in grass-fed, alas, but cheap to have in the freezer nonetheless) from Sam's Club, and I order flour and oatmeal in bulk from Honeyville Grains, so I can bake bread and have ready breakfasts at hand. I also make crackers, which help my kids last between meals without my having to buy snack food. My aim this year has been to cut down on trips to the store, which always result in higher spending, and to find some balance between eating as organically and healthily as I'd ideally like, vs. fiscal reality.
I find I'm dropping a good bit of money at our farmers' market once or twice a week, but then I'm not buying any produce at the store -- we eat out of the garden, and what we don't grow comes from the farmers' market. And fruit is snack food around here.
We eat out maybe once a month. We could eliminate that altogether -- in our local restaurant, our family of six eats for about $75, which isn't awful for a good meal, but whenever we go, I can't help thinking how many home meals that $75 would buy. On the other hand, I do tend to burn out on cooking from time to time, and the occasional treat keeps me going.
So: The Confused and Eclectic Budget, that's us.
Sally
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Servant2theKing
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We spend $300-$400 per month for a medium size family (all teen boys left at home), including hygiene, cleaning and paper products. We buy vitamins and other health items online 2-3 times a year, which we budget separate from our grocery allowance.
Buying groceries once a month has really cut down on grocery costs, especially when I shop loss leader sales and bulk items from places like Sams Club for the majority of our purchases. Just this month I was able to purchase a condimant which is very popular in our house for only $1 a bottle, which normally costs more than $3. By stocking up on that item our family is able to enjoy a rare treat without the luxury price we would usually avoid spending except for special occasions.
We do fill in with dairy and produce in between, which accounts for the extra amount, usually $50-$100 over our base budget of $300. I budget an extra $100 for Thanksgiving and Christmas, $50 for birthday celebrations, and $50-$100 if we have visitors coming (depending on the length of stay).
This Summer we've been concentrating on free or inexpensive fresh food sources. We have various wild fruits on our land which we've been freezing or making into jelly as much as possible. Later, we'll do u-pick blueberries at a local farm for $1 per pound and freeze those. $1 per pound is approx. 1/3 the cost anywhere else.
We planted a garden, but lack of rain makes it doubtful we'll have any real abundance. We have several potted herb plants that are doing fairly well ~ we've made some scrumptious herb butters with those, which we use for garlic bread or on pasta ~ super cheap, super delicious! Lunch often consists of plain pasta with herb butter and a sprinkling or parmesan. For about $1.25 the entire family enjoys a gourmet tasting entree! Add free fruit and iced tea made for pennies! I know what we're having for lunch this afternoon!
On the rare occasions that we buy fast food (which is a separate budget item) we limit ourselves to a dollar menu, never order fries, and share 1 or 2 large drinks ~ we rarely spend over $15.00 ~ probably 1 or 2 times a month max. We avoid regular restaurants like the plague; mainly because we have family members who work in the industry and we know how much of a mark-up they charge compared to the actual cost of ingredients, especially for items like drinks, side dishes or desserts! Recently, we had a family discussion of how much a special home cooked meal had cost and how much it would cost in a restaurant ~ very revealing when you do the calculations! Of course, those who work in restaurants are eternally grateful for those who frequent their establishments ~ their customers truly provide their family's "bread and butter"!
We've also found that it's been really helpful to project our expenses in Excel and Quicken for an entire year. As we post an expenditure in Quicken, we replace the projected amount. It helps us see where we're at and stay pretty close to the parameters of our established budget (it also gives us an idea where we can juggle when necessary)!
Kathyrn, thank you for starting this very intersting thread!
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TxTrish
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I love when this topic comes up.
My "household" budget is $900 every 2 weeks. So $1800 a month.
This is food, cleaning supplies, clothing, any little things we do for school/fun like skating or what have you. I also pay for school supplies, lessons, and any other what have you's that come up.
I buy in bulk (Sam's, local discount or salvage stores, the Amish drygoods store locally, Breadbecker's or whatever)cook from scratch and purchase meat by the side when possible. I shop at the farmers market and try to eat seasonally and local when we can. My family hunts and we eat a lot of venison most years.
Does anyone else keep a well stocked pantry with lots of extra basics for any unforseen emergencies?
I use my household budget money for stocking up there, also. I have built my storage slowly this way. Just buying one extra here and there.
I did not grow a garden this year - OK I have never grown a garden, though I keep trying.
There is always next year.
In the meantime, I will see if I can't find a bargain locally at the farmers market or what I can find and try my hand at canning.
We are 4 adults, 3 children at home. Oh, and 4 dogs. They come out of my household budget too!
We rarely eat out.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Monthly food budget
