How much do you spend a week on groceries?

[k3pick]

I budget $100/wk. 2 adults & 3 littles who eat like adults, and we eat mostly paleo + dairy. I try to buy organic but it rarely fits into the budget. This includes anything and everything purchased at grocery/food stores.

[noodleoo]

We spend about $700 a month on food, both eating out and groceries (thnk you mint for that shocking realization)! I was surprised how high that was for only 2 of us, but it is very consistent over like a year. We usually spend maybe $300 on groceries, the rest on takeout or going out. I've been trying to focus on cooking more bc it is cheaper, but we can afford it so I try to to worry too much. I figure whe we have kids the going out will pull back by a lot, so we may as well enjoy it now.

[sillygoosegirl]

We spent about $80/week on average for 2 adults before I started traveling for work. Now it's more like $70/week for 1 and 1/2 adults. I think DH wastes food when I am not around. That includes toiletries, cleaning products, and alcohol, not that we go through a lot of any of those.

[kadams767]

Usually between $80-$100 for two adults. This includes paper products like paper towels, TP, and foil, plastic wrap type things, but not toiletries or dog supplies.

This is for all breakfasts and lunches for the two of us, and then we usually cook dinner at home 6 nights. Once in awhile we will buy soda or juice, but otherwise we drink water at home. We buy one "snack" item for each of us each week, usually a bag of a salty snack food and popsicles.

[gumi]

$800/month (sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less) for 2 adults and 2 kids. my kids eat are young but they eat a lot, i spend a lot on stuff like fruit, yogurt, cereal, etc. we also have to spend more on meat and milk to stay away from the hormones.

there is no doubt that i could cut our grocery bill significantly, but i like eating good seafood and my DH likes drinking good beer, so we're okay with having a higher number.

[gt7301b]

We spend about $450 on groceries and $350-$400 on eating out. It seems that whatever I do we end up around $800 a month for the two of us in a HCOL area. We also have company over quite frequently... this weekend both of our grown younger brothers are visiting which isn't cheap.

[agnes]

Last weekend we spent 400 for 2 adults and 1 teenage boy. This weekend we spent another 400 for 4 adults, 2 teeangers, and 2 kids.

[aerowife2010]

We aim to be under $100 for the two of us each week- I just got back from the supermarket and butcher and spent around $92 between the two. It is a little on the higher side since I bought fish which we don't eat a lot. That does not include dog food or toiletries that we get in bulk.

[honeybee]

We average about $100 for two of us. Including food, toiletries, paper goods, cleaning products. Some weeks its $80 some its $130-140.

This is with couponing, sale shopping, meal planning. 30-40% is fresh veggies, another large chunk is proteins. I don't buy any junk food. I keep trying to get it down and can't seem to do it.

[marylou]

I'm usually able to keep it right at $75-80 each week. My MM tip might not work for all, but it works for us. And sorry if somebody already suggested it, I didn't read all the replies:

I order our groceries from Harris Teeter online for pickup. The fee to do this is $4.95 each time (although for summer it's $1.95.) There is also a monthly fee, I think $16, which saves you a little money if you want to do that. Sometimes I can stretch our groceries out an extra week, though, so I just pay per shopping trip.

That fee is worth it to me so that I can make sure I'm getting the absolute best price for stuff, and keeping my list only to things I absolutely need for our week's meal plan, rather than seeing chips and saying, "Those look delicious!" Before I started doing this, we were averaging about $150/week, so it's been very MM for us.

I don't know if you have a Harris Teeter near you, but I think other grocery stores do this or something similar.

We also cut soda out a while ago. It's tough for a first few weeks, but you should really do it. It's healthier and cheaper, win win! I've also been experimenting with generic brands for things. Sometimes it's good, sometimes not so much. Dairy products are usually fine, but peanut butter, not so much. So you might try to get a few things generic and see how that works for you.

ETA: I casually do coupons, maybe $3-4/week, and I shop for just DH and me. And the $75-80/week includes cleaning products.

[mayflowers22]

Anywhere from $50-100.

[Brie]

On average, we spend about $100/week for two people. Some weeks are more, some are less, but it's pretty predictably in the $90-110 range.

[statlerwaldorf]

We usually spend around $400/mo for the 3 of us. I don't spend the same amount from week to week since I tend to stock up when stuff is on sale. I don't use coupons.

[litasail]

We usually spend $100-150/week, but we shop at Whole Foods.

[picaflora]

We normally average $60/wk for the two of us. This doesn't include toiletries/paper products/cleaning supplies/dog food/and barely any meat. Everything else gets picked up at Costco. That runs us anywhere from $125 - 200 every six weeks or so.

We planted a garden this year, and that's helped to reduce our bill. Yeah - we had to eat carrots almost every night as a side for 2 weeks, but I didn't have to buy much to round out our dinners! (The corn, green beans, and peas freeze better so we don't have to finish those off before they go bad)

[isabel]

We spend between $125 and $150 every week. I try really hard to keep it under $600 a month. That's for two people in a medium COL area.

The majority of our diet is fresh fruits and vegetables. We eat some kind of meat and fish 2-3 times a week. We also only buy whole grains (whole wheat flour, bread from a local bakery, brown rice, etc.) plus organic milk and free range eggs. Before we started doing this I was spending closer to $100 a month, so we're definitely on the higher end of what I would expect to be a normal budget. Also, that budget includes random household goods, toiletries, etc.

[lurkergirl123]

I budget $110/wk for me, husband, two kids (teens) and the dog. I do pretty well with that, but we live in a LCOL area and I have a huge garden.

[nickyd2006]

We spend about $120 a week on groceries/toiletries. That includes food for our 22 month old, she eats some organic foods/milk that probably accounts for $25 of that. The rest is for DH and I, and it can be a stretch some weeks. I never have food money left over at the end of the week, so I'm thinking it's time to bump up the budget!
I go to a bargain grocery store for most of our food, it's like an Aldi. They also have brands that I really like but don't always find in the more expensive chains. I save about $1.50 on rotisserie chicken that I buy every week, I usually buy bread there at 1/2 price, most fruits/veggies can be the same price as the other stores but they have great sales on in season produce(cherries are like, 2.99/lb right now compared to 8/lb/corn is 4 cobs for $1). Packages of snacks are usually a dollar less(oreos go on sale for 2.50, cheese/yogurt is often on sale). Heck, I found that a desitin cream tube cost $3 less than at my local pharmacy-it definitely helps me stretch my budget money!

[binichic]

If I do the shopping, I can keep it at or under $120/week (including TP, paper towels, and diapers for our 19 month old).

When DH shops, the bill is easily $200+, because he likes to get some things at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. He usually only goes there if he is making something special, so it's not an every week - or even every month - type of thing.

[marissa]

I have 6 in our family including a teen and I've gotten it down to around $400 for the month. Some weeks I do $70 a week and others I do more. I coupons tons, use my local farmers market and do everything home made, with a few specific items. That includes trips to Costco for to and paper towels. We also have 2 cats, 3 fish, and a turtle that I fees with that budget.

[thumper55]

I don't set a budget , and buy what I want, but I'm sure our spending is lower than average. I probably spend between $60-100 a week .

If I see a sale for freezer or pantry items, I stock up. For example, if Barilla pasta is on sale for $1, I'll buy like 15 - 20 packs at a time. If there is no good sale, I will buy nothing for the pantry and freezer.

Weekly, I for sure I buy :

2 - 3 bags of chips $6 - 9
fruit $20
some veggies, depending on what I'm cooking that week $8
1 gal organic milk $7
some yogurt $3
cheese $5
the rest of the food comes from the pantry and freezer


We eat meat, but in small amounts at home. I just use what we have in our freezer (buy from Costco). I purchase a bulk pack probably about 2 - 3 times a year. This is probably like $100 worth of meat.

DH doesn't drink. I have a beer like once a month.
We also don't buy soda or juice. Not spending money on beverages saves a lot of $$

I pack lunches for myself and 2 small kids mon to Friday. DH buys lunch.

For dinner we eat whatever I have cooked.

I shop at Costco, Trader Joes, Asian markets, and the Grocery Outlet.

[M]

Probably about $60-70/week for just the two of us. That includes expensive fish and steak meals. We drink mostly water so that cuts down a lot to about $2/wk on 2-3 gals. We buy meats and veggies mostly when they are on sale. Meats are frozen until we want to eat it. Farmers market usually have veggies for cheap also.

I buy my toilet paper on amazon.com when they have it on sale. But we don't use much so we probably only spend about $20/yr on a big box.

[katiescarlett]

We spend pretty close to that for me, dh, and 2 toddlers. We do buy a lot of organic though and we have to buy a lit of "special" stuff due to DS's food allergies.

[whitepicketfence]

There are 4 of us and I spend anywhere from $150-200/week. This includes toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, diapers/wipes, formula, dog food, and alcohol.

We get 1/4 cow order of grass-fed, antibiotic free beef each year from a local farmer so I only buy chicken and ground turkey every once in awhile for variety. We also joined a CSA this year (deliveries run June - November) so, since we paid for this upfront, that also helps to keep our weekly cost down. I only buy some fruit/veggies to fill in the gaps of what we didn't get from the CSA delivery that week.

[SJ]

We spend $80-$100 per week on groceries but we also go out a lot. We don't buy many snacks or junk and DH doesn't eat sweets.

Our total food/booze budget goal is $800/month but we almost always go over. It's definitely not the groceries that are the issue.

[brannyboilsover]

We budget $330 a month, which is just over $80/week. We don't drink and that helps.

[moog]

We have separate finances and also I pack my lunches everyday and eat in every night. Husband packs lunch a few times a week and isn't home til 9pm so he has his own food routine.

Personally: $25 - $30 per week. I eat LOTS of fruit but no meat. Lots of rice and veggies. It goes up or down depending on my weekly allotted lunch meal (I make a large portion on Sundays and eat it through the week) and what I have on hand. That may also include periodic paper products or household items.

Dog food (one 70lb and one 20lb) averages $70/month. They eat different foods and run out at different times.

Hmm I see where my priorities lie!

[peachdragon]

$80-100, 2 adults, one 15 month old.

[cucca77]

It's just DH and I so we spend about $60 per week. The only thing is that we work different shifts so we rarely cook dinner; only when I'm off. I'm a nurse and work 3pm-11pm. DH is an attorney so his day starts at 9 am and ends around 8 pm. He has breakfast and lunch at home with me. This works for us. My dinner is usually a salad or wrap at the hospital.