Ok, I'm embarrassed to even write this, but our food budget is out of control. Is this just normal?
It's about $1,000 to $1,200 per month.
Two adults and one toddler. Shop mainly at Stop and Shop and Whole Foods. I meal plan, rarely buy meat (I'm a vegetarian and DH only has one/two meat meals per week). I do cook, so I do but various species a lot, bay leaves, etc.
This is the norm in a HCOL/VHCOL area? I'm on NNJ.
This does not include diapers, paper products, or cleaning products. Purely food.
We average $800/month, and Canada is typically higher priced than the USA. I have no idea how you'd spend that much and not buy meat. What's your waste like? Do you want to spend less, or are you fine with food being a priority you spend that much on?
Post by countthestars on Mar 4, 2015 9:20:30 GMT -5
I think the HCOL/VHCOL has a lot to do with it. We moved from Fairfield County CT to central MA and our groceries have decreased significantly in price. For example:
Red Peppers: CT: $4.99/lb MA: $2.49/lb
Hood Cottage Cheese: CT: $4.29 on sale MA: $2.29 every day
Not everything is like that (in fact, we pay more per lb for chicken here than we did there), but I think some of that little stuff adds up.
I'm sure Whole Foods is part of that big budget as well. I also find Stop and Shop more expensive than our other options around here.
ETA: We probably spend about $600-$700/month - 2 adults and a toddler. I send all daycare food.
I am not sure how much we spend per month, but probably around $800 (MCOL and not Whole Foods, includes diapers). This is the area where I always wonder what I am doing wrong, because budget posts (when they were more prevalent on MM) seemed to have really low grocery allotments or advice to cut in that area and I just haven't been able to do it. We do eat meat most nights and buy a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. We pack lunches almost every day. I don't have any advice for you, but get how you can feel like you are doing all the right things and still spend a ton.
Post by undecidedowl on Mar 4, 2015 9:20:53 GMT -5
I have no idea what's normal. I live in LCOL and we spend about $400 per month on 2 adults and a 3 year old. We buy mostly generic brand for dairy and other processed food, eat meat 4-5 nights a week, and eat mostly fresh fruits and veggies. I try hard to let very little food go to waste. I don't think we could reasonably spend any less on groceries so I could see how HCOL would be pretty expensive.
I'm in pry a LCOL and spend about $300 a month on groceries. It's just me and H since babies only get BM right now. I go each week and budget $75. Sometimes I go over. In the summer I go to Costco for mainly fruit but otherwise just a local store or Super Target. This doesn't include paper products since I buy a big pack and they last a long time. I also buy our meat in bulk at Costco but don't have to get it regularly. We used to get cow meat from IL's but now I just buy a huge log of hamburger and it lasts quite a while. We tend to eat more chicken and I get a big bag of that at Costco. So I'd say realistically I spend maybe $500 including eating out?
Post by barefootcontessa on Mar 4, 2015 9:23:33 GMT -5
I spent between $1200-1500 but that is for a family of seven. IME Whole Foods is competive on some things, like produce and dairy, but way overpriced on others. For example, my WF charges $6 for a bag of King Arthur Flour. I can get the same bag without a sale or coupon atTarget for $4. i have also noticed that WF has raised prices on other lately, like their organic applesauce by more than 10 percent. If you are looking to reduce, maybe track what you spend for a month and then see what adjustments you can make.
I decided to stop eating just salad and veggie burgers for dinner and actually cook Paleo and Whole30 meals from scratch, so ventured to Whole Foods.
The guy I'm dating has every spice imaginable and all the staples, so all I had to get was some produce (no meat) and a few random things like eggs and protein bars. I spent $85 there in 2 days on those few items :/
My normal grocery budget from shopping at Trader Joes and the famer's market is $75 per week.
So yeah, moral of the story is Whole Foods is expensive as hell!
I think you need to figure out what is priority for you. Is eating organic a priority? I would be willing to bet that you have a Bountiful Basket/CSA/co-op near you that is much cheaper than Whole Foods. Are you buying a lot of speciality products? Online or homemade is the way to go. Also, stop buying spices in the little containers. You can get bulk spices for way cheaper online. Penzeys Spices is a good one.
Just groceries we can get buy on about $500 a month - just food - for 2 adults who are big eaters and a toddler. But we also go out to eat at least once a weekend, but usually twice, which is another $300-$400 a month. We also buy a lot of beer.
I think if you really prioritize organic/fresh/different varieties foods, your budget will be higher. We eat a lot of the same things for meals and do not purchase organic unless its on sale. We do buy a lot of produce, and we buy meat in bulk to store in our chest freezer.
But yeah. food costs are always rising. It's a bummer.
I have 2 boys and a husband who's 6'2 so I spend a lot on groceries, ha. We spend between $200-230 a week on food and that's with meal planning and going to Market Basket, which is a discount grocery chain in MA. We also never throw out food, our fridge is bare on Saturdays before we go shopping. My boys never stop eating.
We only go out to eat 1x per week, and we eat everything from home - breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks. Literally everything. So I'm not sure how that stacks up to others who have lower grocery budgets. I have tried to cut it down, but then we're eating junk like pasta and I am really trying to be healthy and make sure my boys eat well. I will not sacrifice nutrition to save money. Most of my cart is high-ticket items, like produce, meat and cheese.
I also think food costs are going up. It's hard to imagine I only used to spend $100 on DH and I when we first moved in together.
We spend about 800$. We don't buy much meat, if any, and doesn't include alcohol. We do get a box of produce delivered once a week that is organic that is about 40$ which is included in our total.
Hmmm, with no meat and the disclaimers you add, that does seem a little high. I buy lots of meat (and fancy meat like duck and lamb, at that) and mostly organic/locally sourced produce and spend roughly the same amount you do, maybe less some weeks if I'm cooking lots of pantry items like quinoa, pasta and black-bean-cashew-chili-type dishes.
Do you ever buy from Freah Direct or Peapod? I find that if I sit down at the computer with my lists/recipes in hand, I'm less prone to impulse purchases than when I am actually at the store or farmers' market (although FM impulse purchases usually yield delicious meals).
Also, trader joe's is a lot cheaper than Whole Foods for the basic pantry items like nuts, baking supplies, beans, teas, etc.
Saturday: tomato goat cheese wraps and soup Sunday: homemade pizza Monday: homemade winter veg soup with bread Tuesday: spaghetti with salad Wednesday: veggie burgers and hotdogs, leftover spaghetti, salad Thursday: enchiladas Friday: leftover enchiladas
And this was my shopping list for the week.
Sour cream Pizza dough Pizza sauce Potatoes Parsnips Green pepper Red pepper Cherry tomatoes Red pepper and tomato soup Bag of Onions Cheese for pizza Goats cheese Wraps Pastry wraps One Steak Argula Spanish rice Coconut yogurt Rice cakes Instant oatmeal- fruit Milk Coconut milk Coconut milk creamer Frozen blueberries Bread Coconut ice cream
I had done items at home already like pasta sauce, I buy my breakfast oatmeal via Amazon every six months, and zero alcohol.
Any other suggestions. The main stores in my area are Stop and Shop, Kings and Whole Foods. I do buy flour, sugar, etc at Target, but out target has limited food options.
It does seem high but like pps said Whole Foods is the issue.
COL also plays a big role.
I'm in a LCOL area and I spend $650.00 a month on food and I'm not really budgeting/just buying whatever I feel like based on a list of what I want to make and grabbing stuff I think the kids would enjoy. I don't buy meat or dairy at the store. I also buy a ton deli fresh healthy prepared stuff to make my lunch and fruit consumption easier.
I probably spend another $100.00 or so on household supplies. Sometimes more, sometimes a ton less.
I'm feeding H, me, two kids, a constantly starving Russian and a few employees a few times a week.
Kings is so expensive, so I'd avoid there. I'd go out of my way (like I currently do) to go to Shop Rite. They have a lot of organic items, grass fed beef and lamb, and dairy alternatives like coconut milk/creamer/yogurt for a reasonable price.
ETA: Shop Rite has online ordering. You can do everything online and pick up at a time you set (like 11AM). They bring the food and a card reader out to your car, they swipe the card then load everything up for you while you sign. So even if it is ~15 minutes out of your way to get to/fro, you save yourself walking around the store. And it helps to reduce impulse purchases, plus you see the total going up and up as you go, and they have incentives to order online, like $25 off a $150 order.
That sounds crazy expensive. Are you sure this is an average and not just a fluke month? We spend about $500-600/mo on groceries in the Washington DC area (2 adults + toddler). I shop the sales and try to eat a fair amount of low cost stuff like canned beans. Organic dairy is our biggest expense.
In defense of Whole Foods, their produce and some other items are about the same price or cheaper(!) than Giant.
We eat 3 meals a day/ 7 days a week at home. We have my 2 adults and a toddler. We spend 300-400 a month including paper products, diapers, and random stuff we buy at Costco (meds, shampoo, etc).
We made some crazy lifestyle adjustments and now make 25% of the money we made last year, so we don't have a ton of money to play around with. We don't buy bread, bagels, muffins, or anything like that and we buy flour by the 25 pound bag. We make everything. It is a little crazy, but my husband and I love to cook so it works out.
We love cilantro and all the grocery stores around here charge about $2 a bunch, but at the Asian market it is $.50 a bunch. Things like this make a big difference.
We are always shocked that we can get a whole cart full of groceries at trader joe's for the same price as a bag or two at whole foods.
Post by ilikedonuts on Mar 4, 2015 10:49:47 GMT -5
We probably spend $700-$800 between Costco, Trader Joe's and Giant Eagle. That includes tolietries. But I buy a ton of frozen food and random shit like $3.99/bag yogurt covered star shaped cookies that DD1 "MUST HAVE, MOMMY!!!!" We do just a little organic, no alcohol and a lot of meat (but in bulk from Costco).
We spend around $800 for us and a two year old who eats most of his meals at daycare. Plus eating out. I've given up trying and just embrace it.
ETa food is just $$$$ here. We were spending 500-600 when we lived in tx and I bought a lot of organic at the time. And also had more time to make more at home. I pay extra now to get veggies and fruit already cut up for example.
I spend under $75/wk at the grocery and $100/mo at Costco. We eat out 2 dinners and 2 lunches per month but we don't eat all organic. Two adults three kids. I really shop sales and have zero brand loyalty. We also garden so have lots of options from that. I just pulled out the last of the spaghetti sauce put still have some tomatoes. There are still meatballs and tons of shredded zucchini for bread or to make tattle tot type things.
I also stock pile- shrimp for $4/lb means I buy 6 lbs
We spend a ton also. In January we were at $1150, and in February we were just under $900. We do eat a lot of meat though and that includes alcohol and perrier or la croix.
I've asked around to other mom's in our area and even the people who don't eat organic average around $800-$900 for a family of 4. Food is expensive. I remember when I used to be able to get a dozen eggs for $1.50 at Trader Joes, now it's $2.29. A bag of almonds at costco used to be $9.99, now it's over $15. Beef prices have also risen a lot.
We spend about $800/month for 2 adults, 2 kids (in MCOL, but Canada), which includes toiletries and diapers. That's down about $200/month since I switched to a more discount supermarket. Do you have multiple options for stores? I still buy some stuff at the more expensive supermarket, but the majority now comes from the other one.
HCOL has got to be a factor here. We spend $85/wk in groceries, including catfood and toiletries/kitchen stuff, excluding alcohol and diapering. Admittedly we have pasta and potatoes as main staples a lot of the time (so that cheapens things) but we also buy meat and practically consume or weight in dairy.
I'd be curious to see a receipt. Eta : n/m, I see you posted a list