What is your monthly grocery bill?

[iheartbanjos]

I'm not doing W30, but H and I are both Paleo. We track our expenses religiously, and I cannot get our grocery budget under $1200/month.

We eat most meals at home and are a family of 4. We spent $450 this month on dining out, as we went away for President's Day weekend, but even then, we did 5 meals out and ate the rest at people's houses.

$1200/month seems excessive, but I actually have to work to keep it below that. Are these numbers that everyone else is seeing?

[wambam]

$800/mo, down from about $1000. Costco opened near me which has saved me a TON of money. But yeah, it's still a lot.

We eat out only maybe once or twice per month.

[mmmomof2]

We're a family of 4 (two non-paleo eating girls aged 3 and 5) and in January we spent over $1150. In February, assuming we don't need to run to the store today or tomorrow, we're under $900! Some of that is just timing, but I've also been working on trying to use what's in my freezer instead of running out for something else because I had a craving. These numbers include all food groceries, alcohol, and sparkling water. I have separate categories for cleaning/paper/beauty, and I itemize my receipts in Quicken (OCD for the win!) so it's very accurate. We'll see how March goes.

I asked around at the park and even the non-Paleo people said they were around $800-$900 in our HCOLA. It's hard to compare because you don't know how often other families go out to eat, if they bring lunch to work, how much beef they eat, and how well they track/what's included.

Beef costs are quite high, so we eat a lot of chicken thighs/legs, and occasionally lamb. We do eat beef, but more like once a week. I too shop at Costco a lot.

ETA - Here is the USDA suggested food plans, and the amounts are surprisingly high. I think food prices have increased a lot in the last 10 years. 

www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodDec2014_0.pdf

[atlas]

I just saw this on the "recents" page. I'm not whole30 (I don't know the rules, but I wouldn't think). Two of us, but I kinda cook for 3-4 as my BF eats a lot, and I do leftovers for lunch the next day. I cook vegetarian, do use some vegan 'meats' though. I try to keep groceries under 280 a month (~70 a week). I have a separate budget for pantry staples which is an extra 40 or so. That builds each month I don't spend it. We don't tend to spend more than $100 eating out.

Obviously the no meat thing keeps that down. We also shop at Trader Joes which has really great prices on fresh veggies and fruits. I also meal plan and shop only once a week. Which I've noticed has taken my weekly amt down from roughly 110 a week. I live in Portland which seems to be mcol-hcol.

Since we don't have as many people, I'm not sure how helpful this is

[gardengal]

Honestly, we've been spending a lot. 2 kids, 2 adults (but my husband commutes 30miles via bike to work & thus eats an epic amount of food). I don't even know how much right now because I shop at Costco (1x/month to get staples), Trader Joe's (1-2x/mon. Mostly for their frozen foods. I love their assorted frozen vegetables!), & the grocery store. Plus, farmer's market & meat CSA. The W30 does have us eating more animal protein which is obviously more expensive. I'm slowing incorporating higher protein grains & beans back in at varying levels each week to see how I do. Previously we were eating about 60% vegetarian/40% meat-containing.

However, we're eating really healthy & I'd rather sacrifice from somewhere else.

[steph96]

We have been coming in around $1,200. It's just the two of us. I feel like no matter how hard I try, I can't get our grocery budget down to a reasonable amount.

[starlily]

Around $600/mo, down from $800/mo a couple years ago, for 2 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 baby just starting solids. We don't eat out often anymore -- maybe 2x a month. I eat low carb/primal, but buy other stuff for H and DD1. I meal plan and shop sales religiously.

ETA: I take breakfast with me to work, and come home for lunch most of the time. H is a SAHD right now, so he also eats breakfast and lunch at home.

ETA2: The biggest thing that has reduced costs has been cutting waste. I don't buy more produce than what we'll use within 5-7 days and leftovers get repurposed. I also finally figured out which bulk purchases from Costco make the most sense for us.

[mmmomof2]

Mar 3, 2015 10:31:26 GMT -5 superduper said:

I budget $125 per week for the house. I then spend another $50-$75 per month out of my discretionary funds getting additional items. MH is not exactly supportive, and prefers that I not spend household money on my "crazy diet stuff". It's not a battle that I'm willing to fight right now, so I just pay for it out of my own money.

What's an example of "crazy diet stuff"? I find this weird. 

[wambam]

Crazy diet stuff = food.

I'm sorry you are doing this unsupported.

[catbus]

Right now our grocery spending hovers around $800 a month, but I know that's not entirely accurate. I buy some items from Amazon and occasionally shop with cash at the farmers' market, neither of which I bother parsing into separate budget lines. Then we average $150-200ish at restaurants. So, $1000-1100 all in for two adults and one toddler. Probably 50% Trader Joe's, 20% Costco, 20% PCC, 5% Instacart (Whole Foods delivery), 5% other. All organic produce, organic chicken, grass-fed beef, omega-3 organic eggs, grass-fed milk for the kid and H, etc. I think that's pretty good. Oh, and the kid is fed breakfast, lunch, and snack at daycare, so that saves us money.

[Miel]

For the two of us, usually $650-800/ month. We try to only go to the grocery store once a week and we usually don't eat out. Both of us work at restaurants though. I typically bring dinner with me to heat up but I usually supplement whatever I'm eating with some mixed greens at work and H will eat one meal at work that he cooks himself.

If we had to buy all the food we eat I would guess our monthly bill would be closer to $1200-$1300