What do you spend on groceries. - Page 5

[not now]

It varies month to month depending on if I need to hit up Costco but we average around $300/month (two adults, one toddler). I shop almost exclusively at Winco and take advantage of their bulk bins. I do some name brand and some generic depending on what it is. I cook from scratch a lot, no organics, lots of chicken, fair amount of ground beef, a little bit of tri tip and every once and a while I spring for rib eye.

I live in California's central valley which is moderate COL. I'm surrounded by farms which could account for the low cost of produce and meat.

[karlin]

We spend around $500 for 2 adults and one child. With pet food it's a bit more (4 cats and 2 dogs, some of which eat special diets). We are about as cheap as we can go, as we eat paleo/primal...so no grains or beans and very minimal processed food. Meat/produce/cheese (for DS) are our staples. I do have free venison and bison from family in the freezer right now, which is awesome. We have had months where we spent $1000, so we are in a great place right now.

[columbusmomma]

One thing I am doing is tracking all food purchases for the month(and every month). After a few months I can see how things are exactly. Then I will start with small goals, like cut food spending by 10% this month, or spend $40 less a month, etc. Maybe it will help....

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

Name brand: depends. There are very few things that I will only buy name brand, usually I go with the best deal.
Snacks: most of our snacks are fruits, crackers or cookies. Crackers I buy alot of when they're on sale and cookies I make from scratch.
Organics: some.

Everyone's fed here extremely well. I hate the assumption that those of who spend less are buying lower quality or less food. That isn't always the case at all.

We raise our own meat and most fruits and vegetables. We trade produce with friends who also grow their own. Not all of our food comes from a grocery store and we eat healthier and spend much less this way.

I didn't mean to imply anything negative. I just thought it would be helpful to add more details to the budget.

I've found that 'organic' labels are more expensive at grocery stores, but not really needed. I can get fresh fruits and veggies at my local farmer's stand for up to 50% less than the grocery store...and we finally got a good source of beef and lamb through FIL's friend. Grass fed, small-farm...and the ILs are storing it too. lol

[mom0810]

That's so interesting because our local farmer's markets are MORE expensive than the grocery store. We do still go at least weekly when they are around, but it's the same or more than Jewel.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Originally Posted by claddaghmom

I was keeping our budget at $50 a week (for everything but eating out). But we have decided to move completely to whole foods/raw foods. My bills the last few trips have been closer to $70-80 and I end up hitting the store a second time in the week for more veggies.

So if someone is spending $300...is that on name brand stuff? Is it barely enough to feed everyone? Does it include snacks? Organics?

My budget for this month is $200, or $50 a week. So far, I am $12 under budget for the month.

We do almost everything from scratch so I'm not sure how to answer the brand name question. Half of my shopping list is usually loose fruits or veggies. When you aren't buying canned or boxed food, does brand actually matter? And my flour, sugar, salt, etc? It can be any brand, in my opinion.

This does include snacks. My daughter is diabetic so we actually have 3 meals and 2 large-ish snacks a day to help keep her numbers more consistent. All 4 of us are big eaters. We just eat homemade (muffins, tarts, bread, etc) or nature-made (fruits) snacks instead of storebought.

We don't do much in the way of organic. Most of the organic available in my area is processed stuff - the fruit and veggie options are limited. When it isn't winter, we buy most of our fruits and vegetables from a local farm as local is important to me. In the winter, we are limited however and buy them at the regular store.

Not spending a lot on food doesn't mean we are starving our children and feeding them unhealthy-but-cheap foods. We simply prefer to be as cheap as possible in this area so that we have more money to use on other things.

Here is my list for this week:
Chicken breast, potatoes, eggs, mozzarella cheese, turkey, bananas, apples, oranges, tortilla chips, corn tortillas, lettuce, carrots, vegetable oil and trash bags.
Everything else is already in the house. I buy staples (flour, oats, cornmeal, sugar, yeast, etc) only as we run out.

[RosemaryS-F]

Usually around 320/mo but this month I'm only spending on the VERY basics. Our grocery bill was $33.

[Peppermint Poppies]

After reading everyone's responses I'm a little embarrassed to admit to ours.
But we spend about $300/wk on groceries, so about $1300/month. We do live in a VERY high COL area, but I think in general Australian groceries seem to cost a lot more than those in the US.

For example, a dozen free-range eggs costs me $7. A loaf of wholegrain bread is $4. Milk at it's cheapest is about $1.20/liter (which I think is about a quarter of a gallon). Does that seem like more than the US, or am I just waaaay overspending on groceries?

[CookiePie]

Originally Posted by mom0810

That's so interesting because our local farmer's markets are MORE expensive than the grocery store. We do still go at least weekly when they are around, but it's the same or more than Jewel.

Our Farmer's Market is also more expensive! I love the community feel when I shop there & the beautiful fresh produce but the prices tend to keep me away. The organic prices are even worse. I'd love to support them, I really would but when the price is so drastically different from the stores & we are on a tight budget it doesn't make sense for us.

We actually even have an indoor market a town over from us all winter that I checked out a while ago. We got roped into buying a loaf of bread, because we were talking with the lady there & she gave us a sample & dh said lets get a loaf to bring to our friends house for dinner. We grabbed a loaf & asked how much, $6 was the reply. And it was white bread, that we don't even buy or eat. I almost choked! They had veggies, meat, eggs, micro-greens, jams, infused oils, all sorts of stuff, but all were super expensive, way more expensive than our summer market even. We left with our $6 loaf of bread that I could have made with whole wheat flour for pennies! But again I do love that sense of community & feel good knowing who grew my families food. I always leave feeling torn.

[BetsyS]

Our local farmers' market is more expensive, too, and it's not even as bad as some I've heard of. They like to charge $3 as the magic number. $3 for lettuce, for a bunch of beets, for a container of berries. Whatever they have, it's $3. LOL

But, we have fake "farmers' markets" that are really international markets that are cheap. Lettuce is 2/$1 or $1 a head, beets are $0.99/lb, berries are $0.99/lb (in season). Much better prices. Although not local, of course.

It is hard to decide where to shop sometimes, though. When I want to do the farmers' market, I just take a set amount, spend until it's gone, and I try not to think about the prices.

[loraxc]

I spend about $120/week for a family of 4 eating about 70% organic. A typical shopping list for me would be something like this:

A whole lot of fruits and veggies
2 lbs tofu
1 lb cheddar
1 lb butter (not every week)
Parmesan (not every week)
flour
1 doz eggs (we sometimes run out)
1 gallon milk
1 quart plain yogurt
wheat tortillas
probably a few other dairy or frozen items (eg, tempeh, ricotta, frozen spinach)
pasta
dry beans
oats (bulk)
nuts (bulk)
rice (bulk)
a few canned items, like diced tomatoes or tomato puree or olives
sometimes dry spices (bulk)
sometimes nut butter or jam
sometimes oil (some olive, some vegetable)
crackers
rice cakes
dried fruit (bulk)
1 bottle of wine (our grocery has many bottles under $6)

I make my own bread and we do supplement from the garden, but it's not a huge amount.

[mom0810]

Now I KNOW my Jewel is really expensive. I went to Whole Foods yesterday and was struck by how CHEAP everything was! It was wonderful. I bet I can shop there for $200 or less a week! The only thing is, how do I get all the cold stuff home? It's nearly an hour away! Any suggestions? Would a cooler do it? Do I need a special one?

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by mom0810

Now I KNOW my Jewel is really expensive. I went to Whole Foods yesterday and was struck by how CHEAP everything was! It was wonderful. I bet I can shop there for $200 or less a week! The only thing is, how do I get all the cold stuff home? It's nearly an hour away! Any suggestions? Would a cooler do it? Do I need a special one?

A cooler w/a bag of ice in it should work just fine! Good deal! Glad you found somewhere cheaper!

I just added up our grocery spending for the month, and we are WAY overspending! We are already at $875 for the MONTH! I am setting a limit of $500/month now and we'll see how we do. Some months it is just more costly, as we run out of stuff. I need to try to figure out a way to keep up w/it better.

[CookiePie]

Yes a big cooler with all the frozen stuff together & ice packs. I live 45 minutes from WF & TJ's so I've BTDT. Great that you found a cheaper place to shop!!!

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by mom0810

Now I KNOW my Jewel is really expensive. I went to Whole Foods yesterday and was struck by how CHEAP everything was! It was wonderful. I bet I can shop there for $200 or less a week! The only thing is, how do I get all the cold stuff home? It's nearly an hour away! Any suggestions? Would a cooler do it? Do I need a special one?

I am from Chicago though I haven't lived there in a few years and Jewel can be really expensive if memory serves me correctly. I used to live on the northside and occasionally would shop in the burbs and as long as I went right home, the food was fine unless it was the heart of summer. I would think your food would be fine if you shop in WI.