About $800 a month during the winter. Much less in the warmer weather when we eat a lot of our garden produce. We can cut that down when we need to, but right now we are enjoying a huge amount of produce. We eat a small amount of meat, a gallon of milk a week and some cheese. The rest is grains/nuts/seeds bought in bulk and lots of veggies and fruit.
ETA -- there are 2 adults, 3 children and one nursing baby.
Dog Food - The dogs go through a big bag every two weeks or so, so I'm guessing we average $70-80 a month on dog food. Dog food prices keep going up. It's gotten ridiculous! We've gone down on quality (from better to middle grade) to balance the raise in price, but when we go to the bargain food, one of the dogs always gets sick and will completely stop eating. She has a sensitive tummy!
What type of dog food are you feeding? that seems really high, are they really large dogs?
We buy Canidae (around $50. for 44 pounds) and our 45ish pound, active dog gets around a cup a day, I had her up to two cups this fall and had to reduce it because she was getting porky. She gets a mostly raw diet in the winter (we don't have enough freezer space to do it year round) but even when she is strictly on kibble a bag will last 4-5 months.
This has been interesting reading.
We have a family of three (DH, Stepson (13) and myself) , soon to be four :) Our food spending varies between $60 and $100 a week, averaging out to $350. a month. We tend to eat whole foods and I buy organic when we can afford it. I have gluten and dairy allergies and generally cook gluten free for the whole family, although I make things like spaghetti noodles separate for the wheat eaters. We tend to stay away from convince foods although SS is going through an only wanting to eat crap food period, and I get things like granola bars for DH for when he is working.
Best things that help minimize our food costs is meal planning and stocking up on reduced meat, which is why our weekly spending varies so much.
We have chickens and a big garden in the summer, that helps quite a bit and my husband hunts so we have venison in the winter. We really need a bigger freezer!
We spend $350-400/month on groceries for 2 adults and 2 kids age 6 and 3. I buy conventional foods and I try to shop sales. I also cook from scratch and we avoid prepackaged foods. Out to eat funds come from personal allowances so it's not factored into the food budget.
We spend about $1000 a month on groceries, including toiletries( TP , laundry detergent, dish soap, etc) for a family of four.
We are all Gluten free but I have been grain free for about three years. We also don't do dairy( my hubby has cream for his coffee) or soy or preservatves for health reasons.
We shop at a big box store for our veggies , a few canned goods, oils . We shop at a local butchers for meat... something between conventional and free range/ organic. Middle quality meats!
We spend about 125 a week at the big box store to get the fruit and veg ( this feeds our pet bunny a fresh diet too) , bulk plain nuts, seeds and raisins, dried beans. The only canned goods we buy are plain beans , tomatoes, tomato paste and some canned fish. Non dairy milks and peanut butter.. Otherwise we get coconut flours, oils, GF baking ingredients . I think that is it.
At the butcher we spend around 100 bucks a week. Our usual is ground beef, stewing beef, whole chickens, a roast of some sort and eggs. Bones for broth are a regular add on.
I forage for wild foods much of the year. I freeze, can and dry everything I can in season. We do home made ferments. I buy organic green coffee beans for 1/3 of the price of fancy ones and roast them on my front porch weekly. We grind our own gluten free flours to save money. I try to hit the farms when things are in season and stock up on winter veg. W e don't buy any GF boxed or premade baked goods. Everything is from scratch
We don't eat out ever. I buy alcohol a couple of times a year, but that is usually for making vanilla extract or tinctures. Maybe a couple of bottles of wine? I made my own country wine last year which is a gallon jug... lasts me all year including for cooking. My hubby manages at a hotel where he gets to keep beer that guests leave behind( a dozen every 4 months or so which is saved for guests)
We eat well, but I wouldn't want to cut back. The boys are big eaters, active and super skinny. It is difficult to ensure that they get enough calories.I spend a ton of time in the kitchen which I feel helps to cut back on the costs.
For 2011 it worked out to around 1400 per month, including restaurants. Both kids away at school, both with life-threatening food allergies and not on a meal plan. We're still covering their board so I counted it all.
Average of $500/mo for a family of 4. We like good food, and I order a lot of specialty items through amazon. We also try to get organic food when we can find/afford it. We get a few convenience foods, such as fruit bars and snack foods, occasionally. We almost never eat out, and NEVER at fast food or pizza places. We make our own pizza and it is awesome! 
Around $300 for one adult and one kiddo who eats like an adult. I coupon like a mad woman and pray that our food stamps do not get reduced.
Um, care to tell a bit more, pretty please?
Um, care to tell a bit more, pretty please?
I am not Village Mama, but my husband roasts his beans as well and has been doing so for at least two years. Sweet Marias has a good introduction and sells a range of equipment.
-e
We're a family of 4, and I babysit an additional 2 kids who eat breakfast and lunch here M-F.... I think we spend roughly $500/month. I live in Alaska!
$1,250 per month. For two people. That's the average over the last five months.
I think I'm going to throw up. =S
Time to jump-start a financial revolution resolution! 
Before I saw your post, I was thinking "where do all these people *live* that they can budget 300-500 for food???" Then I saw your post, and others, and felt a little better. Our food costs (not eating out, but we rarely do that) are regularly $1200, but that, I'll admit, is messy accounting. Some toiletries slip in there, and cat food, even litter sometimes. I just can't be bothered to sort out every thing!
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Alright, I think people need to start telling us what they're eating! I can't fathom spending more than I do. I feel I spend a lot. Over 400 for a family of 4. I know a lady that spends 50 a week and her meals are unreal delicious. She buys Large bits of meat and divides it up per meal. Of course she has the time to do it all. She's a planner big time. And sometimes she spends less. I do know that in the summer she has a decent garden. I just don't think I could spend more and get through all the food we buy. I mean I was looking through my pantry to see if there was anything we needed and we still have quite a bit left. Thats with going out to eat just once this past two weeks. CRAZY!
That is crazy! I really need to get our grocery bill down.... what are we eating? I try to buy organic as much as I can. That is a huge priority for me. We buy natural toothpaste, I suppose I could brush my teeth with salt like I did when I was homeless and hitchhiking from one Rainbow Gathering to the next, but I like my minty fresh breath and that's not even really food now, is it? So onward......
We buy organic meats, and I would love to buy large quantities but the power outages in our area are regular and regularly devastating to the contents of home freezers! I even tried buying organic storage veggies in bulk, but we didn't bring them in out of the garage during the first really big freeze and there went $200!
My oldest has allergies, which force us to buy certain things. And we buy a fair amount of snacks for the girls and dh. Not crazy amounts, but it definitely adds to the total. And I simply loooove Organic Valley "pasture butter" and when I tried using their regular butter to save some money (it was on sale) I was sorely disappointed. And I am conscientious that Horizon farms (cheaper) is owned by Dean foods and raise their dairy cows in feed lots, not pasture. So, I guess the cheapness of our food bill is not the main priority for me.
I did notice that 6 years ago, our lowest bill could get down to $750, but these days I have a hard time getting that figure below $1000.
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We're a family of 4, and I babysit an additional 2 kids who eat breakfast and lunch here M-F.... I think we spend roughly $500/month. I live in Alaska!
And I thought the food in AK would be more expensive. Where do those of us spending over $1000 for a family of 4 (or smaller) living, anyway?
We are a family of 3 adults and 1 child.
We spend about $400.00 per month on groceries. That includes toiletries.
We also spend another $600/yr on grass fed beef to stock the freezer.
So I say about $450/mth on food.
Then we spend another $50/mth on eating out.
Our locations and the kinds of things we buy (for $1400 / month total): Northern New England for DH and myself (COA around that of the Boston area), Southern California for DS2, Portland OR for DS1. Both boys are college students with allergies, which means, for our family at this point, convenience foods that are safe. DS2 is in a dorm with a shared kitchen and logistically it's just saner to buy foods that are as simple as possible to prepare, so we're talking Amy's canned soups, things like that, with some spices (and, wow, those cost the earth!) to keep the chicken and rice meals fun. DS1 has his own off-campus apartment, private kitchen, and I just realized that to him "convenience food" is bread he makes himself from scratch, because he doesn't have to worry about any allergens in it! His grocery bill comes out to around $400 / month.
Just regarding the green coffee beans... We buy ours from a local store for 5 bucks a pound. I know people buy them online for a similar price. A company that roasts beans actually sells them to me. I use a rocket stove or a camp stove and a cast iron pan.( and just stir stir stir!) You can look online to see what you look for in terms of when your roast is done. In the summer I sometimes open the windows wide and do it indoors... it is smokey though! It turns out super yummy. I do trade my time at the stove for the reduction in cost though( something I don't mind!)... I used to be a barista and am a little bit of a coffee snob. This way I can have top quality coffee instead of resorting to something that hurts my tummy just to save money!
I love to cook and love to cook outdoors, and can cook on pretty much anything. Love rocket stoves, too, and actually have plans to build 2 different ones on our property. I would love to roast my own coffee beans! I have no idea what the heck to buy, though, as far as green coffee beans. Anyone care to guide me? I prefer a mild roast, and can you roast flavored beans at home, like hazelnut? My dh and adult dd like a darker roast. I don't have a clue which kind of beans to buy, specifically. That would save alot of $, and I could buy large amounts at once, I think, and stored properly they will last like pinto beans, right (unroasted)?
What type of dog food are you feeding? that seems really high, are they really large dogs?
We buy Canidae (around $50. for 44 pounds) and our 45ish pound, active dog gets around a cup a day, I had her up to two cups this fall and had to reduce it because she was getting porky. She gets a mostly raw diet in the winter (we don't have enough freezer space to do it year round) but even when she is strictly on kibble a bag will last 4-5 months.
Sorry, I just saw this. I can't remember the brand (maybe Nutro?). It's a sensitive stomach variety and is something like $45 for a 35lb bag. My math may be off since I was just estimating, but we buy a bag every 3 weeks to feed two large dogs (a month is 4.5 weeks so I guessed 1.5 bags a month). One dog is probably 45lbs and doesn't keep weight on easily. She lost 10lbs in the past few years and now actually needs to gain weight, hence the special food her digestive system can handle. The other dog is about 65lbs. They each eat 2-3 cups a day and are not gaining weight, so I know it's not too much for them. They don't usually get other treats to help fill them up, just food.
I love to cook and love to cook outdoors, and can cook on pretty much anything. Love rocket stoves, too, and actually have plans to build 2 different ones on our property. I would love to roast my own coffee beans! I have no idea what the heck to buy, though, as far as green coffee beans. Anyone care to guide me? I prefer a mild roast, and can you roast flavored beans at home, like hazelnut? My dh and adult dd like a darker roast. I don't have a clue which kind of beans to buy, specifically. That would save alot of $, and I could buy large amounts at once, I think, and stored properly they will last like pinto beans, right (unroasted)?
I don't have extensive experience with roasting green beans, but I do know that Sweet Maria's will sell small 8 oz package of green bean to try. I tried it a couple of times, but didn't really ever develop it as a habit I have a great locally roasted coffee shop I love and I tried it inside and my smoke alarms kept going crazy. Green coffee beans will last for years. I guess I would try a few things and practice and then commit yourself to a large amount once you figured out what you are doing.
Anyway I am not a very good tracker, but I know that our food expenditures are high. We have some expensive habits ($13 lbs. coffee, and $7.50 a six pack beer) plus my DH who like veggies meals too really loves the grassfeed lamb his friend raises and pretty much any seafood he can find. I can only imagine what if would be like if we didn't like beans and rice, homemade bread, and the free oats that DH bring home from work. Or lived in a place with more than three so-so resturants.
I haven't really examined my food bill in a while. I realized this after my post. So, inspired by how horrendously high my bill is in comparison to everyone else's I thought I'd reexamine it. Hopefully dh will remember his receipts! I can just hope things look a little better. Because of our multiple allergies, we eat more meat than we would like (can't eat nuts or most legumes, soy is out, too.)
So, mnnice, we are not the only ones with a taste for grassfed beef and lamb! (Locally raised, of course!) 
I really have no reason to be mystified as to how our bill can be so very high!
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