How Much Do You Spend On Food?

[Tiffany_PartyOf5]

In any given month, how much do you spend on food for your family? And how many members of your family are there? Do you buy organic only or buy whatever you can afford while trying to eat as healthy as possible... What are some meals you eat that are very cheap. We spend about $450-500 per month on food for our family of 5 (a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a baby who is still 95% breastfed, and 2 adults)... I think its outrageous!

[meowee]

On actual food, about 120/ week, but there are often $30-60/ week in non food stuff that I need to buy.

Family of 7. Picky eaters who like processed food (not me).

[earthmama369]

I voted $300-$400. We're a family of 4 -- dh, me, dd (2), and ds (9 months) -- plus three cats. We eat mostly organic and we're vegetarian. To be honest we're much closer to $300 than $400 -- our budget is $300/month with an extra $20-$40 added in when we can for treats.

[mchalehm]

There are three of us--my daughter is only 7 months, but her food actually costs me a fair bit to make (more than I expected) because I buy organic for her and she eats a lot for her age! (She eats three meals of pureed organic something per day.) That dollar figure does not, however, include her formula, which I have to buy because I have low milk supply and she is supplemented.

I used to spend less on food; however, now I buy more organic food and more whole foods. I also was diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance, and my gyn recommended that I eat according to the insulin resistance diet, which means fewer carbohydrates (and whole grains for the ones I do eat) and more protein.

That means, fish instead of pasta, fresh veggies instead of rice, etc. Which, of course, are more expensive. But I can tell a difference in my health, so I think of it as an investment in being more productive, happy, etc.

One thing I make that is very cheap and that is satisfying and delicious--black bean soup:

If you eat meat, start with a little bit of good-quality sausage. (I use low-fat andouille sausage from TJ's.) It doesn't take much but it makes a big difference to the soup! For about five servings of soup I use 2 sausage links, but you could use less. Slice into small pieces.

Brown the sausage with one diced onion, two stalks of diced celery, and some chopped garlic. When it's browned, add a large jar of tomatoes (I use home-canned with peppers and onions; you could add some bell pepper if you're using regular tomatoes). Add one large can of black beans, well rinsed. Add some Tabasco. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. If you cook for a long time, it will be delicious but you will need to keep adding liquid as it cooks down. Veggie broth is an excellent addition.

Great with corn muffins (if you're allowed to eat carbs; sniff).

[Tiffany_PartyOf5]

Okay, so far it sounds like our grocery budget is a bit out of hand LOL.. considering Im only talking about food for us lol.. I dont really use paper products and I make my cleaning supplies (well, minus the laundry detergent but I plan on trying to do that soon lol) The black bean soup recipe sounds delicious so I will be trying that out sometime next week.. I guess my big issue is that I like to buy stuff that I just have to heat up lol.. which I know is totally bad for us.. so I guess my goal for the next few months is to cut down on that and try cooking everything from scratch.. I guess it cant be that hard right? lol

[zaner'smama]

There are only 3 of us (and my son is only 2), but we are still usually in the 400-500 range. We do eat mostly organic, but we are also...ahem... big eaters. It doesn't really bother me though -- good food is one thing that I'm glad to invest in.

[LilMama23]

There are three of us, and I spend about $250 a month.

[meandk0610]

i put 500-600. there are only 3 of us but dd is 22 months, eats very well & is a little off the growth chart for height. it is pretty much all organic, grassfed, non-processed and the only grain eaten regularly is rice (dh is chinese). we don't have any bready type stuff due to me having a couple of health issues & feeling much better without grains. mil usually picks up some spicy asian food for dh once a week to supplement him since i find it really hard to cook most chinese food (and, frankly, unhealthy; so much is loaded with salt & oil it's ridiculous).

sarah

[glorified_rice]

There are three of us (my toddler son is two) and we spend roughly $130/week at the grocery store and that doesn't include the Organic grass-fed beef that we buy locally(we stock up a few times a year) or the local Hutterite chickens, bacon and sausage or the veggies from the farmers market in the summer, or the occasional Schwans purchase, etc... It is outrageous, but to me, good food is extremely important. It's still cheaper and healthier than eating out all of the time.

[msjd123]

Originally Posted by bevo12

There are three of us (my toddler son is two) and we spend roughly $130/week at the grocery store and that doesn't include the Organic grass-fed beef that we buy locally(we stock up a few times a year) or the local Hutterite chickens, bacon and sausage or the veggies from the farmers market in the summer, or the occasional Schwans purchase, etc... It is outrageous, but to me, good food is extremely important. It's still cheaper and healthier than eating out all of the time.

That sounds roughly similar to what we spend, minus all those awesome sources for meat. I can't find much like that around here, unfortunately. Roughly what is your grand total per month then?

[Nature]

Family of 5- about $200 a month.

[my2girlz]

family of 5 plus 2 cats and we spend between $400-$500.

[KimProbable]

Our family is made up of two adults, a 6-year-old and a 1 1/2-year-old. We spend about $300-$400/month on groceries. Because of some issues with food sensitivities, very little of what I buy is processed so we save a bunch there. I load up most of my cart with produce and bulk food then spend a lot of time in the kitchen. We do some organic and some specialty foods (goat cheese/milk/yogurt) that cost a little more but I'm happy to spend a few extra dollars to keep DS from being ill! Lately I've been making more vegan and vegetarian meals and it's cut down considerably on my grocery bill.

[Miajean]

Family of 3 one small dog and cat and we run about 400. More now because hubby is trucking and cannot buy cheap and healthy food to last, he has to buy by the day for alot of stuff and only some goods can he carry as staples.

DD has allergies and non tolerance for milk, soy products. So she drinks about 4-6 $ a day in rice milk, yogurt smoothie, and fruit smoothie. That way I know she's getting the fats, calories, and vitas that she needs. She's weaned and she is refusing anything soft and mushy now! all crunchies, crisp, and lots of everything.

I'm stunned that even cheaper food runs us so high but then I also am buying diapers, hygeine, animal staples, and cleaning supplies so it's not that bad. I spend about a 100 on animal food, litter, cleaning supplies, roughly 60 on diapering stuff, and somewhere around 40 on candles, hygeine stuff (everything from toothbrushes, to soap, etc.,) So really about 200 on actual food.

[glorified_rice]

Originally Posted by msjd123

That sounds roughly similar to what we spend, minus all those awesome sources for meat. I can't find much like that around here, unfortunately. Roughly what is your grand total per month then?

I would say... a grand total, with everything I mentioned included of about $650. That really sounds like a lot. I could be driving a new car for half of that amount. Oh well. Priorities.

[justmama]

We are a family of 4 and spend about $250 a month on food. Not too bad I'm thinking. I could get it down more but my dh likes processed junk food and soda. Ick! But I very only small amts of meat because I am vegetarian and the baby eats very very little meat and I buy 99% of our produce from the reduced produce section(all the stuff that's about to go bad or lettuce that's a bit wilted or squash or apples that have too many dings and bruises). And we shop at Wal-Mart supercenter because the prices are so cheap and we buy generic of all processed or prepared items. But I bake and cook a LOT! Unfortunately budget doesn't allow for organics though sometimes I do score on the reduced produce cart. I look for them hard!

Meg

[kijip]

We hug $300. Some months less, some months as much as 375. That is nearly all organic for a family of three, no pets. The only non organic items are near-organic items, and things like Superfood or the odd item that just does not come organic. But we do all organic meats, produce, cheese etc for that.

[Ruthiegirl]

I usually budget $400, but have been spending more. I looked over the past 4 months and I have been spending $500 recently.

We do eat some chicken, but I buy that for .49 a pound. Otherwise, it is loads of rice, oatmeal, veggies, fruit, cheese, milk. We just seem to eat a lot.

[BetsyS]

I've been working on our budget, too, but darn, we seem to spend alot. About $500 for 2 folks and a little 7 month old baby. Organic occasionally (and mostly in the case of the baby). Lots and lots of produce. Dh's daily setlzer habit ($35 a month right there). Good coffee, to the tune of a pound a week. (which at $5 a lb is pretty good, but it still adds up) And a fair amount of wine. I make frugal enough meals, but it seems like we are big eaters and, well, our quality of life has to count for something.

I figured it out recently, and I'm not sure where to cut....I'm working on it, though. I'm thinking about things, like trying to balance a meal with expensive (artichoke hearts, olives) ingredients and cheap (brown rice, chicken) ones.

[stellimamo]

I vote $300-400 We are a family of 3 and I also run a daycare out of my home and that food is included in that figure. We eat somewhat organic and do eat meat.