How much do you spend on groceries?

[Jenni]

I'm gathering some info for an upcoming article and am interested in finding out how much you ladies average (per month) on groceries.

I spend $24 a week on organic milk/eggs (delivered), $1000 a year on organic beef (we buy in bulk) which leaves about $200 a month on regular groceries (our budget is $400 a month). I know this is probably considered very low, but I don't count household items in this budget, only groceries.

What do you spend? Do you keep track or just estimate?

[BlondeMomBlog]

I just ran a report in Quicken recently to see what we spent last year per week on average and it was $130. That does not include diapers and wipes, dog food, or beer and wine. Thankfully our soon to be 3-year-old is now out of diapers and only wears a Pull Up at night. Any way, I digress. I know that's more than I want to spend. I'd LOVE to get it down to $400 a month. I'm pretty lazy about menu planning and coupon clipping, though, so I suppose it could be worse considering!

[Darla]

We use cash (the Dave Ramsey plan) and spend $500 a month on food for 3 of us. Eeekkkk

[Domestically Challenged Goddess]

I haven't kept track. On average, I'd say we spend about $60-$80/week on just groceries. This is for me and my husband and the dog. ;) When we're out of dog food we spend a little more. We bought a half cow last year so that we wouldn't be buying beef as often at the store. I think we just made up for it by buying other stuff instead. Now that I'm not eating meat anymore I'm going to see if that reduces some of the grocery costs. I'm not sure. Some of the meat substitutes are just as much as meat if not more.

[Toniette]

We're spending $35-50 a week for my husband and I... I've been practicing with beans and other 'vegetarian' type meals, just b/c meat is so expensive! At least one meatless meal per week is definitely helping our food budget!

[Domestically Challenged Goddess]

That's good to know! I was thinking vegetarian will help cut costs because the veggie equivalent of 2 lbs of beef costs a few dollars less. We need to start getting the Sunday paper as well. There are always great deals and coupons in there. We were thinking about saving some papers and signing up for the grocery game. Any thoughts on that?

[Darla]

DANNNG! You go girl!

[Lesley]

I have been keeping close tabs on our grocery budget and have been working really hard at getting it down. For our household of 6, which includes 3 teenagers, I spend between $100.00-$150.00 a week. This includes all paper products, dog food, cat food, laundry det, ect.... I try to buy in bulk, when there is a good sale and that way I don't need to buy the same things every single week. I also try to look through the online flyers for really good sales and then match up the coupons I have with those sales. Another thing that has proven very helpful is to have a weekly menu. I make the menu while I'm looking through the online flyers and sorting coupons.

We don't have a lot of choices for grocery stores, our town actually only has one and it is very small. The town next to us has been growing in the past few years, and has more choices so that is where I shop. I start out with my list and then hit the stores in this order:
* Discount Foods-- they sell broken boxed items, dented cans, ect... I get all my pastas , sauces, and cereals there.
* Wal Mart~~ It is not a Super Wal Mart, but it does have lots of food items.
* Shaws~~ This is the only "major" grocery store in the area. I only shop the sales and I usually by produce , meat, and deli items there.
* WalGreens~~ I am just learning the whole WalGreens thing, but I know there are lots are lots of great deals to be had there. ;0) I usually buy bath items, medicines, and other items that I pretty much get for free by stacking coupons and using rebates.
* Rite Aid~~ This is another new store that I'm trying. I do not shop there weekly, but if there is a good sale and I have good coupons then I'm there!! ;0)
* In the summer I have a small garden, though this year my sil is going to help me plant a larger one. :0) I also buy fresh veggies in bulk at a local farm and freeze to use in the winter.

[AmyR]

I budget $100 per week, family of 5. I'm good at just shopping the sales, but I still tend to go over by about $30 per week. My goal is to stay under 100.

[Sarah]

We spend $600 a month or more just on food. A lot of this is because my dear hubby won't eat what I cook. See, he thinks that every meal should be completely from scratch and contain no veggies OR be microwaveable. He won't eat cassaroles, soups, salads, or sandwiches (for dinner). He also refuses to eat left-overs. He keeps asking me to make more vegetarian meals, but then he doesn't eat them. I DO cook a lot from scratch, but I have an infant, a toddler and I homeschool my 8 year old so I don't have the time to prepare my own pastas and breads ALL the time. I'm lucky if I have more than 30 minutes to make dinner on most nights. My hubby tends to eat pizza or take-out most nights (he has dinner at work) and snacks constantly on insta-food (he tends to only eat 1 real meal a day). The kids and I snack on fruits and veggies or a homemade dessert, but we eat 3 meals a day. I'd be willing to bet that half of our food spending is due to my husband. But he'd never admit it.

[Domestically Challenged Goddess]

I think I tend to spend more at the grocery store when my husband is along for the trip. He always wants lots of meat. I'm hoping that with my new vegetarian diet, we will cut down on meat spending. He also grabs frozen dinners that I normally wouldn't buy. I prefer grocery shopping alone, but it is nice when Hubby's along to help bag! :)

[Sarah]

We're about $400 AUD a month for everything - nappies, wipes, groceries, household items. According to xe.com, that works out to be $373.81 USD. We have cut way back since going to a fortnightly shop, as opposed to every few days. One of the budget busters is meat, which is really expensive here. This last shop was $60 at the butcher. It's almost enough to make me want to go vegetarian!

[The Nester]

Not as much as we spend on gas for our cars!

I have a $500 food/toiletries/makeup/lightbulbs....monthly budget.
Family of 5.