Grocery Spending?

Hi A.,

I spend about 200 A WEEK on food, groceries and home supplies like detergent, toilet paper, etc. So that's about $800. My kids are 3 and 5. Like everything else, grocery prices have gone up so much this last year. The newspaper said non-gas prices are up 9.2% I generally cook three nights a week which gives us leftovers for the other nights and we usually go out once.

I shop mainly at the Nugget and Target.

I buy bread from a bread outlet. Same bread, half price. The bread trucks take their leftovers to the outlets after delivering to the grocery stores.

The best deal is the buy one, get one free at safeway. Otherwise it is not a cost effective grocery store but it has a great organic selection. Winco is also a great choice. I'm not real keen on their produce or meats. The only challenge for Costco and me is the quantity. My freezer only holds so much...

I always enjoy the conversations darling hubby and I have about how I'm spending too much and he spends none! It was quite eye opening for my husband to do the weekly shopping (with the kids). I highly recommend it to everyone.

Good luck!

Wow. We are a family of 3 and spend only about $400 a month on groceries and I shop at Vons with no coupons and don't look for sales. We do eat out at least once a week ($40). I live in Fresno County

We are pretty good about doing all none name brands and for my husband, my daughter and myself - We spend about $600/per month on food, household items (cleaners, detergent, etc) and baby items (diapers, lotions).

As a family of four (three adults and one child), our grocery bill fluctuates based on what we are having. When I don't plan meals and just keep staples (meat, canned broth, veggies, beans, sauces, etc.) the list is low, but meals are thrown together with little planning and often not as satisfying. When I plan out the weekly menu with one On Your Own and one Left Over Night, it costs more. I need specific ingredients. If it tends to be a new recipe week (I go in waves), the bill is high. We spend a minimum of $100 a week on groceries. Every 3 mo. we make a $250-400 run to Costco for big bulky items (paper towel, toilet paper, meats, etc.).

When I don't work in the summer (teacher), I plan meals more and experiment with what we have for dinner, so the rest of the year I have recipes to fall back on.

My husband says we spend too much money on groceries, but there's nothing I can do about that since my mom buys most of them (one of her contribution to living with us). Until he does the shopping for a month, he won't truly understand or know. (I had him do the housework for a month, so he would understand what it takes to keep the place clean. I loved that month. He no longer suggests "we take the 10-15 minutes each day it takes to clean the house."). I suggest you have whom ever says you are spending too much, do the spending and meal prep.

Good luck,
Stephanie

Tell him it's the cost of gas and inflation. I couldn't believe how much I was spending until my friend pointed out that everything is more expensive now, even compared to a year ago. And if you buy organic, it's an even worse ratio. We spend between $150-$200 a week, but I try to buy as much organic as possible. We are a family of 4, but the baby isn't eating solids yet.

My husband have saved a lot of money and time on Dinner My Way Granite Bay/Roseville. I've tried several of those dinner places. It's nice to do with friends/hubby or just to get out of the house. This particular one will prepare your meals at no charge for 2008. In essence you do your shopping and your meal prep in one place, minus the chopping and dishes. In the morning, pull it out to thaw. In the evening, cook it - VIOLA! Especially with the craze after work and wanting to fit in a little "family fun" time - it really seems to work for us.
We have saved a good amount on limiting waste ( as you can get meal size that fits your family 3 / 6 servings )
That way we don't eat a pot of spaghetti breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 3 days. The menu changes monthly.
Our weekly grocery bill is about $50-$100 on basics ~ fresh fruits, veggies, bread etc. Trader Joes is a great, affordable place for these items.
And of course, Walmart /Sam's for toiletries and such... You just can't beat their prices..
I hope this helps.. Good luck to you and your family!

Dear A.,
Our family of 4 spend $150 on food a week. That doesn't include other household items.
My savings suggestions are to buy off of Ebay the Coupon for Safeway $10 off every $50 you spend. Typically you can get those for $2 on Ebay. Also, you can get from the Entertainment book, or by on Ebay, $5 off at Safeway for every $50 you spend, AND they combine together, totaling 30% savings. I only buy the fruit and veggies that are on sale, or at a reasonable price. That being said, I typically save about 50% when I go there.
Another thing I've found cost effective is to get a lot of the canned goods etc. from Target. I've not done the Costco thing for quite a while as we get too much of almost anything we buy there and then we tend to gorge on that item in order for it not to spoil.

Anyway, These ideas make it relatively easy to spend $150 a week on food.

I agree, grocery prices are astronomical, and any money saving ideas are really helpful.

Regards,
D.

We spend way too much, I believe, but when I talk to others, I'm told we don't! $1050 (with alcohol), probably $850-900/mmonth without. We don't go to Costco, but do go for meat/cheese etc at the military commisary where prices are excellent. Husband is big meat eater, thought the rest of us are not. All are big cheese/dairy eaters. Junk food for the 2 kids = chips mainly, sometimes cookies, and usually cheapest ice cream available as they are not discerning. All in the family are diet soda addicts. I have a neighbor with 3 kids and she spends $800/month and goes to Costco. Oh, almost forgot - we grow almost ALL of our own vegetables, have fruit trees, tomatoes, etc - prices of food is insane.

HI there, I have two teens and a 10yr. old boy and 9 yr. old boy, I think we spend about $120/week on groceries and the other household neccessities. I only shop at Food Maxx and I go to Pop's Bargain Outlet, not sure where you live but, they have one in Turlock and at least one in Modesto, they are extrememly affordable. They have canned goods, boxed good and everything is marked way down. Also, go to Big Lots for laundry soap, etc. when I can't get it at Pop's (they are the cheapest) but, for other groceries--- definitely Food Maxx if you want to save money and don't mind bagging your own groceries, to me, it's worth it. Good luck on this, I know w/ the price of gas and groceries going up, times are tough for everyone these days, I'll pray that you'll be able to lower your food bills, etc. Good luck

We are a family of five and spend about $500 per month. We buy household staples (nonfood items)some pantry items, butter, cheese and meats at Costco, and I fill in the gaps by buying in bulk for our whole grains & flours. We get our produce & other perishables locally and I buy organic when I can. I rarely buy juice of any kind, it's very expensive and not a good addition to the kid's diet anyway. Ditto for boxed cereal. There are many healthier, cheaper alternatives.

I think what makes the difference for us is that we buy "ingredients" not prepared foods, in 90% of cases. I cook from scratch a lot and try not to feed the family processed foods. Ingredients (whole foods) are much less expensive than already prepared foods, so you can get a lot more for your money. When you cook, if you are short on time, use the crock pot a lot, and make a rule of cooking double the amount of the main dish and freezing half. That way, pretty soon you only have to really cook half the time, meal prep is about as quick as using boxed/frozen stuff, but much cheaper and healthier.

If you look in your shopping cart and see a bunch of boxes/cans of food that you only really need to heat up to serve, you are going to be spending a lot more money. You might as well be hiring someone to come in your kitchen and cook, and not many of us can really afford that convenience of having 'someone else' prepare our food for us, even if it is the manufacturing company.

I spend between $200 and $300 every two weeks. We buy things at Sams Club and Walmart. Sometimes we buy meat etc. But I am buying food for 7 people. My husband, myself, 19, 17, 14, 12 and 20 months old. So include in there meat, bread, cheese, etc. We also get soy milk for the 19 year old and Very Vanilla soy for the 20 month old. It seems like our grocery bill is higher in the summer time when they are all home and snaking all day long. We do buy in bulk and sometimes we don't get that much but that would be my average I would say. I also buy clothes etc when I am at Walmart so that might be added in there too. Maybe with just groceries it would be about $200 total every two weeks ... so about $500 total for the month. (I know it looks like my math is off but it probably comes out to that much a month... I have to get somethings every week... so that's why the additional $100 is in there)

I have a husband and an 8 yr old boy that brings friends over a lot. I spend about $125/week. That doesn't include an occasional trip to Costco that comes to at least $100.

We are a family of 3 and spend about 70 a week. I go to grocery outlet and walmart grocery store. I buy shampoo and conditioner at the dollar store and laundry soap at Big Lots. IO find that Savemart and Vons are more costly than most other stores. I only buy things we use regularly at Costco or Sams club.

Dear A.,

I've got the same problem. My hubby is always harrassing me about the food bill, so last year - when we were living in ultra expensive London - I did an experiment. I shopped without "paying attention" for a month and then shopped for a month with a very specific budget. It turned out the same! Probably the equivalent to about $1200/month (with alcohol and diapers). We were expecting things to feel cheaper when we came back to San Francisco (we were away about 2 years), but I swear food is just as expensive here (much more than I remember it being) as it was in London! Good luck!

- C.

Like a lot I get my canned goods, boxed goods, and non perishables at winco for cheap!!
Then i can spend a little more on meat at other places, I always buy it on sale and freeze it.
I get my veggies/fruit either by whats on sale or at the farmer's market behind the mall.

Hi A., currently I buy for 7(4 adults, 1 teenager, and 2 kids under 7). Every two weeks, I spend roughly $120. Some weeks I can go as high as $200 if I'm buy more meat. We go through almost 3 gallons of milk each week. WE don't drink a lot of sodas, so I buy those when they have a great sale and it last us a good while. I buy fresh fruits and vegetables every week. I try to buy the big bundles so that I don't have to make extra trips. Right now, everything is expensive. I have found that my spending is not going as far as it used to, so I'm making adjustments. I don't have to have brand name, so you will find in my cart, the store brand or whatever has the best sale.

Hi A.,

We are a family of 3 (Me, DH and 2 year old DS). We spend about $400 a month on our regular weekly shopping. We do ALL of our groceries and most of our household stuff at Trader Joe's. The quality is excellent (lots of organic options plus more all natural stuff including cleaning products) and the price on basics like milk and eggs is less than the other grocery stores. We usually spend another $100-200 at Target on random household stuff we need or that they don't sell at Trader Joe's (though TJ's has almost everything).

HTH

T.

Hi A.

Groceries are sooo expensive!!! I have a family of 8- 2 adults and 6 kids. I spend around 900 to 1000 per month but I dont buy much in the organic departments I buy meats and dairy and lots of fruit. Also I do some snack-stuff at 99 cents only stores. I buy another 100 per month on paper towels, TP ect. I buy cheap laundry detergent but then the more pricy fabric softner...lol I do the same with shampoo the cheap shampoo and the high priced conditioner from the salon. in the long run I save doing this.

Coupons are a good idea if you have time.

Best of luck
C.

A., sorry for the long message...
I live in San Jose and my brother lives in Scotts Valley so I know the area. I have no idea what Winco is either (out of our area) and find Costco pricy so may not be worth your drive over the hill (except for large parties), but appreciate your issue of not having the same stores as we have on this side of the hill. I believe you have to drive to Watsonville for your Target which means your trips to the store need to be planned well. My family of 6 (2 adults and 4 teens) had struggled with cost-of-living for while now and have never had enough $ to spend that much for food. I can't imagine spending $1000/mo on household items as we don't make enough. So taking care of a family of 6 (and my brother a family of 5) takes some planning.
What helped me was making a list of standard products that we 'had to have' each month and I walk in and get only those items every 2 weeks (Target is $80 each 2wks and is the detergents, dish soaps, tp, paper products) (Lucky's is $120 each 2wks and is the chicken, milk, eggs, cereal, and unfortunately canned foods...when you don't have the funds, you get what's on sale) We also have a Grocery Outlet and BigLots here. Unfortuantely,I have found the healthy food is the most expensive but Trader Joe's would be reasonable for a few items in that area. (don't know if you have one there)
Stick with your list and allow for 1 to 2 outside dinners a month so you can treat your family and eating out becomes a special event rather than a daily habit.
I'll check with my sister-in-law from Scotts Valley and get her tips as they are on a tight budget too.

Side note: I started my PartyLite business to help make more $ for food and gas and has been a big help. I have a team in Scotts Valley if you'd like to hear more or meet them.

$600-1,000, maybe 1,200-1,400 on a really expensive month where we're stocking up on big items, but I;m including toiletries and home supplies and other things one picks up at Costco/the supermarket. That does not include eating out. And we always buy things on sale. The most frugal person I know spends $600 a month for her family of 4. We're currently a family of 4, occasionally 5 when son is home from college.

(And I'm probably including alcohol in that estimate.)

We are a family of three, and with food and household items ( and eating out) we spend about $600 a month. Hope this helps!

I too am a family of four (3 and 1 1/2) and we spend anywhere from $400-$500 a month. I believe groceries is where we spend the most money. I hate that. But I cook healthy meals, there is always fresh and frozen fruit in the house and it seems to work. Good luck!

With today's economy I doubt any of us are really overspending, things are just a heck of a lot more expensive and worse quality. We are a family of five, 2 adults, six year old girl, and 22 month old twin boys. We spend close to 600 dollars on groceries. And probably another 150 in non food items, diapers for the twins are crazy. Plus we have dog food to buy. I usually get the larger sized detergents and shampoos, so I don't have to buy that every month. I don't do costco, I shop winco, and I shop ads. I don't find the meat and produce at Winco, that is the quality that I want, so I usually go to Raleys and buy just the sell items. Recently we picked up several sirloin steaks for bbq-ing and really the most expensive one was only 3.50. And that fed all of us that night, with salad, and corn on the cob. It is getting to a point where, you have to choose...gas for the car or food for the kids...good luck.

Like many others here, I now shop at Winco (I have one close by) and it is seriously saving us a lot of $$. I spend about $80 a week on grocery and an extra $20 or so on tp, dish soap, and other incidentals every 3-4 weeks. I grow many of my own vegetables as well, though I don't have enough to be self sufficient in that area, yet.

I don't buy alcohol. I don't particularly like it, and we certainly don't need it. Dh brews his own beer for about .50 a bottle and reuses the bottles and supplies. It was a few hundred dollars in original outlay for equipment. He likes really good beer, and this way he can have the micro beer taste for the cost of Pabst. Gotta love that! I don't buy soda (empty calories) and only orange juice for breakfast. Otherwise my kids just have milk and water, as do I.

As for my secrets to spending less, I buy in season produce and buy from local farmer markets (as well as growing my own) and we only have meat once a week (usually chicken). Cutting meat out of your diet is a great way to save lots of money, eat more healthy, AND be kind to the environment. We eat a lot of beans, rice, stir fries with tofu, nuts, seeds, etc.

The price is everything is really going up, but there are still ways to stay on a low budget (and I still think we eat really well!)

My guess is that you're buying quite a bit of prepared, packaged foods. Those are the killers! Shop the outside of the grocery store and you'll save money. I spend about $300 for a family of 3. I do shop the adds and have no issues going to a couple of stores. However, I don't use coupons... I can't stand it when the woman in front of me whips out the coupon envelope and spends another 30 minutes of my time because I have to wait in line behind her while she rings them all up. UGH! One thing that has really helped me is planning out a meal plan for a week. That way I'm buying what i truly need for the menu instead of trying to wing it and then having to go back to the store because I'm missing things.

We buy all organic and are vegan, so we shop at Whole Foods a lot. Inflation has been really high lately; the cost of food has gone up considerably.

We spend a lot, probably $###-###-#### a month for 3 of us - and my daughter is only eating a few solids.

For our family of 3 I spend under $200 a month now including ALL items. With rebate/coupon/store specials etc - I actually made a profit of $2 yesterday on a transaction that would normally cost approx $52. It takes a couple of hours a week to organize coupons and such but it REALLY Pays off. The items I bought last month (light month) totalled $459 sub total before tax and ended up costing (with tax) $189. If anyone would like more info send me a message and I'll give you the link to the free group of coupon addicts that showed me the way. I'm in Sacramento by the way.

I just found a site with the U.S. cost of food at four levels. The monthly cost for the low cost plan for a family of 4 with 2-5 year olds is $596 per month, with 6-11 year olds is $705. The liberal plan is $902 per month with 2-5 year olds, with 6-11 year olds it is $1064.

If you google— Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels, U.S. Average, August 2007 you can find the document. I think we spend about $800 per month but I just have one two year old. I live in Santa Clara.

Roughly $400-$500 a month for two adults and a 3month old (breastfeed, so that is a penny saver). I buy things in bulk at Costco--diapers, wipes, toilet paper, etc.; Beef and chicken--great savings here I just freeze individually; canned goods are great here too. I get my milk and random items from grocery store. The expense varies depending on what household items need to be restocked. I try to buy organic veggies so that adds to the cost.

WAY TOO MUCH! Although we have cut down alot by doing 2 major trips a month to WINCO. I wish I could give you an amount, but I am not too sure, my husband knows more about that, because he picks up alot of the home supplies and meat, milk, bread and cheese at costco! I have found since we make the 2 big trips we are not running as much to Raleys (right at the corner) and I know that is saving the $$. SOrry it isn't exactly the answer you were looking for! Hope it somewhat helped!

Hi A.,

We are also a family of 4 (a teenage girl and boy). My daughter has friends over a lot and likes to feed them. My son, 16, just plain likes to eat. Both of my kids are "fruit-aholics". We spend $60 a week on fruit and fruit juice alone. I spend another $85 to $155 a week on grocerys, depending on if we are trying to stock the pantry or freezer. We live in a small town and do most of our shopping at our local grocery store. The prices are higher than if we would drive to "the city", but with the price of gas these days it actually evans out. Household items (tp, papertowels, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, and some staple items, etc.) we buy at our local Wal-Mart once a month. That typically runs around $250 to $300 at the check-out counter.

Add it all up and divide by 12, the high side of our spending in this area comes to $1,236 a month.

Something I try to do is to cook meals that will produce left-overs. If it is something than can be eaten two nights in a row, made a new meal from (like roast to stew), eaten for lunch the next day, or feed hungry friends that visit, it's economical to me.

Hope something here helps. Grocery/household spending is always a tuff one. It would be so much nicer to have that money to spend on fun things we don't really need. :-)

Take care,
L.

We are a family of four (2 yr old and 4 yr old) and we spend between %600-$700 a month on groceries and household necessities. We do most of our shopping at Winco, but you have to check the labels every time since they are constantly changing their prices. What was cheapest last time isn't always this time. We buy laundry detergent and paper products at Costco, if you have a place to store them, it really does save quite a bit of money. Also, we have been trying to replace using paper towels with cloth towels. It makes a lot of extra laundry but it sure has saved us some money. Looking forward to my 2 year old being completely potty trained and not needing to buy diapers and wipes (also at Costco) anymore. That always saves a bundle. Another way I save money is buying crackers and snacks for my kids at the dollar store or 99 cents store. They don't taste bad and it is a lot cheaper than buying them from the grocery store. We have had to be pretty creative since I started staying home two years ago, but we have managed to cut way back lately. I had gotten the grocery bill down to about $500 month but with the way prices have been going up lately, we added quite a bit to that. We also check the flyers for great deals at other stores. Like last week SaveMart had cereal for $1.50/box. We bought eight boxes while they were on sale. We rarely go out to eat, but if we do, we always use the Entertainment book to save money on that too. I also just read an article that said to limit the number of trips to the store since each time most people spend $30 or more on impulse buys. I try to make a list and stick to the list, but even then it is easy to say, oh yeah, I forgot this etc. Another way to save money is to print coupons online for items you buy before going to the store.

We're a family of 4 and have a dog. I think we spend about $200/week without alcohol. So, that works out to about $850/month. It's dropped a little since the oldest is now out of diapers and the youngest eats real food. We try to stock up on meat from Costco and I often buy frozen berries there, too. We can't use up the fresh fruit and vegetables there. I've not done the math, but it just seems wasteful to buy them and then throw them away. Once the kids are older, I'm sure we'll start buying them there, though.

Oh, one more thing. I sent my husband to the store a couple months ago. It was the first time he had done the grocery shopping in a couple of years. He was blown away by the prices. So, if it's your husband complaining, then send him alone.

We are 2 adults and 1 9 month old and 2 dogs. I don't buy premade foods for our son, I make his food. I budget $100.00 every other week for 'food' and another $50.00 every other week for household items. We do not buy alcohol as it is not a necessity to live. Alcohol is far and few between. I generally am over by about $25.00 every other week. So my monthly expenses for household and food is $300-$350. I run a VERY TIGHT ship per say. I'm lucky if I can go out to lunch once a month or get Star Bucks once a week. Hope this helps.

We shop at Winco and I love it. My grocery bill is about half what it use to be. We are a family of 4 with a 2 and 4 year old. On average we spend about $400-450 a month. We make about 1 trip to costco a month and that normally is about $150 because of diapers and wipes. For laundry detergent I actually go to Sears. We have a front loading washer and you can get a big tub of detergent for 19.99 and it lasts me about 7months. The other thing that helped our grocery bill is sending my husband to the store he will not vary from the list. I'm not a big coupon shopper. I don't have the patience, but I've seen people leave the store with carts overflowing with food for only $50-80. So it does work.
Good luck.

The best way to ensure that you're not overspending is to create a grocery shopping list and not buy anything that's not on the list. If you can adopt the self-discipline of planning the week's meals in advance, you can create the grocery list from your meal plan. Groceries have gotten expensive, so be prepared to try store brands or to stock up when your supermarket is having a sale on an item you frequently use. Be flexible so that you can make substitutions of cheap products for expensive ones. I keep a pad of paper and pen in the kitchen. Any time I run low on an item I frequently use, I add that to the list. Best wishes.

We spend about $100 a week sometimes $150. I do all the paper and cleaning products at Costco. We are starting to drink less juices and bottled water and just have water from home in a glass or a sports bottle. This saves a lot on trash as well. I can't believe the prices of food these days. Everything goes up because of the gas crisis. The trucks that haul the food need more money because of gas. The farmers need more money to plow their fields. It's all a trickle down effect and unfortunately the prices will just remain the same. I don't see them going down anytime soon.

We are a family of 5 (kids are 2-5-10).i shop every 2 weeks, which includes food, baby supplies,household supplies, i spend between $500-$600 per month.

WEll let's see...I think I'm pretty much in the same boat. My boyfriend tells me I spend too much too!! We also have a big family...4 kids between the both of us...and his boys are teenagers...which is like feeding 2 more adults. One of them lives with us and the other comes over on weekends and summertime. I usually spend between $100 - $150 every 2 weeks..and that's just on food!! I usually go to Winco for food, but for household items (soap, cleaning supplies, t.p.) I go to Wal-Mart for...and that's about another $50-$60, depending on when we need it!

Been spending around 70 - $150 a week for 2 adults. I have two 3 month old boys, this amount does not include formula. We don't buy any alcohol. Can't say that I watch my spending too closely, but as a bankruptcy attorney I see lots of people's budgets and I think $400 per month is about average (verging on conservative) for 1 person, add another $200 per month for each additional person. Breaking it down by meal ($400/30days/3meals a day = $4.44 per meal) That is pretty conservative, particularly if you try to eat a lot of fresh produce and meat. Grocery prices have gone WAAAAAAAAAAAAY up recently. I never have paid too much attention to prices but even I've noticed the price increase. I used to spend about $50 to $100 per week for both us last year.

Hi A.,

It seems i am a little different from other Mom's here, which makes me wonder, am I spending too much!! lol.... I spend about $150.00 a week if the week is tight, if not, I could easily spend $250-300 on everything...groceries, toiletries..etc etc...I have myself, my husband, (who is in construction so he packs a HUGE lunch everyday), three girls, 10 and 9 years, and 11 months. I make all my babyfood, nothing is store bought so i frequent the farmers market and produce markets very often. We eat lots of chicken, turkey, lunchmeat, bread, etc etc. i do not buy much if any prepackaged foods, rice a roni type stuff. Mostly produce..I make my own snacks like healthly granola bars, i dry my own fruit for fruit snacks, trailmix..etc etc...

it seems I spend more than others here, but I have to buy everything needed to make as much of my own snacks/meals as I can. I don't buy soda or juice very often, milk is big in my house, and I am always over stocked with toiletries. I don't shop at Winco, Walmart, etc etc. There isn't one close to my house. I shop at safeway, target, Grocery outlet and produce markets. I hope this makes you feel better, i don't know how people feed 7 on $100 a week. I couldn't do it!

D. :)

A.,
I have 2 kids, 11 and 8 and a husband, a dog and a cat, and as always a TON of dirty laundry and I spend about $500 to $600 a month on groceries. I use coupons once in a while, and I always buy what is on sale or generic store brand items. I have tried shopping at different stores, buying bulk, even cutting out some items that I feel we can do without and I still seem to spend that much in a month at the grocery store! It really is sad!!! I don't know if that number seems high to other people or low cause they spend way more, but to me it's high, I am always struggling to keep this food cost thing down but it just isn't possible!

About 120-160 on planet organics deliveries 2x per month, and then about 260 on other groceries. 2 people, 5 pets.

It's hard to budget, that I know. I can't go into the grocery store even just for milk without spending 80 bucks. That's my average.

Take care, C.

Well, A., we are in the exact same position. I, too have 2 young ones, just your age. We, on average, spend around $200 per week on all groceries, sometimes more, sometimes less, but that is our average. It stings, but it's reality these days...ughh. Hope you're on par or below. It's difficult to feed even a family of four these days.

Hope you get lots of feedback!
M.

We are a family of 4 too (2 adults 2 little boys) I budget around $120 a week for food and about $150-$200 a month on misc. stuff (tp, dog food, paper towels, shampoo etc). I shop at Winco for groceries (love that store), Target, and Costco mainly and do coupons and when things I've bought go on sale (like at Target) I go back and get my price adjustment (every penny counts!!). I also make a menu for the month for dinners and I always make a list at home before I shop anywhere.

There is just two of us and we use the commissary, thank the Lord... and we have two dogs. I would estimate that we spend about $300+ in groceries and home supplies every month. We do get our TP, paper towels and tissues at Costco in bulk so we don't have that expense every month. We also bought a BRITA which cut out our bottled water expense. Hope this helps.