S/O How much do you spend on groceries?

[aydee]

I'm curious what everyone spends on groceries on a weekly basis? How many people are in your family, and how often are you eating out vs. cooking at home? Does your grocery bill include things like cleaners and paper goods?

[aydee]

For our family of 4, we always seem to end up spending $150/week at the grocery store. That seems like it must be on the high side to me. We only eat out once a week, everything else is made at home including lunches. Our grocery bill does include the occasional laundry detergent, paper towels, etc... I think the bill is so high b/c we buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies each week. At least that's what I'm trying to blame it on. Maybe I need to go through next week's grocery bill and categorize our spending. We also spend $13/week just on milk.

[puck1182]

We're a family of 3 and usually spend $100-125 per week, including non-food items. We go out to dinner once or twice a month, and I buy breakfast or lunch once or twice a week, depending on what my schedule is like. DH rarely eats meals out since he telecommutes and is home for most meals. I could probably get the grocery bill down a bit more but I buy organic for the dirty dozen almost all the time.

[ericalee27]

Too fucking much. So this is counting everything including diapers, pet products, etc - I'd say $175/week for 4 of us.

[wineandcake]

We go to the store every few days so hard to keep track, but probably 100-125 for a family of 3. We don't buy diapers, cleaning products are included when needed, and paper products. We live in the middle of nowhere and prices are absolutely ridiculous, we could easily cut spending in half if we lived in the city.

[holly321]

Probably between 100-150 a week, for the four of us. We also can from the garden, have potatoes from the garden, and get beef from the butcher.

But, ds has a lot of dietary issues. Our milk is about $7.50 a gallon. We do a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables too.

[tulips114]

Geeze I spend too much. I feel like I'm closer to $175-200. I eat lunch out once a week, otherwise we only eat out occasionally, like not even once a month. But the girls have breakfast and lunch provided for them at daycare. That does include all food and non-food items. WTH, I need to reign it in.
ETA there's 4 of us.

[kleigh926]

My grocery bill includes cleaning items, toiletries, pet products, diapers, and formula and is usually around $130-150 per week. The diapers (for 2) and formula are what's killing us. We eat out once a week, although that's changing now to maybe 1-2x per month since we have another car payment.

[dc2london]

A lot. I try not to think about it too much bc I buy quality foods, and I also know that I am getting the best prices on the things that I buy based on the stores available to me. We have 2 adults and 2 garbage disposals children eating most meals at home. We will occasionally get lunch out on a Saturday, about once a month? I have to go to Costco weekly for things like avocados, bread, turkey, berries, etc. So just on food alone we're probably at $150/week. In the spring, summer and fall we get most of our produce from our garden or the farmers market so then it goes down a little bit.

[aydee]

Okay, this is making me feel much better. Maybe my grocery bills aren't actually as far outside the norm as I thought. It's just astounding that food could really cost this much.

For those of you who are able to spend around $150 including diapers, I'm impressed! I don't even want to think about what I spend on diapers. Those I order in huge boxes from Amazon on subscribe and save. It's probably better that I don't calculate the weekly/monthly cost!

[photomama1990]

We spend $120 or so a week. That includes everything. We don't eat out often, maybe once a month. Except I have this pregnancy craving for a BLT on a fresh bagel from a local bagel shop. I go there every time I am near by. Probably once every 10 days or so.

Eta: we are a family of 3. But I feed my sister breakfast and lunch 3 days a week.

[colinsfebmommy]

Family of 3 and we easily spend 175-200 a week. We're bad when it comes to that. That is one area we don't budget because we are out of control in that area. We are the people who randomly think of food we want and just buy it even though we were going to have something else for dinner. Plus we buy a lot of organic and quality cuts of meat.

[sagen]

I always thought I spent a ton, but I guess my $150 a week budget isn't that bad, we have 6 in our family.

[sagen]

I forgot to add diapers in. I pay $40 a month, and $20 every few months on wipes. So spread out that make groceries $165 a week the months I buy a giant box of wipes. Also I do a freezer meal group each month, that is $70 worth of food, and so it is more like $180.. Official number $180 for my family of 6!

[ericalee27]

Oh yeah, someone mentioned their daycare provides breakfast and lunch - that is a huge expense for us for our two boys. I am so afraid of the teenage years with these two boys already.

[singingsea]

For the 3 of us we spend about $100-180 a week on groceries. Doesn't include cleaning materials but does include paper goods. We try to make home cooked meals as much as possible but DH works for a causal fine dining chain so we get free food. So a couple days a week he gets carry out.

[draeray]

Too Much. Probably $200 a week including all things. But I eat lunch at work everyday and we eat out probably once a week. This is for a family of 4 and occasionally my father a couple times a week.

[seadragon2013]

We spend $100-$125 a week at the grocery store to feed a family of three in a very HCOL area. We meal plan and grocery shop once a week, which helps keep expenses down. We also spend around $150 a month on pizza and going out to eat.

We buy diapers, paper products, and toiletries once a month at Target, along with too many random odds and ends. I always feel like I'm bleeding money on those trips - we seldom leave without spending at least $150.

[Deleted]

On average about $150 a week, including household goods.

[cinnasugar]

I would say we spend around $150 a week (including monthly or biweekly trips to Costco for diapers and paper goods), and including in the summer the farmers market. We eat most meals at home and usually make enough so we can bring leftovers for lunch. Kids get lunch at daycare 3 days a week. I haven't sat down to average it out but this is my guess. And we are a family of four.

[summer]

This is definitely encouraging!

I typically spend between $60-100 for three people each week at the grocery store, and probably another $25-$50 at Target. This includes everything except for diapers, which we get on the Amazon Subscribe program.

I don't know that I do a ton...I meal plan every week so that keeps me from buying too much extra stuff. We always buy meat in the bulk/value packs, and then DH seperates them into 1lb portions that most recipes call for and we freeze it. I shop at Safeway so I do the online coupons and personalized deals that their website offers.  And I use the Target Cartwheel app but I really don't think I save that much from it.  Between the two I usually save about $10/week.  And we try to buy the biggest sizes of laundry detergent, diaper wipes, and similar things we can find.

I should add I rarely buy cereal; DH buys it in bulk at Smart and Final.   

[laketide]

I do about 150-175 a week but that includes diapers and all supplies. I do need to start meal planning - I think that a lot. I should also probably leave DH at home - especially when he's hungry.