Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
$800 / monthly - family of 4 (2 kids, 1 on baby food) and 2 dogs (budget includes dog food).
I try and keep it at $1,500 / month on total food ($800 groceries , $250 fast food , $450 restaurants). Would love to drop this in the $1,000 range though. I'm on the road for work so I eat alot of fast food.
This spending to me is just unbelievable. $700/mo. for FF & restaurants and you still spend $200 wk. on groceries? Why? If you are tying to bring it down to $1,000 that is great, there are a lot of areas in which you can cut, that is, if you want too.
My husband would travel for work M-F & come home weekend. Although he had a daily Per Diem, Sunday nights I would make 10 sandwiches for the week. He had a small portable propane grill he put on the back of his truck & would make up pork chops, burgers, steaks & chicken with vegetables. The money he saved went toward vacations.
That's what I did in No. Idaho when I lived off the grid. I lived about four years without a fridge. I had three ice chests and had to buy ice often. In winter it was easy to keep things frozen in an ice chest on the porch. We also had a VERY cold little creek right by our house so I kept milk, sodas, etc. in a milk crate in the water. The last six months I lived there I had a small propane fridge. Felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. I haven't had a kitchen stove for almost six years where I live now. Haven't missed it much.
[B As I posted for the NY I said that I would report back at the end of the month on our food budget for January. I had hoped to spend $250.00 for the two of us on food, but it actually came to $299.00. Granted, I had some meats, spaghetti sauce, etc. in the freezer that helped me in January. Writing everything down did show me what I was spending on weekly food costs. This was strictly food & one pizza. We ate very well, with beef, stews, soups, chicken & fish, lunch meats, lasagna. I don't use prepared foods and the crockpot came in handy for days I would not be at home for Chili & soup.[/b]
I went to the store yesterday & started my Feb. shopping, it came to $48.00. All the markets are very close to one another here so shopping is easy & I stick to a list. Of course, I realize that prices will change for Holidays & company, but I like how the year is starting off.
By reading this Forum over the last year I was able to cut my food bill down from $800 mo. to where it is now. I never realized how much I was actually wasting but "stock piling".
Thank you for all the tips in 2014, they are very useful tools for the New Year. Now on to February food budget. kelsie
I know Gandalara, but, I knew I would not be back to the store with Church & SB tomorrow. So in my mind food shopping the end of January is the "new" February.
Thank you for your post. I was able to put some of the extra money away in my envelope for Christmas 2015.
What do you consider to be a reasonable monthly budget for groceries? (# of people?)
How do you accomplish this goal?
How do you cut back if you need to?
Does anyone purchase organic/dye-free/preservative-free foods and manage to keep expenses down? We have two kids on the Feingold Diet so there are definitely expenses with that.
My wife and I spend 100-125 a week for groceries
I make a list every time I hit the grocery store or costco
I do not purchase organic or any of the sort unless it happens to be cheaper than the norm
Edit: I would add we spend 500-600 a month going out to eat too. Every once in a while the wife will get upset with the amount of spending and we normally cut the going out to eat down to once a week
Just thought I'd bring this thread back up for a minute. I kept my receipts for Jan. and figured out what was food, household, pets, etc.. I budget $200 mo. for everything and I hit it on the head in Jan.. But that also included a $50 gift card for my daughter which doesn't happen often. For JUST food I spent just under $100. For all the rest I spent $90. Most of the misc. stuff were things I don't normally buy like a desk lamp, the gift card, HBA and some office supplies. Most of the time I manage to make it just fine on less than what I budgeted for. It helps that it's just me, two cats and five fish!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know Gandalara, but, I knew I would not be back to the store with Church & SB tomorrow.
So in my mind food shopping the end of January is the "new" February.
