Home How often to you grocery shop and how much to you spend?

[pennquaker09]

It''s just the two of us, but we do spend about $750ish a month. I go at least once every week. I pack lunches for both of us most of the week and I like to cook dinner. We buy a lot of organic foods, fresh vegetables, fruits, wine, breads and the like. It''s important for me to eat healthy because my mothers family has a history of high blood pressure and just general unhealthy eating.

 

[Girlrocks]

We have 6 people in our house, and a 100lb. dog, so I spend about $250 per week. DH buys lunch out 1 day per week, I treat my youngest that are at home all day with me to Taco Bell 1 day a week, we do carry out on Saturday night. Other than that, eat home all the time. I also pack my oldest kids lunches for school all week; when they buy, they don''t have enough time left to actually eat! I thought when everyone was out of diapers my bill would go down but those kids can eat!! and they make up for the difference!! I try to make home cooked meals each night, but we do frozen pizzas once a week on that crazy night when everyone has an activity at the same time. I go to the store on Thursdays (my youngest is in nursery school on Tues/Thurs mornings so I can go with no kids), I buy 4 gallons of milk and then by Monday have to go back to get more fresh fruit/veggies and milk. We go through about 1 gallon of milk per day. And a 24 pack of tp only lasts 2 weeks if I''m lucky (5 girls in the house!).

 

[diamondfan]

DKS, I meant to type 550.00 and it sometimes includes the dog food and the paper and cleaning stuff which I buy less often, I was a bit tired! I get a lot of my stuff at Williams Sonoma (cleaning supplies) and the dog food/treats from a gourmet pet store type place. I will buy things like European hot cocoa mix from Williams Sonoma, it is much more expensive than Nestle and my kids will use it in one weekend! Or I will get Barefoot Contessa or Williams Sonoma cookie or brownie mix, which is pricey. Those things really add up.

I do have a LOT of stuff in the pantry, and people joke that in a snow storm they all want to come to my house! I also toss things when I do a pantry clean up, stuff that expired that made it into the pantry but not out!!!!

 

[LitigatorChick]

We are a family of 4 (me, DH, nanny, and 20 month old). I get most of my groceries at Costco, along with all my diapers, shampoo (for DH), etc. We are usually at about $250 per week. We don''t eat out/order in during the evenings. Nanny and baby eat at home all day. DH and I are usually lunching with clients, so no cost there.

 

[blushingbride]

Date: 2/21/2008 1:55:19 AM
Author: strmrdr
Its just me and I budget 1.10 for Pepsi and 2.00 for food a day and $10 a month for cleaning supplies, shampoo, and TP. and usually I''m a little over that on average for a month because of buying a few treats.
Roughly $120 total.
Shop 2x a month for food, 4x for Pepsi.
Can and have eaten for a month on $30 but its not fun.

I love it Strmdr - keep things nice and simple!

 

[diamondfan]

Also, my three kids have lunch at school, they do not bring it, and hubby eats out during the week as well. He sometimes has dinner meetings and I often go out in the evenings too, and sometimes, if it is a hectic night, we order out for the kids too. Weekends we do not eat at home as much, we take the kids out and we have plans with friends. I do tend to overbuy and hate to admit there is waste, but it is hard to be precise in the amounts.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 2/21/2008 8:24:40 AM
Author: diamondfan
DKS, I meant to type 550.00 and it sometimes includes the dog food and the paper and cleaning stuff which I buy less often, I was a bit tired! I get a lot of my stuff at Williams Sonoma (cleaning supplies) and the dog food/treats from a gourmet pet store type place. I will buy things like European hot cocoa mix from Williams Sonoma, it is much more expensive than Nestle and my kids will use it in one weekend! Or I will get Barefoot Contessa or Williams Sonoma cookie or brownie mix, which is pricey. Those things really add up.

I do have a LOT of stuff in the pantry, and people joke that in a snow storm they all want to come to my house! I also toss things when I do a pantry clean up, stuff that expired that made it into the pantry but not out!!!!

This makes me feel so much better, Diamondfan! lol The amount I spend doesn''t include any household items, like TP or paper towels, so our bill for everything is probably over $1500-1700. I buy all the sundries at Target because they''re cheaper there and it''s just fun to browse around there once a week

I''m worried as my kids get older that they''ll never be full and want to eat all day long. We eat a lot of meat and last summer, I cooked up a huge BBQ of chicken and my husband''s nephew ate more than a pound, so I''m frightened to think how much my two boys will eat & how much it''ll cost to keep up our organic food habit! During that summer meal, I think we almost ran out of dinner b/c I underestimated how much a teenager can eat.

Mara, I''m an impulse shopper too. Usually I end up buying boxes of tea or makeup items at our healthy local market (called Central Market) because I have lack of control!!! I don''t even drink all the tea. It just sits on my counter looking pretty.

Oh, and my budget doesn''t include beer!

We love to drink on the weekends!

 

[somethingshiny]

Our budget is $300/month. (family of 3) That includes all cleaning, hygiene, diapers, food, beverage, etc. We hardly ever eat out. Christmas time it''s more because I do tons of baking. Fall is less because we usually get some meat in our freezer.

 

[decodelighted]

Its just the two of us ... and FOUR cats plus the tiny dog. The cat litter ALONE is crazy! Hmmmm ... we go every week & it varies from $75-$150 depending on how much stocking up we need to do & what grocery store we feel like going to. Wal-Mart is the best if you''re feeling frugal! SO CHEAP but yicky & crowded. When we''re feeling fancy we might do an extra stop at a gourmet market or go across the river to the Stop & Shop for variety. Things go awry when I get the cooking bug too -- we''ve gotten all sorts of fancy sugars & heavy cream & stuff this week to make Butterscotch Pots De Creme & Red Velvet Black & White Cookies.

Additionally - maybe once every 2 months -- Sam''s Club for bulk paper products: toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, garbage bags, laundry detergent etc.

I read recently about a site called The Grocery Game ... couponing network or something where people save 40% on their grocery bills by shopping multiple stores. If anyone tries it, report back. I can''t quite get enough energy around the idea yet ... Ladies, I am lazy.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

For the two of us I''d say we spend about $100 a week at the grocery store - including things like cleaning products and shampoo, tp, etc. Sometimes we have to go in between big trips for milk for fresh fruit. We both pack our lunches for work and we eat out probably about 2x per week for dinner depending on what our families are doing.

We also have two dogs and two cats and they cost us about $40 per month for food and litter. If they go to the vet then it''s a bit more depending on why they''re going.

 

[isaku5]

Date: 2/21/2008 1:55:19 AM
Author: strmrdr
Its just me and I budget 1.10 for Pepsi and 2.00 for food a day and $10 a month for cleaning supplies, shampoo, and TP. and usually I''m a little over that on average for a month because of buying a few treats.
Roughly $120 total.
Shop 2x a month for food, 4x for Pepsi.
Can and have eaten for a month on $30 but its not fun.

Storm, I thought you had a dog??? There''s no allowance in your extremely tight budget for your furball.

 

[diamondfan]

MC, I am an impulse shopper and I overbuy things too. I am lazy about checking things, and I also love gourmet stuff and high end cleaning products because they smell so nice. (I have smell issues with chemicals). I can go into Williams Sonoma and spend 500.00 on sponges, counter spray, stainless steel cleaner etc, but it usually lasts a couple months. I also go to our fabulous farmers market, and a couple of great Italian grocers and gourmet stores, and get a lot of prepared foods. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and so do the kids, and I just like getting them more freshly every couple of days. I also will hit Target for bulk items, just not that often, again, lazy, so if I pay more for the 8 pack of paper towels at my local market, so be it! I do not include alcohol in the totals. I get all of our non alcoholic drinks delivered from the beverage place near by, they deliver cases and stock them in my fridge in the garage which I love. My kids love Vitamin water and drink a ton of it, so I get cases delivered, they also love bottled root beer, black cherry and cream soda which is heavy and a pain to buy in the market, so I get it delivered. I have tried the chain store grocery deliveries on line but they often are out of the things and unless you allow substitutions you do not know it until they deliver and you are shorted an item. I have been known to get stuff for cleaning, like my Shout color catchers (I am obsessed) at Drugstore.com and I get 20 boxes at a time since my market is often out of them. I really have no consistent system at all.

 

[isaku5]

It''s really interesting to see the variance in food bills; probably some of that variance has to do with location.

When I shopped for four 20 years ago....(Sorry to make you sleepy), I spent ~$125/week. About average, I thought, with two teenagers in the house, one of whom was a boy who ate constantly. My DH used to say to him, "Save some for the rest of us, Mark."

Now all kiddies have nests of their own and we''re back to only two adults and one high-maintenance cat and I''d be lying through my teeth if I said our weekly food budget is $125.

Our downfall is that we eat lunch at one of our favourite restauants (not fast food) every day. This is our major meal of the day and I rationalize it by saying that I brown bagged it for 20 years; our lunch break (if you were lucky enough to get it) was about 20 minutes with constant interruptions either by students or admin. There was no table in the staff room either so the sandwich was juggled on your knee and cold tea from Thermos placed on the floor. I know this sounds like the 5km walk to school, up to your knees in snow, and uphill both ways, but it''s the glaring truth. We both know that we could and should cook at home more often, but neither of us loves or even likes to cook.

Please don''t add up how much we could save if we had lunch at home every day as we''ve already done that and tsk tsked ourselves enough.

 

[pennquaker09]

Date: 2/21/2008 3:13:48 PM
Author: diamondfan
MC, I am an impulse shopper and I overbuy things too. I am lazy about checking things, and I also love gourmet stuff and high end cleaning products because they smell so nice. (I have smell issues with chemicals). I can go into Williams Sonoma and spend 500.00 on sponges, counter spray, stainless steel cleaner etc, but it usually lasts a couple months. I also go to our fabulous farmers market, and a couple of great Italian grocers and gourmet stores, and get a lot of prepared foods. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and so do the kids, and I just like getting them more freshly every couple of days. I also will hit Target for bulk items, just not that often, again, lazy, so if I pay more for the 8 pack of paper towels at my local market, so be it! I do not include alcohol in the totals. I get all of our non alcoholic drinks delivered from the beverage place near by, they deliver cases and stock them in my fridge in the garage which I love. My kids love Vitamin water and drink a ton of it, so I get cases delivered, they also love bottled root beer, black cherry and cream soda which is heavy and a pain to buy in the market, so I get it delivered. I have tried the chain store grocery deliveries on line but they often are out of the things and unless you allow substitutions you do not know it until they deliver and you are shorted an item. I have been known to get stuff for cleaning, like my Shout color catchers (I am obsessed) at Drugstore.com and I get 20 boxes at a time since my market is often out of them. I really have no consistent system at all.

I''m curious, where do you get the Vitamin Water from? Nate LOVES the stuff and it''s costly (and heavy) to buy from the grocery store.

 

[diamondfan]

Genuardis on line has it, as do the beverage distributor in Narberth. Not sure where you live, but most beverage places have it and will deliver. My kids are obsessed with it and it is heavy to tote around.

 

[somethingshiny]

When DH and I were first married, (young, dumb, and broke) A month's worth of food and supplies was around $80 (this was 8 years ago). Luckily we butchered so we always had meat, the money pretty much went for potatoes and pasta, tomato sauce and ramen noodles, but mostly to our terrible soda drinking and therefore peeing habits. They were sad times...especially the fried bologna dinners....blech...

 

[Mara]

lol MC I am horrible about seeing and buying impulses. Also I am guilty of buying things that mostly sit to look cute on the counter (Maribelle hot chocolate comes to mind, super cute container!!)...!!

DF...we could easily eat out of our pantry for a month or two...it's a walk in pantry so it is kind of big (fortunately or unfortunately?!). Greg is always like WHY is it so packed in here and why don't we eat out of here?? I try to clean it out 2-3x a year but it's really just 'reorganizing' it to make it look neat...haha. I am a sucker for wanting to be sure I could make ANYTHING at ANY TIME because sometimes I get impulses like 'i want to make chocolate chip cookies' so I have to have options.

Strm, $10 a month for toiletries and TP?? Our TP is $10 for a 12 pack and ummm we use about one a week. I am a total TP whore.

 

[diamondfan]

Mara, if I tell you how often hubby walks into the pantry and counts the cereal boxes or teas or flavored syrups or types of pasta or mustards...he comes out and says, Do we need 16 different types of cereal or 6 kinds of mustard, 3 kinds of peanut butter?! I have had my nanny, on a day when we are traveling and she is here alone , just sort out the pantry and give it some organization. I am frightened to see what is hidden in there! It is okay for about a week. No one keeps it that way. I also like to have many options. Tomatoes? Whole, diced, fire roasted, seasoned, not. Bread crumbs? Plain, seasoned. Icing, cookie decorating sugars, sprinkles, ice cream toppings, salad dressing (though I make most of mine homemade anyway)...pasta? spaghetti, linguini, orichette, rotini, farfalle, fusilli, rigatoni, granola bars, every kind you can imagine, 20 flavors of tea, cake mix, cookie mix, brownie mix, dried fruits, nuts, 5 kinds of chips, 4 kinds of pretzels...he seriously goes NUTS. But his mom never made a lot of stuff, grew up during WW II and went without food so he thinks it is just overkill. However, if I do not have what he likes, he does not love that! And my kids go in the pantry and each likes something different. My middle son only eats plain baked lays. Hubby likes mesquite, youngest likes sour cream and onion, oldest likes salt and vinegar. And could I get ONE type and say tough? Sure. But it mostly all gets eaten, so who cares? Why should they not have stuff they like? They are healthy and slim and eat a nice balance of things. My mom is another one who comes to visit and gets lost in there, eating my marshmallow fluff (the entire jar in two days) with a spoon right out of the jar.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/21/2008 3:06:24 PM
Author: isaku5

Date: 2/21/2008 1:55:19 AM
Author: strmrdr
Its just me and I budget 1.10 for Pepsi and 2.00 for food a day and $10 a month for cleaning supplies, shampoo, and TP. and usually I''m a little over that on average for a month because of buying a few treats.
Roughly $120 total.
Shop 2x a month for food, 4x for Pepsi.
Can and have eaten for a month on $30 but its not fun.

Storm, I thought you had a dog??? There''s no allowance in your extremely tight budget for your furball.

Tiger lives at my sisters house, it impossible too get an apartment that will allow big dogs anymore around here.

 

[monarch64]

Hee hee, I am SOOOO frugal when it comes to grocery shopping (I''d rather spend anything left over on clothing/shoes for myself--is that wrong?--we don''t have kids, lol!) We probably spend $100/week between the grocery and eating out. At the moment it''s down to half of that...we were both laid off at the first of the year and are currently surviving on unemployment benefits, which aren''t much at all.

So...we''ve realized that Target actually has cheaper t.p. and paper towels AND dog food than the larger discount stores (PetSmart, sorry, but I''ll save $2 if I hit the sale at Target for the same brand of canned food)...it''s really kind of an art trying to figure out which store is offering the best buy on essentials every week. I''ve never had to do this before and it''s kind of fun, I guess. We grab a Sunday Chi. times or Sun Times once a week and now use the ads sporadically to figure out how we can save a few bucks.

 

[pennquaker09]

To be honest, I didn''t know that you could shop Genuardis online, but I suppose that''s because I''ve never actually paid much attention and I don''t get much from Genuardis. I get mostly junk food from there, but all of the other stuff comes from Whole Foods. I''m not particularly good at grocery shopping. In Birmingham, we could go to Target in the middle of the night and grocery shop, so I have to admit that I''m still adjusting to not being in the south. And I totally get the having options thing. I looked in our cabinets and we have regular Oreo''s, Double stuffed Oreo''s, Golden Oreo''s - it''s quite shameful really.

I think I''m going to have to look the beverage distributor in Narberth up. I don''t venture down to Lower Merion, so I never knew about them. I looked up their website, but I couldn''t see what all they keep in stock. I''m inclined to think they are a Coke distributor because that is who owns Vitamin Water, but maybe they sell both Coke and Pepsi products. Back in Birmingham, we had a Pepsi distributor and they would deliver us Propel, Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper and Grapico (it''s a grape soda, it''s only sold in Alabama).

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/21/2008 7:52:28 PM
Author: Mara

Strm, $10 a month for toiletries and TP?? Our TP is $10 for a 12 pack and ummm we use about one a week. I am a total TP whore.

scott extra soft 6 mega rolls $4 lasts a month.
like charmen ultra better but it takes twice as much and its more expensive.

1 large bottle of suave strawberry $2 lasts a ~month and a half. $1.50 a month

1 bottle of dish/hand soap every 3 months $1 or $.33 a month
1 dishwasher soap $1 a month
1 bottle of orange cleaner .50 (buy a huge bottle and refill $2 every 4-6 months)
1 bottle of all purpose cleaner $1 lasts for months.
paper towels $.59 a roll generic, amount varies.
10 pack razers $1
shaving cream around .50 a month
Clothes detergent using the same bucket for the last 15 years no clue how much it costs. (pennies a month if that)

 

[partgypsy]

Whoo It sounds terrible but I''m GLAD to hear some people at least are spending more money than my family is.
I don''t have a Starbucks habit, pack my own lunch, don''t drink soda or eat junk food food snacks, but generally our family spends about 650-850 a month on food, and 100-300 on eating out (750-950 a month on food/eating out). I like to read the frugality blogs and everyone there is like "I go to the grocery store once a month and spend $250 a month on groceries". I''m like WTF? What are we doing wrong?
Granted especially with our 2 little ones we drink tons of (organic) milk, buy most of our produce and meat from whole foods, and my husband cooks a whole balanced meal pretty much every night. Since that is the one part of the budget I don''t control (my husband is the cook and shopper) I believe I can find ways to cut back, but talking to my husband I''ve found it is kind of a sacred cow. Especially since we went through a long beans and rice phase when we had no money he has a scarcity mentality and is afraid of me getting my budget hooks into the food budget. I hate having the lack of control over this part of the budget but until I start doing the shopping and cooking, will have to deal.

 

[Rhea]

Date: 2/22/2008 12:48:26 PM
Author: part gypsy

I don''t have a Starbucks habit

Oh, oops. Were we supposed to include our coffee habit?

If that''s the case then my budget is almost doubled

Actually, not quite, my in laws got us an espresso machine for Christmas and we''ve gone from £25/week down to the price of a bag of (£2.50) and two extra litres of milk (£1.70 total) both of each are figured into our grocery budget...plus about £3.50 per week in coffee from the station.

 

[partgypsy]

My "habit" (besides jewelry

) is having boxes of bag tea at work, and bring in either home made or newman''s own cookies. In the afternoon I make myself a cup of tea with a couple cookies. I have it at the time in the afternoon I need a little "pick me up". I''m the kind of person who when I wake up, I''m up; don''t need an extra kick in the morning.

I have family and friends who are really into the specialty coffee and try to get me hooked in it. But I need another expensive habit like I need a hole in the head.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 2/22/2008 12:48:26 PM
Author: part gypsy
Whoo It sounds terrible but I''m GLAD to hear some people at least are spending more money than my family is.
I don''t have a Starbucks habit, pack my own lunch, don''t drink soda or eat junk food food snacks, but generally our family spends about 650-850 a month on food, and 100-300 on eating out (750-950 a month on food/eating out). I like to read the frugality blogs and everyone there is like ''I go to the grocery store once a month and spend $250 a month on groceries''. I''m like WTF? What are we doing wrong?
Granted especially with our 2 little ones we drink tons of (organic) milk, buy most of our produce and meat from whole foods, and my husband cooks a whole balanced meal pretty much every night. Since that is the one part of the budget I don''t control (my husband is the cook and shopper) I believe I can find ways to cut back, but talking to my husband I''ve found it is kind of a sacred cow. Especially since we went through a long beans and rice phase when we had no money he has a scarcity mentality and is afraid of me getting my budget hooks into the food budget. I hate having the lack of control over this part of the budget but until I start doing the shopping and cooking, will have to deal.

Just out of curiosity, what are some of the frugality websites out there?

 

[partgypsy]

Zoe, there are a ton out there, I found them when I was doing a search about the book "Your Money or Your Life" which is a book I highly recommend.

The ones I frequent are:
The Simple Dollar
Get Rich Slowly
Dollar Stretcher

I certainly don''t do 100% of the things they suggest (I don''t make my own detergent for example!), but they are great for ideas and motivation.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 2/23/2008 8:42:31 AM
Author: part gypsy
Zoe, there are a ton out there, I found them when I was doing a search about the book ''Your Money or Your Life'' which is a book I highly recommend.

The ones I frequent are:
The Simple Dollar
Get Rich Slowly
Dollar Stretcher

I certainly don''t do 100% of the things they suggest (I don''t make my own detergent for example!), but they are great for ideas and motivation.

Thanks! I''ll have to check them out. People actually make their own detergent?! Okay, that goes a bit far in my opinion but to each his own, I suppose.

 

[chiapet]

Date: 2/20/2008 2:26:44 PM
Author:blushingbride
My DH and I were having this discussion the other night - we were trying to figure out what''s normal. We tend to go every two weeks and spend around $150 each trip (keep in mind, we live in NYC and we eat take out or go out to dinner in the neighborhood a couple times per week).

I live in NYC too and we spend waaaay too much $ on food. We order Freshdirect twice a month (about $100 per order) and I go to Gristedes once a week to get deli meat and junk food. I wish we had a car to drive to Target or Costco. I would LOOOVE to buy in bulk and not have to step into a Duane Reade for a month!

 

[divergrrl]

Date: 2/20/2008 11:06:59 PM
Author: EricaR
Ohhh, I am crazy and compulsive when it comes to groceries! There are two of us and we live in Southern California. I cook four or five nights a week, and I eat at home every day for lunch. I spend about $250-300 a month, including cleaning supplies, etc.

I grocery shop with the help of The Grocery Game. I love coupons, and the site matches up store sales with recent coupons and helps me save money. I generally save 60-70% each shopping trip. When I almost a high when I use coupons! It is quite pathetic actually!

EricaR: I am on week 6 of The Grocery Game! I was waiting for someone to mention it! Before GG, I spent about $600 to $700 a month (but $75 of that is high-quality animal food for my dog & cat) and that includes wine, etc. That also includes diapers for 2 kids & formula for my baby. (but NOT eating out...I keep a separate budget for dining out)

Right now I am in the midst of stockpiling, so last month I still spent $700 but bought about 3 times as much as I normally do. (had 3 cases of wine, 2 months worth of diapers and formula, 6 mo worth of laundry soap, shampoo, razors, and about 3 months worth of meat.) Last week I only spent $130 on groceries & toiletries/cleaning supplies, but this week it was $200, but I bought POUNDS AND POUNDS of fresh sockeye salmon that was on my LIST store.

I have about 35 cans of beans (I make a lot of healthy black bean soups, chilis, etc) and enough pasta & cans of diced tomatoes to feed all of Italy. I got about 10 boxes of cereal for .75 cents to $1 each. Crazy. My store has my tomatoes on sale for .33 a can & my cereal for $1 a box for 5 boxes, (but there are limits) so I might pop back in and get some more today.

I think as soon as I get my stockpile done (takes 12 weeks they say) the only things I will have to buy on a regular basis will be milk, dairy, and produce.

I even bought a 20cu ft. upright freezer this weekend. I LOVE it!

Love the grocery game. I used to spend all that money and NEVER have ingredients, and always run out of stuff. Now I only buy the things we use, and have so much "stock" on hand due to the concept of stockpiling, using coupons & double coupons (I buy 4 papers). I can cook anything anyone wants, anytime.

I can see that once my stockpile is set, my grocery bill will probably go down to about $300 a month. Including wine, dog food, diapers & formula.