average grocery bill?

[fluttermuffin]

Just curious.... what is an average amount to spend on groceries for a family of 4 (home full time) with older kids coming for dinner a couple times a month??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
avatar graphic courtesy of "graphics by Irene"
proud wife to George recently retired Army National Guardsman
Mom to Derek (22), Drew (28) & Cady (16)

stepmom to Curtis (24), Ashlee (22) & Lindsey (20)
gramma to Alex (angel baby 2006) & {soon to be} AJ (due Nov 10)
furmom to Mabel Sue , Missy May , Sammi & multiple outside kitties
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~need knocking out our debts... one at a time~

Total Debt:
(now) 99,309.70 / (was) 131,598.73
House: 59,888.02 / 75,500.00
04 Ranger: 10,860.52 / 21,793.50
07 Focus: 20,947.56 / 20,947.56
95 Aspire: 3,748.32 / 3,748.32
Cub Cadet: 1,005.93 / 4,200.00
WaMu CC: 1,991.43 / 1,991.43
SSI: 300.00 / 2,700.00
Vet: 567.92 / 717.92

how did we let it get this far???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emergency Fund - 3,534.34/ 5,000
silver jar - 7.20
penny jar - 1.25
Fall Fling - 0/1000 things flung (by 30 Nov)
weight loss : 0/#67 lost (start 25 Oct 07)
Oct. eat at home days - ?/31
Oct. grocery challenge - ?/500

[banana]

I dont know what the average is but I spend around $125 a week. Me, dh,
10 year old son and 18 year old nephew. That includes paper products and cleaning supplies.

[DAAC3DEC]

We are a family of 5 and 9 pets......we spend anywhere from $35 to $75 a week.

[Its_Donna]

My budget is $400/month for all grocery, pets, cleaning, laundry and paper products. I try to stay at or under that. There are 3 of us.

[Neeley]

We are a family of 4 - two adults and two very active, athleteic teens who are good eaters.

We spend around $600 a month. A few things to keep in mind about our eating habits.....
...I am a vegetarian, but the rest of the family eats meat. I eat soy and nuts in place of meats.
...DS eats several pieces of fruit a day (at least a couple of oranges, couple of apples, banana, pear, a bunch of grapes). We spend at least $200 a month on just fruit.
...We have been averaging 10 or so cases of bottled water a month, 8 loaves of wheat bread, 3 loaves of white bread, 8 lbs of shredded cheese, 3 lbs of block cheese, 100 slices of American cheese, 10 lbs of fish(salmon or tilapia), 20 cans of tuna, 5 lbs of shrimp, 10 lbs of pre-cooked sliced ham, 10 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breast, at least 8 lbs of shredded lettuce, 6 dozen eggs, 2-3 boxes of Bubba Burgers (yes, Heather you converted us to Bubba's. DH says they are really good)This is just a sample of what we go through and by no means a complete list.
...My budget includes food only. No paper products, no pet supplies, no H&B. Just food.

[jamie79]

We are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 teenage boys though the oldest is now at college, plus 4 cats and for all food, pet needs, and hba I average somewhere in the $450-$500 range

[Edna_E]

I think it varies alot according to whether you garden or not and what your shopping resources are. I know a lot of people here aim at $100 per week - but they also eat out some and don't factor that into their grocery budget.

[mikandmari]

I'm trying to keep my grocery bill at $500 per month, which would include paper, cleaning & pet products. We get take out or eat out once per week (eating out is now done at local pizza & beer dives). We pack lunches for work.

It's getting more difficult. I've compared my grocery receipts from last spring. Prices are up on everything.

[frugal-fannie]

I feel like I spend 1200 per month but that would probably count eating out. I have 4 kids, one who lives at college and is cooking his own food. Probably eats steak and mac and cheese every day-as that is about all he knows how to cook.he probably spends $400 by himself. I let him go to Alberton's by the college and buy his food. I am not as concerned about his spending, if he would just eat some veggies. This is our first month so we will see how much of his budget it actually going for food.Besides budgeting, I am also going to teach him to cook some cheap food, Even though the girls in the dorm sound like they are feeding him some.He is 6'2" and eats plenty. My husband likes good food so we spend on shrimp, steak and salmon.Food is important to him. I buy things when they are on sale or at sam's club,veggies at the 99 cent store, or Winco. I save tons of money there. But haven't kept a good total, which after seeing all your totals I am curious how much I really spend. I grow some vegetables seasonally but with the heat you have to watch your garden carefully or it gets .

[mom2matty]

I average about $500 a month for my family of 4. That includes H&B stuff, pet food and groceries. Some months it is more, I am trying to buy as much organic as I can and that tends to cost a bit more!!

[Lambie]

I'm spending more money on groceries for a few reasons....I went back to work part time and am super busy with homeschooling and other activities. Also as we all know the prices have went up!!! I spend from $325-425.00 per month for the 3 of us and a big pooch...plus I have my parents over a few times per month too. Katy

[fluttermuffin]

I had figured about $500 a month... we have a half beef and half hog butchered every fall... and I have a little bit of garden stuff frozen... I don't have to worry bout meat unless we want chicken or fish. Just was wondering if I was on the right track!!! thanks again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
avatar graphic courtesy of "graphics by Irene"
proud wife to George recently retired Army National Guardsman
Mom to Derek (22), Drew (28) & Cady (16)

stepmom to Curtis (24), Ashlee (22) & Lindsey (20)
gramma to Alex (angel baby 2006) & {soon to be} AJ (due Nov 10)
furmom to Mabel Sue , Missy May , Sammi & multiple outside kitties
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~need knocking out our debts... one at a time~

Total Debt:
(now) 99,309.70 / (was) 131,598.73
House: 59,888.02 / 75,500.00
04 Ranger: 10,860.52 / 21,793.50
07 Focus: 20,947.56 / 20,947.56
95 Aspire: 3,748.32 / 3,748.32
Cub Cadet: 1,005.93 / 4,200.00
WaMu CC: 1,991.43 / 1,991.43
SSI: 300.00 / 2,700.00
Vet: 567.92 / 717.92

how did we let it get this far???
<a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/debt/wYIoXxH/">
<img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/t/wYIoXxH/debt.png"></a>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emergency Fund - 3,534.34/ 5,000
silver jar - 7.20
penny jar - 1.25
Fall Fling - 0/1000 things flung (by 30 Nov)
weight loss : 0/#67 lost (start 25 Oct 07)
Oct. eat at home days - ?/31
Oct. grocery challenge - ?/500

[LexTysMommy]

Wow in your signature I see you have kids from 16-28. Those are big eaters! SO I think you are right on track for $500 a month..and even then that seems you would have to do alot of from scratch cooking. I see you have half hog and half beef each fall.That has got to help.

It is just me and my two kids 5 and 9 here in the house. But I do feed 7 kids breakfast, snack, lunch, snack 5 days a week. We spend on average $300 a month.

[quiltingmommy]

For DH, DS and I we spend about $200-$250/mo for food. It used to be less than $200 but I've noticed that the food prices are slowing inching their way up and it costs me about 10-20 more each week. My DS is a raw vege eater so I have to make sure I buy loads of veges that you can eat raw as well as lots of fruit, cheese and yogurt for us. I also have stopped buying anything with HFCS so that has brought our food bill up a little.

[PB&J]

I try to aim for 500 per month, but usually it is close to 600. That is for all groceries and HBA. We are a family of 6 (including 2 teen boys!) plus one cat.