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Grocery budget??

2K views 17 replies 16 participants last post by  Dancing Lotus 
#1 ·
I found a website that had how much you should spend per family member (on a thrifty plan) and I added the total for my family a family of 3 (DH- 25y/o DD-5 y/o and Me- 25 y/o) and it says $400. ??? I thought it should be lower especially being thrifty. What do y'all think? I live in Missouri where prices are pretty average. I have lived all over the US and Missouri prices are pretty much in between low prices and high prices.
 
#3 ·
choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/how-much-are-you-spending-for-groceries/
 
#4 ·
I think sometimes, we truely thrifty people, have a very different version of what thrifty means than others!

I have seen articles on how to be thrifty and feed a family of 4 for only $5 per person! I always think, yowza! That's $20 for a meal, I feed our family (well, I might add) for $5 for the entire meal for a family of 4.

I guess, if you are completely and totally unfrugal, your grocery bill could be astonishingly high. Maybe it is taking that into account when it is saying $400 for a family of 3!
 
#5 ·
I am just starting out and trying to figure out how much I should be spending on groceries. We average about $300 to $400 on groceries, household items, and personal care items. I want to set a goal that is attainable.
 
#6 ·
That sounds high to me. The cost of living is higher than average here and I spend $40 - $50 every 2 weeks for DH and me.

According to that chart, I should be spending $73.20 per week on the thrifty plan. I could easily spend that much if I shopped a smaller grocery store and bought prepared foods, but I do most of my shopping at Price-Rite and the asian market, and we eat very little processed and prepared food.

We rarely dine out, so this budget includes, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the majority of the days. We're vegetarians, so that keeps costs down, too. Even still though, those numbers seem high.
 
#7 ·
When I figured mine, it came out a bit under what we spend on a bi-weekly basis. This was what they considered the "thrifty plan".

But I also think some people put things in the grocery category that other people wouldn't consider "groceries", such as toiletries, household cleaners, dog food, cat food, kitty litter, etc.

My grocery budget covers all of the above, so it might be quite a bit more than someone else who only budgets for food items only.
 
#8 ·
When I follow the government guidelines for the 'thrifty plan' it comes out to $1201.85 for a month! Holy guacamole, I feel bad upping it to $700.
 
#9 ·
Mine says I should spend $164.83 a week. Holy cow! We would be eating steak and seafood for that amount! I have a budget of $400 for a family of 5 (two adults and three pre-teen boys who are eating us out of house and home).

I don't always make that budget, but at least I try to keep it under $500 if we blow it. But, our HBA is included in that $400/$500 too. Dry cat food usually comes out of the misc section of the budget, but the wet stuff comes out of the grocery part.

Holy cow!! I should be spending (according to that chart) $659.30 on food a month.
 
#10 ·
I also live in Missouri and our budget for a family of 4 is $350- It was 400 but I've whittled and stockpiled enough to scale it back. That figure inlcudes all of our paper, OTC health and hygeine, and cleaning products. We all eat homecooked meals 3x per day... no school lunches or fast food so that is an accurate figure of how much we spend on food and household. We eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day and don't skimp on quality so I think it is an attainable goal.
 
#11 ·
For us it would be $38.60 + $34.60 = $73.20/week Based on 4.25 weeks/month...comes to about $311/month.

Well, I was feeling bad about raising our budget from $250/mo to $300/mo (including stockpiling), but guess I won't now. :)

That's the "thrifty" plan?! Good grief!! And we live in one of the highest-grocery-cost states in the country!!!! That's nuts!!

I upped our budget because I didn't have as much time to scratch cook/bake since starting back to school...
 
#12 · (Edited)
I don't think that they are taking in account the price differences between states.

Our monthly bill is not what I would call high but it isn't extra low either. But, I only buy certain things organic, and I buy mostly all natural things, and I buy atleast $75 dollars worth of juicy juice a month. I tyr not to buy things with chemicals in them that are man made, and everyone knows that with the all natural craze going on now, that label has skyrocketed certain things.

If we were moved back in to our own house, it would be lower (I wouldn't mind staying in the kitchen so much), but until we can do that, I am just stuck buying certain convenience items.

But, our state gives us about $400 dollars a month fs for 3 people(we usually have leftover $$ at the end of the month).
I think that has alot to do with the money that is going out compared to the amount coming in, so :shrug:

Also, I cannot use coupons either. And I can only go between two stores unless I go to the next town, and that ain't happening.
 
#13 ·
I spend considerably less than their thrifty plan.

I didn't read through the article, does that include nongrocery items? If it doesn't than woohoo! I'm spending about half of what they "recommend."
 
#14 ·
$400 for a family of 3 sounds a bit high to me, especially if that is only counting food purchases. I budget $400 a month, but that is for a family of 4, plus all HBA, paper, cleaning, household misc., and food/supplies for 5 big dogs and 3 cats.
 
#15 ·
Hi,

I have been reading the posts and I am shocked. We are only 2 and and I brought our budget down from $600 a month to $400. I am in Alberta and consider the prices a little higher than when I lived in Ontario. Where am I going wrong??? How do you calculate? I did $100 last week, and some of the vegis and fruit will last 1 more week. So do I divide that cost in half? Or should I be buying only ie: 5 apples and 5 bananas etc.... I am going to keep on reading for more ideas. We like the budget that we are at. I make just about everything from scratch. Some posts I have read they just have soup and sandwich or a bun for dinner. We do that once a week then have ie: spagetti and meat balls and veigs not just sauce and noodle... Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks
 
#16 ·
I think the grocery budget is my most unstable. It really depends on how good the sales are and/or how good the coupons are. I spend about $400 a month for 3 of us, that includes stockpiling, HBAs, cleaning, pet, etc. I've had months where I've spent less and when there's a great sale and I'm stockpiling meat--way more. I've stockpiled so much from last month, I will probably have a low grocery bill this month. I hope, I hope!
 
#17 ·
Our family should be spending $450 and we don't. Right now - with me being pregnant and on a special diet we are spending more than we normally do but as soon as I can work things around we will be fine. Tonight's supper will be about $5 for all 3 1/2 of us. That is a Chicken Fettuccine Casserole, mixed veggies, green beans, bread. Casserole is about $3.50. Mixed veg is .50, green beans .33, bread probably under .10 - closer to .05 for each slice.
 
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