how much do you spend on groceries??

United States
January 10, 2008 6:25pm CST
i shop every two weeks for a family of four and i spend about 150-200 dollars and i still have to buy the necessites milk eggs bread etc in between my two week span . i realized i spend about $500 a month on groceries and 90% of that is main items and about 10% are indulgments. how about you what do you spend roughly on groceries and how often ??
6 people like this
12 responses
@AmbiePam (94064)
• United States
11 Jan 08
Every two weeks I spend 50 dollars on groceries. I have tried to cut as many corners as I can, and still eat healthy. I get deodorant in free samples, so I cut some cost right there. If I have more money to spend those two weeks, I tend to buy more fruit. It's pretty easy for me to get veggies in my diet. One of my friends here who introduced me to mylot sent me a 30 dollar walmart gift card. I was so excited! I wasn't going to have to worry where the money was going to come from. She's so sweet. Her screen name here is AmberNormandin. Her grandma went in on the gift card with her.
2 people like this
@AmbiePam (94064)
• United States
11 Jan 08
Ugh! I could not stand to eat frozen dinners that long. Fortunately, I had this recipe book where a person could make dinners with 2-4 ingredients. So that made my meals more vegetarian than anything.
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Jan 08
i cant stand frozen dinners period i refuse to buy them and thats why i spend a little too much grocery shopping because i wont buy anything but fresh healthier products. but thats cool that you have a cook book that allows you to make a decent meal for one at little cost
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Jan 08
that was very kind and generous of her! i find that retail makes it harder for people to eat healthy for 50 dollars goes pretty far when buying junk and frozen dinners etc but if you buy fresh fruits and veggies and healthy meats etc its gets you if your lucky a few days worth. but i too try to buy as much fruits and veggies as possible.
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Jan 08
Well I normally only have $20 to use on food a week. I buy my own food now that I am 18 and I only get money through my dads child support, I have no job right now so it sucks.
2 people like this
• United States
11 Jan 08
that does stink $20 a week doesnt get you very far it barelys covers a decent healthy diet sincec the healthy food (fruits and vegg) are expensive
• United States
14 Jan 08
I do live at home still. But my mom feels that now I am 18 and need to learn to manage my own money. But It's cool with me cuz I am going to be getting my life in order and moving out soon anyways. So I would rather manage my own money.
@Mamaof2 (574)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
With a family of 4 we make a trip to the grocery store every week in the month. I would say we spend approx $90-$120 a week. Keeping in mind that we make trips thro out the week to the corner store for Milk and Bread. I realize that there are ways to cut corners and save a bit of money...but my husbands and my whole outlook on the situation is... We would rather spend what we do to provide good, nutricious food for our family and if we can do it financially, then we will continue to do so.
1 person likes this
@Mamaof2 (574)
• Canada
14 Jan 08
Absolutley!!!!
1 person likes this
• United States
14 Jan 08
i agree eating is quite costly but id rather go to the grocery store and spend $500 on healthy meals then cut to many corners and end up with high in sufar items!
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
11 Jan 08
I go to the grocery store every week and spend $30-$70. It's just me and my husband and I only buy the food I need. I don't buy any cleaning products at the grocery store - they're too expensive and I don't like them. I shop factory direct for all that stuff.
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Jan 08
i hear ya there i buy strictly food related items at the grocery store i buy my other items else where , where they are defintely cheaper in price!
@bowtieguy (5915)
• United States
11 Jan 08
Each trip I spent around 100$ to 120$, I have tried to cut back a bit and keep it in the 90's which seems to be working so far.
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Jan 08
any amount you can save each trip whether it be $5 or $20 defintely makes a difference at the end of the month!
• United States
11 Jan 08
We spend about 100 every 2 weeks for 2 people ... We have to get milk like every 5 days though, so we end up spending more. Most of our groceries are indulgances because we're college students and dont really have time to make anything :( Hope this helped!
• United States
11 Jan 08
i remember when i moved out on my own i too only mainly bought indulgents but has i startede a family i had to move onto actually making meals and not living off ramen noodles!
1 person likes this
@Ravenladyj (22902)
• United States
11 Jan 08
We have a family of 4 as well (plus 6 pets) and do our grocery shopping every week...Each week we'll spend roughly $175-180 EXCEPT on weeks when we have to buy things like animal food, litterbox stuff and laundry items then we spend around $225-250 or so....
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Jan 08
wow 6 pets there a whole noter spending budget in itself. food budget for me is strictly food items then although i dont have pets i have the everday necessites toilet paper, cleaning supplies diapers formula and everyday kids expense!
@Stephanie5 (2946)
• United States
11 Jan 08
I spend about $600 a month and another probably $200 on eating out. It's way too much! I buy for a family of 12 though. So, I guess it's not really that bad. It takes of lot of bargain shopping to even keep it down that low...and I probably spend what I save on gas traveling from store to store, duh! lol
• United States
11 Jan 08
dont even ask how much i spend on going out to eat on top of my normal grocery shopping. eating out is my weakness i usually spend about $150 a week eating out and thats ontop of the 500 a month for household food. but for a famiy of 12 you defintely have the bargain shopping down to only have to spend that much thats great
• United States
11 Jan 08
WoW! Thats a whole lot of money t be spenindng a month on grovceries!! I Spend usually 50-75 every two weeks on groceries and thats manily just the nessceities must haves... i still as well have to go out occainlly to get the bread milk etc etc... if i had $500 to spend on groceires i would so have enough food to last me most likely 2 and a half months as long as the food in the fridge stayed good that long!!
• United States
11 Jan 08
wow i dont think i could feed my family on 50-75 every two weeks and spending $500 is cutting cost the kids and hubby would like more snack foods etc and i usually tend to make the same dishes every week with a few new items so technically to really feed us i should spend about another 100 a month or so but $500 is more than enough i think! thanks for your comment
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
There is just the two of us, and since we have swtiched from Safeway to the Superstore, we now spend between eighty to one hundred and twenty dollars a week depending on whether it is just on groceries or groceries plus soaps, and other incidentals. We are on a budget and we try to get things on sale, so sometimes if we have lots of meat plus potatoes, rice, and pasta, we might go as low as sixty dollars. It will go lower in the summer when the produce is lower, but right now it is a bit high. This does not count Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving and Easter holidays.
• United States
14 Jan 08
wow with two of you that still seems high . yes in the summer i too spend less for we grill alot and eat less oven cooked meals to keep the house cooler. and your right holidays are a whole nother budget in itself . i thank you for your input!
@sid556 (30959)
• United States
11 Jan 08
I spend anywhere from 45 to 70 per week on groceries for me and my two daughters. It all varies depending on the money I have available.
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Jan 08
i make sure when doing our biweekly bidget to budget in the grocery money otherwise it will slip my mind and id be feeding a family of four on little to nothing and well between my hubby and son their appetites eat me out of house and home litterally !
• United States
11 Jan 08
I spend that a week, easily. Half of it is animal food for our 4 dogs, 3 cats and fish though. They eat a lot. We've got 3 big dogs and one medium sized dog. We buy the basics -- milk, bread, cheese, meat, eggs, juice, cereals, snack food, dinner food, canned veggies, mashed potatos, fresh fruits and fresh veggies and make meals on Saturday/Sunday that last for the whole week. That way we don't have to cook during the week. We usually don't have enough time.
1 person likes this
• United States
15 Jan 08
wow you have your own pet store at your place :). thats a good idea pre make the dinners freeze them or refridgerate them and save time during the week with me being 9 months pregnant i think i may give that a try to give myself a little more down time before and after the baby thanks for the tip!