how much do u spend a week on food?

[jacksmom2009]

how much do u spend a wk on food? what part of US do u live in. and how many people are u feeding.


we spend 100-150 on food for family of 5. and are in northeast. this doesnt include toiletries or anything just food.

[fumofu]

$100-$125 a week for the three of us (although DS barely counts). We shop mainly at Whole Foods. This includes some toiletries.

[nellonello]

$120 per week for 5 of us in Seattle.

[essnce629]

My budget is $165 a week for 4 of us and I usually spend exactly that! I'm in Los Angeles, CA and do the majority of my shopping at Trader Joes, and then the rest at the farmer's market and Whole Foods.

[bigpassport]

I hope this isn't too OT, but how do you calculate what your food cost is for a week? Some things I buy on sale or in bulk and aren't immediately used.

[daisymommy]

5 People (the baby eats more than the older two kids!)
Northern VA (high cost of living)
95% organic food
$150-$175
3 meals a day + snacks, 7 days a week. We eat out maybe once a month.

[m448]

Quite a bit. On food alone we're talking average $200 but there are 5 of us home all day since we homeschool and although the baby is mostly breasted my older boys are active with growthspurts to match. I make most meals from scratch, buy meat in bulk from a local farmer, flour from a wheat coop also in bulk and keep two garage freezers as well as a garage pantry pretty well stocked. We live in a low col area but food seems to be a bit higher around here than say Florida where my mom lives.

[SnuggleBuggles]

$150 probabky. $100 at the grocery store and $50 to eat out. Too much and I have been getting better.

Beth

[schrocat]

Less than a $100 a week for 2 adults, 2 kids, the 3rd kid just drinks breastmilk. Houston TX. I cook 2 hot meals a day, usually asian style with rice, a meat dish, a large vegetable dish and a soup dish.

[fivi2]

Austin Texas, 2 adults, 2 preschoolers. I used to keep it under $150 a week for everything (including toiletries, pet food, etc) but it has been creeping up and I am usually about $170. Add to that the occasional (every 3 months ish) Costco run of about $100 and the occasional dinner out. Dh and I try to pack lunches every day.

[mommylamb]

A lot. Probably $150-$200 a week for the 3 of us. But we don't eat out much at all and usually bring lunches to work. I know we waste more than we ought to, and we like fresh veggies (I never buy frozen). It's hard to separate out the costs of toiletries/cleaning supplies because we buy them at the same place. I'm factoring in an average that includes our 1x 6 weeks costco shop for meat. We also have wine with dinner most nights.

[sarahsthreads]

Well, our grocery bills often include some toiletries, paper products and cleaning supplies, so I'm not entirely sure. I spend on average $150 per week at the grocery store, for a family of 4. But we have stopped eating out almost entirely in the past two months, so what I spend at the grocery store is what we spend on food.

I cook almost everything from scratch, and the packaged foods I buy (snacks & cereals for the kids) tend to be the more expensive ones because we don't buy things with HFCS or food dyes. I also don't shop around for the lowest possible price on things, because I just don't have the time or energy to go to multiple stores just to save a few dollars a week.

I feel like our grocery bill is high - especially lately, the prices of things have *definitely* gone up - but every time I worry about it to DH he insists that it's not a problem, and that he appreciates the food I buy and meals that I make for our family, so I guess I shouldn't worry so much.

Sarah :)

[boolady]

It's hard for me to be completely specific, because I don't necessarily do a weekly shopping, sometimes it's every 10 days, plus there's usually a once-a-month Costco run, and a once-a-month, sometimes twice-a-month, Trader Joe's shopping. It's high for three people, though, and probably averages $150 plus per week. We all bring lunch, eat breakfast at home, and try to cook as much as we can. I also buy lots of organics and/or hormone and antibiotic free products.

[lizzywednesday]

If I really thought about it, I'd say roughly $100/week on just food. We've started to budget and do a meal plan, so that helps us stay on track. We also don't shop weekly; we shop more like Jen (boolady) - roughly every 10 days, sometimes every 2 weeks.

We don't buy a lot of beef (which is priciest) and buy store-brand for a lot of foods, except for DH's soda (he's a Diet Pepsi or Coke Zero guy) and OJ (we're not fond of anything other than Tropicana) so we manage to save a bit on brand names.

We've started to buy fewer and fewer processed foods and those that we do buy tend to be Trader Joe's (better quality, less packaging, etc.)

We primarily shop at Wegman's and supplement with Trader Joe's for things like ice cream, yogurt and treats. I'm looking forward to the summertime when the Farmer's Market will be more practical for fruits & vegetables, though.

[m448]

Well, our grocery bills often include some toiletries, paper products and cleaning supplies, so I'm not entirely sure. I spend on average $150 per week at the grocery store, for a family of 4. But we have stopped eating out almost entirely in the past two months, so what I spend at the grocery store is what we spend on food.

I cook almost everything from scratch, and the packaged foods I buy (snacks & cereals for the kids) tend to be the more expensive ones because we don't buy things with HFCS or food dyes. I also don't shop around for the lowest possible price on things, because I just don't have the time or energy to go to multiple stores just to save a few dollars a week.

I feel like our grocery bill is high - especially lately, the prices of things have *definitely* gone up - but every time I worry about it to DH he insists that it's not a problem, and that he appreciates the food I buy and meals that I make for our family, so I guess I shouldn't worry so much.

Sarah :)

This applies a lot to us as well. Forgot to add the two dogs to the mix too. Add to it that aside from my husband's preference for paper toilet paper and keeping a backup stash of paper towels we don't use a ton of disposable paper goods or cleaning products in our home. I use microfiber towels in the kitchen as my cloths, mostly cloth napkins, cloth pads for me, cloth diapers for the babies and even a separate set of cloths for bathroom cleaning/all purpose scrubbing. I use vinegar and hydrogen peroxide plus a little bon ami to clean everything in the house so while the food costs are a little higher our paper goods expenses are a little lower. However when we've had babies we do fall back on paper plates/cups as a survival mechanism. When you're doling out 4 plates xday plus 5 once more in the evening and then snacks it was just too much in that baby period.

[ladysoapmaker]

We spend somewhere between $80 to $180 per week. This does not include dinners out. I have been to the store a few times and really stocked up and spent $250. I try to take a list and stick to it, I tend to graze when I shop and go oh this will be good. DH is so much better at sticking to the list, unless he sees a really good deal.

We live in SW Ohio and I am feeding 6 people, one of which is a teenager. And I just realized I bought 3 gallons of milk on Tuesday and we are down to our last one. I think our grocery bill will be going up.

Jen

[HIU8]

Groceries only about $150/week. If you add int toilettries then it ups to about $180/week. Add in eating out once a week and we are up to $225/week. We are in the DC area. I strictly coupon and sale shop and do most of my shopping at Walmart/Target and Giant. I rarely do Trader Joes and Whole Foods as that would add a lot to our weekly spending that we just don't have. Of course, if we didn't eat out once a week (we do the buffet at Armands on Saturday nights which ads about $30 I guess we could).

[lizzywednesday]

We spend somewhere between $80 to $180 per week. This does not include dinners out. I have been to the store a few times and really stocked up and spent $250. I try to take a list and stick to it, I tend to graze when I shop and go oh this will be good. DH is so much better at sticking to the list, unless he sees a really good deal.

We live in SW Ohio and I am feeding 6 people, one of which is a teenager. And I just realized I bought 3 gallons of milk on Tuesday and we are down to our last one. I think our grocery bill will be going up.

Jen

Not just a teenager, but a teenaged boy. I (mostly lovingly) referred to my brother Ger at your DS1's age as the "human vacuum cleaner." (Not to scare you, but at almost 30, he's slowed down. But only just.)

[lil_acorn]

$150-200/week for us - there are 4 actually eating this food (+1 baby still nursing). Then we usually go out to eat as a family once/week ($75) and lunches is probably another $50.

[MelissaTC]

Around $150 for the three of us. Mix of conventional and organic. I tend to shop Harris Teeter, Super Target, Whole Foods and Costco. I am in the RTP area of NC. My patents, who live in the NYC metro area, find our food prices to be higher than where they live. My Dad works in the food and beverage sector and is always amazed at how much he spends when they come to their house down here.

[m448]

melissa I'm in the triangle as well and I'm glad to hear confirmation. Our total is a mix of conventional/organic but mostly "bad ingredient free". I mostly shop at Costco, BJs, Lowe's Foods (for sale stuff) and walmart only for household and non perishable stuff. I was a much bigger walmart shopper before but their fresh and bakery items quality went down severely in the last two years to the point that it was not economical to shop there.

Like mommylamb we also eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies which adds up but DH and I agree that it's something we want our kids to like.

[emily]

We are in NJ. Groceries probably about 150. The bulk of that is fresh fruits and veggies. We try to buy organic and much as possible. Add to that take out a couple of nights a week plus lunch for DH and I 3-4x a week and we're probably close to $300 a week for our family of 4. YIKES! Sad thing is I dont even think we eat that great.

[momof2girls]

We are in NJ and spend about $90 a week. I am vegetarian so we spend less on meat. We also have 2 girls so they don't eat that much.

[JoyNChrist]

I'd say it's around $150 for a family of 5, although the babies are mostly breastfed (we do supplement with formula - I buy Sam's brand - and they just started eating baby food).

I need to do better...I want to start couponing and paying attention to sales (I shop mostly at Kroger). It's just finding the time and getting organized.

[alexmommy]

About $110-$140 a week for 2 adults and one toddler who eats well. Yesterday's lunch for him was two medium-sized mangos, about a cup of pasta with veggies, a small piece of bread with peanut butter and four dates...

Our grocery bill includes all household consumables, so toiletries, cleaning products (though I don't clean as often as I should), paper products, etc, but not diapers. We rarely eat out and I make a lot from scratch (bread), though I always have some back-up frozen dinners available just in case.

[icunurse]

I use $120/week cash for all groceries, cleaning products, pull-ups, etc. Mainly shop at Trader Joe's, Costco, and Walmart (not proud of shopping there, but closest and cheapest by quite a bit). Coupons are my friend :) Mostly natural or organic products and I have been trying to do more from scratch (dehydrating my own fruit, huge pots of sauce to freeze for later). But we do buy bulk meat once a year (pork and grass fed beef) and that averages to about $25 additional per week. So, I guess it would be closer to $140-$150/week for us.

[eh613c]

Los Angeles, CA, 2 adults (I'm 32 weeks preggers) and 1 toddler. It comes out to about $150/wk. DH brings lunch to work about 3x/wk and breakfast everyday. I usually to 3 stores to find the best deals.

[goldenpig]

2 adults, 2 toddlers, 2 cats in SF Bay Area. I looked at Mint and last year we averaged about $250/wk ($1000/mo). This includes cat food/supplies & household goods. I mostly shopped at Safeway, with some Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and rarely Costco. That doesn't even include takeout/restaurants which added another $100-150/week.

This month by being way more cost conscious (buying more store brands/Club card deals, not always buying organic, fewer snacks, not stocking up, eating more leftovers) I've been able to cut groceries to $200/week plus we've eaten out a lot less ($50-100/week), but I don't know how much lower I'm going to be able to go. I don't have a whole lot of time to run to multiple stores and play coupon games. This question (what do you spend on groceries) was posed to my local mom's group and across the board the answer was in the $800-1200/mo range, so I guess I'm not too far off base even though the amount compared to you guys makes me want to :bag.

[LMPC]

I spend about $125 a week at WF and then about $20 (maybe) at the farmer's market for extra produce. I won't even begin to tell you what we spend on going out to eat...we have been trying to reign that in though. Oh, and we are 2 adults and 1 good eating toddler.

[vludmilla]

$100 or less on three people, lots of organic, though not all, and in the NYC suburbs.

[AnimalBabe]

2 adults, 2 toddlers, 2 cats in SF Bay Area. I looked at Mint and last year we averaged about $250/wk ($1000/mo). This includes cat food/supplies & household goods. I mostly shopped at Safeway, with some Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and rarely Costco. That doesn't even include takeout/restaurants which added another $100-150/week.

This month by being way more cost conscious (buying more store brands/Club card deals, not always buying organic, fewer snacks, not stocking up, eating more leftovers) I've been able to cut groceries to $200/week plus we've eaten out a lot less ($50-100/week), but I don't know how much lower I'm going to be able to go. I don't have a whole lot of time to run to multiple stores and play coupon games. This question (what do you spend on groceries) was posed to my local mom's group and across the board the answer was in the $800-1200/mo range, so I guess I'm not too far off base even though the amount compared to you guys makes me want to :bag.

I'm with you! I live in Northern VA and we spend probably about $220 on average per week and then another $60 on take out, starbucks, etc. This is for just my husband and me and our son (but he is still mainly breastfed so that's only adding in the diapers, wipes, jar food, etc.). I KNOW we are spending way too much but with work and caring for a 7 mo old baby it's tough to find time to shop around. I try to cut coupons for Giant or Wegmans but that's about it, and I definitely get a few items here and there that are not on my list when I shop. :oops:

[kijip]

Averages is $150ish a week, mostly but not exclusively organic, but we go to fairly extreme bulk and other measures. If we bought food from the regular grocery store or whole foods etc with weekly shopping trips that would be closer to $250-300 easy.

I have been very closely tracking our food stuff for a looonnnngg time. Maybe it is because prices are high for food in Seattle, but I can not see how a omnivore family of more than 2 people could do all organic at regular stores like whole foods etc for $100-150. I would spend close to $100 being a smart shooper of conventional foods at cheaper stores without bulk and food storage to get the best sales and prices, provided I was eating meat and getting a lot of fruit and veggies.

I have never worked through a budget with someone said less than $200 who had this number right unless they were copiously tracking it, being uber frugal or doing a cash envelope system. A lot of people say 100 or 150 but are not really adding up all the little trips to that one big trip. It adds up fast. My brother had guesstimates his food budget at almost half of the actual number.

[vonfirmath]

Austin Texas 2 adults, 1 preschooler, 1 on the way

My budget is $50/wk (for everything) but I think it needs to be $60 because that seems to be what we are actually spending :(

[*myfoursons]

Ugh, we spend tons on groceries. It varies, but about $200/wk. We buy mostly organic and shop pretty exclusively at WF and TJs. I try and buy at Target when possible to save a little.