A friend on Facebook, also with a family of four, including two little ones about the same age as mine, wrote to ask how much we spend on groceries each month. I started to message him back, but decided to post here instead. Partly because it’s too long for a Facebook message, and partly because I’m curious how much others spend as well, so feel free to leave a comment if you’re brave enough.
Last year, I created several grocery categories and totally geeked out with it. I know, I know - I’m a big huge nerd when it comes to this.
I separated out drugstore and household items into their own categories, and kept groceries just to foodstuffs. Then I added two subcategories for coffee/tea (because we’re coffee snobs), and for wine/beer/alcohol. I made those their own categories, because we wanted to see how much of our grocery budget was spent in those two areas.
Here’s the breakdown:
Total grocery spending for 2009: $9488.56 ($791 per month)
Total spent on wine/beer/alcohol: $1413.38 ($118 per month)
Total spent on coffee/tea: $256.74 ($21 per month)
So, the total, non-alcohol, non-coffee/tea spending: $7818.44 ($652 per month, about $152 per week)
Is this too high? I have no idea. I know one mom who runs a blog who spends $40 a week on all groceries, drugstore and household items. I have no idea how she does that, but she lives in Kansas, and is a couponing DIVA. Last, year we spent about $65 per month just on drugstore items (health and beauty-related items, OTC medicines, diapers) and about $75 per month on household items (everything from toilet paper, light bulbs and laundry detergent; wood for the fireplace, ant baits and mousetraps; and storage bins, coat hangers and a new French press).
I also only buy organic milk, and try to buy most of my dairy products organically. I get the majority of our meat from the local butcher. We eat most of our meals at home, including all of our lunches, and Joshua usually packs his lunch from leftovers. We might eat out a few times a month. My sister sends me several packages of coffee a few times a year, so we don’t spend as much on coffee as we would if we were buying all of our coffee and not getting it for free.
I started using coupons last year, and seeing how big our grocery bill is (especially compared to that mom who spends $40 a week!) I was feeling bad, and then I looked at how much we spent in 2008: $10,733.60. So we spent about $1,200 LESS from 2008 to 2009. My records aren’t as good as far as subcategorizing, because I had lost all my financial data when my hard drive crashed at the end of 2008, but still, that’s good. I’d like to get everything down even more. It’s like a game for me.
I left the drugstore and household budgets alone for 2010 (although I hope we do spend less), and set the grocery budget at $720, with $100 a month for alcohol, and $20 a month for coffee/tea. That leaves $600 for other groceries. I’m also hoping to shop smarter, and do a better job at not wasting food, using what we have and meal-planning. I still plan on sticking to organic dairy, getting my meat from the butcher, and I plan to join a CSA for produce, if I’ll ever just get off my duff and pick one.
Last month, I withdrew $100 for wine/alcohol (we didn’t spend it all), we spent $0 on coffee/tea, and about $372 on groceries. That number is low because people brought us food for over a week’s worth of meals after I was hospitalized.
How much do you spend? And please, no judgment - everyone’s doing the best they can with what they have, and have different values surrounding money and food.
I take out $75 each paycheck for household which includes cleaning supplies, detergent, TP, etc and $170 for groceries. Inevitably they end up combining. We use the envelope system and that helps me gauge how much we have. I plan the week’s menu and pick a few super easy dinners (because they are cheaper) and a couple of big dinners that cost more to make. I have reluctantly began to shop at Wal-Mart for groceries instead of Target (I love Target!) and have found that I save a ton of money going to Wal-Mart.
I buy meat at Kroger when possible and have been getting lunch meat from the deli. Brian also takes leftovers which saves a ton on microwave meals.
Isn’t budgeting fun??
This is a great post! I spend about 150 a week on groceries. This includes all toiletries, diapers, cleaning supplies and other Target found items. It includes some alcohol, but Daniel is more in charge of that. I feel like it’s too much. We eat *very* well. Too well, perhaps. I struggle with getting leftovers eaten.
In an effort to curb spending I’ve started making a menu. Shopping by it and sticking to it. We’re in week 3 and I feel a lot better about what I’ve purchased and how it’s consumed. I try to do the shopping on Sunday and come the next Sunday we’re *actually* out of food!
We don’t eat meat, so we might save there, but we drink ALOT of coffee. Just switched from Starbucks to Eight O’clock Bean and save $4 a bag, heh.
Can’t say enough good things about the menu right now, though!
We started the Grocery Game (thegrocerygame.com) in 2003. Over time we have saved a huge amount on groceries. Some weeks of course are better than others. Many times I will look at my receipt from Krogers (I love their breakdown of savings - easy to read) and will see anywhere between 30-50% savings. Terri, the founder, follows grocery store sale cycles. She also looks at the coupon sections you may get in your Sunday newspaper. We started a filing system where we keep them till the pack expires. Each week she publishes the sales at the grocery store that you shop at (HEB, Randalls, Kroger, Safeway, etc.). Then she tells you which coupons to cut (55cent coupon from Jan 10th). If your store doubles or triples the coupon or even if it doesn’t, she tells you the percent that you save on that item. So you’ll be digging and cutting coupons from sections that could be a couple of months old or it could be from that week’s Sunday paper. She does all the work for you… you just file, search and cut. If you have a lolyalty card at your grocery store use that too. I can also load coupons onto mine. PG Esaver I think it’s called. They have a website. If you have one of those, you can save even more. The most I have ever saved on a grocery trip is 67%. I nearly fainted! The lady behind me asked me how I saved so much and I told her. Now the sales she shows on her weekly lists may be for things that you might not need right away, but it is good to stock up on them because when you really need them, most likely they will not be on sale. We have stocked up on paper towels, kleenex and toilet paper for the next 3 months. It looks like we are ready for the apocolypse, but we are stocked. I also have stocked up on things like toothpaste deoderant, etc. Most of these items were either 80% off or free with the coupons and the sale combined. Woohoo! Now with food, we purchased a very large freezer. We stock up on meat when it’s on sale even if we don’t need it that week. We have a food sealer and repackage it so it can stay in the freezer for a long time. We would really like to go to a butcher when we get low on meat. It seems fresher and less mass produced. We have a butcher in Chappell Hill that we plan on going to. I buy mostly organic milk and dairy. I don’t want Robert to have all those extra antibiotics and growth hormones. Borden has milk that is free of that. I buy that whenever the Good stuff isn’t on sale. There are some things that you just have to get that aren’t always on her list. Milk is one of those things that I really haven’t seen stores run on sale much. Now granted you live in CA. Things are going to be higher naturally. We were spending close to $125 $150 a week. I have crunched and strategized with my coupons so much over the years that I can now leave the grocery store spending anywhere between $45-60 a week. Usually it goes up when you have kids. My sis and I compete on who can save the most. We email eachother our $ savings. LOL! Yes, we are nerds!
The coupon clipping and filing… and even the calculating the savings can be a WONDERFUL organization/math lesson for your kids.
Now cleaning products… I make my own. I just make a batch of laundry soap. I saw the idea on TV and looked it up online. I made some and then compared it with the bought soap. The homemade ended up cleaning better because it has washing soda and borax in it. Plus it is WAY cheaper. Instead of spending 25 cents a load, I am spending about 2-3 cents a load. I use 1/4 cup per load. I’m searching still for a fabric softner recipe. I hear vinegar is a good fabric softener when combined with baking soda, but that didn’t work for me. It make my clothes smell like a salad and to me, a baking soda solution made with water would work better since you wouldn’t have this foamy chemical reaction happening in your washer. Ick! I also don’t use dryer sheets. They are a waste of money and they ruin your dryer because of the wax build up in your vents and it coats your clothes in this waxy stuff.
During the spring, summer and early fall, I use a clothes line to dry my clothes. It cuts costs on our energy bill by about $25-$50. We are lucky to have a nice backyard to put one up. It’s about 15 ft long and I have 6 lines. It’s so nice! Now you like in an apartment right? You can make on in your laundry room, bathroom or on your balcony. Before I had a line outside, I put in a small line in my guest bathroom and another in my laundry room. It worked out nice.
I make some house hold cleaners. I had stocked up on clorox whipes (store brand) when they were on sale and some sprays, but white vinegar and water as a solution works just as good and you don’t have to hold your breath while you clean… and your kids won’t be exposed to so many chemicals.
Germs are necessary. Yes, there are bad ones, but there are many good ones that you have to have in your body and on your skin to stay healthy. Antibacterial products don’t differentiate when they kill the germs… they kill them all. In our house, the 5 second rule is more like 10. LOL!
We save money also by cloth diapering Robert. We haven’t bought disposables in probably 2 months and we were going out of town.
I hope this helps you out.
@Kristie - I think it’s a lot of fun! I really do. It’s like a game.
@Leigh Ann - and speaking of games, I looked at The Grocery Game (a friend of mine let me log into her account to check it out). I think she does great work, but I’ve found a LOT of bloggers who do the same thing, matching up the deals, and you can read them for free. I wrote a post last year with a couple of links.
We do a lot of the same things you do to save money - we used to use cloth diapers, I match coupons with sales, and we use only one or two household cleaners. I also spent last year building a “stockpile” that everyone says to build, so I think a lot of that is reflected the budget. I fully expect this year to be better now that I have that in place.
Joshua mentioned that he thinks grocery prices here are higher than they were in Texas. I think that’s true. I remember when we moved, being surprised by how much more things cost me at the store. I know we spend more here. It might be fun to write a post with a baseline for certain staples and see what other people’s prices are.
As we are only a family of two, without chitlins, I can’t say what is “average” for a family your size.
What I can say is this:
1. We spend less when I go to the grocery store once a week as opposed to several times a week.
2. We spend less when we plan out our meals for the week as opposed to just getting what we want on a day-to-day basis.
3. We spend less now that we use Dream Dinners. (not a paid plug– it really has made my life so much easier– and you know we’re foodies.)
4. We spend less when I go to the grocery store with a set list than when I go and just pick what I think we need.
5. Seems like there should be a number 5.
Oh, I know #5!
We used to spend upwards of 150 a week on groceries, but there’s only 2 of us.
Now that we have Dream Dinners, we spend about 200 a month on those, plus 25-40 a week at the store for fresh veggies and milk.
I love how you are breaking down your expenses. I have struggled with finding a system that really works for me, but I think starting Feb 1 I have it down a little better…we’ll see how well I stick to it.
For 2009, I did not separate grocery and household. Anything I bought from Sprouts, Target, Kroger, etc. went into one big account, so it’s not a very accurate picture. I buy a lot of vitamins and cleaners at Sprouts, clothes, gifts, and household products at Target, etc. So in that lump category, I spent about $180 per week in 2009. If I bought the same stuff in CA, I bet it would be at least 30% more.
Starting in February, I started itemizing things a bit better. I have spent $85 in groceries this week, but for various reasons we’ve eaten out more this week. I am trying to stay under $125 per week in groceries.
I buy organic milk, yogurt and most produce, but I compromise on cheese and buy conventional Kraft stuff. I have a hard time finding organic meat that isn’t outrageously expensive, but I’ve been happy with the chicken from Sprouts. My kids don’t eat it, so I worry less about it.
I think the best thing for me would be to go to the Dave Ramsey envelope system, but I haven’t bitten the bullet and done that yet. I still worry about carrying around so much cash. Have you tried that?
I was saving a bunch of money when I followed the blogs and got free stuff at Walgreens, but I just haven’t had the time to keep up with that lately. I still shop sales and use coupons, but not as aggressively as I used to. I will pick it back up in the summer when things tend to calm down.
RE: Leigh Ann’s post….have you thought about skipping fabric softener altogether? I stopped using it after reading yucky stuff about it last year, and I haven’t missed it a bit. We use Charlie’s Soap for our laundry and that’s it. Also, check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com (that’s probably who Kristen references in her post), and you might be able to cancel that subscription to the Grocery Game! It’s a little more work, but it’s free. Just a thought.
don’t let anyone make you feel bad! we spend a bit more than half of y’all (since we are just 2). people spend money on different things - we (like you) don’t go “out” a lot, or buy a lot of other stuff, so we buy nice groceries and go to dinner once or twice a week (at reasonable places, like $6-10 per entree). we buy booze at the store, not in bars or cafes, etc. but then, we’re too lazy to really follow a budget, and our philosophy is generally 80% trying not to spend much money, and 20% feeling generous.
p.s. TX stores are likely cheaper than store type equivalents, but they ain’t got TJ’s! super saving!
I am not sophisticated enough to really be able weigh in with a specific dollar amount. But I can say that I very consciously treat my food-buying as a luxury: my grocery budget is on the high side, especially for the amount of food I purchase, because I choose to spend more– on organic produce and meat and dairy; on specialty items; etc. Of course, I know this choice is only possible because of my income level. And I try to remember to be grateful for that.
@Tiff - yes, the blogger mom I was referring to was Money-Saving Mom!
As far as Dave Ramsey’s envelope system: I’ve read one of his books and I’ve heard of envelope systems, but haven’t used them before. I don’t like carrying a lot of cash, either. I did implement envelopes this year in a few categories that we always went over in last year. I based this year’s budget categories on our actual spending from last year, whether we were within last year’s budget or not.
The trick is to remember I have cash in an envelope when I’m at the store! I also do multiple transactions to pay with the appropriate envelope. I wrote on each envelope what was in it, and withdraw the lot at the bank at the beginning of the month, making sure to itemize the withdrawal in Quicken. I then stick all the change and the receipt back in the envelope.
My envelopes are: alcohol, clothing, entertainment (eating out, movies, etc.), garden, and gifts (I also withdraw the kids’ allowances for the month).
Wow, it is true that it hurts more to spend cash! We’ll see how this goes over the course of the year and if this is a system that will work for us. I’ve learned that if we have the money in our account, it WILL get spent, and we justify or “borrow” from future months, which is where we get in trouble with the budget.
We did the envelope system for a while. It was a good way to get into the habit of knowing what we spend, but it did make me nervous having that much cash around. After we felt we had learned the budgeting lesson, we weened ourselves off the envelopes.
The best thing about envelopes for us was that it made extra spending money more equitable between the two of us. I’m a saver and Droo’s a spender. Without envelopes, I would be in a mindset of saving up over time to get my splurge items (furniture/home decor), but it would never happen because Droo spent all of the left over money on his splurge items (mostly books and computer stuff). He wasn’t doing it in a purposely selfish way, but since I wasn’t spending, the check register looked like he had money to spend. With all the other cash flow going in and out, I never realized that the reason I couldn’t seem to save $2,000 over time to buy a sofa was because Droo was spending three times more than he should on books.
You could certainly do the same thing with a spreadsheet budget. The envelopes just break it down to a really elementary level. To me, if you are already able to stick to a budget without resorting to envelopes, there’s no reason to resort to a cash only system.
We spend about $300 a month on groceries, including drugstore items. I never use coupons, but there are only two of us. I buy very little processed food. I go shopping two times a month, with a few quick trips in between. I always make a list of everything we’re going to cook for the next two weeks before I go, and I stick to the list. I do buy organic milk and a few other organic items. We eat out 1-2 times a week.
First of all- thanks for rubbing in the no TJ’s- lauren. I so miss that. We spend about 150 a week I’d say, but I don’t keep track very well. We don’t buy much alcohol, so that’s easy. I stock up on coffee from TJ’s when I’m in California, and so far this year it’s lasted me. I also get great coffee from my dad when he’s made a trip to Guatemala or Colombia. Otherwise I splurge on that a bit. No Folger’s for me.
BTW- I quit using dryer sheets, too, after hearing bad stuff about them. I don’t miss them except for the occasional static. I might try the homemade detergent- thanks for the tip.
Interesting to read all of this! I am in no way as organised about which categories I spend in, but basically it’s like this for us (feel free to translate the £ into a rough equivalent of a $ because it’s spent about the same way.)
Scott’s wages pay for our bills and rent and nothing more. I don’t work so the only money we have for groceries and necessities comes from our tax credits from the government (do Americans get tax credits? Or does that all come at the end of the year in your refund?). So anyway, that is £97 a week, so we basically have to live on just that or else pull out the credit card. So I try to split it up by limiting £50 to groceries/toiletries/house necessities, then £10 for me for the week to take kids to do various fun things (which probably really ends up being about £20, but I still try to stick to £10). The remaining £20-£30 is for whatever else comes up, which is usually more milk and bread or if we want to go out for a meal one night or if kids need clothes. It would be impossible if I still maintained my previous double-income standards of organic foods, but I’ve come to accept that enough sub-par food is better than not enough organic food.
Then we get a monthly child benefit of £135 a month, which goes for extras. £20 gets split between the kids’ savings accounts and £50 goes to savings for school uniforms and tuition (coming up in only 1 1/2 years!)
And finally, to be honest, some months we use the credit card more than we should, if something comes up like a special birthday or a broken-down vehicle. But we try hard to limit that, and in relation to most of the developed world, I think we’re doing pretty well, debt-wise.
In all, I think it’s amazing how well we can live on what we have. God seems to provide for us, even though the budget never looks like it’s gonna be possible!
Oh yeah, for those who don’t know, we are family of 4, with 2 pre-school age children.