Grocery Shopping

I am a financial planner and have done budgets for thousands of families. The average grocery expense for a family of four is $400 per month. However, this does not include everything such as diapers, personal hygiene, make-up, medications and other items normally purchased at Walgreens or CVS. You can add another $100 for these items. I hope this helps.

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We're a family of four, but mine are 2 1/2 and 2 months. I probably go more than a month before I've spent $250 on my groceries. I usually shop at Giant, but I buy the bulk of my dinner food through Angel Food Ministries. It's a great service that some area churches provide. You can check for churches in your area at www.angelfoodministries.com. Basically, you pay $25 and get a box full of food. There's something different every month and you can add specials for $15-$18 each as long as you buy the $25 box. Definitely a big money saver and worth checking into.

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That is about what I spend and I have three kids...15,11, and 21 months. I try to buy organic as well and I avoid all sugary snacks. For cleaners and toiletries I shop on line. I found a great company that is cost effective. I have found if I cheapen my grocery budget it cuts down on the important things (fresh fruits and veggies) eating healthy is expensive. Eating crap is cheap. If i need to svae money I would cut fom other places but not the food budget. www.livegreeneasy.com

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i think thats great i spend about 300 a month on food not including household items like detergent shampoo etc...we are a family of 5 myself my 2 daughters my mom and my husband (who eats more than all of us combined plus 8 more lol)
so i think that 500 a month is sufficent for food
we gotta eat right??? lol

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Wow! I wish I could get away with $250 every two weeks! What's funny is that it's only my DH, me and our 1 1/2 year old son. I spend AT LEAST $140 every week. So, I'm looking at $560 for the month. I'll have to try out your coupon clipping idea! We could use to save some cash. :)

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Wow--how do you do it on $250.00 every TWO weeks? I could never make it on that. You're doing great. I know just for breakfast and lunches for the school/work week I spend close to a hundred. The cost of lunchmeat (we usually get three pound of different lunchmeats), the cheeses, snacks, cereals, coffee. That's just breakfast and lunches during the week! The cleaning products are sometime's not as bad, as I can get some of them on sale at Shoprite. I prefer to buy them in bulk at BJ's, though, as I'm short on time since I work full-time. My neighbor and I go shopping together a few times here and there, and just stopping for a "quick" shop for a couple of days, we come out spending seventy to ninty dollars!

Here's my suggestion to give him a better understanding since you really can't understand until you shop and see the prices yourself--it may be a good idea to make a list of everything you need each week and have your husband do the grocery shopping for six months (one or two months isn't enough, as he'll still use what's in your cabinets as extras!). Do not cut out coupons for him--let him cut them out and see the work you do. When you run out of something because he didn't think you needed it (as my husband pulled on me, at first, until after a while he realized we did need it!) then he'll have to deal with it. Take over one of his chores like cutting the lawn so he can do your food shopping. Trust me, cutting the lawn is easier than lugging groceries in and out of the carts, car and house.

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I can sooo empathize with you! My husband is a CPA, and he seems to think that the most anyone should spend on anything is $100! It doesn't matter if it's a week's groceries, a business suit, car repairs... $100 is his limit. We've been married 22 years, and he thinks my grocery budget should be the same as it was back in 1985 when it was just the two of us. He doesn't factor in inflation or the fact that we have three teenage boys who have bottomless pits for stomachs. They have friends and girlfriends, and in an effort to keep all of those young people in my line of vision so that I know what is going on in their lives, I keep the kitchen well stocked. Teenage man-children stay close to their food sources!
On Thursday, I went to the grocery store. What I bought will probably take us through about 10 days. (One of the boys will return to college on Monday night, and he's the biggest eater.) The bill was $287, and with coupons, I got it down to $232. I didn't buy meat and only picked up one or two cleaning products. I did buy extra snacks for the holiday and for the salt-crunch craving boys. My husband thinks it was too much. He always thinks it's too much. But does he ever go to the grocery store? Noooo! He has no clue what a dozen eggs cost. And because he doesn't cook, he has no clue how many eggs go into the boys at breakfast. (The fact that my husband does not shop or cook is a testament to his mother's childrearing. The man does not know how to boil water, and after 23 years, I've given up trying to teach him. But that's a subject for another day! I don't cater to my husband or to my sons, and I refuse to raise another man who goes into the world not knowing how to care for himself. My boys can all shop, cook, sew, etc.)
OK, I went off on a tangent there! LOL Sorry!
I think you're doing pretty well. You might be able to squeeze a few more dollars from your budget, but then you have to weigh effort versus benefit. I do a lot of prep work, hunting through advertising, comparing store brands to coupons used on sale items. I also shop at Aldi's for things like milk, cereal, and snack items. They seem to have the lowest prices around. I enjoy cooking, so I make most of my food from scratch, which saves money over processed foods. But, I'm also a food snob, as my husband says. There are certain things I pay for no matter what. I get a lot of my meat from a good butcher, because the particular butcher is so good. The quality is superior. But, we don't eat lots of meat, so I can afford to spend more on a lesser quantity. The same with cheese. I'm Italian, and I won't ever use cheese in a can. I buy chunks of cheese from an Italian grocery, and I use it with respect. Grating cheese for me is a sacrament! LOL The same with really good bread and wine. Good cheese, wine and bread are great pleasures to me, so I will spend a bit of money on those things. We're not poor anymore, so we can afford to do that.
Keep up the good grocery work. And if your husband continues to complain, tell him that he's just going to have to show you how to do it better. And then he can clip the coupons, sort them, (does he know about expiration dates?), go to the store with the kids in tow, supervise the children while doing math in his head as he compares prices, stand in line at checkout with the kids tired and begging for candy, push the heavy cart while holding children's hands and watching for traffic in the parking lot, load kids into car seats, groceries into car, get everyone and everything in from the car at home, put it away while trying to get something for the kids to eat because they're hungry after all that food shopping, cook the food, serve the food, and clean it all up. Then report back here and let us know how he made out!

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hey there,
i have two kids ...4 and 1...and while one child JUST got out of diapers...and my other is JUST getting off of formula...i still spend like 250 at the market(for one trip)..i go to giant as well...i could easily spend that every week if i went that often...i usually send my husband to do the shopping(once a week with me going when he cant) because i have a tendency to look around and find new foods to try...also, i love to cook so i pick up what i can use in the future...plus i have to take the two kids with me when i go shopping...my husband somehow always seems to manage going by himself...go figure!!anyways...make a list and have him go to the supermarket...i find with my husband that this method works sometimes..albeit temporarily...lol..he whines(every now and again) about why we dont have more money in the bank..so i tell him to pay the bills(which i normally do) and keep track of his spending...it lasts about a week before he realizes that his spending is why we dont have more money...i think guys just dont get it?? its easier to complain.....bottom line...250 for two weeks is not that much... not to feed a family of four these days...even when my husband goes(and he only gets what i have put on the list)its usually 1-150 a week...in hard times, we have had to make do with less...but even when averaging 75 dollars a week in grocery bills...after only a couple weeks like that, we had to have a big 300 bill to get all the household stuff we needed...good luck...look on the bright side, you could be shopping at genardis(great quality,but the prices are crazy high)

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I personally spend right around $500.00 a month (not including diapers and wipes or cleaning supplies) on groceries. I feel like it is a lot of money too, but I can't manage to spend any less than that. However, I only buy nutritional snacks and organic dairy for my children, which is a little more pricey. But on the flip side, my children aren't as big as yours yet! Tell your husband to come with you and to help you fill the cart with what he thinks you should be getting. I promise you that when you get to the register and the total comes up, he will be shocked at how much food costs.
Good luck with this one!

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Hi T.,
I have 4 kids and I'll spend about $200 each week at the grocery store. I don't usually allow tons of junk food. I'll spend another $30 - $50 each week at the butcher. I think that $250 each week for everything is pretty good. Try to get him to come with you to the store so he can see how you do it. Do you take the kids with you? Sometimes you shop a little differently if they are not with you. Good luck!
(but I think you're doing fine)

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Hi T.-

I have 2 boys, 3&5, and spend the same amount. When is the last time your husband has been to the grocery store? Food is expensive, especially meats. I try to buy sale items and save where I can also. It is what it is. My husband & I disagree also on this subject...but he never comes food shopping with me to see the prices. I tell my husband if he wants to eat a good meal every night, we have to spend the $. I tell him we can have pasta and sauce every night if he wants because that is cheap!!! Not to mention the other household goods that are needed. With spending around $500 a month on food it still sometimes seems that it is not enough. Ask your husband to shop with you so he can see why the bill is so much...good luck!

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Hi T., my normal bill ranges $200-$250 every two weeks:) I think that is normal. Even if I shop BJ's it is about $400 for the month since you buy in bulk. I am buying for me, my hubby, my 5 year old and my 9 month old:)

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Your hubby is very wrong. $125 a week, congrats!!! Your husband should be thanking you.

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Hi T.,

I have one son who is almost 14mths. He has a milk allergy, so it make things more difficult since he has to drink Soy and that is twice the price as regular milk. I would say on an average, we spend ... for a family of 3 ... $350 per month. That includes diapers/wipes, cleaning supplies and meats. I go to Sam's Club (which is like BJs or Coscos) and get all of my meats there ... I break them up and use a vacumn sealer and them freeze them. That way I actually only have to get meats every 3 months (spending approx $200 in meats every 3 months) Then we usually go to Target or Walmart for the cleaning supplies and diapers/wipes. Same thing here for the cleaning supplies ... they usually last 3 months. Diapers and Wipes I usually get enough to last at least a month. For the food shopping ... we go once a month ... yes, I said once a month. We get everything we need. (we usually make a stop for milk/soy evey 10 days -2 weeks) By the end of the week we are definitely low on food, but it makes us be creative in putting meals together with what we have in the kitchen, but it definitely saves us money.

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My husband and I shop together... and I find that if HE goes by himself he spends way too much!
I started taking a calculator with me and adding up as we went. In the produce, I weighed EVERYTHING (including the bananas) to get a better idea of the cost instead of looking at a bunch of grapes and thinking, yea that looks like it'll last. It works for us to see how much we're spending as we go. We also try to put everything on the list and not add to it as we go (seeing an item and saying, oh! we needed that too) if it's not on the list we don't put it in the cart.
Try the calculator, see if it works!

happy shopping,
R.

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I'd tell him if he can do it better - go for it! That goes for housework too!

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I think your doing pretty good and I agree with everyone else...hubby needs to accompany you just once or twice, thats all it took for mine to realize! I have found that if I go to the meat market , then the farmers market/ produce stand/ then to Wal Mart for the cleaners, cereal, pasta, sides, MILK (50 cents cheaper there!) shampoo, laundry stuff,paper products in bulk, cat food (we have 2 cats), pull ups/ diapers, wipes, and everything else I can find there then to the food store for anything else we might need, I can spend a little better then the coupons, but in the end I'm wasting what I just saved in Gas!!
So, the moral to my story.... for my family of 5, eating NO junk food , hubby is a huge meat eater and me and 2 of the kids are fruit and veggie eaters then theres the little one, 2 yrs old, I buy kid friendly foods, extra hot dogs, string cheese, cheese cubes, diego yogurt, etc we spend 2-$300 every two weeks and we usually have to return for milk (we go through a gallon a day) and bread atleast 3 times in 2 weeks.

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T.,
We are a family of five with 3 dogs and we spend about 300.00 give or take every two weeks. And that's only on essentials. When I get paper plates and paper towels, shampoo, etc. it ends up being over 400. We buy a lot of store brands and always look for the cheapest stuff. So what you are doing is about right. Men are just funny like that. My hubby used to get angry every time we went shopping and I started only eating dinner and not feeling well because I was trying to save money. He started to understand why we needed to spend all the money to eat! He doesn't complain anymore. I don't reccommend you do that though!
Blessings,
A.

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I have a family of 3 me, my boyfriend and our son who is 1. Between food for us, baby food (not including formula) and cleaning products and necessities (toilet paper, razors, lotion, shampoo, soap). I spend $150 a week sometimes I go over the weeks Dylan needs new bottles, binkies ect. I think $ 250 every 2 weeks for a family of 4 is excellent; I dont know how you do it! I dont have time to do coupons working as much as I do, but I do look over the paper for sales on certain items that I buy if I get a chance.

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We are a family of three and I spend at least $125 each week on groceries and cleaning products. I shop at a few different stores to get the best price but then I paying more for gas so it's not much of a savings. I try to save by stopping at the store when I am going that way anyway. On my way home I'll make a pit stop and pick up what I need so that I am not spending more on gas.

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About $400/month. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old (not on formula anymore). I don't use coupons, but try to buy stuff that has a discount with a supercard or valuecard. I spend most money on dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurts, etc) and produce. I try to get my meats at Costco.

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hi! i am a mother of 3, and i spend about $400+ a month and that is still not enough so i know what you are talking about.not to mention the food that does not even get touched. my children eat the junk first then wonder why we have no food. so i definetly think your budget is not to much. we all have to eat :0) hope this helps

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My husband thinks I spend too much too so you aren't alone! I spend about a $75-100 a week. I think you are doing great! I live in Gilbertsville, ever try to the Aldi in Pottstown next to Home Depot. We cut our bill in half when we shop there. You don't get all the same choices, but its cheap and the produce is usually decent. Also, for produce ever try Zerns?

Good luck!

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I have three kids plus myself and my husband and I am lucky if I can spend that much in a mnth. I will spend about 20 dollars a week. I am a family of 5. One thing u can look into is get a memeber ship at bj's or sam's. It may seem like you are spending a lot in one shop. But you buy in bulk. B.j's takes coupons. And sam's had quick to sell meats. I buy and freeze them.

If he wants you to cut back. Then stop and think, Do I really need this?

Best of Luck! Men don't know much about running a house.

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I shop weekly and spend 70 to 80 dollars a week . 320 a month . I make a menu weekly then shop for the grocery that I need for those meals . I know that I am on the high side but I pack lunch for my daughter and myself daily and we eat a lot of fresh veggies. I hope that this helps . Tell yours huband that if he things that you are spending to much than let him do it . Give him the job of feeding the family He has to plan the meals buy it and cook it and see if he can do it for less. I don't think so but please ask him to try . Let me know what happens

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First of all, I don't think your food budget is too high by any means, but do you have a deep freezer? Altogether, there are 7 of us, me ,and my 1 year old daughter, and my husband with his 4 sons. We don't have all of the boys all of the time, but there is never less than 4 people in our house, and more often than not 6 or 7. I had been asking fora freezer for years and finally got one a few month ago. I can't tell you how much of a difference it made. our family doesn't each much meat as far as beef ans pork, but we do eat a lot of chicken and fish, Shoprite will have drumsticks and legs on sale for 79 cents a pound at times. That's when I load up on chicken. you have to make sure that when you get the meat home you wrap it and freeze it is freezer safe storage bags, though. I try to date it as well, but more often than not I can't find a sharpie. Having a freezer, where you can stock up on items when they are on sale at a huge discount saves so much money. I freeze Arnold's bread that normally costs close to $4.00 a loaf but sometimes it's on sale for half that. And if you havea Food Basics near you, this is a store I just discovered, you can't get everything there, but you can get a lot of items on sale for less than you'll ever see them anywhere else. I basically buy in bulk, and I dont' have a lot of time to cook so many of the items I buy, I wouldn't normally, but they're quick to prepare. Thos quick to prepare items tend to cost more than raw materials. Also, do try to find a discount produce place near you. Produce is one of the biggest expense in our house, and we happened to hear about a place through friends in Camden, it's a half hour drive, but I can get a cartload of quality, fresh produce for under $40, and that's a full cartload. All in all, I can spend about $100 a week on groceries, sometimes less, but that is not including cleaning supplies and other items that you have to cover in your food allowance.

As for your husband, I don't know if you will get him to agree to do it himself if he thinks he can do it better. There are just things that become issues in your marraige that you will never resolve because you both feel differently about it and both feel just as strongly that your view is the right one. I have yet to figure out how to address those issues, but I've only been married for 3 years, so I'm sure there are things that I don't know. Men always think that they can do it better, and they always think that they are doing more. It doesn't matter what the truth is, to a man, his perception is his reality, and you just have to love him anyway.

My husband at one point was concerned that we were spending a littel too much on groceries. At this point I was buying extra snack and treats for him and the kids. So I stopped buying everythign except what was needed to make 3 solid meals a day. He stopped complaining about the money and the fact that there was 'junk food' in the house and started complaining that there was nothing to eat. I totally agree that the husband's are the biggest consumers. I still dont' buy those snacks except on occasion, and quite often he won't eat all day unless I put something in front of him. But he's a grown man, and when at 3:00 in the afternoon, he is complaining that he hasn't eaten all day I just tell him there's food he can cook if he's hungry. I love him, but I'm not his mother, and I have plenty of other kids to take care of.

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I spend about that for my husband and I and my Stepson. I usually have to go back to the store before the 2 weeks is over to pick up extras like cheese, milk, bread. We are always running out of something. $250 doesn't get you much nowadays. Now when my Stepson is not here visiting, I still seem to spend at least $200. If you buy meat..that ends up being a big part of your bill.

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T., That is great!!! I am really impressed. I spend that much now every two weeks and It is just Dave, myself and our son(who is only 8 months old)Jacob. I am having another child in March. However, really that is just budgeting what Dave and I eat. Jacob is still on formula and eating baby food. I get most of what he consumes free thru wic. Good for you, where do you shop?? Maybe I can save too!!!

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We spend about the same amount and we have only 1 kid! My husband and I both love milk and its almost 5 dollars a gallon now. I use coupons and shop at BJ's or Costco's.

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Hi

We are a family of 3. My son is 3 yrs old. I spend about $500 per month in the grocery store which does not include house cleaning products and personal items. SO your spending does not seem out of line. I too use coupons. Here is an idea that will probably end your his questioning of your spending...let him do the food shopping for one month and see what he spends...sure he will probably never question your purchases again....

Good Luck

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That is about the normal amount to spend for your family size. Maybe try shopping at a Food Basics or a Save-A-Lot and you will get double for your money and then maybe this debate will be no more. I only have one daughter, myself, and my husband and I go to food basics for my food shopping and genuardi's if I need something immediately and I spend just as much, but since its food basics and they are cheaper it allows me to only food shop like once every three weeks.

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I spend at least $300 each month for my 10 year old daughter and myself on groceries alone. Toothpaste and Tide extra. I shop almost exclusively at whole foods though...

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hi T.-
this might sound a little strange, but i am separated and going thru a divorce now, and i have been amazed at how much less i spend on groceries ever since my husband moved out! ;-) seriously, it never occurred to me when we were together, but he was the most expensive person to feed in the house! maybe if you tell your husband that HE may very well be the reason for the grocery bill being what it is, he might give the complaints a rest! :-) (or, you could cut down on things that only he eats, for ex., certain meats or expensive coffees, etc....... :-))

good luck,
K. in wyndmoor

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since you are including house hold stuff that isnt that bad. i spend about $75 a week and that is just food. but once a month i stalk up on meat so that charges an extra 50 bucks so tell him to hush. if you want to save more money catch the sale adds and go to more than one store. i shop and cook for 5 good luck

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