How Much Do You Spend on Groceries Every Month? How About Eating Out?

$200.00 to $250.00 per week in groceries for a family of 4. This includes household products, personal hygiene products and supplies for 2 cats, 2 dogs and 2 guinea pigs. Eating out maybe $100.00 per month. Some months we go somewhere or order pizza/Chinese a few times a month but not every month.

I just googled....according to the USDA a "liberal" spending plan for a family of 4 is $300/week. A "moderate" plan is $245/week. "Thrifty" is $150/week. "Low cost" is $200/week.

And more googling: The average family of 4 spends $225/month eating out.

Family of 3, $700 a month on groceries (include paper products, cleaning supplies, etc) and approx $200 on eating out.

Wow that's a lot of money!!! I found that when I planned ahead, cooked from scratch, and shopped sales I spent a lot less on food. When I was winging it and didn't plan ahead we ended up spending more money.

We are a family of 4 - 2 teenage boys - one dog. Our budget has changed and fluctuates.

Eating out? $300 a month and that includes beer. We go out once to twice a week. Or have pizza, Chinese delivered.

Groceries: depends and changes. I have tried the Hello Fresh - which is $129 for 3 complete dinners - I liked it. But have decided to go to once a month service. I typically spend about $400 a month on groceries. I fix my husband a lunch every day for work and he likes artisan rolls so those are $3 for a package of 4. I buy 2 and freeze one so it doesn't go bad.

I go to Costco probably every 4 to 6 weeks and spend anywhere from $300 to $700 (this is beer, wine, toiletries, meat, bread, etc.)

Dog food/chews: $75 a month. I do NOT feed my dog Purina or something you buy at a grocery store - sorry. He gets a local organic puppy food.

We live just outside DC. Gas is $2.45 a gallon. Milk is $3.99 for a gallon (yes, we can get it cheaper at Costco).

How often do you eat out?
How have you budgeted eating out?
Do you use coupons?
Do you make a list?
So many questions...sorry. That sounds expensive for a family of 3.

I'm curious about whether you're concerned about your food budget. Is money a little tight? I'm wondering if you and your spouse both work full time and if cooking is a problem? If I'm correct, you have a young child with another on the way? $300 a week is a lot of money to spend for two adults and a child.

I'd love to know what kinds of food you buy at the grocery store, and what kinds of restaurants you eat at. Are you trying to eat more healthy, or cut down on the grocery budget? Do you cook simple foods or buy a lot of pre-packaged convenience meals?

There are plenty of people who dine out nearly every evening, and who can afford it. That's their choice and their privilege. There are others who aren't sure how to make affordable and healthy meals at home and who resort to take-out or drive-through.

Do you have goals you're trying to meet? Do you have any allergies or food restrictions to consider? I know there are lots of helpful people on this site if you're trying to reduce your food budget or reduce your dependence on eating out.

Three of the four of use have to eat a gluten-free diet. I buy organic. We eat a lot of local produce. Two teenage boys who eat a lot of very healthy food and need red meat due to anemia (see gluten problem above) . Both parents work about 60 hours a week. So, we eat out a lot or do take out (gluten free pizza is really , really expensive.) Groceries, about $1200 a month. Eating out depends. Probably around $400 a month. It is scary.

Wow - you eat out a lot!

For our family of 4 (myself and 3 sons ages 9-17) I spend $600 on groceries and another $220-ish on non-groceries: $80 on school lunches, $40 on Dunkin Donuts (iced tea, etc.), maybe $20 on fast food and $80 on take out. We all eat breakfast at home, the kids do a combo of bringing and buying their lunches, I pack a lunch, drinks and snacks for work, and we eat dinner at home. I tried to cut down on take-out by making pizza and calzones at home instead of picking them up on Friday nights but some Fridays the hockey schedule means that we go from school and work to multiple games with no stops at home, so we grab pizza while we're out.

Well i and my Family are a family of four and we tend to eat out almost every Friday and thats about $200 on eating out and about $400 on groceries a month so $600 is a rough estimate.i go shopping around to different stores for different things but i still feel i shop wrong..and when we go out to eat we are always saying no we'll eat in but its just hard for us and easier than to just make something..not going to lie i have my lazy days!!

We used to spend $800-$1000 per month on food when my boys were home and teen athletes. Eating out was probably around $250 per month. Now with them in college, the two of us spend around $120 eating out and $500 on groceries per month. We like our meat and I spend a lot on fresh produce, so it's expensive.

Wow, you might as well eat out all the time at that cost.

Try to find a way to make more ready made meals at home. Get a few books or websites that have the items you like and make them in larger amounts and divide them into meals that can be cooked or heated in 30 minutes. Shop when you are not hungry and without the gang in tow. Stick to a grocery list. If it ain't on the list it doesn't get bought.

When my kids were little I spent about $400 for a whole month for four. But I made the meals from scratch and we went out only a few times in a three month period. McDonalds and such were really a treat as they were not on every street corner.

Good luck to you.

the other S.

I have to be honest, I don't truly know an exact number.
Are you including everything? Are you counting food, toilet paper, shampoos, toothpaste, cleaners etc or just food all by itself? That makes a difference. Due to allergies we buy more expensive shampoos, deodorants and even toothpaste. We buy more expensive laundry soaps, cleaners and other things like that as well because of allergies too.
We are a family of 5 with growing teens. We also have 5 cats who don't get the cheap purina type cat food so that adds up too. If we're busy we'll buy more expensive "easy" foods. I hate to cook so we splurge on a lot of things that make cooking easier vs making everything from scratch. We like to eat out. We like huge variety in the types of foods we eat and I can't even begin to cook some of them myself. We also live in an expensive part of the country so our bill is probably going to top out a lot of people.
Unless your food budget is cutting into other necessities I feel like it's a place worth splurging some on. I would rather buy the more expensive apples everyone eats quickly then buy the cheaper ones that go bad because no one really likes them. Unless you are wasting a lot of money on food that gets thrown out before it's being eaten or a whole lot of outright junk food I don't think it is a problem.

We live in a very expensive area. Groceries cost more here than where I used to live...we are a family of 4 and spend about $800 a month on groceries. We don't eat out very often...maybe once a week? Probably not even that much. I'd say we spend $150 a month eating out.

For 5 of us, 600-850 for food and toiletries, about 250 eating out. I buy a lot of organic.

Family of 4 including one special needs child still in diapers plus all other household needs $600-$800 a month(sometimes less than $600)on groceries and eating out.

Hard to say but family of 5, about $300+/week in food. Wish it were less.

We are a fam of 4, 2 of those being teenage boys and we spend $600 a month on food, I could probably spend a little less but I buy lots of produce and meat, not much snack stuff.
Eating out...we go to lunch after church each Sunday as a treat. That runs about $150 a month.

For our family of 3 we spend anywhere from $200-$300/mo on groceries, toiletries, cleaning products, etc. We call it the "grocery list" but it is anything you get from the store really.

Eating out, it varies a lot. My husband is a truck driver so lots of weeks he eats out a LOT. I try not to, but it varies too, depending on how busy I am, etc. I would say maybe $400 per month but that is purely guessing. We may go out as a family once per month, if that.

Keep in mind too, you're in Pittsburgh and I'm in Kansas. Prices for things are going to vary a lot by location.

Family of 6 here with 2 dogs. We shop at the Commissary, so our grocery bills will be different. We spend about $150 a week (and I use coupons, have a weekly meal list and a list).

Going out for a family of 6 is expensive, so we go out 2x a month. That's about $250.

We have three people, sixteen cats, three dogs, and a rabbit in our home.
I spend about $200 a month on people food, and we eat very well. I buy whatever meat is on sale, and keep the freezer full that way. I don't buy a lot of junk food and I only buy soda once in a blue moon. I do splurge on beer, because I like GOOD beer, and you can't get good beer for the same cost as Budweiser. But the hub and I only have one beer a day.
I spend as much on pet food/supplies as I do on people food because we can't just feed any old kibble. One of the dogs has food allergies, so he is on a prescription diet that costs $30 for an 8-lb bag. Several of the cats have FUS, so we feed them a special diet for that. Then there's the cost of cat litter, rabbit litter, rabbit kibble, chew toys, etc. We don't buy a lot of cleaning products other than laundry and dish detergents. Most of the household cleaning is done with vinegar, which is cheap.
We hardly ever eat out, and when we do, it's usually a $5 pizza from Little Caesar's.

I would say that with this sort of balance that your first concern would be the food you are eating. If it's a sit down restaurant with a salad and some veggie choices with a meat or something like that then spending that much to eat out isn't bad.

We have a couple of very nice Italian restaurants that we really enjoy. To eat there it's about $10 per person plus tax and tip. Lunch buffet might be a dollar or two less but overall if we go out to eat at either place...it's a good meal.

One is an Italian buffet. I eat a pasta dish that I simply cannot figure out the recipe for. I eat a whole plate of salad to get their blue cheese dressing. I pile on lettuce and all sorts of fresh raw stuff. Blue cheese dressing makes it all so very very yummy. Then I eat that pasta stuff. It's Chianti something.

At the other Italian restaurant I get Chicken Parmesan. It's a nice normal size piece of chicken, breaded nicely...not to thick and just right. Then it has the best marinara sauce on it with a perfect amount of Mozzarella cheese on it. The pasta is homemade and is so light and perfect. I get a huge salad and dinner rolls with butter and garlic and Parmesan cheese on them. They make their own house dressing for the salad so I always eat every bite.

Now I'm hungry....While I am enjoying a healthier meal so is my husband. He'll do a salad bar and eat a full plate of lettuce and stuff. Not as much variety as me but still, he's eating something that grew in the ground. Our girl? She's a super picky eater and if we eat out she's only going to eat what she wants but she always eats and has a good time.

My point is this. At home everyone wants to eat what they want too. I hardly ever cook a full meal and it certainly doesn't have a huge plentiful salad with mixed veggies and crisp fresh lettuce. I am lucky to get shredded lettuce on my home made taco on taco night.

So when we go out I eat way healthier. We can't afford to eat out very often due to our financial limits. I spend about $200 per month on food, at home, we eat it sorts of food. Out to eat? Maybe $50 per month.

When I eat at home I get hamburger helper Spaghetti or Tomato Basil Penne or the meat Pasta one. Then we do a green bean or something but getting anyone to eat them? Not going to happen.

With a family of 4, we spend about $125 a week on groceries alone. Maybe about $50 a week eating out. We mainly get carry out when we do eat out, as it cuts down on cost.

I'm not really sure what we spend, but I think it really depends on what you're buying.

I try not to eat processed foods and rarely buy snacks for myself or my daughter, but my hubby likes his Adkins snacks and stuff like that which are very expensive. If I just get the basics and prepare our own meals we save money. I will pick up certain things at BJ's like chicken and beef and then freeze them. My husband will pick something up for himself a few times a week, but that's because he works from home and needs to get out of the house now and then.

I do feed our dog Blue Buffalo and that can get costly, but since she is only 14 lbs she doesn't eat much. I do give her healthy treats too like fruits and veggies.

I'm not really sure if there is a "normal" amount to spend, it really depends on the family and what they consume.

Family of four. We spend about $400 on groceries and about $150 on eating out per month. I meal plan, cook from scratch whenever I can, use coupons and shop the flyers for what's on sale. We only eat out as a family once a month, and pick up fast food once a week on our busiest day.

$600 a month for food, $300 or so eating out, for a family of four people & 4 animals. I could cut a few more corners, but we're comfortable here.

What is normal varies by location. When I moved from PA to the DC area as a single woman, my grocery bill doubled. Then it went up again when the family expanded and is down again now that there are fewer people at home. We rarely dine out. Once a month is probably average unless there is a special occasion.

You can probably pare down, in part by eating more at home and eating less pre-processed or pre-cooked or pre-prepared food. Are you including toiletries in this number? If so, buy those on sale, and in bulk. That can make a difference. Same with pet supplies or diapers/pull ups/detergent - any non-perishable item you can store.

About $800/month on groceries for a family of four and maybe $100/month eating out. We've really cut back on eating out and eat pretty healthy at home.

We spend more than I would like. We're at $800-$900/mo on groceries and household supplies and $200/month on eating out. I'm trying to get the grocery to more like $600/mo. With more planning, I think I'll be able to do that. We pack lunches every day for the kids, so it adds to it a little. We also have two shoppers (husband does Costco runs), so we aren't always on the same page when it comes to the grocery list and meal planning.

Family of 3.
Approx $150/week on groceries.
(I think my son has hollow legs right now.)
We eat out about once per week. Cost depends on where we go--$25-$100.
(I don't buy factory farmed meat. We load up once per week at the farm. About $150-200 more than the normal groceries.)

Your numbers are not too far away from many people I know.

An organic gallon here costs $6.99 at Target and $12.99 for 2 at Costco. You could save a dollar, but risk wasting because it is difficult to drink 2 gallons before it goes bad. I am sure Whole Foods is even more expensive.

A mid range dinner out is close to $80-100 for a family of four (without alcohol). We can find cheaper, but then I do not like paying $7 for mac and cheese. I would rather my child order a meal I do not make well at home that he likes at a restaurant.

family of 4, we spend about 50$ a month eating out, and 400$-500$ on groceries. cost of living will also help determin how much people spend on food. i know here a gallon of milk is about $2.50 whereas my cousin can't find it for less than $4.50 a gallon. so factor that in when determining how much is spent per month.