It depend on how much effort you want to put into chasing deals, clipping coupons, cooking your own snacks and meals from scratch, and what types of food you eat.
It also depends on the area you live in. Some places have higher prices on items you don't find coupons for very often. Rice, beans, meat, fresh fruit and vegetables have few coupons.
The cost of living here (SW Ohio) is fairly low. I paid $1.65 for gas yesterday, I know some people are still paying $2.29.
Here are the guidelines(goals) I have set for myself when it comes to budgeting for groceries:
Beginners and those that don't have the time or energy to do much couponing-Not using many coupons but still buying what is on sale, splurging every now and then on good steak(or whatever it is you splurge on), and only shopping once per week or less(you save if you stay out of the store, too).This could also apply to a beginner who still needs to pick up a lot of basic items weekly because their stockpile isn't big enough or diverse enough to only buy sale/coupon items.They have out of pocket cost at Cvs and Walgreens when they buy ecb deals and rebate items.
For this person I would budget $100 per person in the family, so for me it would be $400.
I followed this budget a lot when pregnant with my son. I had no energy, couldn't stand to sit long enough to clip my coupons, and really wanted some steak all the time! We spent about $75 each time I went shopping(1x a week or less).
Mid range -Using a good amount of coupons, a couple of months into stockpiling. Getting better at matching coupons up to sales and still has some out of pocket cost at Cvs and Walgreens.
For people in this position I would budget $75 per person in the family. For us that would be $300 a month. I was at this stage back in March all the way until August.
The expert- uses insanely large amounts of coupons, most items they buy are free or really cheap. They are just maintaning their stockpile and buying a few other items that aren't as spectacular of a deal.
For people in this position I would budget $50 a month per person. For us that is $200. I would like to think we at this stage, but I spent $270 last month, lol. The majority of my problem is self control. I see that the amount I "set aside" is gone, and I don't really need to buy anything. We have plenty on hand. I just want to get every great deal I find, and if it isn't free it causes me to go over. I could also do better in making items from scratch. I am leaning heavily on convenience items right now. My son is into everything if I am not right on top of him. When he isn't trashing the place or getting into things that he shouldn't he is clinging to me.He also takes tiny naps and wakes up frequently at night, so my time is limited.
..........Beginner............... Mid ............ Expert
1 ........$100..................... $75 ..............$50 (this seems impossible to me)
2 ...... $200 .....................$ 150 ...........$100 (this also seems impossible)
3 .......$300 ..................... $225............ $150
4 ...... $400...................... $300 ............$200
5 .......$500 ......................$375 .............$250
6 ...... $600...................... $450............. $300
7 .......$700 ..................... $500 .............$350
8....... $800 .................... $575 ...............$400
9........$900 .....................$650 ...............$450
10...... $1000 ...................$725............... $500
If you are spending more than these guidelines say you should its really not a big deal. You can use these to help you set your own grocery spending goals. I am hoping to reach my goal this month!
How much do you spend on groceries a month? For how many people? What all does that total include? pet food, paper products, diapers, formula, HBA? I would love to hear what everyone else spends !
Friday, November 14, 2008
How Much Should My family Be Spending On Groceries?
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11 comments:
Wow! I was amazed as I looked at your grocery deals! Our grocery budget for our family of 4 (1 kid in diapers & 1 in pull-ups at night) is about $300 per month. This includes toiletries, diapers, cleaning products, & pet care products. This was my first week couponing & I was sad that I spent close to $100. Do you feel that you spent more money when you first started using coupons? I think I spent a lot because I felt like there were too many good deals & I didn't want to miss out on them. Any advice?
I spend between $500 and $800 a month on groceries (including cat food and diapers and cleaning products) for a family of 4. I'd love to get it down to about $300-400 a month!
Family of 4 here two of which are teenage boys, an 83lb. Lab and an overweight (17lb. cat) I try to keep it to $400 a month for all of us for everything including things like aveeno for one childs eczema, clairitin, prilosec. Doesn't always work out but I try real hard.
Anon.
You only spend $300 including diapers and pet care and you are just getting started with coupons? That is GREAT! Yes, I did find myself spending more when getting back into coupons. Once your stockpile is bigger you will need less items that aren't on sale w/ coupon and so you total will go down. I also suffer from the "must get every single deal" syndrome, lol.
fairyflutters- we do not have pets to buy for and we use cloth diapers except at night. This helps us keep our grocery bill lower. Keep us posted on your progress, I love to see how others are improving their grocery spending!
Alane- 2 of our 4 are small children/babies who do not eat much. Hopefully I will be able to keep our bill from going up too much once they are eating "normal" amounts. An 83 lb dog? WOW! I bet he eats a lot! We also have one child who needs aveeno for eczema, and allergy meds for the other. I try to get these with my ecb and walgreens gc. You are doing great with all those pricier items added to your groceries!
Should I add in some guidelines for pets food? What would you guys suggest they be?
In January we were spending between $900 and $1000 per month for a family of 4 just for food. Since then we have eliminated a lot of impulse buying, cut down the number of trips to the store and now have included coupon and sale shopping. Last month, we spent less than $500 which was a triumph. We hope to spend around $400 this month. Thanks for being so helpful to all of us out there we are just getting started.
thanks for the guidlines. this is great i spend about 400 hundred a month for a family of 5 include 1 cat and dog. I would like to get this down to 300 a month... just started with the coupons so hopefully we can do it.. Thanks again love this ideas keep'em coming
This blog is great. Thanks for the info. I too have a blob about saving money. Check out this post on how to cut you grocery bill in half without coupons.
http://sillenivek.blogspot.com/2008/11/half-off-food-and-groceries.html
I am at your expert level! I spend $200 a month for my family of 4. I hope to keep it at $50 per person per month as I want to have between 6-8 kids!
Melissa-
That is awesome! I bet you will do even better than my "expert" column as you learn even more ways to stretch your groceries!
OK. I would like to actually know what you are buying that feeds people for so little. Can anyone share what they actually buy in a week that averages at $75 or $50?
hi anon!
What people eat spending just $50 - $75 per week depends on what is on sale and what their family likes to eat.
Most couponers don't pay for cleaning and health and beauty items(we get them free after coupons)
My family eats 1-3 meals per week with out meat to reduce cost and help keep us healthier.
Unless we are "splurging" we pay less than $2/lb for boneless meat and less than $1 for bone in meat(one exception is pork chops, those are less than $1.79/lb).
You can frequently get frozen veggies for free or less than .50. Boxed sides can be had for less than $1 also.
Homemade potatoes and brown rice also help fill out meals(seasoned with free/cheap spices and butter).Our fresh veggie price is usually less than $1/lb also
We try to serve appropriate portions of meat, as opposed to the very large servings we used to eat.
For snacks, we either make from scratch(or simiscratch) or have free to very cheap items. Kashi cereal bars, quaker breakfast bars, fiber one bars, etc. can usually be purchased for free to $1. We pair that up with some sale fruit and sale w/ coupon yogurt.
Breakfast is usually cereal, oatmeal, or eggs. Again after coupons these are cheap.
Most items go on sale for very cheap or free at some point of the year. That is the time to buy as much as you can afford/ have coupons for so you dont have to pay full price again(hopefully you can buy enough to hold you over to the next awesome deal)
You can also use overages from drugstore deals to pay for other items you need that don't happen to be free when you need them
If you look back through my oct/nov/dec archives you can see what my family stocked up on and ate during that time. I haven't been sharing much this year because several factors have made it too time consuming for me to actually coupon and then share here, but I plan on improving in the coming weeks.
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