How much do you spend on groceries (food only) each month for a family of 2 adults, one baby?

Question

Some months we must buy more expensive food because our grocery bill is like $400. Some months we can get buy on less, but we dont really cut out anything (my husband loves soda and drinks way too much). So how much should my grocery bill be for 2 adults, one baby?

Answer 1

For just food we spend 60-80 every 2 weeks.. i would say the most we spend is 200 a month. and we get alot of food for what we spend

Answer 2

My mother always suggested going to the store on a FULL STOMACH.  That way you are less tempted to buy things you don't really need like extra snacks.  Unfortunately for me if I'm not hungry when I go I hardly buy anything at all!  Oh well, good luck.  I would assume around $200-$250 but since you guys buy a lot of soda I can see how that would add up quickly.  Shop the sales.  Look at the weekly ads and go to the store that has more of the stuff you usually buy on sale (or you can go to different stores to get the sale items...it's up to you).  You could also look for coupons in the ads and sunday paper.  I don't suggest using the coupons for things you don't normally buy.  I only use coupons for items I get on a regular basis.  Don't be affraid to change brands in order to save a little.  I've noticed that store brand items are not only cheaper but a lot of times better!  Hope I could help.

Answer 3

We spend around $250 all together, $180 on the first and then middle of the month we always end up buying milk, cheese, and bread since we've ran out.  

Answer 4

My grocery bill is 60 a week and 65 for formula a month. My husband also really likes pop and I buy 2 twelve packs a week.

Answer 5

Wow! My husband and I were stressing out about spending more than $150 on groceries. We are working with one income right now because i am a stay at home mom. My husband is in the military so we grocery shopping on the 1st and the 15th of every month. Usually on the 1st is when we spend the majority of the money. I would say about $110 average. Then by the 15th we usually run out of dairy products and bread. So we just do a little shopping and spend about $ 40 to $50 . We also buy our groceries from the military supermarket or commissary. So the prices may vary at a regular store. But I would say it's never more that $200.

Wow i can't believe how much others are spending. Wait til i tell my husband about this. LOL

Answer 6

Some people's bills are astonishing. My husband, myself and our 9 month old spend about $200 a month on groceries. I'm pregnant, so I eat more than usual. My husband also takes prepackaged lunches to work, like hot pockets, chimichongas, corn dogs, etc. We shop only at Wal-mart and Sam's Club, no coupon clipping involved. We buy mostly store-brand, though a few things are name-brand. Every few months we spend about $100 on Angel Food. That's a really cheap source of food, and it's excellent. It lets us get the really expensive food that we usually wouldn't buy, like rib-eye steaks, ribs and other stuff.  

Answer 7

I spend about 350 a month and we eat out about 2 times a week..

Answer 8

Around 300$. We clip coupons, and everything. We also buy some items in bulk, which helps.

Answer 9

$250 a month

cause i'm a super budgeter / i believe in coupons / i sign up on line for baby formula so i get it free or discounted / and i shop at discount grocery stores like aldi's and save-a-lot / and i love walmart for everything else.

-hbb

Answer 10

$400 seems pretty high for only 2 adults and a baby. We are a family of 5 with 3 growing boys (4,5, and 9) and we feed all of us on $400 per month.

Sodas are cheep - I doubt they're the cause of breaking a budget.

Make a menu for 2 weeks and ONLY buy what's on the menu - it's that easy and don't cheat or you'll bust your budget. You can even put the occasional snack on the menu to control the misc food purchases.

Answer 11

That sounds about what ours is.  I spend about $100 a week.

Answer 12

I have a 5 month old and my husband and I spend the same amount as you on groceries.  I try to set myself to a budget of $100 per week.  My husband is a professional basketball player so I have to make sure that he is fed well, not to mention he's 6'7" so he eats a ton!  I wish we didn't spend this much, but I even shop at the cheap grocery stores and rarely buy brand name items.

Answer 13

My husband is a soda addict. I have started buying walmart brand pop. It is $2.33 for a twelve pack and we think the cola tastes pretty close to Coke. I also buy the 2 liters for at home they are $.67. I would also suggest that you make a list of 14 dinner and lunches ( i try to make enough so there are left overs) and plan out your shopping list. I do that for a family of 5 and spend $160 every 2 weeks, and then you never have to wonder what there is to eat.

Answer 14

Food items are insanely expensive here in Denmark.  You pay roughly 1000$ US in Denmark for the same items you could buy for 300.  

I budget as much as I can, find inventive ways for using leftovers and yeah we don't drink much soda unless it's on sale.

Milk is $2 a liter

Gas is ~11$ a gallon

a 1 1/2 liter of coke is $4.50

Answer 15

we dont have a car, so we just stroller ride down to the store and get fresh veggies and fruit every 3 days or so, we spend around 50 dollars every 3 or 4 days, so that makes it around 450 a month on food that includes diapers, we could get by with alot less, but I love to cook and my husband and baby loves to eat so we eat good, and spend the money to do so.

I asked the same question a few weeks ago, here are more answers. http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...

Answer 16

Holy c**p, I feel your pain! My husband loves juice and would drink gallons of it if he could. We, like everyone else, are on a budget and I spend 300$ a month on groceries and it's hard to do! When ever I get extra money I'm running to the Wal-Mart. That is also not buying expensive Gerber snacks for my son (13months) and he basically eats what we do for dinner. I'd kill for an extra hundred dollars!!

Answer 17

It would depend on where you  live ;)  Grocery prices vary widely from region to region.

Answer 18

Well there are 2 adults in my home, a tween girl, and a toddler. We spend probably around $600 a month on groceries. We eat pretty healthy and I cook alot, and with produce and meat going up so much, I cant seem to cut the bill down. Its terrible.

Answer 19

OMG...who wants to do my shopping for me?

We spend anywhere from $400-$700 a month on groceries. We only eat out once on the weekend though, if that.  

Answer 20

i have a family of 4 and a baby, we live with my daughters ya ya and pepa (grandma and grandpa) and all together we send $450.00 a month max on  food, we shop bulk, sam's club, walmart, clip coupons, and only buy wants on sale, and what we need. we don't buy name brand, except for laundry soap.

Answer 21

I just ran a report on my checkbook and we spent $412 on groceries in the month of August, including formula. I clip coupons, shop sales and am also fortunate enough to have access to a military commissary, where the prices are lower.

I also stockpile. The last week of August, the local mom & pop grocery store had Pepsi product 12 packs for $1.98. I bought 30 of them. That will last us for 30 weeks. Otherwise, if I bought 1 per week at the commissary, they would be $3.45 each. I also stockpile cereal when the civilian stores run cereal specials. I can usually get a box for $1.50 or less final price.

I plan every meal in advance and cook from scratch, but I really enjoy cooking, so it's fun for me. So when I go grocery shopping, if it's not on the list, I don't buy it to cut down on the impulse buys. We eat a lot of leftovers at lunchtime to cut down on the cost of having to buy more food.

We also rarely eat out. Maybe twice per month.

So if you subtract $100 for formula and $60 on pop(remember, I stockpiled for 30 weeks on a sale) , we spent $260 on groceries for the two of us.

Answer 22

about 250 a month.....but my husband and i eat out alot

Answer 23

I would love to know how the other respondants are keeping their grocery bill so low.  Our groceries are close to $900/month - and that is with cutting coupons, etc.