Family budget question re: groceries/food/consumables

I'm not sure what we spend, but I know it's too much. We get takeout a couple of times a week, and when there's t-ball/soccer practice, it's even more often.

With little babies, the price of formula, diapers, etc can add up pretty quickly- I think we spent about $100/month on those two things alone when mine were that young.

Groceries are expensive as hell, and it seems like the price goes up exponentially every time I shop. You could probably trim that number by $100 or so, but I bet $600-750/month is probably about right.

Family of three, with a toddler. We spend $1000 a month at Kroger, plus roughly $300 eating out.

Your $500 figure seems impossible, especially the way grocery store prices have increased in the last few years. Couponing can help, but we don't seem to have the time right now.

I do not think $12k a year is completely unreasonable if you factor in eating out. If you buy in bulk, make your lunch everyday, use coupons, and eat at or pick up food from a restaurant once a week, I think you could trim the figure to $750 a month.

I do not know what efforts your family makes to take advantage of deals at the grocery store. Buying ground beef, pork tenderloins, etc.. while they are on sale and freezing them will save you money overtime (if you're not throwing away the food). Saving and eating leftovers will save you money over time as well. Make a habit of always having a grocery list with you and only buying what is on the list. Don't go shopping on an empty stomach either.

Family of four (me, wife, kids aged 6 and 3).

We budget $600/month for grocery food (this also includes the kids lunches at school, whether they bring their lunch or they buy their lunch), $100/month for household consumables (toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, that sort of thing), and $600/month for enterainment. If we eat out, that comes out of the entertainment budget.

We try to do two big grocery trips a month, usually to Sams, where we can buy things in bulk that don't go bad quickly. Cereal, snacks, pasta, etc. Once a week, we go to a local butcher shop where we buy most of our meats, cold cuts, etc. Then to the grocery store as needed. I try to read the ads for Breaux Mart, Rouses, and Winn Dixie, and shop the deals if it works out for us. Finally we try to hit the local farmers market for produce, which a lot of times, in-season, is cheaper than the grocery.

We try to meal plan two weeks at a time, which works better sometimes than others.

We've had some success with the crock pot meals thing, where you make like 10 meals at a time and freeze them. Here is an example.

Crock Pot Meals

As for the baby, I don't miss the days of paying for all that. If your baby takes formula, try to over time, switch them to a generic formula. Sams has a brand that is basically identical to Similac. Same for diapers - the Babies R Us brand we found to be outstanding for the cost. Also, a couple of times a year, they would put all their boxes on sale for $10 each, so we would buy 3-4 months worth of diapers, you just have to be careful about the sizes as baby grows.

Hope this helps.

125 a week for groceries, household goods, lunch/eating out- family of 3.

I coupon, but most of yall already know that. I have 2 deep freezers full of wild game that we eat. The only thing I buy is chicken and occasionally pork/beef, only when it is on sale and I am getting low. I dont buy any ground meat. My parents make ground meat with deer/beef mixture and I "barter" with them coupon stockpile for ground meat.

Also, they grow veggies/fruit so I barter for that as well.

This is worth adding to the sticky list.

If you have Peapod (or similar services) in your area, give it a look. We're saving a bunch with Peapod not because of sale prices, but because it allows for smarter shopping.

My wife reports that ordering our food online allows her to compare prices and look things up - to our advantage. By comparison, when you walk into the grocery store you're basically playing a road game on the marketers' home field. You don't have a chance.

Also, services like Peapod usually allow you to go pick the stuff up for a nominal fee, as opposed to paying a higher delivery fee + tip

This thread would be much better if people would detail what they are buying and eating.

My wife and I have a toddler and a dog. I COULD get away with $500/month if I ate cheap frozen shite on sale all the time. I don't want to eat that way unless I absolutely have to, which I don't at this point.

But I would still like to save money on groceries.

So when I see some of you with a family of four claiming to spend only $600/month, I have to question what it is you're buying.