Trying to find what family of three spends on groceries per week or month...anybody?

[susiestar]

I wonder what you were googling. I googled "average food budget for family of 3" and came up with a ton of sites. One called the Miserly Mom said that in their eyes it should be $10 per person per week, if you wanted to be frugal but not miserly then $15 per person per week. I find that ludicrous unless you are going to food pantries and making rebates and coupons a full time job. It simply isn't realistic.

The US Stat Abstract would be what I relied on because it will be done far more scientifically and reliably. For a family of 3 it is $101 per week and for a family of 4 it is $121 per week. There is no date on the article so it is probably a few years behind.

The USDA publishes a MONTHLY cost of food at home for four levels for the country. Their 4 levels are Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal.

This will give you the chart with ALL the months: USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food Cost of Food at Home . Just click on a month to see the table. in my opinion this is the most reliable set of numbers you will find and it iwill give you a good picture of the food budgets for food eaten at home in the US.

 

[Hound dog]

I was feeding a family of 5 up until 2 yrs ago, so yeah, pretty much. AND that wasn't just food, either, but toilet paper and such. Until couponing I only shopped twice a month, period. If we ran out, we were out until the next payday. I spent 300.00 per month for a family of 5, dog food and cleaning supplies included. We did not go hungry in the least. (or else husband would not have been so overwieght) It's a budget I set like 20 some years ago and just never changed, I made it work. I think right before husband passed it went up to 400 per month and I nearly passed out. But from what I've seen in the past 4 months, he was eating the bulk of the food being brought into the house. Not junk food, I rarely buy junk foods.

Although I know at the moment food prices are steadily climbing UP. I've been watching meat prices like a hawk for the sales. Grabbed up a bunch today too. My freezer is full. lol That will last me and Travis forever, especially since I'm going to be incorporating more beans and rice into our meals. Sugar jumped what, like a buck in a month? omg Peanut butter is no longer cheap.

 

[HaoZi]

I'm suitably impressed, Hound.

 

[Signorina]

Peanut butter went up tremendously - a problem with the crop or some such. I started buying generic and my Skippy loving h reminded me that a jar of name brand pb lasts two months at 6.99 a jar (all of pc14's lunches and some of H's) and that pc17's deli roast beef is $7.99 a WEEK LOL
Point taken

 

[Hound dog]

Aw thanks HaoZi. Not much to be impressed about. Food / household items were always last on the budget list.......house payment, utility bills ect came first.....and for the most part that is just what I had to work with. Even less when husband became unemployed.

Right now it's hard to calculate what I spend per wk.....even monthly. I know it's a LOT less, but it varies due to the sales that week. I kid you not, I bought milk today for the first time since last July. (don't worry, it's been frozen lol ) I now have 3 cases of freshlike veggies. Now I don't buy that every week, most times not even monthly, depends on if it's cheap enough. This will be added to the other cases of veggies in the pantry. So I can wait out a sale a good long time if necessary. And I'm adding in the drug store spending too cuz I don't know how to subtract that out. But tops I average out about 50 per wk with just me and Travis. Sometimes I can go to kroger and only pick up bread and 1 or two sale items and leave.

 

[donna723]

It would be very hard to determine how much food a typical "family of three" would go through unless you defined exactly who was in that "family of three". There would be a whole lot of difference between a couple with a two year old and a couple with a 200-pound teenage boy!

 

[DammitJanet]

Amen Donna...lol. I know that when we were a 5 person family with 3 teen boys and Tony working construction all day long...well lets just say pasta and cases of oodles of noodles were my friend. I also bought those huge bags of store brand cereal at walmart and we went through at least 3 of those a week with probably 4 gallons of milk too. I used to go get that awful generic bologna and bread so they could make sandwiches and I was thrilled because our chickens laid eggs. They would make fried bologna and egg sandwiches.

About the Chicken soup dog food. I can buy it online from Amazon and get it shipped free with Prime. There it is only 39.99 which is 10 cheaper. I was mistaken on the quantity though. Its a 35lb bag. It is extremely good for the dogs and is made by those people you mentioned...Call of the wild or something...same manufacturer. There is no corn in it. It has all kinds of veggies and fruits plus the meats of course.

 

[donna723]

Janet, that sounds like a good deal on the dog food and I know it's supposed to be very good food.

And I know if my kids were younger and still at home now, I'd be buying the Walmart cereal in the big bags too! The price of cereal is just OUTRAGEOUS now! If you buy the name brands, you can hardly find any for under $5 a box!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Holy cow! That seems like a lot....

???HUH???
$561 per MONTH for three people (I'm assuming two adults and a teen... not some itty bitty baby...)???
Flippin' fiddlesticks.

Our medicare is free (this being Canada). Good thing, because... I'm paying "medicare premiums" for food.
For four (ok, two teens, it is a factor, but only one is male...) We're paying $300-400 per WEEK.
Probably closer to the lower figure if you take medications and paper and cleaning products out of that. But still. $300 x 4 weeks = $1200 per month.nch
And... we cook from scratch at least 5 days a week - and take our own lunches...
(and... no roasts, no steaks... pork if its really on sale, otherwise its lean ground or chicken parts... )

And you guys think $561 per month is "high"???

kwitchyerbelliachin!

 

[Hound dog]

OMG! IC! I knew you had it worse than us, but wow!

Ours is getting really bad though. Especially for those who don't know how to use coupons effectively. We have people surviving off spam as their main meat. We have people who have stopped eating meat because they can't afford it. I just saw rice jump in price again...... 1/3 higher than what I just paid for it and it's supposed to be on sale! (that's why I noticed it) Our milk jumped up too. And don't get me started on gas, 40 cents in a single day. omg

 

[ctmom05]

Here is a foodbudget chart, with different levels to take into account family composition: USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food Cost of Food at Home

There are some interesting Yahoo groups for folks who enjoy bouncing ideas off of others on how to be frugal in the kitche. I belong to a couple and enjoy them.

 

[DammitJanet]

Milk is high isnt it? I swear I need a cow but then I dont know how I would get my skim milk...lol. I wonder if I could get a skinny cow! I dont like whole milk. Since the boys have gone we dont go through the milk like we used to we can get by with a gallon every two weeks now if no one is eating cereal and I try to do that. However if Cory is around, milk goes away like magic. He drinks it. I guess I raised him well...lmao. When Keyana is here too we have to have milk. My food bill goes up when she is here too. I buy her a lot of her treats. Bad Grandma. I buy really good juice which is the juice that has the veggies in it but is like a smoothie. She loves that stuff. Always has. Though its much more expensive than simple frozen apple juice.

 

[Shari]

I spent about $400 a month for a family of 5 plus cgfg on weekends when the big boys were at home. But that was shopping the sales and stocking up when things were on sale....
Now, I probably still spend that much, but I don't do the sales like I used to, tho I'm trying to get back to it. Thats including paper and cleaning, though, too, and we butcher/hunt for a good portion of our meat.

 

[Lothlorien]

Everything has gone up tremendously in the past several years. The toilet paper that I buy has doubled in price since 5 years ago. I stock up on it when it goes on sale.

When I seriously coupon, I can get away with spending about $165 a week. When I don't coupon, I'll shop about every 2 to 3 weeks and spend about $300. I buy a lot of organic stuff though and not a lot of junk.

 

[AnnieO]

WOW. Just WOW.

I spent $159 last Saturday, jammed my trunk, now the freezer, fridge and pantry are nice and almost full again. I need to stock more, but I could only put so much in my cart. And I shop alone, don't end up with a lot of junk. So - no one to drive a second cart. (Lots of sales + coupons at Kroger this weekend - I got about $300 worth.)

What I got will feed Jett, husband and I for about 3 weeks. Add Onyxx in and it would drop to maybe 2. I did get some extra stuff, too.

I buy the big bags of cereal for Jett - thought they are usually cheaper per ounce at Kroger than Wally World.

I choke when I have to buy peanut butter. I get the huge tubs, cost of $7.99 each - only a couple years ago they were $4.99. Ugh!

So, per week, add in Jett's outrageously expensive lunch ($2.65-$3.75 a DAY) and sundries like shampoo, toilet paper, etc., we're probably running about $400 a month. (FWIW, I got Marie Callender's lunches for $2 each... Cheaper than the koi they serve Jett at school!)

I'd have Jett take/make his lunch, but it gets forgotten. Every darned day. Hmm, maybe I should just NOT put money in his lunch account and MAKE him remember. PB & cheese sandwich, banana and a Capri Sun. Guarantee it. I refuse to make them for him anymore. He's 13, not 3. (And he hates what I put in them, so...)

husband works in a hospital, and their cafeteria is nice - salads are by the pound, and he can get meat, eggs, cheese etc., and eat WELL for $2. So I don't worry about him. Days I eat with him, it costs about $4 for both of us...

 

[InsaneCdn]

<sigh> Even 30 years ago when I started working, the best you could do for a purchased lunch was $5. That is long gone out the window - can't do much now on $10!

 

[AnnieO]

IC, OMG!!!

If I run out for fast food, it adds up. But... I can order off the McDonald's value menu for $2 and be full... I just regret it later.

 

[InsaneCdn]

McDonald's value menu here is closer to $5. And that is not enough to keep ME from being hungry... husband??? no hope.

 

[Hound dog]

Step, Jett will prefer to eat like a 3 yr old for a while yet. lol If it's cheap and fairly healthy, why not? And when my kids packed, unless they had a friend who would share, they did without. I reemed the school major once over giving one of them a lunch when they should have brought the lunch I made, then expected ME to foot the bill. Uh, no. But Mrs Hound, they can't go hungry! Why not? It's just ONE meal, trust me they won't keel over. I flat out refused. They never offered one of my kids lunch again. easy child is having this issue from time to time with Darrin. School tends to write her nasty notes about how she owes them x amt of cash when he was supposed to be bringing in his lunch.

Didn't kroger have a wonderful sale this last week? Was truly happy with them. lol I still need to look at this week's ad.

 

[Shari]

I did my week's shopping today and spent $80. I will stop at the bakery on the way home and pick up bread, so I will spend another $3-4.

Included in that was a special run on soda that I don't normally buy, that was $10, and a stash of cereal, which was another $10, and a case of bottled water, but those three purchases will last all month. I also bought makings for 6 meals of fettucini alfredo with crab that will end up costing around $3 per meal - so again, that will obviously last longer than a week. I also bought rat food, cat litter, and allergy medicine.