What's your Average Grocery Bill?

[bersaguy]

I know some folks think they are saving money when they buy these cost cutter off brand items that are even lower in price than store brand items but I spent some time researching these items. Many of them are imported from third world countries and in many cases the weights are off as much as two ounces in the dry goods like Macaroni, Rice and boxes of Mac&Cheese stuff. There canned goods have about 2.5 more ounces of water than products like Green Beans and other canned veggies. About the only things I buy that is store brands are at Sam's and then it 's mostly paper products like paper towels and toilet paper.  I have also noticed that things I use to purchase in grocery stores like Campbell's Soups cost you about the same the same as a few years back but the cans are smaller. I have seen that in many name brand items. Starkist Tuna in cans are smaller but cost as much as 3 years ago. Kraft mac & cheese Shells have smaller shells in them than they use to have. These are all things that manufacturers are trying to slip past consumers and I guess it's working cause I have not heard anyone complaining. I just began buying those things at Sam's in bulk because at bulk price even though your getting smaller portions they are not costing you as much as in retail grocery stores.................jmho   

[45guy]

Food prices have been on the rise for the last couple of years. Meat is usually the most expensive items. I like other shop at SAMs. Not just for price but all they sell is "choice" beef. Most everybody else sells a grade below which is "select" beef. So SAMs is less expensive and sell better quality than most other stores. Walmart does not cut meat at their stores so theirs is injected with a saline solution(salt water) to preserve the meat for transport. You are paying for salt water.

One of the things you can do to help save some money. If you use ground beef look for sales on roast or whole primales that can be ground. I used to buy whole sirloin tips for $1.49 an pound and have them ground to use for ground beef. They are at lest 90 present lean and with the help of a small home scale I can package it for what we need it for. SAMs will not grind them for you but everybody else will. Chuck roast, shoulder roast make good ground beef. Look for the sales and buy. Ingles has roast on sell this week you can save 50 to 75 cent a pound by have it ground up.

[gregintenn]

There's four of us, including a teenage boy, and another about to be teenage boy. I'd wager my grocery bill is more than the average house payment.

[Volzfan]

Costing more every week for less food. 

[z0mbies fear me]

We ( me,my wife, and my 1 year old) spend an average of $800-$900 a month on groceries counting diapers and other baby stuff.

[R_Bert]

We ( me,my wife, and my 1 year old) spend an average of $800-$900 a month on groceries counting diapers and other baby stuff.

Yikes.  about $400/month in diapers?  My wife commented that they were EXPENSIVE!

[gregintenn]

Yikes.  about $400/month in diapers?  My wife commented that they were EXPENSIVE!

Babies have no respect! You spend that kind of dough for diapers, and they'll just poop and pee in them. :wall:

[R_Bert]

Babies have no respect! You spend that kind of dough for diapers, and they'll just poop and pee in them. :wall:

Well, ya have to teach them the value of poop. ("Kid!  Because of YOU, I ain't got $$$$!")

Edited April 14, 2014 by R_Bert

[Erik88]

I average $276/month and I'd say my fiance spends around that much. I pack my lunch everyday at work and we don't eat out very often. 

 

I am blown away at how little some of you spend. Either you are wrong, or I'm shopping at the wrong stores.

[TMF]

[quote name="Erik88" post="1138294" timestamp="1397441145"]I average $276/month and I'd say my fiance spends around that much. I pack my lunch everyday at work and we don't eat out very often. I am blown away at how little some of you spend. Either you are wrong, or I'm shopping at the wrong stores.[/quote] If you ever have kids, it will suddenly make sense. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[z0mbies fear me]

Yikes. about $400/month in diapers? My wife commented that they were EXPENSIVE!

Diapers, wipes, baby food, diaper genie bags, baby powder, diaper rash cream, juice, whole milk, and snacks. Have to buy enough for home and another of everything to keep at the daycare. Kids are expensive. I'm just glad she is off of the formula that stuff is ridiculously expensive! And that is just with one little one. Troutburger is my hero for being able to do it with a set of twins!

[R_Bert]

Diapers, wipes, baby food, diaper genie bags, baby powder, diaper rash cream, juice, whole milk, and snacks. Have to buy enough for home and another of everything to keep at the daycare. Kids are expensive. I'm just glad she is off of the formula that stuff is ridiculously expensive! And that is just with one little one. Troutburger is my hero for being able to do it with a set of twins!

I see the problem.  Cut out the snacks.

[musicman]

Household of two here, about $90-110 a week, every week at Target. We have the Redcard to save 5% all the time, along with using the Target mobile coupons and the Cartwheel app for additional savings from 5-40% on many items. We used to coupon pretty heavy but have fallen off the bandwagon.

No alcohol or smokes, but we do eat out quite a bit. Actually, our eat-out budget is about the same as our grocery budget. If we're saving for something or have a rough time for some reason, the eating out is the first to go.

[TrickyNicky]

It depends. I tend to do a bit of stocking up on things some times and that helps cut down consequent bills later on. I'll buy enough food to last about a month once every two months, but all things that keep well. Then I'll buy smaller amounts every week or two for more perishable items like milk and cheese.

Being single I've found that the hardest part about shopping cheap is learning what keeps. I can't count the amount of bread I've thrown away to the birds because I get sick of sandwiches before I use the loaf. Buying the 1/2 loaf is a ripoff so I feed birds quite a bit.

I buy a lot of soups, canned meat, beans/rice/noodles and frozen foods. I've also learned to get creative with spices so I don't have to buy many. It's pretty incredible what will taste good with Walmart brand taco seasoning when you're a cheapskate. :rolleyes:

The benefit to being single is that if I decide to eat rice beans and ramen for a week and a half so I can set up money for a big purchase, the only one I consult is the face I (don't) shave in the mirror. I can also get away with eating Capt'n Crunch for dinner for a month.. Not, uh, not that I have or anything...

[Ted S.]

I average $276/month and I'd say my fiance spends around that much. I pack my lunch everyday at work and we don't eat out very often. 

 

I am blown away at how little some of you spend. Either you are wrong, or I'm shopping at the wrong stores.

 

You'd be shocked at how little I am used to eating. I have gone for weeks at a time taking in an average of 1000-1500 Kcalories. I could eat more, but then I have to spend less on other things.

 

I've pretty much cut out buying beer nowadays as well.

 

I will note that I am not counting coffee, but I do spend about $25-30 on coffee monthly. Forgot I get it on Amazon so I didn't consider it.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Ted S.

[strickj]

I need to check closer, but I have not seen that here in Knoxville. And especially a $300/mo difference (for two of us).  You have definitely got something figured out. 

 

WM's prices are about the same as grocery stores, give or take. But being able to buy things on sale (buy1/get1 free) will cut your bill in half! I only use the coupons that Food Lion sends me ($5 or 10 off) ever few weeks.

 

Course, being single means that I can get away with cooking a meal twice a week and having it last all week. I feel for you guys that have to prepare meals daily!

 

It depends. I tend to do a bit of stocking up on things some times and that helps cut down consequent bills later on. I'll buy enough food to last about a month once every two months, but all things that keep well. Then I'll buy smaller amounts every week or two for more perishable items like milk and cheese.

Being single I've found that the hardest part about shopping cheap is learning what keeps. I can't count the amount of bread I've thrown away to the birds because I get sick of sandwiches before I use the loaf. Buying the 1/2 loaf is a ripoff so I feed birds quite a bit.

I buy a lot of soups, canned meat, beans/rice/noodles and frozen foods. I've also learned to get creative with spices so I don't have to buy many. It's pretty incredible what will taste good with Walmart brand taco seasoning when you're a cheapskate. :rolleyes:

The benefit to being single is that if I decide to eat rice beans and ramen for a week and a half so I can set up money for a big purchase, the only one I consult is the face I (don't) shave in the mirror. I can also get away with eating Capt'n Crunch for dinner for a month.. Not, uh, not that I have or anything...

Freeze it! You'd be surprised what will keep in the freezer. The fancy bread I get from the deli will last about two days before it needs a haircut. I freeze everything from pretzel loaf to dairy stuff :)

[CQB Elite]

My wife & I are willing to eat tuna fish or peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. Tonight I had a bowl of Fruit Loops for dinner. Our 3 daughters (11, 9 & 4) all have very different tastes in food so when we cook dinner it's like being a short order cook. That makes it difficult to plan a weeks worth of meals & budget for them.

[itchytriggerfinger]

We spend $220 per week on average. We don't really eat out, I take my lunch, and I've been drinking much less alcohol. What's sad is that is what it costs to eat healthy. We only eat fresh or flash frozen veggies, fresh fruit, chicken and pork, and raw nuts. There may be a few boxes of cheezits per month, but that's about it for snacks. I guess you could call it a "caveman" diet, though we don't "diet". We just cut out most all processed food all the way down to condiments like BBQ sauce, etc. Got back to the raw/fresh food.

We could probably save money with processed foods, but I'd rather give up something else in order to eat well. It's no wonder this country had obesity problems. Those less fortunate have to eat the crap food because the fresh stuff is almost twice as expensive.

[Guest Wildogre]

For me and the dogs it is about $130 every two weeks or so. That includes the Girl Friend eating over about four nights a week. I take my lunch most days and we eat out about once or maybe twice a week. That $130 includes beer and wine. so about $260 a month for in house food and maybe another $60 out. 

[btq96r]

WM's prices are about the same as grocery stores, give or take. But being able to buy things on sale (buy1/get1 free) will cut your bill in half! I only use the coupons that Food Lion sends me ($5 or 10 off) ever few weeks.

 

Course, being single means that I can get away with cooking a meal twice a week and having it last all week. I feel for you guys that have to prepare meals daily!

 

I used to go to Wal-Mart for most of my groceries, but stopped after reading this.  You can damn sure bet they are working behind the scenes to keep people dependent on food stamps since they openly admit their profits are tied to people using SNAP funds in their stores.  They won't have my business to help them with their aims.

 

Where I live, a Publix is almost as close and I'm a fan.  Way less people in the store, negligible difference in prices on most items and better deals on some.  I also seem get through the checkout line faster.  The one I shop at has a sign that they take Kroger coupons in addition to brand coupons and Publix coupons.

 

What was this thread about?  Oh, right, what's my average grocery bill.  Um, I'm a single guy...I don't bother tracking that.  I just buy enough food to cook and eat a few times a week.

Edited April 14, 2014 by btq96r

[Links2k]

My wife is one of the "coupon queens". While we don't do the drastic 300 jars of peanut butter kind of thing (the group she meets with certainly discourages the extreme coupon thing seen on TV), we still only spend about $100 monthly to feed a family of 4 and two dogs.... Not too shabby considering we were spending $150-200 per week before.

My wife has saved us lots of money over the years couponing. She finds bargains daily, but she doesn't do the extreme thing either. We have a small stockpile and she gives a lot to the needy. If she can't get it free or discounted, we don't eat it and we've never missed a meal. I can't give an amount, but grocery bills are always very small.

[Links2k]

My wife is one of the "coupon queens". While we don't do the drastic 300 jars of peanut butter kind of thing (the group she meets with certainly discourages the extreme coupon thing seen on TV), we still only spend about $100 monthly to feed a family of 4 and two dogs.... Not too shabby considering we were spending $150-200 per week before.

My wife has saved us lots of money over the years couponing. She finds bargains daily, but she doesn't do the extreme thing either. We have a small stockpile and she gives a lot to the needy. If she can't get it free or discounted, we don't eat it and we've never missed a meal. I can't give an amount, but grocery bills are always very small.

Several years back my wife became unemployed. She decided since she was not earning, she would find ways to reduce our expenses. One of those ways was to attend a "Time to Save" coupon course. This was probably 6 years ago. She has it to a science now and will leave places like CVS with a bill of $0 and a coupon for x amount for the next time she visits. She's good.

For us, it's Walgreens and Target. We have tubs of stuff that she has gotten discounted or free. I also like the Target visits where we pay for a basket of goodies with the little cards that she earned on the previous trips and then treats me to popcorn or pizza on the way out the door with the similar cards. It's magic! I need to learn to do it. Couponing works for both if us. I'm cheap and she gets to shop. Win, win. Edited April 14, 2014 by LINKS2K

[Links2k]

There's four of us, including a teenage boy, and another about to be teenage boy. I'd wager my grocery bill is more than the average house payment.

My boy is a former football player and I believe that eating is the same as breathing for him.

[Links2k]

WM's prices are about the same as grocery stores, give or take. But being able to buy things on sale (buy1/get1 free) will cut your bill in half! I only use the coupons that Food Lion sends me ($5 or 10 off) ever few weeks.
 
Course, being single means that I can get away with cooking a meal twice a week and having it last all week. I feel for you guys that have to prepare meals daily!
 

Freeze it! You'd be surprised what will keep in the freezer. The fancy bread I get from the deli will last about two days before it needs a haircut. I freeze everything from pretzel loaf to dairy stuff :)

Early morning trips to Kroger around 6am will yield lots of discounted meat for the freezer.

[Good_Steward]

My wife has saved us lots of money over the years couponing. She finds bargains daily, but she doesn't do the extreme thing either. We have a small stockpile and she gives a lot to the needy. If she can't get it free or discounted, we don't eat it and we've never missed a meal. I can't give an amount, but grocery bills are always very small.
For us, it's Walgreens and Target. We have tubs of stuff that she has gotten discounted or free. I also like the Target visits where we pay for a basket of goodies with the little cards that she earned on the previous trips and then treats me to popcorn or pizza on the way out the door with the similar cards. It's magic! I need to learn to do it. Couponing works for both if us. I'm cheap and she gets to shop. Win, win.

 

 

My wife likes to say "This meal cost $2.35 (or other ridiculously low $ amount)  for all of us. We have leftovers for tomorrow, as well.". That makes her day. She is scientific with it, as well. Keeps a purchase and price log on her iPad per product. Scans it into the app when she is putting away groceries and the corresponding $ per product. She'll have a receipt that is longer than I am tall (6'6") and have a total cost of about $30. Amazing. 

Edited April 14, 2014 by Good_Steward