Grocery bill

[BORN SAVER]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to see:

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
I am currently spending around $180 a month ($1.03 per meal)

---How many people do you have to feed?
2 people me and my girl friend

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
I go was going 1 once a week but now I'm going once a month

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
So originally I was shopping at Walmart and my grocery bill was $320 a month
I Started shopping at Sams club and made a spread sheet on Walmart vs Sams club
and got my bill down by around 44% with very minimal sacrifices (stuff like pizza vs stuff crust pizza). On top of this I Bought things in Bulk at sams club so i could live with only shopping once a month and also cut the amount of driving i do for grocery shopping in half.

(also I do a date night once a week to a local restaurant and spend somewhere between $25-$35 but that is not included in my summary)

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
I was thinking about possibly trying to use some coupons but didn't really know where to start or get them. Also, when I can buy a house i might try to garden a little.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: cereal/eggos/ pancakes and eggs
Lunch: left overs from dinner or penut butter sandwitch
dinner: probably 85% of our meals are some kind of beef or chicken. with some rice or potatos and pizza 1 night a week im not to big on fruits or veggies
snacks: granola bars

[Zikoris]

$230/month for two people, including toilet paper, cleaning supplies, muffin liners, toothpaste, etc. About $1 per meal.

According to Mint we average about 15 grocery transactions a month. We do one big shop per week, Costco a couple times a month, and a few visits to specialty places for weird ingredients.

To keep our costs down we basically just try to be price-conscious about where we buy what. That and we don't buy convenience items - I make everything from scratch, and meal plan. And we don't buy expensive stuff in general. Shooting for zero food waste probably helps. Restaurants aren't really our thing - we get a donut here and there, go out for our anniversary, and that's about it.

We don't really have plans to reduce our spending. We like what we eat now, and it's a small slice of our budget.

Vegans. Our diet:
Breakfast: Toast or bagel with peanut butter
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Some combination of protein (tofu, veggie meat, chickpeas, etc), starch (pie crust, pizza dough, rice, potatoes, pasta, bread), and lots of vegetables. Examples: Lasagna with lots of extra vegetables. Tofu veggie stir fry. Veggie burgers with roasted vegetables. Calzones with pesto sauce, potatoes, veggie chicken, broccoli, and zucchini. Vegetable pot pie. Rice noodle dishes.
Snacks: Fruit, leftovers, oatmeal, baked goods. I bake several times a week. In the last week I made pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice maple-glazed cinnamon rolls, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal muffins. It's been a little crazy.

[naeshelle]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
$60/month although I'm looking to reduce this.

---How many people do you have to feed?
Just myself.

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Once a week.

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
I don't eat a lot of meat + I eat tons of cheap carbs. I stretch my frozen veggies and eat a bunch of times a day rather than three big meals and actually find that I eat less food this way since I can eat a little and be constantly full.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Definitely going to pursue couponing more seriously. Also looking to cut even more meat out of my diet and replace my protein and iron with more cheaper, plant-based sources. Or, at the very least, only buy meat when it's super discounted. I've gotten really good at stretching two chicken breasts out over a week, though.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
Breakfast: I don't regularly eat breakfast but the few times I do it'll be toast or eggs or granola and almond milk or something.
Lunch: I... Don't eat lunch, really. If I have anything it'll be a bite of whatever leftovers I had from dinner last night, or eggs or toast or something. Every now & again I'll run out for fast food for lunch but that's not as much of a habit as it used to be.
Dinner: Chicken, pasta or rice or bread, mashed potatoes, broccoli or some other veggie
Snacks: Candy + chips. I swear this is where most of my money goes.

[MrsPB]

I just wanted to see:

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
In Canada here, currently $550-$600/mth JUST groceries and formula, excluding paper products, toiletries etc, alcohol, pet food, diapers. We eat out breakfast maybe once a month. No other eating out/coffee so I think that inflates our bill a bit.

---How many people do you have to feed?
4, 2 adults, preschooler and baby. Baby formula is around $50/month.

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Costco 2x month for most food, usually 2 smaller trips to local grocery store for things I can't get at Costco.

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Switched primarily to Costco.  When staples that can be stored like coffee or butter go on sale, buy a lot. Use Flipp app for browsing flyers. Learn what is a good price for foods. Make my own hummus, almond butter, pasta/pizza sauces, pizza dough etc.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
my youngest will be off formula soon but our milk costs will go up a bit. We grow some veggies but not enough to impact the bill really. We cut out booze 2 months ago, that has saved a lot.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: eggs/toast for them or some combination of,  oatmeal/rice cakes with almond butter/leftovers for me (can't eat eggs/wheat)
Lunch: left overs from dinner or rice and canned salmon, rice cakes with tuna/cheese and cucumber type stuff.
dinner: 99% meals are at home and cooked from scratch. Meat/fish most nights, all kinds of meats, BBQ a lot in spring/summer/fall. Usually meat/fish, 1-2 veg, 1 starch. Rarely eat dessert but have fresh fruit sometimes. Vegetarian 1-2 X week. Make our own sushi 1-2 X month, make pizza 2-3 X month.
snacks: fruit, rice cakes, almond butter, Mary's crackers with salsa, carrots and hummus.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to see:

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?

About $650/month, including diapers/wipes for two kids as well as other things that get purchased at the grocery store.

---How many people do you have to feed?

5 people: Two adults, a four-year-old, a three-year-old, and a seven-month old

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?

One big trip once per week, plus a couple of small trips in between to pick up milk, fresh fruit, and specific ingredients

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?

We do very little to control our spending any more. There was a time that I was trying really hard to keep the grocery bill under some arbitrary amount - first $400/mo, then $500/mo as we added family members. But ultimately all it did was cause stress, because I was constantly trying to micromanage my wife's purchases (my wife is a stay-at-home mom, so she does most of the shopping).

In the end, we decided that providing healthy meals for our family for well under $2/meal was a reasonable expense, and that's always been about our baseline expense even before we were followers of the 'stache. We've always bought whole ingredients as much as possible and avoided processed foods. We don't do "organic" because it's overpriced marketing fluff. We avoid red meat, because it's also over-priced (We do eat venison when my father-in-law provides it). Most protein comes from chicken, eggs, and non-animal sources (pork is also cheap, but my wife doesn't much care for it). That's about it. We don't clip coupons, but we do know the regular price for everything we buy and stock up when things are on sale.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?

I fully expect our grocery bill to increase as our seven-month-old transitions to solid food and our children get bigger. I'm fine with that.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?

Breakfast: Oatmeal or cereal on weekdays. Something special like pancakes, bacon and eggs, or crepes on the weekends.
Lunch: I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fresh popcorn with olive oil, salt, and black pepper, and a fruit...every single day. My wife hates repetition and thinks I'm nuts. She fixes something quick and easy for herself and the kids, like a sandwich, pasta, or a smoothie for lunch. Never anything big.
Supper: Lots of variety at suppertime. We do fajitas, stir-fry, roasted veggies, hearty soups, stews, and chilis, or whatever else my wife decides to cook. Usually pretty healthy, always delicious.

[Duchess of Stratosphear]

Not as badass on this as some folks here:

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
I think I spend around $300 which often includes cleaning supplies and some toiletries

---How many people do you have to feed?
Just me!

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
at least once a week

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Drinking less alcohol, using everything I get from my CSA, growing some of my own food, not wasting food (freezing or drying it rather than throwing it out if I can't eat it all)

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
See previous question--trying to get more badass at that. Would like to grow more of my own food in future too.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: oatmeal with nuts, flaxseeds, raisins, apples
Lunch: leftovers usually
dinner: veggies (whole foods plant-based diet), homemade bread
snacks: fruit, occasional indulgences (sugary sweets)

[Eowyn_MI]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
Currently spending around $300 a month on food (this number includes restaurant spending but I go out to eat less than once per week on average)

---How many people do you have to feed?
1 (myself) plus whatever I choose to share with my family (4 other adults)

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Once a week or more if I want a special ingredient

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
I have reduced my bill somewhat by not buying "treats" like dark chocolate, fancy cheese, gourmet/novelty foods or expensive jam when I go grocery shopping.  Pre-mustache shopping trips typically included one or more of these items.  Now, I limit "treats" to unprocessed foods.  If a fancy (expensive) fruit or vegetable looks really good then I will probably buy it.  Clearly, I still have plenty of room to improve!

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Make fewer shopping trips for special ingredients and focus on using what I already have.

---What does your diet mainly consist of?
Breakfast: tea, fruit and nuts OR oatmeal with coconut flakes and raisins OR leftovers; ~1-3 days per week include tea or coffee with half & half

Lunch: meat (chicken, beef, lamb) and vegetables OR fruit and yogurt with walnuts OR leftovers from dinner

Dinner: most of our meals include lettuce salad (cucumber salad in the summer) plus a vegetable stir fry with a side dish (potatoes, quinoa, rice etc...) or vegetable soup/stew or lentil soup.  Wednesday dinner is usually a salad and salmon fillets.  Sunday main meal is meat and potatoes and a salad.

Snacks: dried fruit, eggs, cheese

[acroy]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
Aprox $750 (food + tp etc)

---How many people do you have to feed?
8

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
every 2-3 weeks

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Buy the stuff on sale. Rewards card 6% discount. Bulk, store brand commodities (oats, eggs, etc)

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Try the store app for e-coupons.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
Eggs, whole wheat bread, peanut butter, jelly, fruit, chicken, various wheat noodles, oatmeal, rice, frozen veg, various dairy and tomato sauces

[soccerluvof4]

We budget 800$ a month.

Family of 6 - 2 adults , 2 in High School ( but our son is 6'8 and daughter 6'1)  and 2 young guns 12 and 10 all very active in sports..big appetites!!

Shop twice- Tuesday and Fridays

Cut our shopping bill mostly by going to Aldis and buying whats on sale then planning meals around that.

Meals consist mostly of all types of Salad stuff, Fruit, milk, eggs,  a lot of Chicken, Snack stuff for the kids..etc.

[Gimesalot]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
I am currently spending around $200a month not including a few meals out a month

---How many people do you have to feed?
2 people (me + DH)

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
1 big trip a month to Asian market, 2 times a month to mini grocery, 1 a month to regular grocery store

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
I changed all of our means to be the same base with different seasonings.  All of our meals are garlic, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, green beans, spinach, kale, and squash.  If I add cumin and oregano, make beans and rice, it's fajita night.  If is use coconut milk and curry paste, we are having Thai.  Szechuan peppercorns and it's Chinese.
Also, I changed my diet to include more high quality whole foods such as eggs, beans, etc.  My husband has followed and he has given up his daily "smoothie" and cold cereal.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
I need to get better at eliminating food waste.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
For me:
breakfast: oatmeal weekdays and an egg, slice of ham, and cheese on toast on weekends
Lunch: left overs from dinner
dinner: 50% veggies or beans 40% rice 10% pork
snacks: fruit, beef jerky, crackers and cheese, popcorn

For DH:
breakfast: Greek yogurt, granola, banana, every once in a while an egg
Lunch: left overs from dinner
dinner: 50% veggies or beans 40% rice 10% pork
snacks: crackers and cheese, popcorn, chips and salsa

[chemistk]

Here's mine. Family of 3 (2 adults, 1.5yo). Living in PA without convenient access to club stores.

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
$280-$330, depending if we have guests over

---How many people do you have to feed?
2.5 people

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Our aim is once every 10 days, so roughly 3x a month.

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?

When we were first married, we were buying a lot of stuff that we would never use or only use part of before it went bad and had to be tossed out. We were also buying a lot of packaged (middle of the store) food. After reading MMM, we switched to having 60% of our cart be proteins and fruits/vegetables. Rest of it is staples and the occasional treat. (Just bought a $1.29 jar of banana peppers the other day).
 
---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Stuff still spoils before we can get to it, so there's that. We also buy things that are out of season from time to time, which is pricey.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?

Breakfast: Cereal, Homemeade bagels, Eggs/Bacon/Pancakes on weekend
Lunch: Leftovers, Sandwiches, Fruit
Dinner: Protein, Vegetable, Starch - The possibilities are endless!
snacks: Fruit, Vegetables, Bulk Nuts, the occasional box of crackers.

[andy85]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
Under $300/month (includes toiletries and paper products)

---How many people do you have to feed?
1 - Just me

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Once a week. Saturday or Sunday morning

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Shopping at Aldi. Don't buy snacks or junk food.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Nothing. If anything I plan on increasing it by shopping for more organic meats.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: Eggs, spinnach, blueberries
Lunch: Lean meat, complex carb, veges
dinner: Fattier meat/fish, veges
snacks: nuts, protein shakes, V8, deli meat/cheese, popcorn, 85% dark chocolate

[laserlady]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
I think about $65 per month -- probably a little less in the summer, and a little more in the winter.

---How many people do you have to feed?
1 - Just me

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
When I need groceries.  (Maybe an average of twice per month.)

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
I haven't.  In college I spent less than $50 per month on food. 

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
None.

---What does your diet mainly consist of?
breakfast: oatmeal, fruit
Lunch: baked potato and cheese
dinner: salad, tacos, soup, spaghetti
snacks: sunflower seeds, popcorn, yogurt

[Chris22]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
Around $700/mo ($150/wk + occasional side trip)

---How many people do you have to feed?
3, two adults and a 4y/o

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
1x/wk and about every other week an additional small trip

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
None, aside from bulk buying from Costco.  We intentionally spend 'lavishly' on groceries in an attempt to dissuade ourselves from eating out which is far more expensive.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Will probably continue to drive it up to avoid restaurants, we are trying to be more and more elaborate in things cooked at home esp. on the weekend

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: fruit and/or pancakes/eggs
Lunch: lunchmeat sandwich, fruit, sometimes salad, leftovers
dinner: Almost always a small salad, plus some meat/chicken and a veggie side; often do a Mexican night, grill a lot
snacks: chips and cookies on occasion

[ketchup]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
Roughly $300/month but it varies a lot based on when I stock up on things (or don't).

---How many people do you have to feed?
Two mid-20s adults (GF and I).

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Usually once or twice a week depending on what our plans are, or how much fresh produce is needed.

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Lots of main staples at Costco (oils, vinegar, spices, heavy cream, Kerrygold butter, coconut milk, some produce, sometimes eggs).
Most of other grocery shopping done at a local chain that runs sales often.
Stock up (and freeze in chest freezer) meat when on sale.
Focus on cheaper cuts of meat that are also nutritious and delicious (soup bones, liver, etc).
Somewhat base our meal plans for the week based on sales (not always) and seasonal produce.
Eat more of the cheapest, most nutritious produce (onions, cabbage, greens, etc., also berries when on sale).
Essentially everything is made from scratch (saves $$$ on things like sauces and broth).
I make big batches of reasonably-homogeneous things for work lunches that I can bring in a 64oz deli container or two and heat up portions throughout the week.
Related: I always make a lot of anything we're cooking, so we always have leftovers lying around.
Not quite grocery-budget saving, but overall money saving/waste reducing: if meat starts to go bad, it goes to the dogs instead of the trash can.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Would like to get food waste down to 0.  Close, but not there yet.  Pretty much everything else is well dialed in.
More creamy soups.  I bought that immersion blender for a reason but haven't used it as much as I would like.
Eat down the freezer.  We're a bit overstocked at the moment.

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
We're pretty Primal/keto-ish so lots of meat and vegetables.  Also starring eggs, healthy fats, some potatoes, some nuts, and fruit.  GF drinks coffee.  I drink tea.  I don't separate meals into "breakfast food" or "dinner food" and cook/eat whatever's available at the time.  I'll eat leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes for breakfast, or an omelette and berries for dinner and be just as content.  I don't snack much but when I do it's usually Brazil nuts, cashews, and/or 100% baker's chocolate (I'm a masochist like that).

[frugalnacho]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
Around $600/mo (includes cleaning and toiletries)

---How many people do you have to feed?
2 adults.  Also 1 dog and 1 cat.  I eat about twice what a normal person seems to eat (I eat around 4,000 cal/day).

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Costco 2-3 times a month, kroger probably 6 times/mo.  I hate going, but bananas only last a max of about 5 days after purchase, and I have a serious banana addiction.

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
I will mimick chris's response here: None, aside from bulk buying from Costco.  We intentionally spend 'lavishly' on groceries in an attempt to dissuade ourselves from eating out which is far more expensive. Should we go out to a fancy dinner, or cook a $20 rib roast and have a ridiculously nice dinner in the comfort of our own house?

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Gardening, though that is more about passion that actually saving money. 

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: bagel w/ cream cheese, yogurt, banana, fruit, OJ.  On the weekend eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage/bacon.
Lunch: fruit, leftovers
dinner: Meat, potato/rice, fresh veggie. Lots of taco/nacho nights.  Typical dinner rotations include: burgers, sausages, pork tenderloin, pork chops, pulled pork, steaks, beef roasts, grilled chicken, meatloaf, tilapia, spaghetti, pizza. 

[Frugalman19]

Can wine be a separate budget item?

[HPstache]

$500/mo is our grocery and toilettries budget.  Family of 2.5... the wife does most of the grocery shopping and she goes about weekly.

[franklin w. dixon]

I always enjoy the posts in threads like this that are like OH YEAH ROCKIN 60 A MONTH YEP 9 CENTS PER MEAL RAW FLOUR AND A SPOON FULL OF SELF DISCIPLINE NOT LIKE TODAYS MALLAGNEALS cause I mean. 2000 calories per day of bulk peanut butter comes out to like $42 per month. lol

[franklin w. dixon]

Or like this thrifty youtube of nutrition bereft misery rations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndXjQKyLaUc

Where if you run the figures it works out to 1200 calories per day which is less than they gave inmates at freakin Buchenwald

[Lae1526]

We spend $300/month for a family of 5, but the three kids are young and have small appetites. We spend roughly $50/week at Aldi, pick up loss leaders at grocery stores, plus I do some couponing to help with toiletries. I make almost everything from scratch and we eat meatless meals about 50% of the time. This is in a LCOL area.

[honeybbq]

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
I go was going 1 once a week but now I'm going once a month

---

Do you not buy or eat any produce??

[meandmyfamily]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
$850 just for food

---How many people do you have to feed?
2 adults and 4 kids (13, 11, 6 and 5) plus friends and family that come by

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Costco every 15 days, Trader Joe's every 15 days and misc at Safeway/Frys once a week

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
price checking, avoiding pre-packaged foods, reducing waste

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
better meal planning

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: oatmeal, eggs, french toast, pancakes, waffles, toast
lunch: burritos, leftovers, some sandwiches
dinner: varies but lots of chicken, rice, beans, tacos, spaghetti, Asian dishes, vegetables, chili, soups, etc.
snacks:fruit, baked goods, popcorn, chips and salsa, smoothies, nuts, vegetables

[big_slacker]

$800 including household goods, but there have been some overages here and there. This is for 2 adults and two small children.

[cj25]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
$700-800 (does not include if we eat out)

---How many people do you have to feed?
2 people - my husband & I

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
At least weekly - Trader Joes, our local farm & two different butchers.

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Meal planning

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Smaller amounts of meat

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: grassfed beef breakfast links, organic eggs, gluten free toast or pancakes (on weekends). Although I can't tolerate eggs too frequently.
Lunch: left overs from dinner
dinner: Chicken (breasts or thighs), beef (usually ground beef or fajita style strips, rump roast), pork (loin, porkbutt), turkey (ground or tenders) - organic & grassfed/pasture raised as much as possible, rice, potatoes/sweet potatoes, quinoa, lots of vegetables from our local farm. We're gluten free and I eat as little dairy, tomatoes/nightshades & legumes as possible.
snacks: fruit, jerky, cheese, homemade cookies, nuts

[brute]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
$750 a month

---How many people do you have to feed?
2 people, my wife and I

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Once a week

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Reducing booze intake. I'm a competitive strength athlete, so high protein, high fat, low carb for most of the year. Switching to more pork and chicken and away from beef.

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
More eggs, buying meat by the case

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
breakfast: coffee with whey protein,bacon, eggs. (50g protein)
Lunch: left overs from dinner (80g protein)
dinner: Meat and veggies. Sometimes lasagna with no noodles, just meat, sauce, and cheese with lots of spinach. Steaks when they're on sale. A whole chicken and some green beans maybe (120g protein)
2 protein shakes during the day to top off at 300g protein daily.

[QueenV]

---How much you are spending on groceries a month?
$600 a month

---How many people do you have to feed?
2.5 people - 2 adults, 1 toddler

---How often do you go Grocery shopping?
Once or twice a week

---How have you reduced your grocery bill?
Try to buy meat on sale, buy things like a whole chicken and cook it in the crock pot, meal planning, shop with a list

---What are your future plans for reducing your grocery bill?
Trying to create a price list to compare prices, stock up on non-perishables when they are on sale, shop more loss-leaders and freeze meat, etc when it's on sale, go grocery shopping less often

---What do your diets mainly consist of?
Breakfast: Toast and peanut butter, coffee
Lunch: Leftovers from dinner
Dinner: Burritos, Pasta, Rice & Bean bowls, Hamburgers, crock pot meals
Mostly drink water with meals

Edited to correct typo