How do you stick to a food budget?

Our grocery budget is $200/mo for the hub, myself, and our 6 mo old daughter. We figure $25/week is plenty and it keeps us in check.

We allocate another $33/month for Costco and $50/month for meals out.

We’ve bought local grocery gift cards to help us keep to the budget (when it’s gone, it’s gone. If there’s a great sale, we’ll consider adding to it.).

We’re still trying to figure out how to work farmers markets into the grocery budget. Is it a separate category or not?

Oh, and BK has vanilla cones for 50 cents right now. Not the 25 cents of last summer, but for $1.08 Scott and I enjoyed a wonderful treat on Sunday!

We don’t really have a budget, but we do spend between $70-$90 a week on groceries. It’s enough food for two endurance runners. We go out to eat maybe once a week on top of that.

I have tried to budget for food in the past but have struggled with keeping it. I am not good at planning meals so I end up buying more stuff “just in case”. I think we (me +husband) probably spend $75 per week in food. I’ve never tried those waffle cones before…I can’t remember the last time I went to Wendy’s!

I shop for just myself and my parents have a grocery budget for me of $75/week. I feel like I live pretty well though and go out for dinner and buy pretty much whatever I want with that money. So it could definitely be stretched further than one person. I prefer vanilla ice cream to chocolate any day but chocolate is still one of my favorite flavors for other things. It’s so good but for some reason, vanilla based ice cream just tastes way better.

I’m awful at setting budgets but will read everyone’s suggestions! I get yelled at all the time for unnecessary necessary purchases!

FYI, Katie at Running4Cupcakes is doing a grocery challenge right now and tracking her family’s monthly grocery expenses. She’s got lots of great tips and practical advice!

We don’t really track our monthly grocery spending, but I do know it has gone up over the last few years. We buy a lot more produce and fresh food now, so that has definitely contributed. Plus we’ve got two more hungry mouths to feed, and our girls can really put a hurtin’ on food! The Farmer’s Market is a great way to get lots of fresh fruits and veggies at great prices while support local farmers. Win-win!

I really have no idea of what we spend per week on food. We just buy whatever and never kept track. Maybe I should try it too?

I like Mcd’s cones. at $1.00 they taste better then DQ.. but I might have to try Wendy’s cone… yum! I’m an ice cream addict too!

Ok I obviously need to learn to cut back then after reading the above comments. I try to stick to $120 a week, this is for myself, husband and toddler and that budget doesn’t include diapers/wipes.

The hubby and I do $200/paycheck (i.e. $400/month) and it is just us two. That is our eat out budget and grocery budget combined. What we usually find is that it determines how we eat. If we find ourselves eating out a lot, we usually don’t have a lot of food at home. If we go on a big grocery run, it forces us to not go out to eat because we don’t have the extra money.

I carry an extra wallet with our food money in cash. We find that we track better when we use cash and it is a finite amount. It has really worked for us. We are also getting better at ending up with some leftover cash each pay period.

We do say that if there were a special occasion, it does not come out of food money since most times those aren’t planned. For example, if we have a friend from out of town come and want to go out to eat, we pay attention to how much we spend but don’t take that out of food money. Same applies to birthdays and anniversaries. Since those are pretty infrequent, it doesn’t impact us too much.

I am in the process of tracking/cutting down unnecessary food costs. Here in Canada food does tend to be more expensive, so my $50/week does not go very far. With that, I have enough for what I bring for lunches, staples for breakfasts (steel cut oats and berries), and usually something for dinners. It does not really allow for any extras like snack foods to have around the house, packaged dinners, or extra food to have people over for large meals. It feeds me all right when I’m training, but I am looking forward to being able to budget more for food.

We have a family of 5, a middleschooler, and two in elementary. we rarlery eat out . I spend about $180.00 per week. And that includes everything from food to toliet paper toothpaste, cat litter ect.. school lunches and snacks. I make alot of things homemade, and try not to waste. Buying in Bulk is key for our family of 5, but only the things that you see yourself buying everyweek. that can save lots of money.

I think you better have a separate ice cream budget, too! ;)

Brooke and Luke are stroller twins! Love that umbrella stroller. I am doing a grocery budget challenge on my blog right now and it is going really well. . . The things that have been the most helpful are 1. cash in an envelope and 2. no impulse buys!!

When we were working on a grocery budget, I started by keeping track on what we were spending on average for a couple of pay cycles. That helped to create a realistic budget, instead of just assigning a random number, and breaking the budget b/c it wasn’t attainable. Also, to save money, I stopped buying things that were ridiculous and unnecessary (like endless coconut water?, buying whole sweet potatoes instead of pre-made sweet potato fries), meal planning, and using what we have on hand, not wasting food. Also, def keep eating out budget separate from grocery budget–when I try to mix the 2, I also go over budget. Hope that helps! :)

I have our food budget/plan down to a science. I cut/upload coupons Wed pm, create meals/shopping list Thur pm, shop Fri am, and meal prep Sun pm. We eat out once a week and it usually costs $22….yep, down to a science. It’ll be interesting to see the budget changes once we get the baby we are trying to adopt.
You should compare grocery shopping trips pre and post Brooke.

I make a list every week and I stick to it- the only exception being when something we regularly use is super on sale and I can freeze it, so I buy several. It’s just me and my husband, but I always cook for 4 and we eat the same thing two nights in a row. I also make sure to plan a cheap meal every week- grilled cheese sandwiches and soup or veggie burgers and steamed veggies to help save money. I avoid buying prechopped items and instead will buy a whole head of cauliflower or broccoli. I’ve shopped at several stores, but I go out of the way to shop at Trader Joe’s ’cause I seriously save $$ by shopping there.

My husband and I spend about $50 a week on food, though I don’t have a budget or keep track of things religiously. We have a huge garden, which provides us with all of our vegetables for about half the year, plus we raise chickens for meat and eggs. I make a lot of things from scratch, like bread and tortillas. And we just generally eat really simply.

I am struggling with a food budget right now as well. We are just two people, how do we spend so much on food? I was going to try a cash envelope for food, but that was blown away by a trip to Costco. Although I should just subtract that and start with the lower amount. It was food related.

Right now, we are eating through the freezer to try and reduce what I have stockpiled and then start from there.

The Kidless Kronicles

Oh I’m so awful about spending money on food. I probably spend at least $100 a week… On myself.

I have a family of 4 (and the two of us Adults are long distance runners that eat very healthy and not much processed foods.) I TRY to stick to $100 a week but it’s really hard. I usually end up spending $150 a week because we buy so many specialty items, (grass-fed.. ect) eat so much, and I cook and bake a lot from scratch. I try to buy as much off brand as I can though.

For 2 of us, I spend between $60-75 a week at the grocery store. In fact last week my total was 69.69, and the check out man (who was probably 65) chuckles and says “it never stops being funny does it”

I don’t know where all your readers live, but I’d like to move there! I live in the DC area and I menu plan every week and have a food budget of $100 a week for groceries. I was able to stick to that a while ago but I feel like food keeps getting more and more expensive so it’s practically impossible these days. A couple of weeks ago I spent $179 and then the following week I spent $150. This week I spent $125 but I didn’t get everything I needed. Boo. So much of my salary goes toward food and it’s just my hubs, our 9 month old, and me. And I don’t buy much process foods and cook almost everything from scratch. So frustrating!!!

P.S. I do try to eat organic as much as possible, especially for the baby’s sake…so that makes it a bit more expensive. But still – people above me said they spend $75!!!

I set my (Canadian) grocery budget for the boy and myself at $80-$90 per week, which also covers household things, like cleaning products and toilet paper. One of the biggest things to help me stick to it is to take out cash when I go grocery shopping – it’s a lot easier to stick to the budget if I can physically see the money disappearing from my wallet!

I live right next to the grocery store so I constantly run over for one or two things I need to make dinner at night. It’s a terrible habit, as I end up spending $20 randomly on things I want when I see them. It will be really interesting to see how much you spend! I usually spend around $75-80/week for two people (yikes!). My husband and I are really trying to cut back on going out to eat- it’s expensive and usually bad for you. Not worth it!

My kids use to nap sweaty too.. I got a little fan to clip by their cribs and it seemed to help. They even napped longer!! (white noise?)

I haven’t had a wendys waffle cone? There is a new shaved ice place in town and is all the rave.. its packed every time we drive by! I can’t wait to go! the line is literally at least an hour wait.. maybe one day..

Brent tries to get me to stick to a budget.. its. so. hard. –Especially because I like to create new recipes and I’m always needing random ingredients.

I think it isn’t that helpful to compare your budget to the budgets of people in other parts of the country and with very different lifestyles. I live in a city on the East coast and there is no way I could buy food on the budgets some people are describing. I pretty much let myself buy anything healthy at the grocery store because having a variety of convenient healthy foods helps me not eat out (saving money and also promoting my health). For right now, while my husband and I are both working long hours, paying extra (and yes, it is a lot extra) to save time by not cutting coupons or going to multiple stores for the best deals is worth it, but it is likely that will not always be the case. I think it is really a matter of thinking about your priorities as a family and keeping an eye on things and then adapting as necessary. Good luck!

For just me & my husband, we usually stick to about $200/month. Then, we usually eat out about once a week, as well. Nothing crazy (maybe pizza or something).

We spend about $200/week at the grocery store for P, AJ, R, and me (this includes some non-food items though). We eat out about once a week for dinner and sometimes 1x for lunch. We often have to make one stop at the local supermarket for more fruits/milk/meat(for dinner) and that’s often another $50. We also try to hit up Costco about 1x/3 weeks for larger items and drop a TON of $ there (some food related, some not food related). So when it’s all said and done maybe closer to $300? Having said that, I am eating enough right now for 2 large men and AJ eats about half as much as I do – so we are basically feeding 4 grown men + R. HAHA =)
Its a lot of $ and I feel sick every Sunday when I get the bill at the cash register. I do try to find things on sale and use coupons when I can, but it just adds up. We go through a TON of fruits/veggies and I try to buy the important things organic even though it’s pricey. UGH.

I’ve been dying to try Wendy’s Frosty cones! I hope they are delicious as they look!

We are a house with 5 people, 3 of which are little girls with big appetites. I spend about $1,000 a month on groceries! I struggle every month to buy fresh, organic items at the lowest cost. We also spend a ton on protein powders, bars, and things like chia seeds, supplements, and organic meats like chicken and turkey (no red in our house). It frustrates me that it costs so much to eat healthy!

I typically spend 35$/week/person, so for me and my BF it is rounghly 275-280$/month.

I could definately do it for less, but I really like fresh baked breads, specialty cheeses seafood, and playing with wierd imported foods; those add to the budget alot. Fortunately I’m wicked cheap in every other part of my budget so it’s not so bad to spend a little extra on food.

Menu plan
Shop weekly
Cash only

Plan a weekly menu. Grocery shop once a week to match that menu. Only use cash. We have two very active boys ages 8 and 9. Our 9 yr old is a Type 1 diabetic. We have to have a well rounded (healthy) menu with plenty of sugar (candy) around to treat low blood glucose. Our food budget is $250 every two weeks and that has to include our paper products and drug store type items. I also try and watch the grocery ads and menu plan to items that are either on sale or in season.

Good Luck, Janae! I just love watching Brooke grow! Seeing her sweet face daily on your blog, makes me happy.

I don’t really have a budget, but I do obsessively track all of my spending (its in my nature, I am a CPA). I know I spend too much on groceries (approx $125 per week for my single self). At least $25 of that is for watermelons and Fage yogurt….I can’t help it, it is an addiction! I could probably get better deals on groceries, but one of my happy places is a Texas chain by the name of Central Market. I do a big trip on the weekend and then stop by at least 1-2 more times during the week to either 1)pick up more green veggies or 2)buy another watermelon. I justify my $125 a week because cooking is one of my hobbies and I know it is going to fresh and healthy meals. That includes all breakfasts, most lunches, and most dinners. I probably eat out once a week for lunch and twice a week for dinner.

A Trader Joe’s is opening near my house soon and I am looking forward to checking it out!

I think when noting how much you spend on groceries it also depends on where you live. I live in an area that is on the pricier side. It also depends on if you try to buy all organic. I typically spend 80 to 100a week for our family of 4. Sometimes it is slightly less and sometimes it is over. I am a thrifty queen and I just can not seem to lower it. I do some amazon grocery items such as freeze dried fruits and applesauce squeezes for snacks at school. We limit eating out (usually take out) to 1 x a week to cut costs. I am sort of in a rut as far as trying to cut the cost of groceries. Once I buy the produce (my girls eat a ton of fruits and veggies) it seems like that is most of our expense! When I can get to Trader Joes I do find that their produce is sometimes cheaper and their breads are cheaper. My husband does not like leftovers so that complicates things!!

We don’t have a budget per say, but I DO keep track of all the money that we spend in different areas, one of them being food. Things like laundry soap & shampoo & cleaning supplies & pretty much anything that you buy at a grocery store gets lumped into that though. So we spend about $500 a month on “groceries”. Probably about $400 of that or so is on actual food.

I use a giant color coded spreadsheet to track all of our expenses & categorize them (grocery, eat out, personal, household expenses, bills, entertainment, work/job (for tax purposes), IRA/retirement, cars). I also add up all of our accounts at the beginning & end of each month to see how much we have & how much we made/lost that month. It’s great to be able to look back at last year or last month & compare our spending & it’s an easy way to see where all your money is going or discover places you could cut back.

I need to create a food budget, I really have no idea how much we spend each week! We’ve been meaning to try the Frosty Waffle cones! My fav Frosty flavor is Chocolate!

Yikes, I think I have some work to do! I spend about $225 a week for a family of four, though we probably eat out less than once a month so at least I really don’t have “eating out” costs on top of our grocery expenses. Still, as the other poster with allergy issues mentioned, buying specialty foods does add up. My husband has a dairy issue and I don’t eat much meat, so we buy a lot of alternative products like soy yogurt, tofu, almond milk, etc., as well as a ton of produce which isn’t always cheap!

I’m saw the commercial or those waffles cones….definitely a must try!
I don’t have a food budget although I know that I should. I usually go to the store with a list and end up getting about 100 more things than what was on the list. And of course…..forget about 10 things that were on the list.
My best guess is $120 /week for my husband and I.

Wow, so many comments, so many different people and habits.
My suggestion would be to track what you buy and spend on eating out for 2-3months. So you have an overview of what you need and how much you are spending. And after that you can try start to budget and save.
At least that is what I would do :)
My daughter is always sweating while sleeping and I also have no clue why…