How much per month on groceries? Family of 7

amother

Orange

Wed, May 13 2020, 6:57 pm

2 parents, 5 kids (thank G-d) no teens so no huge eaters yet

$300-$500 a week including plastics (tablecloths, plates, cutlery, pans, tinfoil, gloves etc)
Yom tov costs more, but then the week after Yom tov I usually don't have to buy too much, so it evens out a bit.

sometimes go to Bingo (save money but takes me hours to buy, pack, shlep, etc) sometimes I order and use that store's sales circular (more expensive but that way someone shops for me and carries boxes into my kitchen)

I don't meal plan (no time) but bake/cook from scratch a lot (rarely buy cake or challos for example) and try to hit balance between frugal but not depriving (we spent years being practically vegetarian because no money but it takes a lot of cooking time to prep and I'm not always able to anymore esp when kids insist they need chicken.) I always take things out of my cart at the end and review my list and rarely buy processed stuff.

lots of fruits and veg, lots of whole wheat. I consider that cost of living. I can eat very little dairy and need to have other food to eat, plus have one kid with food issues that eats only specific foods like expensive yogurts.

I only shop in one store, I don't have time to chase sales. (Except for Trader Joe's, I go once a month with my girls as a treat and we drop $40 on treats like nuts or applesauce or soy ice cream etc.)