Grocery budget | Imamother

amother

Burgundy

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 9:30 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I am wondering how much people budget for food/groceries per week or per month for a family of 3 (ie husband, wife, and one child). I am not sure how much prices vary for different communities but I live in Baltimore if that makes sense. What do you think is a normal/reasonable budget for that?

375/week including shabbos. NY. We usually have guests for shabbos.

busy mommy

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 9:47 am

I don't know anybody else's situation but this is my budget for 5 kids and two parents: (we live out of town)
$300 a month in walmart for snacks, pantry staples (ketchup, mayo, etc)
$200 a month to buy chicken, ground meat, paper goods - I try not to use much (I buy in bulk from the coop so it is wholesale prices)
$125 a week in the kosher stores for milk, cheese, bread and anything else I need for shabbos
$120 a month on fruits and vegetables (I buy about $30 a week)

amother

Amber

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 10:16 am

Family of 11 kah OOT with 2-10 guests Friday night

Usually under $1600 a month, often in the $1200 range, aside for Yom Tov. About $600-$800 a month in kosher store for meat etc, $100-$200 per week in regular grocery store.

But I make my own challah, use ground beef and hot dogs and tuna during the week, and chicken only on Shabbos. We use a lot of canned and frozen veggies, fresh is mainly for Shabbos. I use cheap ingredients and not only the healthiest. If we were eating the way I’d really like, our spending would probably be significantly higher.

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 10:32 am

Not to be snarky, but I am always perplexed by the purpose of these kinds of threads.

Are they just started out of curiosity or do people actually think that knowing what one person's budget for anything is relevant. Obviously there are certain types of expenses like housing which might be relevant if someone is planning to move to an area and so wants to figure out whether their income will go far or not.

However food budgets are to a great extent based on income and personal preferences.

For myself, good food is extremely important in terms of both the health and personal satisfaction for my family and me. When money is tight, I do know how to cut corners but since money isn't tight, I choose to spend money on fish, chicken, fresh produce, good cheese and dairy - which means that my grocery bill is high especially because I will also opt for some labor saving stuff and I can't stand frozen vegetables which are far cheaper than fresh vegetables.

I do know how to make nutritious and delicious grain based meals but weight control for my family - which is a priority for health - is achieved by eating fish and chicken and occasional beef/lamb as the main entree versus grain based entrees So that is a choice and an expensive one. We also opt to have a lot of tempting fresh fruit in the refrigerator so that it is the go to snack instead of less expensive stuff like pretzels. Again a choice especially when one opts for more expensive fruits in lieu of inexpensive apples.

I think there are loads of ways in which one can have a healthy diet eating delicious foods for less and threads on saving money/budgeting are probably helpful. There are all kinds of ways to stretch a food budget - many of which I used when I had less money - but not sure why just sharing amounts spent on food serves any purpose.

shmosmom

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 10:53 am

We're 2 adults and a child.
We used to spend about $200 average a week, sometimes more.
Started budgeting about half year ago and now it's about $130-$150.
I cut down on all extras (chocolates, ices, snacks, etc).
Although I have a very small house, I started buying some stock items such as ketchup, mayo, bbq sauce, cans only when on sale. (These items can sometimes be over a dollar off, and since I use it a lot it adds up.) I stopped buying fresh fruits and veggies just to have at home(which I know leads for some more unhealthy snacking, but at least I'm not throwing out rotten produce when it doesn't get eaten.) Sometimes I dinner plan based on whats on sale that week, and dinners come out cheaper that way. I also started either serving the leftovers from the day before (plus one fresh dish if needed) or doing one night sandwich dinner. If we get invited out for a Shabbos meal we'll go, but I don't actively pursue invitations.
One of my main cuts was eliminating most disposables, getting mason jars instead of 2 lb containers to put dips in, and buying 2 baking dishes instead of 5x7s n 9x13s. I did not realize how much that would help. I also use a reusable coffee cup even if it can get annoying vs disposable hot cups.
I realize some of these cuts are things some of you already do. I just answered because OP requested people with her family size and figured if it can be helpful then why not.

amother

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 11:11 am

amother [ Cerulean ] wrote:

I ask because I want a general ball park of what is it typical. I know that everyone has unique factors that will affect their expenses but I still think it’s useful for me to know about averages and approximations with these things. I’m trying to set a budget but I’m at a complete loss about what ballpark I should even aim for. Does that make sense?

amother

Violet

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 11:16 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Over the next month save every single food receipt.
At the end of the month review with DH. What was necessary. What was wasted? Thrown out. Extra?
Can you afford what you spent total? How much do you need to cut?
And based on those final numbers create your food budget.

This is a good month because no yomim Tovim. Chanukah additions shouldn’t be too much.

amother

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 11:28 am

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

We’ve actually been doing that since the beginning of this month to track all our expenses.

Mommyg8

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 11:33 am

Squishy wrote:

The grocery budget is usually dependent on family income. 5% of income is the target for groceries. 6% of disposable income is the guideline used to budget for dining out. Kosher food and CY will obviously alter these figures.

My food spending is all over the place. We are frugal with certain items and buy in bulk for great prices. If you have storage, that can bring down your food bill.

How is this even possible? And why would you want to set aside only 5% of income on groceries when healthy food is more expensive than junk? Do you mean 5% per person? Because the average frum family of 6 to 10 people is certainly not spending only 5% of their income on food and grocery items...

Amarante

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 11:57 am

Mommyg8 wrote:

Which is why questions like this are meaningless.

Five percent of a high income is much more than five percent of a low income.

Unless one is eating diamonds a wealthy family spends a lower percentage of their income on food than a less affluent family.

JoyInTheMorning

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 12:02 pm

Mommyg8 wrote:

It is not possible for most families. The median family income in the US is around 50K per year, so around 1K per week. 5% of that is $50. That could never feed a household of 2 adults and 2 children. It could hardly feed one adult, unless they mostly ate white bread and processed cheese.

zaftigmom

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 12:08 pm

Family of 4. We aim for $200 a week. It's not easy to get there though. We eat tons of fresh produce. Most of the more expensive things I buy (fish, chicken, meat, yogurts, string cheese, healthy snacks etc) I'll only get on sale but we're all big eaters so it really adds up. We go away for shabbos often so that helps but I usually help with the cooking anyway. Lately I started being a little more comfortable filling in occasionally with less healthy things so that helps too.

JoyInTheMorning

Mon, Nov 25 2019, 12:12 pm

Mommyg8 wrote:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-.....ding/

So I checked, and I think this is where we have to be careful not to conflate median and average. The USDA says exactly what Squishy said, that Americans spend on average around 5% of their income on food at home, and another 5% of their income on eating out. (This may include inexpensive meals at school and work cafeterias.) However, note that the percentage spent of income falls as income rises. Poor people spend as much as 35% of their income on food (total), while people who are in the top quintile spend around 8% of their income on food (total). So it largely depends on income.

And of course, it also depends on family size, and on family needs. Kosher food is more expensive.

(Edited to fix the percentages shown by the graph.)

Last edited by JoyInTheMorning on Mon, Nov 25 2019, 12:20 pm; edited 1 time in total