Food budget for family of 2?

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Lila_grace

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Hi all,

Well my DH and I are in the process of purchasing our 1st home šŸ™‚ We are so excited. So we took a look at our past spending habits and have realized we need to change our wicked ways in order to save $ for new home and future children. We have been spending between $450-650 per month just for the 2 of us. :eek:

so what do you think a family of 2 should spend on groceries a month???

Any tips on how to cut back would be awesome.
 
Maybe look at using a wholesale club to stock up on some of the thingsā€¦I use it for buying paper towls, toothpaste, bottled water, meats (which I can freeze)ā€¦the variety isnā€™t always there, but I make do and save money. Also, I do comparison shop. Iā€™ve been surprised to find how much I can save by shopping at WalMart over Publix for example.
 
We spend about $400 a month for me and DH including toiletries and medicine (I take meds that are about $50 a month). I had the same questions as you a while backā€¦Iā€™ll see if I can dig up a link to the thread I had started about grocery budgeting.

For us the most important budgeting advice I can give isā€¦ Donā€™t eat out. Choose which brand names are important to you and which ones youā€™re ok with using whatever. I shop for my general groceries at Walmart, but hit the good meat sales at nearby grocery sales and stock up. I usually buy a ton of meat and then repackageā€“it can last us for months. I also make an effort to eat leftovers for lunchā€“thatā€™s a huge saver too. Only use coupons for stuff that you would regularly buy. The less I go to the grocery store, the less I spend, so I try to not make those last minute runsā€¦I usually end up picking up more than I need.
 
I think you can cut back a bit more. We spend about a $1000-1200/ month for a family of 10. Iā€™m feeding a teenage boy too! (toiletries included)

Buy in bulk, it will save you in the end. Canned goods in bulk can save you $.10-.20/ can depending on the market you live. Coupons arenā€™t always the best dealā€¦they work only if you were intending to buy that item in the first place, and use every scrap of foodā€¦let nothing go to waste. Left over chicken becomes chicken pot pie with the bits of veggies in the fridge. Do your best not to throw any old moldies away.

Good luck saving for your house! Meager meals for a few months will be worth it!!
 
For usā€¦ family of 5ā€¦ Myself, wife 16 and 10 boys, daughter 4 we are spending about $400-500 a month. I buy what we need and usually buy the store brand. Iā€™m a simple cook!

Paul
 
Itā€™s just the two of us and I spend about $400 a month on groceries, toiletries, and cleaning products. I am the QUEEN of frugal!! I shop sales, I go to Big Lots and buy canned goods in bulk, we belong to Costco, and I will go to the farmerā€™s market in the summer to buy fresh produce when I can get there.

It is entirely possible to be frugal and still eat VERY well. We do eat out (probably too much), so sadly I donā€™t buy as much fresh produce as I would like - our schedule is very unpredictable so it goes to waste if we donā€™t end up being home in the evening for a few days. But you can cut down what you are currently spending, you just need to be careful where you shop and what you buy and when you buy it.

Great example: I eat a Lean Cuisine and a yogurt for lunch just about every week day. We recently got them on sale at Kroger for $1.75 each, then there was a $5.00 off coupon if you bought a certain number - I ended up eating lunch for two weeks for less than $2 a day. šŸ˜ƒ (Iā€™m not much for sandwiches and donā€™t have time to make lunch) :o

It is possible! You can do it! Congrats on the new house, how exciting!!

~Liza
 
For DH and I, I allot about $160 a month for groceries, toiletries, paper towel and that sort of thing. Itā€™s tough but only one of us has a permanent job right now. Biggest thing for me is to make a list and not be tempted by sales (unless itā€™s something like the cereal we eat- the one thing I have to have brand name) to buy more than that. And i try to do all the weekā€™s shopping at once and not pop in to buy the odd item, also hard because the grocery store is only 2 blocks away!

I try to make things that give us leftovers, so the next day we can be lazy :o and save money at the same time!
 
I care for my elderly mother and it is just the two of us. Together we spend about $350 - $400 a month.

I have no clue how two people can spend $650 per month on groceries. šŸ¤· Must be lobster and steak every night. šŸ˜›
 
We spent two years living very carefully when we were saving for the down payment on our house. Things that helped were:
  1. Donā€™t eat out often. We limited it to once a month.
  2. Buy in bulk - shampoo, paper towels, toilet paper, tinned and frozen food or things we could freeze.
  3. Only buy brands for things you really like.
  4. Always cook more than you need for a meal and freeze the leftovers. We had them for lunch. Save them in containers to cling film wrapped plates. Containers are cheaper than buying lots of cling film.
  5. Donā€™t eat dessert or eat it only once a week.
  6. Make a shopping list and stick to it. Impulse buying was one of our big problems.
  7. We bought a filter for the tap so we could drink tap water. Much cheaper than bottled!
  8. Grow vegetables. We grew tomatoes, egg plant, runner beans, peas, lettuce, and spring onions on containers on our balcony.
Good luck and congratulations on your first house!
Gearoidin
 
rpp said:
I have no clue how two people can spend $650 per month on groceries. šŸ¤· Must be lobster and steak every night. šŸ˜›
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šŸ˜›

I wish!!! I think it was more poor planning on my part. I never made a list which turned into alot of impulse buys. We also shopped at a little mom and pop grocery and they didnā€™t do alot of coupons and big sales.
 
what you spend depends obviously on what you eat but also on where you shop, how often, how carefully you prepare and store food to eliminate waste, and how much of what you think of as grocery expenditure goes to non-grocery items.

do you shop organic? local? follow a special diet? plan meals and menues with recipes and shopping list, or do impulse shopping, shop at a planned time or just seem to be always picking something up at the last minute. do you cook food from scratch or go for convenience, are your tastes similar or are you basically preparing two meals each night, do you eat out a lot, pack lunches for work etc.

DH and I shop separately since our diet is entirely different and we eat at different times and prepare our own food. he is vegetarian, I am on a low carb protein diet. we each spend about 40 a week on eat-at-home food and eat at least one meal a day out of the house, for me it is often two meals a day at certain times of the year.

fully 1/3 of our grocery expense is for non food items like paper products and toiletries so that does not count in the 40 but it sure adds up. other big expense items for us has been wasted food, something we have thankfully with care and attention all but eliminatedā€“nice fresh veggies that spoiled before they were cooked, half eaten tubs of stuff languishing at the back of the fridge etc.

the other problem is food budgets often take into account meals only, not snacks, which are a huge portion of the budget in many families (certainly for DDs and their kids).
 
I spend $250-300/mo for a family of 5. We donā€™t buy anything prepackaged or processed, only buy ingredients to cook with. Itā€™s healthier, tastes better, and much cheaper. Always shop by a list. Look at the sales flyer and decide what you NEED (not want šŸ˜› ) and buy only that. It ensures your pantry and fridge are always well stocked so you have to buy take out or fast food. Hereā€™s a good website on food budgeting and cooking www.hillbillyhousewife.com
 
Lila_grace said:
Any tips on how to cut back would be awesome.
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If you really need to cut back, find out the weaknesses of each local grocery store. In one, you cannot buy deli meats unless you are rich. In another, canned goods slowly nickel and dime you to death. If one store is really nice for canned goods, go there once a month and get all your canned goods. It can be the difference of 40 cents a can if you are willing to use a store brand. That adds up each time you eat dinner. Assuming only one can per dinner each day, this adds up to $84 each month in your food budget. Of course, you need to know which items you can take a generic on and which you canā€™t. But national brands are just the same no matter where you buy them. Wal-Mart usually has fairly cheap canned goods if you buy the store brand. If you donā€™t use canned goods, just apply this same reasoning to frozen food, spices and condiments, whatever.

Also, do you know which one aspect of your grocery budget is the big expense? Is it meats? Is it little snack single serving things? Is it drinks? Remember, though, if you cut out drinks, the calories will need to be met in some other way.
 
Get yourself a really good Soups and Stews cookbook, then a big crock pot or a stewpot for the stove. Everything can be added to a stewpot! Mama raised five girls on practically nothing (Daddy said she could scrape a living on a rock) and she could stretch a food budget farther than anybody I ever saw. Every grocery store has a veg. area ā€œreduced for quick saleā€ where you can get stuff just on the cusp of its sell-by date; it all makes great soup. Most of your leftovers can go into the soup pot too. I have a recipe for tomato soup that uses an 85 cent pound can of whole tomatoes (and any Reduced tomatoes if available), two cups of vegetable brother, one onion and a sprinkle of parsley, oregano and a dollop of sour cream per bowl. Serve it with (or over) biscuits and you get a main dish for about $2.00 for the two of you.

Mama used to stretch a can of tuna with chopped apples, pickles, onions, a hard-boiled egg diced up, and a dollop of mayo. That will serve four. Wrap a tablespoon or two in a tortilla and the food court would charge you $7.00 for it.

Oh, and donā€™t buy paper towels. Use j-cloths that you can rinse out (pour boiling water over them after each use.) In fact, buy a household hints book and you can eliminate almost all your cleaning supplies.

Donā€™t give up what you really, really like, but ask yourself when you are going to buy something, ā€œDo I really need this?ā€

Good luck and I bet you cut your budget down to $200 in no time.
 
Appleby said:
Get yourself a really good Soups and Stews cookbook, then a big crock pot or a stewpot for the stove. Everything can be added to a stewpot! Mama raised five girls on practically nothing (Daddy said she could scrape a living on a rock) and she could stretch a food budget farther than anybody I ever saw. Every grocery store has a veg. area ā€œreduced for quick saleā€ where you can get stuff just on the cusp of its sell-by date; it all makes great soup. Most of your leftovers can go into the soup pot too. I have a recipe for tomato soup that uses an 85 cent pound can of whole tomatoes (and any Reduced tomatoes if available), two cups of vegetable brother, one onion and a sprinkle of parsley, oregano and a dollop of sour cream per bowl. Serve it with (or over) biscuits and you get a main dish for about $2.00 for the two of you.

Mama used to stretch a can of tuna with chopped apples, pickles, onions, a hard-boiled egg diced up, and a dollop of mayo. That will serve four. Wrap a tablespoon or two in a tortilla and the food court would charge you $7.00 for it.

Oh, and donā€™t buy paper towels. Use j-cloths that you can rinse out (pour boiling water over them after each use.) In fact, buy a household hints book and you can eliminate almost all your cleaning supplies.

Donā€™t give up what you really, really like, but ask yourself when you are going to buy something, ā€œDo I really need this?ā€

Good luck and I bet you cut your budget down to $200 in no time.
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This is really good! Thank you. šŸ‘

And welcome to CAF! šŸ™‚
 
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