What's your family food budget?

[beachdreamr1229]

We're a family of 5 (kids are 9, 6, and 6). We spend about $1000-$1500 per month on groceries depending on the month and what we need. The higher end is for months with a big holiday requiring food prep (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter). Most months are closer to the lower end. We buy most our food and supplies at Target and Costco and use an app that lets us upload receipts for money to reduce the cost.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I would say, rather than worrying about what other people say, look to your own area and see how you, personally, can cut down your food bill. Some of the ways people do this are:

shopping at cheap sources (note: it can take time to develop these--you have to look around)
gardening/canning/freezing
having fruit trees
swapping labor with friends and neighbors (we got a pig one year, because DH helped out a farmer friend with a bunch of stuff)
hitting clearance/day old racks and stores
cooking from scratch
dumpster diving (yes, it's a thing--not my choice, but I know people...)
growing your own meat (chickens, pigs--even beef, if you have room)
fishing
foraging
gleaning
getting "dropsies" at orchards
breastfeeding a baby (I do NOT recommend making your own formula, but some people do)

Along with this, there are ways to keep child costs low, as well--mostly by using second-hand sources for clothing, toys and equipment.

Mostly, though, it's about swapping your time (doing more work) to save money. You (general "you") have to find the balance that works for YOU. Personally, I love bargain-hunting and we rarely eat out, but I'm not a gardener. The best I can do is growing a few herbs on the deck. I've had good luck at thrift stores, yard sales, and "seconds"-type stores. I also sew, but this doesn't necessarily save money, except in repairing items, versus sewing from scratch. The OP may find that she has great sources for X, but has to spend for Y.

 

[Mad4Dizne]

$1000/month+, family of 4, New England. Includes toiletries/ papergoods, 1 take out pizza night/week.(I tried to keep it under $800. but lately not been able to.) We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and a lot of plant based foods. Spend a ton on non-dairy options(allergies and preferrence).

 

[QueenIsabella]

Allergies can be a real budget killer! We just have lactose intolerance here, and there are chewable tablets (cheapest option). Lactose-free milk is 3X the cost of regular milk; ditto for soy or almond or whatever. I imagine it's much worse for people who are gluten free or have to buy specific brands due to their allergies. Certainly, that's not where you can save on your budget! And as a note for the OP--I breastfed a child with a dairy allergy--I had to be so, so careful, if I had a speck of dairy, the little guy would be screaming for days. I was literally dreaming about ice cream! He did eventually outgrow it. My point is, you can't know ahead of time if you'll run into a glitch like that, and throw all your carefully-laid plans out the window.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Can't help you on this one as we are just a family of 2 adults and spend about $500/mo on groceries. But I just wanted to say kudos for to you for thinking about this before you buy your house. So many people buy houses they can't even afford with life as it is now, much less not even looking into the future to how their family could change.

 

[neatokimmo]

My house advise for you. Don’t buy more than what you can afford making fast food wages for your first place. I paid off my first tiny house in two years and it set up me financially to max out my 401k young. I retired at almost 41. Now I daytrade stock which is the best job ever.

Food - $75 a week for three. Low cost of living. I enjoy meal planning and prep. I don’t mind breaking down chickens or blanching vegetables on sale for the freezer. It will be much much less, like $30 when the garden starts producing.

In reference to the above super cheap grocery budget, I lived for a year on $16 a week. I bought marked down ground chicken for $1 pp almost every week. Portioned that into four ounce servings. I’d buy a hamburger helper and portion the dry powder and noodles into fours. Peas were and are still cheap at $1 pp. Bananas haven’t changed much in 20 years either. Eggs are cheaper than cereal. A $1 bag of lentils, 50 cent rice, a couple of onions, and a bottle of hot sauce could feed me every meal for a week. I just wish I’d had the sense to dig up my side yard for a garden. My point is though, you can spend pennies a meal if your col area is low and you seek the deals.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

We spend probably about $300-400 a week but that’s for all meals & we never go out to eat. Allergies make that near impossible. Both of my girls have a nightshade allergy- no tomatoes, potatoes or peppers (including spice made from peppers). Processed food is dangerous too - no potato starch or dextrose (which could be made from potatoes). So everything is made from scratch.

My older has a dairy intolerance. So I buy oat milk & yogurt for her. No non dairy cheese because I have never found one without potato starch.

Add to that a husband on an extremely low carb diet. So meat, nuts, cheese & veggies for him.

So while some of these numbers people are posting can give you an idea, one or 2 allergies and you can’t go the cheap route on food.

 

[morgan98]

Well, we are only two people and never eat out. However, we like good food and buy high end things (fish a couple times a week and I don't mean just salmon) and good cheeses. We eat hardly anything prepared and my husband has a wheat allergy. No matter what I do, I spend about $175/week and that includes paper products and a few things like dish soap, toothpaste, etc. if I find it on sale. It also includes breakfast and snacks for when I was in the office a few days a week,

It really does depend on income and overall financial picture for what people are willing to spend on groceries. Could we eat for less yes. But the way we rationalize it is when we go out, we go to more expensive type places. So if I went out every Friday night and spent $100 that would be a different story and add significantly to my budget mentioned above.

 

[DL1WDW2]

How will the new Guide for entry requirements affect your food budget planning for trips? I am wondering if Disney will overhaul the items allowed to be carried into the parks.

 

[Sadeesmom]

How will the new Guide for entry requirements affect your food budget planning for trips? I am wondering if Disney will overhaul the items allowed to be carried into the parks.

Won’t effect us at all as we never bring in anything. We skimp throughout the year so that when we go on vacation (anywhere), we can eat at table service for every meal (usually two a day) and not have to worry about anything.

 

[1GoldenSun]

Food budgets can vary so much depending on your personal preferences and habits. If you buy pre-packaged convenience foods, bottled water or soft drinks, and a lot of meat and specialty items it can add up fast. Or you can buy the largest available size boxes of pasta, cans of tomatoes, blocks of cheese, bags of rice, beans, frozen fruits and vegetables, and use meat sparingly in meals instead of as the focal dish. Certain fresh fruits, vegetables and meats are much cheaper than others. I've lived on both ends of this spectrum. When I was first out on my own I managed to eat well and healthily for very little money but this involved a lot more planning and effort and I had to eat what was affordable, not necessarily what I "wanted." Now I have less time but a lot more money and can afford to take advantage of more convenience foods--bagged salad mixes, microwavable bags of broccoli and Brussels sprouts, skinless salmon, chicken breasts instead of whole birds, as well as easy lunch/snack items for the kids like granola bars, individual yogurts, and cheese sticks.

 

[barkley]

good lord prices are out of control!!!! i had to go shopping and do a door drop off for my eldest b/c she's quarantined awaiting her covid test results -

4 cans of campbells chicken noodle soup
3 containers of store brand ('on sale') juice
4 frozen pot pies ('on sale'-not a premium brand)
4 tiny frozen entrees (4 for $10)
2 small containers of fruit
4 bagels (2 free b/c of safeway monopoly)

grand total.............................$68 and change freaking nuts.

 

[TwoMisfits]

good lord prices are out of control!!!! i had to go shopping and do a door drop off for my eldest b/c she's quarantined awaiting her covid test results -

4 cans of campbells chicken noodle soup
3 containers of store brand ('on sale') juice
4 frozen pot pies ('on sale'-not a premium brand)
4 tiny frozen entrees (4 for $10)
2 small containers of fruit
4 bagels (2 free b/c of safeway monopoly)

grand total.............................$68 and change freaking nuts.

Yeah, prices are nuts now...I've found best prices on fresh produce, so my family has been heavily buying and eating that lately...thankfully, it's let me use up our "staples" stash as we reopen b/c I had that stocked, but I want to use the stock now and then start a new one in the fall (when we might have new illness challenges), so I can avoid paying the elevated prices right now (and can wait til the production lines and prices get back to more normalcy)...

 

[LuvOrlando]

When we in our PA family home it's way more affordable, $700 than up in MA where DH works to the point where I'd say it's at least $1 more per item and if it's meats they seem never on sale and to run about $10 more per item so I'd say it's like a $300 difference, at least. Best bet is to creatively figure out how to ask a mom where you are, maybe a local message board. I made friends with a mom who walked into the local community center to ask me about the area 20 years ago and we are still friends : ). I told her what neighborhoods/schools to avoid and the best stores, even fun stuff to do and we linked up later at the PTA.

When we bought our house I refused to spend more on a fixed mortgage than my own net for 2 weeks because stuff happens & people get sick. DH always did better and it's natural to add him in but women tend to end up as the last one standing with kids so I made my case, figured one check could be mortgage and we could live on the other check, of course, real estate agent pushed for more because thats her commission but I dug my heels in and stayed. Now 24 years later and it was a solid decision as the house has kept its value and remained affordable through some weird upheavals, plus for resale the more moderate a home the easier it is to sell. Unexpected benefit is we were able to do nice vacations & college and sports because we maintained a buffer.

 

[2TxAgs]

Unexpected benefit is we were able to do nice vacations & college and sports because we maintained a buffer.

This was our experience as well. If we'd bought more house, we'd have done fewer vacations, and our kids would have missed out on years of sports, which is something we all enjoyed.

 

[LovesTimone]

Whatever they say you can afford... do not go with the number... and stick to your guns on what the top end is.... and tell them only to show you house's in that price point.... If they try to show you something not in the price point, just do what we did say we are not interested and don't give in and go in just for a "looksee", that how you end up with a house that is way more than you want to spend....

See what that payment is really going to look and feel like... before you commit to it... so say your rent is 1,000 a month and the house payment is going to be 1,500 a month, start now taking that 500.00 dollars out and putting into a saving account... and do not touch it... make sure you have breathing room to still afford to be able to go out and eat, and do somethings... really see what living is like with this amount for a house payment... as well do the same with groceries... spend the normal amount you spend, then pretend that you have to buy diapers, formula, baby food, and take that amount and save it... to get a real feel of how things are going to be in the money department...

There are a ton of cost when buying a new house, or a new to you house.... window treatments, new furniture, and basic's = bathroom, kitchen, stuff to name a few things, ceiling fans, paint, and other things you might want to upgrade, shower heads, fixtures, think about lawn care or if you are going to do it yourself... cost of a lawn mower, weed eater, edger, water hose... Home entertainment... will there be a increase in the lights, water, garage, and the HOA cost... start pretending to pay this every month...

Look a what baby gear cost, everything from car seats, to cribs... clothing... breast pump, rocking chair, bottles and that's just the beginning...

Shop around for a mortgage, in house financing is sometimes seems good, until they say you have to have mortgage insurance... which will jack up your payment... it took my neighbors payment up 500.00 a month so they decided to shop it around.... so they went to the bank, and found out that they did not need mortgage insurance, and said with your credit score not sure why the would say it you did...... and got a better interest rate...

Sending pixie dust your way... how much fun...

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I agree with this. You can't be certain right now how your career will change in the coming years so it would be ideal to buy something you can afford on one income. Perhaps one of you may get laid off. Maybe you'll decide it's best if one stays home. (You can save a lot of money on food by staying home because you have more time to budget and cook.) If you do both work, you'll have to factor in the cost of daycare for three kids that could easily be one person's entire salary.

It's good to hear that you are creating your own budget to determine house affordability. The calculators and estimates the banks give are WAY off from what people should actually be spending. I just did one with our new salaries and it says we can afford a $697k house which is absolutely ridiculous. (We just downsized from a $240k house to one that was $90k+renovations).

That said, $1000 a month should be a good budget for a family of 5. We usually spend around $600 (buying whatever we want, not "budgeting"). Add on whatever you may spend eating out, but that's always optional and something you can cut back if you need to tighten your budget.

I so could not agree with you more.
The problem with food budgeting is prices are ever changing so are eating habits. With our first child my food budget did not change much.
( Except for buying formula)

 

[All Tangled Up]

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/03/29/killing-your-1000-grocery-bill/

 

[npatellye]

2 adults and 2 kids (7 and almost 5).

Our budget is there really isn’t one because things change for us based on what activities and rehearsals/competitions are going on with the kids. We’ve also found that prices change often and what the kids ask us to buy for lunch and snack changes from week to week. This is usually how it all works out:
-Coffee (daily for two adults): $100-$150/week
-Takeout: $40-$80/week now ($150-$200/week if activities like cheer and dance are running)
-Weekend family breakfast out: $50-$80/week
-Groceries: $400-$500/week ($300-$400/week of activities are running after school)

 

[kbuck504]

I have 3 small kids (7,4,1). we spend about 500$ a month. I could probably spend less. I will say if you plan to stay at home that will go up. When I was at home this last month I couldn't keep food in the house. Also, it is not fun to eat out with kids so we hardly every do it.
The only out to eat we do is Wednesdays I get the kids happy meals while we ride to after school stuff. I do meal prep food so I have food made and I'm not scrambling to cook.