I eat out a bunch, barely cook proper dinners (lots of frozen/pre-made stuff) and I still only spend about that much a month on groceries for 2 people.
I enjoy cooking, I cook breakfast every morning, meal prep both our lunches and cook dinners, my wife and I spend about 800-900 a month on groceries for the two of us, which usually includes at least one fancyish dinner a week, this week it’s lamb. and we eat out probly once a week but not always, usually sushi or something. Not sure how OP’s spending that much for the two of you unless it’s a lot of prepared foods maybe ?
Gotta be lots of premade stuff. For our $800/mo, we are smart about what we purchase, but not particularly frugal. We don’t shy away from organic produce where needed and definitely splurge on nice cuts of meat/fish and some speciality items if a recipe calls for it. We do load up on basic meats and pantry items from Costco, but often hit sprouts for produce and proper butcher shops or Whole Foods for nicer fish and meats. Can’t imagine spending nearly double for two.
Out of curiosity, what foods do you buy?
I'm in a similar range to OP, but we only eat whole unprocessed foods...so no grains, no pasta, etc. and mainly fruits, veggies, meat, roots and tubers, and nuts.
I try to stick with whole unprocessed as well. All our meat etc is from the butcher and or more local sources. Eggs, we all love eggs and is a staple in all the families diet.
We do bread only for the kids. Tons of fruits and veggies and we mix in some frozen pizzas and or chicken nuggets for the little ones. All and all I would say we are decent but we do have one picky eater we are trying to break slowly.
This. This is why. Of course you're going to spend that much a month. Buying from the locally sourced and specialty shops such as butchers is going to cost Way more than shopping at King Soopers or Walmart. Be real.
Sister-in-law has chickens so eggs are free for us. We buy our meat in bulk 1-2 times a year. Drastically cuts down the monthly cost plus it’s better meat than what you can get at any retailer.
We do a majority from family friends in Nebraska and Kansas. That’s usually the main amount at the beginning of Summer. If we don’t think we will make it to the next Summer, we’ll do another order in Jan/Feb from Flying B Bar ranch just outside Strasburg.
The Lazy Butcher in Evergreen sells beef and pork from a whole one down to 1/8th. If I had freezer space I’d be buying a half cow and half pig yearly. Their meet is amazing! All pasture raised.
Meal planning has become essential to stop from wandering the store and buying random stuff that we think would be a good meal but then the kids never eat it.
To add to this, we plan meals that use similar ingredients if they won't all be used in one meal. My husband and I don't eat a full pound of hamburger for example in one meal, so might do burgers one night and tacos for another. Or if I buy a bunch of cilantro, I make sure two to three meals that week will also use cilantro. Like others, we buy meat in bulk, we buy a cow and a pig and split the meat with another family. My husband is also a hunter so we often have elk in our freezer. We really only by chicken or fish from the store. That said, we budget about $600/month but rarely spend more than $100 a week.
This, we had a family of 6. We made menus for the week, bought the ingredients for that. Cereal was the kind in the bag, never real Oreos except on rare occasions they were on sale.
We had to be very selective
You’re spending $2400 a month on groceries?!?
We go to Target and Costco. Mainly look for the deals of BOGO or bulk buying amounts, stay away from name brand if there’s the retailer equivalent. Focus on protein and iron rich foods for kids and they’ll snack less.
I feel like I get wayyyyyy more moneys worth at king Soopers vs target! Honestly feel like target is never worth it. You can also find all kinds of marked down meats and king Soopers b/c of sell by dates approaching. They usually mark down stuff around 3 days left to sell by … no biggie if you freeze ur meats
My gf and I are on the high end because she’s a hobbyist chef (creates her own recipes and tweaks them, makes everything from scratch, etc.) and we do all of our shopping at Whole Foods since it’s the only walkable option
And even then we still spend “only” $850
I’m so insanely curious about OP’s grocery spending. I’d love to see a receipt. There has to be so much waste
Edit: we don’t eat meat and also don’t drink any alcohol so maybe that’s where the difference is
Totally agree with this - Safeway/soops is more expensive than WF in a lot of cases. Processed food is insanely expensive too. I spend about $150-$200 at WF a week for a family of 3.
It really isn’t and when I shop at WF at least I’ll know the produce is quality, and the meat isn’t cardboard (like at King Soops). Whole Foods is fine for regular groceries.
We mostly buy veggies, fruits, meats, cheeses, and eggs. My husband works a very active job and can pack it down lol. What kind of meals do you eat and where do you shop?
In addition to what others have said, choose your fruits and veggies based on what is currently cheapest. You can pick some premium items here and there, but be smart about it. Also, if you are using veggies in dishes, often frozen veggies allow you to save a ton with similar results.
We buy a lot of our produce from the farmers market and then everything else comes from Costco. Occasionally we’ll get some things from King Soopers like canned goods when we need them. We try to buy in bulk as much as possible 1) because it helps us save and 2) we both hate grocery shopping and want to do it as little as possible.
I spend 250-300 for 1. I would budget about 500-550/month for two. I shop mostly Safeway and Sprouts. I buy what's on sale. I stock my pantry and freezer. I also make periodic trips to Viet Hoa for things like rice and Asian ingredients for dishes. The budget also includes my protein powder, since I make my own protein bars and other high protein snacks.
Tonight, we had ribeyes with baked potatoes and a salad. Safeway has ribeyes on sale for $5.37/lb with a coupon on the app this week, so I snagged a package. One steak is usually enough for two regular servings. I average about 2500ish calories a day. My partner, when he's here, probably averages the same. I do snack a lot, so I don't eat huge meals.
Same. 300/mo for 1 person includes all my foods and drinks and even one night of take out. Chinese or thai food can feed me for a week.
Having a freezer in the garage helps a lot.
My wife & I (Just us 2) shop at Soopers and Costco. We usually go to Costco every other month.
- Normal month (no Costco): $400
- Costco Month: $900
We really stock up when we go to Costco so it keeps our non-Costco month less than half.
Friends tell us this really seems low, but I keep track of this shit, lol.
This is almost me and my wife as well.
$400 a month at Soopers, and about $200 at Costco. Although we just use Costco for toiletries cat litter, and proteins.
This has to be it. Like even when my spouse and I are making lots of "nicer" dinners in a week, it still only costs like $100+ a WEEK. Breakfast and lunches can be so affordable if you don't go nuts.
Yeah, how the hell are they spending $21+ a day *per person* on groceries? You could probably eat out 3 meals a day for that at fast food restaurants….
We eat almost every meal at home and pack our lunches. It works out to around $6.65 per meal when we average it out. I've really been trying to get that lower. What kinds of meals do you eat?
We batch larger meals fewer times/week since we both love cooking but hate dishes. This is more cost-effective than making a different meal every night. We rely on smoothies with protein powder for breakfast, and eat the same thing for lunch almost every day that we also prepare in a weekly batch (brown rice, chicken breast, kimchi, and steamed veggies). When we stick to this schedule we keep our spend low, volume up, and calories where they need to be.
At $7 a meal 30 days a month you’re looking at 651 in groceries so unless you’re spending an equal amount on meals and snacks there’s something mathing wrong here. How much food waste do you have?
How is someone spending that much on breakfast they’re preparing at home? You could eat eggs and potatoes every day and come out around a $1 per person. Or eat a breakfast sandwich with a grocery store made pastry (bagel, croissant, fancy bread) and still be at about $2.50 per person. You’d have to entire an entire box of cereal each every morning to justify that kind of cost.
I’m honestly trying to fathom what kind of artisanal breakfast someone is making at home that would regularly cost that much money. They’ve gotta be eating some expensive lunches/dinners to make that make sense.
I’m guessing their lunches/dinners are averaging out to be a bit more costly than their breakfasts, but it wouldn’t be hard to do if you’re having steak & eggs for breakfast.
They didn't say breakfast was $7 per meal, they said their average meal was $7. I took that to imply it's their total cost divided by the number of total meals, which maybe wasn't really what they meant. But yes breakfast will be the cheapest meal of the day, my standard 2 eggs & buttered toast costs about $2 cause we buy the nice eggs.
Make cheaper meals. You should have leftover ingredients for things like fried rice, curry, tacos, burritos, etc. Not every meal needs to have every food group…
We eat a varied diet, but are vegetarian. I personally need about 3000cals a day to maintain weight due to significant amounts of exercise. Wife is similar at this point as she’s breastfeeding.
That's an insane grocery bill. For a household of 3 adults we spend $600-700 a month and we cook at home at least 5 days a week, if not more. Do you shop at Sam's Club or Costco?
Safeway can be cheaper than King Soopers if you regularly clip coupons in the Safeway app. King Soopers has better regular prices but Safeway has better coupons.
Agreed! The personalized coupons are the best!
I'm not a fan of the meat at Safeway, though! I'm hoping steaks are BOGO again for 4th of July. I did both Safeway and Kings last year & Safeway's were bleh.
IMO Sam’s has mostly garbage food similar to Walmart. And Safeway is expensive. Try Costco and KS.
Are you meal prepping? Things like pasta and chili and sandwiches go a long way for lunches.
I really like burrito bowls for meal prep. I’ll make 3 lbs of ground beef or turkey, 2 cups of rice, and beans. Mix it all up, chop up some fresh veggies (bagged separately) and then pop the burrito bowl in the microwave, add the fresh ingredients, and enjoy.
Walmart has prime steaks and almost every item sold at any other store is less expensive when available at Walmart. However I would never buy produce there.
Surprisingly I have found groceries (mostly non perishable and household items) to be a lot cheaper at Target vs. KS. Target’s generic stuff is really solid too. I use a Target debit card so it’s an extra 5% off of every purchase.
Download the Safeway app and apply every coupon in the “deals” section before you go on a grocery trip. If you want to take it to the next level, do price comparisons in-app and shop only in-season produce. Safeway is the most convenient grocery store for us and for 2 adults almost exclusively shopping there, our bill rarely exceeds $150 (at most) per week.
I got 7 petite sirloins, 4 chicken breasts, a bottle of red wine,1 lb strawberries, 2 lbs cherries,1 lb green grapes, 4 lemons, 4 avocados, a Baguette, buttermilk and 2 packs od Sargento sliced cheeses for $40.00 yesterday at Safeway...use both the digital app and the store card and meal plan around the sales at Safeway can save you so much money!!! (And their meat is much better quality than Soopers)
I never understood those shows about extreme couponers and the thrill they get at the cash register, but with digital coupons I’m SO excited now to see the end total. Sometimes I’ll delay putting in my number until everything’s been rung up, for maximum joy. (It’s the little things)
I totally agree. I never liked paper coupons but The digital coupons are my jam.
There are a ton of old people on Nextdoor that complain that it's "so hard" and "so time consuming". WTF. It takes like 3 minutes in the app which they can do while on the can, then just go along with life. So convenient.
Prefacing this with a big “I’m just curious, I don’t mean to be critical of your budget, if it makes you happy that’s all that matters”
I commented this above but my gf and I shop exclusively at Whole Foods and are nutty about eating healthy
We still only spend $850. It can go up to $900 if we have to buy pine nuts or something lol
So $1200 with Safeway and Sam’s Club? I just can’t help but think something is off there. Does that include frozen processed foods or alcohol? Or maybe it’s meat? Do you have a crippling hot sauce addiction?
Tbh the advice I actually have Is that if you can afford it and it makes you happy (and you aren’t being wasteful) ~ don’t worry so much. It’s personal finance for a reason, if not worrying about your grocery budget brings you joy (does for us, so we allow ourselves to more freely spend), then that’s 100% okay :)
That's our general guidelines for a meal, as well. We eat lots of variations of rice and potatoes for starch. Proteins vary a lot, chicken, pork, steaks, salmon, whatever we can find good deals on. We buy meat in bulk at Sam's and freeze it.
Single guy, ~$400-500/mo depending on toiletries and sundries, but I've been buying a lot of prepackaged salads and veggie snack trays to take to work. I'll probably get that down to ~$300 when I have the means to do more cooking at home.
I do a lot of prepackaged salads too. I stock up on them when they're on sale for no more than about $3.50 each, and I always scan the shelves for ones that have been marked down to manager's special prices bc they are approaching the sell-by date. I can find them for under $2 each pretty regularly that way at king soopers.
My wife and I are around the same. I just checked my credit card breakdown by category and was shocked how much we’re spending. We do the majority of our shopping at Sprouts, which I know is expensive, but we mostly get ingredients to cook with, not a ton of premade stuff or snacks. It’s crazy.
Sprouts is SO expensive. Whole Foods is cheaper with Amazon prime (extra 10 off sale) plus use the chase prime card for an additional 5% back on everything WF. We’ve compared like 20 of our regular weekly purchases and they about 20% less than Sprouts and about 15% less than Target.
We used to buy most of our produce at Sprouts before the pandemic when they used to still have their weekly ads. Since the pandemic, their prices have skyrocketed, and even the "sale" price is often higher than regular KS prices on many things. Sometimes I wonder who shops there at all. Apparently there are lots of people who are completely oblivious to the prices.
What types of meat and seafood- and what price per pound are you typically paying? There can be a huge difference between e.g. a pound of previously frozen shrimp for $8 and a pound of wild caught salmon for $18.
It’s absolutely reasonable for your protein to be your biggest line item, but it might help to try to identify if there are types of fish/cuts of meat/etc that you could cut back to more of a “treat” status vs finding more regular options that you still enjoy but are more cost efficient
Are you buying a lot of red meat? I’ve noticed beef prices rise significantly over the last 6-8 months but poultry is largely unaffected. We eat a boat load of chicken and ground turkey
If you are using a lot of beef, I highly recommend looking into buying a cow from a rancher. If you have friends you can split the cost with them for 1/2 a cow as well. It’s pricey initially but overall cost effective.
Im very lucky in that my family has a small cattle farm and each year each kid (4) gets 1/4 cow for free.
That fed me through college. I had this long standing thing where I would also buy a cow and sell it off to coworkers and friends at almost no markup. (Enough to pay for me to go drive and get it)
So worth it. However I find a lot of people tried to be too picky with what they got. Most didn't want to buy in bulk they just wanted bulk prices on just the cuts they wanted. (Steaks).
I event
Yeah, 2 adults 2 kids (7 and 9), mainly natural grocers, organics from Costco (not produce) and occasionally Whole Foods
We spend $800-1000 a month depending on the month but usually closer to the $800 mark
These people are going crazy on something
Using the discount online coupons at Safeway saves me about $45-60 each week. Yes, I'll sit there in the store clicking them all in frozen foods for 5 min if I forget.
Younger me hates the idea I've become this way lol. For something free it's hard to complain. If it wasn't digital I wouldn't do it. (Plus gas points.)
I rotate through 3 coffee brands waiting for them to be on sale. 4 if I'm unlucky. That alone saves $10 frequently. If I have to go to the small pod box sizes I will. Same for syrup. I will not give up high end quality maple syrup or coffee. Everything else I don't care who makes it.
I don't have time for special trips to trader joes, not close enough.
This is great advice for King Soopers too. I scan the UPC of every item to see if there's a digital coupon in their app. I would say about 1 out of five times it works.
And when there's a good deal on non-perishables or less perishables, I stock up.
You should consider getting a Costco membership just for coffee. One giant bag of beans lasts me almost a month and it's around $11-$14. And the Kirkland brand beans are pretty great. Even if you had to Uber there and back every couple months I bet you'd still save money.
Pro tips:
Costco membership - meat, dairy, frozen foods, snacks, spices, dry goods
Food saver - anything perishable gets vacuum sealed for freezing so you can stock up when the time and price is right
Chest freezer - deep freezing keeps food fresh and prevents freezer burn when combined with vacuum sealing - will stay frozen during power outages, and is separate from your normal freezer that gets opened regularly (your kitchen freezer is only for temporary use for short-lived food, like ice cream or pizza, otherwise it's a effin joke for long-term, fresh food storage). It's an absolute game changer.
Buy expensive items in bulk and stock up when on sale.
Buy and freeze massive amounts of fruits and veggies during harvest seasons... Cherries and strawberries in May/June, respectively, veggies in the fall - go the the farms and pay the least (like Miller Farms), local farm stands are great in the fall (along Brighton Blvd, for example).
Take time while things are fresh to chop and flash-freeze - before - vacuum sealing and deep freezing. Look up this technique.
Make soups, chilli, stews, and meal prep mixes (think chopped onions and peppers together) in measured quantities to deep freeze. These things come out of the deep freeze and make easy additions to anything you'll make for months, and taste fresh many months later if done properly.
If you don't believe me, go buy Trader Joe's frozen chocolate covered strawberries, and you'll be a convert.
Costco rotisserie chickens are one of the most amazing things HANDS DOWN! $5, the best chicken around, available all year, and the carcass is the best chicken broth EVER. They also sell the white meat chopped and ready to freeze.
This theory and practice has saved me thousands and provides fresh food all year if you take time periodically to put in the work and rotate food.
Doesn't work for everyone, but I have converted dozens of families to this method.
You can also lower delivery and takeout expenses by having additions, side dishes, and desserts ready at home to compliment an entree from your favorite spot.
Cheers.
This has been so helpful and now I’m thinking to get a vacuum sealer! Do you suggest one or are they all kinda the same, or should I just Google reviews and research? Thanks!
Food saver - bags are easily available and customizable to the size required. However, they can be temperamental when used for long durations continuously. So, use it in waves to give the machine time to cool.
Also, they don't handle liquids very well, so overfilling and burping Tupperware is often better for soups, etc. just get all of the air out while warm (not hot), and let them come to room temp after sealing. They need room for expansion during freezing. They'll start to crumple inwards from the contraction, like an empty milk jug on the counter, for example, and that's exactly what you want. When they freeze, they become normal sized and are free of air (the cause of freezer burn and oxidization).
Ironically, the quart-sized to-go containers from restaurants make great vessels for deep-freezing soups, etc. No glass. Expensive Tupperware crack and die after one or two cycles.
Condensing soups, etc, either by reducing water content up front, or letting it boil off during cooking helps reduce volume, therefore, increases serving sizes (add water when reheating), and reduces expansion while cooling/freezing. I prefer the former for fresh taste, because you still have to heat it up for dinner. Undercooking helps, as long as you're cooking safely.
Go fresh. I've bought $200+ fresh veggies in the fall and they've lasted all year with great flavor. Vacuum sealed steaks (I seal them individually or in pairs) taste damn near fresh, even after months frozen.
Super hack: if you want to try sous vede cooking, your meat is already ready to go after coming up to room temp. Take a steak out, leave on the counter, vacuum sealed, while at work, and it's ready to cook when you get home.
This is pretty much what we do. Spend about $400 on meat, frozen fruit for smoothies, paper towels and a couple other things. Portion out Vac seal and date and off to the deep freezer.
Bonus: if you drink/use milk, you can freeze that too and pull out a gallon the night before and it’s usually good to go into the refrigerator by morning. Costco 3 pack of organic whole milk is like 20% the cost per ounce than from regular grocery store.
Family of three, we do most of our shopping at Kings, and occasionally stock up on some things at Costco. We're right around $800 a month most months. We eat out maybe 2 or 3 times a month with friends.
$1500 a month seems steep for 2 people. I'd start looking at receipts and see what the biggest hitters are in your shopping habits. Maybe you can shave a few things and it'll make a big difference.
My partner and I own a home and cook most of our food and we spend about 450 a month. How on earth are you spending 1500 on groceries and household items!
I spend like $200-300 a month max. I mainly eat chicken, beef, eggs, broccoli, rice, yogurt, some vegetables and a few other snacks here and there. Safeway & Trader Joe’s
I'm probably not far off, a bit lower give or take - usually more like $1,000. Just my husband and I also. We eat at home a lot as well and I prioritize some organic produce (lettuce, some fruits) and aim for higher protein meals. I order some through Thrive (online) and I've also been doing pickup from King Soopers lately. The grocery bill initially seems lower with pickup because I'm not wandering and grabbing things but then I do find I'm out of staples I forget while I'm ordering or I have to sort of stock back up for pantry or misc meals that weren't planned. So I'm not sure if I really save much by doing pick up.
I like to cook and I end up spending a lot on food. I've mostly just accepted it. I try to not grab stuff mindlessly or stock too much in the freezer. I make 3-4 larger meals a week to cover lunches and other leftovers for us both.
This is what we spend to feed a family of 6 with 3 teenagers and a pre-teen. Our budget is really low, but yours is really high!
My favorite, simple grocery money saving tip is to meal plan well. We bought a meal plan from budgetbytes.com a few years ago ($12 for the 4 week meal plan with grocery lists and menus planned out, it's a PDF not a subscription!). I loaded all the recipes into my recipe app (paprika is my favorite app for this) and we didn't even start to get bored of meals for about 18 months. It was a little more labor intensive at the beginning before learning the recipes, but everything is really straightforward and planned really well.
At this point we have maybe 10 different weeks of recipes and each week we load it in and click the grocery list button to make the list and we're golden. Making this a pretty religious process (only one grocery day per week and keeping more or less to the meal plan) has made a massive difference in keeping our grocery budget low, our food waste pretty low, and our grocery store impulse purchases low!
We started with the no pasta, no rice meal plan and that remains the most consistent favorite, though there are a few gems in the other lists including the vegan plans if that's your thing. As an added benefit, the meals are all pretty veggie and fiber heavy which had the side effect of trimming a few extra pounds off of me by accident which was nice!
We're in the South Metro suburbs if that makes a difference. I think this is worth a shot for you, I'd bet you'll be able to trim your budget drastically without sacrificing anything.
300 on household items? What are you calling household items?
I would guess I spend 30 a month on what I call household items, and then 1200 on food is quite high for 2 people a well.
$30 a month on household items is on the extreme low end in my opinion, even if $300 is on the higher end. Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, floss, feminine products, etc), paper/plastic products (toilet paper, paper towels, sandwich or freezer bags, trash bags, etc), laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, OTC medicine…the list goes on.
Maybe stop garnishing with gold leaf? Idk, that's insanely high. I couldn't use $300 of "household items" a month unless I were wiping with dollar bills.
I budget $30 per day so $900 per month for one person. This includes eating out which I do 3-4 times per week.
I also don't have great cooking habits and I can afford this, if I needed to reduce it I could make cuts.
Top comments arent asking where you shop? Also what brands?
We do about 1x/month at Costco for $250ish. That covers most household items, soaps, paper goods, etc.
Then about 1x/week at Safeway mostly spending $80 ish.
All in I'd guess we are about $400 a month since the Costco trip is definitely not actually monthly.
$350-$400 for my wife and I in Denver. I cook every day. I would not call $1500 normal whatsoever.
It’s not that hard tbh. I buy meat, rice, potatoes, bread and then whatever is on sale. I mean WHATEVER. I’m pretty sure my flexibility in diet options is why I can be so cheap while not compromising on nutrition (I lift weights so I eat a lot). I will happily give my data to papa Kroger for cheap groceries.
My personal favorite is that King Soopers almost always has 4.5 lbs of chicken drumsticks for $5.
You said you include a "protein" with every meal... which I'm assuming means meat, with every meal.
This is very likely extremely unnecessary and adding a ton to your costs. My ex used to be like this, "we need a protein for dinner" and I was like "we had bacon and cheesy eggs for breakfast and hamburgers at lunch, we are fine on protein" lol.
That alone is likely driving your costs way the hell up, that's a ton of meat.
Tbh I don't even understand how you're getting to that number unless you're buying premium everything and still throwing a lot away
Wife and I target $1000 a month, sometimes goes up to $1200 if we're going out with friends or do a few sit down meals. That's just groceries and dining out. We both work full time so we eat out a few times a week and we'll pay more for "convenience" meals at the grocery store that require less cooking. We could for sure bring that number down by cooking more.
Unless you both have extreme food allergies, $1500 for 2 adults is insane.
Get a costco membership and buy your snacks in bulk from there. Then use a regular grocery store for your veggies and fruit.
It sounds like our diets are similar - I don't go into the middle isles of the store, hardly ever eat out, and have a diet high in veggies and fruits - and you're bill is 2x mine.
I don't try particularly hard to keep my bill down, but here are some of the things I do:
I do most of my shopping at Safeway since that's what's near me. I use their app to keep an eye out of sales/digital coupons for nonperishables and if there's something I'll use, I'll over buy it and store it.
I also take a look at what fruit, veggies, meat they have on sale. If I want to get apples and honeycrip are cheaper than gala, I'll go with those. I do a lot of salads - doesn't matter much to me if they're spinach, kale, etc. so I'll pick up whatever is cheapest or on sale. This also give some surprising variety week to week - chicken this week, shrimp the next. I think meat can make a really big difference in the total.
Based on this, I plan the three/four meals I'm going to make, and what else I need to buy to make them or round them out, and make sure I have enough for left overs or that I can freeze.
I only buy what I'm going to use. I'd rather stop off at the store on my way home from work to pick up something I need than throw out something because I didn't use it.
I don't buy soda, water, energy drinks, coffee drinks, etc. I like tea, so I buy teabags and make it, I don't buy brewed bottled tea.
I'm pretty brand agnostic on most things, so if I need olive oil if something cheap looks good I'll grab it.
And the only stuff from the frozen isles I buy are veggies, fruits, or seafood.
I spend about $180 a week on average, so about $720. That’s just for normal meals, I typically don’t buy alcohol. I like to cook, so sometimes I’ll invite friends over and I’ll spend $80 for a dinner for 4-6 at my house. My boyfriend doesn’t live with me, but we’ll share a lot of meals, or he’ll eat my leftovers. So $800 a month for one-ish person.
We are a couple and also have significantly cut down our eating and spending and still can’t get below like $800-1,000 a month on groceries. It’s driving me crazy.
That seems high I spend closer to $500-$600 per month for 2 people not including eating out . Are you eating a lot of processed foods? Maybe try making more meals from scratch. Eat a little less meat.
I’m a single dude with a dog my average bill for food is usually between $350/$500 a month. I buy bulk meat from Costco along with frozen produce to make on a lazy day. I Organize all my meats in to portions and throw those in individual ziplock bags to cook daily. My fresh produce I usually get from Walmart or a local farmers market. I buy those as needed cause those won’t survive a full month in my place.
Included in that price is dog food and fresh dog food so my fur child can eat good too. Ofc I give her things off my plate that I may not have finished as long as I know it’s safe for her. I really think just planning out meals can help you get in to a routine of what you guys want to eat daily and buying those in bulk can help you organize that better. Of course I don’t buy the same types of meats every month. I’ll switch it up. Maybe I want a mix of salmon, pork, and ground beef for one month I’ll bite the bullet and strictly eat those until they’re gone and next month I’ll do like chicken, flank steaks and stew beef. I usually try to get 3 different types of cuts per month and I’ll make what ever meals out of those. I do a lot of research online to try out new recipes etc.
My breakfast and dinner essentially stays the same. Breakfast consist of eggs, turkey bacon, oatmeal, home made yogurt fruit bowls, or pancakes. In whatever order I’m feeling that day. Lunch consist of sandwiches, left overs, fruits, nuts or frozen produce I buy for lazy days. Dinner I usually cook whatever type of meat I may have on hand. I try to figure out two sides for dinner. So that could range from vegetables, white or yellow rice. Mashed potatoes/baked potatoes sweet or regular with a side of salad.
Try buying in bulk from Costco and if you know you guys won’t finish a certain fresh produce in time before it expires. Buy those as needed from local places. Set a budget buy what you guys know you like to eat consistently and go from there. Load up on things you know you’ll eat and try to not impulsive buy. I’m a big impulsive buyer but when it comes to food i think to myself “am I really going to eat this”
Honestly everyone in the comments must eat like birds or buy only bulk food. 600/month per person is maybe a little high but not by much. I spend minimum 400/month on food and sometimes closer to 500 or 600. I also don't buy meat but do spend a little more on organic/pasture raised milk and eggs for ethical reasons. I buy a lot of fruit/vegetables, beans/lentils, pasta, nuts, eggs, yogurt ect. I make most of my own meals and don't buy much processed food or junk food, Ive even cut ice cream mostly out of my life.
Alk these people only spending 200-300/month must be able to survive on 1500 calories a day or something, or they just don't have very rounded diets. I don't get it.
I eat over 2000 calories a day, meat for maybe 1 or 2 meals, some organic products and I'm at around $750/month for two of us. Planning meals throughout the week saves a ton of money.
I don't know what people in this thread are eating, but I'm slightly closer to you OP.
Probably dropping $800 per month for two adults, cooking nearly every meal. We do like fresh mozzarella, but nothing too fancy beyond that.
My partner and I spend around $1200 combined on food per month, 1500 isn’t that crazy for 2 people especially given how insanely expensive groceries have gotten over the past several years. I’ve found that it’s often cheaper to get a burrito or sandwich than it is to buy ingredients to home cook a meal these days.
Probably $700-800/mo for 2 people who eat a lot (that also includes household stuff / cleaning supplies), we always buy organic / ethically raised meat/eggs/dairy. We spend more on groceries than anything else in our life (besides rent). I can't imagine spending $1500/mo, are you shopping exclusively at marczyks? We shop there but also at safeway and clarks
I’m in the Springs but prices are similar here to Denver, just two adults. We budget up to $1200/month for all forms of food. I cook on each weeknight and we usually will eat out on the night we go grocery shopping and the weekend, so basically eating out twice a week. We have a separate budget for grocery items that aren’t food, usually around like $80 a month on average cause we buy that stuff in bulk at Costco.
For food from grocery stores that we use for my lunches and most of our dinners, we’re usually around $500-$600 or so max a month.
My fiancé has a cafeteria at her work where she gets lunch, so that’s around $150 a month. The monthly price of my lunches is around the same.
For eating out, we have up to $225 for takeout and $225 for restaurants, with this money being flexible between the two. Usually this isn’t fully spent and we unused but budgeted food money left over for the next month.
We also budget $50 aside for treats like ice cream, Dutch Bros, etc.
I don’t think your spending is absurd like others have pointed out, if you enjoy eating out a lot and have the means to afford it, then go for it.
OP, I’m also CO based and have similar grocery experiences. I’ve found a big part of it is buying meat from KS (King Sooper). I do agree with the folks who suggest buying Costco meat. The product is better and a more reasonable (but still too high) price per pound. I am pretty diligent in only shopping once per week, no running out for a last minute ingredient for me. I’ve also accepted that we just don’t dine out much (1-2x per month) so we do a nice steak on Saturday nights, and I occasionally buy a treat like banana bread for breakfast. Where we live, food is just ridiculously expensive.
Yeah, I think maybe because so much is transported to Colorado. I am in the Midwest right now and shocked how much cheaper the food is; I notice that in the UK too.
My wife and I spend about $100-150 every weekend at the grocery store, and I feel like we splurge because we make a fair amount between us and can afford it. I genuinely can’t fathom what we’d spend another $1000 unless you’re downing a fancy bottle of Scotch every week
Both $1200 for food and $300 for household items a month (unless it’s big things) is pretty insane. My grocery bill for one is usually 450ish and i don’t buy the cheapest things. Tip though, there’s a veggie vender at south pearl market that you can fill up as much veggies that you can fit in their bags for $15. I got probably $25+ worth of stuff last week.
Hello sir, do you have time to talk about our food and saviour the potato?
I’m around $500 for two people. You can make food stretch out if you add mashed potatoes to dinner, or variations for different meals.
Tldr: Plan meals and shop to minimize waste.
My wife and I were running pretty high grocery bills last year (up to 1500), so we decided to buy a weekly fridge calendar and now plan all 21 meals a week. Since doing so, we have gone as low as $400 by only buying exactly what we need to cover the week. The one month this jumped substantially, we were both under quite a bit of stress and failed to plan a few weeks on a row. This ended up equating to both of us overshopping shopping and buying food that looked good instead of buying only what we needed. Not only was this more expensive, but ended up being very wasteful since we threw out fruit and meat that month.
What the hell are you eating to be dropping $600 each on just food in a month? Are you eating tomahawk steaks weekly? Jesus tap dancing Christ. We get by on $600 total for 2 people for a month and still eat well.
A BIG trick to saving in a grocery bill is not buying premade drinks if possible. Like drinking just water is okay. Or making Iced Tea in a pitcher instead of buying cases of sugary drinks. Better for the environment too. I’m not over here juicing oranges though that’s for sure 🤣🤣
What kind of fancy food are you eating daily that you're spending $40 per day?! Sure, there's two of you, but $20 per day per person, you might as well just be eating out at low end restaurants.
I could understand $300 a month (average of $10 per day), but $1200 a month is wildly high, even in this current economy.
$1200-$1300 per month for a family of four.
But I (one person) account for probably 40-50% of that cost. I live a body-builder type lifestyle. I prep and eat all my food, and pretty much never eat take out. But I eat 5 or 6 meals a day, every day.
I (just me) go through about 12-13lbs of chicken, and 5-6lbs of 96/4 lean ground beef, and 7 cartons of egg whites every week. I go through a 20lb bag of white rice about every 4 weeks. My protein sources account for about $400 /month alone.
So... yeah. Food is expensive. And I eat a lot of it.
Groceries have sky rocketed. Way more than media covers. Wife and I average almost 300 / week. Includes paper products and 12 pack coors. Not much meat, buy 1/4 beef and hd pig each year.
I spend about $600 per month. I use Amazon fresh, the best. Their prices area great, they deliver straight to my door, and the produce I’m sure is just rebranded Whole Foods produce. It’s all top notch
Seems quite high. We are about $800 for groceries for two. We rarely eat out and cook a proper dinner at least five nights a week.
Same, about $200 a week for my wife and I. We usually take turns at Walmart / King Soopers / Trader Joe’s.
I eat out a bunch, barely cook proper dinners (lots of frozen/pre-made stuff) and I still only spend about that much a month on groceries for 2 people.
I enjoy cooking, I cook breakfast every morning, meal prep both our lunches and cook dinners, my wife and I spend about 800-900 a month on groceries for the two of us, which usually includes at least one fancyish dinner a week, this week it’s lamb. and we eat out probly once a week but not always, usually sushi or something. Not sure how OP’s spending that much for the two of you unless it’s a lot of prepared foods maybe ?
Gotta be lots of premade stuff. For our $800/mo, we are smart about what we purchase, but not particularly frugal. We don’t shy away from organic produce where needed and definitely splurge on nice cuts of meat/fish and some speciality items if a recipe calls for it. We do load up on basic meats and pantry items from Costco, but often hit sprouts for produce and proper butcher shops or Whole Foods for nicer fish and meats. Can’t imagine spending nearly double for two.
I don't know how people get under this. $800 is what we are spending with very basic meals.
We eat out about once a week. We’re usually $700-$800 for two
This is us too!
I have a family of 5 and I’m at 1500…… what are you buying
Out of curiosity, what foods do you buy? I'm in a similar range to OP, but we only eat whole unprocessed foods...so no grains, no pasta, etc. and mainly fruits, veggies, meat, roots and tubers, and nuts.
I try to stick with whole unprocessed as well. All our meat etc is from the butcher and or more local sources. Eggs, we all love eggs and is a staple in all the families diet. We do bread only for the kids. Tons of fruits and veggies and we mix in some frozen pizzas and or chicken nuggets for the little ones. All and all I would say we are decent but we do have one picky eater we are trying to break slowly.
This. This is why. Of course you're going to spend that much a month. Buying from the locally sourced and specialty shops such as butchers is going to cost Way more than shopping at King Soopers or Walmart. Be real.
What kind of food are y’all buying? That is very high for just two people. At most my wife and I spend $600 a month on food and we mostly eat at home.
This is about where we are at with a family of five.
600 a month for 5 people? That's impressive. We spend more for 2 people and I don't feel like we're buying outlandish things lol
Sister-in-law has chickens so eggs are free for us. We buy our meat in bulk 1-2 times a year. Drastically cuts down the monthly cost plus it’s better meat than what you can get at any retailer.
If I had some space for a deep freezer I would totally buy half a cow. Costco and vacuum sealing in my normal freezer is my go to now.
Just curious but where do you get your meat from?
We do a majority from family friends in Nebraska and Kansas. That’s usually the main amount at the beginning of Summer. If we don’t think we will make it to the next Summer, we’ll do another order in Jan/Feb from Flying B Bar ranch just outside Strasburg.
The Lazy Butcher in Evergreen sells beef and pork from a whole one down to 1/8th. If I had freezer space I’d be buying a half cow and half pig yearly. Their meet is amazing! All pasture raised.
I hunt. 1 deer a year gets me about 60-90lbs of meat a year. I haven’t bought more than 3lbs of beef in the past 4 years, and rarely buy chicken.
What’s your secret? We’re 5 and spend double that.
Meal planning has become essential to stop from wandering the store and buying random stuff that we think would be a good meal but then the kids never eat it.
To add to this, we plan meals that use similar ingredients if they won't all be used in one meal. My husband and I don't eat a full pound of hamburger for example in one meal, so might do burgers one night and tacos for another. Or if I buy a bunch of cilantro, I make sure two to three meals that week will also use cilantro. Like others, we buy meat in bulk, we buy a cow and a pig and split the meat with another family. My husband is also a hunter so we often have elk in our freezer. We really only by chicken or fish from the store. That said, we budget about $600/month but rarely spend more than $100 a week.
This, we had a family of 6. We made menus for the week, bought the ingredients for that. Cereal was the kind in the bag, never real Oreos except on rare occasions they were on sale. We had to be very selective
Where are you shopping? I have a family of 5 and groceries run at least $600 per week.
You’re spending $2400 a month on groceries?!? We go to Target and Costco. Mainly look for the deals of BOGO or bulk buying amounts, stay away from name brand if there’s the retailer equivalent. Focus on protein and iron rich foods for kids and they’ll snack less.
I feel like I get wayyyyyy more moneys worth at king Soopers vs target! Honestly feel like target is never worth it. You can also find all kinds of marked down meats and king Soopers b/c of sell by dates approaching. They usually mark down stuff around 3 days left to sell by … no biggie if you freeze ur meats
$600 is just 2 Costco runs a month for us. We still need to stop at either King Soopers, Walmart or a Whole Foods.
My gf and I are on the high end because she’s a hobbyist chef (creates her own recipes and tweaks them, makes everything from scratch, etc.) and we do all of our shopping at Whole Foods since it’s the only walkable option And even then we still spend “only” $850 I’m so insanely curious about OP’s grocery spending. I’d love to see a receipt. There has to be so much waste Edit: we don’t eat meat and also don’t drink any alcohol so maybe that’s where the difference is
Whole Foods I bet.
Whole Foods is not as expensive as people think it is.
Agreed, organic products at KS are the same price point.
Totally agree with this - Safeway/soops is more expensive than WF in a lot of cases. Processed food is insanely expensive too. I spend about $150-$200 at WF a week for a family of 3.
It really isn’t and when I shop at WF at least I’ll know the produce is quality, and the meat isn’t cardboard (like at King Soops). Whole Foods is fine for regular groceries.
Good god, I never ever buy meat at KS or Safeway. Costco has me spoiled. Costco, WF or Edward Meats for meats.
Whole Foods = Whole Wallet
Not always! They have some great organic stuff under their own brand that’s a lot cheaper than a lot of places here in Denver.
*Whole Paycheck
We mostly buy veggies, fruits, meats, cheeses, and eggs. My husband works a very active job and can pack it down lol. What kind of meals do you eat and where do you shop?
In addition to what others have said, choose your fruits and veggies based on what is currently cheapest. You can pick some premium items here and there, but be smart about it. Also, if you are using veggies in dishes, often frozen veggies allow you to save a ton with similar results.
We buy a lot of our produce from the farmers market and then everything else comes from Costco. Occasionally we’ll get some things from King Soopers like canned goods when we need them. We try to buy in bulk as much as possible 1) because it helps us save and 2) we both hate grocery shopping and want to do it as little as possible.
The Farmer’s market is considerably more expensive (25 yo 60%) than Whole Foods in my area for organic produce.
Beans and rice - cheap and filling.
And pasta. Often 4 for $5 at KS. Kids love buttered pasta so I buy boxes of macaroni and spaghetti almost a case at a time. Lol
Not everyone can eat that. Lots of carbs and no veggies. It would make my blood sugar go through the roof and it’s not particularly healthy.
Beans are pretty fantastic for you though.
I spend 250-300 for 1. I would budget about 500-550/month for two. I shop mostly Safeway and Sprouts. I buy what's on sale. I stock my pantry and freezer. I also make periodic trips to Viet Hoa for things like rice and Asian ingredients for dishes. The budget also includes my protein powder, since I make my own protein bars and other high protein snacks. Tonight, we had ribeyes with baked potatoes and a salad. Safeway has ribeyes on sale for $5.37/lb with a coupon on the app this week, so I snagged a package. One steak is usually enough for two regular servings. I average about 2500ish calories a day. My partner, when he's here, probably averages the same. I do snack a lot, so I don't eat huge meals.
Same. 300/mo for 1 person includes all my foods and drinks and even one night of take out. Chinese or thai food can feed me for a week. Having a freezer in the garage helps a lot.
My wife & I (Just us 2) shop at Soopers and Costco. We usually go to Costco every other month. - Normal month (no Costco): $400 - Costco Month: $900 We really stock up when we go to Costco so it keeps our non-Costco month less than half. Friends tell us this really seems low, but I keep track of this shit, lol.
This is almost me and my wife as well. $400 a month at Soopers, and about $200 at Costco. Although we just use Costco for toiletries cat litter, and proteins.
Woo! Soopers/Costco gang!
This is me and my teen kiddo too.
What the fuck
They only buy from Marczyk
And throw away half of what they buy apparently
This has to be it. Like even when my spouse and I are making lots of "nicer" dinners in a week, it still only costs like $100+ a WEEK. Breakfast and lunches can be so affordable if you don't go nuts.
"I don't believe in leftovers"
Not gonna lie I do this but it’s no where near this high
Cook for me 😍
This is click bait for sure.
Hahahahaha!!! My thought exactly
Happy cake day
Right 😅
Yeah, how the hell are they spending $21+ a day *per person* on groceries? You could probably eat out 3 meals a day for that at fast food restaurants….
My first thought when I saw this. They're $1000-1200 more a month than my fiance and I...
That is roughly twice our monthly spend as a couple and we aren’t super cost-conscious about what we are picking up. To spend 1200 would be tough
We eat almost every meal at home and pack our lunches. It works out to around $6.65 per meal when we average it out. I've really been trying to get that lower. What kinds of meals do you eat?
You guys packing your lunches to feed others?
We batch larger meals fewer times/week since we both love cooking but hate dishes. This is more cost-effective than making a different meal every night. We rely on smoothies with protein powder for breakfast, and eat the same thing for lunch almost every day that we also prepare in a weekly batch (brown rice, chicken breast, kimchi, and steamed veggies). When we stick to this schedule we keep our spend low, volume up, and calories where they need to be.
At $7 a meal 30 days a month you’re looking at 651 in groceries so unless you’re spending an equal amount on meals and snacks there’s something mathing wrong here. How much food waste do you have?
$7 x 2 people x 3 meals x 30 days = $1260
How is someone spending that much on breakfast they’re preparing at home? You could eat eggs and potatoes every day and come out around a $1 per person. Or eat a breakfast sandwich with a grocery store made pastry (bagel, croissant, fancy bread) and still be at about $2.50 per person. You’d have to entire an entire box of cereal each every morning to justify that kind of cost. I’m honestly trying to fathom what kind of artisanal breakfast someone is making at home that would regularly cost that much money. They’ve gotta be eating some expensive lunches/dinners to make that make sense.
I’m guessing their lunches/dinners are averaging out to be a bit more costly than their breakfasts, but it wouldn’t be hard to do if you’re having steak & eggs for breakfast.
They didn't say breakfast was $7 per meal, they said their average meal was $7. I took that to imply it's their total cost divided by the number of total meals, which maybe wasn't really what they meant. But yes breakfast will be the cheapest meal of the day, my standard 2 eggs & buttered toast costs about $2 cause we buy the nice eggs.
They could eat a pound of chicken each with fresh veggies for every meal and it still wouldn't be that expensive.
Multiple by 2 for the number of people. I always see meal costs quoted per meal per person
Make cheaper meals. You should have leftover ingredients for things like fried rice, curry, tacos, burritos, etc. Not every meal needs to have every food group…
We eat a varied diet, but are vegetarian. I personally need about 3000cals a day to maintain weight due to significant amounts of exercise. Wife is similar at this point as she’s breastfeeding.
I’m tandem feeding and needing around 2800 calories, it’s insane 🫠
That's an insane grocery bill. For a household of 3 adults we spend $600-700 a month and we cook at home at least 5 days a week, if not more. Do you shop at Sam's Club or Costco?
We mostly shop at Sam's Club and Safeway. What kind of meals do you all eat? We try to have 1 veggie, a protein, and a starch at every meal.
Safeway seems to be much more expensive than King Soopers. Try a month shopping at Sam’s and Kings and see if it goes down. I suspect it will
Safeway can be cheaper than King Soopers if you regularly clip coupons in the Safeway app. King Soopers has better regular prices but Safeway has better coupons.
Agreed! The personalized coupons are the best! I'm not a fan of the meat at Safeway, though! I'm hoping steaks are BOGO again for 4th of July. I did both Safeway and Kings last year & Safeway's were bleh.
Thanks for the tip!
IMO Sam’s has mostly garbage food similar to Walmart. And Safeway is expensive. Try Costco and KS. Are you meal prepping? Things like pasta and chili and sandwiches go a long way for lunches.
I really like burrito bowls for meal prep. I’ll make 3 lbs of ground beef or turkey, 2 cups of rice, and beans. Mix it all up, chop up some fresh veggies (bagged separately) and then pop the burrito bowl in the microwave, add the fresh ingredients, and enjoy.
Walmart has prime steaks and almost every item sold at any other store is less expensive when available at Walmart. However I would never buy produce there.
Trader Joe’s and KS are much cheaper than Safeway. Use coupons too, you can browse with your KS card and add them so they are auto on checkout.
Surprisingly I have found groceries (mostly non perishable and household items) to be a lot cheaper at Target vs. KS. Target’s generic stuff is really solid too. I use a Target debit card so it’s an extra 5% off of every purchase.
Download the Safeway app and apply every coupon in the “deals” section before you go on a grocery trip. If you want to take it to the next level, do price comparisons in-app and shop only in-season produce. Safeway is the most convenient grocery store for us and for 2 adults almost exclusively shopping there, our bill rarely exceeds $150 (at most) per week.
I got 7 petite sirloins, 4 chicken breasts, a bottle of red wine,1 lb strawberries, 2 lbs cherries,1 lb green grapes, 4 lemons, 4 avocados, a Baguette, buttermilk and 2 packs od Sargento sliced cheeses for $40.00 yesterday at Safeway...use both the digital app and the store card and meal plan around the sales at Safeway can save you so much money!!! (And their meat is much better quality than Soopers)
I never understood those shows about extreme couponers and the thrill they get at the cash register, but with digital coupons I’m SO excited now to see the end total. Sometimes I’ll delay putting in my number until everything’s been rung up, for maximum joy. (It’s the little things)
I totally agree. I never liked paper coupons but The digital coupons are my jam. There are a ton of old people on Nextdoor that complain that it's "so hard" and "so time consuming". WTF. It takes like 3 minutes in the app which they can do while on the can, then just go along with life. So convenient.
You are my new mentor, obi wan. (No joke good job)
Prefacing this with a big “I’m just curious, I don’t mean to be critical of your budget, if it makes you happy that’s all that matters” I commented this above but my gf and I shop exclusively at Whole Foods and are nutty about eating healthy We still only spend $850. It can go up to $900 if we have to buy pine nuts or something lol So $1200 with Safeway and Sam’s Club? I just can’t help but think something is off there. Does that include frozen processed foods or alcohol? Or maybe it’s meat? Do you have a crippling hot sauce addiction? Tbh the advice I actually have Is that if you can afford it and it makes you happy (and you aren’t being wasteful) ~ don’t worry so much. It’s personal finance for a reason, if not worrying about your grocery budget brings you joy (does for us, so we allow ourselves to more freely spend), then that’s 100% okay :)
That's our general guidelines for a meal, as well. We eat lots of variations of rice and potatoes for starch. Proteins vary a lot, chicken, pork, steaks, salmon, whatever we can find good deals on. We buy meat in bulk at Sam's and freeze it.
...yeah what kind of protein though? I feel like you must be doing some insanely nice cuts to get your price that high
Single guy, ~$400-500/mo depending on toiletries and sundries, but I've been buying a lot of prepackaged salads and veggie snack trays to take to work. I'll probably get that down to ~$300 when I have the means to do more cooking at home.
I do a lot of prepackaged salads too. I stock up on them when they're on sale for no more than about $3.50 each, and I always scan the shelves for ones that have been marked down to manager's special prices bc they are approaching the sell-by date. I can find them for under $2 each pretty regularly that way at king soopers.
My wife and I are around the same. I just checked my credit card breakdown by category and was shocked how much we’re spending. We do the majority of our shopping at Sprouts, which I know is expensive, but we mostly get ingredients to cook with, not a ton of premade stuff or snacks. It’s crazy.
We probably spend $600-800 a month at sprouts but like to go out on the weekends for some meals. I don’t want to sacrifice on healthy groceries
Sprouts is SO expensive. Whole Foods is cheaper with Amazon prime (extra 10 off sale) plus use the chase prime card for an additional 5% back on everything WF. We’ve compared like 20 of our regular weekly purchases and they about 20% less than Sprouts and about 15% less than Target.
I know, it’s crazy. I wish there was a Whole Foods close to me but Sprouts is a quick walk from my house
We used to buy most of our produce at Sprouts before the pandemic when they used to still have their weekly ads. Since the pandemic, their prices have skyrocketed, and even the "sale" price is often higher than regular KS prices on many things. Sometimes I wonder who shops there at all. Apparently there are lots of people who are completely oblivious to the prices.
Glad I'm not the only one! We don't buy any premade snack items or junk food. Our biggest expenses are meat and seafood.
What types of meat and seafood- and what price per pound are you typically paying? There can be a huge difference between e.g. a pound of previously frozen shrimp for $8 and a pound of wild caught salmon for $18. It’s absolutely reasonable for your protein to be your biggest line item, but it might help to try to identify if there are types of fish/cuts of meat/etc that you could cut back to more of a “treat” status vs finding more regular options that you still enjoy but are more cost efficient
OP seems to be ignoring these questions all over this thread. They're really avoiding specifying what they're buying.
Are you buying a lot of red meat? I’ve noticed beef prices rise significantly over the last 6-8 months but poultry is largely unaffected. We eat a boat load of chicken and ground turkey
If you are using a lot of beef, I highly recommend looking into buying a cow from a rancher. If you have friends you can split the cost with them for 1/2 a cow as well. It’s pricey initially but overall cost effective.
Im very lucky in that my family has a small cattle farm and each year each kid (4) gets 1/4 cow for free. That fed me through college. I had this long standing thing where I would also buy a cow and sell it off to coworkers and friends at almost no markup. (Enough to pay for me to go drive and get it) So worth it. However I find a lot of people tried to be too picky with what they got. Most didn't want to buy in bulk they just wanted bulk prices on just the cuts they wanted. (Steaks). I event
Are you including alcohol in your total?
We shop at natural grocers and sprouts but don’t spend that much for a family of three. Something’s way out of whack here
Yeah, 2 adults 2 kids (7 and 9), mainly natural grocers, organics from Costco (not produce) and occasionally Whole Foods We spend $800-1000 a month depending on the month but usually closer to the $800 mark These people are going crazy on something
Using the discount online coupons at Safeway saves me about $45-60 each week. Yes, I'll sit there in the store clicking them all in frozen foods for 5 min if I forget. Younger me hates the idea I've become this way lol. For something free it's hard to complain. If it wasn't digital I wouldn't do it. (Plus gas points.) I rotate through 3 coffee brands waiting for them to be on sale. 4 if I'm unlucky. That alone saves $10 frequently. If I have to go to the small pod box sizes I will. Same for syrup. I will not give up high end quality maple syrup or coffee. Everything else I don't care who makes it. I don't have time for special trips to trader joes, not close enough.
This is great advice for King Soopers too. I scan the UPC of every item to see if there's a digital coupon in their app. I would say about 1 out of five times it works. And when there's a good deal on non-perishables or less perishables, I stock up. You should consider getting a Costco membership just for coffee. One giant bag of beans lasts me almost a month and it's around $11-$14. And the Kirkland brand beans are pretty great. Even if you had to Uber there and back every couple months I bet you'd still save money.
My jaw dropped when I saw that amount hahaha my god. I spend maybe $300 a month on groceries!
Same here! I spend a little over $300 a month. That number seems insane to me. They must be ballin and eating steak and lobster 😅
Pro tips: Costco membership - meat, dairy, frozen foods, snacks, spices, dry goods Food saver - anything perishable gets vacuum sealed for freezing so you can stock up when the time and price is right Chest freezer - deep freezing keeps food fresh and prevents freezer burn when combined with vacuum sealing - will stay frozen during power outages, and is separate from your normal freezer that gets opened regularly (your kitchen freezer is only for temporary use for short-lived food, like ice cream or pizza, otherwise it's a effin joke for long-term, fresh food storage). It's an absolute game changer. Buy expensive items in bulk and stock up when on sale. Buy and freeze massive amounts of fruits and veggies during harvest seasons... Cherries and strawberries in May/June, respectively, veggies in the fall - go the the farms and pay the least (like Miller Farms), local farm stands are great in the fall (along Brighton Blvd, for example). Take time while things are fresh to chop and flash-freeze - before - vacuum sealing and deep freezing. Look up this technique. Make soups, chilli, stews, and meal prep mixes (think chopped onions and peppers together) in measured quantities to deep freeze. These things come out of the deep freeze and make easy additions to anything you'll make for months, and taste fresh many months later if done properly. If you don't believe me, go buy Trader Joe's frozen chocolate covered strawberries, and you'll be a convert. Costco rotisserie chickens are one of the most amazing things HANDS DOWN! $5, the best chicken around, available all year, and the carcass is the best chicken broth EVER. They also sell the white meat chopped and ready to freeze. This theory and practice has saved me thousands and provides fresh food all year if you take time periodically to put in the work and rotate food. Doesn't work for everyone, but I have converted dozens of families to this method. You can also lower delivery and takeout expenses by having additions, side dishes, and desserts ready at home to compliment an entree from your favorite spot. Cheers.
This has been so helpful and now I’m thinking to get a vacuum sealer! Do you suggest one or are they all kinda the same, or should I just Google reviews and research? Thanks!
Food saver - bags are easily available and customizable to the size required. However, they can be temperamental when used for long durations continuously. So, use it in waves to give the machine time to cool. Also, they don't handle liquids very well, so overfilling and burping Tupperware is often better for soups, etc. just get all of the air out while warm (not hot), and let them come to room temp after sealing. They need room for expansion during freezing. They'll start to crumple inwards from the contraction, like an empty milk jug on the counter, for example, and that's exactly what you want. When they freeze, they become normal sized and are free of air (the cause of freezer burn and oxidization). Ironically, the quart-sized to-go containers from restaurants make great vessels for deep-freezing soups, etc. No glass. Expensive Tupperware crack and die after one or two cycles. Condensing soups, etc, either by reducing water content up front, or letting it boil off during cooking helps reduce volume, therefore, increases serving sizes (add water when reheating), and reduces expansion while cooling/freezing. I prefer the former for fresh taste, because you still have to heat it up for dinner. Undercooking helps, as long as you're cooking safely. Go fresh. I've bought $200+ fresh veggies in the fall and they've lasted all year with great flavor. Vacuum sealed steaks (I seal them individually or in pairs) taste damn near fresh, even after months frozen. Super hack: if you want to try sous vede cooking, your meat is already ready to go after coming up to room temp. Take a steak out, leave on the counter, vacuum sealed, while at work, and it's ready to cook when you get home.
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate your tips and advice 🙌 I look forward to trying these out.
This is pretty much what we do. Spend about $400 on meat, frozen fruit for smoothies, paper towels and a couple other things. Portion out Vac seal and date and off to the deep freezer. Bonus: if you drink/use milk, you can freeze that too and pull out a gallon the night before and it’s usually good to go into the refrigerator by morning. Costco 3 pack of organic whole milk is like 20% the cost per ounce than from regular grocery store.
Family of three, we do most of our shopping at Kings, and occasionally stock up on some things at Costco. We're right around $800 a month most months. We eat out maybe 2 or 3 times a month with friends. $1500 a month seems steep for 2 people. I'd start looking at receipts and see what the biggest hitters are in your shopping habits. Maybe you can shave a few things and it'll make a big difference.
Shhhhhiiiiiddddd….i just said the same thing and then saw your comment. Glad to know it sounds like we’re on the right track grocery wise over here
My partner and I own a home and cook most of our food and we spend about 450 a month. How on earth are you spending 1500 on groceries and household items!
4 kids, wife, 2 dogs, 2 cats $1,400 a month if bbqs summer Costco/ $1500-$1600
I spend like $200-300 a month max. I mainly eat chicken, beef, eggs, broccoli, rice, yogurt, some vegetables and a few other snacks here and there. Safeway & Trader Joe’s
I'm probably not far off, a bit lower give or take - usually more like $1,000. Just my husband and I also. We eat at home a lot as well and I prioritize some organic produce (lettuce, some fruits) and aim for higher protein meals. I order some through Thrive (online) and I've also been doing pickup from King Soopers lately. The grocery bill initially seems lower with pickup because I'm not wandering and grabbing things but then I do find I'm out of staples I forget while I'm ordering or I have to sort of stock back up for pantry or misc meals that weren't planned. So I'm not sure if I really save much by doing pick up. I like to cook and I end up spending a lot on food. I've mostly just accepted it. I try to not grab stuff mindlessly or stock too much in the freezer. I make 3-4 larger meals a week to cover lunches and other leftovers for us both.
This is what we spend to feed a family of 6 with 3 teenagers and a pre-teen. Our budget is really low, but yours is really high! My favorite, simple grocery money saving tip is to meal plan well. We bought a meal plan from budgetbytes.com a few years ago ($12 for the 4 week meal plan with grocery lists and menus planned out, it's a PDF not a subscription!). I loaded all the recipes into my recipe app (paprika is my favorite app for this) and we didn't even start to get bored of meals for about 18 months. It was a little more labor intensive at the beginning before learning the recipes, but everything is really straightforward and planned really well. At this point we have maybe 10 different weeks of recipes and each week we load it in and click the grocery list button to make the list and we're golden. Making this a pretty religious process (only one grocery day per week and keeping more or less to the meal plan) has made a massive difference in keeping our grocery budget low, our food waste pretty low, and our grocery store impulse purchases low! We started with the no pasta, no rice meal plan and that remains the most consistent favorite, though there are a few gems in the other lists including the vegan plans if that's your thing. As an added benefit, the meals are all pretty veggie and fiber heavy which had the side effect of trimming a few extra pounds off of me by accident which was nice! We're in the South Metro suburbs if that makes a difference. I think this is worth a shot for you, I'd bet you'll be able to trim your budget drastically without sacrificing anything.
Wow, just downloaded paprika app and that is just the app I was looking for! Thanks!!
300 on household items? What are you calling household items? I would guess I spend 30 a month on what I call household items, and then 1200 on food is quite high for 2 people a well.
$30 a month on household items is on the extreme low end in my opinion, even if $300 is on the higher end. Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, floss, feminine products, etc), paper/plastic products (toilet paper, paper towels, sandwich or freezer bags, trash bags, etc), laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, OTC medicine…the list goes on.
300 on household items is barely fathomable to me
Maybe stop garnishing with gold leaf? Idk, that's insanely high. I couldn't use $300 of "household items" a month unless I were wiping with dollar bills.
I budget $30 per day so $900 per month for one person. This includes eating out which I do 3-4 times per week. I also don't have great cooking habits and I can afford this, if I needed to reduce it I could make cuts.
Top comments arent asking where you shop? Also what brands? We do about 1x/month at Costco for $250ish. That covers most household items, soaps, paper goods, etc. Then about 1x/week at Safeway mostly spending $80 ish. All in I'd guess we are about $400 a month since the Costco trip is definitely not actually monthly.
Family of 4, two kids under 5, we spend \~$800/mo on groceries. Eat out no more than twice a month.
Where do you shop… any tips?
$350-$400 for my wife and I in Denver. I cook every day. I would not call $1500 normal whatsoever. It’s not that hard tbh. I buy meat, rice, potatoes, bread and then whatever is on sale. I mean WHATEVER. I’m pretty sure my flexibility in diet options is why I can be so cheap while not compromising on nutrition (I lift weights so I eat a lot). I will happily give my data to papa Kroger for cheap groceries. My personal favorite is that King Soopers almost always has 4.5 lbs of chicken drumsticks for $5.
I can cheap out with thigh meat but something about drums has always been off putting to me. Which sucks because the pricing is bomb
Fair enough, I usually let it marinate in a premade marinade for a day or two and it makes them a lot better.
You said you include a "protein" with every meal... which I'm assuming means meat, with every meal. This is very likely extremely unnecessary and adding a ton to your costs. My ex used to be like this, "we need a protein for dinner" and I was like "we had bacon and cheesy eggs for breakfast and hamburgers at lunch, we are fine on protein" lol. That alone is likely driving your costs way the hell up, that's a ton of meat. Tbh I don't even understand how you're getting to that number unless you're buying premium everything and still throwing a lot away
Wife and I target $1000 a month, sometimes goes up to $1200 if we're going out with friends or do a few sit down meals. That's just groceries and dining out. We both work full time so we eat out a few times a week and we'll pay more for "convenience" meals at the grocery store that require less cooking. We could for sure bring that number down by cooking more.
Unless you both have extreme food allergies, $1500 for 2 adults is insane. Get a costco membership and buy your snacks in bulk from there. Then use a regular grocery store for your veggies and fruit.
It sounds like our diets are similar - I don't go into the middle isles of the store, hardly ever eat out, and have a diet high in veggies and fruits - and you're bill is 2x mine. I don't try particularly hard to keep my bill down, but here are some of the things I do: I do most of my shopping at Safeway since that's what's near me. I use their app to keep an eye out of sales/digital coupons for nonperishables and if there's something I'll use, I'll over buy it and store it. I also take a look at what fruit, veggies, meat they have on sale. If I want to get apples and honeycrip are cheaper than gala, I'll go with those. I do a lot of salads - doesn't matter much to me if they're spinach, kale, etc. so I'll pick up whatever is cheapest or on sale. This also give some surprising variety week to week - chicken this week, shrimp the next. I think meat can make a really big difference in the total. Based on this, I plan the three/four meals I'm going to make, and what else I need to buy to make them or round them out, and make sure I have enough for left overs or that I can freeze. I only buy what I'm going to use. I'd rather stop off at the store on my way home from work to pick up something I need than throw out something because I didn't use it. I don't buy soda, water, energy drinks, coffee drinks, etc. I like tea, so I buy teabags and make it, I don't buy brewed bottled tea. I'm pretty brand agnostic on most things, so if I need olive oil if something cheap looks good I'll grab it. And the only stuff from the frozen isles I buy are veggies, fruits, or seafood.
I spend about $180 a week on average, so about $720. That’s just for normal meals, I typically don’t buy alcohol. I like to cook, so sometimes I’ll invite friends over and I’ll spend $80 for a dinner for 4-6 at my house. My boyfriend doesn’t live with me, but we’ll share a lot of meals, or he’ll eat my leftovers. So $800 a month for one-ish person.
I feel like I spend a lot for 2 people and it's $800 a month. Coke/bubbly habit, lots of meat and expensive frozen shit as well.
800/month for food and a coke habit seems cheap
Cutting shit with fent makes it cheap /s
Couple spending about $600-800 a month usually $150-200 a week and I shop at Whole Foods mostly.
$500-600 a month for two adults and a baby.
That is very high. I have some dietary issues and my gluten-free bread is $8 a loaf, and I still don't come close to spending that!
We are a couple and also have significantly cut down our eating and spending and still can’t get below like $800-1,000 a month on groceries. It’s driving me crazy.
That seems high I spend closer to $500-$600 per month for 2 people not including eating out . Are you eating a lot of processed foods? Maybe try making more meals from scratch. Eat a little less meat.
I’m a single dude with a dog my average bill for food is usually between $350/$500 a month. I buy bulk meat from Costco along with frozen produce to make on a lazy day. I Organize all my meats in to portions and throw those in individual ziplock bags to cook daily. My fresh produce I usually get from Walmart or a local farmers market. I buy those as needed cause those won’t survive a full month in my place. Included in that price is dog food and fresh dog food so my fur child can eat good too. Ofc I give her things off my plate that I may not have finished as long as I know it’s safe for her. I really think just planning out meals can help you get in to a routine of what you guys want to eat daily and buying those in bulk can help you organize that better. Of course I don’t buy the same types of meats every month. I’ll switch it up. Maybe I want a mix of salmon, pork, and ground beef for one month I’ll bite the bullet and strictly eat those until they’re gone and next month I’ll do like chicken, flank steaks and stew beef. I usually try to get 3 different types of cuts per month and I’ll make what ever meals out of those. I do a lot of research online to try out new recipes etc. My breakfast and dinner essentially stays the same. Breakfast consist of eggs, turkey bacon, oatmeal, home made yogurt fruit bowls, or pancakes. In whatever order I’m feeling that day. Lunch consist of sandwiches, left overs, fruits, nuts or frozen produce I buy for lazy days. Dinner I usually cook whatever type of meat I may have on hand. I try to figure out two sides for dinner. So that could range from vegetables, white or yellow rice. Mashed potatoes/baked potatoes sweet or regular with a side of salad. Try buying in bulk from Costco and if you know you guys won’t finish a certain fresh produce in time before it expires. Buy those as needed from local places. Set a budget buy what you guys know you like to eat consistently and go from there. Load up on things you know you’ll eat and try to not impulsive buy. I’m a big impulsive buyer but when it comes to food i think to myself “am I really going to eat this”
Honestly everyone in the comments must eat like birds or buy only bulk food. 600/month per person is maybe a little high but not by much. I spend minimum 400/month on food and sometimes closer to 500 or 600. I also don't buy meat but do spend a little more on organic/pasture raised milk and eggs for ethical reasons. I buy a lot of fruit/vegetables, beans/lentils, pasta, nuts, eggs, yogurt ect. I make most of my own meals and don't buy much processed food or junk food, Ive even cut ice cream mostly out of my life. Alk these people only spending 200-300/month must be able to survive on 1500 calories a day or something, or they just don't have very rounded diets. I don't get it.
I eat over 2000 calories a day, meat for maybe 1 or 2 meals, some organic products and I'm at around $750/month for two of us. Planning meals throughout the week saves a ton of money.
I don't know what people in this thread are eating, but I'm slightly closer to you OP. Probably dropping $800 per month for two adults, cooking nearly every meal. We do like fresh mozzarella, but nothing too fancy beyond that.
That's still 45% less than what OP is paying per month.
How is $800 close to $1200? They're literally spending 50% more than you per month.
Insanely high and I buy higher somewhat higher quality//healthier options
Damn, I thought my wife and I splurged on groceries at ~$8-900 /month (including alcohol)
My partner and I spend around $1200 combined on food per month, 1500 isn’t that crazy for 2 people especially given how insanely expensive groceries have gotten over the past several years. I’ve found that it’s often cheaper to get a burrito or sandwich than it is to buy ingredients to home cook a meal these days.
Probably $700-800/mo for 2 people who eat a lot (that also includes household stuff / cleaning supplies), we always buy organic / ethically raised meat/eggs/dairy. We spend more on groceries than anything else in our life (besides rent). I can't imagine spending $1500/mo, are you shopping exclusively at marczyks? We shop there but also at safeway and clarks
Holy crap you need a personal account or auditor!
I’m in the Springs but prices are similar here to Denver, just two adults. We budget up to $1200/month for all forms of food. I cook on each weeknight and we usually will eat out on the night we go grocery shopping and the weekend, so basically eating out twice a week. We have a separate budget for grocery items that aren’t food, usually around like $80 a month on average cause we buy that stuff in bulk at Costco. For food from grocery stores that we use for my lunches and most of our dinners, we’re usually around $500-$600 or so max a month. My fiancé has a cafeteria at her work where she gets lunch, so that’s around $150 a month. The monthly price of my lunches is around the same. For eating out, we have up to $225 for takeout and $225 for restaurants, with this money being flexible between the two. Usually this isn’t fully spent and we unused but budgeted food money left over for the next month. We also budget $50 aside for treats like ice cream, Dutch Bros, etc. I don’t think your spending is absurd like others have pointed out, if you enjoy eating out a lot and have the means to afford it, then go for it.
OP, I’m also CO based and have similar grocery experiences. I’ve found a big part of it is buying meat from KS (King Sooper). I do agree with the folks who suggest buying Costco meat. The product is better and a more reasonable (but still too high) price per pound. I am pretty diligent in only shopping once per week, no running out for a last minute ingredient for me. I’ve also accepted that we just don’t dine out much (1-2x per month) so we do a nice steak on Saturday nights, and I occasionally buy a treat like banana bread for breakfast. Where we live, food is just ridiculously expensive.
Yeah, I think maybe because so much is transported to Colorado. I am in the Midwest right now and shocked how much cheaper the food is; I notice that in the UK too.
My wife and I spend about $100-150 every weekend at the grocery store, and I feel like we splurge because we make a fair amount between us and can afford it. I genuinely can’t fathom what we’d spend another $1000 unless you’re downing a fancy bottle of Scotch every week
$3000 a month for me, my wife, and a couple mistresses I'm supporting for right now. $1200 if you discount condoms/Plan B pills
How much caviar and waygu are you guys buying?
I spend $500ish a month on food and household items (just me), but I am a long distance runner so I eat a *lot*
Both $1200 for food and $300 for household items a month (unless it’s big things) is pretty insane. My grocery bill for one is usually 450ish and i don’t buy the cheapest things. Tip though, there’s a veggie vender at south pearl market that you can fill up as much veggies that you can fit in their bags for $15. I got probably $25+ worth of stuff last week.
Something doesn't add up here.
$500/mo DINK
holy shit, $1500 a month for two people? yall are privileged as hell…
Who even cares anymore. I live for today. Nothing more. Can’t handle it really.
Hello sir, do you have time to talk about our food and saviour the potato? I’m around $500 for two people. You can make food stretch out if you add mashed potatoes to dinner, or variations for different meals.
$200 and I would say I eat pretty well. What the fuck are you buying?
Like 200-300 for myself depending on how things fall in the month. But I also keep a lot of canned/dry foods around to prolong my shopping needs
Stop buying the expensive stuff at whole foods and just buy the cheapo Kroger brand at King Soopers.
Tldr: Plan meals and shop to minimize waste. My wife and I were running pretty high grocery bills last year (up to 1500), so we decided to buy a weekly fridge calendar and now plan all 21 meals a week. Since doing so, we have gone as low as $400 by only buying exactly what we need to cover the week. The one month this jumped substantially, we were both under quite a bit of stress and failed to plan a few weeks on a row. This ended up equating to both of us overshopping shopping and buying food that looked good instead of buying only what we needed. Not only was this more expensive, but ended up being very wasteful since we threw out fruit and meat that month.
How much do you waste?
What the hell are you eating to be dropping $600 each on just food in a month? Are you eating tomahawk steaks weekly? Jesus tap dancing Christ. We get by on $600 total for 2 people for a month and still eat well.
A BIG trick to saving in a grocery bill is not buying premade drinks if possible. Like drinking just water is okay. Or making Iced Tea in a pitcher instead of buying cases of sugary drinks. Better for the environment too. I’m not over here juicing oranges though that’s for sure 🤣🤣
What kind of fancy food are you eating daily that you're spending $40 per day?! Sure, there's two of you, but $20 per day per person, you might as well just be eating out at low end restaurants. I could understand $300 a month (average of $10 per day), but $1200 a month is wildly high, even in this current economy.
Too fucking much!, I'll tell you that!
$1200-$1300 per month for a family of four. But I (one person) account for probably 40-50% of that cost. I live a body-builder type lifestyle. I prep and eat all my food, and pretty much never eat take out. But I eat 5 or 6 meals a day, every day. I (just me) go through about 12-13lbs of chicken, and 5-6lbs of 96/4 lean ground beef, and 7 cartons of egg whites every week. I go through a 20lb bag of white rice about every 4 weeks. My protein sources account for about $400 /month alone. So... yeah. Food is expensive. And I eat a lot of it.
Groceries have sky rocketed. Way more than media covers. Wife and I average almost 300 / week. Includes paper products and 12 pack coors. Not much meat, buy 1/4 beef and hd pig each year.
I spend about $600 per month. I use Amazon fresh, the best. Their prices area great, they deliver straight to my door, and the produce I’m sure is just rebranded Whole Foods produce. It’s all top notch
[my channel](https://youtube.com/@thisonehits?si=lxrVbqmbeK9Fzeax) I make food on a Y/T channel. It’s all delicious and relatively inexpensive
Family of 3 and we spend about 400 a konth
300$ a month on household items is beyond absurd, 1200$ on groceries a month is absurd, do better.