How Much Do You Spend on Food Everyday

Updated on November 08, 2010
A.G. asks from New York, NY
21 answers

breakfast, lunch and dinner? We have a family of three (my husband and I and our toddler).

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

Thanks for sharing moms, this inspires me to continue my budgeting and watch the spending since our biggest expense is food/groceries/restaurants. Blessing to you all, moms and thanks again.

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.T.

answers from New York on

I don't have it broken down by day. I spend $180-$200 a week when I food shop, this includes food and other things like cleaning products, health and beauty products, greeting cards. We are two adults, a teen and a tween. We rarely eat out. I seem to spend a lot on fresh produce

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.C.

answers from San Francisco on

we spend around $80 to $100 a week on food from the grocery store. This doesn't include eating out, which we rarely do. I try to make most meals from scratch, and we eat a lot of organic but not all.

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.E.

answers from Chicago on

Try grocerygame.com
couponmom.com
savingsangel.com

All great sites to get ideas for bringing down your grocery budget. Yes couponing is the best way to go, but even if you just shop sales, you can save about 30%.
I've been couponing for 3 months now, and last month finally came under budget for the month! woo hoo! We have a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 toddlers) and a budget of $400. I use money saved with coupons to buy organic produce, dairy, and meat products, otherwise I'd save even more!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.C.

answers from New York on

This is a hot topic at our house and on my blog right now, where I featured a woman who spends only $50 per week at the supermarket.

http://www.frugal-mama.com/2010/11/you-wont-believe-how-m...

I'm afraid I spent A LOT more than she does (more like $800) but we have 4 kids and I am making choices these days based more on health and goodness than cost.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.R.

answers from Glens Falls on

Wow, very impressive. We spend $125 a week for two of us! I don't use coupons and I don't budget it so I thought I would share so the rest of you guys could know what an awesome job you are doing holding down costs. We eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits, I rarely buy any processed foods. We do entertain quite a bit and I do pick things up at the grocery store for convenience which is included in this total..like cards, cosmetics, pet supplies - that I could probably get cheaper someplace else. So wow, I guess I'll have to look into the coupon sites.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.J.

answers from Seattle on

This totally varies by region.

Per DAY... it's anyone's guess.

We have a fairly strict food budget of 600 a month. 150 a week for 3 people isn't easy in our area. I can't actually break that down further... because that's also all of our cleaning supplies, lightbulbs, dogfood, etc. I mean, I could feed us all on mac'n'cheese and koolaid for $200 a month, but not healthy food. In other areas we've lived we get tons more equally healthy food for $300 per month.

As far as eating out: A typical not fast food but not sit down meal in our area is $9. Add a drink and it's 11. Add a tip and it's 13. Sit down but not posh, expect $15 per person. Posh is $30-100 per person.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I do all the shopping for my family, although its just my wife and I now. We have our kids over for sunday dinner and feed 10 to 16 people then. I know how to cook and don't use preboxed meals (like hamburger helper) unless they are on a tremendous sale. (I bought 30 boxes of Hamburger helper for $.50 each three weeks ago.)

My food budget is $200 per month. I spend less in the "Inland Empire" (eastern LA, California basin) than I did when I lived in Arkansas, Texas or New Mexico. The more stores you have competing for your food dollar the less you will spend IF (!!!) you shop the sales and plan your menu around what's on sale. I always look to see what is in the mark-down bin at the store before I buy. If I planned on hamburger and they have a roast marked down, I will change my menu or buy the roast and have it another time.

No store has a monopoly on the lowest prices and I usually shop 3 stores each week and not always the same ones each week. (There are 7 grocery stores in this area.) The mythe is that its cheaper to do all your shopping at one store that drive to multiple stores because of the price of gas. Not true at all. I have measured the miles and know the cost per mile.

Good luck to you and yours.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

We spend about 150.00 a week. That is for 2 adults and 4 kids. I buy pretty healthy...only fresh fruits and veggies, mostly healthy snacks. My meats have to be at least 3lbs...that is most of my expense. I think i have mastered the grocery bill :) I take two and a half hours in the store though!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.H.

answers from Montgomery on

We are a family of seven (two adults, one toddler, one infant-less than six months old, two dogs, and a cat--hey they eat too) We spend around 300-400 a month and eat out about one to two meals a week. I just started couponing so hopefully that will help.

K.G.

answers from Boca Raton on

We also have a family of three (me, husband, 4 year old son) and I spend about 120.00 per week at the grocery store.
That's not including eating out. We do takeout on Friday and Saturday (30 each night) nights normally. And eat out for breakfast or lunch on Sunday (about 20).

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.B.

answers from Dayton on

We have a family of 5 going on 6. The kids are all under 6, and we spend $145/week on groceries. That doesn't include eating out, and we eat out probably 1 lunch or dinner a week. We buy about 1/2 of our fruit and fresh veggie organic, and grass fed, organic pork and beef in bulk along with organic milk. And my kids EAT. When people say they can't get their kids to eat anything, I never know how to answer b/c I have 3 boys I can't get to stop!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.C.

answers from Detroit on

We eat healthy, good quality foods, so our food bill is around $800 per month for myself, hubby, my 5 year old son and toddler. We eat out about four times a month. I use coupons when I can, but usually using coupons only helps for non-edible stuff like toiletries.

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

I am typically at Market Street daily picking something up, usually little. I have no idea how much I spend daily. I keep my pantry (very large room) stocked for about a 6 month supply and my deep freezer stocked with high grade beef, veggies, etc.

We eat out a lot, usually lunch daily anywhere from $12-$18 and dinner out fairly often. Not fast food places, mostly fresh sandwiches, soups and salads for lunch. Better restaurants for dinner.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.S.

answers from Portland on

for our family of 3 (me, my husband and our toddler) we spend $300 a month

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

E.C.

answers from New York on

I spend $200 per week on food for 2 adults and 3 kids (9.8.6). Ways to spend less: don't worry about specials and cheapest things - simply avoid junk food, pre-packaged food.

Instead of instant oatmeal or cereal or bfast bars, buy bulk oats or make eggs and toast.

Instead of individual cheese sticks, buy cheese and cut it in to chunks. Grate your own cheese.

Instead of frozen pizza or take out, buy fresh pizza dough in your refrig section, pour on some pasta sauce and grate your own cheese.

Instead of bagged prepared salad, buy a head of lettuce.

Instead of chicken nuggets, roast a chicken (email me offline if you want help in that - 350 degrees, 20 minutes per pounds plus 30 minutes). That will give you dinner for three nights: one night roasted chicken, one night chicken enchiladas or casserole with leftover chicken, and another night of chicken noodle soup made from boiling the leftover carcass.

For the toddler, just puree or chop up (not sure age of toddler) whatever you have for dinner. He'll get used to it - just don't give him something he likes better if he refuses what you give him first.

Hope this helps.

C.C.

answers from Little Rock on

We have a family of 4... 2 adluts and 2 teenage girls. We spend around 400.00-500.00 a month w/ lots & lots of coupons. (I am a coupon QUEEN)

C.G.

answers from Denver on

We buy organic so we spend about $150 per week. If hubby comes shopping with me it's going to be more. Before we went organic we were spending about $130 per week. It pretty much evens out. I bring my lunch to work.

We don't go out as often as we did before so that was a trade off. I agree with some of the other ladies, it's going to depend what part of the country you're in as to what your costs are.

A non organic gallon of milk is $3 plus dollars here.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.S.

answers from Chicago on

What we spend varies from month to month but I would say it is about $800 - $ 1000 a month. We live in Chicago. There are lots of cheap restaurants that we go to where you can get a meal cheaper than you can make it. We eat out about 2x a week. I also try to do organic. But we buy snacks like cookies and ice cream sometimes. I don't buy any processed packaged food anymore except for some cereal. I try to shop the perimeter of the store for health reasons. I could do it cheaper and when times are rough, we eat lots of rice and beans and skip some of the snacks. Buying food is expensive here. The main thing to keep in inexpensive is to plan in advance which is difficult sometimes.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.L.

answers from Hartford on

Well lets see. We spend $150 a week on groceries. I have a family of 3, my husband, myself, and an 8 year old son. We eat out once a week for lunch and once a week for dinner. My husband also buys a coffee everyday :(. I would say about $25-$28 a day. I must add that we do not eat much processed food and it is more expensive to eat healthy.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.A.

answers from Spartanburg on

We have a family of four: me, hubby, 4 y/o, 2 y/o. I have an $80 a week food budget, so the average is almost $11.50 a day. That includes everything from baking goods/spices/oil that I only buy every once in a while to the everyday milk and bread. We eat 1-2 veggies each with lunch and dinner, and very little boxed food. Thinking of food for yesterday, I spent more like $9-$10 for the whole day for all of us. Food costs vary greatly from location to location, rural vs. urban, northern vs. south, east vs west, grocery store vs. produce stand...

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.L.

answers from Topeka on

My family is 3 kids 2 adults I can only spend $60.00 in cash a week on our food i'm on WIC so that helps,but there are times where I do amke another few trips to the stores to buy more that ends up an addtional $20-50.I plan my meals accordingly I must keep my kids on a healthy diet with lots ofr veggies & fruit they mainly eat this for all meals they eat meat as well..
To keep this tight budget I must say I waste alot of gas doing so because 1 store will have what I need for cheaper or sales flyer that are the 2-3 day sales,coupons,add matches,the generic version only on some items not all
I like our Aldi store for produce items

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions