Poll: Grocery Bills

hawkilady · March 2010

What do you spend per week on average?

Do you shop at discount clubs (Sam's, Costco, etc) or big chains (Kroger, Albertsons, etc) or go to more organic/local (Whole Foods, Fresh Market, farmers markets)?

How often do you shop?

I'm just curious... I cook all the time and I feel like our grocery bills have gotten a little out of control but we also have been eating out a lot less so I think we are still saving money overall but I'm just curious to know if what I'm spending is normal or not.

I'm currently spending about $100 a week, this includes dog food, paper and cleaning products, shampoo, etc. I buy the majority of our groceries at Kroger but usually go to Walmart one week to get the dog food and household stuff. I also pick up produce and stuff occasionally at Fresh Market or a farmers market in the summer.

I usually go once every 7-10 days but may pop in for an item or two mid-week from time to time.

Junebug060609 · March 2010

Ours is generally in line with yours, even down to the shopping locations. I've been trying out more natural alternatives to my usual suspects though, and have been settling into a new apartment...so the last few weeks are on the high side...even with it just being me. In general we're somewhere around $100 for the two of us per week.

Kellybeth124 · March 2010

I think we're in the range of $75 a week, depending on how good I am about using coupons and shopping sales. If I'm buying litter or cat food, it's on the $100 end. Luckily cats don't eat as much as dogs. Depending on how well/poorly I've planned, we'll occasionally have to run out and grab a few things during the week.

I mainly shop at Harris Teeter, Trader Joe's and Target. Toiletries are usually purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond with 20% off coupons. Our BB&B has a huge personal care section for some reason. I usually save their coupons up to get all of DH's stuff like the electric razor solution and contact solution because it's more expensive.

megs1383 · March 2010

We spend in the $90-130 range, depending how complicated the recipes we make are, and how much other stuff we need (shampoo/cat food/etc).

I shop pretty much exclusively at Wegmans. I'm just not a big fan of Walmart, but will probably try to get the produce at a farmers market this summer.

We shop once a week = Every Sunday. Once in a while I'll forget something or have a specific craving, and stop mid-week.

kaleyandjason · March 2010

We spend about $100 a week. I try to go to the store once a week, but I usually have to go twice because I forget something or change my mind about a meal. I shop at Sam's Club, Aldi, and Wal-Mart. We have a very limited selection around here. I try to hit up Kroger's when they are having a good sale, though. And during the summer I go to the Farmer's Market a lot.

gmk1784 · March 2010

Usually around $100-120 per trip

We always shop at Giant which is a local grocery store chain. It's right down the street from where we live, and for every $100 you spend they give you 10 cents off of gas at their gas station

We tend to go about every 2 weeks. DH has been out of town a lot lately for work, so we've been going a lot less because I haven't been cooking every night like I usually do whenever he's home.

mofe · March 2010

I have no clue...

Let's see I buy all my meat from Costco. I usually shop at Cub Foods or Trader Joe's for the rest of our goodies. Since there is just 2 of us I probably spend $50-$75 when I do go shopping.

sarajoy12345 · March 2010

I aim for $400/month, but we sometimes go over. I do 95% of my shopping at Trader Joe's as it is within 100 yards of my back door. I will go to Whole Foods or Jewel when need be.

We also spend another $300-$400/month on dining out and alcohol.

I know this is an area we need to cut back on, but we have improved A LOT from where we used to be.

luckycooky · March 2010

I would say about $50-75/week but I am a huge coupon clipper and we plan a lot of meals around what is on sale or in season.

I generally shop at either Cub (Supervalu), Rainbow (regional chain), or SuperTarget for the discount. For meat I go to a local butcher block chain as much as possible.

nanner29 · March 2010

We usually spend around $100/week. We usually shop at rainbow foods or wherever have the best deal for what we want/need.

LarkNow · March 2010

I probably spend around $100 every 10 days to two weeks at Trader Joe's, where we do the vast majority of our shopping. There is no Wal-Mart near here, and we don't belong to big club stores like Costco, so it's pretty much either that or Ralph's (which I do have to go to to get the certain items TJ's doesn't sell, like the brand of iced tea DH likes).

Since reading In Defense of Food I have tried to elminate processed food from our diet and I've done a pretty good job. We still do buy some processed things, but I check labels for the scary ingredients and we have pretty much eliminated those. I think most coupons are for the scary, processed stuff (at least, around here) so I never use them. Also, I'm a vegetarian so meat sales mean nothing to me. And if I don't buy it and cook it, it doesn't get eaten in this house, so we only have a few frozen meat meals for when DH doesn't want what I'm eating for dinner.

I should go to the farmer's market more often because they're year-round here. I go probably once a month. Overall, I feel pretty good about only spending $350 or so per month on groceries for unprocessed, vegetarian and healthy foods.

Cat food is expensive, though, because we buy Organix. About $60 a month for two cats.

SBS0628 · March 2010

Our going out bill is much higher than our grocery bill, which we're trying to fix.

I'd say we spend about $300/month on groceries for the two of us, split pretty evenly between Costco, Ralphs, and Trader Joes.

vhcoleman09 · March 2010

We usually do a major shopping trip (Jewel) every 2 weeks and spend about $160-180. We do minor shopping every week and spend about $25-40 on those trips. During the summer, we buy all our produce and meat at the farmer's market. On rare occasions, we go to Fresh Market to pick up a few things only.

ChooGirl · March 2010

I used to spend $200-250(!) a week when I did my shopping at Whole Foods or Eli's/Citerella in NYC. It was getting ridiculous, and it only included 4 days of dinners (we eat out the other 3 nights), so I started doing all of my grocery shopping once a week at a Whole Foods in Fairfield County, CT (a 50 min drive outside the city). Now our weekly grocery bill is about $150-180 and even though it is still a lot, it feels so cheap in comparison. Gotta love the burbs!

Savy _05 · March 2010

We typically spend 100-150 a week.. some weeks its 200 and some its 75.. just depends on what were out of. This also includes toiletries, cleaning supplies etc. I feel like our bills have slightly increased lately, but similar to yours we have been cooking at home nearly every night, we go out on the weekends... We enjoy our week night dinners at home so much more!

hawkilady · March 2010

ChooGirl:

I used to spend $200-250(!) a week when I did my shopping at Whole Foods or Eli's/Citerella in NYC. It was getting ridiculous, and it only included 4 days of dinners (we eat out the other 3 nights), so I started doing all of my grocery shopping once a week at a Whole Foods in Fairfield County, CT (a 50 min drive outside the city). Now our weekly grocery bill is about $150-180 and even though it is still a lot, it feels so cheap in comparison. Gotta love the burbs!

I couldnt do this... I dont know how people can afford to live in NYC!

angelfire0412 · March 2010

Wow, we spend so much more on food! I think I am most comparable to Choo-we spend about $180-$250 a week at the grocery store and eat out 2-3 times a week as well. But of course, we are a family of 4, it's not just the two of us. But damn, we spend a lot of money on food! I know it was $600 in one week (between grocery store and restaurants). I have been trying to keep a good eye on it ever since then.

Hawki--how do you not spend more with all of your fabulous cooking? When I was in my cooking phase, I would tear up the grocery bill buying fancy ingredients.

hawkilady · March 2010

angelfire0412:

Wow, we spend so much more on food! I think I am most comparable to Choo-we spend about $180-$250 a week at the grocery store and eat out 2-3 times a week as well. But of course, we are a family of 4, it's not just the two of us. But damn, we spend a lot of money on food! I know it was $600 in one week (between grocery store and restaurants). I have been trying to keep a good eye on it ever since then.

Hawki--how do you not spend more with all of your fabulous cooking? When I was in my cooking phase, I would tear up the grocery bill buying fancy ingredients.

I try to use coupons and plan meals based on whats on sale in the ads and I really try not to use too many fancy ingredients - mostly its just not my style - I prefer more casual food and try not to buy something that I wont use again. If I go baking crazy then the bills get a little higher.

barbnsteve · March 2010

We're around $100-125ish/week, sometimes more, sometimes less. That doesn't include toiletries, paper products, pet food, etc. We shop at our local grocery store (Hannaford). Occasionally we'll make the trip to Whole Foods or Trader Joes. That bill doesn't really include meats either as I buy local for those. We buy a lot of organic produce and dairy products which ups the bill.

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