In recent weeks, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the amount of money we are spending at the grocery store. I’ve mentioned that I feel like despite a weekly menu plan, we’re still spending too much on food. Way too much. Between ordering take out because I’m too lazy to cook and easily swayed, to throwing away food that spoils before we are eating it; we’re not using our food money wisely.
On Friday, I dropped The Boy off at school and headed for the first of the stops over the next four days to purchase food. In that time, I have spent $165.08 on groceries for our family of three. I subtracted non-food items and tax from my receipts to arrive at this figure. A recent article published in USA Today, really got me thinking about food spending and how many families are struggling and will continue to struggle.
According to the USDAs Food Plan guide, a family of 3 following a moderate spending plan can expect to spend $166.10 per week (or $719.30 per month) on food. I suppose we’ve saved money – $1.02 so far. However, in looking over the entire publication, I am reminded of the family that is following a low spending plan has only $105.10 per week (or $455.20 per month) for their grocery budget. We’re over that by $59.98. Yikes. Another family could have nearly all of their groceries paid for with that money. It would be silly if I didn’t mention the simple fact that a family of three receiving SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps), would receive $497 for the month. That falls somewhere between the low and thrifty plan (on the thrifty plan, our family is entitled to $577.90 per month).
This month, we’re going to stick to the moderate plan – I’m not prepared enough in terms of inventory and organization to follow another plan. And, despite my feeling that our $165.08 was high, the government feels that is moderate. I’m not going to include alcohol in this budget, but restaurant meals {whether dine in or take out} will be factored into this budget.
What does that mean for this week’s menu plan? Well, it means that I need to figure out what we’re going to actually eat! There is plenty of food, but what to do with it is another question!
Monday – Baked chicken, rice and vegetables
Tuesday – Turkey Taco Tuesday {We have a half-pound of ground turkey in the freezer. Instead of using a full pound of ground turkey in Friday night’s chili, I decided to freeze half of it. We’ve been wasting a lot of food, especially chili and soups.}
Wednesday – If there are leftovers, we’ll have those. If not, we’ll take advantage of our local pizza shop’s $5 pizza night.
Thursday – Chicken Parmigiana with linguine
Friday & Saturday – The Texan and I are taking a much needed mini-vacation!
Sunday – Florentine Pasta Bake {This is a freezer meal that I made last week. Planning ahead pays off!}
With the rising cost of food, do you find yourself paying closer attention to your food budget? How much does your family spend per month?
Come join me over at I’m an Organizing Junkie, for the awesome Menu Plan Monday link up and there is always so much inspiration there! If you’re new to menu planning, check out my easy menu planning tips!
How much to spend on food is always hard. When my husband and I were first married and SUPER poor we lived off of $160 a month. I did couponing like crazy, and we ate a ton of canned goods and packaged products because those we could get cheaper than fresh stuff. Now that we both have better jobs, it has become a priority for us to get better healthier foods that don’t have a lot of preservatives. I make almost everything from scratch, and now we pay $250 a month for 2 people. I know this is higher than it needs to be, but we decided to splurge in this area. Now certain stores do make shopping on a budget easier like Aldi and Sprouts(don’t have one now and it is super sad), and we do coupon on things that we can to get them cheaper. We normally just buy off brand which tends to be cheaper than on brand with a coupon,but oh well.
Jessica – I don’t see that $250 a month for two people is a lot, but maybe you feel that way because you’re making so much from scratch (that is a lot of work!). This month, I am super focused on our food budget and am going to pay close attention to it. In January, I plan to make major changes, but feel like I really need to be in tune to what we’re spending/eating/wasting. Good luck to you on your grocery budget!
That makes total sense, I know lately we have been trying to not waste as much food. There is nothing more frusterating than throwing uneaten food out. Good Luck, I hope you find a balance you can work with and still keep your family happy.
Interesting read! I had no idea about the latest statistics when it comes to food budgets. I’m ashamed to say our monthly food budget is ridiculously high in comparison – we eat out quite a bit (too much really).
Great post! I always worry about our budget and how well we use our money to buy healthy food for our family.