If you have followed me for awhile, then you know that I’m the blogger formerly known as Stacy Makes Cents.
And while yes, the name of the blog has changed, we still focus a lot on budgeting. My husband has written two books on budgeting and getting out of debt. Barry and I are huge into encouraging people to get out of debt and live free.
We started with a budget the day we got married. We went on our honeymoon with our cash budget. I’ve had a grocery budget since then and for us, a cash grocery budget just works. We’ve always done a cash budget because it helps me reign myself in as far as spending on groceries goes.
Comparing grocery budgets is not straightforward.
When one of you ask what my budget is… it’s not really an apples to apples kind of comparison, because grocery budgets will differ so much based on where you live. I live in a rural area in the mountains of southwest Virginia. It doesn’t cost a whole lot for me to buy my groceries here. There are people who live in areas where food is just super expensive! I have friends who live in California, different parts of Canada and the islands of Hawaii that spend double (or more!) than I do on food.
Often you will find that cost of living varies quite a bit from place to place. For example, where we are, median household income is only $38,000 per year based on 2015 census data and average per capita income is a little under $22,000 per year (around $10.50 per hour). In other words, it doesn’t cost as much to live here (including food costs) but average income is also much lower here than in many other places.
Our grocery budget changes.
Our grocery budget was $450/month for a family of six, up until about a year ago. This past year, we had to increase our budget (twice!) to its current level – $600/month. Some of you are like, “Oh my gosh! How is she spending so much money on food?” And others are saying, “How does she only spend that little on food – are they eating crap?“ Like I said, it all depends on where you live.
Let me just say, my kids are human vacuums. I don’t know where they are putting all the food they eat! Maybe they have hollow legs? They’re eating the same amount I do, and then they say, “Mom, I’m still hungry”. I literally feed my kids what I’d serve a full-grown man, and they are only 7, 4, 2, and 1. And I’m told it’s going to get worse!
Where do I shop and what do I buy?
I spend most of my budget on fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy. This includes at least one trip to Aldi and Sam’s Club per month and usually a trip each week to Walmart or a local grocery store for fresh produce. (If you haven’t yet, check out my post on why I love shopping at Sam’s Club and what I buy.) It would be nice if I could shop at Aldi weekly, but the closest one is about 70 minutes away, one way! I am only able to go when I am visiting at my mother-in-law’s house.
I also save a lot of money when it comes to meat.
If I ever buy meat, it’s pork or chicken, with the rare occasion of salmon patties or tilapia. My husband likes to hunt and my daddy is a cattle farmer, so I don’t have to buy venison or beef. I do pay my dad for the processing and cattle upkeep, but it’s not a huge amount, and much less than if I were purchasing it at the store. Plus I know where that meat comes from and how it was raised.
Side note: I highly recommend you to consider purchasing a half or whole beef if you can. It’s perfect for a deep freezer. And not only are you getting high quality, local beef, but it’s also a very cost effective way to eat meat. If you can’t afford a whole or half, or don’t have the freezer space for it, you can usually find people to go in with you on it.
Don’t apologize for your grocery budget!
I feel like we spend too much time apologizing for our grocery budget and feeling like we spend too much money on food. In the U.S., we spend a smaller percentage of our income on food than most other countries do. But for some reason, we think we should only buy food if it’s cheap. I don’t mind spending extra money on food.
For example, last month there were some extra foods I wanted for fun. I had been hoarding my birthday money and decided that I would use it on some fun food items that we didn’t need, but I wanted! Barry said, “You can’t spend your birthday money on food! You should buy something fun.” But I said, “To me, food is fun! I’d rather spend money on food than anything else right now!”
Whether you spend $100 or $1,000, don’t apologize! If you have $1,000 available to spend on food each month and want to do so, go for it! Other people who can’t spend that much shouldn’t make you feel guilty. You shouldn’t feel bad that you can afford more or higher quality food for your family. Each of us makes a personal decision about what food to buy based on our income and budget. We each have to come to our own grocery budget conclusions. The sooner we learn not to worry about what everyone else is doing, the better off we’ll be!
Do you have a grocery budget? If not, I encourage you to give it a try. You can do it!
Our grocery budget is currently $550-$600/ month our family of 3. We recently had to increase it because we moved to Alabama where they charge 9% sales tax on all groceries (which is crazy, in my opinion)! But for health reasons, our diet consists mostly of meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, healthy fats, etc., and that can be more expensive. Frugality is very important to us, but we prioritize healthy food in our budget because it keeps us all healthy and feeling great!
We’re a family of 5 in Michigan. This is one area where we veer away from Dave’s plan just a bit because we lump grocery, gifts and clothing/shoes into one envelope. We’re also into preparedness and my deep food storage also comes from this envelope. We budget $575 a month for this envelope and some weeks it’s just food, other weeks we need a gift or clothes, or other miscellaneous item related to one of these categories, (this week for example, I bought a food dehydrator and it came from this envelope).
$575 is pretty tight for everything, but I make it work by shopping at Aldi, Daily Deals (my go-to for meat-I love this store so much!), and then Meijer for things like coffee and miscellaneous items that Aldi doesn’t have.
We have a $700 per month food budget for a family of 5. I had it at $625 per month for awhile and found that I had to raise it, because I was having to transfer money from other categories near the end of the month.
I have an 11 year old, 8 year old, and 5 year old.
I think that grocery budgets are a very individual thing, for sure. For me, $700 per month feels like success. I can easily spend $1,000 per month, if I’m not trying to budget. Plus, I eat gluten free and low dairy and we eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and some organic items.
I have tried couponing in the past and found it to be not very helpful. There aren’t very many kinds of coupons for the things we buy, whether food or household goods. A lot of things I save money on, though, by simply not buying them at all. For example, I never buy garbage bags, ziplock bags, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, dish soap, swiffer pads, paper towels, tissues, etc.
If there’s a coupon available for something I need, by all means I use it, but coupons are a very minor part of the picture for us.
I think that I read something on your blog the other day that the best way to save money on groceries is the way that works for an individual person. That makes a lot of sense and resonated with me. It’s okay if a specific method of saving doesn’t work for me. I’ll just focus on what I can do, like cooking from scratch, avoiding food waste, and going to farmers markets or buying in bulk. I still would like my food budget to be lower, so I’ll continue to read along for suggestions on things that I can refine.
Love your advice about a great way to save money is by simply not buying things at all. Such a good tip. Thanks for commenting.
Julie, HH Team
We don’t buy things like paper towel but I’m so curious how someone can get away with not buying trash bags or dish soap! I hand wash at least two loads of dishes every day and Dawn dish soap is one of my splurges because it’s the only soap that seems to work with our hard well water.
I agree!! I can’t imagine not buying trash bags either… maybe they just use the small grocery store trash bags? Thanks for the comment, Sara!
Julie, Humorous Homemaking Team
The post did not say if your budget included toiletries, paper goods, cleaning supplies etc.
Our grocery budget does not include toiletries, paper goods or cleaning supplies. We have “misc. household” budget for that plus personal care items…currently $75 per month. ~Barry (the husband)
I used to have a $200 grocery/Household budget when we lived in VA. It was easy to coupon there and get stuff for cheap. When we moved to NC, it was not easy. Our budget significantly increased. By the time we had 3 kids, access to few sales, our budget grew to $650 for food and what we put in our household category which is toiletries, household cleaners, dog food, and paper products. Now that we are in Texas, I’ve been able to reduce it to $450 for that budget so far. I suspect as the months go on, I’ll be able to reduce it more as I am able to build a stockpile- something I couldn’t do in NC. We bought all the food in one month and ate all the food in that same month. I think that it is hard to not feel guilty when you have to increase your budget. It is even more difficult when you have to increase it and end up decreasing other budget areas to cover it. At the end of the day, all you can do is remind yourself that feeding the people is priority.
Amen! Feed the people; keep them alive – top priority for sure. It is amazing what a big impact your location can have on your grocery budget. Thanks for commenting, Keelie!
Julie, HH Team
We only purchase chicken and pork as well. Years ago, we purchased a chest freezer simply because we wanted to start buying our beef by the side. All of those recalls were scaring me! It’s now been 8 years, and we get a full side of beef each year sometimes direct from the farm, and other times through our butcher. It’s a lot of meat all at once, but I love not having to worry about where our food comes from and knowing I always have something in the freezer for dinner. My friends were amazed when we first started doing this, but now it seems almost trendy in our area (we live in a suburb of Philadelphia, PA) and more and more of our friends are getting a side or sharing a side if they don’t have kids.
I also barter for venison. My friend’s husband hunts but he’s the only one who likes venison. I make him jerky with some of the meat he gives us, in exchange I can fill a shelf in the freezer. Now if only I can convince my brother to do some deep sea fishing and gift us the tuna and flounder. I’d be all set!
I agree, buying a side of beef is definitely growing in popularity! Love the tip about bartering – that’s a great way to save money each month/year for sure. Thanks for the comment, Stephanie!
Julie, HH Team
Great Post!
We are trying to pay down debt, so we are on a very strict budget for groceries. For two of us, both early 60s, I shop once a month at Walmart with a maximum budget of $200. I allow an extra $100 during the month to buy milk and produce. This includes all our toiletries and household goods, but does not include pet food (we have rescued, special needs animals that we consider a ministry).
Some months it’s tough, but I really try to have no food waste. I cook smaller amounts, we eat leftovers, and I keep an eagle eye on the perishables and either use, freeze, or can them before they go bad.
Enjoy your blog!
No food waste is key – good point! Sometimes people forget it’s not just about what you spend each week/month, but also about being conscientious about using up what you buy. Thanks for commenting, Susan!
Julie, HH Team
I was so having an internal discussion with myself like half an hour ago about not comparing what my family’s diet looks like with other people’s because we all have to make the budget and diet choices that God lays on each of our hearts and not worry about what somebody else is doing. Perfect timing for this post! Thank you!
I agree! Sometimes it’s so hard not to compare our family’s choices to whatever around us it doing. Thanks for commenting, Amanda!
Julie, HH Team