After one of our recent blog posts, several people asked what the average SmartCanucker paid for their groceries. We have quite a stockpile and live off $50-75 a week in new groceries unless I do a big shop for points etc – but what about you?
How much do you spend and for how many people? Do you have babies/pets included in that (I probably spend about the same on my cats as I do on myself for food).
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About $25/week per 1 person, 3 meals and snacks… so proud of myself!
For our family of 5 and 1 dog, we spend approx $130 a week on groceries, however we rarely eat out.
Our budget is $200 per week. This is for 2 adults and 2 young children, one of which is still in diapers. The $200 covers all 3 meals a day, snacks, diapers and beverages. We buy a lot of fresh produce and vegetarian items. We tend to avoid processed foods and make most of our meals from scratch. Goal this year is to reduce our grocery spending to $150 per week.
I usually do one big shop every month and a half. Cost around $ 200. That’s where I get all my meat on sale and staple items. Then I just buy fresh fruit/veg as needed about $25-30 for the next several weeks. Works for our family of 4. That includes all our meals and snacks. We only eat out a few times a year and only with a coupon. 🙂
HOLY MOLY!! I spend about $250 a week for a family of four (2 adults, 3.5 yr old, 19 month old)…how the heck do I spend so much and you can spend so little?? We are on a budget and try to watch what is spent and even though I’ve tried to pare things down, I still spend at least 200 a week on groceries! The chicken breasts that I buy are at least 1/4 of the total if not more depending on their price each week…we buy the deli fresh ones vs the frozen ones with the added salt/seasoning bc sodium negatively affects my stomach.
Family of 2. About 40$ a week for 2, often less. We buy fruits, vegetables, milk and stuff like that. No frozen foods except frozen veggies. Sometimes cheese. Yogurt.
We do a big Costco spree with my parents, buying mostly meat, every 4 months for 400$ and it lasts us a long time. Since we stopped buying prepared foods, our bill has dropped dramatically!
Husband and I, plus two cats and I usually spend between 50-100 each week, but often it’s more between 50-75. I’m usually walking to get groceries and we have an OK pantry space, so I think I could knock that number down if I was able to stock up on (heavier) pantry items when they were on sale.
About $150 per week for a family of 3.
About $150 per week for 4 adults and two kids
Family of 2. Average $300-350 a month.
about 50-90.00 a week for a family of 3 adults and 1 dog
I just started couponing and such but already I have managed to cut my spending from $250 a week down to $150 a week for a family of 4. My hope is that as the stockpile grows, I’ll cut that down to $100-125 a week.
2 adults, we probably average about $90/week.
2 adults, one toddler and one baby and our budget is $120 a week and that includes household items, diapers and wipes.
Family of 3 $50 or less per week, we have a healthy stock pile
I thought I was doing well until I tallied up our grocery costs for last year. We have 2 full time adults, 1 part-time adult (eats at home 50% of time). My total weekly grocery expenses including personal care items (deodorant,shampoo etc) and household cleaning expenses (toilet paper, kleenex, dishwashing soap, etc) total $160.00. And that’s with couponing and buying mostly generic brands plus I stay away from commercial type cleaners and stick with vinegar, bleach, baking soda.
I’ll have to try harder!
With my family 2 adults a 5 yr old 3 yr old and a 9month we spend any where from 600 to 750 a month??
Ok, now I don’t feel so bad for spending what I do. Even with coupons I am around $125 – $150 a week for 2 adults and 2 young kids, including diapers and dog food. We eat a lot of fresh healthy food, organic when possible. All meals are made from scratch, and we get all our milk fresh from my in laws farm down the road (because my kids go through a lot of it!!). My goal this year is to cut down more by making my own yogurt, bread, etc… If I can ever find the time!
My budget is $120 a week for 2 adults, 1 toddler (who eats very little orally and still in diapers) and 2 cats. That includes canned cat food, litter, and all my stock pile stuff. Does not always include diapers and does not include the cats dry food. We also spend around $20-35 on just fresh produce and I avoid processed as much as I can, so that jacks up the bill a bit. We stopped buying any meat from the grocery store and go to a local butcher and has actually made our meat cheaper AND better for us AND is so much tastier! We don’t eat as much of it too.
This year I want to focus more on what we use only, no more buying it, just because it’s a few penny or free.
Do you include toiletries and stuff?
2 adults. We spend somewhere between $450 to $600 a month on food, which includes eating out.
Groceries about $50 a week, for three adults – includes me, along with a husband and 21 year old son with voracious appetities, so I cook suppers which would be for six to eight people, rarely have leftovers. Son brownbags lunch to work, husband doesn’t take nor buy lunch.
We have two adult cats, their costs are negligible – 1/2 bag of $25 cat food a month, plus litter.
We are 6, 4 adults 2 kids 16 and 7 and 3 cats. Hard to put an average on it but I would say around $100. It is less now that we are vegetarian. That made made a big difference no meat or dairy. That’s really where the money drain was.
I used to have a low weekly price on my groceries until I stopped buying frozen foods, or anything with preservatives, wheat, or corn in them.
We spend aprox. 100-120 a week on groceries with 2 adults a 3 yr old and 15 month old including diapers and everything i also but a lot of veggies and fruits
We are a family of 4 we spend $150 a week – we buy mainly organic and once a year we buy our meat from local farmers and that costs us $1,200 year for 1\4 cow and 1\2 pig, I also buy about 10-12 farm chicken.
We don’t eat alot of processed food I cook alot from scratch (I love my crock pot) and were trying not to eat out – not good for us and cost way to much.
About $125 a week for a family of 4. That includes all our toiletries and household items too.
We are trying to eat more naturally. I spend about $200-250 a week on groceries for our family of 6. Usually around $50-$75 of that is dairy (milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, ect…) and usually at least $50-75 in fruits and veggies.
I have a budget of $200 a month for one person. This includes toiletries and cleaning supplies but ever 3 months I probably spend an additional $100 when I bulk stock up on some items on sale. I also cook mostly everything from scratch, use organic when possible and a lot of healthier foods that cost a bit more. i.e. if I buy spaghetti noodles they are flax, I use spelt flour instead of white, that kind of stuff.
Me and my spouse average $120 every two weeks, so that would make $60 per week for two people, or $30. We have a large dinner every night always with meat, lots of veggies, and tonnes of snacks. We eat VERY well. We do not price match or use coupons, we just always shop at Freshco.
I dont understand how people can spend so little. I dont buy processed foods, everything is from scratch. We dont get take out or go to restaurants. I have to try really hard to keep my groceries at $200 per week – its usually higher – for 3 adults. This doesnt include toiletries but does include cleaning supplies.
With the price of produce, especially apples at 1.79/lb or higher and grapes at 2.99/lb, packs of yogurt at 5.00 a pack, milk 4.00 or more for a 3 bagger, cereal at approx. 4 dollars a box, how are you folks managing to spend less than 100 a week on groceries? What stores are you shopping at? I have tried everything to keep my grocery bill down, buy items on sale then use a coupon, still bill is high. Where are you finding cheap groceries?
Marion’s phrase “part-time adult” made my afternoon. We spend about $150 / week, three adults (well, 2 adults, one Uni student). Includes food/dog/TP etc and eating out (maybe once a week). Also stay away from pre-packaged processed stuff. Rarely use coupons as we all find very few are for products we actually use. Will probably let our Costco membership lapse for this reason. They’re big on ‘brand’ names, few of any we use. BUT hubby’s religion is the flyers and he knows his prices store-to-store. Has served us well all these years.
I leave myself $500/month for 2 adults (I’m currently pregnant) and one preschool aged boy. We often don’t spend that much, but it’s there in case we need it. That includes basic toiletries, diapers (when we were still using them), cleaning supplies, garbage bags etc.
We try not to buy too many pre-packaged processed foods, but lately have been buying a lot of crackers, granola bars, and some froze3n meals.
kgalbraith – we buy the tubs of yoghurt (wish Canada sold the 1 litre size!) and add our own fruit (some people like frozen). Cereal is usually store brand corn flakes or toasted oats. Produce is an on-going pain but in London, there are local markets where we can buy lots of lovely stuff for awesome prices. We have a cold cupboard in the basement we can use in the winter for storage. We make our own soups, spaghetti sauces, mac & cheese. Leftovers rule. No prepackaged stuff like Luncheables, KD, frozen microwave meals, etc. When daughter was little, kids were actually envious of her lunches. As a Uni student, she values (her own) money and brings lunches/suppers/snacks. Have fallen in love with my crockpot and my immersion blender. The key at our house seems to be availability of leftovers. Stops us from eating out or buying ‘convenience’ foods. But, yes, there are times when I look at the (full) fridge and (full) cupboard and say out loud “there’s nothing good in here to eat.” Grilled cheese, it is!
We spend about $130 a week on average, and that’s for 3 (2 adults and 1 two year old). Food, diapers, toiletries, shampoo etc.
Family of 3, me & 2 growing teenagers. I am fortunate to buy my dairy & chicken state side which saves at TON compared to Cdn prices. With one monthly trip to the USA, & the few things I buy on sale in town, I spend about $200-$250 monthly. I have 1 dog & 1 1/2 cats (shared with the neighbor). This includes anything I need for survival! 🙂
We eat out very little, & I love to create & cook so I find if I have meat in the freezer I can usually come up with something yummy to eat!
We spend $600 a month with 2 adults and 3 kids (10,8, and 6 years old) plus a cat but she doesn’t cost much, maybe $12 a month. I am hoping to get it down a bit more.
For those asking about the price of cereal etc. Watch the sales. If you buy a few boxes one week on sale it will save you paying full price the next week. Cereal is crazy expensive. I always keep at least 60 boxes at all times. Excessive for some but we go through 5 family size boxes a week. So 3 months worth is what is in my stockpile. Plus most times cereals have coupons for free yogurt and juice ect
Hang in there newbies.next year you will be letting others know what great savings you have. When I started 3 years ago I was spending $1000a month. Yikes.
When I lived alone I spent $25 a week on food. I’m vegan so no butter, meat, or milk sure helps keep things cheap. I’d buy bags of dried beans, a loaf of bread, rice and whatever produce was on sale that week. I ate a lot of stews and stir fries since th ingredients are pretty flexible.
Now it’s two adults and two small dogs. We spend $80 a week on groceries. We buy a big bag of dog food about once every two months from Costco for $40. My husband also tends to buy a lot of “extras” (pop, candy, chocolate, hot dogs, fast food) while at work that I have no idea how much he spends on because he tries to hide it…
Groceries are kind of a heated topic in my house since I’m super crazy thrifty and also a bit of a health fanatic, and my husband refuses to eat left overs, prefers packaged foods and tends to follow his cravings instead of what’s on sale. Sigh.
This is us in the grocery store… Me: “oh look Oreos are on for $1.88! Let’s get a couple bags for your lunches!” him: “No. I don’t feel like Oreos.”
[one week later when Oreos are now $3.29]
Him: “Mmm I want Oreos for my lunches!”
About $40 a week for two people… i try to make it lower. 😛
@kgalbraith, to keep under $100 a week for the 6 of us is easy now that we don’t eat meat and dairy but I also have the luxury of shopping at a fruit and veggie warehouse type store. They regularly have dozens of cheap produce items on sale, You mentioned apples, I pay about $60 lb, bananas .39lb, and i make sure I don’t pay over $1 a pound for anything. Grapes are outrageous right now at almost $2 a pound so I don’t buy them. I shop seasonal as much as possible and from farms. My garage is full of cabbage, winter squash, onions and potatoes still from the farm.
@Kgalbraith, I use left overs and never throw anything out. Even a little can be used for something else later on. I make my own bread, buns and pizza dough. Don’t buy any processed foods. Check out the dollar rack at your local produce store, RCSS has one two. You can get a huge bag of produce for a dollar. Just cook it right away and freeze if you can’t use it that day. Apples/pears can be made into sauce and frozen. You can us it in yougurt, oatmeal and baking (instead of oil). I also buy serveral turkeys when they gon on sale for .89-99 cents a lbs. I make all my own cleaning products (except for laundry soap). I don’t by cereal weekly. If you buy milk in ppairs it is cheaper. Eat what is in season is a good tip. Get creative and have some fun saving. Make it a game for your whole family. You’d be surprised!
We spend $50-$60 per week and that’s for fruits/veggies/yogurt/cheese. We eat meat about once a week save on that and we have a nice stockpile already.
@kgalbraith to cut down on yogurt costs, buy a tub instead of a pack. They cost $2 or $3 instead of $5 and sometimes last you longer. Cereal often costs $4 but if you buy the family size you can get double the weight for a dollar or so more. Kelloggs/General Mills/Quaker put out coupons for cereals and boxes often have coupons for free stuff. Right now you can buy a $3.99 box of General Mills cereal and get a free yogurt tub, there’s promos for free gift card rebates, movie tickets. Cereal boxes are fabulous. Forget the prize inside. It’s the coupon you want
Buy the veggies in season. I got mushrooms and a bag of carrots this week for 99 cents each.
We spend about 50$ per week for groceries and toiletries for 2 adults. We don’t buy meat very often tho since we hunt and we have 2 deers in the freezer every year. Plus we get 2 huge 21-23lbs turkeys from work for Christmas (we both work for the same company) so it helps alot!
Space is limited so my stockpile isn’t big, but I try to stack cheap sstuff when sales are at their best. And I’m so glad my bf doesn’t mind left overs and 50% products from Maxi and Loblaws He’s happy too when we can save $$$!
This doesn’t include alcohol tho.. and it’s freaking expensive in Quebec 🙁 so add about 400$ per year or so. And we rarely eat out.
I can’t wait for next summer and fresh vedgies from the garden!
We spend apprx. $50-$60 per week for two of us….
We are 3 adults and spend about $80 to $90 a week. One way I’ve cut down is by using one pound of hamburger and make a stew. That will feed us 5 lunches and 3 suppers. Or make a chicken stir fry instead of giving everyone a chicken breast each. 2 chicken breasts now fee us each supper and 2 lunches. Cut back on meat by using less at each meal. The guys in my house haven’t even figured out they are eating less meat,ha,ha.
wow how do you guys spend so little!? i spend about $50-70 per week for one person. and i eat out occasionally, i’d say about 2 times a week, about $10-15 each meal. i’ve stopped couponing lately and bought more prepared meals tho because i’ve been super busy, so my current spendings are probably higher than that 🙁 i need to start watching my budget again… i probably should stock up now that everything’s on clearance
Wow, I’m so impressed by some people’s small spending! We were doing probably about $250/week for 2 adults, a toddler and infant (both still in diapers). Our goal right now is to have it be $150 a week including things like diapers/wipes/toiletries/etc. My toddler is also a very picky eater (started out as a GREAT eater then just started to be extremely selective and is now down to about 10 foods) so although I will just eat what’s on sale, I’m still needing to find the ‘best’ price for some things even if it’s not a price I would pay for it to eat myself. I want to try to ultimately get it to $100 a week.
We are 2 adults that brown bag to work everyday and eat a nice meal together every night. most i can get us down to is $100 a month. weekends we have breakfasts. I love to cook and we eat alot of veg fruit dairy and meat. no processed foods not even condiments all made from scratch …i can make gourmet outta leftovers. I have no idea how most of you spend so little!
@Nayya LOL you have no idea. We cross over to Quebec whenever we get the chance to buy the CHEAP booze in Quebec!
We probably spend about $200-$250/week for 2 adults and 2 very young children. I’m also amazed at how some people spend so little. Someone commented a 3 baggers of milk being over $4.00. It’s over $6.00 in NB.
I was thinking the same Debbie, Quebec has beer etc in the grocery flyers and they are way cheaper than in Ontario
I go through all my coupons and match with the sales. So far last week spent about $30.00 for the two of us plus free 4L. of milk for my daughter and the grandbabies and cereal for $.97 for them as well. Overall cost would have been about $65.00 without the sales and coupons.
I average about $50. a week for one person including personal care items, toilet paper, laundry soap etc. I save alot with coupons on laundry soap, lotion, shampoo and have 5-10 of each stockpiled from sales. I use vinegar for most cleaning. I don’t buy meat and I eat alot of fruit and vegetables.
2 adults, 1 child (2 years), 1 dog.
$130ish per week including toiletries and diapers. Min. $50 of that is fresh fruit/veg. About $50 in meat. We eat very well. I don’t buy store brands, but brands I like. I don’t coupon. I do meal-plan based on what’s on sale. I will buy a $14 piece of cheese if I feel like it. I’d rather spend the money to get what we like and get savings elsewhere in our budget.
This covers breakfast, my lunch (hubs goes out at lunch), and dinner.
Gosh, I’m glad we’re not big drinkers! We only ever buy alcohol to have a bit on hand for Christmas, so that’s probably $35 for the year.
Otherwise, spending $50 on good food for three adults isn’t actually really hard, it takes time to do the prep and cooking, of course, though. We’ve lucked out this winter with cheap fresh veggies – huge heads of cauliflower for 1.70, romaine for a buck, head lettuce 1.50, 200g mushrooms 1-1.20, 5lb carrots $2, broccoli .99, 3 lb onions .99; 20lbs potatoes 4.80. Also buy frozen veggies when on sale. Fruit is pricier this year, for sure. For bread, we are lucky to often get fresh bakery bread for 1-1.50, and we go through tons of bread. Meat – always a toughie – we miss beef! I stock up on ground pork when on for $4/kg, same with pork loin. Buy whole chickens when they are just over $4/kg – it’s rare to see them for less; 2kg ham for $9; meats like sausage only when relatively cheap. Anything else for meal making like beans, tomato sauce, soups, stock up when cheap – but we don’t have huge stockpiles.
I make a lot of casseroles and roasted meals as well.
It’s great to read what everyone else is doing!
family of seven.two dogs and two cats and we eat on $300.00 a month.Budgeting,sales,coupns,and price matching is a must. This year i designed a pantry budget of $70.00 a month for seeds , canning, and stocking up on good deals. I had found that last year went over budget a few months and the cost of feeding and family members getting older the pantry budget was needed.
I write down my grocery shopping and meal plans on my blog. http://www.thefsrmgirlfiles.blogspot.ca
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http://www.thefarmgirlfiles.blogspot.ca
smartphones have such small keys!
We recently went gluten and dairy (mostly) free in our house (2 adults/2 kids). I thought it would be so much more expensive but it hasn’t been at all. Mostly because we are not gorging on six loaves of bread a week and 8 litres of milk! I also bought a Sunkist juicer on sale from Amazon using my swagbucks! It is amazing – the kids love the green juice and we never have to throw any veg out. Everything goes in the juicer!!
@Debbie Beer might be cheaper here but I’ll trade my cheap beer for your cheap wine and spirits k lol? They always advertise beer but the law states minimum price. Oh and the 3 baggers of milk 2% is 6$ here too.. goes up to 8$ for “high-end” 2%
On average as a single adult I spend $25/week on groceries. I tend to go to Costco 3 times a year to stock up on cleaning supplies, toilet paper and meat. I don’t know the last time I bought laundry detergent or washing up liquid as I tend to get it from my parents. Mom buys it cheap and give it to us kids. In the summer Ottawa has a market where you can get local fruits and veggies at decent prices. Also in the summer i like to grow my own fruits and veggies. Buy in bulk when you can and invest in a food saver.
We spent $200-400 per mth for 2 adults a teen and 2yr old… Plus 3 cats… Includes litter, cat food, diapers, wipes… This will be decreasing by the end of the yr with potty training… We also by 2 types of diapers which makes a difference. The usual ones aren’t that great for night time since she drinks so, much before bed and the nighttime diapers are sold in smaller boxes for almost the same price as the huge box of daytime diapers…
I cut my grocery bill in half in 2 months, from $200+ per week to about $100 per week for a family of four, including all cleaning, toiletries, etc. It depends where you live, for sure! Less than 10 minutes’ drive from our house: Walmart Supercentre, No Frills, Freshco, Food Basics, Metro, Longos, Fortinos AND Sobeys – the competition drives prices down. I had just never looked at the flyers before, never used any coupons, and shopped at the prettier, more expensive stores. Now I spend about an hour each week reading flyers and requesting coupons online. I only use the coupons when products I need are on sale. I try not to buy anything at regular price. As I put each item in my cart, I track my total – if it’s not something we really need that week, I don’t buy it. I love saving all this money, it is such a relief to be spending less and have more breathing room. My next goal is to reduce the family clothing budget…
We are at $120 a MONTH since September 2012 for 3 adults, 3 cats and 2 turtles… All food, household product (cleaning, laundry), pet supplies comes from that 🙂 We always have a full fridge and freezer and have even added to our stockpile
30-50 a week is generally our weekly grocery budget for 2 adults, 1 seven-year-old. This includes toiletries, food, cleaning supplies, misc like stamps. Our stockpile keeps us going and a lot of it is couponed out ’til free or nearly free if we want something more fun and the rest is for basics we can’t coupon heavily (milk particularly and meat – but we do price match it to best deal). Our cat however has a $20 week budget for himself. He has health issues so we had to design a budget just for him. This $20 weekly includes, food, litter, misc and vet visits. The fact that we could include the vet visits in the amount becomes the real happy part of his budget and it is far lower than it used to be.
I really enjoyed reading all your post, unfortunately I am so confused on how you spend so little to feed so meny. My family of 4 includes 2 adults, 13 year old, 3 year old, and 2 dogs. I spend $600.00 a week on groceries this includes everthing, also $400.00 a month on take out. My goal is to cut back $200.00 a week. 😀 Newfoundland Canada
We are lucky to have a lot of competition between stores in the GTA plus I am only feeding two people
My wife & I are in our late 50’s, early 60’s, just the two of us. We are gluten free and eat extremely healthy foods. No matter how much we try to cut down on our grocery bill, it’s tough. We recently “upped” our budget from $650 to $750 per month. Mind you we eat only range run beef, chicken & pork, and this is very pricey stuff. We believe our health is seeing the benefits though.
I find the range of amounts baffling. Either people do not REALIZE what they are spending or people are just ballparking off of the top of their head. I see range for 2 adults from 30-50 per week to $250 or $300 per week. Something is wrong unless they are eating rice and Kraft Dinner everyday. My wife and I spend approximately $200 per week
Mike, some people are big coupon users and have Walmarts that let them price-match deals from across the country. When I could do that, my grocery bill was at least 50% less than now