![]() Average, September 22, which was released in October 2022 ) What can a family eat on a thrifty grocery budget? (Calculated from data in the Official USDA Thrifty Food Plan: U.S. Monthly Grocery Budget Guideline for the Average American Family Family Size Food Costs for Families in the Contiguous United States. ![]() Use the lower end of the range if you have young children, and the higher end if you’re feeding hungry teenage boys. In theory, at least, older children eat more than younger children, and boys eat more than girls. The variation of grocery costs is due to a range of ages and genders of children. ![]() The table is calculated assuming adults are 19-50 years old and living in a two-parent household. While prices will continue to go up, the best any of can do is to set a realistic budget (not for two years ago, but for today’s economic conditions), and learn to stick to it. (And it doesn’t require clipping any coupons.) And this has been true for many of those eating special diets. That’s a shock that every family is feeling, and of course it affects all the other areas of your budget and finances.Īlthough grocery prices continue to rise, I find that the students in my Five o’Clock Fix meal planning workshop can often feed their families a very healthy diet, on the Thrifty Plan listed below. Grocery prices have gone up almost 50% in the last two years alone. There’s always a certain amount of inflation.īut typically the increase represents only about $2 to $10 per month for most families over the course of the year.Īll that has changed in the past couple of years. In the past, everyone has come to me saying, Shannon, it seems like my grocery bill is always going up. This table has been updated based on the most recent data available. Keep in mind this chart is an average grocery bill, and of course, prices will vary depending on your location and which stores are available to you. This number is essentially the average minimum for grocery spending per month in the continental United States. In the table below, you can see grocery costs calculated for a range of family sizes and make-ups for the Thrifty Plan. How much should I spend on groceries?Įach month the USDA puts out a report about the cost of groceries, so I use this as my starting point. Today, I want to start by answering the question, How Much Should You Spend on Groceries? How much we budget can be an emotionally charged topic, but when it comes down to it, each of us moms just wants to feed our family the healthiest food possible on a realistic budget. I believe the reason for the controversy is this… Deep down each of us moms desperately want to feed our family’s the healthiest food possibleīut for the most part, we feel entirely unequipped to do it on our real-life budgets. ![]() What I learned from the whole experience was what an emotionally charged subject our finances, and especially our grocery budgets can be. Luckily, my husband happened to be home sick the day the post went live, so it was much easier to stay lighthearted about it all. Well, those frugalistas said, “ I feed my family of 10 on less than that!” (Ok, I may be exaggerating just a little.) On the other side were those who thought even my $170 grocery budget wasn’t low enough. One commenter put it something like this, “ she should go get a second job instead of making her child suffer for her irresponsible spending and debt.” On one side were those aghast that I would dare to deny my toddler a simple banana when he asked for one. ![]() In a moment, there were two camps of Facebookers entrenched on either side of my parenting decision. As I noted in the post, of course, I provided him with a variety of other healthy foods, but I also didn’t run out to the store to restock on his favorites in an effort to keep our grocery budget down.Īll of a sudden I was no longer just a mom trying to save money on groceries to get out of debt faster. In it, I reflected on the experience of telling my son I didn’t have any bananas or peanut butter to give him. I never appreciated how controversial the subject of grocery budgets could be until I shared my $170 grocery budget challenge. (This post is now updated with prices as of October 2022.) Do you ever feel like you’re spending way too much on groceries? Today, I’m answering the question, “ How much should I spend on groceries,” with a detailed grocery budget guideline. ![]()
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