Question

I have been following this page for about a month now & I'm curious. Most people on here make a comment that $100 per person in food a month is the average. Its my son and myself so we would average $200 a month. What are you eating on a $200 budget for two people? I think I need ideas because I am imagining pb sandwiches and ramen.  

Answer 1

Please site your source. I have been on this page close to 6 months and have never seen anyone make that claim. What do you mean by "most people on here"? Simply not accurate!  

Answer 2

Agreed. There's no way I could feed my family of four (me and three teenage boys) for $400/month

Comments

@haberdasher I know right?!  

Answer 3

We are a family of five and spend less than 500 a month. I don't buy junk food. I don't buy food that's convenient. I buy fresh and cut it all up. Fruits, veggies and buy meat in bulk.  

Comments

We are also in Cali.  

Answer 4

Its Jordan Page's "rule" But for 2 people it starts at $300. Includes food and household Adjust based on where you live and dietary needs

Answer 5

Lol. I'm with ya!  

Answer 6

Family of two-we budget 150 a week, but its usually more like 125 and includes cat food and other household items.  

Answer 7

Food is a priority for my family. We used to spend 1000$ easy for the three of us. I’ve cut back to 800$/month now and we are hitting that easily. I have no clue how we would make do on 300$/month! We do include some dog and household stuff in this . i should add.  

Comments

@doggett I used to spend $4/week  

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@piers hahahahaha

Answer 8

I’m just me and I eat around 400+ a month.  

Answer 9

My husband is a stereotypical Marine with an endless appetite. We’re frugal with our meals (meat only once or twice a week, lots of pasta, rice, and frozen vegetables) but no way we could stick to that budget.  

Answer 10

I would do minimum of $300. Check out  
https://youtu.be/aA_8JZx9c4o

Answer 11

We average 850ish a month (my husband, me and two little girls 4&2) we eat mostly plant based

Answer 12

I’ve always heard it as $300 a month and an extra hundred per person after you. So if you went by that, your grocery budget would be $400

Answer 13

With sales, coupons, and some bulk, I spend about $800-$850 for 7 people

Answer 14

Seems accurate to me actually. It's me and my husband and we budget for 240 a month but it normally ends up being 200. We only met 240 a few times which is why we budget for it. We have leftovers almost always too and my husband eats a lot. No coupons, deals, etc.  

Answer 15

Budget around $400 a month for 7 people.  Usually come in under. My kids are all a healthy weight.  

Comments

@sylas10 How do you do that? That's amazing!  

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@sylas10 mine is usually about 500 for ten people. I buy bulk as much as i can, make my own bread, cinnamon rolls, pizza, etc

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@agential make things from scratch. Example. last night I made my own type of hamburger helper. Box of noodles . 79 pound of hamburger (I get the 93/7) 4. 50-5. 00 jar of spaghetti sauce 1. 50 or so. So 7. 50 or so for a dinner for 7 people. Mixed some parmesean cheese we already had in too. Snacks we do granola bars (1. 70 a box) and yogurt (. 49 a cup). And bananas which are like $1. 50 for a bunch. We do sandwiches for lunch when the kids are home. Turkey or peanut butter and jelly. We do cereal and oatmeal for breakfast. The kids have free breakfast and lunch at school. Our entire district does due to a grant from the state. Another thing I like to do is out chicken thighs or breasts and throw them in crock pot with 2 Packers gravy and 2 cans cream of chicken with water. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours and it's perfect chicken and gravy. We do mashed potatoes, canned fruit and frozen veggies typically for sides.  

Answer 16

Some of these budgets live in a way different area then I do. There is no way! Unless like you said ramen.  

Answer 17

We are two people also - myself and my 14 year old son. We spend way more than $200 a month on food! I spend close to $30 a month on milk alone! ‍♀️‍♀️‍♀️

Comments

@biddle32060 start shopping at Aldi! Unless you do and you go through 25 gallons of milk a month.  

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@armillary23 I’ve never tried Aldi! I’ll have to make the trip, you’re not the first person so suggest it!  

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@biddle32060 i wasn’t a believer until my girlfriend started budgeting with groceries. We can budget $30 a week for the two of us.  

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@biddle32060 Aldi trips are a necessity for my budget!  

Answer 18

Try that instant pot IG posts by TBM. I actually get away with $10-$14 dinners for a family of 6 and enough leftovers to pack my husband lunch. I stopped buying snacks, and I switched to fruits and veggies as mid day snacks.  

Answer 19

We are a family of six and live in California, I spend $1000+ every month on groceries. This also includes toiletries, diapers and anything we could buy from Walmart and 1 monthly Costco run. I’ve tried to cut but can’t seem to make anything less than $1000 work. I think certain areas don’t cost as much for groceries

Answer 20

Our budget is $800 for 4 people, but I’ve been coming in a bit under that.  

Comments

This also includes toiletries/paper products.  

Answer 21

Same here. Just hubby and myself and can't get it under $100 a week. I even bring a clicker with me to stay on track.  

Answer 22

There Is 3 I spend 200 week

Answer 23

I shop at aldis. My budget for 3 for a week is 100. That supplies breakfast (usually oatmeal or eggs and toast), lunch (leftovers or sandwiches) dinner (meat, starch, veggie) and snacks

Answer 24

I have no clue. We spend way more than that. I only buy high quality meats and cheeses though (I cannot eat aldi meat, the one and only time I bought their chicken it had worms in it, and I hate the taste of cheap meat), and I have celiac so I have to be very careful about EVERYTHING I put in and on my body. Gluten is in a lot of things you would never expect.  

Answer 25

It starts at $300, so a family of 3 or less should spend around $300 per month.  

Comments

@robb this makes the most sense to me of all the comments I’ve read about Jordan’s formula. Thank you

Answer 26

I budget $200 per week for groceries/household needs for myself, my daughter, my husband and my stepdaughter (weekends). This includes most work day lunches as we take leftovers.  

Answer 27

Start shopping at Aldi if you can. My house budget for 4 adults is $250. We get lots of seafood meats and veggies.  

Comments

@spoofery a month?  

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@lutherlutheran114 yeah. We buy bags of shrimp, fish, chicken breast, and ground meat. Make daily meals (although we have takeout once a week on the night we all work late). That is exclusively food items tho. We went to Aldis Wednesday and spent about $150 and likely won’t need to pick up again for another few weeks. This is just aldis tho and I’m in Tampa bay Florida. We’re a house of just adults (all 4 are 27) we also don’t consume many snacks and no beverages other than water really. Aldi has been a life saver on my budget

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@haberdasher thats a bummer! here a massive bag of shrimp is about $5 and in a traditional store they go about $13-16

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It definitely makes sense that the prices are different all over the place. thats why I tried to specify where im from cause it might not apply to op based on their location.  

Answer 28

We budget $150 a week for 3 of us

Answer 29

My budget was $160 for two adults. I would make a meatless meal and hit target up for meat that was on sale

Answer 30

I got $10 off my groceries today for trying the Walmart pickup service! I have to say, it really made me think about what I needed and what I could do without. And I was able to look up recipes and check my fridge and pantry stock as I was shopping online!  

Answer 31

Mine is $350 a month for my 6 year old and myself. I usually go to Costco and buy tons of meat and freeze it, it lasts me a month. My daughter isn't much of a meat eater so basically I eat all the meat lmao. I buy lots of snacks for her for school, lots of fruits and veggies for the both of us. Pasta, rice, beans. I meal prep every Sunday and Thursday, which help alot.  

Answer 32

Saw this on IG

Answer 33

This past week I spent $10 on a 5lb bag of chicken breast and $4 on bacon. I used half to make chicken salad and half to make quesadillas. I swapped between whole wheat, pita pockets, and torillas. Have salad mix, shredded block cheese, 2 packs of taco seasoning, tomatoes, avacadoes, potato chips, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, and honey bunches of oats. In total I spent about $75 on everything plus staples like milk and eggs. Produce is cheaper than junk food.  

Comments

That's for 3 people

Answer 34

We have never done that. I think that's used on a lot of "frugal" blogs/vlogs as a goal. We are a family of 4, both kids pre-teen, and we average at least $600 a month.  

Answer 35

They say $100 a month starting at $300. so a family of 2 would be $300. we are a family of 6. For food we average about $800 a month. so we try to stay in the $100 a month per person budget. usually going over . so we average about $50 a week over that budget. Not including house hold necessities and diapers. which we purchase in bulk through costco.  

Answer 36

My monthly budget for groceries for my husband and I is $250. When I reviewed all of our receipts, a lot of the produce was the same but the meat fluctuates SO much. Sometimes he’d see a cut he wanted to make for dinner but that adds up. I signed up for butcher box ($149/month) that has a good mix of basic items (like chicken breasts, ground beef) and some others like breakfast sausage and steak. Since we buy the same vegetables, it’s way easier to budget the remaining $100 for the month but I’d like to cut that down to $50!  

Answer 37

I pay around $200 per month but I include household items in that, like dishwasher soap or garbage bags.  

Answer 38

Same here just my son and I. I posted something similar because I kept going over the $200 budget. Some people here suggested I increase by $25 per paycheck to see if that works. I did $125 last paycheck and it worked- didn’t have to make extra trips or spend extra money I didn’t budget for. so my food budget is now $250. which I could always afford anyway. I also reduced costs in other places. But let’s face it, food is something I will never skimp on because we have to eat ‍♀️

Answer 39

My husband and I spend $200 a month for groceries for us and our daughter. Being married to a chef definitely has its perks. He keeps food cost low and we eat great!  

Answer 40

Meats, veggies, rice, pasta. no snacks, ready made desserts. drinking water and oj.  

Answer 41

I live in Southern California and mostly shop at Sprouts or Trader Joe’s. My monthly grocery budget just for me is $300.  

Answer 42

I’m $100 a week for family of 4. That’s me budgeting. Could be less but still working it out