Comments on: Feeding the Family: Breaking Down our 2009 Food Budget

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:21:45 +0000

Great info! I do a weekly budget rather than monthly, and budget $175/week. Family of 6 (2 adults and 13, 10, 8 and 1 year) breaks down to $1.39/meal. This is breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks every day for the whole family — kids take lunch to school, and husband takes leftovers for lunch most days. Oh, and desert a couple times a week :)

Seeing that per-meal figure, rather than a lump sum, makes me feel SO much better about what I spend.

I mostly buy store brand staples and only buy organic produce on the EWG’s list of top offenders. I do splurge on organic meat and eggs, and purchase soy and almond milk as we all have a dairy allergy. I am a vegetarian, but I do cook meat with a couple of meals a week for the rest of the family.

This does not include diapers (baby wears cloth) or toiletries (I budget for those separately).

By: Becky

Becky — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:39:23 +0000

Wow. We have 6 in our family (kids 15 to 8). I spend about $350 to $400 a month on groceries including paper products, cleaning, etc…. I am fortunate enough to be able to raise chickens, a pig, a cow and a goat for milk. I garden too. And I love to cook from scratch. I figure tha our meals cost about $0.74 a person per meal. But, I don’t mind spending the time to do, I know some do not have the time.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:41:54 +0000

That’s a tough and loaded question! I’ve begun writing a series called “Simple Steps Toward Healthy Eating” http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/category/simple-steps-toward-healthy-eating which you may find helpful. Also, my Feeding the Family series http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/category/feeding-the-family may have some tips you will like. Otherwise, I’d really just suggest that you try to eat as many “whole foods” as you can, like fruits and veggies, real cheese, whole grains, real butter…and just really work your way away from processed, boxed foods.

By: Chelesse

Chelesse — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 16:02:41 +0000

My husband found this site while looking for ways to help us save on our food budget. We spend about $800 a month on food for a family of 6. I would love to be able to do this for $500 to $550. Our kids are 14, 12, 10 and 6. Right now I am a SAM but will be starting a job in a few weeks. I won’t have the time to spend in the kitchen but want to be able to benefit from cooking from scratch as much as possible. I am not a great cook and making my own bread is totally out of the question. Also, canning or preserving is not an option as I have no clue how to do this nor have the equipment or money to purchase additional equipment. Negative set aside, I want to be able to feed the family healthy nutritious food that they will eat. I have 2 picky eaters who seem to want to eat nothing healthy.
We live in West Tennessee. Any helpful information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

By: Sadie

Sadie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:19:17 +0000

Hi Lorrie,
I am a customer service rep for Azure and wanted to let you know that we have recently extended our truck routes into Ar, MO, OK, and yes, Kansas! Please feel free to contact us for more info.

By: Brooke

Brooke — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:47:58 +0000

Thank you! I spend about $450-500/month on a family of 7 and it’s good to hear that I’m doing a good job. I can take a deep breath now!

By: Sonja

Sonja — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:52:30 +0000

I was reading posts that include raw milk buyers and started to wonder… How long does a gallon of raw milk keep? At this point I have been running over to a neighbors for it whenever it is needed. It isn’t organic, but since I have not found a supplier for that yet, we are settling for the fact that it still has a higher nutritional value than milk in the store. If I do find someone and they are further away, how many gallons can I pick up at a time and still have it stay fresh?

By: Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:48:59 +0000

Ok, you inspired me to pull out the calculator.

I spend $380 a month for our family of 4 (my kids are 4 and 1 1/2, though the 4 year old can rival me for food even though I’m pregnant!). Breaking it down the way that you did, I spent $1.05 per person, per meal! I was really happy to see that number!

We eat sooo similarly to you guys, and I’m really happy with the quality of our food. Also, my $380 includes all natural cleaning and toiletry supplies, which is at least $20-$25 a month.

And no Americans are allowed to complain about the price of their raw milk, ok? :)

I live in Canada, in a very expensive city (and we still eat so cheaply- it is so, so possible with God and careful planning). I pay (get ready for this) over $16 a gallon for my raw milk!!! Yikes! (And, my dollar isn’t worth as much as yours, LOL!)

I’m encouraged, though, to realize that careful shopping, planning and cooking can make a small budget stretch so far, even living somewhere where food is quite expensive! God really does provide! :)

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:52:13 +0000

Oh I just love how you got the boys involved in the division! What a great teaching tool, not only for math, but for life as well.

Keep these great posts coming!

By: Pam Smith

Pam Smith — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:59:48 +0000

We are a family of 4 (me, DH, DS7 & DD5) living in Atlanta, GA. Here is our monthly food budget breakdown:
$500 divided by 4 people = $125/person
$125 divided by 30 days = $4.16 per day per person
$4.16 per day per person = $1.39 per meal per person

- We don’t garden (We don’t have a large backyard space and I’m not really interested. I know call me lazy.)
- We get 3 gallons of raw organic milk at $4.75/gallon every every 3 weeks
- We get 8 dozen free range eggs at $3.00/dozen every month
- I make most everything from scratch (bread, cereal, etc)
- We get 9 lbs of raw organic cheese (chedder) at $5.72/pound every 3 months
- We purchase a 1/3 of a cow for $390 which lasts us around 1 year 4 months

With all of the above purchases (we will save $130/month for the next 3 months for our cow purchase in March ’09) we are left with around $315 a month (or $78/week) for everything else (grains, grocery store, etc).

I agree with Barbara who posted above about creating menus. It does help you stick to a meal plan, focus on what you have on hand and purchase only what you need for the meals. I plan my meals a week at a time and only spend my weekly amount of $78. I take a calculator to the store with me to keep me accountable. I do my best to buy “high pesticide” produce in the organic section and try to stay on the out skirts of the store (produce, meats, dairy, etc.) more than down the aisles.

We’ve figured in $150/month for our sundrys (household items, hygiene, etc).