S/O $150k a year- low food budget- how??

amother

OP ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 6:57 am

I’m shocked that I was the only one to point out that $1k a month on food for a family of 6 is very low.

Or is it?

I live in the tri-state area and according to my bank I spent $2,800 on food alone for my family of 4. That’s $700 a week. A few years ago I was doing $400/500 a week with the same family size but this was pre-inflation.

We rarely eat out or buy takeout. I did do a lot of food shopping for YT this month. We moved to a new city which kosher food is significantly more expensive as it’s limited here. Obviously, I buy from regular supermarkets as often as I can though- though food went up there as well!

Twice as month I go to a large grocery in a city an hour away from me, they have the best prices so I try to stock up as much as I can. I spend around $400/500 each time.

My kids take 4 snacks a day to school. BH they get school lunch.

Dinner costs about $20 a night, usually chicken or chop meat. Then there’s Shabbos each week, the occasional parties of BBQs, and meals we host… it all adds up very quickly.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is my food budget normal?

amother

Oleander

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:03 am

Not everyone's food needs are equal. Location makes a difference, especially when it comes to kashrus. But also, not everyone can just live on rice and beans. Some households have one or more people who have health conditions that come with dietary requirements that will be more expensive. Also, how old are the kids? You can keep your costs down with younger kids, but all bets are off with a teenager in the home. It's not always so simple as "just don't buy xyz".

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:09 am

amother Oleander wrote:

Thank you for your validating post.

I do shop more clean ingredients.
Avocado oil, spelt flour, turabnio sugar. Lots of fresh produce. It’s more expensive but not that much. I buy lots of healthier snacks and candy in Trader Joe’s which is decently priced.

No, my DH and kids want meat every night.

Kosher food is more pricey where I am but I do try to get what I can from the local supermarkets. Including eggs, snacks, ices, chocolate, fresh produce, drinks, ingredients, milk and cream cheese. (We don’t keep CY.)

My oldest is 8 but he’s eating tons lately. Snacks disappear before they hit the snack box…

My dh needs his vitamin water and that’s expensive. But at least it’s stopping him from bringing soda into our house…

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:22 am

amother Chartreuse wrote:

I have a family of 5 and I think $1k a month is pretty normal. We spend a bit less than this. Around $900/ month.

What? How??

Do you live in the tri-state area?

Do you make Shabbos? Yt?

amother

Lilac ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:23 am

We also spend WAY more than that. My kids are teenagers and up... I do shop at Wal Mart etc but food is just expensive! We also buy healthier ingredients, such as salad greens, vegetables etc. I also include paper towels, tissues etc in my grocery order so I can't say it's only food. We spend over 3k a month.

amother

↑ Chartreuse ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:24 am

amother OP wrote:

What? How??

Do you live in the tri-state area?

Do you make Shabbos? Yt?

I don't live in the tri state area. I am OOT, but that OP also said she was OOT.
I make all shabbos and YT. Rarely go out. Of course YT costs more.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:26 am

amother Chartreuse wrote:

I don't live in the tri state area. I am OOT, but that OP also said she was OOT.
I make all shabbos and YT. Rarely go out. Of course YT costs more.

I live in the tri-state area but not in a major frum community if that makes sense. So I can go to a big city and do my shopping there a few times a month if needed. But weekly, I shop locally.

So how much did you spend this September then?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:27 am

amother Azalea wrote:

We spend around $200 a week plus a $400 order once a month from a bigger community for meat/dairy. So I guess that puts us at around $1,200 a month for our family of 5

Can you please break it down?

I can’t leave the grocery without anything less than $100. And a full bag costs about minimum $60 these days….

amother

Linen ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:30 am

I live in Brooklyn. Family of 7
My groceries for September, which includes all my YT cooking, was $1500.
That does not include chicken and meat.
So I don't think $1000 is so unrealistic.
Everyone's shopping habits are different as are store prices. If I were to shop in a more upscale grocery my bill would for sure be higher. Maybe even double. I choose to shop in a cheaper store.

synthy

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:35 am

amother OP wrote:

Of course it’s more expensive! E.G. A bag of checked broccoli is like $8, and people serve that all the time. If you’re looking to save money start comparing prices of different veggies, you’ll be shocked. It’s not healthy vs unhealthy, just looking at what everything costs and making menu choices based on that.

amother

Raspberry ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:45 am

amother Linen wrote:

That's a HUGE thing to leave out. I'm sure $1000 budget included chicken/meat, especially for YT. We don't do meat every night for dinner, but generally 1-2x, in addition to Shabbos and YT.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:54 am

synthy wrote:

I don’t buy checked produce. I buy frozen broccoli - not the frum brands.

amother

Amber ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:57 am

You can eat healthy without going expensive. Just look at what vegetables you buy. What types of fruit. Apples vs mangos. Squash vs avocado, hearts of palm, and pre checked vegetables.
Spelt is much more expensive than wheat. I get allergies but if it isn't an allergy and you need to cut...

I have different amounts of kids so my math won't make sense here but there is a difference between "chicken or meat every night" and "everyone needs a full quarter chicken every night".
Some people eat cheaper meat meals- ground taco meat, beans, rice...
But You don't need meat every night. So if you are looking to cut back you can try a vegetarian chili. Or try adding more soups (and not broccoli soup but a cheaper soup like potato or onion soup).

amother

↑ Amber ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 7:59 am

amother Amber wrote:

You can eat healthy without going expensive. Just look at what vegetables you buy. What types of fruit. Apples vs mangos. Squash vs avocado, hearts of palm, and pre checked vegetables.
Spelt is much more expensive than wheat. I get allergies but if it isn't an allergy and you need to cut... Also turabino sugar isn't significantly healthier than regular and some say "it's still sugar".

I have different amounts of kids so my math won't make sense here but there is a difference between "chicken or meat every night" and "everyone needs a full quarter chicken every night".
Some people eat cheaper meat meals- ground taco meat, beans, rice...
But You don't need meat every night. So if you are looking to cut back you can try a vegetarian chili. Or try adding more soups (and not broccoli soup but a cheaper soup like potato or onion soup).

amother

↑ Lilac ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 8:06 am

I'm also wondering if people are posting actual real numbers or they're just guestimating. If someone would have asked me, how much do you spend on food? I would have guessed around 2k a month, based on what I think I spend. But adding up every actual penny spent (which was put on my credit card), I see that the actual number is over 3k.

I wonder how many posters are actually doing this.

amother

↑ Linen ↓

Sun, Oct 06 2024, 8:07 am

amother Raspberry wrote:

That's a HUGE thing to leave out. I'm sure $1000 budget included chicken/meat, especially for YT. We don't do meat every night for dinner, but generally 1-2x, in addition to Shabbos and YT.

I don't think its such a huge thing to leave out. Many people don't include it in their grocery bill as they shop separately for it.
Regardless, I would add about $500 for that (that's a high guesstimate). And again, that includes YT when I use a lot more, in quantity and price, meat and chicken than I normally do. And I had company for a meal where I served meat.