Our budget changes in the summer. Right now, we are at $480/month for two people, including personal goods (including things like printer paper, ink, etc. for my business) and pet supplies. In the winter, that goes down to $300-350, and we often spend less. We stock up in the summer, do canning, drying, etc., so we take that from our enterainment budget and put it into groceries because we enjoy it. In the winter, we draw from these reserves a lot, which is why the budget goes down.

We focus on eating local, sustainable, seasonal foods as much as we can (there are some things you simply can't buy "local," like flour), and are very health concious. We also eat fairly low-carb, and almost all whole foods (no processed). If DH wasn't in construction and 6'6", we'd probably be able to cut our budget by a third or more; but, he needs 3500-4000 calories a day and can't get them from simple carbs. That gets expensive no matter how frugal you are, unfortunately. 

I am a family of one, well three if you count my two cats. I try not to spend more than $200 a month, which includes food,cleaning supplies, cat food/treats/litter, and anything else. I mostly shop at Fred Meyer, Trader Joe's and sometimes Safeway. I only go to Safeway when they have the $10 off coupon and only buy what is on sale, plus any coupons that I have(which they double). I stocked up alot last month. My freezer and pantry is full. The only things I need to buy anytime soon is fresh produce, and dairy products and cat treats for my spoiled cats.

Every wholesale club whether it be BJS, Sams, or Costcos checks members out at the door to make sure the purchase was accurate not for shoplifting. I work at Costcos and have found receipts where the member has been accidently doublecharged or there has been a coupon they did not know about that I could inform them about. So while we do sometimes find a item in a cart that has not been paid for out main goal is to take care of our members so they dont lose money or have to make an unneccesary trip back for a refund. And the deals are so amazing that they cover the cost of the membership many times over and offer great services (check printing, auto financing, travel, credit monitoring, insurance, etc)

My budget needs work!  I spend $800+ currently for a family of 4 (2 adults, a 4 yr old and a baby) + 2 dogs and 2 cats.  This amount covers everything-food, household items, personal items, etc.  About $130 of this is for formula for the baby.  Luckily, she should transition to milk in the next month or so.  So without that cost, I'm still at $670+.  It is my goal to greatly reduce this number because I think it is way too high.  We are vegetarian so no meat cost but I do spend extra for organic/free range dairy and eggs so I think that probably balances out in the end.  Still my goal is to reduce this cost to $500 or less over the next few months . . .hard to reduce when prices keep increasing but I think we need to.  That's a lot of money going out right now!

I can see how Costco is not a savings for a lot of people.  I think it depends what you buy.  For me, I have a membership with a friend and there is some reward to it that covers the cost of the membership so we don't pay anything for it.  If I had to pay, I don't know if I would keep it or not.  I do buy a lot of their brand name items . . . trash bags, dishwasher soap, laundry soap, cooking oil, cheese, butter, etc.  They are quite a bit cheaper than what I'd buy at the store.  I usually buy diapers and wipes there too.  I never go just to shop though . . . the friend I share the membership with does though and she will spend hundreds per trip!  And she goes several times per month.  NOT a cost savings to shop there like that.  But, for me, I have a list of things that I buy there and that is it . . . I don't even walk down the other aisles at all.  I go in about once a month or so.

I am though going to make a list of prices next time I am at Costco for the items I do buy so that if I can get them cheaper on a Walgreen's special or something, then I will start doing that.  That would be the only way (here) that they would be cheaper-on a rebate of some sort.

Food wise though, I really need to tighten things up.  Starting immediately!!

Budget:$150 for 2 people

My husband and I shop at Costco. Thats enough for 2 people plus relatives that like to come over, 3 cats and one dog. Shopping at Costco saves us a ton. We used to spend about 80 buck a week at Grocery stores and not even eat that good. i don't buy any premade food and I make our own bread which saves alot of money. We get better quality food for less, I buy the costco brand dog food for 10 bucks. The quality matches that of Purina or pedigree.

It is only $50 for the card per year. True it does cost a bit to get started. Our first run at a wholesaler cost us 450 dollars but that last us about 7 months.

Advice buy bulk food (rice, beans, canned goods, meat...), a chest freezer and a good cook book.Good luck

Just so I don't go hog wild in the store, I make a list of what we need and write down the prices of everything we buy. I then calculate it all before checking out.

P.S. watch out for crazy cart drivers

Jenn- It would be nice for you to get under $600- are you interested in posting in the Cooking and Shopping for July?  It's nice to compare notes and keep on track.  Also there is help with morale!  We are also planning on a couple pantry challenge weeks, to stay out of the stores, I think you are in the one this week.  I try to keep some meals under $5, it might be saving for you to shoot for dinners under $10.  Is your 4 yo son a picky eater, or does he eat most things?  The formula will be a big savings.  I hope she likes the whole milk, some babies have a hard time transitioning- I had one change to cocoa, lukewarm, slightly chocolate milk, and my three year old still wants "pink milk" strawberry milk-"in a bottle"- in a sippy cup, when she wakes up.  I give it to her!  She's my sweetie.  

I aslo like to check cookbooks out from the library, homemade food and not such a rut.  It's when I'm tired and bored I want takeout or pizzas- if I have some new ideas, not so tempting. It's been working for several years.

Good luck! 

Hi, we are a family of 5, dh, myself and 3 growing boys 16, 10, 6.  My average food is about $500/month, but that does include paper goods, and misc household expenses. 

 We're growing a small garden this year to offset some costs.  I raise goats and will be adding that milk to offset costs, but right now I'm selling the milk.  I also butcher (myself) some of the goats so that takes care of some meat.  We raise rabbits to butcher as well.  I am also getting a hog to raise for meat and plan to do the processing/butchering myself.  If i had to pay someone to process it would add to the budget substantially.  It was hard to do it all myself at first, but as I've learned some how to's, it's become easier and now I sort of enjoy it.  Plus, we homeschool so every butchering is an anatomy lesson!  Oh, we've also raised chickens for meat, but have found rabbits fit our life better..we do have a few hens for eggs.

 Jill Landers - JVJ Farm

Marthasville, MO

We are a family of 4 at the moment with frequent guests. I spend around 150.- a month although usually closer to 100. I shop almost exclusively at Aldi's. WalMart is simply too expensive although I do have to drive an hr either way to get to Aldi's. The savings is worth it. We currently have to buy all our own veggies,meats etc but will soon be moving to a farm and alot of that cost will just be the seeds,upkeep etc etc. Until then though I buy veggies canned from Aldi's by the case and on occassion at the Farmers Market.

 Lots of pasta,rice,beans. I buy everything in bulk. We eat alot of deer meat and most of our beef is ground beef which I of course buy in bulk although I usually buy that from WalMart just because I think the quality is better.

We don't drink any soda at all. We have sweet tea with just about every meal.

Cook with powered milk but we drink regular milk. One of these we will definitly have a milk cow.

Everything is bought genaric and in bulk as much as possible.

I do stockpile quite a bit even though we have very little space. I utilize every spot I can find including tops of closets,under beds etc.

I make everything from scratch. Breads, Pasta sauces, Pizza/Pie crust, everything. Don't buy any boxed meals or anything like that.

We eat biscuits or cornbread ( cheap!) with every meal.

We eat oatmeal or grits often for breakfast. ( cheap!)

I also cloth diaper my very handicapped kiddo( who will always be in diapers so it makes sense financially) and my in the process of potty training toddler. Although I do buy a package of diapers every month, I use almost exclusively cloth. Just don't have room in my budget for disposables and they do better with cloth.

We have not really looked too much into how much I spend. I'm just starting to budget and I am budgeting $500. I'm sure that's enough. It's me,dh,ds11,ds9,ds6,ds5,dd3. The boys can eat alot but we always find deals.I have tons of pets my two small dogs eat $10 a bag food (organic but they don't eat much). Rats eat about $2, hamsters $1, turtle $7, frog $2, rabbits $5 birds $5 cats $5. The animals sure do add up!