reasonable grocery budget for family of 3

#Reasonable grocery budget for family of 3 how to#

For example, chicken and noodles might be chicken alfredo for one meal and chicken chow mein for another.(First written in 2014. Our dinners are pretty simple, using almost the same staple ingredients. Then, once the meal plan is set, I shop my stock and start making my shopping list for the minimal ingredients we might need. This way, everyone looks forward to dinner and I don't have to rack my brain trying to come up with a meal plan for everyone. Usually each person picks a meal or two, and I can easily compile seven meals that will be on our menu. Meal planning in combination with shelf cooking (using what you have on hand) can add up to notable savings in your food budget.Įvery Sunday, I sit with my family and get their input on the meals they'd like to eat for the week. It also gives you a way to make more creative meals by swapping recipe ingredients with items you already have in stock. The added benefit is that you're able to utilize your stockpile, making your meal plans cost less per serving. With this method of meal planning, you're able to use what you currently have, which means you're not spending additional money on new items. Planning out your meals based on your current food stock and what's on sale that week is optimal, and can lead to massive savings. Practice will help you get better over time. I tend to keep at least a three-month stockpile inventory at all times, but if you're just starting out, keeping a one-month inventory will still make a big difference in your grocery budget.

Basically anything that I can store long-term is fair game. My personal stockpile consists of flour, rice, breadcrumbs, breads that I freeze, cheeses, meats, and poultry. So, you're never stuck paying the high price when you need the item most. Third, you have enough stock to get you through to the next sale, at which point you can restock again. Second, it saves you from making extra shopping trips for your menu ingredients. First, you're saving by minimizing additional purchases, since you'll stock up when the item is priced at its lowest. Stockpiling helps you save money in a few different ways. While you don't have to have an entire room or closet dedicated to storing your stockpile, keeping an extra supply of your staple items on hand can really cut costs in the long run. Here are a few tricks I've used to reduce my grocery budget and save money on food every month. It's worked well for us, even as we live in a house in Los Angeles, California, which is notorious for its high cost of living.

I personally believe this budget is plentiful.

#Reasonable grocery budget for family of 3 how to#

In recent years, I've discovered that I can save over 50% of my grocery cost just by implementing a few simple tweaks to my shopping routine, and it's made a world of a difference to my bottom line.Īs I became more financially savvy and learned how to be more frugal, I continued to tweak my budget until I landed on a comfortable $100 per person per month budget, meaning I spend no more than $400 per month for groceries for my family of four. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept ourīefore I became mindful of my grocery budget, I used to spend between $800 and $1,000 per month for groceries to feed my family of four.