To learn how much money you spend on groceries every month, you can add up receipts, view your credit card transaction history or track your spending with a budget app.
But figuring out how much you should spend on groceries isn’t quite as straightforward.
What is the average cost of groceries per month?
The average cost of groceries for U.S. households is $5,703, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released in late 2023. This works out to about $475 per month. Grocery spending increased 8.4% in 2022, the latest data available, vs. 2021.
A different measure of food prices can give you a more-recent check of how food prices are trending.
But while broad statistics can confirm trends, they aren't the best indicator of how much you can actually afford.
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Your grocery budget depends on many factors, including where you shop, what you buy, how many people you’re feeding and whether you shop online or in person. Not sure where to start? Here are a couple of guidelines you can use to come up with a number.
Follow USDA food plans
The U.S. Department of Agriculture creates monthly food plans you can use as guidance for grocery spending. The plans estimate the average cost of nutritious, home-prepared meals and snacks by gender and age, and are broken into four different spending levels: thrifty, low cost, moderate cost and liberal.
The most recent estimate for a family of four, defined as a male and female between ages 20 and 50 and two children, ages 6 to 8 and 9 to 11, put the cost of the thrifty plan at $969 per month .
These food plans can suggest a monthly grocery budget for your household, but they’re still estimates, and won’t be perfectly tailored to you.
Use the 50/30/20 rule to budget for groceries
The 50/30/20 budget can help you work out how much to spend on groceries based on your specific income and expenses. Following this framework, you spend about 50% of your monthly after-tax income on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on savings and debt repayment.
Most groceries fall under the “needs” category, but not every item at the grocery store qualifies as a necessity. Purchasing filet mignon for a special dinner would be a “want,” for example.
If your monthly take-home pay is $3,200, here’s how you’d divide that among your expenses:
$1,600 for needs like basic groceries, housing and transportation.
$960 for wants like meals out, entertainment and travel.
$640 for savings and loan payments beyond the minimum.
How much of that $1,600 should go toward groceries depends on the monthly cost of your other essentials. Let’s say you pay $850 for rent and utilities, $200 in student loan payments and $415 for your car payment and insurance. That adds up to $1,465 — leaving just $135 per month for vital groceries. If that won’t cover everything you need, or if you want to plan for some treats, you can take additional money from your “wants” budget.
Find ways to stretch your grocery budget
If you’re struggling to fit food costs into your budget, look for ways to save money on groceries. Start with these simple strategies:
Look in your refrigerator and pantry before making a shopping list.
Check the Sunday paper, use an app and explore other ways to get coupons.
Your financial position, expenses and spending behavior will presumably change throughout your life. Make sure to revisit your grocery budget every month and adjust.
If you're wondering how to create a monthly food budget, another tool to use is the 50/30/20 rule. This simple and intuitive grocery budget formula suggests that you spend your net (after-tax) monthly income this way: 50% for living essentials (e.g., groceries, housing, transportation, healthcare, etc.)
The average household grocery cost per month is $475—which totals to $5,703 a year. And that number is likely to increase as overall food prices continue to go up. In fact, Americans spent 1.3% more on food at home (aka groceries) in December 2023 than they did in December 2022.
For a family of four (including two children under age 11) in 2023, your spending on groceries should be around $975 a month. You can also look at your recommended grocery spending based on a percentage of your income. Try and aim to spend no more than 15% of your take home pay on food and groceries.
Averages look at foods many people commonly purchase, such as eggs, dairy, meat, bread, and produce items. For a single person, the average grocery bill can range, depending on age and gender, between $238.46 to $434.33. For a household with two people, the average grocery bill is $5,635 per year, or $469.58 per month.
The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.
The average grocery budget for a family of 3 can vary depending on factors like location and dietary preferences. A moderate-cost plan can range from $387 to $1,031 per month, while a thrifty plan can range from $287 to $764 per month.
According to the most recent data released from the Household Pulse Survey, American households spend an average of $270 on groceries a week. Broken down by household size: One person - $156.02. Two people - $220.82.
Facts & Findings. Americans save around $12 by opting to cook and eat at home, with the average home meal costing $4.23 versus over $16 per meal at an inexpensive restaurant. Annually, it costs over $13,000 more to eat out than it costs to prepare the same amount of food at home.
The average cost of eating out for one person in the USA per month can vary widely depending on factors like location, dining preferences, and lifestyle. However, a rough estimate might range from $150 to $300 or more. Keep in mind that individual spending habits can significantly influence this average.
According to the BLS survey, the largest expenditures were housing and transportation, which comprised 26 percent and 13 percent of people's pay, respectively. Another big spending category was food, to which 10 percent was devoted.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average weekly grocery bill for a family our size is $344.70; that means more than $1,400 each month. There are times when my weekly grocery bill approaches that number but for the most part, I'm able to keep it to $200 per week.
The US spends the least at 6.4%, Singapore spends the second lowest amount at 6.7%. Canada spends 9.1% on food, while Australia spends 9.8%. Nigeria spends over half of household income on food, and there are nine other countries that spend over 40% on food.
What are the average grocery and food costs in California? According to a study by the United States Census Bureau, Californians pay more for their weekly groceries than any other state. The average American family spends around $270 a week on groceries, but Californians spend nearly $298 on a weekly basis.
Total food cost percentage = (total cost of goods sold / total revenue) x 100. Before you can use this formula, you need to gather some information about your restaurant. Start by taking an inventory count with the costs for each item. Doing this on a regular basis can help you maintain consistent inventory reports.
Each time you spend money on food anywhere, write your initials on the back of the receipt and put it in a jar. If you don't have a receipt, make a note including what was bought, who bought it, and how much it cost. Start by downloading the Tracking Food Expenses worksheet.
The Perfect Grocery Shopping App: Total Plus makes your life easier when shopping and helps you stay on budget. It calculates your total shopping list based on discounts and the sales tax rate you specify. See exactly how much you will pay at the register. Calculate items by quantity or by weight (Pounds or Kilograms).
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