I’m going to start this post by disclosing the fact that talking about money makes me squirm. There are so many nuances to budgets and how people spend money that I find it very difficult to truly compare one family’s cost of groceries to another family’s cost of groceries.
That said, I have been asked time and again to at least try. So, this is me trying.
A few disclaimers before we get started:
- My husband’s income has increased over the years. My budget is not as tight as it once was due to that simple fact.
- Our family has no known dietary restrictions; however, my husband buys a lot of convenient health foods that are easy for him to take along wherever he goes.
- We live in a low cost of living area – always have. This fact greatly affects my grocery budget.
Also, if you have the time, I’d encourage you to read my post How to Afford to Feed Your Family. My philosophy behind feeding my family is more important than the actual numbers.
NOTE: This post is from 2016, so I’d encourage you to check out my Large Family Meal Planning page for more up to date numbers!
So…
How much do I spend on groceries each week?
Short Answer: Between $200-250 a week
Long Answer: I shop at two stores – Aldi and WalMart. I can get almost everything I need at Aldi. WalMart is only for specialty items I can’t get at Aldi and fruit that doesn’t look so good at Aldi.
2017 podcast on our Aldi Grocery List & Budget:
My weekly figure does not include toiletries, and it does not include meat we’ve hunted, or meat and other items we have purchased in bulk. Those are too difficult to figure into a weekly budget for me because they are typically purchased on an “as needed” basis. (more on buying in bulk later…)
What am I feeding my family of 10?
I’ll give you an example from this week’s menu plan and shopping trip. I spent right around $225 on groceries this week. Our menu for the week looks like this:
BREAKFAST
I make sure we have simple breakfast foods on hand. Sausage links, cereal, toast, eggs, and oatmeal are staples here. They are easy to make and many of the children can make their own breakfasts.
LUNCH
I like to keep lunch simple because of homeschooling. We almost always have Soup, Salad, Sandwiches or Leftovers. You can read more about how we make lunch easy in this post.
DINNER
This is the only meal I truly plan – often taken from requests by my family.
Crockpot Hamburgers with grilled onions & frozen peas
Chicken Nuggets and French Fries
Hopple Popple & Salad
Homemade Bierocks (using this dough recipe) & Cauliflower Casserole + Cinnamon Rolls for Daddy’s Birthday
Crock Pot Chicken Bacon Ranch over Egg Noodles
Chicken Spaghetti & Frozen Corn
Baked Chimichangas with all the fixin’s + fry up the leftover corn tortillas from last week
Frozen Pizza
As you can see, there is a mix of homemade and convenience. The convenience foods are for nights when we are super busy and need something fast and easy.
SNACKS
We also have snacks between meals. These typically consist of fruit, crackers, or something my older kids have whipped up.
And often, I have a new recipe or snack to try listed in my menu plan that will require me to buy a couple of ingredients I don’t have on hand.
What we buy a lot of: fruit, bread, eggs – We buy a massive amount of fruit, as that is our main snack. I try to buy what is in season and cheaper, but bananas and apples are almost always on the list. The bread is for sandwiches and breakfast as I am not baking my own bread at this time. (But, if I was, it would be this recipe.) And eggs are just an all around good staple to have – great for breakfast and snacks.
What we don’t buy much of: milk, juice, canned foods – We are not big milk or juice drinkers. We drink mostly water and tea, which are uber cheap. Once upon a time, we ate mostly canned vegetables, but now the bulk of our canned goods are a supply of beans for quick chili makin’, chunk chicken for convenience sake, and tomato sauce. Our veggies are either fresh or frozen because I can afford that now.
What do we buy in bulk?
I did an entire post on this a while back. You can read it HERE, or you can watch the video HERE. But, one question I didn’t answer in either the post or the video was this…
How do we afford to buy in bulk?
The very nature of buying in bulk is that you are buying mass quantities of something and therefore, it costs more. Here are a few tips for buying in bulk:
*Count the cost – Write down everything you think would be beneficial to buy in bulk for your family. What do you tend to use a lot of that can easily be purchased in bulk. (Remember to read my post on buying in bulk to find ways to store bulk buys.)
Then, start searching for the best bulk price. Check your local stores (including your local supermarket – especially if you live in a smaller town – sometimes they are willing to sell wholesale to you!), check with Azure Standard, check with bulk food stores (you can often find these in Amish and Mennonite communities), check with big box stores, check with Amazon (and don’t forget to compare the Subscribe and Save price – you can always UNsubscribe!)
Now, take a look at those bulk costs in comparison to the best deal you can find on the smaller version. Sometimes bulk is NOT a good deal. For instance, it is a better deal for me to open lots of small cans of tomato sauce from Aldi rather than buy the bulk tomato sauce from Sam’s. I would be paying for convenience if I purchased the bulk item, and this is not something I feel I need to do.
Once you know if the bulk item is a good deal, you can make an informed decision about whether to buy it that way or not. Another thing to note is that bulk takes up space. Be prepared to find places to put your bulk items (under the bed, in corners, in basements, etc), and decide if you really have the room for such items.
*Plan ahead – Once you have your list of bulk items you think would be beneficial and cost effective, you can start planning ahead. Buy the things you need right now, and save the other bulk items for later. Don’t try to stock up on everything all at once. And if you don’t think you can swing the bulk version of an item one month, buy it smaller. We do this a lot. If I can’t get my bulk flour, I’ll buy smaller packages weekly until I have a little more money saved up.
*Be creative – My husband and son hunt, so some of our bulk meat comes from their excursions. Another good way to buy in bulk is to find other families to share your bulk buys with. Go in on the price together and split the bulk item between the two of you. Find out if there are cash discounts at certain stores – sometimes you will find this when buying and processing meat.
Tips for making the budget stretch
*Shop your pantry – When you are making your weekly menu plan and grocery list, always take a look at what you have on hand first. Try to create meals from what you have. This will save you a mint!
*Find your shopping groove – Once upon a time, I shopped monthly. Then, I shopped every 2 weeks. Now, I shop every week. Each of these worked well at the time, and each had their own economics. Shopping once a week helps me to waste less, and I actually feel I spend less as well because I don’t need to run back to the store to get things I have run out of. I live only a few blocks from the store, so there’s no waste of gas, and at this point in my life, I can only seem to manage a week’s worth of meal planning at a time anyway.
*Do your best to never waste anything –
Beyond picking food up off the floor, you can get creative with leftovers, you can freeze all sorts of things, and you can keep your pantry and refrigerators and freezers organized so you don’t miss using up items.
If you’d like to take a tour of my large family freezers and refrigerators, you can find it HERE!
So, there you have it! If you have more questions, feel free to ask, and any input from all you wonderful readers in the comments section will make this post that much more of a resource to others! Thank you!
Samantha Hatcher says
I also shop at Aldi. It is where I go first for all of my shopping. For produce, I shop at the new Kroger here. Not only does it have a nice selection, but the prices are comparable. For bulk meat, I usually buy it by the box at Sam’s club and spilt it and the cost with another member of my family. For the bulk cans, when I can’t go to Sam’s we have a GFS store. This is mainly for restaurants, but it has no membership fee and is great for picking up things in bulk.
Lisa says
Thanks for sharing Amy! We save money by raising our own meat–that way the cost of steaks are the same per pound as the cost of hamburger and we’re able to eat more of it!
But the biggest way we save money is simply by extending my meal planning. For the past three years I’ve planned an annual meal plan and corresponding grocery list each July. Then I’m done for the year and really able to stockpile when the prices are low.
We just use a rotating plan for breakfast and lunch (i.e. we eat the same meals every Monday), and have dinner on a themed rotation. The kids each have a day of the week and they were able to help plan the menu on their day.
We drive an hour to shop, so I only go once a month, though I order produce from Bountiful Baskets a couple weeks after my initial run to ensure we have more fresh produce.
Thanks again for your insight into how you manage a large family!
Cindy says
I’d love to see your yearly plan. We have 8 or 9 or more everyday.
Thanks.
Lisa says
Cindy, here’s a link to my most recent version. http://lisatannerwriting.com/2016/07/updating-annual-meal-plan/
STEPHANIE says
Thank you for sharing. Its nice to see what others spend. We now have an aldi as little closer (25) minutes so I’m trying to alternate weeks there and weeks at Walmart right up the street.
Adrienne says
I also have a family of 10, and spend $150-$200 a week, shopping at Aldi then Walmart. Our mealtimes look very similar to yours – I provide breakfast and lunch options and only plan (and typically cook… kids are capable!) supper. This was interesting to read! Thanks for posting it.
Amy says
Kids definitely ARE capable!
Amy says
Thanks for sharing ! We are a family of almost 5 🙂 I feel like I do a terrible job at the money part of our groceries, but this was very encouraging. I spend about 80-100 so maybe I am not doing quite as badly as I thought. We go to Save A lot and Food Lion and Dollar General . I love your posts ! You are an encouragement. Thank you. Blessings , Amy
Amy says
Thank you, Amy! Sounds to me like you are right on track. 🙂
Large Family Mom says
Thank you for this post. As usual, I am so encouraged by what you write. Thank you for taking the time put this all down in writing and for the links. Also, thank you for talking about the seasons you have been through. I did once a month shopping several kids ago and have always felt guilty going every two weeks now and secretly wishing I could cut it to once a week. Seeing you put it in writing that things change and it’s ok- helped me put things into perspective.
Amy says
It definitely IS ok – we have to adapt, and sometimes what worked several kiddos ago, just doesn’t work anymore. You’ll drive yourself mad if you try to keep doing something that doesn’t work.
Melissa says
I would love an article of how to survive with all littles. We are about to have our 5th and our oldest is 7. She can help in lots of ways but I still have to monitor some. Maybe I should allow her to do it all herself but when she pours her own cereal and milk all I can see is all the milk that will be wasted. Haha she is a really great girl and helps a lot with the younger ones but some days I feel like I don’t stop.
So any words of advise or tips would be greatly appreciated.
I have found that I stretch us too thin. So this year with welcoming another child we have decided not to be involved in any co op or extra homeschool activity. They will do rec sports but other then that for our homeschool we are doing it all at home. Which has given me much relief.
We spend between 100-150 depending on what we are wanting food wise. Sometimes it’s more and sometimes it’s less just depends on where or freezer stock is. Thanks for the post.
Amy says
Absolutely! I’m working on several different “all littles” posts. 🙂
Aa says
One thing I did when my oldest was little and wanted to get his own cereal with milk was to put the correct amount of milk into a half pint canning jar. I’d get 7 of them ready on Sunday and put them in the fridge for him. Then when he was ready to get himself breakfast he could grab a jar and pour the milk.
Nola says
This is interesting, thank you for sharing. I wish I had access to some bulk buying. But I don’t (I am in Canada and a more remote/rural part of Canada at that). I think that would save a ton of money. The stores we have access to are also different. We try our best but I find it very discouraging what we spend. It seems that every time I cut back more, prices go up. The one thing that we do that I am sure saves quite a bit of money is eating a lot of beans and lentils, and a lot of soups and stews (homemade).
Amy says
Yes, beans and lentils do save money!
Nancy in Alberta says
Hi, Nola! I’m from southern Alberta, so I understand when you see American grocery budgets how painful it can be! It may help to know that the principles are the same. Plan ahead, balance “from scratch” with convenience (make it work for you), buy bulk if that saves you money…and try, try, try not to waste food! =)
Be encouraged. We’re all on the same road for those of us at home with children, and it seems like your heart’s in the right place!
Kathy says
Thank for sharing your video of your refrigerators and freezers. Thank you for sharing your budget as well. We are a family of 6 and not too far off from your example. It made me feel more at ease knowing it does cost to have a bigger family but there are many great benefits to a bigger family.
Julie says
Hi Amy!
My husband works for Aldi so I know how valuable it is 🙂 I have always done the same as you..Aldi first, then Walmart for those items not available at Aldi. Bonus..my husband always tells me when fruit is on sale or particularly good at the time. He has been known to bring home unusually large cantaloupes or pineapples.. (smle)
Just one question. Although my kids are older now, coffee and tea are the only beverages we drink. Yet when they were littles and even older, they LOVED milk, esp my son. We have 2 children, and when they were smaller, I would buy 3-4 gallons a week of milk, plus orange juice, maybe a gallon a week. Our two now are the same age as your oldest two are now. It wasn’t until our son was 16 that he finally decided to forgo the milk and we have since switched to almond milk for the smoothies he likes to make. He still loves his OJ! My question is, how do you manage not to have milk drinkers?
Thank you! Time has passed now, but if our water/tea habit had been one years ago, I would have saved a ton!
PS Our son hates tea so it is just water or juice for him now..haha
Aa says
I’m always amazed at what parents of large families can do with their grocery budgets. We are a family of 5, with an almost 16-year-old 6’2″ 201 lb man-child, and we spend around $1,000 a month on groceries. Once a month I buy things in bulk that we’ll use a lot of throughout the month and our first produce run of the month. After that, I go to the store twice a week to pick up more fresh produce. We spend close to $800 of our monthly budget on produce alone. Someday I’d love to live in a place where we’re able to have a garden again.
Amy says
I’m raising giants too, so I totally get this! My son is 18 and 6’4″. We aren’t allowed to have a garden in our current home, so we have to buy all our produce as well. You definitely have to take into account size of kids. People spending a lot less with a lot more kids tend to have a lot of little ones.
kaci says
We also go to aldis then walmart. I shop monthly and for meat we recently started growing our own live stock since we moved to the country. I do usually have to get milk, eggs and bread weekly with my WIC checks. I have only lilttles. Thanks for your tips on buying bulk.
lisacb12 says
The other thing I find with bulk (my parents live with me and there are just some things that are way cheaper for their care): you need to remember what you have stashed and where it is! We’ve re-bought a few times because the stash has been moved and their home worker is not good at looking around. It’s not the end of the world, because it will get used, but just takes up more valuable space when we are trying desperately to purge.
Tricia says
Im not sure your aware of an ad on your site showing a pregnancy test thats positive and the question ” not the gift you wanted?” we can help. Im not ging to dignify their ad by pressing on it but I imagine its not a pro family message that you might not want to convey to your followers. God bless, and thanks for the food budgeting tips.