August 21, 2019
How much do you spend grocery shopping?
Grocery shopping is a sport. The first challenge is parking your car and remembering to grab your reusable bags, the second challenge is navigating the store and trying to stick to your list, the third challenge is deciding which checkout line to go to, and the fourth is loading the groceries into your car and then putting them away once you get home. Whew, I’m exhausted just typing it!
So how much does all of this work cost for a household? It’s different for everyone but after my poll last week it seems that the average household for two adults and one child is between $120-$160. I didn’t find out if they bought organic or not (a post coming on that later this month!) but this is the cost to feed most each week. For my family, we spend between $120-$140 a week. We eat all our meals at home unless it’s a special occasion or feel the need to get out. The cost in groceries has gone up since Poppy started eating more solids (I nurse her only twice a day) and I’ve been buying a few more things organic, before Poppy I never bought organic. No food goes to waste in our home (leftover queen!) so spending this much each week works for us and our budget. We never spend beyond our means and we could manage to spend less if we ever needed to save more. Quick note on saving: we both work really hard to be able to save money each month. I know this isn’t easy but it’s so helpful to get to a point where you can start saving money for the future. You never know what could come up! We were able to pay for our wedding and have a baby because of the way we save. Neither of us come from money so saving has changed our quality of life. I grew up on food stamps and that helped me learn the value of saving once I was out on my own at 18 years old.
There are ways to eat a well balanced diet with whatever budget you have. We’ve found that Trader Joe’s gives us the best bang for our buck. Yes, Famer’s Markets are amazing and who doesn’t love Erewhon?! But if this isn’t doable for your family that is perfectly ok! It’s not realistic in our home to shop all organic or go to Whole Foods for everything we need. Groceries are groceries and we all feed ourselves in a way that works best for our family.
Thoughts on grocery shopping? Where do you shop? I know my mother-in-law is the coupon queen.
I shop at farmers markets, farm stands and co-ops and rely on the grocery stores for things I can’t get there. I shy away from anything that is not a whole food, both for our own health, and the health of the planet as well. While I love shopping at most of these places for our food, it is still tedious when you think about how many times you have to pick each item up from market, to check out, to car, to home, and back to your own shelves!