How Much Does a Family of 5 Spend on Groceries

To learn how much money you spend on groceries every calendar month, you can add upwardly receipts, view your credit card transaction history or track your spending with a budget app .

Merely figuring out how much y'all should spend on groceries isn't quite as straightforward.

Here'south how to work grocery costs into your monthly budget .

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What is the average cost of groceries per month?

The average cost of groceries for U.S. households is $4,942, based on 2020 information from the U.Due south. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This works out to well-nigh $412 per month. Grocery spending has likely increased during the pandemic with people going out to consume less often.

While you tin can apply this average as a criterion for your ain spending , it isn't the best indicator of how much you, or others, tin really afford.

What should my monthly grocery budget be?

Your grocery budget depends on many factors, including where you shop, what you buy, how many people you're feeding and whether you lot shop online or in person. Not certain where to kickoff? Here are a couple of guidelines you lot can use to come up with a number.

Follow USDA nutrient plans

The U.S. Department of Agriculture creates monthly food plans you can utilise as guidance for grocery spending. The plans gauge the boilerplate cost of nutritious, dwelling-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 approximate for a family of four, defined every bit a male person and female between ages 20 and 50 and two children, ages half dozen to eight and 9 to eleven, put the cost of the thrifty plan at $855 per month.

These nutrient 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/thirty/20 rule to budget for groceries

The fifty/30/20 upkeep can help you work out how much to spend on groceries based on your specific income and expenses. Following this framework, you spend almost fifty% of your monthly after-tax income on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on sayings and debt repayment.

Most groceries fall under the "needs" category, only non every item at the grocery store qualifies equally 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 lot'd carve up that amongst your expenses:

• $one,600 for needs similar bones groceries, housing and transportation.

• $960 for wants similar meals out, entertainment and travel.

• $640 for savings and loan payments across the minimum.

How much of that $1,600 should go toward groceries depends on the monthly price of your other essentials. Let'due south say yous pay $850 for rent and utilities, $200 in student loan payments and $415 for your automobile payment and insurance. That adds up to $one,465 — leaving but $135 per calendar month for vital groceries. If that won't cover everything y'all demand, or if you want to plan for some treats, you can take boosted coin from your "wants" upkeep.

Before you lot build a upkeep

NerdWallet breaks down your spending and shows you lot ways to save.

Observe ways to stretch your grocery upkeep

If y'all're struggling to fit nutrient costs into your budget, look for ways to save money on groceries . Start with these simple strategies:

• Look in your refrigerator and pantry earlier making a shopping listing.

• Join store loyalty programs to earn rewards.

• Check the Lord's day paper, apply an app and explore other means to go coupons .

Your financial position, expenses and spending behavior volition presumably change throughout your life. Make certain to revisit your grocery budget every month and adjust.

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Source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/how-much-should-i-spend-on-groceries

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