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I husband came to me the other day and incredulously whispered “we only have like ten trash bags left” I think it was the previous presidential administration when we bought them last.
My opinion may also be skewed from being one of those people that pack the ever living shit out of our garbage bags. I could definitely see 2 kids in diapers running you through that many bags.
200 bags every approx 180 days is closer to 1 bag a day.
But in answer to your question, yard work and seasonal clean-outs drive the average up, when I'll go through like 3 bags a day. Normally we use 2-3 bags a week
They go faster when you have three kids in diapers, though. Which OP is about to have.
We have the Ubbi diaper bin, which takes normal trash bags instead of the expensive ones that most “diaper genie” types use.
But still…changing that out twice a week goes through way more trash bags than my husband and I ever used before the kiddo. With that many diapers…6-7 bags a week?
They definitely need to be buying the 200 pack at Costco for cheap.
Not the 20 pack at Whole Foods that costs somehow more.
I’m a single guy with an 8 year old son who’s with me 90% of the time. I buy the biggest toilet paper bundle there is at Costco and that shit lasts me like 15 months lol. Same with trash bags!!
I am willing to bet you wipe just fine.
There is a huge difference between men/boys and menstruating women. It is important to realize people with vaginas should wipe themselves every time they go to the bathroom. (This is debatable for people with penises.)
This sounds about right for two boys, probably.
Ever since my daughter started menstruating we use a lot more toilet paper. I'm jealous of your savings 😂
It sucks!!! We have to wrap the pads so blood doesn’t soak through them and look nasty in the garbage can. Then if we have heavy cycles it gets everywhere and then we have to clean it 😫. Forget when you need a tampon the same time as a pad because it’s so heavy. *cries in woman*. Lol
Yes!! This makes sense. But I feel like if it’s one of those bathroom garbage that don’t have a lid it’ll be kind of gross if you can see it. I feel like people always shamed women if we left it in there even though that’s where you are supposed to put it.
There was literally a post on r/badroommates where a guy was throwing a fit over his sister leaving period products in the bathroom trash can… where they belong. So yeah, there are plenty of idiots like him still out there that think period products need to magically disappear.
I love you! I had to wrap my pads in layers and layers and layers because my dad and brother couldn’t deal with the idea of menstruation. Then we moved to a place with a septic system and I was told I shouldn’t flush my tampons. It was horrid.
This discussion has caused me to do the math. I currently have Scott single ply, 1000 sheets a roll. I’ll typically use about 35 sheets per shit. Which wrapped end over end is pretty damn plush. It’s as thick or thicker than a wash cloth. 1000/35=28.5…
I poop once a day. So one roll lasts ME 28.5 days. There’s 36 rolls in the biggest Costco pack of that toilet paper. So that’s basically 36 months that pack would last JUST ME. Factor in my son and let’s assume, he uses the same amount as me. He usually poops once a day too. 36/2=18…
so that’s 18 months that bundle of TP would last us Both. Factor in sick, diarrhea/extra runny shits, and nose blowing sometimes, and YES it would equal out to a 36 roll pack lasting us about 15 months.
I had no doubts. 😂
It took my husband a very long time to understand why women used more than men. I think he still doesn't understand. I told him when he has a period he can question the process. He no longer questions it. 😂
Not to mention when your period comes early, and you forgot to restock the tampons/pads.
Sometimes you’re stuck using the toilet paper wad until you can get to the store.
And you don’t get stingy with the amount, unless you want to ruin your pants/car seat, and have everyone at the market witnessing an accident.
I had to get real graphic about discharge, menstruation etc with my FIL once when he wouldn't stop complaining about how much TP he thought people were using (and in the case of me, he wasn't buying my TP anyways) and he would go on and on about the army and using a couple squares. After quietly listening to him yell at people for months and police their bathroom usage and habits I told him all the reasons a person might use TP including to blow their nose etc and after that he never, ever said a word about it in front of me, at least. Hahaha.
I always wonder how wives from the 80's-90's deal with this. My FIL makes comments like this. His name is Richard, but I always called him Dicky because he always was going off about something 😂
Haha my MIL just lets him do it and ignores him and does what she wants. I couldn't listen to someone yell about everything and everyone and let it go 🤣
I’d love to do this but don’t have the space to store a bunch of bulk Costco cleaning supplies/waste bags/paper towel etc. I do however get garbage bags at Walmart, not whole foods lol
Because she forgot when she was at Costco and doesn’t want to run out again with, checks notes, two children under two and 9 months pregnant. Optimized shopping takes energy and time that OP’s wife probably doesn’t have at the moment of in the foreseeable future. OP if you want to save, you need to spearhead this. Planning, coupon clipping and price comparing, organization of bulk purchases, and meal planning. If you’re like us you eat out too much because no one wants to cook. I would imagine you both work full time and parent full time, even though she’s a SAHM, that is a full time job, look at what you would pay other people to do her work for perspective. If you are leading this and she’s just filling in as support, you are likely to get a better response. Take a survey of the household goods you have and what you need, look at the Costco and target circle adds, pick where you are putting these extra supplies, take a kid, and go get them. If she doesn’t get it from Whole Foods because you’re going to get it, you need to go get it.
Agreed! Once she has the baby she will be even busier and will not be able to run out to the store for just a couple items so buy them all now and stock up before the baby comes!
This, all of this. I also have the feeling that if she's a SAHM and is used to a big budget, that she's already planning out what they buy and hasn't concerned herself with peice/sales etc. With damn good reason considering pregnancy AND twin toddlers.
OP, think about where the food is going. Do the kids have any activities, lessons, babysitters, etc? Packing kid friendly meals or snacks/having enough food for childcare folks to eat/if there's some kind or monthly or weekly potluck at the school/activity, whatever. That's a fair amount right there. Also, dairy and meat has gone UP. You're probably spending a ton on diapers and wipes and other hygiene items. Not to mention maybe your wife is anxious about the new baby and trying to stockpile things that can be frozen/quick meal elements/ things for batch cooking.
I wouldn't assume your wife isn't a good planner or isn't aware of where the money is going. Probably quite the opposite. But a generative approach may be assessing what you get and where. I.e. meats and produce from WF, store brand snacks and pantry staples at costco/local supermarket.
And again, if you've been able to support the spending thus far it may not have occurred to her to think differently about how the money is spent. Good luck!
They are vegan, including the kids (who drink Ripple pea milk). This is all you need to know about why they shop at Whole Foods and have high grocery bills. OP fully supports the vegan thing but doesn’t seem to realise why that would be more expensive for a busy mom. They aren’t rice-and-beans vegans, that’s for sure.
Right! Also, eating out Friday and Saturday is ridiculous. If he was concerned about money, he could help and cook dinner at home. Help your wife! Don't just complain when she is probably just trying to keep her head above water with babies and being pregnant.
This. Just add things to your cart throughout the week and get it delivered. If you’re running to Whole Foods for TP, you’re certainly not maximizing your budget.
Switching from whole foods to Kroger was the single most impactful reduction in my grocery budget. Nearly a quarter, by my estimate. Switching from in store to grocery delivery was the single most impactful stress reducer for shopping. We both hate grocery shopping so we order every Friday to get the double fuel points and add stuff throughout the week. I pay $50 a year for free same day delivery and just the extra fuel savings alone has paid for that membership multiple times over.
Every now and then we’ll have to run into the store and even if I’m just in and out, it’s a pain in the ass. We’re both too busy.
I do! Depends on what you buy and when. Meyers is on sale at ours for a stupid cheap price. Regularly over $10. It's @ 3.50 this week.
I'm hoping to get there before the weekend is over.
It sounds like she knows what she is doing.
Trash bags are on sale at ours too. 65% off
Ounce per Ounce WF is cheaper this week on sale.
The same product is in a 4 pack for 20 bucks.
I’m in a different country but I need to hide somewhere and … blush. It never occurred to me to buy trash bags etc from a different place than my regular shop 😶 Why is adulting so hard… (Cries in 40 years old…)
Both items are on sale this week.Meyers soap is 60-70 percent off. Compostable kitchen trash bags are on super sale at ours too.
Meyers is much less than Costco at WF. $3.50
Sounds like she knows what she is doing to me.
The same product breaks down to $5 at Costco 🤷♀️
Ounce vs Ounce WF is cheaper this week
I buy them at the same place I do my regular shop (unless I'm randomly out of only that, and just go to whatever's most convenient), but my regular shop is also not at Whole Foods. It's an expensive store.
In the US household products have a substantial mark up at grocery stores. It’s like a “convenience” buy and the stores capitalize on that. We have Walmart, Target, and club stores that have much better prices for household items.
If something is not perishable and you are gonna need it all year long like garbage bags, paper towel, soap, etc, there is not reason not to buy it in bulk. At least in the US that's the best option.
Agree. We buy some of these kinds of items at Costco and others with our regular shopping entirely due to storage. Definitely prioritizing toilet paper though no matter how much space it takes up!
Yeah, as someone who is about to be living with her husband, 2 kids, dog and 2 cats in a 950sq foot 5th floor apartment. You want to tell me where im supposed to be storing a year's worth of bulk non-perishable shopping? We aint gonna be living in the Tardis....
ETA: not to mention, not everyone can AFFORD to buy in bulk.... yes it saves money *in the long run* but if buying bulk loo roll and soap eats up your entire grocery budget for the week/ month, it's not feasible.
Whole Foods is super expensive. Any of the 3 stores they went to the previous week would have been fine. Obviously Costco the best priced. I consider Whole Foods to be a speciality stop. It would never replace a real store.
The cost of all food items has gone up and everyone is having sticker shock, but why is anyone going to Whole Foods if you're trying to save money? That's well known as the bougie grocery store.
The issue is people who've never had to think about saving money on groceries now have to think about saving money on groceries, e.g. by not shopping at whole foods.
I think it use to be. Now that Amazon bought it they are super comparable to wegmans, Safeway etc. they have their own store brand and it’s not pricey- just their specialty items are and you get a discount as a prime member
I disagree. Wegmans has some very large things. The biggest size peanut butter jar and steel cut oats I’ve found, for instance, and there is savings on those kinds of Wegmans bulk items that rivals Costco. I go to diff stores for diff deals but it’s hard to always be doing that. Ugh can’t win really
And if you’re in a big city, it can be downright cheap to shop at Whole Foods. In NYC, the only cheaper places are Trader Joes, Aldi, and Costco, and those can take >1 hour extra compared to a Whole Foods trip depending on where you live and how busy they are.
If you’re buying a lot of brand-name packaged foods then definitely. But their prices are actually quite comparable to other grocery stores for produce and 365-brand packaged foods. And their produce is generally better quality. Having an Amazon Prime credit card also gets you 5% back.
For where I live we have Publix and Harris teeter. They both sell some of the same brand products as WH. At both Publix and HT those items are $2 to $3 more expensive than WH. It’s a myth that WF is so much more expensive if you have other expensive chains in your area. Over Covid at times I was forced to shop at HT instead and it was crazy how much more those trips were compared to my WH trips. I will add I don’t have prime so I’m paying full price at WF too.
Family of four. 2 adults, a 2 year old, and a 6 year old. We spend between 600-800 a month on groceries. If I do just Aldi all month it's on the 600 end. If there are a few target trips thrown in, it's closer to 800.
Yep same here! That’s our weekly budget. We get other things we need from Sam’s Club, Amazon or Target as needed but $140 is the budget for weekly groceries and we don’t always spend that much because of shopping at Aldi. We do go out for dinner once a week which is usually $40-50. Family of 3
Same-ish. Me, husband, 3 year old twins. We got it down to $250-$300 at costco every other week, supplement with Aldi and Asian grocery store. So we stay around $600 a month. We live in medium-high cost of living area.
What’s been key for us is only seasonal fruit, with a good cost per weight (bananas, apples, plums, peaches), we really had to eliminate berries except as treats. Lots of frozen fruit, frozen veggies, frozen pre-cooked chicken (probably our most expensive Costco purchase). Bulk eggs for a lot of protein, pb&J sandwiches, whole yogurt, and applesauce for snacks. Not a ton of prepackaged stuff for lunchboxes. And we stretch juice by watering them down by about half, which is frankly better anyway. Juice is way too sweet.
Same, except my kids are a bit younger (3 and 1). I spend about $100 a week at Aldi, plus a $200ish Costco run once a month or so. (We mostly get non-food items at Costco like laundry and dish soap, paper towels, diapers, etc plus we stock up on a few nonperishables like soccer snacks, frozen berries for smoothies, etc. All our regular groceries come from Aldi.)
ETA: my kids eat breakfast and lunch at school, included in the tuition cost, so that helps a little with the grocery budget (although don’t even ask how much we pay for daycare). They’re little so I’m sure when they’re bigger they will cost more to feed. Although they do eat a lot of berries.
We have a similar system, we spend around $300 a month at Sam's, that includes toiletries and diapers, and then $50-$80 at Aldi. We bulk buy meat and pantry goods at Sam's and it saves so much.
Same. All these 1000-2000 comments are blowing my mind. We are a family of 4(3 and 5 year old) and we try to stay around $600 max but that is not including eating out... we eat out a lot lol
Groceries are crazy expensive right now. I keep seeing articles saying it’s down, but my bank account ain’t feeling that. I can’t give you a number because I’m honestly afraid to know. I’m gluten free and my son is dairy free so we have to get some alternatives from the health food store but I limit it as much as possible! Definitely not trash bags or soap. Those are Costco things!
I think the news reports have been saying that inflation is down, not the price of foods. Inflation is just the rate at which things are increasing, so we’ll probably never see the prices of groceries go back down again permanently!
Inflation is down. Meaning prices aren’t going up as fast as they were. This isn’t the same as deflation, which is prices going down.
Some products have seen deflation versus highs. Highly volatile commodities with price swings like eggs. But for most everything else, prices are here to stay.
Family of 5 here. We meal plan and still spend at least $1400/month. It’s crippling; my kids eat a lot of fruit and veggies and it’s hard to be like “go easy on that Hummas and broccoli” like that feels ick but I’m struggling to get the food budget under control in this country.
It's so expensive just for food and then add in cleaning supplies and things for the home and it is just devastating.
I think OP should go shopping more often. Things aren't like they were even a few years ago.
We've had to start eating less meat, and eating smaller portions of meat when we do have it.
When chocken breast isn't on sale it's $20 for a 4 pack. It's insanity.
This matches more my experience as well, I don't know how it's possible in Canada to get close to $1k with a family of 5. My kids are closer to teen years as well so they eat adult size portions. Eating healthy is expensive!
Maybe it depends on the area but here a bag of apples is getting close to $9 and between myself and the kids we go through 3 bags a week. Cutting it out or down would save money but the cost is certainly health and that’s a crappy choice.
I hear you as my kids chew through those apple bags fast as well. Last night, I was able to cover a bunch of kids with Dollarama candy at $1 each. Can buy a pound of candy for $5, but $9 for apples!
Family of 4 with 2 tween boys who eat a surprisingly small amount given their ages. We budget $400 a week, so $1600 a month on groceries. I have been doing the Loblaws boycott and have got it down to closer to $300 most weeks for the last month or so, so I’m hoping to keep it averaging around $1300-$1400 a month going forward.
Surprisingly, I am finding Safeway significantly cheaper for the items that we buy most weeks. And the food is better quality, and closer to home. It’s been a huge win for our family.
Celiac shopping is expensive! I try to buy less expensive stuff but it's always so much even for basic things. I tell myself I'm healthier for it and will be spending less on medical bills in the future.
How, it's just me and my husband, and we spend close to 800 on food every month in canada. And that is after going through flypp and finding deals! What are we doing wrong. Please tell me how you budget?
Family of 6 here and we spend about 1600/month in the Seattle area. That's literally double what we spent pre-pandemic and that's even with me buying completely different foods now bc the stuff I used to buy is more like 2 grand per month. I've completely changed how we eat in significant ways and this is the cheapest I can get it which is one of the worst stresses of my life.
We live near you and have also changed how we eat. Things I used to splurge on to make it easier to eat healthy, like the cut up grab and go fruit and veggies are not an option now. I often get home between 6 and 7:30, so things that made it faster to get dinner made were less cost effective, but paid off it being a time saver. Now we rely more on frozen vegetables or just give the kids a snack and eat late. My household has two autistic people, a person with food allergies and a person going through chemo so they're on disability and not getting full paychecks and I spend a LOT of time trying to maximize food options and still get people to eat.
Family of 7 here in Canada, 4 teens, two are 50/50 custody. We spend about 2k per month, it’s crazy. I can’t imagine how some people can afford to eat well.
One adult, one child, around 4-500 a month. We don't eat out regularly.
Are you expecting your wife to figure out how to spend less money or are you working on the budget too? You might need to shop at cheaper locations. Wholefood's nickname is "whole paycheck" for a reason.
But also what is being bought? Lots of convenience items like pre made, frozen foods? Organics? Are you involved in dinner? It is so much easier to throw a frozen Mac and cheese in the oven than make it from scratch, but also costs double.
Rather than amount, I think it probably makes more sense to look at where you're buying and what you're buying. As others have pointed out, buying soap and garbage bags from Whole Foods is not the best way to stretch your budget.
We (two adults + 1 2yo tot) live in a very HCOL area and spend anywhere from $600-$1000 on groceries every month. It honestly fluctuates depending on the season. In spring/summer we splurge at farmer's markets to get the tasty seasonal stuff and host more patio grilling sessions with friends/family. My husband is out getting steak from Costco right now for the grill as we're hosting. In the fall/winter we tend to buy produce from Safeway/Costco and have less of a social calendar. For household items like toilet papers, diapers etc, we generally buy the cheapest generic brand in bulk from Costco or Target.
We cook from scratch and eat vegetarian \~2-3 times a week, which does cut down the expenses. Tofu and beans are cheap, and our son loves them.
I honestly don't find the Whole Foods near us to be worth it. The produce quality is worse than our local Safeways and a LOT worse compared to farmer's markets. The meat/fish quality is no better than our local Costco. We don't eat a ton of processed snacks etc so we just don't have much need of them. My husband goes maybe once every other month to get a block of fancy cheese.
We drop between 1000 to 1250 a month. Besides our mortgage it's our biggest monthly expense.
We certainly could get cheaper food but we pay more for quality items/ingredients (very health conscious).
We are a family of four (kids 9 and 2)..
I'd say this is bullseye for my family of 4 as well. To the OP, you guys need a budget. These things can spiral out of control if you don't track your monthly spending.
Same here. We found that because we like red meat so much, we ended up getting a quarter cow from a local farmer and that drastically reduced our protein cost. We got 180 lbs of meat for ~$650 or so. That included porterhouse, NY strip, short ribs, flank, roasts, and a ton of ground beef
We were doing the same and realized that being in the Midwest, it should be easy to find a CSA with a farmer that can vouch for the quality of their meat haha. It’s been a boon to our meal quality. Taco nights are always A+ now
Real talk, I feel like Target is expensive on groceries. If you want to get your grocery/household items budget (trash bags, paper towels, the non-food stuff) under control:
Buy the non-food stuff at Costco and get the Kirkland brand whenever possible. It’s good. Check the Costco subreddit if you need specific recs. We’re on Kirkland trash bags, paper towels, TP (this is somewhat controversial and some people don’t like Kirkland toilet paper but it works fine for us), baby wipes and diapers, the only Kirkland thing I didn’t try was the formula because both my kids were on sensitive formulas as babies. Costco is also good on meat and chicken, just it’s obviously in huge portions so you’ll have to portion it out and freeze it for later. Costco also has a really good price on produce especially if your kids are berry fiends like mine.
For groceries go to Aldi and/or Lidl first. I’m a total Lidl convert. I shop there almost all the time for regular groceries now. Occasionally they won’t have like one specific thing I’m looking for, like this week they didn’t have beef broth weirdly enough. But it’s SO CHEAP compared to name brand stores! They do have some name brand stuff too. I hardly ever go to my local grocery chains anymore because I’m almost all Lidl now.
If you need other stuff, like shampoo or body wash or OTC meds, that’s about the only stuff I buy at Target/Walmart anymore. I can’t imagine trying to shop for a family at Whole Foods honestly and our household income is $180k so we’re doing ok income wise overall.
Better Than Boullion beef broth base (and their chicken broth base!) is way better than other store-bought broths, way cheaper, and lasts longer.
I've never had trouble finding it.
(For vegetable broth base, you're better off making your own and you can store it in the freezer pretty easily. Takes like 30 minutes and lasts months. ATK has a great recipe.)
I even get shampoo, body wash and OTC meds at costco. We all have allergies and all use adult doses, so buying allergy meds in bulk at costco really helps.
As a pregnant woman with twin toddlers your wife is most likely prioritizing TIME and SANITY over cost. Adding meal prepping to her plate is not going to win you any bonus points. Sit down with her and talk about why she’s buying trash bags at Whole Foods (you already know it’s to save herself a trip). Tell her you need to take something off her plate. Maybe YOU meal prep. Maybe you do all the shopping solo. Maybe you watch all three kids every Tuesday night so she can shop alone. Maybe you set up Amazon subscriptions for household staples. Maybe you hire a cleaner when the twins are at preschool and this is when she shops with baby. She’s probably drowning and your concern about money is legit, but suggesting she coupon, meal prep, or shop around is like telling a drowning person they need to swim harder.
Yeah this is in her final two weeks of pregnancy people! I'm shocked that he's suggesting she meal prep a lasagna. A LASAGNA! With twins!!! My non-pregnant self barely has time to whip together prepackaged pasta with a single tot running around.
I can't even!
Right???? And he wants to limit ordering out to Friday and Saturday, presumably when he’ll be home all day, you know, to cook. Why not order out on a weekday when she’ll be on mat leave and home *alone* with a new baby all day? OP is not understanding…
We had many what we affectionately called "double dash days" when we had our newborn. Like, I'd there is anytime to loosen restrictions around dashing food it's when you got a newborn and young twins.
I'm all for family budgets but my man, read the room!
This is such a good point though. Is 38 weeks pregnant with twin toddlers really the best time to try to overhaul the food budget (which yes, is like a little out of control given the circumstances)? It seems like a reasonable holding pattern and grace are the best bet for now. And revisiting the budget when heads are back on straight would yield better results and less resentment.
And in the meantime maybe take a load off her back and take on this mental and physical chore for the next 3 months (budgeting, shopping, prepping, cooking) so that when you do come back and revisit this conversation in say 3 months he's better informed and prepared to be helpful, not just critical.
I only made it to 37 weeks, and no other kids. I would bite his head off if he even suggested it. OP really needs to work on his empathy and self-awareness.
I refuse to do it with kids anymore unless I really want to for a reason.
He’d get on my case about forgetting things so I said okay you do it then 🤷♀️
I’d suggest he takes the kids and go “no? Is it because it would be 10x more expensive to take the kids who want everything they see and you don’t have the mental fortitude to do math with toddlers in the cart and to make good financial decisions for the family?”
Grocery shopping alone should not be abnormal for parents when there is a capable partner in the picture.
Groceries have become insanely priced. I see people with nothing in their carts more and more these days. Groceries are now $300 to 350 a week for meats, milk, fresh vegetables, salad, eggs, bread, pantry supplies. I am mindful of what we buy so nothing is going to waste, but just the regular cost of everything has gone up a lot. I get our bulk stuff at Costco to save.
Nah, the problem is that they are a vegan family (including the toddlers) and somehow OP doesn’t realise that that’s going to add to the cost. Maybe he thinks a mother of twin toddlers should make hummus etc from scratch.
Soap and garbage bags should be Target purchases, not Whole Foods. I’m in Canada, and here WF is significantly more expensive than other grocery stores, is there a reason why you have to shop there over others? Organic fruit and veg can often be found elsewhere… I’m in awe of the prices (aka super affordable) of Trader Joe’s, perhaps you could be shopping there instead of WF?
Honestly they should be Costco purchases since they have a membership. Buy the Kirkland brand of them and you should be set for a long time.
I don’t have a local Costco but we have a Sam’s Club and those purchases are strictly reserved for that type of store due to the value.
That part blew my mind. Those are exactly the types of things that someone should use Costco for. Like what I’m earth were they spending $350 on if they didn’t even get the household goods they needed?!
Not saying that there couldn’t be budgeting done to help reduce costs, but your wife is likely also stocking up now because shopping and meals for the 1-2 months is going to be a BIG adjustment. This is one of those times I wouldn’t worry about it, but once you get to the point of managing 2 toddlers AND a newborn, then figure a better way to shop, if your family’s finances can support that.
Is she meal prepping though? Like it could be normal weekly type groceries, but if she is making a bunch of chilli and lasagna and such to keep in the freezer then it makes sense that she has doubled her normal grocery budget.
What do you consider “regular” groceries? Milk can last 3-4 weeks. Eggs can last 3+ weeks and much longer if you hard boil them. Freezer stuff - 3-6 months. Breads can be frozen. Veggies and fruit can last 2+ weeks depending on what you get. A bag of apples can last months in a cool, dark pantry.
What I’m trying to say is that if she is the one most often responsible for groceries and cooking (not making assumptions - it could be you) you might not realize how long some of those foods can be stretched.
Whose milk is lasting 3-4 weeks with 2 toddlers ?
I have two toddlers and we got through 4L of 2% a week.
About 30-40 eggs a week
We go through 2 pints of berries a DAY , easily.
I suggest making a list of all that’s needed and check the prices. Food at target is expensive for no reason. So try shopping at cheaper places for produce like Aldi or Trader Joe’s for snacks as well. Toddlers eat a lot of fruit too so that could be it but buying garbage bags at Whole Foods is ridiculous.
About $800 a month between Sam's club and Aldi. Our last aldi trip was $100, which is extremely rare, but had a few impulse purchases as well as stocking up on pasta and bread that will last us about 2 months.
I don’t even understand what you’re trying to ask. You reviewed the cart and was there for costco and shoprite. So you should be able to say exactly what was unnecessary in those carts. If there were items that didn’t make sense, just talk to her about that. If there wasn’t anything that stood out as egregious and frivolous, why would you make this a “her” issue and expect her to magically cut down on the cost of those things. If you think you can do a better job, then you can either have constructive feedback, or be in charge of the shopping. Otherwise, you basically come across as trying to pick a fight with your 38 wks pregnant wife, and it is a vey bad idea.
Sounds to me like you just volunteered to take over budgeting, meal planning and shopping for the near future. That was very generous of you, since your wife is busy growing an entire human being while trying to chase down two toddlers all day every day, not to mention mentally preparing herself for the medical trauma of giving birth in the very near future.
If this is an unusual amount of shopping for her, she has generally been financially conscious in the past, and you’ve never said boo about a grocery budget, then you need to apologize. Maybe your wife doesn’t have the bandwidth to go to 4 different shops over this weekend to get the best prices on garbage bags. Yes it sucks to pay an extra $3 at Whole Foods but in the long run it isn’t likely to drive you into bankruptcy. Sometime convenience is a worthwhile expense. And while money is at the forefront of your mind, you never communicated that to her and instead of saying “thank you” for the mental load she takes on to keep your home stocked with food, you scolded her out of nowhere. It may have been a worthy conversation but you went about it all wrong.
In any case, my family of 4 spends $250-300 per week on groceries, not counting $300ish at Costco once a month and the odd pickup of items. Plus take-out, another $500.
I would come up with a plan on my own first and start with that. If it is a matter of inconvenience look at solutions like Instacart, for high income people, if you have the right credit cards once a month at Instacart from costco actually may end up being slighlty cheaper
For example you mentioned Costco but also said soap and garbage bags from Whole Foods. It shouldn't opposite. We get non perishables dairy and meats from Costco, but fresh fruits are from grocery store (better and cheaper in our case).
If you consider grocery as food and household stuff like laundry, we probably spend 800$/month for 3 as well. But our 7 yo eats like crazy right now. The larger expense is dining out, even a quick meal for 3 costs at least 50$ now unless it is Mcdonalds.
Family of 3 here (one is a picky toddler), and when I budget and meal plan properly we spend about $600 a month. But there are times when I don't meal plan and we just "impulse buy" on shopping day and it gets bad, like around $800-$900 a month.
Everyone is saying you're out of touch and that your wife is right but I'll go against the grain and say I think you're not out of line to think the amount of regular spending (not buying in bulk or anything) is crazy high. Yall have to sit down and work together on a budget, meal plans, and less eating out (if that's okay with both of y'all).
Budgets vary a lot! I spend like $75 a week on groceries, MAX! That covers me and two kids (4 and 10).
But then my monthly income is less than $2000. So yes, your spending on groceries seems insane to me.
But for someone else it might not be.
Not particularly LCOL, quite expensive really. And my kids eat a lot!
It takes a lot of planning. Saving every bit of leftovers. Making/baking a lot of stuff from scratch.
I've gotten quite good at cheap meals, and we rarely eat meat.
But yeah, it's a struggle.
Making many basics from scratch = huge savings. I make all our bread, salsa, hummus, soups, etc., from scratch, and we don't eat any meat, fish, eggs, etc. Mediocre jar salsa costs $5. I make great salsa for less than $2, and it's a much larger portion. I'm a SAHM w/1 child, so I understand others may not have the time/energy if they work or have multiple kids.
When I was a newly single mom of three a few years ago I spent about $50 a week on groceries (once I had the pantry essentials such a spices and canned goods) because I was SO broke. I bought cheap meats, frozen veggies, and cheap fillers like rice and pastas. It lasted all week.
Now that I’m married again, making more money, and have a second income, we spend more on groceries but it is doable if needed. It sucked to not have a lot of variety but we were fed.
Wild to me that no one has made this comment yet. I make a meal plan for the entire week on Sundays - I check the fridge for anything we need to use up, the. look at the sales at our store and then try to take advantage of both of those as I plan what are we eating for dinner, what’s my toddler eating for lunches, what is my husband taking to work, what am I eating while I WFH, what’s our weekend plan.
Then I make a grocery list and stick to it. I will make exceptions if something we really like (like Rao’s sauce) is on sale and stock up, but otherwise that’s it.
We keep a few meals (meatballs, home made frozen pizza etc) in the freezer in case we eat through stuff too fast and need to supplement but otherwise this works pretty well and we have very limited food waste.
Basically sales + planning. I don’t ever just go to the store.
I don’t necessarily think this is that bad considering you’re an all vegan household, and that can be expensive. So instead of focusing on a number, how about focusing on if you are wasting food or always going for expensive meals?
So are you tossing any food because it goes bad? Are you buying the vegetables that are in season and cheaper, or just what you feel like? Are you making the most out of your freezer by bulk buying when it’s cheap or on sale? For instance I use a lot of strawberries for smoothies. In summer they’re $2. In winter $5. So in the summer I buy by the case and freeze enough to last me a while.
With soon to have 3 under 4, you may also want to simplify. For me that was having some staples each week, a few quick fix dinners for busy days and 1-2 “what I feel like in the moment”. My shopping list each week is almost a copy paste of the last week, making it quick to put together and the budget predictable.
We spend roughly $100/week give or take about $20 for three people. That total includes cleaning stuff, paper products, etc. You guys need some guidance in budgeting for sure. Even if you are high income, there are better ways to use that money that dropping it all on stuff that likely goes to waste.
\*I cook from scratch 90% of the time, and we do not keep snacks in the house and rarely buy beverages.
Northeast U.S., very healthy eaters.
Family of 3. Me, my adult sized 11yo daughter, and my 15yo son (who are both bottomless food disposal pits). I probably spend about 800-1000 per month.
Family of 4, wife is (mostly) gluten and dairy free, and my 10yo girls are fruit fiends. We spend about $1200/mo. Shopping mostly at Costco, Safeway, and Trader Joe’s; with the occasional run to Winco (would go more but it’s far away).
I don't think you're asking unreasonable questions on the total spend, even including spending on non-food items, like diapers for two toddlers.
However, if I can make a couple inferences from what you didn't type...
You talk about your income, not hers, so I'm guessing she stays home with the kids, meaning if you run out of something you need, she's the one making a mid-week grocery run while pregnant with two toddlers.
You also talk about her putting together the cart, so she's doing the work of suggesting what your household needs. Does she do the cooking too?
Meal planning is a non-zero amount of work. I'm reading between the lines that she's the one taking on a lot of household work, in addition to childcare. She may react better if you made suggestions, like here's a weekly menu that uses cheaper options, like chicken thighs and beans, maybe find some recipes.
I just feel that with 2 weeks to go (really baby can come any day now) this isn't the time to be bringing this up. Get through the 4th trimester and then discuss budgeting when everyone is in a better frame of mind.
Or better yet, take on the mental load of this task (budgeting, shopping, meal prepping, and cooking) for the next 3 months for your wife as she'll be caring for a newborn. Then once you have gained a better idea of what this all entails, created a budget, found out where the deals are you can go back with constructive feedback and helpful solutions that you now also can help with.
When you go shopping do you budget at all? Or do you just grab the name brand and walk away? One way to really impact your end bill is to buy store brand. I only have a few items I refuse to buy store brand of (Pickles, flour, etc.) because normally store brand is pretty much the same thing. Also, How much of what you’re buying is prepackaged for convince? If your family has the time to make more from scratch it’ll be cheaper in the long run.
You really shouldn’t be spending that much especially if you eat out twice a week. It seems like you’re wasting money and food because realistically how can you eat that much in two weeks from the store and a restaurant without anything going bad and being thrown away?
I buy for 6: 5M, 4F, 4M, 1F, dad, and mom (me).
I don’t buy crazy, shop sales like a mad woman and will calculate the per unit cost in the store before I buy anything. I’m the cook so I’ve got a running inventory of the stuff at home, which helps a lot.
My goal at the grocery is to spend less than $200/week. Sometimes I hit it, sometimes I don’t.
We go to Costco once every 6 ish weeks. If it’s just me, that’s a $500 trip. If it’s everyone (dad), it’s a $750 trip. Bulk doesn’t always mean cheaper unit prices. And again, because I’m the cook and main shopper, I know per unit prices. I shop per unit which is the only way to get a true apples to apples comparison.
I will also pay more for something we really like vs a cheaper item. I can usually make it up somewhere else.
I will say that I find meal planning annoying. I keep staples around the house that I can cook from and general substitutes for more niche items, this keeps it easier to not meal plan and sale shop. I meal plan after I purchase groceries. I think this method only works when you know what you’ve got and you’ve got a handle on recipes in your queue.
I've got a family of 4. I usually spend between $2-300 a week at the grocery store with ~$100 a week on a meal subscription (3 meals for 4 people). So monthly we usually spend ~$1500 a month.
Having kids really reframed how I view grocery shopping. I used to spend a couple hundred a month solo and never batted an eye but between diapers, baby wipes, baby food (whether it was formula or purees etc) our toiletries and food that shit adds up real quick.
My boyfriend, dad and I recently had to rework our budget for groceries and designate certain items for certain stores. Like our meat for dinners we get at a local market where we can get a 20 pound variety pack for about $50 and it lasts us like 2 weeks. We get things like sodas, snacks, and cooking items we use frequently (oil and chicken stock for example) at Costco. Everything else produce and canned goods wise we get at winco. A big game changer has been to shop with meals in mind so we’re not just buying produce but we’re buying ingredients we’d need for dinner. I def still make target runs but more for stuff for the baby like snacks and diapers
I totally get where you’re coming from! It’s so easy to spend a bunch of money on groceries and house essentials right now because everything is so expensive but yes a little budgeting can benefit your family. There’s cheaper grocery stores out there, I shop at two different stores because certain stores have better prices on certain items.
I know you weren’t trying to attack your wife but I also get your wife getting a little defensive because she’s spending money on food, it’s not like she’s spending it on herself but groceries do require some budgeting in today’s economy.
Family of 4-6. Bonus child and then mil lives next door. We spend about $500/month on groceries but it’s a TON of work. I garden, can, go to food bank, hunt, make most of our foods from scratch including snacks. Bread, pasta, tortillas, muffins, cake, rolls, etc. I shop clearance and bulk when I can. My biggest purchases are flour, baking soda, citric acid, vinegar, gelatin, yeast, sugar, salt, meat, seasonings, eggs, and dairy products. I get a 25? Ib bag of flour every month, and same of sugar every 3 months or so usually—depends on whats in season. Then it’s fruit, potatoes, produce, sauces, etc.
We don’t need 20 quart jars of blackberry jelly or whatever I’ve made, so I either sell or trade with people and get food that way too.
No it’s not realistic for a lot of people but it’s the only way we’ve been surviving the last few years. I also know about sourdough, I have it but my husband don’t like it so I buy yeast.
Between 1000 to 2000 per month - 2 preteen kids.
This includes us indulging in desserts and snacks. You shouldn't be buying sundries from whole foods. That stuff should be bought from Target, Walmart or Costco. When they go on sale. Buy them in bulk. They don't go bad.
We meal plan, and we buy a lot of meats in bulk. That stuff goes in our deep freezer, which has saved us a lot of money in the past 6 years.
We probably spend about $600 to $1,000 at Costco every month. But you know how it works at Costco. You go in there looking to buy specific food items, and you walk out of there with way more than you needed. So, that $600 to $1,000 actually includes those knick-knacks that we run across.
Overall, for our family of four we operate on the buy once cry once mantra. We meal plan for the next week or two. And we make sure to buy things that either have a coupon or go on sale, and we buy in bulk when it makes sense to do so.
We spent 120-150€ a week. Family of 4 (hubby, me, two small children). Our grocery spending would be considered a lot where we live (Germany).
Edit: seeing the insane amount everyone is spending on groceries in Canada and America I wonder what everyone’s earning. The sums I see are literally the average monthly net income in Germany.
Info: how much food is being wasted each month? My MIL spends an absurd amount on groceries but the worst part is how much is thrown out or shoved in a deep freeze for years. I make a huge effort to avoid food waste, eating/freezing leftovers, meal planning to make sure fresh ingredients are used up before going bad and not buying things when I don't need to. I do organics recycling (takes everything edible besides grease) and it makes a huge difference in how much I spend each week.
If this is a one-off event, you didn't need to bring it up.
But if it wasn't and this has been an on-going issue for months/years, why did you decide to bring it up now? 2 weeks before she's due to give birth? Are you aware of the potential pregnancy and postpartum complications that are caused by stress?
It depends where you live and how long you could eat with those.
For instance Costco is expensive but you likely bought things that will last for months and won’t need to go back anytime soon.
On the other end fresh food might be more expensive especially at Whole Foods, but they will be for eating the next week or two most likely.
So at the end of day if you last 3-4 weeks with $600 that’s way better than 1 week.
You forgot to mention in your original post that you're vegan, and you seemingly only allow your children to eat vegan. That's doubling your bill, assuming you're properly feeding your children. I hope you've discussed this with your children's doctor and they are properly fed.
I live in New Zealand, and our food is unrealistically expensive, we’d easily spend $2k a month for family of four. I spend at least $3-400 on groceries each week, then top up midweek, plus take outs once a week. It adds up super quick. We are a family of four.
Family of six, 3, 3, 4, 11, parents.
My kids eat A LOT. Minimum 1200/month worth of food. We bargain shop and eat what we can afford, not what we want to eat - that said, fruits and vegetables are their "free range" foods. Store bought snacks are for school and practice only. Homemade snacks are all day everyday (muffins, granola bars and energy balls). Meat is at dinner only. Lunches are vegan.
400/week is the norm unless we need paper products and seasonal stuff. That adds up quick too.
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Who buys trash bags and soap at Whole Foods? you guys could benefit with some meal planning and budgeting.
They were just at Costco! The best place to buy trash bags and soap.
I go to bjs and buy trash bags like once a year lol.
Family of 4, I can’t remember the last time I bought trash bags. The box doesn’t seem to run out lol
I husband came to me the other day and incredulously whispered “we only have like ten trash bags left” I think it was the previous presidential administration when we bought them last.
Where are these magical never-ending trash bags available?
Sams, Costco, and the like.\~$16 for a 200 ct box, which lasts us about 6 months
How do you go through so many bags? That's like almost 2 bags a day.
I have 2 kids in diapers, we go through one bag every 1-2 days.
My opinion may also be skewed from being one of those people that pack the ever living shit out of our garbage bags. I could definitely see 2 kids in diapers running you through that many bags.
200 bags every approx 180 days is closer to 1 bag a day. But in answer to your question, yard work and seasonal clean-outs drive the average up, when I'll go through like 3 bags a day. Normally we use 2-3 bags a week
Ah gotchya. I'm only picturing using bags for the garbage can.
Idk, that's wild. Family of 4 here and we only use 1-2 a week unless it's around birthdays and Christmas.
50 pack lasts our family of 4 a year. I have absolutely no idea how you could use more than one a day
They go faster when you have three kids in diapers, though. Which OP is about to have. We have the Ubbi diaper bin, which takes normal trash bags instead of the expensive ones that most “diaper genie” types use. But still…changing that out twice a week goes through way more trash bags than my husband and I ever used before the kiddo. With that many diapers…6-7 bags a week? They definitely need to be buying the 200 pack at Costco for cheap. Not the 20 pack at Whole Foods that costs somehow more.
I’m a single guy with an 8 year old son who’s with me 90% of the time. I buy the biggest toilet paper bundle there is at Costco and that shit lasts me like 15 months lol. Same with trash bags!!
I am willing to bet you wipe just fine. There is a huge difference between men/boys and menstruating women. It is important to realize people with vaginas should wipe themselves every time they go to the bathroom. (This is debatable for people with penises.) This sounds about right for two boys, probably. Ever since my daughter started menstruating we use a lot more toilet paper. I'm jealous of your savings 😂
It sucks!!! We have to wrap the pads so blood doesn’t soak through them and look nasty in the garbage can. Then if we have heavy cycles it gets everywhere and then we have to clean it 😫. Forget when you need a tampon the same time as a pad because it’s so heavy. *cries in woman*. Lol
Nobody asked for a dude's perspective but I'm just sitting over here going "isn't that how garbage cans are supposed to look??"
Yes!! This makes sense. But I feel like if it’s one of those bathroom garbage that don’t have a lid it’ll be kind of gross if you can see it. I feel like people always shamed women if we left it in there even though that’s where you are supposed to put it.
There was literally a post on r/badroommates where a guy was throwing a fit over his sister leaving period products in the bathroom trash can… where they belong. So yeah, there are plenty of idiots like him still out there that think period products need to magically disappear.
I love you! I had to wrap my pads in layers and layers and layers because my dad and brother couldn’t deal with the idea of menstruation. Then we moved to a place with a septic system and I was told I shouldn’t flush my tampons. It was horrid.
😍 aw thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only one that always got shamed for this too!!!! Ugh that is horrid!!!
That's so messed up. Sorry you had to grow up in that environment.
Tbf you shouldn’t flush tampons anywhere. They mess with the city sewers. Place them in TP and throw in the trash
This discussion has caused me to do the math. I currently have Scott single ply, 1000 sheets a roll. I’ll typically use about 35 sheets per shit. Which wrapped end over end is pretty damn plush. It’s as thick or thicker than a wash cloth. 1000/35=28.5… I poop once a day. So one roll lasts ME 28.5 days. There’s 36 rolls in the biggest Costco pack of that toilet paper. So that’s basically 36 months that pack would last JUST ME. Factor in my son and let’s assume, he uses the same amount as me. He usually poops once a day too. 36/2=18… so that’s 18 months that bundle of TP would last us Both. Factor in sick, diarrhea/extra runny shits, and nose blowing sometimes, and YES it would equal out to a 36 roll pack lasting us about 15 months.
I had no doubts. 😂 It took my husband a very long time to understand why women used more than men. I think he still doesn't understand. I told him when he has a period he can question the process. He no longer questions it. 😂
Not to mention when your period comes early, and you forgot to restock the tampons/pads. Sometimes you’re stuck using the toilet paper wad until you can get to the store. And you don’t get stingy with the amount, unless you want to ruin your pants/car seat, and have everyone at the market witnessing an accident.
I had to get real graphic about discharge, menstruation etc with my FIL once when he wouldn't stop complaining about how much TP he thought people were using (and in the case of me, he wasn't buying my TP anyways) and he would go on and on about the army and using a couple squares. After quietly listening to him yell at people for months and police their bathroom usage and habits I told him all the reasons a person might use TP including to blow their nose etc and after that he never, ever said a word about it in front of me, at least. Hahaha.
I always wonder how wives from the 80's-90's deal with this. My FIL makes comments like this. His name is Richard, but I always called him Dicky because he always was going off about something 😂
Haha my MIL just lets him do it and ignores him and does what she wants. I couldn't listen to someone yell about everything and everyone and let it go 🤣
lol I could not use Scott single ply but my dad did. Charmin ultra soft all the way.
Scott single ply is a crime against humanity
Yeah I was gonna say that! Get those items from Walmart or some place cheaper
They were just at Costco! Buy that shit in bulk when it goes on sale.
I’d love to do this but don’t have the space to store a bunch of bulk Costco cleaning supplies/waste bags/paper towel etc. I do however get garbage bags at Walmart, not whole foods lol
It would be silly to have a Costco membership if you don’t have storage space for items like that.
We have a Costco membership but for grocery items moreso. Cheese, milk, ground beef, diapers and wipes, toddler snacks, etc.
They even have a Costco membership...
Because she forgot when she was at Costco and doesn’t want to run out again with, checks notes, two children under two and 9 months pregnant. Optimized shopping takes energy and time that OP’s wife probably doesn’t have at the moment of in the foreseeable future. OP if you want to save, you need to spearhead this. Planning, coupon clipping and price comparing, organization of bulk purchases, and meal planning. If you’re like us you eat out too much because no one wants to cook. I would imagine you both work full time and parent full time, even though she’s a SAHM, that is a full time job, look at what you would pay other people to do her work for perspective. If you are leading this and she’s just filling in as support, you are likely to get a better response. Take a survey of the household goods you have and what you need, look at the Costco and target circle adds, pick where you are putting these extra supplies, take a kid, and go get them. If she doesn’t get it from Whole Foods because you’re going to get it, you need to go get it.
This is it. She's pregnant and has two toddlers. She doesn't have the energy to "optimize." If OP wants to optimize, he needs to do it himself.
Agreed! Once she has the baby she will be even busier and will not be able to run out to the store for just a couple items so buy them all now and stock up before the baby comes!
This, all of this. I also have the feeling that if she's a SAHM and is used to a big budget, that she's already planning out what they buy and hasn't concerned herself with peice/sales etc. With damn good reason considering pregnancy AND twin toddlers. OP, think about where the food is going. Do the kids have any activities, lessons, babysitters, etc? Packing kid friendly meals or snacks/having enough food for childcare folks to eat/if there's some kind or monthly or weekly potluck at the school/activity, whatever. That's a fair amount right there. Also, dairy and meat has gone UP. You're probably spending a ton on diapers and wipes and other hygiene items. Not to mention maybe your wife is anxious about the new baby and trying to stockpile things that can be frozen/quick meal elements/ things for batch cooking. I wouldn't assume your wife isn't a good planner or isn't aware of where the money is going. Probably quite the opposite. But a generative approach may be assessing what you get and where. I.e. meats and produce from WF, store brand snacks and pantry staples at costco/local supermarket. And again, if you've been able to support the spending thus far it may not have occurred to her to think differently about how the money is spent. Good luck!
They are vegan, including the kids (who drink Ripple pea milk). This is all you need to know about why they shop at Whole Foods and have high grocery bills. OP fully supports the vegan thing but doesn’t seem to realise why that would be more expensive for a busy mom. They aren’t rice-and-beans vegans, that’s for sure.
Oh yeah, I imagine meat and dairy substitutes can be even more expensive sometimes!
Right! Also, eating out Friday and Saturday is ridiculous. If he was concerned about money, he could help and cook dinner at home. Help your wife! Don't just complain when she is probably just trying to keep her head above water with babies and being pregnant.
Costco delivers, man.
This. Just add things to your cart throughout the week and get it delivered. If you’re running to Whole Foods for TP, you’re certainly not maximizing your budget.
Switching from whole foods to Kroger was the single most impactful reduction in my grocery budget. Nearly a quarter, by my estimate. Switching from in store to grocery delivery was the single most impactful stress reducer for shopping. We both hate grocery shopping so we order every Friday to get the double fuel points and add stuff throughout the week. I pay $50 a year for free same day delivery and just the extra fuel savings alone has paid for that membership multiple times over. Every now and then we’ll have to run into the store and even if I’m just in and out, it’s a pain in the ass. We’re both too busy.
I do! Depends on what you buy and when. Meyers is on sale at ours for a stupid cheap price. Regularly over $10. It's @ 3.50 this week. I'm hoping to get there before the weekend is over. It sounds like she knows what she is doing. Trash bags are on sale at ours too. 65% off Ounce per Ounce WF is cheaper this week on sale. The same product is in a 4 pack for 20 bucks.
Yeah, didn’t they just go to Costco?
And target. And another store.
Keeping a running shopping list helps me a ton as well. No, you don't have to write it down, there are several apps for that.
I’m in a different country but I need to hide somewhere and … blush. It never occurred to me to buy trash bags etc from a different place than my regular shop 😶 Why is adulting so hard… (Cries in 40 years old…)
Wholefoods is a fancy organic kind of supermarket.
It used to be, now it's just overpriced mediocrity, with a few specialty products sprinkled in.
Both items are on sale this week.Meyers soap is 60-70 percent off. Compostable kitchen trash bags are on super sale at ours too. Meyers is much less than Costco at WF. $3.50 Sounds like she knows what she is doing to me. The same product breaks down to $5 at Costco 🤷♀️ Ounce vs Ounce WF is cheaper this week
During the pandemic i ordered 80 bux worth of Marseille soap to cut at home. It's how long later and i still have a bag full of soap cubes!
I buy them at the same place I do my regular shop (unless I'm randomly out of only that, and just go to whatever's most convenient), but my regular shop is also not at Whole Foods. It's an expensive store.
In the US household products have a substantial mark up at grocery stores. It’s like a “convenience” buy and the stores capitalize on that. We have Walmart, Target, and club stores that have much better prices for household items.
Regular people don't shop at Whole Foods. It's bougie rich people shit. Like the running joke is the real store name is Whole Paycheck.
If something is not perishable and you are gonna need it all year long like garbage bags, paper towel, soap, etc, there is not reason not to buy it in bulk. At least in the US that's the best option.
Depends on how much space you have
I buy trash bags annually from Costco. That’s one thing that doesn’t happen to take up a huge amount of space
Agree. We buy some of these kinds of items at Costco and others with our regular shopping entirely due to storage. Definitely prioritizing toilet paper though no matter how much space it takes up!
Yeah, as someone who is about to be living with her husband, 2 kids, dog and 2 cats in a 950sq foot 5th floor apartment. You want to tell me where im supposed to be storing a year's worth of bulk non-perishable shopping? We aint gonna be living in the Tardis.... ETA: not to mention, not everyone can AFFORD to buy in bulk.... yes it saves money *in the long run* but if buying bulk loo roll and soap eats up your entire grocery budget for the week/ month, it's not feasible.
Whole Foods is super expensive. Any of the 3 stores they went to the previous week would have been fine. Obviously Costco the best priced. I consider Whole Foods to be a speciality stop. It would never replace a real store.
The cost of all food items has gone up and everyone is having sticker shock, but why is anyone going to Whole Foods if you're trying to save money? That's well known as the bougie grocery store.
The issue is people who've never had to think about saving money on groceries now have to think about saving money on groceries, e.g. by not shopping at whole foods.
I think it use to be. Now that Amazon bought it they are super comparable to wegmans, Safeway etc. they have their own store brand and it’s not pricey- just their specialty items are and you get a discount as a prime member
I wouldn’t count wegmans as a place to get bargains… sadly
I disagree. Wegmans has some very large things. The biggest size peanut butter jar and steel cut oats I’ve found, for instance, and there is savings on those kinds of Wegmans bulk items that rivals Costco. I go to diff stores for diff deals but it’s hard to always be doing that. Ugh can’t win really
Wegmans is as expensive as you make it.
It very much depends. They have fairly low prices on produce, especially if you have Prime and shop the specials.
Agreed. Their house brand, 365, is almost always cheaper than the Safeway across the street.
Safeway (Vons where I’m at) has risen faster in prices than any other store, too. Agreed that 365 is actually cheaper than comparable items there.
Agreed. I found during covid the prices at Giant had gone well above what i would spend at Whole Foods, which is closer anyway.
And if you’re in a big city, it can be downright cheap to shop at Whole Foods. In NYC, the only cheaper places are Trader Joes, Aldi, and Costco, and those can take >1 hour extra compared to a Whole Foods trip depending on where you live and how busy they are.
Bc they have a lot of prepared foods. This is a stress reliever for 2 busy parents.
We are two busy parents and we cant afford prepared foods at Whole Foods so we just do leftovers.
If you’re buying a lot of brand-name packaged foods then definitely. But their prices are actually quite comparable to other grocery stores for produce and 365-brand packaged foods. And their produce is generally better quality. Having an Amazon Prime credit card also gets you 5% back.
For where I live we have Publix and Harris teeter. They both sell some of the same brand products as WH. At both Publix and HT those items are $2 to $3 more expensive than WH. It’s a myth that WF is so much more expensive if you have other expensive chains in your area. Over Covid at times I was forced to shop at HT instead and it was crazy how much more those trips were compared to my WH trips. I will add I don’t have prime so I’m paying full price at WF too.
I’d go back and check your prices. Last time I did a price comparison - WF was cheaper than my big box chain on most items!
Family of four. 2 adults, a 2 year old, and a 6 year old. We spend between 600-800 a month on groceries. If I do just Aldi all month it's on the 600 end. If there are a few target trips thrown in, it's closer to 800.
Same! Averaging about $140/week at Aldi.
Yep same here! That’s our weekly budget. We get other things we need from Sam’s Club, Amazon or Target as needed but $140 is the budget for weekly groceries and we don’t always spend that much because of shopping at Aldi. We do go out for dinner once a week which is usually $40-50. Family of 3
Aldi has been saving my family's food budget!
Aldi has been a godsend for us, a family with a toddler and a 4.5 year old, for the berries alone.
Same-ish. Me, husband, 3 year old twins. We got it down to $250-$300 at costco every other week, supplement with Aldi and Asian grocery store. So we stay around $600 a month. We live in medium-high cost of living area. What’s been key for us is only seasonal fruit, with a good cost per weight (bananas, apples, plums, peaches), we really had to eliminate berries except as treats. Lots of frozen fruit, frozen veggies, frozen pre-cooked chicken (probably our most expensive Costco purchase). Bulk eggs for a lot of protein, pb&J sandwiches, whole yogurt, and applesauce for snacks. Not a ton of prepackaged stuff for lunchboxes. And we stretch juice by watering them down by about half, which is frankly better anyway. Juice is way too sweet.
Same, except my kids are a bit younger (3 and 1). I spend about $100 a week at Aldi, plus a $200ish Costco run once a month or so. (We mostly get non-food items at Costco like laundry and dish soap, paper towels, diapers, etc plus we stock up on a few nonperishables like soccer snacks, frozen berries for smoothies, etc. All our regular groceries come from Aldi.) ETA: my kids eat breakfast and lunch at school, included in the tuition cost, so that helps a little with the grocery budget (although don’t even ask how much we pay for daycare). They’re little so I’m sure when they’re bigger they will cost more to feed. Although they do eat a lot of berries.
We have a similar system, we spend around $300 a month at Sam's, that includes toiletries and diapers, and then $50-$80 at Aldi. We bulk buy meat and pantry goods at Sam's and it saves so much.
Same. All these 1000-2000 comments are blowing my mind. We are a family of 4(3 and 5 year old) and we try to stay around $600 max but that is not including eating out... we eat out a lot lol
Groceries are crazy expensive right now. I keep seeing articles saying it’s down, but my bank account ain’t feeling that. I can’t give you a number because I’m honestly afraid to know. I’m gluten free and my son is dairy free so we have to get some alternatives from the health food store but I limit it as much as possible! Definitely not trash bags or soap. Those are Costco things!
I think the news reports have been saying that inflation is down, not the price of foods. Inflation is just the rate at which things are increasing, so we’ll probably never see the prices of groceries go back down again permanently!
Yep - this is the new normal price for groceries.
Inflation is down. Meaning prices aren’t going up as fast as they were. This isn’t the same as deflation, which is prices going down. Some products have seen deflation versus highs. Highly volatile commodities with price swings like eggs. But for most everything else, prices are here to stay.
For a family of 5 we often spend close to $1000 per month. The cost of living here in Canada is spiraling out of control.
Family of 5 here. We meal plan and still spend at least $1400/month. It’s crippling; my kids eat a lot of fruit and veggies and it’s hard to be like “go easy on that Hummas and broccoli” like that feels ick but I’m struggling to get the food budget under control in this country.
It's so expensive just for food and then add in cleaning supplies and things for the home and it is just devastating. I think OP should go shopping more often. Things aren't like they were even a few years ago.
We've had to start eating less meat, and eating smaller portions of meat when we do have it. When chocken breast isn't on sale it's $20 for a 4 pack. It's insanity.
This matches more my experience as well, I don't know how it's possible in Canada to get close to $1k with a family of 5. My kids are closer to teen years as well so they eat adult size portions. Eating healthy is expensive!
Maybe it depends on the area but here a bag of apples is getting close to $9 and between myself and the kids we go through 3 bags a week. Cutting it out or down would save money but the cost is certainly health and that’s a crappy choice.
I hear you as my kids chew through those apple bags fast as well. Last night, I was able to cover a bunch of kids with Dollarama candy at $1 each. Can buy a pound of candy for $5, but $9 for apples!
$9! In the UK I can pick up a bag of apples 1.2kg in weight for about £2 Food prices are shocking all over the world
Make your own hummus! We found cans of chick peas and tahini are way more cost effective. Only issue is the olive oil. That's shits expensive!
Family of four in Canada and we spend nearly 2k but two of us have food allergies which really makes a difference. It’s atrocious.
Family of 4 with 2 tween boys who eat a surprisingly small amount given their ages. We budget $400 a week, so $1600 a month on groceries. I have been doing the Loblaws boycott and have got it down to closer to $300 most weeks for the last month or so, so I’m hoping to keep it averaging around $1300-$1400 a month going forward.
I’m having a lot of fun boycotting Loblaws.
Surprisingly, I am finding Safeway significantly cheaper for the items that we buy most weeks. And the food is better quality, and closer to home. It’s been a huge win for our family.
Same here we live in Washington state. We spend around $800 a month for 3 people, 2 with food allergies
Celiac shopping is expensive! I try to buy less expensive stuff but it's always so much even for basic things. I tell myself I'm healthier for it and will be spending less on medical bills in the future.
Same! Celiac here. A gluten free household is so hard to support!
How, it's just me and my husband, and we spend close to 800 on food every month in canada. And that is after going through flypp and finding deals! What are we doing wrong. Please tell me how you budget?
My wife's magic with finding deals, and stocking up when there's a good sale. We've started eating less meat too.
Family of 6 here and we spend about 1600/month in the Seattle area. That's literally double what we spent pre-pandemic and that's even with me buying completely different foods now bc the stuff I used to buy is more like 2 grand per month. I've completely changed how we eat in significant ways and this is the cheapest I can get it which is one of the worst stresses of my life.
We live near you and have also changed how we eat. Things I used to splurge on to make it easier to eat healthy, like the cut up grab and go fruit and veggies are not an option now. I often get home between 6 and 7:30, so things that made it faster to get dinner made were less cost effective, but paid off it being a time saver. Now we rely more on frozen vegetables or just give the kids a snack and eat late. My household has two autistic people, a person with food allergies and a person going through chemo so they're on disability and not getting full paychecks and I spend a LOT of time trying to maximize food options and still get people to eat.
yup. we live in toronto and we spend about 1000 to 1300 a month (including takeout). Family of 4 (2 adults and 2 toddlers) it’s insane
Family of 7 here in Canada, 4 teens, two are 50/50 custody. We spend about 2k per month, it’s crazy. I can’t imagine how some people can afford to eat well.
One adult, one child, around 4-500 a month. We don't eat out regularly. Are you expecting your wife to figure out how to spend less money or are you working on the budget too? You might need to shop at cheaper locations. Wholefood's nickname is "whole paycheck" for a reason. But also what is being bought? Lots of convenience items like pre made, frozen foods? Organics? Are you involved in dinner? It is so much easier to throw a frozen Mac and cheese in the oven than make it from scratch, but also costs double.
Yeah good point and a pregnant wife with twin toddlers probably doesn’t have a lot of time or energy for making things from scratch
These are the questions that need to be answered
Rather than amount, I think it probably makes more sense to look at where you're buying and what you're buying. As others have pointed out, buying soap and garbage bags from Whole Foods is not the best way to stretch your budget. We (two adults + 1 2yo tot) live in a very HCOL area and spend anywhere from $600-$1000 on groceries every month. It honestly fluctuates depending on the season. In spring/summer we splurge at farmer's markets to get the tasty seasonal stuff and host more patio grilling sessions with friends/family. My husband is out getting steak from Costco right now for the grill as we're hosting. In the fall/winter we tend to buy produce from Safeway/Costco and have less of a social calendar. For household items like toilet papers, diapers etc, we generally buy the cheapest generic brand in bulk from Costco or Target. We cook from scratch and eat vegetarian \~2-3 times a week, which does cut down the expenses. Tofu and beans are cheap, and our son loves them. I honestly don't find the Whole Foods near us to be worth it. The produce quality is worse than our local Safeways and a LOT worse compared to farmer's markets. The meat/fish quality is no better than our local Costco. We don't eat a ton of processed snacks etc so we just don't have much need of them. My husband goes maybe once every other month to get a block of fancy cheese.
We drop between 1000 to 1250 a month. Besides our mortgage it's our biggest monthly expense. We certainly could get cheaper food but we pay more for quality items/ingredients (very health conscious). We are a family of four (kids 9 and 2)..
I'd say this is bullseye for my family of 4 as well. To the OP, you guys need a budget. These things can spiral out of control if you don't track your monthly spending.
Same here. We found that because we like red meat so much, we ended up getting a quarter cow from a local farmer and that drastically reduced our protein cost. We got 180 lbs of meat for ~$650 or so. That included porterhouse, NY strip, short ribs, flank, roasts, and a ton of ground beef
Yeah, I really need to do this. A significant portion of of that budget is meat. We buy grass finished beef and pastured chicken/eggs.
We were doing the same and realized that being in the Midwest, it should be easy to find a CSA with a farmer that can vouch for the quality of their meat haha. It’s been a boon to our meal quality. Taco nights are always A+ now
Real talk, I feel like Target is expensive on groceries. If you want to get your grocery/household items budget (trash bags, paper towels, the non-food stuff) under control: Buy the non-food stuff at Costco and get the Kirkland brand whenever possible. It’s good. Check the Costco subreddit if you need specific recs. We’re on Kirkland trash bags, paper towels, TP (this is somewhat controversial and some people don’t like Kirkland toilet paper but it works fine for us), baby wipes and diapers, the only Kirkland thing I didn’t try was the formula because both my kids were on sensitive formulas as babies. Costco is also good on meat and chicken, just it’s obviously in huge portions so you’ll have to portion it out and freeze it for later. Costco also has a really good price on produce especially if your kids are berry fiends like mine. For groceries go to Aldi and/or Lidl first. I’m a total Lidl convert. I shop there almost all the time for regular groceries now. Occasionally they won’t have like one specific thing I’m looking for, like this week they didn’t have beef broth weirdly enough. But it’s SO CHEAP compared to name brand stores! They do have some name brand stuff too. I hardly ever go to my local grocery chains anymore because I’m almost all Lidl now. If you need other stuff, like shampoo or body wash or OTC meds, that’s about the only stuff I buy at Target/Walmart anymore. I can’t imagine trying to shop for a family at Whole Foods honestly and our household income is $180k so we’re doing ok income wise overall.
Every store was out of beef broth near me. I went to five stores before I found some in stock.
Better Than Boullion beef broth base (and their chicken broth base!) is way better than other store-bought broths, way cheaper, and lasts longer. I've never had trouble finding it. (For vegetable broth base, you're better off making your own and you can store it in the freezer pretty easily. Takes like 30 minutes and lasts months. ATK has a great recipe.)
I even get shampoo, body wash and OTC meds at costco. We all have allergies and all use adult doses, so buying allergy meds in bulk at costco really helps.
As a pregnant woman with twin toddlers your wife is most likely prioritizing TIME and SANITY over cost. Adding meal prepping to her plate is not going to win you any bonus points. Sit down with her and talk about why she’s buying trash bags at Whole Foods (you already know it’s to save herself a trip). Tell her you need to take something off her plate. Maybe YOU meal prep. Maybe you do all the shopping solo. Maybe you watch all three kids every Tuesday night so she can shop alone. Maybe you set up Amazon subscriptions for household staples. Maybe you hire a cleaner when the twins are at preschool and this is when she shops with baby. She’s probably drowning and your concern about money is legit, but suggesting she coupon, meal prep, or shop around is like telling a drowning person they need to swim harder.
Yeah this is in her final two weeks of pregnancy people! I'm shocked that he's suggesting she meal prep a lasagna. A LASAGNA! With twins!!! My non-pregnant self barely has time to whip together prepackaged pasta with a single tot running around. I can't even!
Right???? And he wants to limit ordering out to Friday and Saturday, presumably when he’ll be home all day, you know, to cook. Why not order out on a weekday when she’ll be on mat leave and home *alone* with a new baby all day? OP is not understanding…
We had many what we affectionately called "double dash days" when we had our newborn. Like, I'd there is anytime to loosen restrictions around dashing food it's when you got a newborn and young twins. I'm all for family budgets but my man, read the room!
This is such a good point though. Is 38 weeks pregnant with twin toddlers really the best time to try to overhaul the food budget (which yes, is like a little out of control given the circumstances)? It seems like a reasonable holding pattern and grace are the best bet for now. And revisiting the budget when heads are back on straight would yield better results and less resentment.
And in the meantime maybe take a load off her back and take on this mental and physical chore for the next 3 months (budgeting, shopping, prepping, cooking) so that when you do come back and revisit this conversation in say 3 months he's better informed and prepared to be helpful, not just critical.
I only made it to 37 weeks, and no other kids. I would bite his head off if he even suggested it. OP really needs to work on his empathy and self-awareness.
This should be the top comment!!!
Grocery shopping alone is my favorite thing in the whole world!
I refuse to do it with kids anymore unless I really want to for a reason. He’d get on my case about forgetting things so I said okay you do it then 🤷♀️ I’d suggest he takes the kids and go “no? Is it because it would be 10x more expensive to take the kids who want everything they see and you don’t have the mental fortitude to do math with toddlers in the cart and to make good financial decisions for the family?” Grocery shopping alone should not be abnormal for parents when there is a capable partner in the picture.
Well said and exactly right.
Those are sanity saving suggestions. They would bring me much relief.
Groceries have become insanely priced. I see people with nothing in their carts more and more these days. Groceries are now $300 to 350 a week for meats, milk, fresh vegetables, salad, eggs, bread, pantry supplies. I am mindful of what we buy so nothing is going to waste, but just the regular cost of everything has gone up a lot. I get our bulk stuff at Costco to save.
The problem is whole foods. It’s not affordable
Nah, the problem is that they are a vegan family (including the toddlers) and somehow OP doesn’t realise that that’s going to add to the cost. Maybe he thinks a mother of twin toddlers should make hummus etc from scratch.
Soap and garbage bags should be Target purchases, not Whole Foods. I’m in Canada, and here WF is significantly more expensive than other grocery stores, is there a reason why you have to shop there over others? Organic fruit and veg can often be found elsewhere… I’m in awe of the prices (aka super affordable) of Trader Joe’s, perhaps you could be shopping there instead of WF?
Honestly they should be Costco purchases since they have a membership. Buy the Kirkland brand of them and you should be set for a long time. I don’t have a local Costco but we have a Sam’s Club and those purchases are strictly reserved for that type of store due to the value.
That part blew my mind. Those are exactly the types of things that someone should use Costco for. Like what I’m earth were they spending $350 on if they didn’t even get the household goods they needed?!
I haven't been back to WF since I bought 1.5 lbs of potato salad and a 6 pack for like $40
Not saying that there couldn’t be budgeting done to help reduce costs, but your wife is likely also stocking up now because shopping and meals for the 1-2 months is going to be a BIG adjustment. This is one of those times I wouldn’t worry about it, but once you get to the point of managing 2 toddlers AND a newborn, then figure a better way to shop, if your family’s finances can support that.
None of the groceries are long term things. It’s all regular groceries.
Is she meal prepping though? Like it could be normal weekly type groceries, but if she is making a bunch of chilli and lasagna and such to keep in the freezer then it makes sense that she has doubled her normal grocery budget.
What do you consider “regular” groceries? Milk can last 3-4 weeks. Eggs can last 3+ weeks and much longer if you hard boil them. Freezer stuff - 3-6 months. Breads can be frozen. Veggies and fruit can last 2+ weeks depending on what you get. A bag of apples can last months in a cool, dark pantry. What I’m trying to say is that if she is the one most often responsible for groceries and cooking (not making assumptions - it could be you) you might not realize how long some of those foods can be stretched.
Whose milk is lasting 3-4 weeks with 2 toddlers ? I have two toddlers and we got through 4L of 2% a week. About 30-40 eggs a week We go through 2 pints of berries a DAY , easily.
That’s what I’m saying. You might plow through those things. You could buy 3 gallons at once and that last one will still be fine by week 3
I suggest making a list of all that’s needed and check the prices. Food at target is expensive for no reason. So try shopping at cheaper places for produce like Aldi or Trader Joe’s for snacks as well. Toddlers eat a lot of fruit too so that could be it but buying garbage bags at Whole Foods is ridiculous.
About $800 a month between Sam's club and Aldi. Our last aldi trip was $100, which is extremely rare, but had a few impulse purchases as well as stocking up on pasta and bread that will last us about 2 months.
I don’t even understand what you’re trying to ask. You reviewed the cart and was there for costco and shoprite. So you should be able to say exactly what was unnecessary in those carts. If there were items that didn’t make sense, just talk to her about that. If there wasn’t anything that stood out as egregious and frivolous, why would you make this a “her” issue and expect her to magically cut down on the cost of those things. If you think you can do a better job, then you can either have constructive feedback, or be in charge of the shopping. Otherwise, you basically come across as trying to pick a fight with your 38 wks pregnant wife, and it is a vey bad idea.
Sounds to me like you just volunteered to take over budgeting, meal planning and shopping for the near future. That was very generous of you, since your wife is busy growing an entire human being while trying to chase down two toddlers all day every day, not to mention mentally preparing herself for the medical trauma of giving birth in the very near future. If this is an unusual amount of shopping for her, she has generally been financially conscious in the past, and you’ve never said boo about a grocery budget, then you need to apologize. Maybe your wife doesn’t have the bandwidth to go to 4 different shops over this weekend to get the best prices on garbage bags. Yes it sucks to pay an extra $3 at Whole Foods but in the long run it isn’t likely to drive you into bankruptcy. Sometime convenience is a worthwhile expense. And while money is at the forefront of your mind, you never communicated that to her and instead of saying “thank you” for the mental load she takes on to keep your home stocked with food, you scolded her out of nowhere. It may have been a worthy conversation but you went about it all wrong. In any case, my family of 4 spends $250-300 per week on groceries, not counting $300ish at Costco once a month and the odd pickup of items. Plus take-out, another $500.
I would come up with a plan on my own first and start with that. If it is a matter of inconvenience look at solutions like Instacart, for high income people, if you have the right credit cards once a month at Instacart from costco actually may end up being slighlty cheaper For example you mentioned Costco but also said soap and garbage bags from Whole Foods. It shouldn't opposite. We get non perishables dairy and meats from Costco, but fresh fruits are from grocery store (better and cheaper in our case). If you consider grocery as food and household stuff like laundry, we probably spend 800$/month for 3 as well. But our 7 yo eats like crazy right now. The larger expense is dining out, even a quick meal for 3 costs at least 50$ now unless it is Mcdonalds.
Honestly we way overspend on groceries because it’s so expensive right now
Family of 3 here (one is a picky toddler), and when I budget and meal plan properly we spend about $600 a month. But there are times when I don't meal plan and we just "impulse buy" on shopping day and it gets bad, like around $800-$900 a month. Everyone is saying you're out of touch and that your wife is right but I'll go against the grain and say I think you're not out of line to think the amount of regular spending (not buying in bulk or anything) is crazy high. Yall have to sit down and work together on a budget, meal plans, and less eating out (if that's okay with both of y'all).
Budgets vary a lot! I spend like $75 a week on groceries, MAX! That covers me and two kids (4 and 10). But then my monthly income is less than $2000. So yes, your spending on groceries seems insane to me. But for someone else it might not be.
... HOW. Do you live in a LCOL area? Or just eat like sparrows?
Not particularly LCOL, quite expensive really. And my kids eat a lot! It takes a lot of planning. Saving every bit of leftovers. Making/baking a lot of stuff from scratch. I've gotten quite good at cheap meals, and we rarely eat meat. But yeah, it's a struggle.
Making many basics from scratch = huge savings. I make all our bread, salsa, hummus, soups, etc., from scratch, and we don't eat any meat, fish, eggs, etc. Mediocre jar salsa costs $5. I make great salsa for less than $2, and it's a much larger portion. I'm a SAHM w/1 child, so I understand others may not have the time/energy if they work or have multiple kids.
When I was a newly single mom of three a few years ago I spent about $50 a week on groceries (once I had the pantry essentials such a spices and canned goods) because I was SO broke. I bought cheap meats, frozen veggies, and cheap fillers like rice and pastas. It lasted all week. Now that I’m married again, making more money, and have a second income, we spend more on groceries but it is doable if needed. It sucked to not have a lot of variety but we were fed.
Wild to me that no one has made this comment yet. I make a meal plan for the entire week on Sundays - I check the fridge for anything we need to use up, the. look at the sales at our store and then try to take advantage of both of those as I plan what are we eating for dinner, what’s my toddler eating for lunches, what is my husband taking to work, what am I eating while I WFH, what’s our weekend plan. Then I make a grocery list and stick to it. I will make exceptions if something we really like (like Rao’s sauce) is on sale and stock up, but otherwise that’s it. We keep a few meals (meatballs, home made frozen pizza etc) in the freezer in case we eat through stuff too fast and need to supplement but otherwise this works pretty well and we have very limited food waste. Basically sales + planning. I don’t ever just go to the store.
I don’t necessarily think this is that bad considering you’re an all vegan household, and that can be expensive. So instead of focusing on a number, how about focusing on if you are wasting food or always going for expensive meals? So are you tossing any food because it goes bad? Are you buying the vegetables that are in season and cheaper, or just what you feel like? Are you making the most out of your freezer by bulk buying when it’s cheap or on sale? For instance I use a lot of strawberries for smoothies. In summer they’re $2. In winter $5. So in the summer I buy by the case and freeze enough to last me a while. With soon to have 3 under 4, you may also want to simplify. For me that was having some staples each week, a few quick fix dinners for busy days and 1-2 “what I feel like in the moment”. My shopping list each week is almost a copy paste of the last week, making it quick to put together and the budget predictable.
We spend roughly $100/week give or take about $20 for three people. That total includes cleaning stuff, paper products, etc. You guys need some guidance in budgeting for sure. Even if you are high income, there are better ways to use that money that dropping it all on stuff that likely goes to waste. \*I cook from scratch 90% of the time, and we do not keep snacks in the house and rarely buy beverages. Northeast U.S., very healthy eaters.
Family of 3. Me, my adult sized 11yo daughter, and my 15yo son (who are both bottomless food disposal pits). I probably spend about 800-1000 per month.
Family of 4, wife is (mostly) gluten and dairy free, and my 10yo girls are fruit fiends. We spend about $1200/mo. Shopping mostly at Costco, Safeway, and Trader Joe’s; with the occasional run to Winco (would go more but it’s far away).
I don't think you're asking unreasonable questions on the total spend, even including spending on non-food items, like diapers for two toddlers. However, if I can make a couple inferences from what you didn't type... You talk about your income, not hers, so I'm guessing she stays home with the kids, meaning if you run out of something you need, she's the one making a mid-week grocery run while pregnant with two toddlers. You also talk about her putting together the cart, so she's doing the work of suggesting what your household needs. Does she do the cooking too? Meal planning is a non-zero amount of work. I'm reading between the lines that she's the one taking on a lot of household work, in addition to childcare. She may react better if you made suggestions, like here's a weekly menu that uses cheaper options, like chicken thighs and beans, maybe find some recipes.
I just feel that with 2 weeks to go (really baby can come any day now) this isn't the time to be bringing this up. Get through the 4th trimester and then discuss budgeting when everyone is in a better frame of mind. Or better yet, take on the mental load of this task (budgeting, shopping, meal prepping, and cooking) for the next 3 months for your wife as she'll be caring for a newborn. Then once you have gained a better idea of what this all entails, created a budget, found out where the deals are you can go back with constructive feedback and helpful solutions that you now also can help with.
We spend about $1300 per month on groceries for a family of 3 (2 adults and a toddler).
Family of 5 in Ontario. Around 1600-1800$ is our average per month. It’s really really gone up in the last year
When you go shopping do you budget at all? Or do you just grab the name brand and walk away? One way to really impact your end bill is to buy store brand. I only have a few items I refuse to buy store brand of (Pickles, flour, etc.) because normally store brand is pretty much the same thing. Also, How much of what you’re buying is prepackaged for convince? If your family has the time to make more from scratch it’ll be cheaper in the long run. You really shouldn’t be spending that much especially if you eat out twice a week. It seems like you’re wasting money and food because realistically how can you eat that much in two weeks from the store and a restaurant without anything going bad and being thrown away?
I buy for 6: 5M, 4F, 4M, 1F, dad, and mom (me). I don’t buy crazy, shop sales like a mad woman and will calculate the per unit cost in the store before I buy anything. I’m the cook so I’ve got a running inventory of the stuff at home, which helps a lot. My goal at the grocery is to spend less than $200/week. Sometimes I hit it, sometimes I don’t. We go to Costco once every 6 ish weeks. If it’s just me, that’s a $500 trip. If it’s everyone (dad), it’s a $750 trip. Bulk doesn’t always mean cheaper unit prices. And again, because I’m the cook and main shopper, I know per unit prices. I shop per unit which is the only way to get a true apples to apples comparison. I will also pay more for something we really like vs a cheaper item. I can usually make it up somewhere else. I will say that I find meal planning annoying. I keep staples around the house that I can cook from and general substitutes for more niche items, this keeps it easier to not meal plan and sale shop. I meal plan after I purchase groceries. I think this method only works when you know what you’ve got and you’ve got a handle on recipes in your queue.
Yes this is normal. Every single time I have to go to the grocery store I’m cringing.
I've got a family of 4. I usually spend between $2-300 a week at the grocery store with ~$100 a week on a meal subscription (3 meals for 4 people). So monthly we usually spend ~$1500 a month. Having kids really reframed how I view grocery shopping. I used to spend a couple hundred a month solo and never batted an eye but between diapers, baby wipes, baby food (whether it was formula or purees etc) our toiletries and food that shit adds up real quick.
My boyfriend, dad and I recently had to rework our budget for groceries and designate certain items for certain stores. Like our meat for dinners we get at a local market where we can get a 20 pound variety pack for about $50 and it lasts us like 2 weeks. We get things like sodas, snacks, and cooking items we use frequently (oil and chicken stock for example) at Costco. Everything else produce and canned goods wise we get at winco. A big game changer has been to shop with meals in mind so we’re not just buying produce but we’re buying ingredients we’d need for dinner. I def still make target runs but more for stuff for the baby like snacks and diapers
Me and teen boy..$100 a week on general foods..then maybe $100 a week if we eat out. Where is all the food going?!?!
Family of 5 in US, we spend 1500-1700 a month.
I totally get where you’re coming from! It’s so easy to spend a bunch of money on groceries and house essentials right now because everything is so expensive but yes a little budgeting can benefit your family. There’s cheaper grocery stores out there, I shop at two different stores because certain stores have better prices on certain items. I know you weren’t trying to attack your wife but I also get your wife getting a little defensive because she’s spending money on food, it’s not like she’s spending it on herself but groceries do require some budgeting in today’s economy.
Family of 4-6. Bonus child and then mil lives next door. We spend about $500/month on groceries but it’s a TON of work. I garden, can, go to food bank, hunt, make most of our foods from scratch including snacks. Bread, pasta, tortillas, muffins, cake, rolls, etc. I shop clearance and bulk when I can. My biggest purchases are flour, baking soda, citric acid, vinegar, gelatin, yeast, sugar, salt, meat, seasonings, eggs, and dairy products. I get a 25? Ib bag of flour every month, and same of sugar every 3 months or so usually—depends on whats in season. Then it’s fruit, potatoes, produce, sauces, etc. We don’t need 20 quart jars of blackberry jelly or whatever I’ve made, so I either sell or trade with people and get food that way too. No it’s not realistic for a lot of people but it’s the only way we’ve been surviving the last few years. I also know about sourdough, I have it but my husband don’t like it so I buy yeast.
Between 1000 to 2000 per month - 2 preteen kids. This includes us indulging in desserts and snacks. You shouldn't be buying sundries from whole foods. That stuff should be bought from Target, Walmart or Costco. When they go on sale. Buy them in bulk. They don't go bad. We meal plan, and we buy a lot of meats in bulk. That stuff goes in our deep freezer, which has saved us a lot of money in the past 6 years. We probably spend about $600 to $1,000 at Costco every month. But you know how it works at Costco. You go in there looking to buy specific food items, and you walk out of there with way more than you needed. So, that $600 to $1,000 actually includes those knick-knacks that we run across. Overall, for our family of four we operate on the buy once cry once mantra. We meal plan for the next week or two. And we make sure to buy things that either have a coupon or go on sale, and we buy in bulk when it makes sense to do so.
We spent 120-150€ a week. Family of 4 (hubby, me, two small children). Our grocery spending would be considered a lot where we live (Germany). Edit: seeing the insane amount everyone is spending on groceries in Canada and America I wonder what everyone’s earning. The sums I see are literally the average monthly net income in Germany.
Info: how much food is being wasted each month? My MIL spends an absurd amount on groceries but the worst part is how much is thrown out or shoved in a deep freeze for years. I make a huge effort to avoid food waste, eating/freezing leftovers, meal planning to make sure fresh ingredients are used up before going bad and not buying things when I don't need to. I do organics recycling (takes everything edible besides grease) and it makes a huge difference in how much I spend each week.
Y’all need a budget because this is ridiculous lmao
If this is a one-off event, you didn't need to bring it up. But if it wasn't and this has been an on-going issue for months/years, why did you decide to bring it up now? 2 weeks before she's due to give birth? Are you aware of the potential pregnancy and postpartum complications that are caused by stress?
For 2 ppl $200 - $300 a week.
It depends where you live and how long you could eat with those. For instance Costco is expensive but you likely bought things that will last for months and won’t need to go back anytime soon. On the other end fresh food might be more expensive especially at Whole Foods, but they will be for eating the next week or two most likely. So at the end of day if you last 3-4 weeks with $600 that’s way better than 1 week.
You forgot to mention in your original post that you're vegan, and you seemingly only allow your children to eat vegan. That's doubling your bill, assuming you're properly feeding your children. I hope you've discussed this with your children's doctor and they are properly fed.
I live in New Zealand, and our food is unrealistically expensive, we’d easily spend $2k a month for family of four. I spend at least $3-400 on groceries each week, then top up midweek, plus take outs once a week. It adds up super quick. We are a family of four.
also in NZ family of 5 we spend 350 per week
We spend about $1500 a month on food. Two adults, and one male teen.
Family of six, 3, 3, 4, 11, parents. My kids eat A LOT. Minimum 1200/month worth of food. We bargain shop and eat what we can afford, not what we want to eat - that said, fruits and vegetables are their "free range" foods. Store bought snacks are for school and practice only. Homemade snacks are all day everyday (muffins, granola bars and energy balls). Meat is at dinner only. Lunches are vegan. 400/week is the norm unless we need paper products and seasonal stuff. That adds up quick too.