One way to tackle the challenge is to create a grocery budget. Tips for designing a grocery budgetĪs many of us have experienced, it can be tough to be disciplined at the grocery store. Try and aim to spend no more than 15% of your take home pay on food and groceries. You can also look at your recommended grocery spending based on a percentage of your income. These numbers offer a good starting point for a grocery budget:įor a family of four (including two children under age 11) in 2023, your spending on groceries should be around $975 a month. You may find you spend more or less depending on your location or dietary preferences. It considers incomes, genders, ages and family sizes. The recommendations consider the cost of a nutritious diet for a range of families. The Food Plan from the USDA (PDF) (October 2023) offers guidelines on how much families should spend on groceries. How to be strategic with rewards credit cards.How to spend less on food and groceries.Here is what will be covered in this article:
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Once you know where you stand, there are some practical ways to save money that you can take advantage of the next time you visit the grocery store. Rising food costs make it more important than ever to know how much you're spending on groceries each month and decide if adjustments should be made. After the pandemic, we began to see grocery prices rise significantly due to increased production costs for food producers, supply chain delays, severe drought in certain parts of the world and even a war in Ukraine. Aside from housing, the cost of groceries can be one of the largest monthly expenses you have.