It’s been a while since I shared our monthly grocery haul. This past year has been a whirlwind, so I haven’t been as organized and intentional as I like to be. With rising food prices, our grocery spending has been higher than it ever has. Still, in the past 12 months, our average monthly spending on food for our family of 8 has only been $711.
Even with inflation, you can still feed your family without breaking the bank.
Of course this just doesn’t happen. I have specific strategies that I use to keep our budget low. I share those strategies in my course Grocery Budget Hero. The course includes 20 lessons that build on one another. The 4+ hours of video content is divided up into manageable chunks so no matter how busy you are, you can still find time for this valuable training. Use the code SAVE20 to get $20 off and get your grocery budget under control.
Before making May’s monthly grocery shopping trip, I made a very well thought out plan. I planned all of the meals that I would be making and wrote down all of the ingredients, then checked the pantry and freezer to see what we already had. Everything else went on my grocery list.
I have found that homemade freezer meals work best for our family. We have busy schedules, so having ready-made meals that just need to be thawed and heated works really well for us. I am planning for us to eat 5 freezer meals per week (20 per month). My goal is to make 40 at once so that I have a good variety to stretch over two months. We’ll see how it goes with freezer space though.
We keep our food storage, pantry, and freezer pretty well-stocked, so we don’t shop for everything every month. This month I shopped at Sam’s Club and Winco. You can either watch the video below or just scroll down for the exact prices.
Sam’s Club- $227
- Powdered Sugar (7 lb) $6.98 x 4 = $27.92
- Honey (48 oz) $9.98
- Clementines (5 lb) $5.92
- Bananas (3 lb) $1.47 x 4 = $5.88
- String Cheese (48 ct) $9.74
- Cottage Cheese (3 lb) $4.88
- Shredded Cheese (5 lb) $12.18
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (5 lb) $11.87
- Romaine $3.58
- Spinach (16 oz) $3.38
- Tortilla Chips (96 oz) $11.98
- Southwest Salad Kit (12 oz) $2.38 x 3 = $7.14
- Kale Salad Kit (12 oz) $2.88
- Rotisserie Chicken $4.98 x 2 = $9.96
- Meatballs (6 lb) $17.98
- Pork Sausage (2 lb) $6.98 x 3 = $20.94
- Sour Cream (3 lb) $5.28 x 2 = $10.56
- Milk, 2 % $3.04
- Milk, whole $3.38
- Half and Half (1 qt) $2.48
- Kit Kat Ice Cream Cones $7.88
- Raisins (60 oz) $9.78
- Large Flour Tortillas (54 oz) $7.92 x 3 = $23.76
Winco- $180
- Yogurt (32 oz) $2.36 x 3 = $7.0
- Frozen Broccoli (16 oz) $1.33 x 4 = $5.32
- Eggs (5 dz) $13.97
- Ground Beef (5 lb) $13.98
- Garbanzo beans (1 lb) $1.48 x 4 = $5.92
- Kidney beans (1 lb) $1.28 x 4 = $5.12
- Granny Smith Apples $.98/lb x 5 lb = $4.99
- Honeycrisp Apples $.98/lb x 6.4 lb = $6.27
- Strawberries (1 lb) $1.28 x 24 = $30.72
- Shell Pasta (1 lb) $1.18
- Dried Apricots $5/lb x .38 lb = $1.90
- Limes $.25 x 4 = $1.00
- Salsa (32 oz) $3.28 x 2 = $6.56
- Graham Crackers $2.18 x 6 = $13.08
- Potatoes (5 lb) $98 x 2 = $1.96
- Cilantro $.57
- Coriander $4.48/lb x .06 lb = $.27
- Baby Carrots ( 1 lb) $1.28 x 2 = $2.56
- Carrots (2 lb) $1.48
- White Onions $.78/lb x 3.2 lb = $2.52
- Yellow Onions $.68/lb x 5.75 = $3.91
- Oranges (8 lb) $5.98
- Green Chilis (4 oz) $.78 x 4 = $3.12
- Roma Tomatoes $1.28/lb x 5.3 lb = $6.82
- Bread $2.55 x 8 = $20.40
- English Muffins $2.58 x 4 = $10.32
- Corn Tortillas $3.26
So in May we spent $408 on our monthly grocery haul. We will still make other small shopping trips for more produce and lots of milk (we go through nearly a gallon a day, but we already had milk in the fridge when I went shopping), but the bulk of our shopping is done.
In addition to making lots of freezer meals, I will be making homemade yogurt, granola, oatmeal packets, cornbread, and rolls (freezing balls of dough from this recipe for rolls) in bulk so we are set for the month.
I would love to hear how these prices compare to what you are currently paying. And if you’re surprised that my prices are better than you’d expect for California, you’re not wrong. Knowing where to shop and what to buy really is a game-changer. I would have to pay twice as much if I just went to a regular grocery store in my area. It’s definitely worth it for me to drive 30 minutes away to do my monthly shopping where I do.
I live in the midwest but many of your prices were better than ours!
It’s all about knowing where to shop and what to buy. If I shopped at a “normal” grocery store here, the prices would be at least double!
I currently spend $400 a month for 4 people but I’m trying to lower it to $350. We eat mostly real food, too, and we live in the greater Seattle area where prices are not that cheap either. I also shop at Winco for most of our food, but supplement with Costco and Walmart for the stuff that is cheaper there. We buy our meat directly from the farm, which can be pricier, but we buy in bulk to save. We also u-pick in the summer and grow some of our own veggies.
I’m also interested in what freezer meals you will be making and what you do with all the frozen strawberries. I still have lots of frozen berries from u-picking last summer and don’t know what to do with them.
Hi Jen! Thanks for sharing! That’s awesome that you have Winco up in Washington too!
We use the strawberries in smoothies or use them to put on top of strawberry shortcake or other desserts. My kids will also just eat frozen strawberries as snacks! Last year when I got lots of strawberries I also made lots of strawberry jam. We also love strawberry syrup for waffles, pancakes, ice cream, etc. I use this recipe but just sub strawberries for the raspberries.
I think I will do a post about the freezer meals because there seems to be a lot of interest. Most of the recipes were from this book.
Freezer meal cooking works great for our family. I do not keep up with it always just because life gets in the way and I am not always good about scheduling cooking time. The first month I did freezer cooking I saved $120. That was 10 years ago or so. I agree it really matters where you shop. It would be great to see what meals you have planned and how it all worked out. Thanks for sharing.
That’s some great savings from doing freezer meals! It definitely takes time and organization up front, but it’s so worth it to have dinner ready to go so easily at dinner time. I think I will do a post about the freezer meals we’re having in May.
I’m intrigued by the mention of your meal planning for May. With what you bought and what you already had on hand, what meals will you make? Thanks!
Hi Alexa! Most of my meals for May are from this book. So far I have made 4 of each of the following:
Tempting Taco Pasta Shell Casserole
California Breakfast Casserole
White Bean Chicken Chili
Seriously Good Chili
Butternut Squash Soup
Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Soup
I have a few more planned, but I’m about out of freezer space so we’ll have to eat some of them first before I make more!