All of you make me realize my bills aren't as bad as I thought we're about $200 a week all in for 2 adults, a preschooler and a baby. We buy almost no convenience food, so I don't bother to coupon. Our primary expenses are fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and milk. We try to but the fruits and veggies that are on sale as those tend to taste the best, too. Right now, we're in the time of plenty, but winter gets hard.

I'd like to do a better job with meat purchases as I know that's one area I could probably save on with more bulk purchases, but I just haven't had enough of a push to do it.

I have also considered a coop for fresh fruits and veggies and might try that next year.

I am finding this thread really interesting. We are back at empty nest and I cannot bring myself to go to the store today, even though the house is quite lacking in fresh food. I have to restart my entire engine to think about cooking for just DH and me, and our eating styles and priorities are at different ends of the spectrum, which is so hard. I can make a batch of quinoa last for three days with a couple of avocados and tomatoes; he's like -- what are we having, steak tips or hamburger?

Anyway, I'd guess we will probably spend $200 a week easily on just the two of us -- but we could spend less if we did better planning. 26 years married and we still don't have that down yet. He works really long days as a teacher and I travel a lot for work, so meal planning has not been a real priority. We grill a lot.

I prefer to buy what I can at Trader Joes where I have more organic choices. We always buy organic eggs, milk, and meat; usually vegetables and fruit too. But as Diana noted, the more expensive grocery store is closer and we will run out there frequently, and that accounts for overspending in this area.

I found Angie's response so interesting. I consider myself a foodie in terms of what I like to eat when I go out, but at home, it's more about utility -- what's healthy and fast? I'm usually tired and out of creative steam by 6pm.

A very interesting thread....how often do you get to compare how your family food budget compares to others? We spend about $600 a month when we are down to three of us, when the college ones are home, It's more like $900.

For just the two of us I'd guess about $150 per week, including wine, paper goods, etc. We have a garden in summer, and I buy very little in the way of processed goods.

Another foodie here. I live in an area of really nice grocery stores and I take advantage of that. I do track what I spend and it's a lot. I mostly shop at my local store, Hannaford, which has an impressive line of gourmet and organic products, as well as products from local producers. I buy meat from my butcher and I ask where the meat came from, and I shop the farm stands for fruits and veggies, which I mostly buy organic. I also shop Whole Foods (which I've dubbed Whole Paycheck, lol), Trader Joe's, and two local favorites, Honest Weight Co-Op and the Schenectady Greenmarket.

I don't as much care about a good deal as I do about a good product. I prefer to buy fresh, local, organic, and minimally processed, no matter what the cost - but then it is just the two of us (just me and DH, not counting Cosmo Edward or Calie Ann here, although they are well taken care of, trust me). I always say "Pay now (food store) or pay later (at the doctor's)." That's not to say that eating healthy will keep you from getting all illnesses because we all know that isn't true (and my other motto is "Eat desert first") but it helps!

This has been a sobering read. Just moving back to the states after a long time in Germany and I see I have severely underestimated how much of our budget is going to go to groceries. I stopped in the drugstore today to check out what is being sold these days and was shocked at the prices, so I guess that was my first clue.