How much does your family spend on food every month? It's an area of my budget that I have a really hard time sticking too. After looking at these stats, maybe my budget is leaner than it should be. 

I'm a single Mom with two kids. I share joint-custody with my ex-husband, but because our custody arrangement is unique, the kids eat dinner here 80% of the time and I pay for all of the school bought lunches. They eat breakfast at his house most of time and he makes the cold lunches. In my mind, I've got the short end of the stick, but it's not a battle I've decided is worth fighting.

My monthly grocery budget is $600 and I have a hard time sticking to it. We eat most meals at home, but get pizza every Friday night and we only go out to restaurants for special occasions or an occasional we're in a hurry drive-thru meal. By the end of the month I find us eating quesadillas and tomato soup. It's fine, but my cooking is very confined by the budget. We sure aren't eating steak and lobster every night! I'll admit I don't coupon. I try to plan ahead and make grocery lists, but I could probably do better.

I was stunned when I googled "How much does a family of 4 spend on groceries per month." (I figured this would give me a good idea for my family even though we only have 3. My son is 13, enough said.)

Fox Business says a family with children 2-5 spends $890 on groceries every month, while a family with kids 6-11 spends $1,062 a month.

It's just one more piece of the average American lifestyle that I feel like I don't fit into and can't afford. Even in our community, the "average" home is $350,000. Since when did this become average?! Yes, my home is worth that much now, but when I bought my first home 15 years ago it was $160,000 and it was a really cute starter home. I feel like most of my friends and family now live in $500,000 + homes and that is becoming "average." Am I the only one that thinks that is ridiculous?! Where do these people work? Did they all go to Ivy League colleges or are they just master networkers? Is everyone just majorly in debt?

Obviously I'm frustrated with the increased costs of our society and it seems like luxuries have become "necessities" these days. If you don't mind getting personal, where do you fit in?

How much do you spend on groceries per month and do you struggle to stick to your budget?!

 

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