Your Guide: How Much Should I Spend On Groceries?

If you’ve noticed your grocery costs rising since the pandemic, you might be thinking “How much should I spend on groceries?”

Food ranks among the average American’s top five monthly expenditures. Our eating habits are also personal and individualized, sometimes making it hard to find applicable advice about saving money on food.

Still, you can find money-saving resources and guidelines that offer good starting points. Beyond that, it’s up to you to decide what makes sense for you and your family.

To help you create a grocery budget that aligns with your financial goals, we’ll break down exactly what the most widely accepted guidelines say and explain how you can use them.

The Official Guidelines For Groceries On A Budget

The U.S. Department of Agriculture creates the official recommendations for how much money households should spend on food at home. The USDA updates these Food Plans each month with budget recommendations geared toward the age and gender of each member of a household. You can find the most recent monthly Cost of Food Report on the USDA website.

The USDA breaks these recommendations into four food plan categories: Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal. The USDA developed these plans as guidelines for a nutritious diet at different budget levels.

At A Glance: The USDA Food Plans

The USDA Food Plans and Cost of Food Reports can give you a general idea of the amount that individuals and families should spend each month. Not sure which one you should be looking at? Here’s a quick breakdown:

1. Thrifty plan: This plan, the lowest-cost plan, “shows how a nutritious diet may be achieved with limited resources,” according to the USDA. It’s the basis for the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. With this plan, an individual aged 20 – 50 will spend $241.40 – $309.90 per month on groceries. A family of four will spend about $970.50 monthly.
2. Low-cost plan: This plan represents food costs for the second-lowest quartile of food spending. On this plan, an individual aged 19 – 50 will spend $249.60 – $296.60 per month. A family of four, with two children between the ages of 6 and 8, will pay about $1,044.70 per month.
3. Moderate-cost plan: This plan represents the second from the top quartile of food spending. An individual aged 19 – 50 will spend $306.90 – $371.70 per month. A family of four, with two children aged 6 – 8, will pay about $1,299 monthly.
4. Liberal plan: This plan represents the top quartile of food spending. On the Liberal plan, an individual aged 19 – 50 will spend $400.80 – $451.80 per month. A family of four, with two children aged 6 – 8, will pay about $1,568.10 per month.

Check the tables below for ranges of plans for various household sizes.

Feeding Yourself According To The USDA

This chart represents the cost to feed a single adult.

Feeding Two Adults According To The USDA

This chart shows a snapshot of the costs to feed two adults.

Feeding A Family According To The USDA

This table represents a reference family consisting of a male and female aged 20 – 50 along with two children, one aged 6 – 8 and the other aged 9 – 11.

How To Pick The Right USDA Food Plan

A good way to figure out which plan is best for you is to look at your current food budget and compare it to the USDA recommendations.

Then, review the two USDA publications that include specific tips for each plan. The USDA offers one for the Thrifty plan and a second publication for the other three. They break down each plan by food category and tell you how many pounds of each food type are recommended based on an individual’s age and gender.

Limitations Of The USDA Food Plans

The food plans have limits because there’s no standard for an individual household’s needs and eating patterns. They also don’t factor in individual dietary restrictions or health needs. Use the information that’s helpful to you while factoring in your own needs and living expenses.

What Is The Average Cost Of Food Per Month That People Are Spending?

Of course, there’s a difference between food spending guidelines and how much people actually end up spending. To figure out the average cost of groceries that American consumers are shelling out for food each year, we looked to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) annual Consumer Expenditures survey, which reports the amount that people spend on various consumer goods. We’ve used the most recent data from BLS, which is for 2022. The report will be updated again in September of 2024.

Let’s explore overall food spending along with grocery spending, which the BLS calls “food at home.”

By Income

In 2022, the average household spent $9,343 of its $94,003 pretax income on food. A total of $5,703 was spent eating at home, while $3,639 was spent eating at restaurants.

According to the Consumer Expenditures data, the third income bracket had the largest increase in food spending from 2021 – 2022. That bracket spent 16.1% more. The lowest bracket spent 4.4% more on food as the top income bracket spent 12.5% more.

This highlights why creating budgets for your groceries should be based on your individual finances. For example, someone making $15,000 a year and someone who makes $200,000 both require the same amount of food but are working with very different budgets.

By Family Size

The more people in the household, the higher the monthly food budget.

Single-person households, as you might expect, spent the least on food: $5,235 in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Two-person households spent $9,363, up from $8,242 in 2021.

The national average for three-person households was $11,158. Four-person households spent $13.055. That’s up from $9,920 and $11,908 respectively from the previous year.

These figures combine groceries and dining out.

How Much Does A Family Of 2 Spend On Groceries?

As the family grows, so does the average grocery spend. Two-person households spent $5,635 in 2022 on groceries, or food at home. That’s up from $5,145 in 2021 – a $490 difference, or $254 per person. Between 2021 and 2020, two-person households saw a $354 increase ($177 per person).

Grocery Budget For A Family Of 3

When you add another person to the household, grocery spending goes up to $6,862. That’s up from $6,187 and $5,520, compared to 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Grocery Budget For A Family Of 4

Families of four averaged $8,012 monthly in 2022, compared to $7,803 and $7,354 in 2021 and 2020, respectively. That’s a difference of $658 over 2 years.

By Location

Let's examine how much your region and state might factor into your grocery budget.

Comparing Grocery Prices By Region

When you compare prices on grocery spending by region, the Northeast spends the most, followed by the West, the Midwest and then the South.

Do your annual food expenditures match up with your region’s average? The average Northeasterner spent $6,303 on food at home in 2022, residents of the West spent $6,342, Midwesterners spent $5,559, and those in the South spent $5,135.

City dwellers spent more on food than everyone else, according to the most-current data, which is from 2020. When looking at consumer units within urban areas versus those outside urban areas, the urbanites spent an average of $7,465 compared to $5,409 for outsiders.

In examining money spent on food away from home in particular, urban households spent $2,452 versus the nonurban group’s $1,425.

Highest And Lowest Average Grocery Bills By State

Here are the most populous areas of every state ranked by most-expensive and cheapest to buy groceries, according to Move.org for 2023 to date. Nationally, the monthly average for groceries per-person ranges from $638.57 in Honolulu to $335.97 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

In 2022, the range was $556.76 in Honolulu to $183 in Manchester, New Hampshire. 

The Truth About Dining Out

Going to a restaurant can be a great way to socialize and eat delicious food you wouldn’t be able to make yourself. Dining out can also be very helpful and convenient for those who don’t have the time or energy to cook for themselves.

Unfortunately, restaurants aren’t cheap. When you buy food at a restaurant, you aren’t just paying for the food. You're also paying for the service of having someone make food for you and everything that goes along with that.

Making your meals at home generally gives you more bang for your buck. While it’s okay to get takeout or dine out occasionally if your budget allows for it, you may want to look at scaling back if you’re eating at restaurants multiple times a week. Find some cuts that work for you, such as committing to brown-bagging lunch most days or only dining out on the weekends.

Average Cost Of Groceries Per Month: How Can I Save Money At The Grocery Store?

Now that you’ve looked at the data and have some reliable comparison benchmarks, it’s time to create a food budget that’s uniquely yours. To help, we’ve provided advice based on a few scenarios, with cost-saving tips that can be adapted to your life. But before we get to that, let’s identify areas where you might be overspending and how to cut back.

Audit Your Regular Spending

Evaluate your regular spending and get an idea of how much you spend each week and month at the grocery store. If you eat out at any restaurants, tally that as well.

Check your past spending or take a few weeks or months to track your regular grocery spending. That way, you can get an accurate picture of your spending habits, what you tend to spend the biggest chunks of your grocery budget on, and the areas you could cut back on. An app like Rocket Money^SM can automatically group your spending into categories once you link your accounts and set a budget.

Consider categories where you may be overspending. Maybe you’re dining out a disproportionate amount of the time. Maybe you spend too much on junk food.

Only you can say what’s right for your budget, but it’s important to know how you’re spending your money so you can make those decisions for yourself.

Create A Food Budget

When creating your new food budget, make the most of every dollar you spend – especially if you’re trying to cut back.

Identify some specific spending or saving goals that will impact your bottom line. Write them down. Don’t just commit to spending a certain amount or spending less than you are now. Having a specific budget in ink makes you less likely to deviate and fall victim to budget-busting impulse buys.

Have A Plan For Every Grocery Shopping Trip

Going to the grocery store with a list can help you curb impulse buys, provided you stick to it.

Avoid browsing the store and only go grocery shopping after you’ve eaten. Shopping while hungry is a recipe for spending too much.

Although not always feasible, it can also be helpful to go grocery shopping without your kids. Kids are classic impulsebuyers. If you can shop while they’re in school or with someone else, you’ll likely save a bit of cash on sugary cereals and other unhealthy treats. Where You Shop Matters

Depending on what’s in your area, you should shop at the grocery store that works best for your budget. Here are a few considerations to stay within your grocery budget.

Store Loyalty Programs

Consider signing up for store reward programs. For example, Kroger offers Kroger Plus cards, which allow shoppers to build fuel points they can use at Kroger gas stations for discounts on gas.

Membership Warehouse Stores

A membership-only warehouse club like Sam’s Club or Costco might also be worth it, but be sure to compare the potential savings to the membership cost.

Discount Markets And Online Stores

Discount supermarkets like Aldi also tend to offer lower food prices than some of the bigger stores.

You can also try shopping online, though it’s not always cheaper. However, grocery shopping online makes it much easier to compare shops because you can check out competing prices on an item with just a few clicks.

Of course, if you live in an area with only one grocery store, that’s likely where you’ll end up doing all your food shopping. If that’s the case, keep an eye out for regular deals and discounts.

Savings By Food Group

Wondering what specific foods you could be saving your money on? Let’s look at the different food groups and how you can strategize your shopping in each one to maximize your food budget dollars.

Fruits And Veggies

For fresh fruits and veggies, stick with what’s in season to get the best savings and the best taste.

Canned and frozen fruits and veggies aren’t actually less nutritious than fresh produce, contrary to popular belief. In fact, it’s even possible for them to be more nutritious. This is because they’re packaged at peak freshness (preserving their nutritional value) while fresh produce loses some nutritional value in transit.

This means you can buy frozen fruits and veggies often at a lower cost without worrying about waste. You can thaw what you know you’ll eat and save the rest.

Protein

Protein, while vital to a balanced diet, can be expensive. When shopping for meat, look for sales or bulk deals to cut down on costs. If your grocery store sells larger portions of meat for low prices, take advantage of the sale and freeze what you don’t need right away.

Consider introducing other forms of cheaper protein into your diet. Beans and eggs are versatile and typically less expensive. Use them to make your meals more filling while keeping your per-meal cost low. You can also buy canned fish for a cheap, protein-rich and sustainable lunch.

Grains

Grains can be a great addition to any meal because they bulk up your plates and make you feel fuller while saving money on protein. Look to staples like rice and pasta if you’re aiming to keep your grocery bill low without going hungry.

Other

Avoid wandering into the snack aisles just to browse. If you need a few treats in your pantry, know exactly what you want to buy, grab that item and then walk away.

When you’re buying perishable products like milk, double-check the expiration date and don’t feel bad about looking around for the container with the furthest-out date on it.

Helpful Resources

The USDA has a website called ChooseMyPlate.gov that has great advice for eating healthy on a budget. This includes advice on planning your meals, making a grocery list and finding savings for every aisle in the grocery store.

If you need more than advice, plenty of programs can help you out.

If your income is within a certain range, you may be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). You can apply online or at your local state or county office.

Feeding America, the nation’s largest food bank network, offers assistance to those who need help with food. Use the food bank locator to find the facility that serves your area. They can help you find local food pantries. The Feeding America website can connect you with other programs in your area.

The Bottom Line: Spending Less On Food Requires Planning

It may be tempting to assign one simple number for how much the average person should spend on groceries, but it’s a lot more complicated than that in reality. With food, there’s no “average” person.

When you’re working to create your food budget, it’s best to think of these guidelines and averages as suggestions rather than hard-and-fast rules. Go in with realistic expectations and remember that when you’re trying to keep yourself and your family fed, you’re the expert.

The first step to spending less on food is having a global view of your finances. Get the Rocket Money℠ app so you can see all your financial information in one place.