How Much Money For Groceries Per Month

To learn how much money you spend on groceries every month, you lot can add together up receipts, view your credit carte du jour transaction history or track your spending with a budget app .

But figuring out how much you should spend on groceries isn't quite as straightforward.

Here's how to work grocery costs into your monthly upkeep .

What is the boilerplate cost of groceries per month?

The average toll of groceries for U.S. households is $4,942, based on 2020 data from the U.S. Agency of Labor Statistics

. This works out to near $412 per month. Grocery spending has likely increased during the pandemic with people going out to eat less often.

While you can use this boilerplate equally a criterion for your own spending , it isn't the best indicator of how much you lot, or others, can actually afford.

What should my monthly grocery upkeep be?

Your grocery budget depends on many factors, including where you lot store, what you buy, how many people y'all're feeding and whether you store online or in person. Non sure where to beginning? Hither are a couple of guidelines yous tin can use to come up up with a number.

Follow USDA food plans

The U.S. Department of Agronomics creates monthly food plans you can utilise equally guidance for grocery spending. The plans estimate the average cost of nutritious, dwelling house-prepared meals and snacks past gender and age, and are cleaved into four different spending levels: thrifty, low price, moderate cost and liberal.

The about recent judge for a family of iv, defined as a male and female between ages 20 and fifty and two children, ages half dozen to 8 and nine to eleven, put the cost of the thrifty plan at $855 per month.

These food plans tin can suggest a monthly grocery budget for your household, merely they're still estimates, and won't be perfectly tailored to you.

Use the 50/30/20 rule to budget for groceries

The fifty/thirty/20 budget can aid yous piece of work out how much to spend on groceries based on your specific income and expenses. Following this framework, you spend about fifty% of your monthly after-tax income on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on sayings and debt repayment.

Well-nigh groceries autumn nether the "needs" category, but not every detail at the grocery store qualifies every bit a necessity. Purchasing filet mignon for a special dinner would be a "want," for instance.

If your monthly take-domicile pay is $3,200, here'due south how you'd divide that amongst your expenses:

$1,600 for needs similar bones groceries, housing and transportation.
$960 for wants like meals out, entertainment and travel.
$640 for savings and loan payments beyond the minimum.

How much of that $1,600 should become toward groceries depends on the monthly cost of your other essentials. Let'southward say you pay $850 for rent and utilities, $200 in pupil loan payments and $415 for your car payment and insurance. That adds upward to $i,465 — leaving simply $135 per calendar month for vital groceries. If that won't embrace everything you need, or if you want to programme for some treats, you lot can have boosted money from your "wants" budget.

Before you lot build a budget

NerdWallet breaks down your spending and shows you ways to relieve.

Find ways to stretch your grocery budget

If you're struggling to fit food costs into your upkeep, look for ways to relieve money on groceries . Start with these simple strategies:

Look in your fridge and pantry before making a shopping list.
Join shop loyalty programs to earn rewards.
Cheque the Sun paper, use an app and explore other ways to go coupons .

Your financial position, expenses and spending behavior will presumably change throughout your life. Make sure to revisit your grocery budget every month and adjust.

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Source: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/how-much-should-i-spend-on-groceries

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