Grocery Costs per Family Member

After watching an episode of Wife Swap Australia where one family spends $50 per family member on groceries per month, while another spends closer to $520 per family member, I'm curious - what do you spend?

We would spend ~$220 per family member per month and I'm honestly surprised at that number.

How to calculate:

1) Multiply your average weekly grocery bill by 52 weeks in a year.

2) Divide by 12 months in a year.

3) Divide by number of family members + 1 (household).

The "+1 (household)" accounts for grocery bill products that don't pertain to one member of the family (cleaning products, kitchen gadgets, batteries etc), but more to the household itself or serves multiple family members.

Example:

$350 per week on groceries x 52 weeks / 12 months / 4 family members + 1 (household)

= ~$300 per family member per month

Note: Pet food will throw off your "per family member per month" value. Significantly so if you purchase human grade food for your pets during your grocery shop. Still an interesting exercise.

I got $92.85. We're a family of six plus pets

Around $250, 5 people. That also covers a dog (I make all of her food), all toiletries etc, one in nappies but only one per day (we otherwise use cloth nappies).

DS1 had to calculate the cost of living for him per week. He had to include transport (so Public Transport costs and petrol estimates), school fees, food, water, electricity, gas but not insurances, mortgage etc. As DS1 has a very limited diet as just did the cost of his items. He was surprised how much he costs us each week.

Working the other way, for us to spend $50 per family member a month my weekly budget would have to be $80.76, that's pretty tight, my normal budget is $150 a week

Eta: maybe when we're out of nappies lol

I don't know how anyone can survive on $50 per month for groceries - do they eat out alot?

We are $170, probably higher though as I don't keep track of top-ups in the week.

Working the other way, for us to spend $50 per family member a month my weekly budget would have to be $80.76, that's pretty tight, my normal budget is $150 a week

Eta: maybe when we're out of nappies lol

Thats a good idea - for us (4 people plus 1 for household) it would be $58 per week. That would mean a diet with minimal meat, fresh fruit, vegetables, mostly pasta, bread, potatoes.

Mines $250. Which includes wet cat food but not kibble or litter as we buy that online. I shop at Aldi and just top up at Coles or Woolies as needed. And I mostly cook from scratch.

We only have takeaway/eat out once or twice a month.

I don't know how anyone can survive on $50 per month for groceries - do they eat out alot?

We are $170, probably higher though as I don't keep track of top-ups in the week.

No. They don’t.

I quite seriously don’t know. I buy a lot of food from different shops. I go to aldi for certain things. They have diced ham for pizzas, plus salami that doesn’t have dairy, and their German sausages are good. Also their salmon and prawnies are just as good as coles but cheaper. Coles mainly only seem to have primo now which use dairy extensively, and for that reason I boycott. They do have done tibaldi ham that is nice. And Moira macs turkey is a favourite of mine.

If I buy fruit and veg from coles, they go off in days. Not so from my local, so I get fruit and veg plus some souvlaki bread, garlic dip etc from there.

Some meats are find from the supermarket but most are really expensive, so I tend to buy marked down or roasts.

My butcher is run by a Chinese born family, they have really good chicken, duck, pork and mince but they don’t really understand roast cuts.

Asian supermarket tends to have better prices and range, so for most Asian ingredients I go there.

I order nuts, legumes, dried fruit and spices from the Royal nut company because their quality is outstanding. Wish they had a branch in Sydney.

$250 on average, including takeaway pizzas on Friday nights.

Wow - I mainly cook from scratch, but I do draw certain lines. I don't make puff pastry for example.

We are 99% vegetarian and I have noticed that the price of fruits and vegetables has gone up enormously. We are only buying what is in season.

Veruca salt, that is only set to get worse apparently. I’m cracking down on waste. Or trying to.

$111.42 for us. Family of 6, no pets.

ETA: Actually, it would be a bit higher than that, as I only based it on our main weekly shop. We almost always need a top-up shop for bread, milk and fruit and veg. So my new calculation is $130 each.

I have $288, family of three, no pets! I cook a lot from scratch, but we get takeout once a week and I buy sauces etc

About $140 per person per month for the three of us.

I love these threads.

Does it include just food or all grocery items that you can get at woolies?

There are 4 of us so roughly, our weekly grocery bill is the monthly per person amount. We spend about $300 a week on groceries, it can vary a lot, some weeks are $500, some are $150. I’d say 75% is food cost.

So, per person, per month, maybe $200-$250 of food, plus $50-$100 of other stuff (cleaning stuff, shampoo, nappies, dog food, sponges, odd pair of sock and undies)

Plus we get take away once a week.

We spend wayyyy too much on food. It’s meat that’s so expensive mainly.

Interesting. Depends on if you include eating out. Last year, Just groceries was $230, if you include take out and lunches etc it goes up to $290. But that's a lot up from the year before (pre covid) which was $180 for just groceries and $270 with eating out.

About $190 per person per month for us, family of 2 adults and 2 kids. We don’t get takeaway in normal week though and DH isn’t buying work lunches most days so that’s covering basically all meals.

I'm sick and bored so I did a little experiment. Heres what I get for $58 at Coles, which is equivalent to $50 per month for a family of 4. No household items though... and assumes some things aren't needed every week, so no butter, oil, sugar. My family goes through about 4 loaves of bread a week but they are bigger loaves. We also go through about 3 jars of peanut butter and I only have 1 on here.

Pattu

Red Split Lentils 1 kg

Pattu Red Split Lentils 1 kg everyday product1 for $4.00

Coles

Vegetable Stock Cubes 21 pack 105g

Coles Vegetable Stock Cubes 21 pack 105g everyday product1 for $2.00

Coles

Frozen Peas 1kg

Coles Frozen Peas 1kg everyday product1 for $2.00

Coles

Chopped Tomatoes 400g

Coles Chopped Tomatoes 400g everyday product4 for $2.40

Coles

Spirals Pasta 500g

Coles Spirals Pasta 500g everyday product2 for $1.60

Coles

Long Grain Rice 1kg

Coles Long Grain Rice 1kg everyday product1 for $1.40

Coles

Peanut Butter Crunchy 375g

Coles Peanut Butter Crunchy 375g everyday product1 for $1.80

Coles

Wholemeal Self Raising Flour 1kg

Coles Wholemeal Self Raising Flour 1kg everyday product1 for $2.00

Coles

Quick Oats 900g

Coles Quick Oats 900g everyday product1 for $1.65

Farm Fresh

Cage Eggs 12 pack 700g

Farm Fresh Cage Eggs 12 pack 700g1 for $3.50

Coles

Cheddar Block 1kg

Coles Cheddar Block 1kg everyday product1 for $8.00

Coles

Dairy Milk Full Cream Hdpe 2L

Coles Dairy Milk Full Cream Hdpe 2L everyday product2 for $4.78

Don

Deli Classic Ham approx. 125g

Don Deli Classic Ham approx. 125g250g for $4.00

Coles

RSPCA Approved Chicken Drumsticks Large Pack approx. 1.475kg

Coles RSPCA Approved Chicken Drumsticks Large Pack approx. 1.475kg1 for $5.90

Coles

Carrots Prepacked 1kg

Coles Carrots Prepacked 1kg1 for $2.00

Coles

William Bartlett Pears approx. 200g

Coles William Bartlett Pears approx. 200g on special10 for $4.00

Coles

White Sandwich Bread 650g

Coles White Sandwich Bread 650g everyday product5 for $6.50

It was $50 per person though wasn’t it? So 200 a month plus $50 for entertainment?

Every week I have the same experience where I come out of Aldi with bags stuffed full of food for an entire week for <$200 for a family of 4 including 2 teens who eat adult portions and 2 cats. Much self congratulation. Then I pop into Coles or Woolies to pick up the few things that Aldi either doesn’t sell or I don’t like their version. Will come out with barely a bag full and it will be $90.

About $220pp for 4 of us. That includes takeaway / eating out about once a week, usually a Saturday night after a full day of kids sport.

Aren't nursing homes feeding residents on $6.08/day and people think that's low? That's $180/m.

https://theconversation.com/why-is-nursing-home-food-so-bad-some-spend-just-6-08-per-person-a-day-thats-lower-than-prison-120421

$140pp for our family of four, with one still in nappies. I haven’t included the take away we usually get once a week.

It was $50 per person though wasn’t it? So 200 a month plus $50 for entertainment?

Its $50 per person and 1 for household. I wouldn't count $50 for entertainment, it would be for things like cleaning, bathroom. Of which I included none.

I’m not watching it again but they did say on wife swap the $250 a month was food and entertainment. I remain unclear on what their entertainment would be.