One of the first questions people ask when they’re trying to save money on groceries is: “How much should I be spending?”
It’s a fair question. Without a baseline, you have no idea if you’re doing well or if there’s room for improvement. You might be spending $800 a month and thinking you’re frugal, when a family your size could realistically spend $600. Or you might be beating yourself up for spending $500 when that’s actually quite good.
The truth is, there’s no single “right” amount to spend on groceries. It depends on where you live, the size of your household, dietary needs, and how much time you have for meal prep.
But there are realistic benchmarks you can use as a starting point.
The USDA Food Plans: A Budget Baseline
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishes monthly reports called Food Plans that estimate the cost of nutritious meals at different budget levels. These aren’t random numbers – they’re based on current food prices, dietary standards, and what it actually costs to eat well.
The USDA provides four different food plan levels:
- Thrifty Food Plan – The most budget-conscious option (this is what SNAP benefits are based on)
- Low-Cost Food Plan – A step up from thrifty
- Moderate-Cost Food Plan – Middle-of-the-road spending
- Liberal Food Plan – Higher-end grocery budget
All four plans assume you’re preparing meals and snacks at home, not eating out. The plans are updated monthly to reflect current food prices, so they’re as accurate as you can get for a national average.
As of August 2025, here’s what the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan shows for a reference family of four (one adult male, one adult female, and two children ages 6-8 and 9-11):
- $230.70 per week
- $999.50 per month
If your family looks different – maybe you have teenagers instead of young kids, or you’re a single person – you can look up the specific costs for each household member on the USDA’s website.
While there is no cookie-cutter grocery budget, this gives you a realistic baseline for what a nutritious diet should cost at the most budget-conscious level.
How to Figure Out Your Own Grocery Budget
Now that you know the USDA baseline, you can begin to figure out a grocery budget amount that works for you. Here’s the process:
1. Track your actual grocery spending
Before you can set a realistic goal, you need to know where you’re starting. Track your grocery spending for at least two weeks – ideally a full month. Include regular grocery store trips, warehouse club purchases, and farmers market visits. Don’t include restaurant meals or household items like cleaning supplies.
Write down every trip and the total. At the end of the tracking period, add it up and divide by the number of weeks to get your weekly average.
2. Compare to the baseline
How does your spending compare to the USDA Thrifty Food Plan for your household size?
If you’re well above it, there’s room to cut back. If you’re right at or below the Thrifty level, you’re already doing well on a tight budget. Remember, the USDA numbers are national averages. If you live in a high cost-of-living area, your costs will naturally be higher.
3. See if there’s room to cut
Look at where your money is actually going. Are you buying a lot of pre-made meals? Expensive snacks? Premium brands? This isn’t about judgment – it’s about awareness.
4. Implement your plan
Set a target budget based on what you learned. If you’re way over the baseline, don’t slash your budget in half overnight – that’s setting yourself up to fail. Make gradual changes that feel doable.
5. See how you’re doing and solve problems as they come up
Steps 3-5 should be on a lather-rinse-repeat cycle for a really long time, and maybe indefinitely. These days, grocery prices are changing so much that it will keep you on your toes. Don’t immediately go to the option of chastising yourself – instead, figure out why you overspent and see if there are ways you can avoid it.
If you’re married, be sure to get (and stay) likeminded with your spouse. Once you both are clear, let the whole family get involved in saving money on groceries. Kids will get excited about what you’re excited about.
Tips for Staying Within Your Grocery Budget
Once you’ve set your budget, sticking to it will be a learning process. Here are some things you can do to help.
Make a meal plan. You don’t need anything fancy – just a rough idea of what you’re eating this week. When you know what you need, you’re less likely to overbuy or grab random items “just in case.”
Shop with a list. This is non-negotiable if you want to stay on budget. Every item you toss in the cart without planning adds up fast.
Learn your target prices. When you know what things should cost, you can spot real deals and avoid fake sales.
Use coupons and apps strategically. Digital coupons in store apps are the easiest way to save without much effort.
Shop the sales. Check weekly ads before you plan your meals, then build your menu around what’s on sale. See what I’m finding: Thanksgiving Grocery Deals
Buy sale items in quantity. If butter is $2.99 instead of $4.99, buy several pounds and freeze them. This is how you beat the budget game – buying low and eating from your stockpile.
Cook from scratch when you can. Convenience foods cost more. You don’t have to make everything from scratch, but even doing a few things yourself saves money.
Use up what you have. Before you go shopping, check the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Can you make a meal or two from what’s already there? This prevents waste and stretches your budget.
What If You’re Over Budget?
If you track your spending and realize you’re way over your target, here’s what to do:
Identify where the money is going. Look at your receipts. Are you buying lots of convenience foods? Expensive brands? Snacks that add up? You can’t fix what you don’t see.
Make one change at a time. Don’t overhaul everything at once. Maybe this month, you focus on meal planning. Next month, you learn target prices for your top ten items.
Find Budget-Friendly Alternatives to What You Love
An example: My husband loves to eat out, but with so many big changes in our lives right now, it really isn’t in the budget for this season. Rather than tough it out and make every single meal from scratch seven days a week, we found a take-home grocery store pizza we like at a very reasonable price, and we do that on Fridays. I get the night off from cooking and he gets what feels like a little bit of a treat. We also do soda sometimes! (Big spenders!)
The point is, we found a budget-friendly way to do what feels like a splurge. You can also find discounts at your favorite restaurants and go when those are available. The idea is that you can have fun and enjoy something special without ruining all your future financial goals and dreams. When income increases or expenses decrease, you may not even feel like spending more because you’re genuinely happy living on what you’ve budgeted.
It takes some time to get it where you want it. Don’t punish yourself, but don’t throw your budget out the window either.
Be honest about your priorities. If you genuinely value organic produce or grass-fed beef and you can afford it, that’s fine. But if you’re buying those things out of habit while complaining about your grocery bill, something has to give.
Consider adjusting other budget categories. Maybe you can’t realistically cut your grocery spending much more without sacrificing nutrition or your sanity. That’s okay – look at other areas of your budget instead.
The Bottom Line
A realistic grocery budget starts with the USDA Food Plans as a baseline, gets adjusted for your location and household, and then gets refined based on your actual spending patterns and priorities.
For most families, the Thrifty to Low-Cost range is achievable with some planning and effort. The Moderate plan is comfortable without being extravagant. The Liberal plan allows for more convenience and premium choices.
Figure out where you want to be, track your target prices, and give yourself grace as you learn. Grocery budgeting is a skill, and like any skill, it takes practice.
Start with the USDA baseline for your household, track what you’re currently spending, and set a goal that challenges you without making you miserable. That’s a grocery budget you can actually stick with.
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