Inside: See how to spend $50 a week on groceries! This family does it and often goes BELOW $50 a week. With these simple tips you can be saving your family more.
I am always blown away when I hear what the average family spends on groceries a year. The average is around $8000 a year just in groceries! That seems so crazy to me. We spend around $50 a week on groceries. Although we do have a smaller family (just 3 of us) my son pretty much eats double servings of everything.
We haven't always spent $50 a week in groceries. We used to spend around $120-$140 dollars a week on groceries. I never really thought much about what we bought and would just buy whatever we felt like that week. Slowly over time, I have been able to figure out what works for our family to really lower the grocery bill.
If you are trying to save money lowering your grocery bill can be a simple way to do it. So, how to spend $50 a week on groceries? I have a few tips that have really worked for me to get my grocery bill down. In fact, in the last couple of weeks, I have had my bill around $40!
Skip The Meats
This is one of the biggest changes you can make to lower your grocery bill. Instead of having meat every night for dinner try only having it a few times a week. We usually do two nights of fish, two nights of meat and two nights of vegetarian food a week. I plan my meals with just a few portions of meat.
When I do buy the meat I buy it on sale and stock up and freeze it. If I find ground beef on sale I will make a bunch of hamburger patties so they can be used for a meal in a hurry. Clearance steaks get vacuum sealed and frozen.
Skipping meat for meals is a great way to save, but it definitely takes some getting used to. If your family loves their meats try making one night a week a vegetarian night to start off with. You can slowly back down and you will start to see the savings.
Shop at Aldi
I am constantly singing the praises of Aldi. I really love that place. They have great prices on almost everything. I buy almost all of my fruits, veggies, seafood, and dairy at Aldi. If you haven't tried shopping at Aldi yet I highly recommend you give it a try. You can see a list of my favorite things to buy at Aldi here. They have a double your money back guarantee so it won't hurt to try it.
I find it hard to get everything on my list at Aldi so I just go there before I go shopping at Meijer. If you don't have the time to go to Aldi every week you could try stopping in every other week. Or you can also now use Instacart to get your Aldi purchases delivered. It is a great way to save if you don't have a lot of extra time.
Buy In Season Produce
Buying in-season produce is not only an easy way to save money, but you also get fresh great tasting produce. Corn on the cob tastes best in summer and is the cheapest. You will overpay for watermelon if you buy it anytime but summer. I try to stick to the in-season produce to keep our grocery budget low. Plus, when the produce tastes great we eat more produce and fewer meats which saves us even more. You can see the best fruits and vegetables to buy each month here.
Skip The Processed Foods
Unless I have a coupon I tend to skip the processed foods at the store. Doritos, Oreos, Pop-tarts, all of those processed foods tend to be so expensive. If my kiddo goes with me he can pick one thing to put in the cart, but besides that, we usually skip all of that stuff.
If I am buying some processed foods I can sometimes find an Ibotta deal on it. They offer cash back on everything from bread to toiletries.
Make Freezer Meals
If you don't always have a bunch of time to make meals from scratch (I know I don't) making freezer meals can be a great way to save money on your grocery bill. I like to make things like pancakes or breakfast burritos and freeze them so we can have a quick breakfast without buying the pre-made more expensive breakfast. I can make breakfast burritos for under $.50 each instead of paying over a dollar for the ones in the store.
If you haven't made a lot of freezer meals in the past I recommend starting small. You don't want to end up with 10 frozen meals your family doesn't like. Try taking one of your families favorite recipes and see if it will work as a freezer meal.
You can also sign up for a free freezer meals class. It is a great class to help get you started on making freezer meals. Plus it's free!!
Still unsure where to start? I have taken Grocery University from Money Saving Mom and I loved it! I started seeing a big difference in my grocery bill after the first week. It's only $9.99 and there is a money back guarantee. You can head on over here to sign up and start saving!
You can also check out my 5 recipes for under $35 here. They are hearty, meaty meals with plenty of leftovers. Don't forget to make sure you are planning ahead by making a meal plan. Grab a free meal planning printable here.
I am now amazed at how much we used to spend on our groceries. An average week for me now is about $20 at Aldi and $30 at Meijer. Even with the kiddo home over summer I recently had two $40 weeks. A lower grocery bill for your family is possible!
Janet P says
I try to use less meat - we eat several vegetarian meals each week. However, fish is not less expensive than meat - we do have it as a treat once twice a month.
I do not shop at Aldi's, and it would be my last choice of supermarkets. Everything is pre-packaged, even produce, so amounts are regulated, and the items cannot be examined - I've gotten many items that were half "gone" that way. I found the best prices at Marc's - although they don't have wide a variety of brands as other supermarkets.
I like their boneless chicken thighs, from local farms, the best of any I've tried. I buy several packages and freeze them. We do eat a lot of chicken.
Emilie says
And I'm glad to see someone else does this lol people don't believe me when I tell them, or they think we starve!
Emilie says
We have been spending 50 a week for a LONG time! It's seriously do-able. It's important to make a list of what you want to eat that week so that you're not tempted by other items. The bulk of our groceries is fruits and veggies and if meat is on sale. I go to a price match store and use an app to show the cheapest price. I use flipp (I'm in Canada I don't know if you guys have it). I searched for bread yesterday and it was 2.99 at the store..on sale at another for 1.49! So we bought two and froze one. I'd have to say once a month I'd add an extra 50$ for those on sale items and then I bulk up an store. It means that some weeks we can spend 35-40$ 🙂 also I like to buy my ground pork at costco, it comes out much cheaper. Its very important to be flexible as well, if you absolutely want one type of bread but it's full price, then look at another one to see if it's on sale. I agree with you also, processed foods get so expensive !
Julie says
Yes! I love Costco too to stock up on items we go through a lot of.
Blaire says
Hey there! I was just wondering how much organic and/or gluten free you buy on your $50 a week budget. We have 5 people in our family so I know how budget will be a bit more than $50 a week, but we try and purchase as much organic as we can (especially stuff that's on the dirty dozen, mostly organic dairy, and grassfed/free range meats). We also try to do less gluten (leaning toward things that are naturally gf). We primarily shop at Trader Joe's. Aldi has been intriguing to me as I've heard they've increased their amount of organic things and GF items. I'm just not sure about how much organic when it comes to buying produce there. I haven't see much. Thanks for your help!
Julie says
Hi Blaire, we don't buy much organic food and pretty much never buy gluten free food. Aldi does have a small section of organic fruits and vegetables. My sister buys gluten free at Aldi and loves how good the prices are compared to other stores like Target. If you have an Aldi nearby you may want to give it a shot.
Blaire says
Oh okay. Thanks so much!:)
KMC says
Do you know that Aldi and Trader Joe's are owned by the same company? You'll often find the same products, just Aldi brand and TJ brand. Definitely give Aldi a try.
Blaire says
Yes I did know that! So cool! Thanks for bringing that up! I'm mostly wondering the amount of organic items at Aldi vs TJ. Like we purchase mostly organic/free range/grass fed meat and dairy, and then organic fruits and veggies as far as dirty dozen is concerned (and sometimes more). I definitely would love to spend less, but organic and less gluten is a priority for me, so I don't want to be give that up if that makes sense. I will have to make a list of the items that would work for us at Aldi. Thanks so much for the suggestion!:)
Maryalene says
Thanks for the tips! With 5 kids, I don't think we'll ever get our budget quite that low, but we're working on it. I've switched to getting a lot of my meat through Zaycon and staples/snacks at Costco. It means spending more money upfront, but it seems to save cash in the long run.
Julie says
How is your bill lower when your child is home during the summer; do you not make his meals in the fall, winter and spring?
Laura says
Do you mean $50 on just food? We spend more, but last week I bought deodorant, notebooks and other "drug store/Walmart" items.
Julie says
Yes, I spend $50 on food. Other items like deodorant or household items usually come from the drugstore. I would say I probably average another $5-$10 a week on drugstore items. I have found that I save a lot other items by doing the CVS/Walgreens deals.
Esther says
I am desperate for Aldi in Savannah, GA! All the surrounding cities have one . . . not sure why they skipped us!
Julie says
Bummer! Hopefully you will get one soon!
Kelly says
Any meal plans? I don't much eat much meat either, it is cheaper and healthier
Julie says
I don't, but it is definitely something I will keep in mind for a future article. Thanks!
ashley says
I wished we had those grocery stores in our area!
Julie says
I heard Aldi is building 500 more stores in the next couple years. Hopefully you will get one near you!
ashley says
oh that would be nice ! I live in a small area in ND 🙂
Traci says
Hello! I was just wondering if you had any freezer meal ideas on your website! Thank you for the great tips! I love Aldi also! 🙂
Julie says
Hi Traci, you can see all my freezer tips and meal ideas at the link below. I hope that helps.