How Much Does it Cost to Feed a Family of Four?
In February 2007 we adopted two kids (then ages 9 and 11) and I decided at the last minute to take parental leave. It was an unplanned move and we had no contingency fund set aside to cover the sudden loss of 2/3 of my income while simultaneously doubling our family size.
Kids are expensive. They need clothes, toys, child care and extracurricular activities. Every 2-3 hours they also demand to be fed.
It’s this last expense that I’ve spent the better part of the past two years trying to wrangle with and actually determine what is the cost to feed a family of four. Or rather, what is the optimal cost to feed MY family of four.
The cost of feeding our family has come to light again in recent weeks. It’s the one budget line item we consistently over spend.
While the cost of goods and services has increased by 1.2%, it’s the reported food cost increase that made me do a double take. While my bank account must clearly already know this, the cost of food has increased an astronomical 9.5% in Canada over last year as reported in the Globe & Mail.
The internet is abound with articles on how to feed a family on $100 or even $50 a week, but I just don’t see how that would work for our household. Basic welfare rates, which any poverty activist would inform you, are insufficient and substandard would likely provide my family with approximately $107 a week for food. As a local woman who experimented with this would tell you, this amount barely covers the basics.
I want to know is what is the REAL cost of feeding a family of four?
Taking me a little bit closer to solving this mystery, The Walrus included a photo essay entitled Our Weekly Bread depicting families around the world with the contents and final costs of their weekly grocery shopping displayed in their homes. From $30 a week in Mali to $329 in the USA, this photo essay takes readers around the globe to peer into human food consumption. But the most interesting aspect is the basis for the project. It was inspired by a fact uncovered by photographer Peter Menzel and writer Faith D’Aluisio – the same number of people in the world are overfed as underfed.
When the kids first moved in we worked on a food budget of $125 a week which over the past two years has grown to $175 a week. Is this reasonable? Is my family over or underfed?
Photo credit: stock.xchng.
I think that’s totally reasonable. I live by myself, and I budget $50/week for groceries + household stuff. It could be lower, but I’ve made conscious decisions to buy organic milk and free-run eggs, and to try to get my veg from my local farmers market (or my garden, if it’s in season). Also, since I’m single and child-free, my meals are irregular, which drives down cost. For you & your family, with regular mealtimes and growing children, $175/week sounds like a budget that gives you room to buy quality food.
I’m reminded, as I write this, that my parents used to have a budget of $200/week for a family of six. …But that was fifteen years ago. In which case, considering inflation etc, I think you’re doing just fine.
I would say that $ 175 per week for a family of four is a very reasonable amount. That works out to $ 25 per day and about $ 6 per day per person in your family. If you can stick to that amount, I believe it is very good.
Also a consideration: Do you buy organic food? I buy organic as much as possible which makes my grocery bills larger than yours and we only have a family of three.
Holly, here’s an article I posted earlier this year about establishing a realistic number for your family’s food budget.
http://www.queercents.com/2008/12/31/stretch-your-food-dollar-how-do-i-set-a-food-budget/
Click on the link to the USDA’s website, and you’ll be able to make a decision based off of their numbers.
The one thing I would ask of Holly is the $175 to total at the bottom of the grocery store receipt or the actual cost of edible food on that receipt???
My grandfather had a grocery store…usually a third to half of the stores income came from non-food items…soap, paper plates, mops, etc.
People are inclined to forget about this when they look at the stores receipt.
Have you ever tried shopping one week and not buying anything that was not edible and seeing how much you spend??
~ Roland
Rachel and Julie – I’m glad to hear you think the budget is reasonable. It’s good to get some positive reinforcement.
Rachel – We don’t really buy organic. When we do, I do it because it’s cheaper (strawberries) or a more appropriate quantity (spinach, which when I buy the regular variety half of it ends up fueling my composter since no one else will eat it).
Serena – That USDA sheet is fabulous. What a great tool. I’m going to need to scope out a Canadian equivalent. Even if I were to convert those amounts into Canadian values, we’re comparatively doing well. Um, really well actually.
Roland – You’re right. When I think about it there’s the non-food thing here and there in my grocery cart. Laundry detergent, household cleaner, toilet paper, etc. I’m going to have to tryout your challenge task this weekend!
I’d say our cost is probably about $130-$150 a week but our kids are younger than yours: 1 and 5. And no, we don’t buy formula. But we do buy a lot of organic food and we are vegetarian. I’d say your cost sounds reasonable.
My partner and I met while we were graduate students living on $7k/year. We ate a lot of ramen and beans and rice. We still eat cheap. Maybe we’re just being romantic, but it’s our idea of comfort food.
In our family, my partner does almost all the cooking. She’s mostly a vegetarian, and I’m an “opportunivore.” Dana does a great job of buying pretty low on the food chain — tofu, veggies, grains. I think that helps us keeps our food bills in check.
I really believe you are spending the right amount on food to feed your family healthy meals. I realized with my family of seven we spend 200 a week on groceries I always skip the junk food and my kids always eat fresh fruit meats and veggies I try to buy only whole grain but if its not on sale I don’t beat myself up about it. I always see other families fill their grocery carts over the brim plus an extra cart. and they seem to only be feeding a family of four. I will admit i see mostly junk food in their carts, sometimes I wonder how nice it would be to do that, but then I feel better when i see my reciept and my healthy looking children. But still I wish I could throw in a pack of oreos, but never do.