Ask Crystal: How much should you spend per person for food?

3 weeks ago 12

Every Thursday in 2025, I’ll be answering a question on money and/or budgeting. If you have a question you’d love for me to answer in an upcoming post, please submit it here.

I remember you had a formula of how to food budget per person in the family, can you discuss that again in one of your budgeting posts? I would like to implement it myself but forget how you said to go about doing it, Thanks! -Suzane

This is such a great question, Suzane! And I think it will vary widely from person to person and family to family. But I think it’s helpful to have a rule of thumb when considering how much to spend on groceries.

What to Factor in When Deciding How Much to Spend

How many people are in your family? It’s usually easier to spend less per person when you have a larger family as you can buy in bulk and save money that way. (However, if you are single or only have a few people in your family, you can consider dividing up bulk orders with friends to still get the savings!)

What are the ages of those in your family? It probably goes without saying that if you have little kids you’re going to spend less on groceries than most families who have four teens!

What are your dietary needs/restrictions? Do you have gluten sensitives or egg allergies? Are you eating a Paleo diet or prefer to buy most things organic? These things will impact your grocery costs — and that’s totally okay, but I think it’s important to acknowledge and be good with this. Don’t compare your grocery spending to someone like me who doesn’t have anyone with food allergies and I’m okay with buying some items processed and very few organic items.

Where do you live? If you live far out in the country where there’s only a small local grocery with very few sales, you’ll probably spend more on groceries than someone who lives in a large city with four different grocery store options nearby.

Do you have access to stores that offer great clearance prices and markdowns? There are many stores that offer clearance deals and markdowns and these can greatly lower the cost of your budget. But there are some areas that truly don’t have as great of deals as other areas and it’s good to recognize this will change your grocery budget.

How much time do you have? This is a big factor! If you have a lot of time, you might be able to plant a garden, cook everything from scratch, spend time playing the drugstore game, and shop for deals at multiple stores. If you are really short on time, it might be a better use of your time to buy some pre-made items and only shop at one store.

How active is your family? Families who are very active with things like sports, weight-lifting, running, etc. are likely going to need to consume more calories and therefore their grocery budget will need to be adjusted accordingly.

How often do you eat out? If you eat out a few times a week, you will spend less on groceries, but you are likely spending more on food. If that’s a decision your family has made and it works for your budget, go for it. But do make sure that you are good with the amount of money you are spending on food in general — because sometimes those trips through the drive-thru can add up to more than you’d like to be spending on food each week!

What does your grocery budget include? Every family is different and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. Some families choose to include all cleaning and hygiene products in their grocery budget. Others choose to have their grocery budget only be strictly food. In addition, some families include diapers or pet products in their grocery budget.

How Much Should You Spend Per Person?

With all these things in mind, I will say a general rule is spending somewhere between $30-$50 per person on groceries per week. If that feels really low, then it’s perfectly okay to bump it up higher. This is not a competition to get your grocery budget lower than someone else; this is about figuring out what works best for your family so that you can eat well and be intentional with your time and money.

You could also focus more on the cost per meal, if that works better for you. This could look two different ways:

1) Choose an amount to aim for per person per meal. For instance, maybe you shoot to never spend more than $1 per person on breakfasts, $2.50 per person on lunches, and $3 per person on dinners (these are all the prices of how much you are paying when divvying up the costs of eating at home).

2) Choose an amount to aim for per meal. So, let’s say your goal is to never spend more than $5 for breakfasts, $10 for lunches, and $15 for dinner.

There is no right or wrong way to do this! But by setting up some parameters for your spending, it gives you a gauge to go by, encourages you to look for ways to be creative, and it helps you know that you are on track!

Do you track how much you spend per person or per meal? I’d love to hear! Tell us in the comments!