So in an article Kim linked to, the authors mentioned the statistic that Americans spend on average 13% of their income on groceries. I've seen similar statistics before, although I feel as if it's going up (I think before I've seen 10 or 11%). I'm curious if that holds true for Mommysavers.

I'm going to try to set this up as a poll, because I don't want people to have to divulge too much info if they don't want. (From percent of salary, it would be easy to put together salary, so a poll is nicely anonymous for those who prefer.)

We spend about 5%, but this poll will probably be skewed quite a bit due to differences in monthly income. When we were first married, and our income was quite low, we probably spent more like 18%. As our income rose, our grocery consumption did not.

That's what I thought about when I heard the percentage on the news.


We only spend about 8% on groceries, but it's not because my husband makes a ton of money, it's because I have learned how to stretch a dollar very faaaaaaaaaaaar.

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"It's time to move from what we can do, to what we must do, to what we will do." ~Hillary Clinton

Yes, that's what I'm curious about. I agree that the salary makes a big difference, but at the same time I cut mine in half once I started paying attention. I'm just curious--are the Mommysavers beating the average? Or with so many one-income families, do the grocery saving efforts that take place here still average out to something similar to that national average?

I think the same article that gave the 13% average said the average amount spent was something like $950/month, which is pretty high for smart Mommysavers!

We spend about 10% but that's because I spend a LOT on groceries. I won't even post on here what we spend on groceries in a month because it is so ridiculous. We used to be better (by better, I don't mean super frugal, but we used to be less ridiculous) but we are spending probably 50% more these last couple of months. I have some sort of grocery shopping problem lately.

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~Vicki~
Mama to Hailey, 4 and Ella, 2

I spend probably 11-15%. I don't really pay attention to what I'm buying. We don't plan meals or have a price book. But I work full time and honestly just don't mind spending money on groceries enough to put energy into worrying about it. If money were tight or I didn't work it would be a different story! I know, I know I am breaking every mommysaver rule about grocery shopping!

18% but that's because our income is low. We only spend $400 a month on groceries.

Our housing including the mortgage, all bills and utilities is 50%.

No wonder we live frugally.

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13% sounds about right if you include HBA , pets and cleaning agents.

I'd never calculated it before. It was 10%.

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

This year so far we have averaged about 5.5% ~ which is pretty good. But I am willing to bet that last year was closer to 8 or 9%.

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"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them." ~ Phyllis Diller