[quote=CA renter]
Wow, we must go through more food than you both do and probably spend more per item, too. We buy organic milk, eggs and fruit. We don’t spend money on much else, but food is the one area where we buy good quality and we really enjoy cooking and entertaining. Just checked on Vons.com, and the organic milk is over $6/gal., though we can get comparable milk for around $5/gal. Eggs run between $4-$5/dz. for the organic/hormone-free eggs. Needless to say, organic produce isn’t cheap, either.

AN, do your kids eat “adult-sized” meals, yet? That might be one factor that’s keeping your bills down. Of course, some kids eat very little. Ours…not so much.

We tried the Costco route but found that we couldn’t get out of there for less than ~$300, and still had to shop a week or so after that. Maybe we’ll have to try it again if you’re so successful doing it that way. Still, we have friends who shop at Costco, and their bills are as high as ours, or higher.

Good job on keeping your bills low![/quote]

We’ve been closely tracking our budget lately.
All in for food, toiletries, household, booze, eating out etc. we spend about $900/month for a family of 4.
That’s based on looking at purchases at Costco, Sprouts, Trader Joes, Vons, and misc. farmers markets.
I do not break it down by toiletries, vs food, vs booze. (that would involve breaking down each receipt – vs just categorizing a specific vendor in quicken.)

We don’t eat out as much as other folks… I eat at the work cafeteria a few days a week, and other days brown bag it. We go out to dinner or get take out on average once a month.

We mostly cook from scratch – use a lot of organic ingredients (organic eggs from costco are some of the cheapest organic eggs around.) We buy staples in bulk at costco or sprouts. And it includes booze – wine, beer, liquor.

Organic definitely kicks the price up… but I feel its worth it, sometimes.