To make you all feel better for 2011 we spent an average of 864 a month on grocery (which also includes alcohol and household supplies) and 274 on restaurant/eating out.

My wife an I have been trying to reign in the "food" budget (all grocery store items including for pets, eating out) Went from $1200 a month down to $800 a month. I can live with that number, we'll see if it holds.

Making a weekly list really helps, not only to avoid overspending at the grocery but also less chance of eating out on a whim during the week.

Ours budget is $300 a week for groceries, so that's all food, toiletries, alcohol, lunches and the occasional eating out or take away.

So ~$1300 a month.

Allergies to certain foods doesn't help in bringing down those costs.

This blog post talks about how she calculated the expected amount for food for her family. It links to the official USDA average costs for a family of four to eat. I can't put two links into one post as we all know, but to sum it up, the expected cost for a family of four runs from $533.40 to $1208.10, depending on the age of the children and which plan you think is "reasonable."

Well, that makes me feel better.

I felt like such a waster with our $500/month budget for food (family of two).

But it all depends on your income and goal

We're not too far from your number between eating out and groceries

Our household in 2011:
2 adults
$288/mo average for groceries (not including paper goods, toiletries, etc)
$262/mo average for eating out, including coffee

So, $550/mo total on food

We buy meat in bulk, buy generic brands and shop by what is on sale, freeze-ahead meals for supper and leftovers to take for lunches.

Just starting to track a food budget again for the first time in a long time.

I've set it at $480 per month based on a hugely unscientific $120/week estimate. Thats two grownups (technically) who like to get their (healthy) meat and produce at Whole Foods and the other stuff wherever its cheapest.

Looking forward to the challenge again. Fourteen days in we're at 50.05% remaining with a number of confounding factors (groceries kept from prior month, stuff like that) so I think my estimate might be a shade low or conversely we still need to learn better habits. A little of both probably.

Just more data for the informal poll that is this thread. Sounds like there are a lot of hard core folks out there getting by on peanuts (intended). Takes all kinds though, food is a pretty personal choice issue for lots of us. Significant effect on health and well being as well as having some social/moral implications. Complicated issue.

Wow that is a really useful blog post. Estimating for the family closest to us, our food costs (ranging from thrifty, low cost, moderate, liberal) are: 611, 796, 995, 1208, and that is assuming all food gets eaten in the home. If we don't include restaurant costs we are not in the highest group! I'm trying to see whether 800 a month grocery (also includes incidentals) and 200 a month restaurant is doable.