Grocery Budget Calculator
How much should you spend on groceries? Get a realistic monthly and weekly budget for your household, based on USDA food-plan costs.
Free. We'll set your Groceries budget to the monthly amount the moment you sign in.
How much should you spend on groceries?
There's no single right number, but the USDA's four food plans give a solid, research-backed range by household size and age. This calculator applies those per-person costs to your household and adds them up, so you start from a realistic figure instead of a guess. Adjust the spending level to match how you actually shop.
Turn the number into a working budget
A target only helps if you track against it. In One Less Choice, this becomes your Groceries budget, and you can plan meals whose real cost flows straight into it, so you see budget-vs-actual as the month goes. Set the budget here, then bring it with you: it's in your account before you finish signing up.
Grocery budget FAQ
How much should a family of 4 spend on groceries per month?
A family of four (two adults, two children) typically spends roughly $900 to $1,300 a month on groceries, depending on how thrifty or generous the plan is and the ages of the kids. Use the calculator above to get a number tuned to your household and spending level.
What is a realistic monthly grocery budget?
The USDA publishes four food-plan levels: Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate, and Liberal. Thrifty is a lean, cook-from-scratch budget; Liberal allows more convenience and variety. Most households land between Low-cost and Moderate. Pick the level that matches how you actually shop rather than an aspirational one.
How much should one person spend on groceries per month?
A single adult generally spends about $250 to $475 a month on groceries depending on the plan level. Cooking at home, buying store brands, and planning meals in advance push you toward the lower end; frequent convenience foods and eating whatever sounds good push you higher.
How can I lower my grocery bill without eating worse?
Plan the week before you shop, anchor a few nights on cheap high-nutrition staples (beans, lentils, eggs, seasonal produce), buy proteins on sale and freeze them, and cook once to eat twice. Planning is the biggest lever: it kills the impulse trips and the 6pm takeout decision that blow the budget.
How this is calculated
Your budget is built from the USDA's Official Food Plans, the government's cost estimates for a nutritious diet made entirely at home. It is not a survey of what people happen to spend; it's what a healthy grocery basket costs at four spending levels.
- Take the per-person monthly cost for each plan level (Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate, Liberal). Adults use the average of the male and female 19-50 figures; children use the average of the 6-8 and 9-11 (school-age) figures.
- Add up every person in your household:
(adults x adult cost) + (kids x kid cost). - Apply the USDA household-size adjustment (bigger households buy more efficiently): 1 person +20%, 2 people +10%, 3 people +5%, 4 people no change, 5-6 people -5%, 7+ people -10%.
- Convert to weekly by dividing the monthly total by 4.333 (the average number of weeks in a month), the same factor USDA uses.
What it assumes
- All meals and snacks are prepared at home. Eating out is a separate line in your budget.
- Costs are the USDA U.S. average; groceries run higher in Alaska, Hawaii, and many coastal cities, and lower in parts of the South and Midwest.
- Younger children (under 6) cost less than the school-age average shown; teenagers cost more, especially teenage boys.
Sources
- USDA Official Food Plans: Cost of Food (monthly reports) — the source of every figure here
- USDA Thrifty Food Plan cost report (U.S. average, Jan 2025) — reference family of four = $992.90/mo
- USDA Low, Moderate & Liberal Food Plans cost report (Jan 2025)
Last updated: July 2026 These are USDA reference costs for planning, not a guarantee of what you'll spend. USDA updates the figures monthly for inflation; the latest 2025-2026 reports still put a Thrifty family of four near $993/month.