Grocery Budget Calculator: How Much Should You Spend on Food?
Enter your household size and how often you cook at home, and this calculator gives you a realistic weekly grocery target — broken down by category and compared to the USDA thrifty food plan. You can use your current budget to see how it stacks up, or leave it blank for a suggested starting point.
A grocery budget that makes sense for your household.
Start with real USDA food-cost benchmarks, customize your household, then build a practical weekly shopping plan. No spreadsheets required.
Who’s eating at home?
Adjust household size. You can refine individual age groups below.
Personalize ages & USDA food-cost groups
Default: alternating female/male adults ages 20–50; children ages 6–11. Change these to match your household for a better estimate. USDA tables do not include infants under one.
Choose a food-cost benchmark
These are USDA food-at-home plans, not spending limits.
USDA figures assume all meals and snacks are prepared at home. Restaurant and takeout expenses aren’t included.
What are you spending now?
Optional — add your grocery spending to get a comparison and explore possible savings.
Groceries only — leave out restaurants and takeout for a fair comparison.
See the three USDA levels
For your current household. Change the plan above to make another level your reference.
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An illustration, not a savings promise.
Build your weekly shopping plan
An editable starting point for splitting your weekly benchmark between grocery categories. These percentages are The Thrifty Habit’s examples, not USDA allocations.
Your next smart moves
Freeze individual portions so fresh ingredients don’t become food waste. Read the guide
Compare unit prices before buying bulk packs; big is only cheaper if you use it. Read the guide
Plan a few repeatable breakfasts, snacks and dinners before shopping. Read the guide
A grocery-spending audit can reveal which categories are worth adjusting. Read the guide
If your budget is very tight, focus on affordable nutritious staples rather than chasing the smallest number. Read the guide
Check what you already have before you write a shopping list. Read the guide
Pick a few meals with overlapping ingredients to use groceries efficiently. Read the guide
Make a plan for leftovers and ingredients approaching their use-by dates. Read the guide
Beans, eggs and lentils can help keep meal costs manageable. Read the guide
Discount groceries can be worth a look, but compare your actual basket prices. Read the guide
Keep saving in the kitchen
Useful guides from The Thrifty Habit, picked for this calculator.
How we calculate this
Source: USDA Monthly Cost of Food Reports, August 2026. We sum the published weekly costs for the selected age/sex groups, then apply USDA’s household-size adjustment: 1 person +20%, 2 +10%, 3 +5%, 4 unchanged, 5–6 −5%, 7+ −10%.
Important: These are national food-at-home benchmarks for the contiguous 48 states and Washington, DC, assuming all meals and snacks are prepared at home. They are not a guarantee, a required budget, or a full nutritional assessment. Local prices, dietary needs, waste, food assistance, and meals away from home can make your own spending very different.
Monthly estimates use 4.333 weeks. Category allocations and spending-reduction examples are optional planning illustrations created by The Thrifty Habit; they are not official USDA allocations or savings predictions. Source values are a fixed August 2026 snapshot and should be refreshed periodically.