I’m always amazed by the grocery and dining out budgets listed in Home Economics. Keeping my food budget in check is one thing I really struggle with; getting better at couponing, meal prepping, and eating at home is on my perennial to-do list. (Though I have improved on this front a lot over the past few months!) I enjoy eating out at a restaurant—it’s one of life’s great pleasures, IMO. But I order on an app way more than I dine in-person, and Seamless and Doordash do not feel worth it.
The average monthly household spending on restaurants and bars in 2025 was $371, according to Taste test: Where consumers are dining out, a new report from the Bank of America Institute, a 30% increase from 2019. But while spending is up over the past few years, people aren’t necessarily dining out more often—instead, the increased spending likely reflects inflated costs.
In fact, casual dining and pizza restaurants have seen multi-year share declines because consumers are gravitating toward eateries that “offer better value, convenience, or novelty,” according to BofA. Spending at “independent restaurants,” meaning non-chains, has been increasing, while spending at quick-service restaurants is decreasing.
This is also a symptom of our increasingly K-shaped economy: Wealthier consumers prefer independent restaurants, while lower earners eat out less and less, according to BofA.
We were curious what readers of The Purse spend, your answers were illuminating. If I have one takeaway, it’s that I wish I lived closer to an Aldi!
The answers below have been lightly edited.
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Household size: 5
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $800
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $100
What grocery stores do you frequent? Amazon Fresh, Kroger, Remke, Whole Foods
How do you feel about your spending?
I hate it. I’m trying to lower it, but I don’t want to feed my children junk food. Buying organic and healthy [food] is expensive and teenagers are voracious eaters. It’s a work in progress.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
Shop sales always! I’ve gotten great deals on groceries up to half off since they’re close to their sell-by date.
Location: Hartford, CT
Household size: 4
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $1,400
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $1,000
What grocery stores do you frequent? Big Y, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Costco
How do you feel about your spending?
It makes me crazy, but it doesn’t seem to change even when we try different strategies. Nearly a quarter ($225) of the dining out [budget] is food my husband eats at the office, but the rest is just normal things like occasional takeout, a date night, or lunch with our kids at a diner. We do like craft beer and fancy sourdough, and we live in a HCOL area.
My husband is the main cook, and he’s really great at it so we like hosting and having my parents for dinner twice a week. While it stresses me out, I also know that eating well is important to us, creates community for us, and we have growing kids.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
Our local chain, the Big Y, is typically the best for deals, and we find if we go to the store fewer times a week we spend less. Costco definitely saves us money on a lot of packaged goods but can also feel like a big bill each time we go.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Household size: 2
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $305
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $223
What grocery stores do you frequent? Ethnic Asian grocery stores, Trader Joe’s, local farmer markets
How do you feel about your spending?
It is what it is. We live in downtown L.A., and I’m proud to be spending it on local and smaller businesses versus larger national chains. It’s a privilege to have the option to shop around, and I don’t mind paying the extra money to support these types of businesses. Eating out could be cut down, but it’s often a way to socialize with family and friends. Meals out are definitely higher than 10 years ago, despite not drinking anymore. Dining out sometimes doesn’t feel worth the price.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
- Freeze your leftovers so they last longer.
- Try to find your clutch ready-to-heat or quick-to-prep meals for those nights when you have no energy, so you resist the temptation of eating out or ordering takeout.
- Try to avoid delivery apps to cut costs, because it’s actually faster to cook it yourself or pick up.
- Get familiar with soups and stir fried dishes for busy weeknight meals.
- Go ahead and give yourself permission to get Hot Pockets, frozen meals, or frozen tamales rather than eating out. Ready-made meals cost more than things you cook from scratch, but they save money versus delivery or dining out.
- Consider batch meals and swapping with friends or family; better yet, cook together to bond.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Household size: 3
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $1,500
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $400
What grocery stores do you frequent? Macey’s, Trader Joe’s, Costco
How do you feel about your spending?
It feels like a lot on groceries. We eat out once a week, otherwise everything is made at home. The only variable I can identify is that my husband has a higher than average metabolism and eats a lot. I see what others report in Home Economics, and it’s usually a fraction of our monthly grocery spending. I also wonder if some folks truly know how much they’re spending. I use YNAB so there’s no hiding from the cold hard truth :).
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
I meal plan every week to minimize waste (and extra trips to the store). I rarely buy any snacks. We buy meat and coffee from Costco.
Location: Baltimore City, MD
Household size: 4
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $850
Monthly dining out budget/spend: Less than $200
What grocery stores do you frequent? Aldi, Safeway
How do you feel about your spending?
I review and itemize my spending every month, and I know my grocery costs have slowly increased from about $650 per month in early 2024 to the current spend of over $800 per month. I know we’re fortunate to be able to spend what is needed on groceries, and I’m never worried about having enough money to feed my family. Recognizing that costs are up, I do try to keep other food-related spending (e.g. alcohol, eating out) as low as possible.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
I menu plan for one-less meal per week to avoid wasting food and force us to eat what is leftover.
Location: Boston, MA
Household size: 1
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $500 to $550
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $350
What grocery stores do you frequent? Wegmans, Shaw’s
How do you feel about your spending?
A little sick. Every month I'm overspending on my actual budget ($400 groceries, $300 dining out). I feel like I cook so many of my meals at home and don’t buy as fancy as I used to, and yet I’m still spending a lot for one person every month. Also, when you live alone, dining out with friends becomes a bit more of a lifeline so hate to scale that back!
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
No, and I can’t tell if tracking the spending stresses me out more or helps.
Location: Columbus, OH
Household size: 3
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $1,200
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $700
What grocery stores do you frequent? Fresh Thyme, Giant Eagle, ~quarterly trips to Costco, Trader Joe’s
How do you feel about your spending?
Our house is two adults and a toddler. We could definitely cut costs here if we wanted to and have recently dialed back on eating out. But this is an area where we splurge within reason! We cook the majority of meals at home and like to host friends for dinner. We also eat out as a family one to two times a week and try to go to local restaurants that we all enjoy. I buy higher quality meats and ingredients at Fresh Thyme and get the bulk of our weekly food from Giant Eagle (a regional grocery store, comparable to Kroger).
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
We plan meals in advance of the week using Anylist, which helps us only buy what we need. Generally for meals, we don’t serve meat on its own (e.g. a steak). It’s cooked into a dish in some way, like soup or a rice bake. This helps us spend less on meat and also eat more vegetables and beans.
Location: New York, NY
Household size: 2
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $950
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $200
What grocery stores do you frequent? Fresh Direct, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and local/neighborhood stores
How do you feel about your spending?
Not too great, but it’s hard to keep food costs low when we live in a very high cost of living city, and we need food to survive. Also getting quality produce and meat where we live means paying more, which is disheartening. We also try to cook as much as we can to cut down on takeout (we rarely use Seamless, etc., anymore after doing a takeout challenge where if we didn’t get takeout that week we’d put $50 in savings towards a vacation) and instead treat ourselves to a nice(ish) restaurant for date night once a month.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
Buying an easy to prep “junk food” item like frozen mac and cheese, fries, or pizza to curb wanting takeout. This has helped a lot, and instead of getting mediocre takeout that costs $80, we have frozen pizza, which satisfies the craving and convenience of food delivery.
Also, we are saving up for bimonthly/quarterly buy-in-bulk trips to Costco. The plan is to save a couple hundred dollars for a grocery fund where we stock up on non-perishables (dry and canned goods) and meat to freeze so that our weekly grocery shop consists of mostly perishables and little treats. l hope to cut our weekly bill in half doing this. We want to save about $400 and plan to replenish our “stock” on a bimonthly/as-needed basis.
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Household size: 2
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $800
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $250
What grocery stores do you frequent? Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Costco
How do you feel about your spending?
I don’t feel great about either the grocery or dining out costs, but my partner and I completely share finances, and this is what we have been able to get it to, with compromise.
Our diets make it pretty difficult to cut grocery costs because we mostly eat meat and fish as protein and lots of fruits and vegetables. The grocery cost has been something I’ve thought long and hard about and used ChatGPT to try to get it down. But even ChatGPT was like, yeah, it is going to be difficult with your dietary restrictions.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
For eating out, we try to be really intentional about meal planning and having snacks, easy lunches, and dinners on hand. I’d rather spend $5 at Trader Joe’s for a packaged meal for two than at least $12 or more to eat lunch out because we forgot to pack.
Location: Los Angeles
Household size: 3 (2 adults + 1 toddler)
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $1,200
Monthly dining out budget/spend: ~$0. We don’t go to restaurants. We do sometimes get takeout or delivery though, maybe that adds up to $250 a month? We have small Uber Eats and Doordash budgets from our employers so we use those, any money we spend on delivery is usually what we still owe on an order after using those budgets.
What grocery stores do you frequent? Trader Joe’s, Ralph’s, Von’s, Whole Foods
How do you feel about your spending?
I hate it! I just can’t believe how expensive everything is and keeps getting more so. I also hate that we don’t have a lot of time, so I have to do most of my grocery shopping on one day (Saturday), which limits us in terms of how long produce stays fresh.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
Honestly, I’ve saved a lot of money shopping for produce at Trader Joe’s, even though it’s definitely not what they’re known for. I wish we had an Aldi nearby.
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Household size: 4
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $1,100
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $584
What grocery stores do you frequent? Local produce stores mainly, and Real Canadian Superstore
How do you feel about your spending?
It is what it is!
Location: Austin, TX
Household size: 2
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $850
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $500
What grocery stores do you frequent? HEB, Whole Foods
How do you feel about your spending?
Dining out could be lower, considering the meals haven’t been memorable.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
Buy food that's on sale for the week and get creative with recipes to cook those ingredients at home. It will provide variety and, hopefully, a new favorite dish.
Location: Seattle, WA
Household size: 2
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $900
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $900
What grocery stores do you frequent? Metropolitan Market, Safeway
How do you feel about your spending?
It feels very high! Seattle has some of the highest food prices in the country, we choose to shop at a premium grocery store most of the time, and we get takeout several times a week so I can see how this happens though. Grocery shopping stresses me out, so my husband does the majority which is amazing but he has no interest in using coupons or deal hunting.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
We save some money by being walking distance to multiple restaurants. We stopped doing food delivery, which we did more often in our old place.
Location: New Haven, CT
Household size: 2
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $1,000
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $450
What grocery stores do you frequent? Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Stop & Shop, and gourmet specialty stores
How do you feel about your spending?
It’s a shocking amount compared to other people, and we certainly could save money if we had to. Eating healthy is one of our top values when it comes to our budget. We buy organic food and a lot of fresh produce and sustainably raised meats. We enjoy trying new restaurants and are foodies through and through. Going out to eat is one of the few things my partner and I do together. I meal prep and bring lunch to work 99% of the time, and we don’t buy coffees out. We just prioritize high quality food and live in a HCOL area.
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
We don’t have much food waste, and we use frozen foods. If we had to cut costs, I’d go back to staples like dried beans and rice and try to keep fresh, seasonal produce.
Location: St. Louis, MO
Household size: 1 (mid-20s)
Monthly grocery budget/spend: $400
Monthly dining out budget/spend: $100 to $120
What grocery stores do you frequent? Schnucks (local chain)
How do you feel about your spending?
I like my dining out budget. It covers $20 of takeout each Friday night, where I usually walk to a local place. The other $10 a week goes to coffee or chains, purely convenience on busy weeks.
My grocery budget drives me kind of insane. I see comments all the time about meal prepping to get costs down, or not shopping at Whole Foods...but I do meal prep! I shop at the cheaper chain in my city! I don’t buy any unusual ingredients. Nothing is organic. Very little frozen/prepackaged foods. Maybe once a month I’ll buy a bag of Ruffles, but usually I have microwave popcorn as a snack.
I often see comments on Money Diaries with grocery spends similar to mine along the lines of “my partner and I only spend $150 a week for two, how is a single person spending so much? They should meal prep!” I feel the opposite way: I find it very easy to hit $100 a week for just myself without some crazy hedonistic spending, unless my $7 bottle of wine is truly unusual. How are people spending so little?!
Any tips or hacks for cutting costs?
I feel like I've tried them all to middling success.
