Free grocery budget calculator. Build your household, pick a spending level, and see how your actual grocery spend compares against the USDA Food Plans — the closest thing the US has to an official benchmark.
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Grocery budget calculator
Build your household, pick a spending level, and compare against what you actually spend. Benchmarks follow the USDA Food Plans (January 2025 report).
Thrifty-plan figures are USDA national averages (Jan 2025): adult male $309/mo, adult female $247/mo, child 6–8 $202/mo. Higher levels are scaled from the Thrifty floor and are approximate. Exclude restaurants and takeout — this is groceries only. Educational tool, not financial advice.
Where the benchmark comes from
The USDA has published Food Plans for decades: the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet at four spending levels, by age, sex and household size. The Thrifty plan is the floor — the one federal food-assistance benefits are built on.
Figures here use the January 2025 Cost of Food report: $309/month for an adult male aged 20–50, $247 for an adult female, and $202 for a child aged 6–8. The Low-cost, Moderate and Liberal levels step up from that floor, with the top plan running roughly double the Thrifty figure.
How to use it honestly
Two things make the comparison meaningful. First, exclude restaurants and takeout — this is groceries only, and mixing them hides both problems. Second, compare per-person and age-adjusted: a household with a teenager is not “three adults,” and the USDA tables price that difference deliberately.
Being above the Liberal plan is not a moral failing. It means you are buying convenience, waste or premium habits — all legitimate choices, none mandatory. The point of a benchmark is to turn an unexamined number into a decision.
The full method, including the three levers that actually move a grocery bill, is in Grocery Budget Math. Related: monthly budget calculator and zero-based budgeting if you want a hard envelope for this category.
Educational tool, not personalized financial advice. Higher-level figures are scaled from the USDA Thrifty floor and are approximate.