Grocery Budget Calculator
Grocery budget calculator: a USDA-based budget for your household size Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
Dedicated page: /en/grocery-budget-calculator
Enter what you really spend to see how it compares with the USDA benchmark.
Groceries usually run 10% to 15% of take-home pay.
Default checked 10 Nov 2026: USDA Official Food Plans, September 2026 report (issued October 2026), US average, food at home only. The reference family of four (two adults 20 to 50, children 6 to 8 and 9 to 11) costs $1,024 a month Thrifty, $1,127 Low-Cost, $1,389 Moderate-Cost and $1,682 Liberal. USDA reprices the plans every month, and the household-size adjustment is 1 person plus 20%, 2 people plus 10%, 3 people plus 5%, 4 people no change, 5 to 6 people minus 5%, 7 or more minus 10%. Check the current value here.
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Quick answer
A grocery budget calculator uses the USDA Food Plans to price your monthly food budget. Enter household members by age, pick one of four plans from Thrifty to Liberal, and it shows the monthly, weekly and per-meal cost. A family of four on the Moderate-Cost plan spends 1,389.20 dollars a month, or 3.86 dollars per meal.
About this Grocery Budget Calculator
Grocery budget calculator: a USDA-based budget for your household size It is one of the Food, Kitchen and Everyday on ToolUstad, and like every tool here it runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type, paste or open is uploaded to a server, and there is no sign-up or usage limit.
What a grocery budget calculator does
A grocery budget calculator answers a question most families ask every month: how much should we be spending on food. The answer cannot come from a single number, because a single adult and a family of six eat very different amounts, and a Thrifty shop is very different from a Liberal one. This calculator uses the USDA Food Plans, which are the official American figures for the cost of a nutritious diet, and applies them to your household, person by person, by age group. A family of four, two adults aged 20 to 50 and two children aged 6 to 11, spends 1,389.20 dollars a month on the Moderate-Cost plan, 1,023.90 on the Thrifty plan and 1,681.80 on the Liberal plan.
Food at home is the core of the budget. Eating out is added separately, because it is a different kind of spending and because the USDA figures do not include it. The income share check then tells you whether the total fits the usual guidance of 10 to 15 percent of take-home pay.
The USDA Food Plans, September 2026
The USDA publishes the cost of food plans every month, with a full report each quarter. The September 2026 report, issued in October 2026, gives monthly costs per person by age and sex, for four plans: Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal. The figures are national averages for food at home, assuming every meal is cooked at home. For an adult man aged 20 to 50, the monthly cost is 319.00 dollars on the Thrifty plan, 317.70 on Low-Cost, 398.40 on Moderate-Cost and 486.80 on Liberal. For an adult woman the same age it is 253.90, 276.30, 336.40 and 429.60. Children cost less, and the cost rises with age: a child of 6 to 8 costs 209.10 dollars a month on the Thrifty plan, and a child of 9 to 11 costs 241.90. The reference family of four, a man and a woman aged 20 to 50 with children aged 6 to 8 and 9 to 11, costs 1,024 dollars a month on the Thrifty plan, 1,127 on Low-Cost, 1,389 on Moderate-Cost and 1,682 on Liberal. The calculator uses these exact figures, averaged by age band.
Learn: how to use the Grocery Budget Calculator
- Enter how many people are in your household, by age group.
- Pick a USDA food plan: Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost or Liberal.
- Set the cost of living for your area and your shopping style.
- Add how often you eat out and what a meal out costs.
- Enter your monthly take-home pay and what you actually spend.
- Read the monthly budget, the weekly figure, the per-meal cost and the plan table.
Features
- USDA Food Plans, September 2026, for 7 age and sex groups.
- All four plans: Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal.
- Household size adjustment, from plus 20 percent for one person to minus 10 for seven or more.
- Cost of living multiplier for expensive or cheap areas.
- Shopping style: budget, standard, premium or organic.
- Dining out added separately, so food at home stays clean.
- Income share check against the 10 to 15 percent guidance.
- Category breakdown: produce, meat, dairy, grains, pantry and snacks.
- Actual spend comparison, showing how far over or under the benchmark you are.
Worked example
For a family of four, two adults aged 20 to 50 and two children aged 6 to 11, the Moderate-Cost plan is 1,389.20 dollars a month, which is 320.61 dollars a week, 347.30 dollars per person and 3.86 dollars per meal. The Thrifty plan for the same family is 1,023.90 dollars a month and the Liberal plan is 1,681.80 dollars. A single adult woman on the Moderate-Cost plan spends 403.68 dollars a month, because a one-person household costs 20 percent more per person than a family of four.
Frequently asked questions
What is the USDA Thrifty Food Plan?
The Thrifty Food Plan is the lowest-cost nutritious diet the USDA publishes, and it is the basis for SNAP benefits. For a family of four it is 1,024 dollars a month in the September 2026 report.
How much should a family of 4 spend on groceries?
On the Moderate-Cost plan, a family of four with two adults aged 20 to 50 and two children aged 6 to 11 spends 1,389.20 dollars a month, which is 320.61 dollars a week and 3.86 dollars per meal.
What are the four USDA food plans?
The USDA publishes four plans: Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal. They are the same nutritious diet at four spending levels. Thrifty uses basic ingredients and no convenience foods. Low-Cost adds some convenience.
Does the calculator include eating out?
Eating out is added separately, because the USDA plans cover food at home only. Enter the meals out per week and the cost per meal: 2 meals a week at 12 dollars adds about 103.99 dollars a month.
How does household size change the cost?
The USDA adjusts for household size, because larger households buy in bulk and waste less per person.
What percentage of income should groceries be?
The usual guidance is 10 to 15 percent of take-home pay for groceries, not counting eating out. At the defaults, a family spending 1,389.20 dollars on a 6,000 dollar take-home pay is at 23.2 percent, which is above the guidance.
Are the prices current?
The prices come from the USDA Food Plans report for September 2026, issued in October 2026. The report gives monthly costs per person by age and sex, and the calculator uses those exact figures, averaged by age band.
What is included in the category breakdown?
The category breakdown is a typical split, not a USDA figure: produce 22 percent, meat and seafood 26 percent, dairy 12 percent, grains and bread 12 percent, pantry staples 14 percent and snacks and drinks 14 percent.
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