A few of years ago, I thought the money I was spending was on the low end. My kids have gotten bigger and we now spend a lot on extra extrcurricular activities, clothes etc., so I tried to look at places I could cut corners. Though I thought the money I spent on food was very reasonable, I still looked for research to support it. I was very surprised to find that it seems I am on the high end. I have 4 children, 15 yo boy, and three girls 13, 10 and 6. They are all very active and are hungry all the time. They all have at least 5 meals a day (hearty breakfast, lunch at least 2 snacks and dinner). They love juice. So, I get the freshest kind and smoothies. I do cook my dinners from scratch using foodnetwork.com recipes most of the time. We eat out once or twice a week and maybe one lunch during the weekend. We go to Costco. Our eating habits don't seem as wholesome as bogwoppit and iwannabemargo. I wish it was. But I don't think it is that bad. I feel I am very cognizant of staying within budget. But I am obviously doing something wrong because we spend around $1,800 a month. That is almost $20,000 a year. Sounds like a lot right? I will check out Marya book suggestion. If there is anyone out there who spends more than I do, I would love tohear from you. So, I can rationalize my spending.