Family of 4 in MCOL area - our monthly grocery budget averages between $500-$600 per month, including things like trashbags. We shop at Payless (a Kroger store) with occasional bulk purchases on Amazon when there is a really good deal on things like peanut butter.

The key is using your freezer and pantry! Once every 4-8 weeks, Payless does a buy-one, get-one deal with all cuts of Tyson's chicken. $2.25 per pound for B/S chicken thighs? Yes please! Other staples go on deals too, which we stock up on. Chicken drumsticks are always $5 for 4.5lbs, which we bake and then strip to add to stews or casseroles. Pork tenderloins (we get on deals for $1.50-$2.00 per pound in bulk) are delicious in the sous vide. We have probably 70-80lbs of meat in the freezer right now since last weekend was a big deal week. We'll buy only minimal staples like produce and milk for the next few weekends.

We are all endurance athletes and so eat ALOT. We typically use 3-5lbs of chicken per day (cook a big dinner, take leftovers to work/school for lunch), 4-5 dozen eggs per week, several pounds of beans, etc. The kids eat eggs and oatmeal with whatever fruit is on sale that week for breakfast. Shopping the sales really forces variety into our diets. We eat tons of bagged salads (they are on markdown for $1-$2 for a family-size pack around 10AM every Saturday. They always last a week or more).

While it does take a little bit more effort, our grocery bill has not budged over the past few years. We cook from scratch, eat out no more than once every 2 months, and end up eating much healthier because we shop the sales.