Affordable Eating: Utah’s Grocery Costs Vs. Nevada And California

Believe it or not, groceries in Utah are pretty darn cheap. Well, they can be, and that's in comparison to other local states.

But if you are looking for a way to save some money and bring your monthly expenditures in under budget, groceries can be a real key.

On average, Utahns spend about $260 per person per month on groceries.

So a family of four spends a little over $1,040 every month on food in Utah.

Meanwhile, in California or even in neighboring Nevada, that average goes up, up up. In Nevada the average per person grocery cost is $293 and in California, that number is $322. That's nearly $1,200 a month for a family of four in Nevada and nearly $1,300 in the Golden State.

Utah is currently 46th in the nation for cost of groceries (not surprisingly, Hawaii is the most expensive at $556 a month).

So shopping for food in Utah is definitely a positive compared to the rest of the west (we even beat out Idaho).

But one of the biggest factors when it comes to food and budgeting is eating out.

Americans love to go out to eat despite the somewhat shocking amount of of money it costs.

Even if we have just one meal (maybe lunch at work) out per weekday, and then go out once on the weekend with our family, the food bill more than triples from $1,040 to $2,940 --  and that's a modest estimate of just $10 for lunch and $75 for dinner four times a month.

So next time you look at your budget -- and especially if the bills are outgaining the income -- seriously consider brown-bagging it for lunch.

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