Monthly Food Budget

lah1177

I am trying to get a handle on our monthly food/eating out expenses. I have set a budget of $600 for groceries (including paper products and cleaning supplies) and eating out. I tentatively planned on $400 for groceries ($100 a week) and $200 for eating out ($50 a week). Since I set this "pretend" budget last October, we have stuck to it exactly ZERO times!! The closest we have gotten is around $800 and I would say the majority of the months are in the $800 range (b/w $800-$900)

So I am curious if you have a food/eating out budget, what is it and do you find it hard to stick to? I try to shop sales and use coupons (stock up on meat when it is on sale, etc), but I do have a few items I buy organic (milk, yogurt, apples and pears). I know we can probably cut back on eating out, but most weeks, we eat out dinner once and lunch once, which of course, puts us over $50.

I am wondering if $600 a month for all of the above is just not realistic for a family of four (without drastically cutting back) and maybe $800 a month is more practical? 

Any insight/advice/tips you could offer is greatly appreciated!