Are you all maybe storing more dry goods? Our spending on groceries doubled in the first three months of lockdown, but is only about 1.5x over March-July of last year (partly because we do eat at restaurants), and part of that is that we've been buying things much more in bulk (to avoid delivery fees/delays and because sometimes that's all you can find). That will pay off over time, but it's just starting and we're definitely carrying more "inventory" right now than usual. (We count paper products/aluminum foil/etc in groceries, and it's an especially strong effect in that sub-category).

Also, are people treating themselves to more expensive ingredients more often, to make up for other luxuries they can't have during COVID? We've been buying fancier ingredients and making more treat foods partly because we can't get them at restaurants and partly because it's a nice COVID-safe fun activity. Relatedly, there are some things I'm making from scratch for fun/to have fresh without frequent deliveries, like breads and ginger beer, that are surprisingly often more expensive to make from scratch than just to buy commercially (and that difference should really be chalked up to an "entertainment" budget, not groceries)

The house grocery budget won't count a restaurant meal, but it will count the food you eat at home because you didn't go out to eat.

I didn't run the numbers, but I believe that the total "house grocery budget + restaurant means" is much lower these days for me. Like, instead of eating alone in the restaurant for 5 €, I can cook for my entire family for 2-3 €. The total savings are not this dramatic, because only the cooked meals are cheaper; things like cheese and chocolate cost the same as before.

It is interesting when I look at costs of individual food items. Things that I eat in order to not be hungry, most of them are quite cheap (if I cook them at home). Things that I eat only because they taste good, they actually make most of the budget. Eating outside home means everything tastes very good, and everything is expensive.

Looking from the opposite perspective: if instead of going to restaurants you start to eat at home, you may or may not save lots of money, depending on how much you cook.

I made this spreadsheet to show the cost and nutrition content per 500 calories of different ingredients if anyone is interested. Eg. brown rice costs $0.29/500 calories and has 8.82 grams of protein per 500 calories.

When I ran the numbers for my two-person household, I found that our pre-covid spending averaged $348 for groceries and $62 for gas. Post-covid, we’re at $387 for groceries and $23 for gas—coincidentially the same total! $300 per person just for groceries sounds really high. I don’t know if you’re interested in saving money, but if so there’s a lot of fat to cut there.