How much do you spend on food?

kommodevaran

I'm in Norway, so this may not be interesting for anything but comparison. I live alone, eat around 1750-1800 calories per day, no praticular WOE, just that everything I eat must be tasty and delicious, and spend the equivalent of around $52 per week on groceries, as an average calculated through three months.

I plan my meals to ensure I eat balanced and varied, and prepare most of my meals from scratch, aim to not overbuy and avoid waste, focus on cheap staples and reserve the more expensive foods for weekends.

jenovatrix

Two people and 5 cats, in Florida. It's about $150 a week for all of us, for everything. We eat a lot of produce and bring lunch to work most days. My boyfriend takes sandwiches and I'm yogurt, fruit, tuna. I usually skip breakfast (I know, it's bad, I'm just not hungry!). The only organic I buy is milk since we're not big milk drinkers and organic lasts longer.

I shop at Target mainly. Their Cartwheel app is a lifesaver. It has 5% - 50% off discounts for all sorts of items. Right now there's something like 300 food offers. I've saved $550 using it. There are some other couponing apps I use and I can save a couple bucks here and there but Cartwheel is the best.

I will say buying a chest freezer was one of the best investments I ever made. My boyfriend calls me the discount meat queen since I'm always buying the ones that are about to expire and freezing them.

Now if I could get my one cat to stop eating wet food and eat the same food as the others I'd definitely save money but I think she's too set in her ways!

Francl27

About $130 a week for 4 of us here, counting cleaning and paper products etc, but my husband buys lunch on top of that about 3x a week (wish he'd stop, I end up throwing out leftovers because of this because I'm tired of having to eat it all myself). The kids are almost 8, I'm guessing they'll eat more as they get older (but of course I end up buying more snacks for them too). I'm cheap though and 80% of what I buy is on sale, and I mostly buy cheap protein. We eat out once a week, sometimes we skip it.

The cat costs me $2 a day though... she's old and her teeth hurt and she will only eat a specific type of wet food.

elaineamj

mkakids wrote: »

6 ppl here near chicago. I spend $100-$125 per person, per month. Between $600-$800/month and it includes all household items, health and beauty items and b/l/d for all 6 of us.

That's awesome! Good for you.

I am in Ontario (so higher grocery prices) and am currently averaging about $150/month per person. With 4 of us, that's about $150/week. Working hard to get it down to $125/week. We pack almost all our lunches and are keeping eating out to 1-2 times a month.

I have found meal planning around that week's sales have made a HUGE difference. Every Thurs/Fri, I review the ads and then plan my meals around what's on sale. e.g. last week chicken quarters were $1.29/lb. I stocked up and we had baked chicken for dinner one night and braised chicken another night. I try not to buy any meat that isn't under $1.99/lb. This week, I did give in and buy some boneless skinless chicken breast for $3.99/lb.

i also use a flyer app to create my shopping list and to use for price matching.

Since I have been paying attention (about 2-3 months), I have found that prices can vary widely. e.g. ground beef has been about $2.99/lb (or more) for about a month now so I have been buying ground pork and ground chicken. This week, they finally went on sale for $1.99/lb and I bought a few packs. So now I'm debating between making beef stroganoff or shepherd's pie.

On top of that, I have been consciously avoiding food wastage and have been stocking up on pre-portioned meals in the freezer

It's become a rather fun challenge! I did tell DH that he is going to have to keep me OUT of the grocery stores next weekend (except for essentials). Our fridge and freezers are stuffed and we really have enough food for a while and I've already hit the limits of the budget I am trying to stay within. I'm a frugal shopaholic and have a hard time resisting a "deal".

murp4069

It's just me and my boyfriend, and we spend about $140 on groceries per week in South FL. Usually have take our or eat out once a week for dinner during the week and one lunch out on the weekend, so give it another $75 a week or so. I've been trying to reel in our grocery budget as well, but it hasn't been easy for us as the boyfriend hates leftovers so is constantly buying stuff when we have tons of food at home. Working on that aspect as well lol.

lucys1225

About $200+ a week for me, my husband, 20 year old son and dog (I make her food) in New Jersey. We rarely eat out (maybe once every few months). I pack my lunch but my husband, when he has time to eat, buys his as does my son. I would say a good portion is spent on snack food for my husband and that I make two different meals very often since I eat very differently than they do.

Shells918

I feel so vindicated! I spend about $100-125/week for myself, husband and 2 cats. That includes making him lunch to bring to work and we eat out maybe 2 times/week. He thinks I spend too much. I'm happy to see I'm about average!!!

judyvalentine512

I live alone and have had to cut back on my spending too. I live in Ottawa, Canada, and prices are through the roof on some produce. I was throwing away food because I would buy veggies every week, and because of a pancreas problem, couldn't eat them and they would rot in my fridge.
So, I took inventory of my freezer and 'hoarder's' cupboard, and if I plan ahead, I can get by on less than $40 a week this month.
I find when I really plan well for the week, nothing gets wasted and I save a ton of money. The toiletries( I call non-edibles), I stock up on them when they're on sale, so I don't have to figure them in this month.

instantmartian

I spend about $200/month on all grocery, personal care, and household items for two people. I rarely ever pay full price for anything (because I'm cheap), and I stock up when I find a great deal ($1.99/lb 85/15 ground beef for example). I;m not afraid to buy reduced priced meats at a store when they're close to their sell-by date. I just go home and freeze it if I won't be using it within the next day or two. We don't eat a lot of red meat - maybe ground beef once every two weeks. Neither of us are steak or beef roast people. We eat a ton of chicken, some seafood, canned tuna, and some all-veggie meals. We eat beans, quinoa, and brown rice a lot. I buy very little packaged or prepared frozen items, though I do buy frozen veggies, sometimes, mainly corn and broccoli, which I always have on hand. I do have a very small vegetable garden that supplements our budget, but it's usually only about five plants - a couple tomato plants and a couple others (peppers, eggplants, etc.). We eat out maybe once or twice per month, and that's not included in our "grocery and drug store budget." We have a separate "restaurant" budget, though when we eat out, we eat out a nice places or local joints - neither of us enjoy chain restaurants.

ronjsteele1

Someone told me one time that planning $50 per week per person in a family is considered "average." That said, we eat about 90% organic, grow a lot of our own food, buy a half a grass fed beef every year, etc. and we spend $1200 a month. That is for 5 of us. One teenage boy and two teenage girls. It also includes all my household stuff as well. We're in Idaho and can grow a lot of stuff during the summer months here. We don't eat out hardly ever and I cook from scratch.

kwtilbury

Family of four - me, my wife and two teenagers. I just finished summarizing our spending last year and we averaged about $1,450 a month on household goods (groceries, toiletries, etc.) and $400 a month on dining out.

MaiLinna

A lot lol. We're in an experimental phase right now. Boyfriend moved out of his parents house in November, I moved in with him, and now we're sort of navigating groceries and things together. Also I am from America, so prices of things here in Canada have changed how I eat a lot. Normally a can of vegetarian refried black beans would serve as two awesome meals for only about $.55 each if I include the spoonfuls of nutritional yeast I would add to it, but now a single can is usually upwards of $4. :c

You need to experiment, find things you like that you could stand to eat everyday, and then shop only the things on sale (unless of course there are cheaper options offsale.) Normally a 32 pack of Nutrigrain bars would run us $13, which I would never purchase, but they were $5 off the other day and exactly what I was looking for, so I bought them. Same with the Love Crunch. It was only $4 instead of $7.50.

Edit: Also Western Canada.

ngagne

I don't budget, but I track everything that we spend (husband & me). And we average about $600/month (including toiletries like TP, cleaners, etc). I'd like to bring that down. From what you stated, we seem to be about the same - with going the going out occasionally (we may go out once on a week together & he's addicted to crap food & will get fast food for lunch once a week).
We do buy some more expensive items regularly; wine, artisan cheeses, prosciutto, some organic items, some locally farmed "organic" meat, "fresh" fish for meals 1-2 times/week (in St. Louis area, so fish is expensive, and actually fresh, sadly), and he has a Mountain Dew addiction (a 24-pack per week! i think soda is expensive) and also has to maintain a plentiful supply of pizza & junk food on hand, just in case... (I'm rolling my eyes) I still love him & his horrible eating habits....

cessi0909

We are a family of 5 in Colorado: 17 year old, 7 year old, and 5 year old. I spend around $215/week on food.

sbrooks0387

family of 6. i preserve a lot from the garden/local orchards and we have a flock of laying hens. With this i can easily spend $100 or less a week and be quite comfortable. i just buy whats on sale and/or have a coupon for and plan around that. but we eat A LOT of eggs and apple sauce/home canned peaches and green beans and carrots, because that's what i have in the basement right now.

just me, i think $700/month is high for a 2 person household. i have never spent that much a month on groceries (and i serve a fruit/veggie with every lunch/dinner, and am rather health conscious), including when we lived in CA.

have you tried shopping sales or buying somethings in bulk (like meats, oatmeal)

callsitlikeiseeit

i would be depressed if i calculated it. if i didnt have kids, i would have money LOLOLOL

if you go with actual groceries (food/cooking items).... my GUESS would be $200/week (not including eating out which i do a lot of)

also not including booze

Meganthedogmom

$150-$200 per week for me and my boyfriend.

Saraness

Holy cow! I spend about $80-100 a week for my boyfriend and I on food. Nearly 90% of our food is fresh too.

fishshark

its me and my husband and we spend about 250-300 for about a week and a half (whole foods is expensive)

going out to eat we spend about 400-650 If we go out we pay for whoever we are with and we drink so that makes it it more. we have been going out less lately though. We live in San Diego so everything is pretty pricey.

edited for adding going out.

skdk833

It is just my husband and I at home but I do purchase items that I think my adult children would like. This happens a lot more often than my husband would prefer.

We do a Sam's run every other month and depending on how much I need that is 100.00-200.00 per trip. We shop weekly at Trader Joe's, Aldi's, Wegman's, and Walmart. They are in a row down one street so while it seems like a lot it really isn't.

I averaged 50.00 per store for a total of 200.00 per week. We eat 60 percent fresh veggies since the beginning of the year and that has really increased our total. Yogurt is also really a killer for us. I would say I average 20.00 per week on yogurt alone. I do buy individual servings since my husband takes them with his lunch and I am disabled and some days I don't have the oomph to weigh everything but still want to eat something good.

I will say we used to spend a lot on specialty breads but have removed all but one loaf out of our diet. Also, there are items we are continuing to remove and replace with better choices. While the initial cost of fresh veggies/fruits shows now, by summer I expect to spend much less. It is all a new way of cooking for me.

I have switched our meats to ground turkey, ground chicken, chicken breasts, chicken sausage, turkey sausage, shrimp, fish of the week, and beef for one/two meals a week.

Sorry this is long, but any suggestions to help with the transition and lowering would be helpful. When we ate crap food, I spent at most 80.00 a week. But we were getting more obese and slowly killing ourselves. I prefer the fresh food and feel better already. Thanks, sorry again this is so long.