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How much do you/should you spend on food (US)?

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Replies

  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    To be intellectually honest though you are choosing to pay 2-4X the cost for free range, organics, etc.

    I realize that. It is important to me to buy humanely raised food and sustainable food though.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.
  • mortikarobinette
    mortikarobinette Posts: 20 Member
    My family of four spends about 150 a week. Out of our total income it's about 10%
  • TrinityR05
    TrinityR05 Posts: 77 Member
    I'd say between $150-$200 per week.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    The price of where you live.

    Living in SE Wisconsin tapping into two major metros and taking full advantage of the poor policies of Illinois my budget breakdown is 5% food, 15% mortgage (making double payments), 10% child care...

    ...and in addition to Wal-Mart, Costco, Aldi's, we have Woodman's:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzhN9_leIXQLQThPM0MxQzlxRU0/view

    Smart Chicagoans hold a periodic pilgrimage to Woodman's to purchase staples and avoid the prohibitive Chicago taxes.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    Yeah, cost of living sucks here. It is insane. LOL. I mean I feel like my grocery bill is pretty high. I guess I save some money by getting deals here and there but the main things that add up are the produce, dairy, and meat, for sure. I buy canned and dry goods, and TP and stuff from Costco or Winco to save money. Sometimes I get stuff on sale. I get my shrimp at Trader Joe's, $10/lb. I do like to eat shrimp and buy boneless, skinless chicken which is pretty pricy. I have been buying more organic ground turkey instead of beef, which is cheaper and healthier. My takehome pay is only about 60% of my income. So much tax here in Cali too. How much do you spend?
  • PloddingTurtle
    PloddingTurtle Posts: 284 Member
    Hi, @Aaron_k123.
    That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    I too found that a significant portion of my spending swings was for non-food consumables. At the time I was unemployed, and reasoned that I could put off buying aluminum foil or light bulbs for a couple of weeks but not necessary food, so I created three different budget line items:

    Household sundries (everything needed to keep me, my clothes, and my home clean and functioning)
    Groceries (fresh food needed for this week's meals)
    Pantry/Freezer (dry, jarred, canned, frozen, meat)

    It was eye-opening. I can say that I spend less by separating them out, but that was due in large part to reducing food waste and buying significantly more on sale (so better timing of purchases). It also enabled me to alter the timing on my purchases at a time when my money was very tight.

    I now use the zero-based allocation budgeting app called YNAB (You Need a Budget) and would not hesitate to recommend the app to anyone. They offer a free 34-day trial (without the need to use your credit card to access the free trial).
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    Yeah, cost of living sucks here. It is insane. LOL. I mean I feel like my grocery bill is pretty high. I guess I save some money by getting deals here and there but the main things that add up are the produce, dairy, and meat, for sure. I buy canned and dry goods, and TP and stuff from Costco or Winco to save money. Sometimes I get stuff on sale. I get my shrimp at Trader Joe's, $10/lb. I do like to eat shrimp and buy boneless, skinless chicken which is pretty pricy. I have been buying more organic ground turkey instead of beef, which is cheaper and healthier. My takehome pay is only about 60% of my income. So much tax here in Cali too. How much do you spend?

    Well heck I guess I have nothing to hide with my expenses so to be fully open I have a family of four (myself, my wife and my two 1.5 y/o twin daughters. Expenses are about $1300/mo in food, $2350/mo in mortgage, $1000/mo in prop tax, insurance, utility, $250/mo phone/internet and $2500/mo in child-care. The remaining gets typically taken up by expenses related to car plus various sundries and travel. We are pretty frugal when it comes to material things or entertainment. Home expenses and child-care are pretty fixed so really the only flexibility I have there is food. Without taking a hard look at that food costs are just going to grow as our kids grow. I recognize with some effort I could probably lower our food costs by a lot, just a question of whether I want to put effort into that or not.

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    Hi, @Aaron_k123.
    That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    I too found that a significant portion of my spending swings was for non-food consumables. At the time I was unemployed, and reasoned that I could put off buying aluminum foil or light bulbs for a couple of weeks but not necessary food, so I created three different budget line items:

    Household sundries (everything needed to keep me, my clothes, and my home clean and functioning)
    Groceries (fresh food needed for this week's meals)
    Pantry/Freezer (dry, jarred, canned, frozen, meat)

    It was eye-opening. I can say that I spend less by separating them out, but that was due in large part to reducing food waste and buying significantly more on sale (so better timing of purchases). It also enabled me to alter the timing on my purchases at a time when my money was very tight.

    I now use the zero-based allocation budgeting app called YNAB (You Need a Budget) and would not hesitate to recommend the app to anyone. They offer a free 34-day trial (without the need to use your credit card to access the free trial).

    Well although that is true I'm not including any sundries in my food expenses, I just mean non-grocery purchased foods which is probably where I can focus if I want to save money on food costs.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    The price of where you live.

    Living in SE Wisconsin tapping into two major metros and taking full advantage of the poor policies of Illinois my budget breakdown is 5% food, 15% mortgage (making double payments), 10% child care...

    ...and in addition to Wal-Mart, Costco, Aldi's, we have Woodman's:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzhN9_leIXQLQThPM0MxQzlxRU0/view

    Smart Chicagoans hold a periodic pilgrimage to Woodman's to purchase staples and avoid the prohibitive Chicago taxes.

    Biggest cost difference between where I live on the west coast and where you live in the midwest is probably housing costs. Not exaggerating to say the cost of a house is probably 5 times as much for what you get.

    Median home price in Chicago is $196k, in Seattle it is $777k.

    Compared to that differences in food cost is pretty insubstantial honestly. Its just that I can't do anything about home cost, but I can about food so that is the focus at the moment.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited May 2018
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    The price of where you live.

    Living in SE Wisconsin tapping into two major metros and taking full advantage of the poor policies of Illinois my budget breakdown is 5% food, 15% mortgage (making double payments), 10% child care...

    ...and in addition to Wal-Mart, Costco, Aldi's, we have Woodman's:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzhN9_leIXQLQThPM0MxQzlxRU0/view

    Smart Chicagoans hold a periodic pilgrimage to Woodman's to purchase staples and avoid the prohibitive Chicago taxes.

    We live downstate IL mid-size community. We don't have the child care, but the food and mortgage % are similar. Our house sits on a golf course about $300k, same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    One of our sons lives in Madison so we hit up the Woodmans there, great store. Also hit the one just north of Pleasant Prairie when we take our trip to the outlet mall there to stock up.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    @ aaron_K123 we must live very close to each other, lol. My rent in Seattle is more than twice what I've ever paid before (in other states). I have no yard, no storage, no garage, no place for company to sit, no dinner table, no fun places to walk to, a fridge that barely holds anything, traffic noise that keeps me up at night, routine break-ins and a property manager that tells us to quit using the door so much rather than replacing it when it imploded. All things I had and took for granted before I moved here. I've done very well at work and earn 170% what I earned just 5 years ago, yet I still live in the nicest place I can afford.

    This thread has been incredibly interesting and informative. Back when I lived sub-poverty, I spent 9% of my take-home on food and was really proud of how well I ate given the restraints (60% went to medical expenses). When I finally swallowed my pride and went on food stamps, my food budget doubled for nothing and felt like I was living high on the hog. Now I spend 17% on food. I make more money, so this isn't busting my budget, but I feel terrible about it, like I am doing it wrong. It seems like I should be able to eat more indulgently having more income, but still keep it at 9-10%. That personal take is why I asked the questions I did. Looking at national averages and medians is misleading- at least in Seattle the top 20% make 3 times (or more) than the bottom 20% (or close to that, I'd have to dig out my report to get it exact).
  • JenSD6
    JenSD6 Posts: 454 Member
    As I'm reading this, there's an ad on the page for 3-bedroom townhomes in Vancouver starting at $1,999,800. You know they'll be the size of a shoebox, too. And we have the highest gas prices in North America. I don't know how young families can even survive here anymore.
  • Kimmotion5783
    Kimmotion5783 Posts: 417 Member
    I'm in the ballpark of maybe around 30% give or take. It's a bit higher because I do grab a cup of Starbucks iced coffee every morning and I buy protein products as well. I don't mind paying it though because they are healthy treats that I enjoy and help me to stay on target with my weight loss goals.
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    High demand, low supply. How is this not economics? Seattle's primary issue is dealing with reality.

    You can either rail against a system which you have no control over, or you can change that which you have control over. Get a group of investors together and purchase property offering low-income housing.
  • angmarie28
    angmarie28 Posts: 2,885 Member
    For me, we have a family of 6 and spend about $600 a month on food
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    edited May 2018
    I spend about $100/week for 2. I also can't do dairy products, not a big fan of beef, pork, or shellfish, and I have a small veggie garden and 2 fruit trees.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    A suprising amount of people are priced out of owning a home in Seattle right now, it does seem over-inflated which of course just makes even people who can afford it (barely) wary of actually buying. Your average middle class income in America would not allow you to buy a house in Seattle right now. I'm not saying that anyone should be able to buy a house wherever they'd like, I'm just saying I can understand the frustration of basically getting priced out of where you live.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    High demand, low supply. How is this not economics? Seattle's primary issue is dealing with reality.

    You can either rail against a system which you have no control over, or you can change that which you have control over. Get a group of investors together and purchase property offering low-income housing.

    Eh I think you can understand that when a city (which obviously has to employ a labor force and base-level professional workers) has housing costs that vastly exceed the income of those people it creates a very awkward situation where you need people to work in the city but they can't afford to live in the city. You can't really get a house within the Seattle city limits for less than 500k now and if you get one that is 500k you are talking like a 900 sqft townhome on the outskirts.
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    High demand, low supply. How is this not economics? Seattle's primary issue is dealing with reality.

    You can either rail against a system which you have no control over, or you can change that which you have control over. Get a group of investors together and purchase property offering low-income housing.

    @CSARdiver Could you help me build a proposal? Seriously, I actually know a few property investors, and I would love to pull some powers together and make this happen. Right now the only argument I have is, "We'll be operating at a loss and I can't guarantee any return on investment, but the demand is huge, and you'll probably get some feel-good media exposure."
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    Yeah, cost of living sucks here. It is insane. LOL. I mean I feel like my grocery bill is pretty high. I guess I save some money by getting deals here and there but the main things that add up are the produce, dairy, and meat, for sure. I buy canned and dry goods, and TP and stuff from Costco or Winco to save money. Sometimes I get stuff on sale. I get my shrimp at Trader Joe's, $10/lb. I do like to eat shrimp and buy boneless, skinless chicken which is pretty pricy. I have been buying more organic ground turkey instead of beef, which is cheaper and healthier. My takehome pay is only about 60% of my income. So much tax here in Cali too. How much do you spend?

    Well heck I guess I have nothing to hide with my expenses so to be fully open I have a family of four (myself, my wife and my two 1.5 y/o twin daughters. Expenses are about $1300/mo in food, $2350/mo in mortgage, $1000/mo in prop tax, insurance, utility, $250/mo phone/internet and $2500/mo in child-care. The remaining gets typically taken up by expenses related to car plus various sundries and travel. We are pretty frugal when it comes to material things or entertainment. Home expenses and child-care are pretty fixed so really the only flexibility I have there is food. Without taking a hard look at that food costs are just going to grow as our kids grow. I recognize with some effort I could probably lower our food costs by a lot, just a question of whether I want to put effort into that or not.

    Holy crap childcare is expensive. My parents spend about what you guys spend for their family if 4.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    I was paying 1850 for a 1 bedroom apartment before I bought my house. That was 1 hour outside L.A. When they wanted to raise the rent, I moved. A comparable apartment in L.A. is $2500 ish. It is insane. Here you can pay $800 k for an old shack in the city or $500 for a nice newer home an hour out.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    $600-700 per month for my bf and me including toilettries. I live in an expensive area (Southern California) and buy only free range or grass fed meat, pasture raised eggs, wild caught shrimp, and organic fruits and veggies on the dirty dozen list. I do buy some things in bulk which saves money. I'm not sure if this is a lot or not. I do use coupons when possible. I just calculated that what I spend is 8% of my take home pay. My mortgage is 45% of my income and the biggest expense. I dont eat out much, maybe twice a month.

    The grass fed beef I buy is $10/1 lb ground beef.

    $4/half gallon milk.

    $4/lb strawberries.

    $8/lb chicken.

    $5/package of 7 slices turkey bacon.

    $5/dozen eggs.

    $4/lb honeycrisp apples.

    See yeah I am definitely doing something wrong then. Your take home is similar to mine but I'm spending twice the amount on food while not buying organic free range grass fed pasture raised type foods. That said looks like less than half of my food costs are from groceries so that is probably what I should address if I want to bring cost down.

    Also damn on that mortgage, thought mine was expensive but yours is like another 1k more. So-Cal I suppose.

    I spend about 15% on food, about 30% on mortgage, 10% on other house stuff, 30% on child care...so not a lot left for additional savings or other costs clothes/entertainment/bill's etc. Cutting food down to 8% would be nice.

    Yeah, cost of living sucks here. It is insane. LOL. I mean I feel like my grocery bill is pretty high. I guess I save some money by getting deals here and there but the main things that add up are the produce, dairy, and meat, for sure. I buy canned and dry goods, and TP and stuff from Costco or Winco to save money. Sometimes I get stuff on sale. I get my shrimp at Trader Joe's, $10/lb. I do like to eat shrimp and buy boneless, skinless chicken which is pretty pricy. I have been buying more organic ground turkey instead of beef, which is cheaper and healthier. My takehome pay is only about 60% of my income. So much tax here in Cali too. How much do you spend?

    Well heck I guess I have nothing to hide with my expenses so to be fully open I have a family of four (myself, my wife and my two 1.5 y/o twin daughters. Expenses are about $1300/mo in food, $2350/mo in mortgage, $1000/mo in prop tax, insurance, utility, $250/mo phone/internet and $2500/mo in child-care. The remaining gets typically taken up by expenses related to car plus various sundries and travel. We are pretty frugal when it comes to material things or entertainment. Home expenses and child-care are pretty fixed so really the only flexibility I have there is food. Without taking a hard look at that food costs are just going to grow as our kids grow. I recognize with some effort I could probably lower our food costs by a lot, just a question of whether I want to put effort into that or not.

    Holy crap childcare is expensive. My parents spend about what you guys spend for their family if 4.

    Seattle has the 2nd highest daycare rates in the country. Full-time 5 day a week daycare in Seattle averages about $1700 per child per month. We do 3 days a week for 2 for the $2500 and have grandparents take the other two days. Only place higher is San Fran
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    High demand, low supply. How is this not economics? Seattle's primary issue is dealing with reality.

    You can either rail against a system which you have no control over, or you can change that which you have control over. Get a group of investors together and purchase property offering low-income housing.

    Eh I think you can understand that when a city (which obviously has to employ a labor force and base-level professional workers) has housing costs that vastly exceed the income of those people it creates a very awkward situation where you need people to work in the city but they can't afford to live in the city. You can't really get a house within the Seattle city limits for less than 500k now and if you get one that is 500k you are talking like a 900 sqft townhome on the outskirts.

    Saw an article someone posted on Linkedin. I'm not going to have all the facts straight from memory but the idea is directionally correct that talks about your point.

    Each high paying tech job (much like high paying manufacturing jobs in the past) creates 4-5 other jobs. Think jobs like teachers, police/fire, salespeople, retail/food service, etc that don't pay nearly as much as the tech job. The people in the "support jobs" have to have a place to live also. Seattle, with it's geography, has little room to expand, therefore available land is uber expensive. Compare to someplace like Dallas or Austin where there is buildable land for miles around (even though the core of these cities is getting pricey).
  • tlpina82
    tlpina82 Posts: 229 Member
    For 3 people at home. I spend, in avg, $60 per week. I eat plant based, mostly organic. My wife and son eat chicken and eggs. I buy Leaves (Spinash, spring mix), Avocados and Organic Sona Masoori Rice at Costco. Beans and Lentils and other veggies that are on sale at Whole Foods and I get a produce box from a local organic farm every other week.
    I get the eggs and Chicken at Costco as well.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    High demand, low supply. How is this not economics? Seattle's primary issue is dealing with reality.

    You can either rail against a system which you have no control over, or you can change that which you have control over. Get a group of investors together and purchase property offering low-income housing.

    Eh I think you can understand that when a city (which obviously has to employ a labor force and base-level professional workers) has housing costs that vastly exceed the income of those people it creates a very awkward situation where you need people to work in the city but they can't afford to live in the city. You can't really get a house within the Seattle city limits for less than 500k now and if you get one that is 500k you are talking like a 900 sqft townhome on the outskirts.

    This is precisely my point. We can sit and discuss it, but market forces being what they are those with wealth can either decide to provide necessities to maintain status quo or suffer. Until workers utilize their power there will be no change. Seattle like so many other cities needs to quickly come to terms with reality. Chicago is in the same situation, only the disparity is not as obvious. Government blames industry. Industry blames government. Both have the power to implement a solution.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    amandaeve wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    We live downstate IL mid-size community....same house in S. Cali or Seattle would be 4-5X as much.

    Yeah not even an exaggeration....pretty spot on. Median price per square foot for houses:

    Seattle: $506
    Los Angeles: $635
    Illinois: $141

    Illinois x 4 = Seattle
    Illinois x 5 = So Cal.

    Your house would probably be ~1.2 million in Seattle. Food prices probably a little higher in Seattle as well but not nearly to that degree.

    Acutely aware after family moved from St. Louis to Mission Viejo in the mid 1970s and living as a single sailor in San Diego in 1996. Food, gas, basics in general were about double the price largely due to taxes associated with the product. Economics in motion - supply and demand.

    I don't want to divert too much from the thread's topic, but housing (in Seattle at least) is NOT economics in motion. It's investors having their fun. The demand for low-income housing is through the roof. Nine percent of children attending public schools do not have a roof over their heads at night. An overwhelming number of adults living without shelter are employed full time. But there are plenty of housing options for the top 20% and plenty of vacant properties too (although a lot of that is zoned for business). I'm sure we'll be like Vancouver, BC soon, with vacant overpriced properties everywhere you look.

    High demand, low supply. How is this not economics? Seattle's primary issue is dealing with reality.

    You can either rail against a system which you have no control over, or you can change that which you have control over. Get a group of investors together and purchase property offering low-income housing.

    Eh I think you can understand that when a city (which obviously has to employ a labor force and base-level professional workers) has housing costs that vastly exceed the income of those people it creates a very awkward situation where you need people to work in the city but they can't afford to live in the city. You can't really get a house within the Seattle city limits for less than 500k now and if you get one that is 500k you are talking like a 900 sqft townhome on the outskirts.

    This is precisely my point. We can sit and discuss it, but market forces being what they are those with wealth can either decide to provide necessities to maintain status quo or suffer. Until workers utilize their power there will be no change. Seattle like so many other cities needs to quickly come to terms with reality. Chicago is in the same situation, only the disparity is not as obvious. Government blames industry. Industry blames government. Both have the power to implement a solution.

    Industry doesn't have as much power to make change or resolve those issues as they used to(100 years ago)

    For example: An employer has fairly tight restrictions on how far they can go to provide affordable housing or food to their employees as a benefit of employment(quite rightly-due to abuses of such behavior a century ago).