Biggest Loser does it again

concordancia

Damn, I don't want to admit this but I have trouble keeping it under $170.00 a week for 2 people....Most times I over spend and its around $200.00 a week and my husband goes out to eat for lunches every day. I guess I have got to look at my grocery list because I'm not doing it right...

Oh, I would definitely add in salmon with a budget like that! And scallops!

I doubt you are doing anything wrong, especially if you live in a large city. But if you want tips on cutting back, there have been a few threads on that lately.

I am a bit surprised that all the CA cities are getting a mention, since SF is so near farm land where my fruits and veggies often come from!

stepherzzzzz

$70 a week wouldn't go very far around here. Sales tax is 15%, any bottled beverage (including water) has a 10 cent deposit and anything that isn't taxed is crazy expensive. For a 4L jug of milk you'll pay $8-$9.

deceived1

I probably spend $70-$100 per week on groceries. **** adds up fast.

mckramer1999

Planning in advance and sticking to your list are very important. According to the NRDC, "American families throw out approximately 25 percent of the food and beverages they buy. The cost estimate for the average family of four is $1,365 to $2,275 annually." http://www.nrdc.org/food/files/wasted-food-IP.pdf

mikey1976

$70 a week wouldn't go very far around here. Sales tax is 15%, any bottled beverage (including water) has a 10 cent deposit and anything that isn't taxed is crazy expensive. For a 4L jug of milk you'll pay $8-$9.

wow exspensive milk it under 5 here but yeah 70 wouldn't strach far in my house of three adults everything is some what pricey

AmyBecky74

I would love to have a budget of $70 a week on food. I'm in a house of 3 and our bill at the grocery store is usually about $120-$140 a week and that includes evertything not food ( paper products, cleaning products, personnel items). Now I know where you live plays a big part in what we spend, I live in Pittsburgh PA, it's not New York or L.A. prices but were not a small town either. biggest Loser is definetly not geared to your average everyday working man, but I do get motivated from it so I just watch the work-out parts.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Sometimes I think the show is determined to show how out of touch with reality they are!

Last night's episode included a challenge to buy a week's worth of groceries on a "budget" of $70 per person.

Our average is higher when you factor in the staples, but we often only spend about $70 for the two of us! Last week was $150, but it included $50 worth of whey protein, which lasts him several months, as well as allergy meds. Basically, we budget $100 a week, including paper towels and similar things that come from the grocery store or Costco. Pure groceries comes out to about $45 per person.

Has anyone else figured this out for their family? Was anyone else surprised that $70/ person was considered challenging?

Yes, I am surprised that $70.00 per person / week is challenging.

It is 2 of us humans and 2 dogs and I spent $95.xx and that lasts us for at least 2 weeks.

iuangina

I don't know how they possibly could have bought the name brand meats for that amount of money. The Jennie-O turkey is ridiculously expensive.

I personally thought $70 was a reasonable amount in most areas. We spend about $130 for the three of us, but that does not include lunches for my son and husband.

angelams1019

Maybe you're the one out of touch with reality.

I would say that it depends A LOT on what part of the country you live in.


$70/week in NYC would not go far...

This......It really depends on what region you are in and where you are shopping. I shop for myself only and spend $100 weekly at Whole Foods.

whierd

I spend like...$110 per month on groceries.

dawnna76

To some of us that may not sound like a challenge but to the contestants it is. Generally speaking they didn't get overweight because they made healthy decisions in the grocery store. They bought conveienence foods and overpriced boxed dinners of crap. Learning to cook food from scratch ands shop for said ingredients is a challenge all In it's self

aakokopelli7

Family of 5, I am the only girl (besides the dog). Our bill is around $300 a month. I do coupon a little and go for sales but really we do a pretty decent job at healthy. If you do the math that's 60 bucks per person a month.

DavPul

Whey protein lasts several months?

n0ob

Whey protein lasts several months?

I've got some that at least 3 months past expiration if you want it...

chocl8girl

Sometimes I think the show is determined to show how out of touch with reality they are!

Last night's episode included a challenge to buy a week's worth of groceries on a "budget" of $70 per person.

Our average is higher when you factor in the staples, but we often only spend about $70 for the two of us! Last week was $150, but it included $50 worth of whey protein, which lasts him several months, as well as allergy meds. Basically, we budget $100 a week, including paper towels and similar things that come from the grocery store or Costco. Pure groceries comes out to about $45 per person.

Has anyone else figured this out for their family? Was anyone else surprised that $70/ person was considered challenging?

My goodness, I wish I HAD $70 per person a week to spend on groceries. For me and my two kids, I am lucky to be able to spend $100 all together every two weeks on groceries, and it doesn't go very far at all.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

My husband and I spend about $70 per week for the two of us. But when he's deployed my grocery bill only goes down to about $55. We live in Georgia and shop at the commissary though so our dollar probably stretches a bit farther than it would other places.

lafilleavectoi

No. A week's budget of $70 is a lot. I usually spend $40 week.

Hearts_2015

see, i thought that their point was the opposite. ppl don't realize how far the dollar can go at the supermarket, so long as you're making careful decisions. ppl assume that it's expensive to eat healthy, but it CAN be done on a budget, easily.

Totally agree, no matter where you live, I believe it's more what you're purchasing, hunting down bargains, farmers markets, CROPS programs, Education (many grocery stores now have free classes, tours etc. with Nutritionists and Dietitians to help out)... for me, $70 is decadent and I could do about $100 a month and eat very healthy. I'm pretty resourceful though, that might have something to do with those of us that are saying $70 is plenty?

To some of us that may not sound like a challenge but to the contestants it is. Generally speaking they didn't get overweight because they made healthy decisions in the grocery store. They bought convenience foods and overpriced boxed dinners of crap. Learning to cook food from scratch ands shop for said ingredients is a challenge all In it's self

Good point! When first starting out healthy food seems crazy expensive until you understand, healthy food = veggies, fruit, etc.:laugh: aka, "real food"..food not in a box etc.

It was the first time they went to the supermarket to actually shop for food for themselves after learning to eat healthier and only had 15 minutes time to do it. It is not like they have been doing this for months and had perfected their shopping to a lesser amount. I think all the teams also ended up spending less than the allocated $70.

OH! Well that makes all the difference in the world, I don't follow reality shows so had no clue. I agree it would be very challenging, even for me if I'd not planned my menu, 15 minutes might prove a wee bit challenging. :flowerforyou:

meshashesha2012

yeah i was wondering what store they went to where she was able to buy all that produce and protein (and organic!) for that price.

i live in cali as well and the only place i've ever been able to find that comes kind of close to that is trader joe's, but actual grocery stores... no way.

and yeah i agree that wouldnt go far in NYC. the only way you could shop for that cheap is if you did your grocery shopping in chinatown where food can be super cheap. no way you can do that at a gristedes , c town and definitely not whole (paycheck) foods :laugh:

personally i spend 200-300 per month on food for just me, but i'm also pretty fancy and i love certain brands and i buy quite a bit of spices. i'm sure there's cheaper versions of things but i have a pretty good palette so i can taste the difference between a delicious french butter and a crappy knock off butter

also if you're on a budget OP, why are you wasting money on throw away things like paper towels. just go to ikea or someplace like that and get a pack of cloth napkins that you can reuse

christy_frank

I feed 6 and I budget $200/week in groceries and we can eat really well on that. Most weeks I am way under. Some weeks I go $50 or so over but then I find I have some food that carries over into the next week. We buy a lot of fresh produce and we buy our meat at a local meat market.