Shopping Bill

muirspud
muirspud Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For the last 2 weeks, me and my partner have both been dieiting and making a real effort to cut down on the calories, eat healthy and try make fresh meals where possible. Replacing all them bad snacks with fresh ones etc, We both work, so are making and taking healthier meals to work. But we spend approx £70 ($105) on food a week (and usual house stuff for 2) and usually have guests round once a week, Now in the last 2 weeks we have spent.......... £95 ($142.5).

So heres the question. Fat and wealthier. Skinny or Skint (Broke/busto)?

But no, has your food bills gone up, with the change in diet and buying all the healthier extras etc?
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Replies

  • bonitacash08
    bonitacash08 Posts: 378 Member
    Mine definitely have. I think it's more expensive to buy fresh produce, especially in a state like Nevada that doesn't have much of its own fresh fruits and vegetables. Seafood, forget about it lol. But it's a small price to pay for my health. What I pay for in healthier food now I won't have to pay in medical bills later. Diabetes, heart disease, and obesity run in my family.

    Edited to add: Grocery bill has increased. Total food consumption has gone down as I'm not eating out as much.
  • ParrosFan
    ParrosFan Posts: 77 Member
    Oh absolutely all the fresh, healthy items are more expensive. Sad that the cheaper affordable things are boxed mack and cheese and rice, etc. My grocery bill has gone up considerable since I've changed my eating habits.
  • MommaChocoLatte
    MommaChocoLatte Posts: 389 Member
    I have to buy for 7 people so I just buy exactly what we need for 2 wks. We make a list and stick to the list.. we spend about $600 a month on edibles alone. It has stayed about the same because we have replaced some of the higher priced items with more of the lower priced items and we switched grocery stores to a less expensive store.
  • lyndausvi
    lyndausvi Posts: 156 Member
    We tend to eat out more then average couple. So I generally just combined the grocery and eating out budget. The grocery part is up a little since I started eating better and wanting to eat at home, the eating out bill as gone way down. So far it's helped us save money.


    ETA - we also just moved to Indiana where the food, especially vegetables, are way cheaper than I was use to. We moved from the USVI where a pineapple cost $9 :sad:
  • howardheilweil
    howardheilweil Posts: 604 Member
    I think that our overall cost of eating has gone down because we are making a concerted effort to eat out (much) less and pack lunches. It is definitely true that the actual grocery bill has increased, but overall I'm guessing we are paying less....

    Disclaimer: I haven't really spreadsheeted all of this!
  • greenmonstergirl
    greenmonstergirl Posts: 619 Member
    We figured it out at work for a gal here:

    3 x/day mcdonalds - $30 - yes she was eating that much!!!

    vs

    what I eat in a day equaled about $10/day

    I guess it depends what you were eating before and after. There are certainly differences in what you can eat (some bad things are really cheap but make you fat and if you buy a ton of fresh stuff, you are buying it more often as it goes bad and it's more costly).

    I am definitely spending less though. I don't go out for lunch anymore, I bring my food. What I eat is pretty cheap now.
  • Bobbie8786
    Bobbie8786 Posts: 202 Member
    I don't think ours has gone up too much, if at all. However, I cook a lot more from scratch and we are cooking lots of rice and bean casseroles or soup type recipes. That way we can use less meat (saves calories and money). We are also starting to bake our own breads, English muffins, tortillas, flat bread, which is cheaper and healthier. I don't know that it has cost us more money, but it is certainly much more time consuming doing all of this cooking. The reward is it tastes better and we are losing weight.
  • ramalem
    ramalem Posts: 1,066 Member
    I'm always astonished at how much more my food cost "goes up" when I cook at home, but really when I break it down between 2 people, 3 meals a day for 4-5 days it all comes out to be MUCH cheaper than eating out.
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,890 Member
    My shopping bill has gone up, but the amount I spend overall has gone down considerably since I don't go out to eat as often and I don't buy as much take out, etc. I buy organic foods as often as possible which are more expensive, but the portions I am eating are smaller than before so what I buy goes much further.
  • ChelseaM8726
    ChelseaM8726 Posts: 117
    I make my meal plans for the next week or two, and I buy groceries that I need for those recipes only! It helps me save money on buying things I won't use, this way I know I will use them!
  • lalaland82
    lalaland82 Posts: 176 Member
    Mine has increased by enough that I notice the difference every week (I shop daily/every 2 days)
    Even the checkout lady in the supermarket double checked the price of the apples I like and said wow that's a lot for 2, are you sure you want them, you can get 5 mars bars for that, grrr don't remind me :laugh:
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    It's possible to eat healthful foods on a budget, but it's a lot more work. Cabbage, onions, potatoes, eggs, rice, bananas - these are the staples of a healthful diet on a budget. You want salad greens, a variety of fruits, etc. and you are going to be spending more.
  • Joannesmith2818
    Joannesmith2818 Posts: 438 Member
    Well for me .... my shopping bill has gone down. I eat alot less and eat aloooot less takeaways. I could easily spend £60 a week, now its more like £30.
  • meredith1123
    meredith1123 Posts: 843 Member
    nope because we dont buy the junk and extra basic/simple carb foods sooooooooo its about evened out.
  • AlwaysMTNDEW
    AlwaysMTNDEW Posts: 6
    Mine has decreased. I get what I can at Aldi's (a discount grocery store) and then get what's left on my list at walmart. Currently, I spend about $300 a month on food (feeding 3 people). I also use a lot of coupons now, when before I didn't. I used to spend about $400 - $500 a month when I was shopping at a local grocery store (the store actually went out of business last year) and that was before I had my son to feed, so it was only for 2 people.
  • dognamedpig
    dognamedpig Posts: 38 Member
    OP I'd choose broke and weigh less. If those were the only two choices.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    You also have to calculate though, how much you're saving by cutting out things like fast food. That $5-6 you spent on a big mac meal gets saved and redistributed to your new healthier eating style :)

    So, it may seem like you're spending more at the grocery, but you're spending less elsewhere!
  • basslinewild
    basslinewild Posts: 294 Member
    My shopping bill has definitely gone up. I was spending about $75 now I spend between $100 and $140 usually.
  • workaholic_nurse
    workaholic_nurse Posts: 727 Member
    Overall food costs have decreased despite the fact that my grocery bill has gone up a little, still cheaper to cook for 3 than to eat out 2 meals x 2 people 4 days a week and 1 meal x 3 people 6 days a week.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    $70 a person per week is expensive?
  • cosmic8o8
    cosmic8o8 Posts: 131 Member
    I make my own baked goods from scratch with ingredients that I buy in bulk. When properly stored, this will last a long time and it's cheaper to buy in bulk. For chicken/fish, I buy large family packs, portion out, and freeze. I also stock up on frozen veggies which you can usually get for $1/lb. The only fresh produce I buy is green leaf lettuce, bananas, and in-season fruit. I've found it cheaper for me to eat healthier, home cooked meals than eating convenience foods.
  • laurenmcallister
    laurenmcallister Posts: 37 Member
    I live alone, but mine has gone down... I think even though I buy more expensive foods (like high quality cheese), because I'm portioning them correctly they last a lot longer. I have also cut down on the typical expensive items (like halving my glass of orange juice in the morning) which makes a noticeable difference.

    I estimate I spend about $70 on groceries every ten days or so.

    In the interest of full disclosure, however, I don't eat very much meat and tofu/eggs are a lot less expensive.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
    We seem to pay a fortune here in the UK for healthy food don't we?! I get round it by interspersing my healthy options with some 'fillers'. So, noodles, rice, pasta and tinned tuna or certain meats are the way I get around it. Also, for frozen goods I always shop in Farmfoods instead of the major supermarkets as their frozen chicken and fish are so much cheaper! Home Bargains also have some great prices on the staples so if I can get there, I can stock up on some cupboard essentials for a much better price than if I bought them in a supermarket! :smile:
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Grocery bill up, restaurant bill down. Shrugs.
  • oskybosky4
    oskybosky4 Posts: 62
    No, we don't spend on confectionary, biscuits, sweets, fizzy pop, crisps, cakes, chocolate, salted snacks, pies and pastries. We buy only the fresh food we know we will eat that week. We don't eat as much meat. we eat less bread and less butter. There are only the 2 of us so its easier than if we had a family. So on the whole I would say we are spending less each week.
  • artsycella
    artsycella Posts: 121 Member
    As many others have said, my grocery bill has gone up but my overall expenses have gone down considerably. I used to get to work, buy a coffee and sometimes a pastry at Starbucks (~ $12), then grab a sandwich and drink or a food truck lunch ($15), then stop and get takeout for me and my husband on the way home ($35). So per day, I was spending around $62 and two of those meals were just for me--my husband was spending money on his breakfast and lunch too. If he was averaging the same I was, our combined total would be about $89 a day.

    Now, I shop at an organic market and try to buy local, sustainably farmed goods whenever I can. My husband and I eat breakfast at home now and take either leftovers or organic frozen meals in for lunch. Our grocery bills average out to about $200 a week now.

    $200 a week is a lot for two people, but way less than $89 a day.
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
    I'm sure your bill has gone up......but isn't it worth it??!

    All them fresh veggies, lovely fruit, and healthy meals everyday......surely you feel better eating really well???

    Maybe cut down on something else that you don't really need?????

    I love nice food, yum!!!
  • nika_bolinhos
    nika_bolinhos Posts: 42
    I find that when I cook at home I spend a fraction of what I would spend in a meal out. One effective way I find of saving money is on meats. Some silly things like if you buy the chicken breast separate it costs about the same as the whole chicken. So I try to butcher things home. The cheaper beef and pork cuts are usually the ones that are best in stews, so I end up making huge amounts of stew. They go well with pasta, rice and potatoes, you can freeze it and it will last you a long time.
    There are lots of good ways to save money and eat healthy, if you want to add me I would be happy to share some recipes :)
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    We spend less, since I am eating considerably less than I was before. I've always been a "sale shopper". We eat whatever is on sale that week. Additionally I have 84 sq feet of raised beds. Crops this year so far: lettuce, spinach, arugula, asparagus, pole beans, bush beans, beets (and beet greens) and radishes. Also have plenty of fresh herbs growing. In a few weeks I'll have more tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers than I'll know what to do with. City gardner!
  • pinkpatron
    pinkpatron Posts: 154
    My fiance and I spend about $100-$135 a week on groceries. Not too bad I guess.

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