How much do you spend on food?

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  • lequire
    lequire Posts: 20 Member
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    Probably around $140 per month. I have a routine of going grocery shopping every Sunday night and now that my boyfriend comes with me, we buy everything separately but split the dinner items so my tab comes out to $30-35. My breakdown per day is usually $1 for breakfast, $2 for lunch, and the rest on dinner and random ingredients. Also, going every week lets us plan out our dinners easily and get fresh fruits and veggies.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    $160-200 a week for 4 people, give or take (two are 5). Doesn't take eating out into account.
  • FrauHaas2013
    FrauHaas2013 Posts: 615 Member
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    Unfortunately, healthy foods usually cost a lot more than the bad stuff! But it all depends on where you do your shopping...my husband is a professional chef so he likes to get most of our fruits and veggies at the local farmer's market. If not, he does have his preferred grocery stores. We only spent less than $400 per month and there are 3 of us - my husband and I and our 22 year-old son at home.

    Usually what happens is that he cooks a lot on the weekends and that's what we eat for the rest of the week. Sometimes during the week he'll feel like making something new, but pretty much we stick to the same routine.
  • grniys
    grniys Posts: 29 Member
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    Currently $600-800 a month. That feeds my husband, two little boys who love to snack and eat a LOT, and me. We do mostly organic but I do buy some pesticide free non-organic veggies at the farmers market. I'm trying to get that amount down though, because I'd love not to spend so much!
  • JessicaBR13
    JessicaBR13 Posts: 294 Member
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    Around $600-750 per month. This includes three meals a day, snacks and drinks (water/juices/booze) for two people. We go out to eat maybe twice a month.
  • KMMRN
    KMMRN Posts: 104 Member
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    $50.00 (Canadian) per person, per week. The number of people in our household varies. We don't use coupons. We grocery shop once a month, buy almost everything we need....the only things that can't be frozen and don't last the month are lettuce and bananas. We use frozen kale once the lettuce runs out, and frozen pureed bananas or other fruit when the bananas are gone. We also have a large vegetable garden, and several types of fruit in our yard. (We have a root cellar, and have two freezers). We go to u-picks in the fall. We eat very little manufactured food....only bread from the discount bakery, Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter (because my husband refuses anything else), frozen yogurt, and McCains Ultrathin Crust Pizza. We make our own yogurt, tofu, pasta, etc.
  • KMMRN
    KMMRN Posts: 104 Member
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    We have a grocery budget of $90 a week/360 a month for a family of five, which includes packed school lunches for three kids Monday-Friday. That does not include eating out once a weekend (we spend around $20 for that meal)
    Please....TELL ME HOW? I have other things to spend my money on, if I could save on food!
  • appygirl84
    appygirl84 Posts: 105 Member
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    I spend maybe $400 a month on myself. The one thing I rarely deny myself is food. However I eat a car payment every month. So I am trying to cut it down.

    Things I get that I know are expensive:

    Sandwich Rounds
    String Cheese
    Chobani Yogurt
    Oroweat Sandwich Rounds
    Pacific Foods Organic Tomato Soup (If you look at cost per serving it is the same as buying campbells/progresso)
    Organic Milk
    Cherries
    Lunch Meat
    Starbucks (Once a week, maybe twice a week.)

    I am trying to move away from preservatives... so I am working on cooking up a pound of meat once or twice week and eating that instead of lunch meat. I also swap pork for beef when I can, it is so much cheaper. I really have no idea what I eat that is so expensive. I keep meaning to make a spreadsheet of what I eat and what I throw out so I can figure out where to save money.
  • laursoar
    laursoar Posts: 131 Member
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    I generally spend anywhere between $45-$60 a week for myself. Usually more toward the $45 end. I try to shop smartly though, by taking advantage of buy one get one frees when it's a food I eat a lot and usually going to at least two stores to save a few dollars. I probably could cut it down a bit more, but I like to have a variety of healthy options in my apartment each week. Since starting this, I spend way less on eating out though! Plus, I go through snacks much more slowly that it seems to balance out all the fruit & veggie buying a bit.
  • gknopp87
    gknopp87 Posts: 18 Member
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    $100/month max. Usually average $80-90. I watch what's on sale every week and adjust my menu accordingly.
  • TitaniaEcks
    TitaniaEcks Posts: 351 Member
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    Maybe $220, not counting restaurants. I go to a restaurant once a week on (ch)Eat Day.

    I buy some things on sale, and instead of buying expensive gimmicky "health foods", I just try to eat smart.

    I say if you're spending *more* money on a diet than you did before, you're doing something wrong. Isn't the whole point of a diet to eat *less*? ;-)

    Edited to add: That $220 includes a lot of food I buy for my significant other, so my actual monthly spendings on food for myself are probably around $150.
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
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    I didn't read through many responses but I'm curious and plan to! We spend an absolute fortune at the grocery store for our small family of three (me, husband, toddler daughter). We spent $200 last weekend and then last night I ran in for "a few things" and spent another $60! This is a fairly typical week. And that doesn't include household staples like paper towels, dog food, most toiletries. It does include wine :drinker: I will say we eat a ton of fresh produce which I find to be unbelievably expensive. We rarely eat out in restaurants though so in a way I think it balances out to what most people might spend on food.
  • iechick
    iechick Posts: 352 Member
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    We have a grocery budget of $90 a week/360 a month for a family of five, which includes packed school lunches for three kids Monday-Friday. That does not include eating out once a weekend (we spend around $20 for that meal)
    Please....TELL ME HOW? I have other things to spend my money on, if I could save on food!

    -I menu plan
    -always use leftovers (the casserole I made for supper last night was also supper tonight and will be lunch tomorrow, and the leftover rolls from what I made in my bread maker for supper last night were also used for school lunch sandwiches today and I still have 3 left for snacking tomorrow),
    -I plan meals that use the same ingredients, so nothing goes to waste
    -during growing season (right now), I buy from hobby farms, roadside stands, a local orchard across the street from us and then at our farmers market. I've found the cheapest sellers/prices and can get produce cheaper at these places than at the grocery store.
    -utilize U pick farms when possible (strawberries, blueberries, cherries), and then flash freeze some of it for none-growing times
    -flash freeze other in season/cheap produce (corn, bell peppers etc)
    -use less meat than what a recipe calls (if a casserole calls for 1.5lbs of ground beef I use 1lb etc)
    -it's apple season in my area now and as it winds down I'll buy a couple bushels and then keep them out in my three season porch-they'll keep for months in the cold and my kids will take them in their school lunches, I'll use them in our meals, to bake with etc. Much cheaper than buying apples/other fruit during the winter months
    -I have a bread maker and use it 2-3 times a week
    -I use my crock pot at least once a week and these meals are always cheap
    -we rarely have a dessert with dinners
    -we do 'breakfast' for supper once a week and this is a very cheap meal (pancakes from scratch cost a few cents to make etc)
    -I earn gift cards through an online search engine program and get things like bulk yeast off of Amazon for free
    -I always check the reduced produce rack at my grocery store
    -buy in season/cheap produce or frozen (when it goes on sale for $1)
    -go to the bread outlet once a month for things like english muffins and specialty breads (.79-1.39 each)
    -kid's snacks are things like homemade muffins/cookies, air popped corn, fruit etc. I do not buy things like fruit snacks, crackers, pudding cups etc.
    -I make our jams, pear and apple sauce, seasoning mixes (taco seasoning etc) and other things, to eliminate buying more expensive versions at the store
    -we don't drink coffee, milk is limited, alcohol is 2 bottles of rum a year for my husband's rum and cokes, and then I drink coke cherry zero. No juice, punch, chocolate milk etc. We drink a lot of water (my kids take it to school almost every day for their lunches).
    -I use a few coupons and also my local grocery stores coupon program

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