What should 2 people spend a week on groceries?

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  • Calantorntain
    Calantorntain Posts: 172 Member
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    Just groceries for myself (and sometimes I share food with my roommate). It averages out to about $30 a week. I don't eat much breakfast, I have a carefully planned lunch routine that costs generally under $15 a week, and my dinner is usually pretty cheap. I should make a topic about it sometime. I'm pretty good with money overall. I mostly eat veggies, don't eat very much rice/grains, and my meats (which are almost never the main focus of my meal) usually take the form of chicken, shrimp, and salmon.

    I also don't eat out much; prepare most meals from scratch.
  • gingerveg
    gingerveg Posts: 748 Member
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    I guess ours is on the high end. Our budget is $500 a month (so roughly $125 week). We don't always use all of that. We buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, organic, support local, and we are both vegetarian.

    ETA: And yes I have noticed the price of food going up. I have found good deals on produce at out local international supermarket. I make my own bread, I also make lunches and most dinners. We rarely go out to eat anymore. But despite the cost going up we thankfully have our health.
  • WorknProgress202
    WorknProgress202 Posts: 3 Member
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    Congratulations on your weight loss.! Was reading the blog and noticed your ticker. :-)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    So this is only so helpful- becaue produce and different things cost different prices in different regions.

    Beef in Texas I suspect is a lot less expensive than beef in NJ. As a guess.
    project? faggetaboutit.

    I tend to spend around 45-75$ a week for me- but I think it would easily feed my BF as well at the upper end of that cost.
    I could probably live on 50 a week- but that's including meats and veggies still- I'm not willing to live on frozen veggies and frozen pizza- although- I probably could LOL
  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
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    I live alone and I just spent 115.00 for an amount of food that wouldn't keep a rabbit alive for two weeks. :devil: :mad:
  • Adaniel65
    Adaniel65 Posts: 105 Member
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    I budget $75 per week for groceries (including whatever essentials we need, i.e., toilet paper etc.). I seldom stay within that however. We're easily a $100+ per week couple. But this man goes through gatorade and pretzels like they're going to stop making them tomorrow...
    We also eat out at least twice a week.
  • CAC10456
    CAC10456 Posts: 117 Member
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    Just my husband and I and we spend about $80/week. We're in Hawaii so some food is incredibly expensive, so I do buy in bulk when things (especially chicken, ground beef) goes on sale. Fruits and veggies rarely go on sale, since there isn't really a "season" as everything is imported.
  • dswolverine
    dswolverine Posts: 246 Member
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    My fiance and I spend a TON on groceries....though I love to cook so we rarely go out to eat and we both religiously bring lunch to work. I tell myself that somehow makes it better. But we usually spend at least $150 a week...easy. Especially during the summer when there's a ton of delicious summer fruit available.
  • shutterbug282
    shutterbug282 Posts: 588 Member
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    I don't know what the exchange rate is, but I spend about £30-£40 a week on groceries.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    I'm sure it depends on where you live -- cost of living ranges so much from one part of the world to another. That said, I spend $800-$1000/month for a family of four -- kids are 7 and 10 so they don't quite eat as much as adults, but the older one is getting there! I also live in a pretty expensive part of the country. I shop at our regular grocery store and I use coupons and buy generic whenever possible. Sometimes I'll make a special trip to Costco for bulk items or Trader Joe's or Whole Foods for special stuff, but that's only about once every 2-3 months.
  • Chaskavitch
    Chaskavitch Posts: 172 Member
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    My husband and I spend about $500/mo on groceries, but that includes toiletries, cat food, and beer. I don't know how much we ACTUALLY spend on food. We do also eat a lot of meat (steak, bacon, pork tenderloin, burgers), and splurge on fancy cheeses occasionally. I'd probably spend less if it was two of me, lol, because my husband goes on kicks for like 3 days - has to have juice for breakfast, or needs his Izze, or pickles, or bagels - and then is so done with that food, and is convinced it is bad by the next time he wants to eat it. /sigh.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    It seems that we just can't get lower than around $75 a week and then $20-30 a month for once a month buys.

    We do buy a lot of fresh produce and lean meats and try to eat as healthy and clean as we can.

    That being said, I am looking for input from couples who eat mostly clean.

    Eliminating alcohol and non-food items, we (my husband and I) probably spent about $75 - $85 a week on food before our garden started producing.

    We don't eat out often and cook most meals from scratch using fish or lean meats, whole grains, legumes and vegetables. I buy some organic and some not. It really just depends on price and freshness. We eat more fresh than frozen vegetables, but we do use frozen. And I often use canned beans, even though dry are much cheaper.
  • leftinthekitchen
    leftinthekitchen Posts: 98
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    My husband and I spend normally $80-90 on groceries every week, including paper products, but not including wine or beer. I do shop around to see which stores in my area have the best sales each week. We're in NE Ohio so my main stores are Marc's, Giant Eagle, and Heinen's. Every week I sit with the sales papers for these stores and plan our menu for the week around whatever is on sale. I rarely buy things that aren't on sale for the week, unless it is a staple that we have run out of. I plan and buy to make 7 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. I also make snacks for us throughout the week: hummus, bean dips, protein bars,etc. I also take advantage of the farmer's markets that have opened for the season.
    I buy some stuff at Bj's every few weeks when I get gas for the car, mostly nuts and bags of greens for juicing. That being said I take advantage of ethnic stores for a lot of things like spices and grains. I also buy lots of frozen veggies for quick sides and frozen fruit for smoothies. I don't buy many processed things either so that tends to help us eat cleaner.
    My biggest advice would be to work with whatever is on sale for the week and menu plan so you are making the most use of the things you buy
  • __hannah_
    __hannah_ Posts: 787 Member
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    My husband and I spend about $300/month on groceries including toilet paper, paper towels, etc. So average of $75/week.
  • rak173
    rak173 Posts: 105 Member
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    My partner and I have also been trying to tighten up our budget on groceries. We have been spending $75-$100 per week for both of our groceries. This includes some household items (probably 50%) like toilet paper, cleaners, and the cats stuff. I buy only produce that is in season and have been watching the amount we spend on meat. We also have reduced the number of prepared items and snacks we buy.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    1) zombie thread

    2) We spend somewhere between $80-$120 including cleaning products and one take-out meal per week. This also includes things I buy to pack for my lunch and snacks. He buys his lunch on the road or eats leftovers.

    I agree that location can make a difference as cost of living, fresh produce, etc can vary by location. Being in Maine, our time for fresh produce is somewhat limited so the cost goes up for things that need to be shipped in the rest of the year.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    we spend about $150 a week, but i'm allergic to wheat and we eat a lot of organic or no chemicals added foods. lots of shopping at trader joe's and whole foods, some at ralph's and target.
  • kristen2713
    kristen2713 Posts: 253 Member
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    Some weeks I can manage us on $40, and some weeks it's closer to $80-100; what I try to do to keep things as low as possible is about every other week do the meat run to whichever of our stores is running specials and then portion and freeze. The other weeks in between I get the bare essentials of fresh fruits and veggies and it helps a little for me to use up things in the cupboard. If he wasn't so dang picky and into junk food, I would be able to do our groceries on $50 a week guaranteed.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    It seems that we just can't get lower than around $75 a week and then $20-30 a month for once a month buys.

    We do buy a lot of fresh produce and lean meats and try to eat as healthy and clean as we can.

    That being said, I am looking for input from couples who eat mostly clean.

    Eliminating alcohol and non-food items, we (my husband and I) probably spent about $75 - $85 a week on food before our garden started producing.

    We don't eat out often and cook most meals from scratch using fish or lean meats, whole grains, legumes and vegetables. I buy some organic and some not. It really just depends on price and freshness. We eat more fresh than frozen vegetables, but we do use frozen. And I often use canned beans, even though dry are much cheaper.

    Where I live it is definitely possible to eat healthy on much less than my husband and I spend. We are older and have years of experinece at our jobs and with the kids gone, we don't really budget our food shopping. But not buying many processed foods does cost quite a bit less and allows for more expensive ingredients for home cooked meals.

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