How much money do you eat a day?

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Replies

  • juniebug2013
    juniebug2013 Posts: 31 Member
    I think that the answer can vary wildly depending on where you live and size of family. I have a family of 5, live in a small Texas town, and spend about $125 a week to feed us. We eat a lot of fresh produce (thank goodness for Aldi), and use rice, pasta, and beans to bulk up our meals and make them go further. I think it's actually more expensive to shop for just one person. Having a large family means it's more practical for me to buy in bulk, which saves us money in the long run. I don't think twice about spending $30 for 15 lbs of boneless chicken breasts when they are on sale. But if you are just feeding yourself and only have $30 to last the week, you probably would go for the smaller package of chicken, even though it's more expensive per pound.
  • juniebug2013
    juniebug2013 Posts: 31 Member
    edited April 2015
    WalkingAlong wrote: »
    Your diary doesn't show home grown foods, unless you grew a Kroger and a Five Guys.

    Yeah, you can go back for several months and see mostly store bought products. I think gardening is great, and know people that do successfully live off of their land, but I think it's a bit misleading to say that there is zero investment, and you can eat for free most of the year.

  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    Oof, I needed this thread. It really helped me put things in perspective. I spend a lot of money on groceries, including sometimes having multiple quest bars a day which in and of itself would add up to your budgets. I've had a number of financial hits lately, so this will help me tighten up in this area.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    $5.27/day

    Or, $36.89/week, or $158.10/month
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    juniebug2013 wrote: »
    WalkingAlong wrote: »
    Your diary doesn't show home grown foods, unless you grew a Kroger and a Five Guys.

    Yeah, you can go back for several months and see mostly store bought products. I think gardening is great, and know people that do successfully live off of their land, but I think it's a bit misleading to say that there is zero investment, and you can eat for free most of the year.

    I agree, and I am one of those people. It's work and money is involved. If you eat a lot of vegetables, it is cheaper than buying at the store (except maybe the first year) and it is worth it IMO, but it's not free.
  • mzjenn2u
    mzjenn2u Posts: 78 Member
    I spend about 150 per week that's for myself, boyfriend and 6yr old son.....we all pack lunches at least 5 days per week........
  • kettouji
    kettouji Posts: 16 Member
    If its a normal week, and I'm just stocking up on things that I've used? $21-25. If I have to buy staples, it's around $100, but I buy in bulk.
  • rugbyphreak
    rugbyphreak Posts: 509 Member
    edited April 2015
    I try to scavenge as much as possible at work... snacks in the break room? company lunch? lunch time meeting? I'll take it. When I'm not scavenging to save, about 2 bucks a day on breakfast, 4 on lunch, and if I eat at home, 4-5 on dinner, so about $10 a day.

    In the summer, when my garden is flourishing, I spend much less a day. I have all of my veggies, fruits, and eggs provided for pretty close to free when nature allows.
  • ganbaranba
    ganbaranba Posts: 34 Member
    It really depends- probably goes up on the weekend. I spend about $40 for myself per week in groceries and per day probably like $5.
  • RiverMelSong
    RiverMelSong Posts: 456 Member
    edited April 2015
    I spend around €50 a week on food and drink. I've tried to cut it down but wine is expensive..
  • lmr0528
    lmr0528 Posts: 427 Member
    For my husband and I, I do the majority of our grocery shopping every other week and spend about $130-$140 each time. I might go out once or twice in between for something important that we run out of but usually I try and hold off until shopping night.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    FrogDog47 wrote: »
    This is everything, we track it all in Quicken.

    I do that, too. I've been tracking everything there for ages.

    Actually, maybe this is why I've had so much success using MFP for calorie counting. It's quite like tracking spending in Quicken; takes a few minutes a day, becomes habit, and helps me "budget" (my money or my calories).
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    30 bucks a week on average, excluding eating out which I do much and consider more entertainment costs than food expenses.
  • felblossom
    felblossom Posts: 132 Member
    I spend on average $5-7 for groceries for one day
  • AlexMorganMc
    AlexMorganMc Posts: 42 Member
    edited April 2015
    My husband and I have a monthly food budget of $500. We usually always end up maxing out our budget, seeing as it includes any eating out and a weekly Starbucks meeting that we both attend. So...

    Monthly: $500
    Weekly: $125
    Daily: ~ $18

    That's for two people in a relatively expensive area of the country. I hear people saying they only spend half that for two people, and it just boggles my mind (and makes me insanely jealous).
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    SoDamnHungry wrote: »
    30 bucks a week on average, excluding eating out which I do much and consider more entertainment costs than food expenses.

    How do you spend so little!?
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
    This past weekend, I went to the grocery with my list in hand since I had finally returned to properly meal planning (my definition of proper meal planning).

    I was on crutches to I was limited to what I could fit and carry in a backpack.
    I spent just under 30$ and had 1 unplanned purchase (a box of store brand ice cream sandwiches).
    It was fun so I'm going to continue this experiment. I'm one person and I have a decently stocked freezer & pantry so I'm going to try to spend under 40$ every Sunday on groceries for the week with one Sunday every 6-8 weeks at a much higher cost as a restock/bulk cooking day.

    To those that want to reduce their spending, one way to do that is to walk in with only $X in cash then you're forced to stick to that amount or less...
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    I'm not really sure, but I think I spend about 600-800 a month for a family of 4. That would include our cleaning stuff, paper products, etc. It doesn't include eating out which we do at least once a week.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    NerdTristan wrote: »
    I live on 30usd a month, my average daily food/money intake is 1-1.50 a day

    So without opening the whole "living below the poverty line" can of worms - you can't live on $30 USD a month. You just can't. That's not even 30 cans of soup - well maybe it is where you are but where I live they're like $1.25/can.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    I buy a lot of things in bulk - so every 4 weeks I make a trip to Costco and buy 4lbs of ground turkey, one 4KG box of chicken or 8 chicken breasts, one bag of frozen veggies (of some kind) and so on. I spend about $120 on that trip and then weekly I buy small things that I run out of quickly like fresh produce because I'm single so buying fresh in bulk would be a waste of money.

    I also - once every 4 weeks - make a trip to GNC and buy protein power (sometimes it will last me 6 weeks, depends on sale and size) and bulk burn to stock up on ingredients I use to make protein bars and such.

    I probably spend about $300/month on food I consume (not including eating out, but I eat out like twice a month, maybe) so that about $10 CAD a day. Plus $10 approx for coffee every week ($2/coffee x 5 days)

    Also, for those who know what this means: I live in South Western Ontario. It's a pretty expensive part of Canada to live in. I know we have a lot of farms around and such, but still it's not cheap to live here. That being said, I don't know if we can compare how much we spend because what $20 buys you here, you might get double that in Saskatchewan or half of that in Vancouver. It's all relative to where you are AND what you consume. Obviously the less fresh/whole foods you buy the less you will usually spend. It might be a more accurate comparison to ask what you spend AND what you can get for that money.
  • hillarysiegel24
    hillarysiegel24 Posts: 14 Member
    I live in NYC where groceries tend to be expensive, and I spend less than $100/week on food. I would say I spend $50/week on groceries (most of it produce, some of it canned goods, rice, etc.) and I spend anywhere from $5-$50 on coffee/lunch during the week when I am at work. Primarily it is coffee, because I will pack lunch. A typical grocery list per week for me is:

    - grapes
    - strawberries
    - blackberries
    - zucchini
    - spinach
    - romaine lettuce
    - kale
    - pasta or rice (whichever I am running low on)
    - yogurt
    - eggs
    - chicken or sausage (whatever I want for recipes for the week)
    - hummus
    - crackers or popcorn (whatever I am running low on snacks-wise)

    I only shop at Whole Foods (sometimes Trader Joe's, or Wegmans if I am home visiting family) and I don't ever spend more than like $60, and that is usually if I am stocking up on canned goods and won't be spending less in coming weeks!

    tl;dr I spend approximately $12/day on food!
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    I live in a large, northern city and shop at the "cheap" grocery store, but I don't make much effort to shop inexpensively other than stocking up on on-sale stuff. I spend about $600/month for two people (including toiletries etc.) but we eat a lot of fresh vegetables, seafood, and fresh beef. That's about $10/day per person, but I admit that's only for two meals a day as I don't generally eat lunch and my fiance buys his. We spend quite a lot of money compared to some people when you consider all that but I like to cook and I like high-quality ingredients, so we decided it's worth what it costs for us.
  • jpaulie
    jpaulie Posts: 917 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    I've never eaten money before.

    It's green (or used to be) so it must be a vegetable of some kind
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    I live in an expensive part of the U.S. -- our family of 4 spends about $200/week. I don't know if this has been posted here or on a different thread, but I found it interesting so I thought I'd share: time.com/8515/hungry-planet-what-the-world-eats/
  • Bridge_912
    Bridge_912 Posts: 8 Member
    What types of things did you end up buying? Packaged? Fresh? Organic? That will be a huge indicator.
    We usually spend about 50-60 for my husband and I both.
  • hancy_caceres
    hancy_caceres Posts: 45 Member
    I spend $200 for three people!
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    acorsaut89 wrote: »
    NerdTristan wrote: »
    I live on 30usd a month, my average daily food/money intake is 1-1.50 a day

    So without opening the whole "living below the poverty line" can of worms - you can't live on $30 USD a month. You just can't. That's not even 30 cans of soup - well maybe it is where you are but where I live they're like $1.25/can.

    Yes, but if I am making soup using a lot of home-grown veggies, I can get probably ten servings for $1.25. Freeze what you can't eat right away and that amount goes a long way.

    I could live on $30 a month in food, but it wouldn't be fun, easy or very healthy.
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