Informal Poll - spending more or less on food?

ritzvin · February 2017

Much less. Everything that isn't really cheap gets stretched a lot further (since it also tends to be calorie dense). The cottage cheese & yogurt gets portioned out into proper servings (which is less than I would have gulped down otherwise). A rotisserie chicken that 2 of us would have devoured in 1 sitting gets spread into 10-11 meals now. Similar with sausage. I don't buy some of the yummy stuff I would eat in 1 sitting (like cheese, assorted tapas, etc). I don't buy junk food (except for a single serving after a long run). I eat out much less. Even a clif bar at 270 calories gets portioned into 2-3 pieces (with yogurt or peanut butter) to fit calories. More frozen veggies and beans which are cheap.

shandy82165 · February 2017

Much less. I used to eat out 3-4 times per week, plus keep a ton of junk food around the house. No more eating out, coupled with smaller homemade meals has made a big difference. Plus I live in So. Cal. and we have lots of options for shopping, and produce is always very inexpensive, especially if I buy seasonal.

Machka9 · February 2017

Hard to say ... I've moved a lot in the last several years and food prices vary by location.

Plus the year I gained weight was an expensive food year for us. We spent about 8 months travelling the world and trying all sorts of delicious food.

dutchandkiwi · February 2017

I'd say less than before, at least we have more left over at the end of the month.
In part due to eating out less often
Buying more within the portions we eat
Also we upped our reuse of left overs (freezer, but also add on dinners)
We buy fresh, but primarily within season as well as where possible local
We usually buy organic meat - but we are both partial to the lesser known cuts, often cheaper, plus less of it.
We don't buy expensive powders/mealreplacements/vitamins add-ons Just don't want/need them.

crackpotbaby · February 2017

When I eat like I want to eat (which is 'clean', if you want to call it that) fresh produce and nice cuts of meat it costs a LOT more.

Fresh food here is plentiful but a rip off.

My family (partner and two practically teenage boys) eat adapted versions of the same dinner which is our main meal. The rest of their food though ... I can buy food for a week for the 3 of them for the same price as I can buy fruit, veg, nuts, protein etc for myself for a few days.

uninc57 · February 2017

Less on food, more on supps.

jcraig10 · February 2017

I spend a bit more at the grocery store, but only go out to lunch maybe 1x a week now so definitely saving money on lunches and snacks!

I'd say the only reason I'm spending more at the grocery store is because I'm buying larger packs of meat so that I can use dinner leftovers for lunches.

courtneylykins5 · February 2017

Individually for myself, I spend a lot less. I'm rarely eating out and I pretty much stick to the same few simple things for ease of logging.
Overall the grocery bill has explodd when my two little bird eaters suddenly became bottomless pits. The whole family is eating healthier since it's me who buys all the food, but some need to eat a lot more of it.

sarraheclark · March 2017

Definitely increased. Focusing less on what's on sale and more on quality and nutritional value.

cross2bear · March 2017

Spending about the same, only allotting it differently. Vastly decreased eating out, almost always bring lunch to work, buy lots of veggies and fruit and no typical junk food - no chips, no baked goods, no sugary anything. If I want those, I have to make them, and sometimes I do, but rarely. Have always preferred to get meat from the butcher, so that is a bit pricier but an acceptable tradeoff, to my mind.

cwolfman13 · March 2017

I think it's about the same...a reduction in eating out and take out is offset by the fact that we have some pricier grocery items now vs then...mostly fish. That said, even with the pricier grocery items, we had some cost savings early on, but those have been offset by the fact that our boys are now 7 and 4 (almost 5) vs newborn and 2 at the time we started.

ritzvin · March 2017

TmacMMM wrote: »

Less. We eat the same mostly whole foods we used to, but less of it. Also, we're eating out less and drinking less booze. So probably saving $30-40 a week?

I almost forgot all the savings at bars. I used to drink quite a bit more when out dancing - every ~140 calories of wine I cut out to save calories also saves $10 at some of the salsa venues (~$6 at most of the swing ones).

Lizakabibbis · March 2017

I pretty much spend the same amount of money. My son and boyfriend still eat the same amount of food even though everyone is eating healthier foods. I do have my daily Starbucks but outside of that - lots of groceries!

nowine4me · March 2017

More at the grocery store but less eating out. Especially since it rarely order wine, which is typically $7-10 per glass.

zdyb23456 · March 2017

courtneylykins5 wrote: »

Individually for myself, I spend a lot less. I'm rarely eating out and I pretty much stick to the same few simple things for ease of logging.
Overall the grocery bill has explodd when my two little bird eaters suddenly became bottomless pits. The whole family is eating healthier since it's me who buys all the food, but some need to eat a lot more of it.

I have 3 little bird eaters right now, 8, 6, and 4. I'm not looking forward to my grocery bill when they start eating like adults!

descene · March 2017

Sometimes it looks like I'm spending more. I definitely spend $20-$30 more on groceries than I'd like to now, but I spend $50 less on takeout and snacks, so in the end yes I save money.
Although, It's definitely possible for me to make a meal plan that is both unhealthy and cheaper, so I don't agree entirely with healthy food=cheaper. Seriously, there are periods of my life that I've spent under a dollar on food a day and I was gaining weight (probably malnourished though), but takeout and packaged foods are usually more expensive so if you're doing that you might save money from making changes.

MadCatLady302 · March 2017

I spend £20-£30 more per week on my weekly food shopping now. I'm losing weight but I am eating a lot more. Before, I just had my evening meal and a big sugar filled dessert. So now I'm having three main meals plus snacking in between. On the other hand though, it probably evens out as I don't spend any money on food at any other time now, whereas before I couldn't fill my car with petrol without getting a chocolate bar or watch a film without popcorn etc. So probably works out about the same.