How much do you spend?

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Replies

  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    For our family (me, my boyfriend, and my 5 year old) we probably spend somewhere around $650 a month at the most. I buy rice, nuts, and quinoa in bulk at our local farmer's market, stock the freezer with frozen chicken breasts and salmon filets, and scope out the farmer's market for deals on produce. We could probably spend less, but we don't really mind spending a bit extra to get really good quality food.
  • xuenylom
    xuenylom Posts: 4 Member
    £20-£30 a week from ASDA/Sainsburys so like £80-£120 a month
    Plus snacks at uni, town, etc so maybe like £150? I buy too much food xD
  • HilaryP22
    HilaryP22 Posts: 11 Member
    I spend around $300-$350/month on food each month, for 2 adults and a toddler. We live in Indiana, US.
  • Naffry
    Naffry Posts: 37 Member
    Me, wife and 3 kids. Spend around £130 a week. £520 a month ;o.
  • lroxey
    lroxey Posts: 32 Member
    But in reality thats not that much, thats roughly only 7 dollars a day.
  • rebecca_chess
    rebecca_chess Posts: 101 Member
    I live in North Texas - 3 adults (myself, hubby, and my mom) and 1 child (5 years old) - I soley shop at Wal-Mart not because I like it but because it is the cheapest place around & a "one-stop-shop" - I spend about $500 - $600 per month and that includes everything to do with the household, not just food (paper goods, shampoo, soap, dog food, cat food, detergent, etc.)
  • beccci91
    beccci91 Posts: 213 Member
    I live in the UK with my hubby and 6 kids, ans spend £1200 a month, and that's with growing my own veg. I honestly think £900 goes on milk, and it'd be cheaper for me to buy a cow. :angry:

    oh my freakin' god! :O
  • madcatlady75
    madcatlady75 Posts: 5 Member
    I'm in the UK and until recently spent around £50+ a week on me, a teenage girl and 2 cats, I would do a main shop at Tesco or Asda and spend a fortune at the co-op on top ups without really looking at the cost.

    I recently lost my income and am living on very little so have had to cut that down majorly and am aiming for around £35-40pw including cat supplies, toileteries etc and it is not easy. Cat supplies are about £7 a week for food and litter

    I have switched to Aldi for my main shop and cut down to buying cleaning and toileteries from Poundland. I carefully meal plan making sure I don't waste anything and have cheap meals like filled jacket potatoes or stretch a chicken out to last a few days.

    I have found that I spend less on fruit and veg right now because the priority is getting the main part of the meal ie I don't buy salad for sandwiches, just egg or cheese for the filling. I intend to start using more pulses as the base of my dinners although my daughter is fussy and wont eat them. On the plus side healthwise there are no trips to the chippy for a pizza and chips (costing about £6 a time) like I used to do at least once a week before or meals out.

    Other periods when I have been really skint I have ended up eating really well like when I was a student and while I am hoping to have a decent income again soon it will do me no harm cutting back for a while.
  • smeklc
    smeklc Posts: 94 Member
    bump for later
  • hallensd
    hallensd Posts: 16 Member
    I'm in Southern California and groceries here are on the higher end. I feed myself, my husband, and 4 kids. I spend about $500 a month. We eat mostly chicken dishes with the occasional beef or fish dish. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies and things like yogurt. I don't really buy any prepackaged foods and make most everything from scratch. We also never eat out, so this accounts for our total food expenditures.
  • drk1mmy
    drk1mmy Posts: 3
    I think I need to re-evaluate how much I spend on food per day/week/month after reading this thread......
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    I spend about £400 a month on food for me. Thats about $634 dollars. That's for me alone.
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
    Around 500 dollars per month for me and my kitten - Eating healthy costs quite a lot :D
    I'm don't buy that much of supplements (only casein + BCAA)
  • Martucha123
    Martucha123 Posts: 1,089 Member
    I live in Barcelona, Spain
    I spend about 400 euros per 2 people per month, that is about 650 USD
  • nakabi
    nakabi Posts: 589 Member
    For a family of 3 (almost 3 year old included), I spend about $400/ month on food. This doesn't account for the "run ins" to pick our son up more juice, cheese, or gummies, and it may be more depending on what my recipes call for. I have been trying to spend more time in the produce section that normal, and not as much in the aisles. I use coupons when I have then and when I remember. I would really like to know how these women buy all of those groceries for like $5 or less!!!

    That crazy couponing show is crazy..we couponers aren't all like that!!! lol

    I shop mostly at Harris Teeter when they have doubles/triple coupons. The key is to buy only what you need when it's on sale and then utitilze your triple coupons. If it's a good price, stock up. I rarely buy toothpast/shampoo ect things like that because of all the coupons. Make sure you are signed up for the rewards cards and sign up online. You get additional coupons emailed to you that others who arent signed up don't get. It's best to shop once a week instead of once a month since the sales change every week. People make the mistake of thinking its cheaper to shop once a week.
    Clip, clip, clip. The key to using coupons is to be organized! I have mine in a coupon binder and I'm sure people think I'm crazy when they see me in the store, but who cares. I love knowing I'm saving my family hundreds of dollars a month.
    We eat very healthy and don't eat much processed/junk food so it's a misconption that people have that people who coupon eat only processed food.
    If you want more tips, let me know :)
  • EricDe90x
    EricDe90x Posts: 51
    My mom spends around 300-400 to feed 4 people. I spend 20-40 on supplements.
  • kaned_ferret
    kaned_ferret Posts: 618 Member
    probably 450 pounds a month or thereabouts, for me, the man and the 2 dogs... Sadly I'm in the same boat as catlady and have lost my income, and in all honesty I have no idea how we are going to survive food-wise - once all our rent and bills have gone out, we may have 20 pounds a week for food, if we're lucky!

    So, any hints or tips on how to REALLY make food and money go as far as possible, will be incredibly welcome! :D
  • suzzann666
    suzzann666 Posts: 334 Member
    i would guess between $700-850 for our family of 6, not including paper products, pet food, etc.
  • grumpya
    grumpya Posts: 54 Member
    YES I agree that eating healthy in UK is probably at least twice the price of eating less healthy food. Every special offer in discount supermarkets seems to be for cakes, biscuits, pies, pastries, etc. Even in the better supermarkets it tends to be the case. I used to shop in Asda or Tesco & spent £150 a week for 3 adults plus 2 cats & cleaning stuff, now shop in Lidl for £60 - £70 week plus about £5 in farm shops. When my husband lost his job a little while ago I could feed 5 of us for £60 by eating rubbish & using basic cleaning stuff. It doesn't seem that all the recent food price increases have affected the unhealthy food yet all we hear from the government is preaching about healthy eating.
  • Mazzyx
    Mazzyx Posts: 131
    YES I agree that eating healthy in UK is probably at least twice the price of eating less healthy food. Every special offer in discount supermarkets seems to be for cakes, biscuits, pies, pastries, etc. Even in the better supermarkets it tends to be the case. I used to shop in Asda or Tesco & spent £150 a week for 3 adults plus 2 cats & cleaning stuff, now shop in Lidl for £60 - £70 week plus about £5 in farm shops. When my husband lost his job a little while ago I could feed 5 of us for £60 by eating rubbish & using basic cleaning stuff. It doesn't seem that all the recent food price increases have affected the unhealthy food yet all we hear from the government is preaching about healthy eating.

    Totally agree here!! We use to be able to live off £20 a week (thats 2 of us) and just eat basic rubbish, but now with eating healthier to include salad and lots more fruit and also Im on a wheat free diet, end up spending £50+ a week. Its ridiculous! :grumble:
  • tbrewst
    tbrewst Posts: 93 Member
    Wow! I need to budget better....here in Austin, family of 4 (2 adults, 6 & 7 yo boys we spend around $1000+. That is for everything, all paper prods, eating out (~ 1x a week), grocery, etc....I do get a veggie box from Johnson's Backyard Garden (if you are in the area check them out, it's great) delivered (~$38) and I buy lots of organic, pasture raised, clean foods from a local mercantile, ...some stuff we buy is expensive e.g. my 7 y/o drinks raw milk at $8 a gallon, I eat a couple of dozen eggs a week that cost ~ $6, the whole chickens I buy average 14$ a bird, I also don't eat beef so I buy bison which costs more. I will say when I shop at the local grocery store and run through the produce it's very inexpensive. Regular food in the US is super cheap....but don't get me started on how our food is produced in the US...............
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