How much do you spend on food per week?

honestlysweet
honestlysweet Posts: 221 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Starting with my trip to the grocery store on Tuesday, I kept tabs on how much I spend on groceries and eating out and so far, including Tuesday, Wed, Thurs and today, I have spend $208. This is stupid. We only went out twice. Once to BWW and once to McDonalds (BWW had a Blackened chicken salad-big mistake, it had 700 calories).

So I will probably spend another fifty or so before Monday, making my seven day week a total of about $260. I have a husband and grown son. They eat a lot.

Are groceries costing you more than the rent/mortgage? It is for me!
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Replies

  • Cindym82
    Cindym82 Posts: 1,245 Member
    My boyfriend and I buy in bulk for A LOT of things to keep down cost. So our meats will cost about $150 for the month and than I get a lot of frozen fruits and veggies to last longer and we pick up a lot of sale items and stock up. It's very expensive though
  • LizKurz
    LizKurz Posts: 340 Member
    We spend about $800 a month in groceries for a family of six, though our children are small.

    Our mortgage is just over $800.

    It is not at all uncommon in other countries for your food bill to be the higest bill you have, bu that's because they tend to eat better, and have less crap, including smaller living spaces, which cost less to own, heat, light, etc.
  • emmamcblain
    emmamcblain Posts: 342
    Too much...

    (Not grocery shopping per say, but it's still ridiculous/unneeded amounts.)
  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 741 Member
    I never tallied up our total food cost. Hubby works in a restaurant and eats dinner there five times a week so it's not as high as it could be.

    Hmmm. I shall start looking into that more.
  • ashleab37
    ashleab37 Posts: 575 Member
    Before I started budgeting it closely, it was around the $300 a week mark for myself and my partner eats abut half of his meals here.

    Now that I'm budgeting it closely, it's down to around $150 a week.

    Fresh food is EXPENSIVE here. These numbers don't include takeout, either.
  • nursenessa1
    nursenessa1 Posts: 182 Member
    75-100 per week for 2 adults
  • lschuttem
    lschuttem Posts: 82 Member
    for myself if i pick up a lot of fresh fruit i can spend around $150 a week on myself...im new at shopping lol, i live at my parents most of the year, so im still learning how to shop...but its an expensive lesson for sure!
  • LenaMena87
    LenaMena87 Posts: 469 Member
    Since my hubby is deployed it's just me and my son and I spend about $75 a week! Thank God for the commissary!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Celeigh12
    Celeigh12 Posts: 763 Member
    About $100 - $125 a week for just me. The veggies are fairly cheap for what you get and I don't eat a ton of meat, but I splurge on my fresh berries, nuts, and yogurt/cheese. I don't eat much from the middle aisles of the store. Sometimes I never go into them.
  • pat6250
    pat6250 Posts: 90
    I spend about a hundred a week, but I shop mostly at Aldis, and I cook most things from scratch. That includes a weekly bottle of wine, but if we need beer, hubby gets it. There are 3 in our household. And we don't mind eating leftovers. When my son was at home and playing football, I practically trucked food in. But we were never big on brand names or convenience foods. Cleaning supplies are separate. I don't buy toiletries of cleaning supplies at supermarkets, because the convenience costs extra. And we use a lot of produce, and I clean and prepare it. It's cheaper that way.
  • dicoveringwhoIam
    dicoveringwhoIam Posts: 480 Member
    I do a lot of canning and freezing.. We are a family of 6.. We spend 300 every 2 weeks.. I meal plan and am able on that budget to cook healthy meals for my family..
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    Just me, 1 person, 150-200 a week.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    260 for 3 people is not a lot..that's less than 90 a person. quite decent. 13 bucks a day...that's as much as you'd spend on crappy fast food.
  • honestlysweet
    honestlysweet Posts: 221 Member
    I do a lot of canning and freezing.. We are a family of 6.. We spend 300 every 2 weeks.. I meal plan and am able on that budget to cook healthy meals for my family..

    Wow! You must really know a lot about budgeting! I don't know how you do it... I work full time and usually pick up ingredients for a couple days food every other day. I am used to doing that instead of shopping every week. I was raised by a French mother (raised in USA) and the French tend to go to the market every day and buy everything fresh, so I am sort of used to doing that. But I think I buy more than I need to that way, and maybe I could go less often and plan better.
  • badmediakarma
    badmediakarma Posts: 33
    2 people - approximately $100 a week on groceries (we buy one thing from the middle aisles, everything else is on the perimeter and fresh, organic where possible)

    Eating out is a whole different story... we eat out a lot, less than we used to but still too much. We probably spend $200 or so eating out every week. Working on cutting that down.
  • JoJo_fat2fab
    JoJo_fat2fab Posts: 297 Member
    I never tallied up our total food cost. Hubby works in a restaurant and eats dinner there five times a week so it's not as high as it could be.

    Hmmm. I shall start looking into that more.

    Same here, hubby eats at his job breakfast and lunch, only eats dinner at home. Our son is still a baby, so most of the food shopping is only for myself. I should start doing the math.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Not sure... About $50 to $75 per week? For me and four year old who doesn't eat much.
  • sbrBirdy
    sbrBirdy Posts: 224 Member
    Family of 5 here. We rarely go out to eat, and I cook most foods with fresh ingredients - very little boxed stuff. Our bill is typically $275 to $300 per week.
  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
    I feed my boyfriend and myself for between $50-$80/week. This doesn't include any meals HE may chose to eat out and the occassional dinner and drinks. I don't figure those into my food budget- that's the "extras" fund (out to the bar, dinner, movies, etc...).

    I keep our cost down by buying in bulk and getting "family packs" of meat. I don't shop at your average grocer, I try to shop places like Market Place and Winco as they have better deals and I don't necessarily have to by the 1000 pack and have it go bad before we use it. I don't really buy processed food either which helps with the cost. My cart is typically 2-3 cuts of meat in a large pack 12-36 pack of eggs, a crap load of fruits and veggies (fresh and frozen based on season and what's on sale), some coconut or almond milk and bulk nuts and dried fruit.

    Planning out my meals really helps me cut down on cost as well. If I have a game plan when I go to the store I can easily grab what I need and get out before I start wandering aimlessly down aisles buying whatever floats my boat.

    I then get home from shopping and pretty much spend the entire day prepping and cooking for the week so if I feel lazy I don't have a cop out. I'll make to go breakfasts, put together snack bags (nuts, dried fruit, almond butter bars that I make from scratch), preslice veggies and baggie them and then get the meats ready for cooking. Every dinner I make sure to cook an extra piece of meat each so we can take that for lunch the next day...

    If you're curious this what an average week looks like:

    Breakfast: Egg Muffin Cup
    Snack: Handful of nut and a tangerine
    Lunch: Leftover Chicken Breast and veggies from the night before
    Snack: If hungry (grapes and a spoon of almond butter or sliced bell pepper half an avacado)
    Dinner: Crockpot chicken stuffed in a roasted poblano pepper and veggies

    Breakfast: Egg Muffin Cup
    Snack: If hungry Cavewoman Crunch bar (homemade protien bar)
    Lunch: Left over stuffed poblano pepper
    Snack: Handful of nuts or sliced bell pepper and the other half of that avacado
    Dinner: Pulled Pork with fresh cut sweet potato fries and steamed veg

    You get the idea...
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    $40. Maybe +$10 if I go to dinner with friends.

    I put two twenties in my wallet each week and that's what I have to spend at the grocery. Can't wait to get a real job. Fortunately the local groceries have occasional meat sales where I fill my freezer, and whenever I visit my mother I pick up bulk things like oatmeal. Means I don't get a lot of variety, but what the hey. It's only another year.
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
    Just me, 1 person, 150-200 a week.

    This is about right for me, too. Closer to the 200 mark. I've tried to spend less, but it doesn't work.
  • TLC1975
    TLC1975 Posts: 146 Member
    Family of Five = $200 a week, mostly fresh, clean, lean foods, with the occasional treat my hubby and kids eat. We live on an island and getting fresh foods here cost a bit more than on the mainland. We rarely eat out.
  • kendra0224
    kendra0224 Posts: 35
    For our family of 4 (my husband, myself, a 3 yr old and 1 yr old) we spend 500 a month. Sometimes it is a little more, but i mostly try to buy sale items.
  • insatiable_need
    insatiable_need Posts: 127 Member
    For my husband and I, it averages out to around $75-90 per week. I'm working on getting it a little lower since we're not eating out more than once a month (unless he buys something small while he's on his break at work).
  • minnesota_deere
    minnesota_deere Posts: 232 Member
    les than $150.00 per week. wife,me, 4yr old, and 11 month old which is the most expensive with formula. i can't stand this but Sams Club owns us. we eat what they sell and nothing else. its way to expensive in a "grocery store" for the similar food. don't care if its boxed or frozen its still food and tastes fine to me. very seldom go out to eat, i can nuke it just as good as applebees without the attitude from the staff.
  • kendra0224
    kendra0224 Posts: 35
    Since my hubby is deployed it's just me and my son and I spend about $75 a week! Thank God for the commissary!!!!!!!!!!!

    I shop at the commissary too! I was going to Kroger for a while, but only when I was using a lot of coupons and getting stuff for really cheap. I got lazy, so no more Kroger! lol
  • Campbell4Top
    Campbell4Top Posts: 8 Member
    $170 a week for myself, my husband and two toddlers. We never go out, only eat organic and natural foods. However, we live near Seattle so there are many health food stores and organic farms to buy from.
  • kissy28wv
    kissy28wv Posts: 74
    For myself its around 100 a week. I have a little market where I buy my fruits and veggies and I shop frequently for sales on my meats and dairy. I also look at sales flyers for sales.
  • LenaMena87
    LenaMena87 Posts: 469 Member
    Since my hubby is deployed it's just me and my son and I spend about $75 a week! Thank God for the commissary!!!!!!!!!!!

    I shop at the commissary too! I was going to Kroger for a while, but only when I was using a lot of coupons and getting stuff for really cheap. I got lazy, so no more Kroger! lol

    The commissary saves my life every time! The stores out in town here are too expensive. Walmart included...
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
    Around £60 a week, I guess.
    I tend to buy tofu, fresh fish, eggs, soups, beans, microwave or frozen veggies, Total (fagi) yoghurt, milk, hot chocolate, rice noodles, sweet potatoes, canned tuna and sardines, cottage cheese, some chocolate or ice cream portions and occasionally peanut butter. That pretty much does me fine.

    I already have brown rice, quinoa and wholewheat pasta in stock so don't need those right now.

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