Groceries $$

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Replies

  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    I spend around $100 a month on groceries; looks like some people need to learn how to shop savings and lay off pointless name brands and expensive junk food...

    Some people need to take in account where you live can and does greatly affect food prices.

    Of course it does, however I live in New England, it's pretty pricy up here for groceries, I spend about 100 a month on groceries, but I also, shop sales, and use coupons. Prime example today I went to the store, purchased a can of tuna, a pouch of tuna and a lunch kit of tuna for nothing. I had coupons for all of them. I purchased a carton of eggs, fresh cherries, fresh lettuce, cottage cheese this came to 10 bucks and will last me the week. When you are on a tight budget you learn to improvise. I even make my own laundry detergent.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    850-1000 for family of 4 meat eaters
  • ItsMeRebekah
    ItsMeRebekah Posts: 909 Member
    850-1000 for family of 4 meat eaters

    whoho! im not alone LOL was really shocked to see such low prices!
  • DonaA123
    DonaA123 Posts: 337 Member
    there is 5 of us in my family and i can normally feed us for around $600 a month. it's hard and i shop sales and buy as much fresh and local as i can.
    i also have 5 and also spend around $600 a month...i catch the sales and get as much as i can at time ..its hard
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    I spend about $100-200. I don't have a family yet and eat around 1600-2000 calories a day.

    Beer not included.

    LOL well of course we don't include beer. That would be silly. HAHA!
  • CherylGardner
    CherylGardner Posts: 75 Member
    I spend around $100 a month on groceries; looks like some people need to learn how to shop savings and lay off pointless name brands and expensive junk food...

    Oh PLEASE come visit me and show me how to shop better, since you obiviously know better then me. We do buy "pointless brand names" for some things. Want to know why? Because the things we buy need to be dairy and soy free. Do you know who HARD it is to find dairy/soy free at all, never mind finding them cheap. And then add in that we live in a part of the country where everything costs more to begin with. Oh, and we don't buy "expensive junk foods" often.

    So before you get all judgemental about how much others pay, maybe stop and think for a minute that just becuase something works for YOU, doesn't mean its what will work for everyone else.

    You said it much more nicely than what I originally had written.... That's one diary I would love to see.
  • asongforholly
    asongforholly Posts: 29 Member
    300-400 for two of us. This includes all cleaning supplies, detergents, personal hygiene, etc, etc. I love fresh veggies and fruit, and we're meat eaters. We hit the seafood counter weekly and that can get expensive. Since both of us are dieting we're getting a lot of "diet" food: gluten-free cereal, whole grain breads and pastas.

    It's expensive to eat healthy.
  • MileyClimb
    MileyClimb Posts: 414 Member
    $367.00 a month I shop once a month at alidi's and the walmart supercenter. between me and my daughter that is what we spend.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    I spend around $100 a month on groceries; looks like some people need to learn how to shop savings and lay off pointless name brands and expensive junk food...

    that's funny. I shop at Trader Joe's and Roth's, I hate walmart and Winco won't set foot in thm, I don't have time to clip coupons or look at the ad before I go, but somehow spending a lot on groceries means I buy junk food?? That's a totally lame and ignorant statement..... I won't apologize for not being on a budget, and in my experience "junk food" and packaged stuff is way cheaper than fresh......
  • airbent
    airbent Posts: 150 Member
    I eat a weird diet (sometimes vegan, sometimes not but I only buy vegan right now...I just have lots of frozen food stored but don't want to waste it). I spend anywhere from $30-50 a week for one, depending on if I'm trying new recipes and need ingredients I don't already have or if I need to replace things I've used up. Generally right now I just buy produce and maybe some legumes or tofu. I don't eat a lot of grains. This doesn't include times I eat out.

    I'm not vegan but this is about what I spend per week just for myself since I started tracking (read: started eating like a grownup ;) ). It's more than I was spending because it's more fresh produce (that needs to be bought more often, which I'm still getting used to-- I worry about not being able to finish things before they go bad and i've wasted my money), no cheap processed foods, and more lean meats.
  • sydneywb86
    sydneywb86 Posts: 36 Member
    I spend about $100-$200 on groceries per month, including eating out. I'm single, I eat meat (although I do have my vegetarian days, not by choice I'll just find that some days I haven't had any meat, I'm ok with that). I do 'splurge' on mostly organic items and eat lots of fruits and veggies. Good to know I'm not too far off by the looks of some other folks.

    edit: I try to shop weekly to get fresh fruits,veggies and ingredients for recipes, etc.
  • britcurl
    britcurl Posts: 110 Member
    I spend around $100 a month on groceries; looks like some people need to learn how to shop savings and lay off pointless name brands and expensive junk food...

    WRONG! For a family of 3 I can spend $150 a week on nothing but fruits, vegi's, lean meat and whole grains. No junk and nothing processed/preseved aka heat up meals. Depends on where you live!!!
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    850-1000 for family of 4 meat eaters

    whoho! im not alone LOL was really shocked to see such low prices!

    yeah me too hahah I don't know how I could feed 4 people on any less, and this is not including household stuff or pet food....
  • galegetsthin
    galegetsthin Posts: 1,340 Member
    $400 a month for a family of four. 2 weeks a month we are vegetarian.
  • britcurl
    britcurl Posts: 110 Member
    I spend around $100 a month on groceries; looks like some people need to learn how to shop savings and lay off pointless name brands and expensive junk food...

    that's funny. I shop at Trader Joe's and Roth's, I hate walmart and Winco won't set foot in thm, I don't have time to clip coupons or look at the ad before I go, but somehow spending a lot on groceries means I buy junk food?? That's a totally lame and ignorant statement..... I won't apologize for not being on a budget, and in my experience "junk food" and packaged stuff is way cheaper than fresh......

    ^ Exactly!
  • amruden
    amruden Posts: 228 Member
    $115 a week for a family of 5 = 2 adults, a teen boy (who eats the most) and 2 little kids

    My Calorie in take is 1200.

    I use LOTS of coupons and fill up the Deep freeze with meat when on sale.
  • glittersoul
    glittersoul Posts: 666 Member
    $600 a month for a family of four including all cleaning/toiletries/pet products etc. My calorie goal is 2400. I do eat meat and lots of other things too lol... My kids are tall and skinny like their dad and eat constantly. My husband eats about the same amount I do. I try to shop w/ the sales ads and use coupons if I can.. they come in really handy for cleaning supplies and personal items.
  • britcurl
    britcurl Posts: 110 Member
    Oh PLEASE come visit me and show me how to shop better, since you obiviously know better then me. We do buy "pointless brand names" for some things. Want to know why? Because the things we buy need to be dairy and soy free. Do you know who HARD it is to find dairy/soy free at all, never mind finding them cheap. And then add in that we live in a part of the country where everything costs more to begin with. Oh, and we don't buy "expensive junk foods" often.

    So before you get all judgemental about how much others pay, maybe stop and think for a minute that just becuase something works for YOU, doesn't mean its what will work for everyone else.

    Looks like you have a lot of growing up to do if you get that upset over what I said. I wasn't judging anyone with my comment, merely stating that some people are overspending. I live somewhere where prices are more expensive for things as well, so before YOU get judgmental and overreact towards me maybe you should know my circumstances as well. It's a matter of buying what you NEED and not what you WANT; like I said, grow up.

    Sweetness, Until you have children...you can most certainly but only what YOU need. Add a few kids in and your wants and needs go out the window. Buying enough to feed a family of four will add up before you've even put the first thing in the cart. If you plan on spending $100 a month for the rest of your life, I suggest not having a family!
  • babyblues4
    babyblues4 Posts: 241 Member
    $1200/month for a family of 6 ... plus I run a home daycare so that is another 5 little mouths to feed.

    My cal goal is between 1200-1500 and we eat a lot of meat, fresh veggies & fruit
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
    €400 for 2 of us, but that includes toilet paper, washing up liquid etc.

    My boyfriend likes brand name stuff. He eats lots of bread, cheese, frosties, eggs and drinks a lot of coke and milk. He'll have meat with almost every meal (excluding breakfast). He doesn't count calories though.

    Me, I eat 1200-1400 sometimes more depending on whether I'm eating my exercise calories or not. I'm actually nearly through a week of being vegan, just for the hell of it. I'm the sort of person who can make something out of whatever is in the house, so when I was single I'd spend €40 or less per week.

    Our meals now usually consist of some kind of meat (rarely fish), either potatoes or pasta, and some veggies. He gets meat and starches, I get meat, lots of veggies and a tiny bit of starches.
  • HealthynSatisfied
    HealthynSatisfied Posts: 4
    this a great question. I am going to keep my eye on the commentaries
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
    I spend around $100 a month on groceries; looks like some people need to learn how to shop savings and lay off pointless name brands and expensive junk food...

    That was very judgemental. My neighbourhood grocery store does not really have sales like chain stores do as it's a fresh market. There is no processed food and no "no name" option as it's not packaged goods. Also where I live there are occasionally coupons to save maybe 0.25 cents, and they're one coupon per customer per transaction type deals.

    To OP: We spend about $120 a week for groceries. That's all fresh fruit and veggies, farm raised/free range meat and eggs, almond milk. We don't often buy bread but when we do it's fresh baked. Every now and then we might get some ice cream or something. So I feel like that's not too bad.

    I eat between 1200-1500, and the BF eats around 1700.
  • CuteAndCurvy83
    CuteAndCurvy83 Posts: 570 Member
    About $350 for 2 adults. My intake is about 1,800 cals hubby doesn't watch what he takes in. We eat a little bit of everything, and that figure includes going out 2-3 times a month.
  • xTwK
    xTwK Posts: 121
    Sweetness, Until you have children...you can most certainly but only what YOU need. Add a few kids in and your wants and needs go out the window. Buying enough to feed a family of four will add up before you've even put the first thing in the cart. If you plan on spending $100 a month for the rest of your life, I suggest not having a family!

    Lol I understand that having some kids would easily increase the amount spent every month, and I realistically don't expect to only be spending $100 the rest of my life. But just because you have kids that does not mean wants and needs go out the window, just because a kid cries that he wants pepsi and doritos that does not mean you have to buy them for him/her lol. You can still shop for your needs when you have kids.
  • renee_sutter
    renee_sutter Posts: 18
    We spend $320-400 monthly (80-100 weekly) for 2 adults, and one child. This includes not just groceries, but diapers, wipes, cleaning items, cat food/litter, personal items, etc too.

    I eat 1200 daily, my husband is 2300 or so daily. We buy meat, veggies, etc but our meal plans are centered around the weekly deals/sales and I work hard to incorporate it into a healthy meal that would serve our entire family and fit our calorie needs.

    I used to coupon a lot, but found it just drove me to buy things i normally wouldn't. We buy generic if it's just as good as name brand, watch for deals, and stock up when the price is right :) Our large freezer helps with this tremendously. We go simple on lunches, like a low sodium soup that is less than $2 bucks and fills my husband up. We usually stick to the same foods for breakfast and lunch, that are lower in cost but filling and only rotate the dinner meal variety.
  • cmay89
    cmay89 Posts: 337 Member
    around $175 per month for me... I eat about 1800 cal/day and cook dinner for both myself and my boyfriend and he eats a ton. When I was single, I was barely spending $100 per month. There's no telling what he spends on himself eating out....I eat all meats, veggies, anything. I have cut most processed and all junk foods out of my grocery shopping and am still hanging around $175. And a lot of it has to do with which stores you end up going to and which fruits and veggies are in season.
  • smiley245
    smiley245 Posts: 420 Member
    400-500$ a month for a family of 4 (more or less)
    2 adults (one extremely picky vegetarian, lol)
    2 Kids (one 13 yro boy, and a 9yo girl)
    this includes all household cleaning products and personal products (soaps, and what not)
    My cals run about 1500 per day, every one else in the fam. does not count
    I live near Ottawa ON Canada.
  • _VoV
    _VoV Posts: 1,494 Member
    This gives you a good idea of average costs, based on 4 different levels:

    http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2011/CostofFoodMay2011.pdf

    I personally am willing to pay more for food my family likes. That includes fancy cheeses which cost about $16.00/lb. And organic fruits and vegetables. I am not a food snob, but I feel some of my organically grown purchases expose less land and farm workers to pesticides, so I'm willing to pay a premium. I also think it's healthier (though that is certainly debatable).

    While I spend more on food, I save in other ways. I don't buy many clothes and no cosmetics, for instance. So that's just the way we roll.
  • BelizaJ
    BelizaJ Posts: 2
    Organic produce is expensive, especially when you juice. It's actually cheaper to buy junk food and processed food.
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    around $175 per month for me... I eat about 1800 cal/day and cook dinner for both myself and my boyfriend and he eats a ton. When I was single, I was barely spending $100 per month. There's no telling what he spends on himself eating out....I eat all meats, veggies, anything. I have cut most processed and all junk foods out of my grocery shopping and am still hanging around $175. And a lot of it has to do with which stores you end up going to and which fruits and veggies are in season.

    Very true.

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