How much do you spend on food?
- Thread starter Julee
- Start date
way too much! I pick food up every night to cook that night, I hate thawing meat out so I just buy it every night. We eat out less now then when I worked 2 jobs, but we probably eat 3-4 lunches a week out, and 1-2 dinners out, not always together, sometimes we go with other people. But I would say I spend probably $20-$30 a night to get the stuff to make supper, so by the math we spend $250 + a week on groceries for 3 people, keep in mind one is a teenage boy! Also keep in mind that we live north of the middle of nowhere, closest other town is 2.5 hours, and its just a bunch of gas stations, closes city is 5 hours.
Too much. Lol. Wayyy to much.
We normally go grocery shopping every 2.5 weeks and spend $200-250 (this isn't just food, sometimes it includes other household items).
We go out 1-2 times a week on average, I'd say.
In the fall and winter we spend A LOT less because deer and waterfowl seasons open up. Waterfowl normally gets cooked right away. If we get enough deer, we can freeze that and use it throughout the year.
Hopefully next year we will be raising our own chickens, which will cut prices drastically.
We normally go grocery shopping every 2.5 weeks and spend $200-250 (this isn't just food, sometimes it includes other household items).
We go out 1-2 times a week on average, I'd say.
In the fall and winter we spend A LOT less because deer and waterfowl seasons open up. Waterfowl normally gets cooked right away. If we get enough deer, we can freeze that and use it throughout the year.
Hopefully next year we will be raising our own chickens, which will cut prices drastically.
Not sure exactly.
I spend about $100-$150 every week or every two weeks in groceries but a lot of that is stock up stuff. We don't eat ALL of that in one week. I like to have a stock pile of meats in the freezer and I have 6 or more boxes of cereal on hand at any given time as well as granola bars and other things like that, stock pile of canned goods and bottled and jarred things like peanut butter, jelly, beans, tomato sauce, etc etc. That's for 3 of us.
We usually eat out at least once a week... usually lunch after church
Oh yeah my grocery trips don't just include food. That's toiletries, paper products, feminine products, etc as well
I spend about $100-$150 every week or every two weeks in groceries but a lot of that is stock up stuff. We don't eat ALL of that in one week. I like to have a stock pile of meats in the freezer and I have 6 or more boxes of cereal on hand at any given time as well as granola bars and other things like that, stock pile of canned goods and bottled and jarred things like peanut butter, jelly, beans, tomato sauce, etc etc. That's for 3 of us.
We usually eat out at least once a week... usually lunch after church
Oh yeah my grocery trips don't just include food. That's toiletries, paper products, feminine products, etc as well
We spend about 50-60€ on food/toilettries/basic stuff (like trash bags ect.) as well as water. (It's normal in Europe to buy selzer water in big containers like these:
So thats like an extra 8€ a week. (Though you do get money back for bringing back the box with bottles. 1,5€ for the container and 0,25€ per bottle.)
Thats for the 2 of use, which is OK. Could be better.
So thats like an extra 8€ a week. (Though you do get money back for bringing back the box with bottles. 1,5€ for the container and 0,25€ per bottle.)
Thats for the 2 of use, which is OK. Could be better.
$50-60 a week usually for one person, I eat twice a day (plus snacks)
I only shop at whole foods (because of proximity more than anything, it's right there)
Bear in mind all fruits/veggies are organic, all meat is organic/cage free. which kind of ups the price. I think it's worth it thought..
- Vegetables take up a lot of the budget (takes A LOT of veggies to juice every day)
- Fruits take another huge chunk (the amount on grapes a lone.. plus berries!)
- I buy rottiserie chickens and they feed me for a while
- Almond milk (the kind I like) is shelf safe so I buy a few of them and they stick around
- Whole wheat pasta/Whole wheat bread (I really like the whole foods generic 365 brand.. still pricey but much less than the other options)
that's most of the budget really..
Other randoms (cereal, random snacks, goodies etc..) are bought like every few months. I don't eat them as much anymore and it sucks as I do feel healthier but it was SO MUCH CHEAPER when more of my diet consisted of this stuff.
I only shop at whole foods (because of proximity more than anything, it's right there)
Bear in mind all fruits/veggies are organic, all meat is organic/cage free. which kind of ups the price. I think it's worth it thought..
- Vegetables take up a lot of the budget (takes A LOT of veggies to juice every day)
- Fruits take another huge chunk (the amount on grapes a lone.. plus berries!)
- I buy rottiserie chickens and they feed me for a while
- Almond milk (the kind I like) is shelf safe so I buy a few of them and they stick around
- Whole wheat pasta/Whole wheat bread (I really like the whole foods generic 365 brand.. still pricey but much less than the other options)
that's most of the budget really..
Other randoms (cereal, random snacks, goodies etc..) are bought like every few months. I don't eat them as much anymore and it sucks as I do feel healthier but it was SO MUCH CHEAPER when more of my diet consisted of this stuff.
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I feed just myself at $50 a week which is not easy because I like to cook!
I don't factor in the money I spend going out to eat. Any money I spend going out to eat comes out of my "fun/miscellaneous" budget which is whatever I have left over after paying bills and saving what I need to save for future bills or larger purchases.
I don't factor in the money I spend going out to eat. Any money I spend going out to eat comes out of my "fun/miscellaneous" budget which is whatever I have left over after paying bills and saving what I need to save for future bills or larger purchases.
Oh, gosh. It varies every week, but I am generally very routine about what I buy so I know how it all evens out.
One of the big staples is eggs. We just recently got a Ruler Foods in town. They sell a dozen large eggs for 59 cents. I buy at least two dozen eggs every week, sometimes four dozen. Cheese is also cheap there, less than two dollars for 8 ounces. Before we had one, I bought cheese at other grocery stores only when it was on sale $2 for 8 ounces.
Meat I shop on sale and on sale only. Four pound bags of chicken for $7-9 depending on how good the sale is. Pork for $2 a pound or less. Bacon is $2-3 a pound.
I buy apples just about every week, $1.79 a pound is the normal price for Granny Smith (my fave) right now - I buy 3-5 at a time so I pay about $2-3 for the bag. I will sometimes buy berries if they are on sale, other times if I really want some (and it's on sale) I might buy a frozen bag. I just bought raspberries last week because they were 11 for $10. Bananas I buy when they are discount because I like a brown banana anyway, and they are seriously dirt cheap when I buy them. Like 29 cents a pound and that's 2-3 bananas? They freeze great too so I will sometimes buy several bunches and freeze them.
For other produce I buy sweet potatoes, sometimes I buy white potatoes, 79-99 cents a pound and the average is about half a pound. The rest of produce I will buy off the discount produce rack, kinda whatever is there that I like, and I'll clean it, process it, and chuck it in my freezer if I don't eat it right away.
I have changed my eating habits a bit but I buy a jar of natural peanut butter about every other week-ish, that's $2.79.
So let's say I buy two dozen eggs ($1.18), a block of cheese ($2) a package of chicken ($9), two pounds of pork ($4), 3 apples ($1.79), a couple sweet potatoes ($1), a bunch of overripe bananas (70 cents), and a jar of peanut butter ($2.79) $22.46 (and I can tell you I don't actually buy chicken and/or pork every week!)
Breakfast would be eggs, cheese, and pork, or banana and egg "cake."
Lunch would be an apple and peanut butter, or a sweet potato, or maybe some leftover protein from dinner.
Dinner would be chicken, pork, sometimes an omelet of some kind.
I've been careful and lately I've been able to do one non-grocery store shopping week every month. But like I said, by the end of that week I legit have NOTHING left to eat (or it's stuff like I have a bag of almonds LOL.)
About every three months I go to Sam's Club with my mom and will buy nuts and dried fruit. It's about $40-60 when I go depending on how much I bought - one time I bought pecans about six months ago (and have used them all of twice.) So that puts me still at $20/week to balance out those "I didn't shop this week" weeks (which is really why I started pushing those non-shopping weeks.)
It all runs down to just being very routine with what I eat. And I waste absolutely nothing. The freezer is my friend.
ETA: Despite being paleo/primal/clean/whatever, I don't buy a **** thing organic/grass-fed/et cetera. I cannot afford it. I get nervous when I make those expensive trips to Sam's Club hence my "I think I'm going to not go grocery shopping this week..." reaction.
One of the big staples is eggs. We just recently got a Ruler Foods in town. They sell a dozen large eggs for 59 cents. I buy at least two dozen eggs every week, sometimes four dozen. Cheese is also cheap there, less than two dollars for 8 ounces. Before we had one, I bought cheese at other grocery stores only when it was on sale $2 for 8 ounces.
Meat I shop on sale and on sale only. Four pound bags of chicken for $7-9 depending on how good the sale is. Pork for $2 a pound or less. Bacon is $2-3 a pound.
I buy apples just about every week, $1.79 a pound is the normal price for Granny Smith (my fave) right now - I buy 3-5 at a time so I pay about $2-3 for the bag. I will sometimes buy berries if they are on sale, other times if I really want some (and it's on sale) I might buy a frozen bag. I just bought raspberries last week because they were 11 for $10. Bananas I buy when they are discount because I like a brown banana anyway, and they are seriously dirt cheap when I buy them. Like 29 cents a pound and that's 2-3 bananas? They freeze great too so I will sometimes buy several bunches and freeze them.
For other produce I buy sweet potatoes, sometimes I buy white potatoes, 79-99 cents a pound and the average is about half a pound. The rest of produce I will buy off the discount produce rack, kinda whatever is there that I like, and I'll clean it, process it, and chuck it in my freezer if I don't eat it right away.
I have changed my eating habits a bit but I buy a jar of natural peanut butter about every other week-ish, that's $2.79.
So let's say I buy two dozen eggs ($1.18), a block of cheese ($2) a package of chicken ($9), two pounds of pork ($4), 3 apples ($1.79), a couple sweet potatoes ($1), a bunch of overripe bananas (70 cents), and a jar of peanut butter ($2.79) $22.46 (and I can tell you I don't actually buy chicken and/or pork every week!)
Breakfast would be eggs, cheese, and pork, or banana and egg "cake."
Lunch would be an apple and peanut butter, or a sweet potato, or maybe some leftover protein from dinner.
Dinner would be chicken, pork, sometimes an omelet of some kind.
I've been careful and lately I've been able to do one non-grocery store shopping week every month. But like I said, by the end of that week I legit have NOTHING left to eat (or it's stuff like I have a bag of almonds LOL.)
About every three months I go to Sam's Club with my mom and will buy nuts and dried fruit. It's about $40-60 when I go depending on how much I bought - one time I bought pecans about six months ago (and have used them all of twice.) So that puts me still at $20/week to balance out those "I didn't shop this week" weeks (which is really why I started pushing those non-shopping weeks.)
It all runs down to just being very routine with what I eat. And I waste absolutely nothing. The freezer is my friend.
ETA: Despite being paleo/primal/clean/whatever, I don't buy a **** thing organic/grass-fed/et cetera. I cannot afford it. I get nervous when I make those expensive trips to Sam's Club hence my "I think I'm going to not go grocery shopping this week..." reaction.
I was super excited about it when I found out. My dad eats a lot of omelets too so we both go through a TON of eggs... that's a huge substantial savings. It's well worth it for me to make a trip to one more store just to grab eggs and cheese.
At any other grocery store they are $1.29-1.59 depending on the time of year, sometimes I could get them on sale for 99 cents (usually around holidays when they expect people to be baking.)
But I'm also in the Midwest and cost of living here is low anyway. I couldn't imagine if I had to live somewhere like California where cost of EVERYTHING is sky high... ugh.
At any other grocery store they are $1.29-1.59 depending on the time of year, sometimes I could get them on sale for 99 cents (usually around holidays when they expect people to be baking.)
But I'm also in the Midwest and cost of living here is low anyway. I couldn't imagine if I had to live somewhere like California where cost of EVERYTHING is sky high... ugh.
I spend WAY too much and am looking for ways to cut costs. I tend to buy different foods for myself (diabetic, fat and on a diet) than I do for my roomie (thin, finicky, loves junk food)
I'd say about $75/week for the two of us. More if I get subway one morning, which i'll do occasionally. More if I decide I'm hungry on my lunch break at work . I go out to eat every couple weeks with my girlfriend, that's usually my splurge as far as food goes.
I'd say about $75/week for the two of us. More if I get subway one morning, which i'll do occasionally. More if I decide I'm hungry on my lunch break at work . I go out to eat every couple weeks with my girlfriend, that's usually my splurge as far as food goes.