How much do you spend per week on food?

[lazysundays]

I seem to be averaging $150 per week. This includes buying good brand sale items and using a few coupons. This also includes between $10 to $50 worth of diapers per week (based on how many coupons I have)

I don't want to cut it down because I like this number, just wondering how much you spend per week.

We're a family of 3 - one toddler. And the dog gets separate food not included in weekly bill.

[Gardening Grandma]

My budget is $650/mo (which works out to $150/week). That's for two people - most of the time. It includes feeding grandkids when they are here on weekends. It does not include dog food, household items or alcohol. I'm usually under that amount (except for Nov and Dec due to holiday dinners)....

I shop the specials, sometimes use coupons, but I will spend more on things that DH particularly likes. I also pay more for organically grown produce and meats.

[Deleted]

For just myself I spend about $50/week on everything. But with summer time I feed friends sometimes. Add $25 for each time that happens.

[Phoenix84]

I'm thinking about $75 a week just for myself, which includes going out.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

$35 to $45. Just for myself...maybe a little more, depending on what I am making...

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

It really varies, depending on what we buy and where we buy it. Then, about 6 months of the year, my wonderful DH is deployed so I'm just shopping for me. We'd probably spend less if I kept far away from Whole Foods, though.

[resolution]

We spend $80-$90 per week for two people. However we also eat out one dinner per week and sunday brunch, which are not included in the total. We use mostly store brand products and generally buy the meat that is on special that week.

[Deleted]

Average of $55/week for two people.

[lazysundays]

Molly- that reminds me- a trader joe's is moving into the neighborhood. My weekly bill is gonna skyrocket until I get over the excitement

[family legacy]

We spend $80/week on average (food only, no cleaning/personal care items) for 2 adults and 2 young children.

[Deleted]

We spend about $50 a week for two people, not including alcohol. We eat fairly simple, though . . . recipes with lots of ingredients make my eyes glaze over.

Eating out is not included. I consider that a treat and not a convenience. Making a sandwich is convenient; you don't even have to put your shoes on first.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Jul 3, 2011 17:23:28 GMT -5 lazysundays said:

Molly- that reminds me- a trader joe's is moving into the neighborhood. My weekly bill is gonna skyrocket until I get over the excitement

You will love Trader Joe's! And some of their prices are just fine .... but there's a lot to be tempted by! We went to TJs this morning and spent around $60

[dividend]

I just computed my actual average for 28 weeks since January first. $142.15/week. For DBF and I.
That includes $120/month towards my annual CSA and local meat/egg "shares" (both paid for in March/April), weekly food shopping at Whole Foods, plus Costco/drugstore items, the boutique whole bean coffee we like, the cat, and fancy beer at $9/6 pack. That's actually about $100/over my goal budget of $400/month + meat/CSA.
The upside is that my pantry is so incredibly well stocked right now that I'm not grocery shopping at all this week, except maybe for some cheese. And we do eat very healthy according to my definition - pastured meat and eggs almost exclusively, healthy fats, organic or local whole milk/yogurt/butter, tons of fruits and veggies, seafood of some sort like twice a week. We eat 2 oz oz servings of pasta and 1/2 cup servings of rice and I like Wasa crackers, but minimal other refined carbs. I drink iced tea instead of soda, I cook from scratch, buy very few processed foods, and pack lunches and snacks for both of us 9/10 days.

That doesn't include eating out, which I can loosely estimate at $40-50/week just for me, but that comes out of fun money.

I'm ok with this number. I'm reasonably confident I could cut it by at least $2-300/month if I needed too.

ETA - we're getting a Trader Joes near us too. I'm actually thinking that it will SAVE me money given the things I normally buy from Whole Foods.

[WannabeWealthy]

Those weekly amounts below $100 is strange. Food is very high these days (anywhere you go) and I can't see any one person spending just $50 week on food. Especially if they eat all 3 meals in a day.

Also, not sure why people won't include household items. That's done at the time you do grocery shopping.

[constanz22]

I spend $20-30 a week, just for me. This includes all food, HBA, and pet stuff. I do have a pretty large stockpile to work with and am a big couponer.

[illinicheme]

Through the first six months of this year, we've spent an average of $761/month on food (roughly $190/week). We're two adults, no kids. The number includes groceries and eating out, but does not include any booze, pet, or household expenses.

Shaderhacker - I track household items separately because I don't get them at the same time as grocery shopping. It's usually a separate trip to Target/Costco. I was also interested in knowing the total costs separately as I project our ability to cover potential future day care expenses. We can't cut down much on household/pet care, but I know that we can cut down significantly on food expenses if/when we need to.

[Deleted]

$175 a week for food - 2 adults, no children. Eating out / groceries split pretty much down the middle.

[Gardening Grandma]

Jul 3, 2011 18:21:28 GMT -5 WannabeWealthy said:

Those weekly amounts below $100 is strange. Food is very high these days (anywhere you go) and I can't see any one person spending just $50 week on food. Especially if they eat all 3 meals in a day.

Also, not sure why people won't include household items. That's done at the time you do grocery shopping.

1) I suspect people aren't entirely honest about how much they spend....

2) I don't include household items for two reasons: I rarely buy them at the grocery store because that's the most expensive place to buy them, Secondly, you can't eat them. Food is a necessity, but houshehold items aren't (with the possible exception of TP... LOL)

I classify necessities differently than discretionary items....

[lazysundays]

My total includes everything I can buy at the supermarket, including cleaning agents. I tried doing the great deals at rite aid, but then I missed one week and lost >$5 in "on your next purchase" coupons because they expire too fast. Now I just stock up when a great sale with coupon combo comes up at the food store.

[midjd]

We are 2 adults, an 80lb dog, and a cat...average $75-$85 a week at the grocery store (our food + HBAs and animal food) plus another $20 or so eating out. We try to keep it under $400 a month, with moderate success.

[marvholly]

Jul 3, 2011 18:27:02 GMT -5 constanz22 said:

I spend $20-30 a week, just for me. This includes all food, HBA, and pet stuff. I do have a pretty large stockpile to work with and am a big couponer.

I, too, am a single w/1 animal(cat). I know EXACTLY what I spend per week because I take $25 CASH for all my food, personal care, paper goods, cleaning supplies & cat needs. When it is gone-it is GONE.

I watch sales, shop the cheapest stores, use coupons. I KNOW the best prices on most items and where to get them (dollar store, Aldi, fruit/veg market....?).

I eat reasonably healthy, lots of chicken, red meat 1x/week, fish 2x/week, Veg 1-2x/week, LOTS of fresh veg & salads, fruit every day. I use little prepared/frozen, conveience food if I can make it just as cheap or fast myself (NO hamburger helper, but yes on pasta sauce). I generally buy my bread & rolls at the outlet stores or off the day old racks.

i do eat out 1-2x/month off my 'fun' money.

[mamasita99]

Groceries run about $80/week for 2 adults, 2 kids.
This does not include eating out, alcohol, personal or pet items- these additional items total about $100 a week. We eat out about once a week.

[teppe2]

So far I have spent $115 per week for three children and me. Hubby is deployed and our oldest not yet home from school for the summer so this is going to go up. This is purely food and does not include eating out or school lunches.
We live in Southern California and I buy organic and fresh when available.

[rumples]

We average close to $200/week for two adults and a teen, dining in and eating out. This doesn't include pets, cleaning or alcohol. it's definitely more than it was this same time last year - partly due to going whole grain and partly to price increases.

[Deleted]

Jul 3, 2011 18:21:28 GMT -5 WannabeWealthy said:

Those weekly amounts below $100 is strange. Food is very high these days (anywhere you go) and I can't see any one person spending just $50 week on food. Especially if they eat all 3 meals in a day.

Also, not sure why people won't include household items. That's done at the time you do grocery shopping.

I can have days where all 3 meals only cost $2 if I am having spaghetti or soup and sandwich. It all averages out. I also buy meat and veggies based on the sales.

[dividend]

Jul 4, 2011 5:07:15 GMT -5 marvholly said:

Jul 3, 2011 18:27:02 GMT -5 constanz22 said:

I spend $20-30 a week, just for me. This includes all food, HBA, and pet stuff. I do have a pretty large stockpile to work with and am a big couponer.

I, too, am a single w/1 animal(cat). I know EXACTLY what I spend per week because I take $25 CASH for all my food, personal care, paper goods, cleaning supplies & cat needs. When it is gone-it is GONE.

I watch sales, shop the cheapest stores, use coupons. I KNOW the best prices on most items and where to get them (dollar store, Aldi, fruit/veg market....?).

I eat reasonably healthy, lots of chicken, red meat 1x/week, fish 2x/week, Veg 1-2x/week, LOTS of fresh veg & salads, fruit every day. I use little prepared/frozen, conveience food if I can make it just as cheap or fast myself (NO hamburger helper, but yes on pasta sauce). I generally buy my bread & rolls at the outlet stores or off the day old racks.

i do eat out 1-2x/month off my 'fun' money.

I'm not doubting that this is true, but I'd love to see a sample week's menu + grocery list. If I have to buy cat litter and food in at once that's close to $20 (and that's every 4-6 weeks. A couple of heads of lettuce @ $1.99 each for salads, and that's $25 right there. I can see fitting in small amounts of red meat, since it's not that expensive to buy a 3-4 oz steak, and even cheaper for a pound of ground beef, but fresh fruit every day would run at least $5-6/week. Your diet sounds similar to mine, but I'm just bowled over by this low number.

[Deleted]

For the people eating so cheap - how healthy is the food you are buying?

[illinicheme]

Jul 4, 2011 10:15:16 GMT -5 @mmc said:

For the people eating so cheap - how healthy is the food you are buying?

Don't you know that everyone on this board only eats fresh, organic, healthy food? I think I'm the only one around here who admits to eating a bunch of pre-made/processed foods. (But I also have the highest weekly spend on this thread so far!)

[midjd]

I happened to have Saturday's Kroger receipt handy - so here goes. I wouldn't classify us as super-healthy eaters, but we're not entirely subsisting on junk, either.

Kroger fat-free Half & Half - $1.93
4 boxes Jiffy Pizza Crust mix - $3.00
3 boxes Ronzoni pasta - $3.00
3 jars Ragu sauce - $4.65
Kroger brand 100% whole wheat bread - $1.67
2 bell peppers - $2.00
5 ears sweet corn - $1.00
Pint of raspberries - $1.99
2 frozen Kashi meals - $5.98
2 boxes Lean Pockets - $3.38
2 cans Campbell Chunky Soup (DH eats this for lunch while he's at school) - $3.90
Kroger frozen hash browns - $1.87
Crystal Light Fruit Punch mix - $2.14
3 2-liters Big K drinks - $2.07
Kroger brand Magic Eraser - $2.04
Kroger brand dryer sheets - $1.54
2 8-packs Bounty Paper Towels (sale) - $12.90
12 pack Leinenkugel ;D - $10.99

There are a few other items on there but I can't decipher what they are! (Rynd Grl Fl - $2.99 and Kro Frs Flk - $1.99). So we spent about $80 and this included a ton of paper towels and beer. I will admit that grocery prices are extremely low in this area.

ETA one of those is a gallon of skim milk - I think the Krog Frs Flk one

[Deleted]

Jul 4, 2011 10:18:00 GMT -5 @illinicheme said:

Jul 4, 2011 10:15:16 GMT -5 @mmc said:

For the people eating so cheap - how healthy is the food you are buying?

Don't you know that everyone on this board only eats fresh, organic, healthy food? I think I'm the only one around here who admits to eating a bunch of pre-made/processed foods. (But I also have the highest weekly spend on this thread so far!)

Some people here feast on the misery of others and that is free..

I know it is possible to eat good on a low budget - my Grandparents sure did. Grandpa always had a big garden and they canned or froze everything to last all year. Grandma would buy meat on sale and can that too. I only wish I paid more attention when I was young to all their ways.