I keep track of my spending in various categories. Over the last year, the least I have spent in one month was $139.00, the most $289.00. That includes non-food stuff such as cleaning supplies, shampoo and what-not. Also I am not particularly thrifty and often buy more expensive items: smoked salmon, fancy cheese, organic veggies, chicken and eggs, deli salads, etc. I don’t eat out that often either, so my grocery spending provides almost all of my meals.
My monthly average for the last 12 months was $196.00 and since that includes non-food sundries I purchase (usually at Kroger) that would put me well below the “thrifty single female” group. Were I truly to make an effort to be thrifty, I think I could eat very well - and healthfully - for about $100.00 per month if I stuck to veggies, beans, rice and legumes and the cheaper meats, cheese and eggs.
So I’m curious, what do you all spend per person on groceries in a typical month?
I’ve been trying to pay better attention to the grocery budget. I have 2 teenagers, 3 biggish dogs, 5 cats, and include all household items in the total. We eat almost all of our meals (except school lunches for the kids) at home…maybe once a month I get a pizza or fast food for everyone.
Normally, my total for the month is $500-600. That includes about $60 for pet food and supplies and maybe another $15 for household cleaners, feminine products, that sort of thing. I’m constantly trying to cut my totals down but I’m already pretty thrifty–always hit the manager markdowns for meat, don’t buy most paper goods, not many snacks, etc. We do like our daily bagels and I have to have good coffee, though. Gotta have priorities.
Given we’re back on food stamps and purchases beyond those are minimal that’s an easy one for me: between $350 and $380 per month for two people, or $175-190 per person.
Keep in mind, though, that that has been supplemented by my garden, a co-worker providing us with about a dozen eggs every two weeks (yay home chickens!) and the occasional donation of a pound or three of food from various hunters I know and have bartered work with. I also occasionally get lunch from doing odd jobs for people like my landlord and my dad kicks in a restaurant gift certificate every so often.
If I really had to absolutely pay cash for everything it would probably be around $200-$220 per person. For the record, we’re both in our 50’s. There is the complication that I have multiple food allergies and the spouse is diabetic, so we can’t go for the rock-bottom food choices.
We are two adults, a three year old and a one year old. We’re fortunate financially, so we don’t have to be particularly thrifty. We spend about $200/week on groceries. It would be a lot less if we dropped the wine and I shed my taste for good whiskey. Usually once a week, we do takeout – pizza or something – so that’s another 25 bucks or so (less on pizza night, more on Thai night).
Four or five years ago it averaged $300 a month including household items (4 adults.) Then it became $400. Now it averages $500 which is high, I think, but we’re eating the same foods. Prices have gone up.
Two adults and a one-year old. I’d say it’s around $150 a week or so, and we eat lunches out.
When it comes to food expenses, I kind of desperately miss being single. I could live quite cheaplly, making a cheap casserole or a pot of beans every few days. Or I could grab a $3.00 Subway sandwich on the way back from work. A pizza would feed me for the weekend. But somehow having a family means all this extra stuff- drinks, snacks, multi-dish meals, etc. And it all has to be planned, shopped for, cleaned up after, etc. And somehow we never have leftovers any more.
We spend a lot, partly because we eat out for dinner once a week or so, plus I buy breakfast and lunch at work, and we buy a lot of organic/free range/local and gluten free food, which is expensive. About $800 a month for the two of us.
Family of four including two kids under twelve and two kitties here. I estimate at least $800 a month including school lunch for eldest. Plus another hundred or so for eating out including pizza. Food is the one thing I won’t skimp on. I really don’t want to be bothered hunting for flour to bake or cheap cuts of meats or stuff to put in the freezer. But I have on my garage sale top and the sweatpants I got for four bucks. On top of that is the ten dollar down comforter I got at a yard sale and I’m sitting on my cheap Big Lots sofa. My two dollar church yard sale clogs are under the sofa right now. So it probably all evens out.
I guess it’s good to be a classless peasant at heart. I’m in that single male group, but get by on around 120 a month. And a good portion of that is splurging on good cheeses and good Salamis etc. Most of my meals are stews and soups and braises of cheap cuts, root veggies, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, rice etc.
For two people and a piggish cat, we would spend about $500. However, that is a total supermarket bill and includes cleaning articles, toilet paper and such.
Probably it would be $400 a month- and we like our smoked salmon and stuff like that. We rarely eat out.
:eek:
But then I saw you live in Alaska, where I guess prices are generally higher than most.
I’m not including food for my three dogs, the small tribe of (neutered, now) feral/stray cats a neighbor and I share responsibility for, and bird seed. I mostly shop for that separately.
I’m single, and mine runs about $200/month for food only. I buy lots of produce and chicken (can’t get enough roasted chicken or homemade chicken soup). I buy oatmeal and popcorn in bulk, and coffee on Amazon’s subscription plan.
I hate grocery shopping, and usually only go twice a month. That means at the end of each two-week period I get very creative with meals. Scrambled egg burritos are a favorite dinner, for example, since I usually have eggs and tortillas still on hand.
I could probably cut my bill to $150 or less if I had to; $25 of the savings would be if I gave up coffee, but that isn’t happening.
I’m single now, or again, but I have my kids on weekends. I don’t keep track but I estimate $50 a week, or $200 a month. I never eat out and I like to make stews and curries and the like on weekends and freeze the leftovers for during the week.
Right now I have a few containers of stew, chili, and lamb curry in the freezer. Today I’m making a vegetable curry and will have some containers of that left also.
I’m a single woman and I spend about $160 a month at the grocery store, including cleaning supplies, etc., but the total amount I spend on food is considerably more than that. I hate cooking and I’m really not a morning person, so instead of bringing a lunch to work I eat in the cafeteria almost every day (about $6 a meal). I also typically have dinner out at least once a week. That all adds up to about another $200 a month, so around $360 total.
I’m in the same demographic as ZipperJJ and Lamia and my eating-out expenses are about $60-$80 per month. That includes occasional fast food and at least one sit-down restaurant meal.
I really enjoy cooking, though. Usually I’ll make enough for two or more meals in the evening, then save the rest for freezing or lunch at work the next day.
Two adults, and we bring lunch to work pretty much every single day, and eat out somewhere cheap to moderate once or maybe twice a week, so the grocery bill covers 90% or more of our meals. We cook almost entirely from scratch, and we don’t buy a lot of processed foods. On one hand, we do eat a fair bit of beans/lentils, rice, and staple foods but we also buy organic if it’s not hugely more expensive than conventional, buy cheese that isn’t the cheapest available, beer/wine now and again, and try to eat fresh fish once a week or so. We try not to spend lavishly on groceries, but don’t necessarily try to eat as cheaply as humanly possible, either. I’d say we average $500 - 600 a month, depending on what staples we run out of and how splurgy we’re feeling.
