Author Topic: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"  (Read 3584 times)

Mr. Green

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"I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« on: March 23, 2018, 10:07:00 AM »
A bit of a comical read. The author lives in Seattle and earns $1640 a week pre-tax. After claiming living expenses of about $1850 a month, it sounds like just about every spare dime from their income goes to food and drink. Ouch!

http://www.businessinsider.com/800-per-week-food-budget-2018-3
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 01:40:20 PM by Mr. Green »

TheAnonOne

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2018, 10:37:09 AM »
$3200 on food per month?

I mean he laid it out but I still don't know how that's possible. If I eat out for dinner at a decent place every single day for TWO I might spend $50-75 per day. (ONLY*** $1,500 to $2250) that includes a few drinks most likely.

Why would I even grocery shop at that point? Where do I find the time to sit down and eat like that every damn day? This is only for 1 person on top of it all.

Who can eat out 3 times a day and maintain health?

Questions... Questions...

mm1970

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2018, 11:24:26 AM »
A bit of a comical read. The author lives in Seattle and earns $1640 a week pre-tax. After claiming living expenses of about $1850 a month, it sounds like just about every spare dime from her income goes to food and drink. Ouch!

http://www.businessinsider.com/800-per-week-food-budget-2018-3
Ah, the memories.

Long ago and far away, when I was a young pup living in the DC area, I ate out.  A LOT.  Not at first.  Ensigns don't make a whole lot of money and especially in the early 1990s.

But then I got promoted!  And I got tired of spaghetti.

By the time my 5 years were up, I was eating out a LOT.
Sometimes, breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.

It wasn't terribly uncommon for me to stop at the deli for a bagel with egg, ham and cheese on the way to work (I walked to work).
Some days, I'd go to the gym or run at lunch.  Other days, I'd either get a Reuben (my fave) or a tuna sandwich (the deli guy knew me and would guess).  Sometimes, a veggie wrap from the Mediterranean place.

After work was either class (for my masters) or volleyball (I played in 2-3 leagues).  After volleyball of COURSE was beers, and spicy chicken sandwiches with fries at the sports bar.


First of all, I started gaining weight.  Not much though, maybe 15 pounds - because I was in the military and needed to maintain weight AND I worked out a lot.

Years later, when I bought my house, I found a credit card bill from that time of my life.
$800-1000 a month on eating out and booze.

Holy cow.
If I could get all that money back.
And this was the mid-1990s, remember.

Oh boy.


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Who can eat out 3 times a day and maintain health?

Based on my own experience, I'm guessing she's young and exercises regularly.  This lifestyle started catching up to me at 27, and only after I moved and stopped all the working out.  Prior to the cross country move, I was walking to/from work (mile each way), working out at lunch 2-3 days a week, working out after work, and playing volleyball 3-4 days a week.

dcheesi

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2018, 11:31:10 AM »
* Brags about not having a Starbucks habit
* Spends $6+ a pop on breakfast smoothies every morning (when she's not spending a $gazillion on brunch)

It also amazes me how she consistently manages to spend more on home-cooked dinners than on meals out. Even cooking for two, it shouldn't be that expensive every single time! Her co-op must rival Whole Paycheck in their pricing (not unheard-of among co-ops, actually).
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 11:36:09 AM by dcheesi »

DS

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2018, 01:12:28 PM »
Quote
I steer clear of caffeine


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I cannot get enough of La Colombe's XXX Draft Lattes and keep them in constant supply.

dividend

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2018, 01:51:58 PM »
I'm trying to figure out how I'd spend $800 in one week on food.  Maybe if I went to the best restaurant in town for the 10-course tasting with wine pairings ($240), went to Costco without a list (~$350), then went to Whole Foods for my weekly groceries (~$110)?  That would still leave $100 for happy hours and lunches out.  And I feel like at the end of this week I'd have food left for the next week.  The volume of food she consumed on some of those days is nuts.  I would be steadily gaining weight, even with that green juice for breakfast.

Also, I've tried La Colombe's lattes on a Caffeine Crawl one year, and they are sub-par.  They're canned coffee milk drinks that cost almost as much as a drink from a coffee shop, and they like something I'd buy from a gas station on a road trip if I didn't have time to find actual coffee.

I do have to give her props for the Lou Malnati's delivery though.  I've definitely considered it - those are some great pizzas.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 01:56:52 PM by dividend »

dcheesi

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2018, 02:00:19 PM »
I'm trying to figure out how I'd spend $800 in one week on food.  Maybe if I went to the best restaurant in town for the 10-course tasting with wine pairings ($240), went to Costco without a list (~$350), then went to Whole Foods for my weekly groceries (~$110)?  That would still leave $100 for happy hours and lunches out.  And I feel like at the end of this week I'd have food left for the next week.  The volume of food she consumed on some of those days is nuts.  I would be steadily gaining weight, even with that green juice for breakfast.

Also, I've tried La Colombe's lattes on a Caffeine Crawl one year, and they are sub-par.  They're canned coffee milk drinks that cost almost as much as a drink from a coffee shop, and they like something I'd buy from a gas station on a road trip if I didn't have time to find actual coffee.

I do have to give her props for the Lou Malnati's delivery though.  I've definitely considered it - those are some great pizzas.
Looking at it again, I wonder whether this is really a typical week, or a worst-case where a lot of her occasional shopping items fell in the same week? Some of the delivery totals look like they might be for multiple days'/weeks' supply, and some of the purchased recipe ingredients similarly seem like they'd last more than one or even two meals (who uses up a whole block of parm-regg in one sitting?).

Then again, maybe my mind is simply refusing to believe how overpriced her groceries are :)
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 02:06:19 PM by dcheesi »

Xlar

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2018, 02:32:03 PM »
...

It also amazes me how she consistently manages to spend more on home-cooked dinners than on meals out. Even cooking for two, it shouldn't be that expensive every single time! Her co-op must rival Whole Paycheck in their pricing (not unheard-of among co-ops, actually).

It seems like her expenses for home cooked meals are artificially inflated. Take Sunday breakfast as an example:
Quote
English muffins ($3.19), eggs ($3.89), Tillamook cheddar cheese ($5.99), arugula ($3.99), Mama Lil's peppers ($7.99), Karam's Original garlic sauce ($12.99), pound of black forest bacon ($7.99), two bottles of Prosecco (2 at $10 = $20), organic grapefruit juice ($7.99)

So 2 people ate: 1 container of muffins, a dozen eggs, 1 lb of cheese, 1 lb of bacon, 2 bottles of wine, and 32 oz of grapefruit juice? Without any leftovers? Seems a little hard to believe.

Xlar

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Re: "I spend $800 a week on food and drink"
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2018, 02:34:05 PM »
Also, on Monday she pays ~$100 for coffee and pizzas that are then not consumed.