Author Topic: How much do you spend on groceries?  (Read 23633 times)

Mrs. Frugalwoods

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #50 on: July 29, 2014, 05:57:56 PM »
Maybe I just eat more than most people? I know I consume about twice what my wife eats.  So far today I have had:

Glass of OJ - $0.50
Yogurt - $1
Granola in yogurt - $0.15
Half a cantaloupe - $0.75
Banana - $0.25
Grapes - $0.50
Burger - $1.60
Water - Free

Total: $4.75 for my breakfast, lunch, and snacks.  That's $142.50/mo just for my breakfast and lunch! I enjoyed it all very much though.
That cracked me up. Yeah, that's a lot more than I eat for breakfast and lunch, but I'm also a small lady. I'm impressed that you downed an entire half a cantaloupe. Also, wondering about your yogurt--$1 seems like a lot per serving? Can you get a big tub-o-yogurt? Might be cheaper per serving. We switched from yogurt to oats for that very reason--raw oats from Costco are 10 cents a serving!

It's the individual greek yogurt with fruit on the bottom.  It tastes much better than any other kind of yogurt i've gotten.  They are usually $1/ea if bought individually, or around $3-$3.50 if bought in the 4 packs.  Do they sell the greek yogurt it large containers?  I have been eating them almost every day, so maybe I should look into buying it in bulk.

I'm also a fan of Greek yogurt.  I buy a large container of plain yogurt(Fage) and then add my own mix-ins.  I use homemade plum jam, honey or store bought jam.  It's WAY cheaper than the $1/container I would have to pay otherwise.
Frugalnacho: we used to get huge tubs of Greek yogurt from Costco--it was way cheaper than the individual packs. Do you have a Costco? I can't remember what brand it was... but it was in a blue box.

FIreDrill

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #51 on: July 29, 2014, 06:01:28 PM »
2 Adults at around 400 per month.  Sometimes it goes higher......

tanhanivar

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #52 on: July 29, 2014, 06:31:26 PM »
I'm in Australia. My average for just me is $800/month for the last four months for groceries and eating out. But that includes one pre-Mustachian month (April) and obviously there is a *lot* of room for improvement!

It breaks down as follows
   
Groceries (groceries, cleaning supplies, plus buying food to feed visitors, take to parents etc)
April*  May   June   July
231   343     248   387

Eating out etc (eating out is frequently for business purposes, and this category also includes purchase of boxes of wine in April and July, and stocking some spirits in July)
April*   May   June   July
1049   351   160   444

This is with beginner Mustachian, stocking up, remembering to cook, etc. So I was prepared to see the grocery bill go up to start with, and very gratified to see the eating out bill drop so much! Next step is to reduce grocery spending and spending on dining for business/networking purposes. But the trend is encouraging.

MrsPotts

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #53 on: July 29, 2014, 08:16:03 PM »
Maybe I just eat more than most people? I know I consume about twice what my wife eats.  So far today I have had:

Glass of OJ - $0.50
Yogurt - $1
Granola in yogurt - $0.15
Half a cantaloupe - $0.75
Banana - $0.25
Grapes - $0.50
Burger - $1.60
Water - Free

Total: $4.75 for my breakfast, lunch, and snacks.  That's $142.50/mo just for my breakfast and lunch! I enjoyed it all very much though.
That cracked me up. Yeah, that's a lot more than I eat for breakfast and lunch, but I'm also a small lady. I'm impressed that you downed an entire half a cantaloupe. Also, wondering about your yogurt--$1 seems like a lot per serving? Can you get a big tub-o-yogurt? Might be cheaper per serving. We switched from yogurt to oats for that very reason--raw oats from Costco are 10 cents a serving!

It's the individual greek yogurt with fruit on the bottom.  It tastes much better than any other kind of yogurt i've gotten.  They are usually $1/ea if bought individually, or around $3-$3.50 if bought in the 4 packs.  Do they sell the greek yogurt it large containers?  I have been eating them almost every day, so maybe I should look into buying it in bulk.

I eat costco nonfat plain greek yogurt with a bit of honey and berries or fresh peaches.    Yummmmmm

frugalnacho

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #54 on: July 30, 2014, 07:27:34 AM »

Frugalnacho: we used to get huge tubs of Greek yogurt from Costco--it was way cheaper than the individual packs. Do you have a Costco? I can't remember what brand it was... but it was in a blue box.

Yes we do.  I will be checking it out next time I go. 

soccerluvof4

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #55 on: July 30, 2014, 07:55:11 AM »
Family of 6 , 800$ a month or less. That includes everything from paper products, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene and even one prescription/medication a month. 

JoyBlogette

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #56 on: July 30, 2014, 08:20:57 AM »
We spend about $450 per month for 2 adults and a small child.  This is for all organic fruit/vegetables and lots of meat/fish (1 veggie night per week).  It also includes all personal care, paper products and cleaning supplies.  I can't be bothered to separate receipts either.  Eating out is a separate budget item.  I'd say you are a bit high at $600 for 2 people. 

fiscalphile

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #57 on: July 30, 2014, 08:46:37 AM »
2 adults in NYC:

$200/ month on groceries
$150-200/ month on restaurant

It makes me sad that our restaurant spending (approx 4-5 times/ month, plus a coffee date) is as much as we spend for the rest of the month, but it feels unavoidable, since we limit going out to either social obligations or special occasions.  Plus living in NYC we want to take advantage a little.

The $200/ month on groceries consists of all-natural, mostly organic food from Trader Joes and some local ethnic grocery stores.  We keep the costs low by taking "inventory" of current groceries and replenishing stock with food that we will use for multiple meals so nothing goes to waste (for example, one bag of spinach this week went to a spinach pizza, 2 dinner salads, 1 lunch salad).  We plan out all the week's meals in advance of grocery shopping for maximum efficiency and eliminating waste.

Nickyd£g

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #58 on: July 30, 2014, 09:05:03 AM »
I shop once a week at my local Lidl in Glasgow for just me (plus 3/4 weekends for me and BF) and spend £30, which covers lots of veg and meat/fish/eggs, any toiletries I need and any cleaning or household products.   I don't buy junk food (crisps/biscuits/chocolate) but I do get a cheap bottle of red wine.  I usually have brunch with my girlfriends once a month but we go to a Wetherspoons which is absurdly cheap, usually costing £7, have lunch with a work colleague/friend once a month, another £7 and occasionally go out for dinner on my own, which can cost anywhere between £15 and £30.  If I go out for dinner with the BF he pays :)

So, £120 a month for groceries and roughly £40 a month eating out.

frugalnacho

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #59 on: July 30, 2014, 09:44:32 AM »
We spend about $450 per month for 2 adults and a small child.  This is for all organic fruit/vegetables and lots of meat/fish (1 veggie night per week).  It also includes all personal care, paper products and cleaning supplies.  I can't be bothered to separate receipts either.  Eating out is a separate budget item.  I'd say you are a bit high at $600 for 2 people.

The $600 includes eating out.  I can't imagine a small child adds that much to the grocery bill unless they require specialty items.

JoyBlogette

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #60 on: July 30, 2014, 10:19:02 AM »
The $600 includes eating out.  I can't imagine a small child adds that much to the grocery bill unless they require specialty items.

Ha ha.  You should see him crush a whole container of organic strawberries ($5.99) in one sitting.  Our grocery bills were about $300 per month before having a child (only some organic produce).  So he adds quite a bit to the total and is also part of our reason for going all organic on fruits/veggies.  So our increase from $300 to $450 is "organic inflation" plus the extra cost of food for him. 

Cost of food is higher in Canada than in the US from what I understand.  Organic milk is $9.50 per gallon and organic apples are $3 per lb.  Cheese is $8 per pound for non-organic, we can't afford the organic stuff.  Dairy is free of hormones in Canada by law so we stick to non-organic dairy for cost reasons.

davef

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #61 on: July 30, 2014, 10:19:23 AM »
Man you guys are thrifty!
My goal is $500/month on groceries (including supplies, paper, laundry, alcohol, and food for 2 dogs) We are usually closer to $600
We are on the paleo diet. So everything we eat comes from produce or meat/seafood counter. No boxed foods, bread, grains,  potatoes,  frozen foods, dairy, no coupons on those things, we do use coupons on detergent and such)
We typically spend about 300/month on restrurants as well, but since I am away from home 10-12 days a month, and on the road that whole time, thats hard to avoid.

skinnyindy

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #62 on: July 31, 2014, 08:59:09 PM »
I hate to post ours compared to you guys. . . For our entire food category for a family of six, kids range from 6-13(groceries, eating out, chicken feed, gardening supplies), we used to range from $1200-1400 a month, mostly from the groceries.  No other household items are included in that.  But we started helping out at a local farm for a free CSA bag weekly and also started doing more scratch cooking to avoid the salt in processed foods.  We have gotten down to an average of $715 for groceries in the last six months even though I'm cooking with more organics.  My goal is $600 for groceries but it will take more time and effort.  And more gardening.  And less eating out - I had to feed my kids lunch out unexpectedly today.  It was $30 for 5 of us but I am trying to get away from McDonald's $1 menu and they all have colds and I'm recovering from shingles so the local take out place with soup and small hot "plate lunches" seemed better.  Unplanned things like this really mess up our budget. Oh and our food prices are the highest in the nation so it is hard to cut costs like in other states.

MBot

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #63 on: July 31, 2014, 09:16:34 PM »
200-280 for 2 Canadian adults (includes a tub of protein powder monthly and $5 worth of produce from the farmers market weekly)

A few years back in dire straits it was $100/mo for 2 of us. $200 felt great for a bit after and then it crept up. Our plan for time/money in August is 3 nights of spaghetti a week (make one big pot of sauce a week to save time) and cut our bill down to $150 for everything.

Lots of oats, spaghetti, rice+chicken, tilapia, smoothies with discounted fruit etc.

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #64 on: July 31, 2014, 09:34:25 PM »
I usually spend about $100 a month, but I do get lunch provided at work for free, so that helps keep my average spend low. I usually spend $50-60 one week to stock up on meat and frozen veggies to use for weekly dinner meals, along with rice/beans/block cheeses etc; followed by weekly $10-20 trips for weekly things like milk / eggs / fruits. I tend to avoid the snacks and drinks aisles except my current indulgences are a package of cookies once a week and an occasional bottle of seltzer. Having a small kitchen tends to narrow your choices, and if I had an oven i'd easily be spending double this to concoct crazy baking experiments.

iwasjustwondering

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #65 on: July 31, 2014, 09:45:15 PM »
For one adult, two teenage boys, two dogs and frequent guests including my bf who is here all weekend?  $990.  I know it's a ton and I need to work on it.  It includes all household cleaning items, toiletries, etc.

Prepube

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #66 on: July 31, 2014, 10:09:17 PM »
Please hold all face punches until I am done, then start pounding...

Family of two humans, two cats, two Newfoundland dogs (one of whom weighs 200 pounds, the other 130) and one Saint Bernard. 
Dog food and training treats: 250
Cat food: 50 (must use special veterinary food for one of the cats)
Liquor: 50

I've already passed most of you, and I haven't gotten to the human edibles yet.

Groceries: 300 includes cleaning supplies, etc.
Restaurants: 250
Local CSA vegetables picked up weekly: about 75/month, but some will be preserved for fall and winter.

Total for all species in the house: 975
Total human: 675
Total non-human: 300

Now, punch away.  Anyone want a dog?

Paulie

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #67 on: August 01, 2014, 01:44:23 AM »
Last year we spent $270 per month on food for 2 adults, including things like shampoo, toothpaste etc. It also includes alcohol. Excluding eating out or takeaways (which we don't do too often).

But I think groceries are a bit cheaper in the Netherlands. We also don't eat meat, so that may reduce costs a bit as well. Although, we do eat nuts a lot, which are quite expensive.

Mechanista

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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?
« Reply #68 on: August 01, 2014, 12:40:55 PM »
Family of three and ours is roughly $450 TO $500 including beer and wine, all detergents, personal hygiene, household items etc...but not eating out, which we keep as a separate category.

Ours will fluctuate a lot based on season and what our stock is at home. Our monthly discount club trips are typically $250-300 but can be as high as $450-500 depending on which staples we buy. Occasionally we run out of flour, sugar, coffee, TP and laundry soap all at once for example and the bill is much higher.

After that we make small trips to the local market 1/2 mile from our house. Those are usually another $200 give or take.

Summer is usually much lower for us. We are members of a local CSA for veggies and fruit. The up front cost is $355 but combined with our own garden it all but eliminates the local market trips from June or so until October. I expanded the back yard veggie garden this year and we have been freezing and preserving quite a bit of food. We hope that this will enable us to keep the summer mojo going well into the cold season.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!