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EyeElle

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
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Hey All,

So as first main act to getting engaged, me and my Fiance have decided to move in together!! Big step for us :)
And we are still in the adjusting period ... it as only been a couple of days.

So last night we were planning how the paying of bills will go etc and he informs me that we both need to put in $250 each for groceries ... so that $500/month spent on groceries.

My question is, is that reasonable??? I am new to this living along thing I admit, but for some reason spending $500 a month for food seems sooo high to me .... I don''t eat anywhere near that amount. Yet he said its even lower then he would like to have it.

I am looking for some insight I guess .... if you live with your Fiance/bf/friend etc how much do you guys spend on average on groceries each month??!!

Thanks!!
 
It depends a great deal on where you live and what you eat. It's hard to say.

Do you live in the US? I find that when we went there for holidays, grocery shopping is generally a lot cheaper than we lived during the last 10 years (Singapore, where most foods are imported), but I'd guess that it'd also depend on where in the US. I'd expect NYC prices to be higher than say a lot of other places in the US (but I could be wrong there, I'm sure someone would chime in and correct me). We live in Shanghai now and although SH is a lot more expensive than rural areas and again we shop in supermarkets and not "wet" (open) markets and our bill is quite a bit less now, but still a lot more than USD500 a month. And that's for 2 people who eat out a lot (which is on top of the grocery).
 
My BF and I live together, just the two of us. The grocery bill is between 100-150/week just for home food, like lunch things, snacks, etc. This does not include eating out. We''re anywhere from $400-600/month depending on what of our regular items are on sale and such. FWIW, we''re in Tampa, FL.
 
I usually spend a little under $200 every 2 weeks at the food store, just for me & DH. We shop for produce at a produce market (a lot cheaper than the food store, and it lasts longer). Maybe about $10/week at the produce market. We rarely eat out (he loves to cook, lucky me), and we don''t do fast food, either. Oh, and we stock up on bulk meats. I usually shop at Acme... I don''t know if they''re regional to my area of the country, but for meats, they usually have really good deals on large quantities. We just separate & freeze them when we get home.

The food store can be tricky though!! I just bought some ice cream, and noticed that the packages are significantly smaller than when I was younger. And the price is higher!
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I''m in NYC and would say that we (2 of us) easily spend around $400-500 a month on groceries. This covers sometimes snacks, breakfast 3-4 days a week, dinners that are proper well made meals (not ramen of my college years) about 4-5 days a week. Lunch is usually left overs-but I like to think of it as "free". Also, we are vegetarian in the home, so I think that is supposed to make our overall bill less expensive.

It sounds like your fiance is in the right ballpark. When I was living on my own, the best I could do was about $60 a week, but let me tell you-I was eating like a monk.
 
I think that''s more than enough for 2 ppl and doable...will you just put this $250 into a grocery acct? If there''s anything left over at the end of the month you can move that into a savings account.

We never put in half for food when we moved in together. We would just pick up groceries...he did...I did....I guess whoever was closer or had the time to head to the store
 
That sounds about right.
we spend 350-400/month on just home foods, that's not mentioning how much I spend for lunch a day at work or going out
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That sounds about right to me...we spend about $100-125/ week on groceries. We eat dinner in every week night and buy lots of fruits and veggies which can get $$$.
 
hmmm. My FI and I don''t spend $500.00 a month on groceries, but we definitely don''t buy everything we want, either. I think it depends on how important food is to you.

FI and I eat a lot of fresh produce and organics, so the food we buy is more expensive. Food prices are high right now as well, so depending on what you eat, where you live, and where you shop, $500 a month might be what you need. It does sound like a lot though... keep in mind too that your bill will vary depending on what types of other things you need too, such as TP, paper towels, cleaning products, etc.
 
Thanks guys for all the input!
I guess for some reason I expected to spend alot less on food ... but 500 seems to be average I guess, give or take.

We don't eat out to much, maybe once a month, so I figured if we cooked meals at home it would save alot.
But as many of you pointed out, if you buy lots of fresh veggies and fruit, that adds up in the end.

We will give it a trial run. See how much we spend on groceries for the first month or 2 and then adjust accordingly.

Its moments like these I miss my parents haha


Thanks again guys :)

BTW: I live in Canada for those who are interested. And we are having a joint account where we put in money for groceries and bills and then use that account to pay all the bills. Will see if that works out nicely.
 
We''ve recently put ourselves on a strict budget and are allowing $100 a week for groceries (for two people and a baby- but his food is free!
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). We can''t buy everything we want with this amount, but we definitely buy smarter and waste less.

$500 seems reasonable enough, but spend less if you can get away with it! More for savings.
 
It looks like we spend far too much on our grocery bill!!
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or maybe it''s just a function of where we live, where most meats are imported (from the US, Australia and New Zealand).

Actually, EyeElle, my friend who''s a vegetarian swears her bill is much much lower than ours. It makes sense in this part of the world because veggies and some fresh fruits here are grown locally or in nearby countries (unless you buy organic, in which case you''d have to spend lots of $$$$) whereas meats are much more expensive since they''re mostly imported. We also buy booze which again is imported and quite expensive.

EyeElle, I think prices in Canada are even lower than the US (real prices - I''m not talking US$ vs. Canadian $), so $500 looks like it''s quite do-able.
 
we spend about $150/week, but thats for four of us, Not including our eating out which is about another $50 a week
 
I think it''s pretty reasonable. Sure you could budget less-but $500 is not out of the norm at all.
 
It depends upon what kinds of food you eat. Are you purchasing organic meats/veggies? Do you stock up on staples when there are sales?

I'm buying groceries for a family of four (so I can't entirely answer your question) and I always buy other stuff at the store (shampoo, etc.) and my kids drink a lot of milk, so our budget is higher. . .If DH and I were alone, we could fit that amount into our budget. We do buy all organic meat, so our bill is higher. I won't buy those huge family packs of chicken, so we spend 3X as much for our free range chicken. But, I do make up for it by stocking up on sales. If gold fish are on sale for $1.00 a bag (which they are about once a month) I buy 10 bags. Same with cereal and other non-parishables. I think we probably spend $800 a month.
 
I just went through my receipts for the last two months, we spent $290 on food last month, and $310 two months ago.

It''s just the two of us, and I cook most of what we eat so we don''t waste any money on prepared foods and such. I go to two different grocery stores on a regular basis (Jewel and Garden Fresh) because they each sell certain products for much less than the other.

When we first moved in together I bet I was spending much more on groceries because we hadn''t really hit our groove yet, so I often bought too much produce at once, which we would then waste, or I hadn''t yet figured out that one store sold things for much less than the other. Now I''m also better at storing leftovers from dinner and making sure that we actually eat them before they go bad.

Now I go to the grocery store at least every other day and buy only what we need for the next day or two. I really hate to waste food, so that works best for me.

We have family over for dinner at least every Sunday, so those totals include the cost of cooking for at least eight those nights. We eat dinner out every Saturday, so that''s an extra expense not included in our grocery bill.

We eat a lot of fresh produce and whole foods, in general. I think it cuts down on costs significantly when you don''t buy prepared products, and make most things from scratch.

For reference, we live just north of Chicago.
 
Date: 8/31/2009 8:02:17 AM
Author:EyeElle
Hey All,

So as first main act to getting engaged, me and my Fiance have decided to move in together!! Big step for us :)
And we are still in the adjusting period ... it as only been a couple of days.

So last night we were planning how the paying of bills will go etc and he informs me that we both need to put in $250 each for groceries ... so that $500/month spent on groceries.

My question is, is that reasonable??? I am new to this living along thing I admit, but for some reason spending $500 a month for food seems sooo high to me .... I don''t eat anywhere near that amount. Yet he said its even lower then he would like to have it.

I am looking for some insight I guess .... if you live with your Fiance/bf/friend etc how much do you guys spend on average on groceries each month??!!

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
I''m a little embarrassed to say that my husband and I spend more than that for just the two of us.
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My mother managed to feed our entire family and buy all our household items for less than that. I don''t know how she did it.
 
DH and I spend approx 60 per week on groceries, but our budget allows for 300 per month. We don''t splurge on groceries, but this allows us to get some good stuff once in a while (steak, roast, etc). Otherwise for our basics, it is 60 or less a week.

Going out falls under "entertainment" so that is extra.
 
We spend about $280-300 each month. That includes $60 per week on groceries and about $30 every two weeks at the farmer''s market. Going out to eat adds about another $60 a month.

We eat lots of vegetables, fruits, grass fed meats, and milk (only thing we drink other than water and coffee)and prepare all our meals. We rarely buy prepackaged foods so that cuts down on our costs significantly. I also think knowing how much we will actually use in a week helps so we don''t over purchase things and let them go to waste.
 
I spend about 150 a month total on food(just me)very rarely eat out these days(maybe 10.00 a month splurge)and sometimes use a two for one coupon.
 
If you''re not a sale/coupon shopper, you can easily spend $500/month on groceries. You can cut that number down drastically if you''re willing to bargain shop. I spend about $200-250/month which includes all groceries, cleaning products and health & beauty, but I''m a big sale/coupon shopper and all my produce comes from the farmer''s market.
 
Our grocery bill varies between $100-$250.00 per week depending on whats going on. Sometimes we just need a few basics, other times we''re planning for a dinner party. There is rarely a set a amount.

I think, to be safe, setting $500.00 is a good idea. If you have extra money, it can always be absorbed back into fun money, or be used for take out...whatever, really. But better to have to much than not enough...no one wants to live on scrammbled eggs and toast alone.
 
Date: 8/31/2009 1:40:19 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
Our grocery bill varies between $100-$250.00 per week depending on whats going on. Sometimes we just need a few basics, other times we''re planning for a dinner party. There is rarely a set a amount.

I think, to be safe, setting $500.00 is a good idea. If you have extra money, it can always be absorbed back into fun money, or be used for take out...whatever, really. But better to have to much than not enough...no one wants to live on scrammbled eggs and toast alone.
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This is about where we''re at as well. $500 seems reasonable.
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We spend about $400-$450 a month for the two of us. Sometimes it''s more than that if we have to stock up on snacks or "big" items, and sometimes it''s less, but that''s around where we spend each month. When we first got married I was shocked at how much we spent on food! But we don''t really over-buy - we try to keep it to what we NEED.

For reference, we live in NY - so I know some things are more expensive here than in other parts of the country.
 
In Canada, produce is especially expensive. So is meat for that matter. Chicken is $8/pound for instance. Milk is $4 for a litre. I''d say $500 is fair enough. You can always look at ways to save where possible, but that usually means buying in bulk, which doesn''t help if you have no storage.
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Our grocery bill is between $400 and $500, not including pet supplies
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It''s all in what ya eat, though.

You can buy cheap-ish food, but more often than not the yummy & healthy stuff costs a bit more.

Enjoy cohabitating! It can be a wonderful experience!
 
We spend $200 a month on food, but go out once a week.
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$500 is a lot of food!!
 
$400-500 a month for a family of 4. That definitely does not include eating out.
 
and who decides what that $500 buys? do you go shopping together and agree to each purchase? do you have a food item you must have or life isn''t worth living? does he?

mz
 
EyeElle--I don't know where you live, but it is possible to eat high quality produce and meats and still spend less than $500. We buy organic and high quality, but I make mostly everything myself (pasta sauce, iced tea, cookies, bread, popcorn, etc.) so I think we save a lot of money there. A smaller grocery budget doesn't necessarily mean you're compromising quality.

We also don't eat any boxed snacks like crackers or cookies, so we save there, too.

I just felt like adding that because it sounds like some people think a smaller grocery budget means you have to compromise quality, and it doesn't at all. We actually spent more money on food when we were eating less healthy things.
 
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