How much do you spend....

[Irishgrrrl]

We spend about $500 per month. That's for a household of five: DH, me, and our three dogs!

Of course, we always shop at Wal-Mart, since we live in a small town and that's really the only decent grocery store. There are only two other options, and both of those are VERY overpriced! I'm not wild about Wal-Mart, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

So that $500 per month includes more than just food ~ it also includes dog food (A LOT of dog food!), paper products, cleaning products, personal hygiene items, etc. If we're talking about our monthly grocery bill for strictly food, we're probably closer to $350 to $400 per month, I would guess. And we very rarely eat out.

 

[Lorelei]

We spend about $500 - $600 a month for just the two of us, that includes cleaning materials and other supplies, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors, laundry detergents, meat - everything. I cook most of our meals from scratch.

 

[gemgirl]

I spend between $900 and $1000.- a month for food and sundries (shampoo, toothpaste etc) for two people and two furbabies (who eat all natural pure foods and snacks). We don''t eat out.

 

[niccia]

My fiance and I spend about $200 a week on groceries. He''s a big guy and eats a lot and I like to entertain. We probably spend another $200 or so on eating out every week, but a lot of that is drinks on the weekend. When my cat Mylie was alive, I spent $15 a week on his fancy feast. He wouldn''t eat anything else and i felt sorry for him because he had to stay inside my little apartment and hated it.

 

[vespergirl]

We spend about $500 a month for a family of 3.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 8/18/2008 9:39:07 PM
Author: Kaleigh
When we are home it''s around $300, it''s the two of us mostly. In Nantucket we pay a huge price for groceries, as they are brought over on Ferry boats. I''d say it''s triple the cost of what we buy here, plus we have two hungry kids and are always having people over. And go out to eat a lot. I don''t want to see the Visa bill......

especially my daughters!!

we,i eat out too much

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 8/19/2008 12:40:41 AM
Author: MC
What does everyone eat that permits them to spend so little, such as only $300 a month? Am I doing something wrong? I spend almost half that much PER WEEK on meat alone, but we do not eat out. . .is that where the difference is?

I plan menus before I shop. I use a list and stick to it. We eat pork chops, pork loin, chicken, beef roast, steaks, pasta, potatoes, veggies, fruits, cookies and chips and too much soda. I always have pantry items on hand, so I don''t end up needing flour, sugar, crackers, noodles, etc all at the same time.

We used to get a lot of meat at a very reasonable cost from butchering. Now, we haven''t had much meat in our freezer so I''m paying store prices, but I get bulk meat and butcher it myself (years of experience there!) Since buying meat at "normal" prices, I have had to cut down on snack foods (which is better for all of us anyway.)

The most pre-made I use is frozen ravioli, an occasional jar of spaghetti sauce, and sometimes bagged salad, other than that, it''s scratch cooking.

 

[moremoremore]

holy crow...I can't get it under $130 a WEEK for two people and two cats and believe me, we're not eating steak and lobster every week....Maybe it's harder since I don't eat meat and veggiest, etc are very expensive....We keep nothing in the pantry bc of hubby's ocd LOL and thinking it's old ...

oh yeah, that does include everything. Clearning stuff, littler, etc., everything...we eat out Sat and grab quickies on Friday...

 

[bee*]

I spend about €200 per month which is for myself, D, our dog and kitten. We eat a lot of fish and once a week I''ll do a lasagna or shepherds pie and the leftovers will do for another night.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 8/19/2008 8:44:45 AM
Author: Lorelei
We spend about $500 - $600 a month for just the two of us, that includes cleaning materials and other supplies, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razors, laundry detergents, meat - everything. I cook most of our meals from scratch.

We''re about the same, just the 2 of us. I also cook mostly from scratch and we rarely go out.

 

[Libster]

We were spending about $120 per week for two of us and that covered all breakfasts, my lunches and 3-4 dinners per week. After we discovered Aldi Grocery Stores it''s down to $50 per week for the same items.

I previously bought store brand from our Publix or Kroger so it''s not like I''ve gone from "name brand only" to store brand. Aldi really is that much less expensive. It''s a no frills store and doesn''t stock as much as a larger grocery store, but it has almost everything we need. If you have one in your area, it''s worth checking out.

 

[BeachRunner]

We spend $100 per week for BF, myself, and our cat. BF is a chef, so he always cooks a NICE meal one day per week. $100 includes toiletries and other random items too. We NEVER eat out, as we don''t like chain restaurants at all, and we live in a small town where the only restaurant doing fresh, local, organic cuisine is where he works.

 

[akmiss]

At least a cool $800

That is for five and not including eating out.
I live in Alaska though and groceries are outrageous since everything fresh is from the lower 48.

 

[pennquaker09]

It depends on if we are including baby formula. I buy the cases of powdered formula and for one case of Similac Organic, it''s like $200. So, right there is $400 a month, just on formula.

Then regular groceries adds another $500 or so, maybe more. I tend to cook a lot and we like to buy things fresh.

 

[Lottie]

The price of groceries goes up everytime I do a shop, I have just done a weeks shopping and spent £110 (not sure what that is in $ - $190?) - thats for two adults and a baby and I forgot to buy Nappies!

 

[Maisie]

We spend around £80 a week and thats for 7! We are careful what we buy and only get what we need - plus a few snacks for the children. We plan meals in advance. We used to spend more but then started shopping online and having it delivered and it stopped us impulse buying. Means we can save more.

 

[absolut_blonde]

$350-400 a month for two people. And that is WITH me trying to be careful! When I lived at home with my parents, we always ate very well (organic, farmer's markets, specialty items, etc) and I never really had to worry about the grocery bill.

Food is pretty expensive here, particularly meat and certain kinds of produce. I eat very healthily, which can be a bit more costly (depending on items). Conversely, SO eats a lot of meat which can also add up. If our eating habits were more similar, we'd probably save a bit more money just due to economies of scale & being able to purchase larger quantities at once.

Oh and we probably spend... $200/month dining out? SO might spend more than I think, he doesn't bring his lunch every day than I do. But we have cut back on dining out significantly since moving in together. Just have other uses for the money right now (like our house!)