Just curious. How much per month do you spend on food?

[Mind_your_head]

If you had to guess. Food prepared at home, as well as food purchased at a restuant.....frin Mickey=D's to "Chez Paul".

[Flabbergasted]

1. Family of three approx $600. nt

[HipChick]

2. ..anywhere from 200-400+ ..one mouth to feed..mine

[Luciferous]

3. About 650 for a family of 4

we rarely eat out.

[Jazzgirl]

4. 250-300.

Just me. Maybe less sometimes but even though I'm broke I refuse to not eat what I want....but it is quite healthy.

[dysfunctional press]

5. $300...??

:shrug:

i really have no idea- we've NEVER done a 'budget' in our entire lives. we spend what we spend. two people, no kids. i was just guessing an average of about $10/day...we don't go out to restaurants all that often, and we eat a lot of the stuff that we grow in our garden.

[DJ13]

6. $400 +/- $100

My wife and I, 1 indoor cat and 20 outdoor cats.

[InvisibleTouch]

7. I'm actually not sure...

...but it's far more on dog food than it is on my food. It's probably my biggest monthly expense. And that's with a raw/homecooked diet that ends up being cheaper than quality kibble, and knowing the discounts and best prices at every store in a 20-mile radius (I've found 20-cents/pound potatoes, 60-cents/pound chicken, etc.). For myself, I can get by on surprisingly little. I don't eat out. Can't justify spending as much on a single meal as would buy ingredients that would last half a week.

[vadawg]

8. good question

restaurants= $100
fast food= $300
store= $400
Market=$200


probuably at a rough guess

[kestrel91316]

9. $100 or so on food at the grocery and farmer's market, and another $80 on

lunches and snacks on the run. Just a wild-assed guess, I tracked it a year or so ago and that's about what it was.

The lunches at Baja Fresh and such are what kills my food budget.

[Sinti]

10. $300 - 400

house of four, with two college-age males and two females, 3 meals a day - plus I make food for my two dogs from human quality ingredients. One of the males gets his lunch out pretty regularly (3 days a week sometimes), though, and I don't know what he spends. I really never eat out - when I do it usually makes me sick.

Edited to add:

I could do better, but then the food quality would go down and good food is cheaper than doctor bills and prevention is preferable.

[justabob]

11. around 250-300 including cat food

I don't eat out much(no chez anything :)), plus I work in a restaurant so I eat there whenever chef will feed me for free, which is often enough that it helps. The cats (4 of them) get mid grade food, can't afford the good stuff. Sorry kitties.

[Inspired]

12. Probably around $500 - $600.

[noamnety]

13. Maybe 100 per person per month

We have a veggie garden and our own fruit trees, I've just started digging jerusalem artichokes from the front yard now that the green stuff is out of season.

I bake my own bread, I have canned soup, salsa and applesauce from the garden.

Chicken legs were on sale this summer for 29 cents a pound. I stocked the freezer. I also have some strip steaks (2.99 a pound) and filet mignon (3.99 a pound), they work out to a dollar a serving, so it's a splurge - but still cheap.

I have homemade coleslaw right now (29 cents a pound for cabbage), and homemade pumpkin pie in the oven (30 cents a pound for winter squash). Sometimes I make our own yogurt, if it's on sale for 40 cents a container, I'll save myself the time and get them for the husband's lunch. (I don't like the sweetened stuff myself)

We eat out about once a month, sometimes less - that's maybe 20 dollars at the local indian place.

[InvisibleTouch]

29. I will have a lot more homegrown food next year, myself.

What store had chicken legs for 29 cents a pound, if I may ask? I'm always on the lookout for bargain meats for the dogs.

[noamnety]

34. I shop at a lot of smaller local ethnic stores

there's a polish market near me that has the chicken legs for 29 cents occasionally, and two italian markets that have them for 59 cents regularly. I've seen ten pound bags at krogers for 59 cents a pound too, though. I buy it in bulk like that, get home, put them into smaller ziplocs and freeze enough for one or two meals in a bag.

If I cook it for us, sometimes I cook extra for the cat because it's cheaper per pound than cat food.

[InvisibleTouch]

36. Yup, I get the 10-lb bags for $6 too.

That's the cheapest I've found meat so far, except when I get freebies from my friend with the farm. It pays to keep watch for "managers specials" at the grocery stores, too - stuff that's just about to expire and is marked down.

[TCJ70]

14. Too much...

...but recently I've been looking for ways to reduce it.

[rgbecker]

15. $700 includes all the usual paper/cleaning products at Stop and Shop.

Very little eating out....but too much coffee and snacks when out on town.

[TwilightGardener]

16. Family of four, two teenage boys...gotta be at least $800, with eating out included.

[Ruby the Liberal]

17. +/- $400 including cat food

Teh precious one eats like a horse.

I do splurge on Omaha Steaks value packs twice a year when they mail me their coupons ($60 for ~44 meals for one). Keeps me sane.

[Burma Jones]

18. Family of five, my guess is about $1,000, maybe more

[Johonny]

19. around 400 I'd say

but I live alone so I eat out a lot. Eatin' alone ain't much fun.

[cynatnite]

20. About $400 - $450 per month. n/t

[tnlefty]

21. So much that the local grocery store sends us cards....holiday

thank you cards, during the year thank you cards. Two teenaged boys here and one who comes home from college. Not fancy foods except on occasion, i.e., salmon for my mother's birthday last July.

We get meat, poultry, and pork from local farmers, we have a small garden in the summer, and we freeze veggies, etc., but the teens are getting us. Fresh fruits and veggies aren't exactly inexpensive. We rarely dine out...$700.00/month or more.

Bonus: my boys have all taken an interest in cooking...:thumbsup:

edit: emoticon

[handmade34]

22. approx $800

2 people, all meals eaten out

[amborin]

24. approx $800

most meals eaten at home

for two

it's one of our largest monthly expenses

[verdalaven]

23. 3 people, one away at college except every other weekend

For my husband and myself - $400 a month for food alone/$600 if you count household and personal supplies.

For my daughter, who lives in a dorm and has to have one of the college's meal plans, it costs $1350 a semester, which breaks down to about $96 a week.

Ooo, and don't even get me started on the prices of things. We buy four bags of food and it costs $100. Unreal. It wasn't too long ago that our budget was $75 a week for three. (That was soooo two years ago!)

[leveymg]

25. Easily $800/mo for three people. Hard to get out of some stores for less than $75

for a single trip. The price of food has risen faster than any other part of our budget, and it's not because we're eating more (or better) than before. It's likely because grains and other tradeable goods are an int'l commodity, like oil, that gets traded and speculators drive up the costs. Close the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the cost at the cash register would probably be cut in half.

[gleaner]

26. Food net of sundries ....

like paper goods, soap, deodorant etc. I would guess about $800 per month. This is for sodium restricted ingredients, fat restricted meats and ingredients for a Diabetic diet for me and post heart surgery diet for my husband. The food has to be fresh because canned, TV dinners and some frozen foods are high in sodium. What I can't get with the sodium taken out like mushrooms I drain and rinse before I cook to knock off as much salt as I can.

This is L.A. and inflation is high and prices are going up all the time. We have switched to powdered milk which is a small saving and nipped and tucked until we are at bare bones. This includes cat food for six cats which we buy from a feed store at considerable saving.

No restaurant food, and no fast food for either of us. We voted and decided we missed pizza the most. I'm working on a healthy low salt pizza we can still enjoy, but pepperoni is definitely a dear lost friend.

[flvegan]

27. $300 +/- for me. Dogs, significantly more.

[Bonobo]

28. About $500~$550 for a family of 5.

We almost NEVER go out and we eat leftovers 2 nights/week.

We spend a lot of time cooking and eat well, but spend much more time cooking than many can afford to, I think.

[amborin]

37. what part of the country are you in? food prices vary widely

[Bonobo]

38. Western Mass, rural. Pioneer valley. nt

[amborin]

39. food prices are low in many parts of the U.S.; here in southern Cal, they are high. n/t

[Bonobo]

41. Food not cheap here either. Maybe compared with CA, I don't know. nt

[RadiationTherapy]

71. 413 repreSENT!

[Bonobo]

75. Oh yeah! What's your 413 connection?

[RadiationTherapy]

79. Chicopee, Holyoke, Springfield, South Hadley, Northampton

[Bonobo]

40. So I guess I was wrong. Just double-checked with my wife. It's $900.

And that doesn't include the 3 cats' food and litter.

And no, we don't eat out hardly at all. Maybe once every 2 months or so.

Fuck.

[amborin]

82. that's more like it! we used to eat out 1-2x a month but we're on an

austerity program right now

[bridgit]

30. 250

[Individualist]

31. $250-300 for me and my two cats

[upi402]

32. 99% cook at home, all the day old, close out, and managers' specials we can.

We eat organic if we can but want to survive until property taxes stop going us, as income and home value tanks. We don't go out except rarely, and not elegantly if we go.

Vegetables are now more expensive than bags of chips and prepared dinners. WTF????

[DU GrovelBot]

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[havocmom]

35. Depends on the season. We have a garden in summer - lots of fresh food for cost of water

But winter means food trucked a very long way, so costs go up.

If possible, grow as much of your own as possible. Better value. Fresher is better for you. It's good for your soul too.

[vadawg]

68. we also can and dry our summer crops, so we have tomatoes etc all year round

still spend a lot on food though, i guess thats the kids...

[havocmom]

76. For me, the increase in the winter time bill is due to salad greens

For Havocdad, it is his insistence that butter helps him survive. I just wish he would take vitamin D supplements and leave off the cow fat ;)

[vadawg]

84. you can still grow salad greens thoughout the winter in a greenhouse with coverrows

and cold frames, my misses is pretty good with that, i personally prefer root veggies, i cant understand the love of lettuce....

[havocmom]

85. While I have managed to keep a little kale and spinach around through December

cold frames wouldn't do it here, and it would cost too much to heat a green house enough to help. I am in Montana. Winters are somewhat colder and longer here ;)

[EFerrari]

42. Two of us here, not huge meat eaters and we plan our shopping like Southern generals

planned battles but even so, too much. Easily $200 a week, excluding pet food / feed and that's eating at home every night. That's about 3Xs + what my husband and I plus a baby needed in 1975, iirc.

[proteus_lives]

43. Hmmmm. $80-100.

Could be lower, depends on what coupons and deals I can rustle up.

[JI7]

48. this is just you ?

what type of things do you buy and eat ?

[janx]

49. I'm roughly in the same range and can tell you that I eat

soups and sandwiches a lot. I make them at home.

[proteus_lives]

60. Just me.

I'm a coupon and sale-addict. I buy things that can be multiple meals. Like Hamburger Helper. It can be pumped with spices and cheap veggies and a pot of HH can be turned into 2-3 meals. I eat a lot stews, soups and Ramen. I don't eat out much and I've cut back on my snacking.

[Bonobo]

44. $900 for family of 5 in Western Mass.

I was wrong earlier with my $500~$550 assessment. Very wrong.

And it doesn't include the cats.

[debbierlus]

52. Thank god. Maybe our food prices are high here. I spend at least that much

I live in Berkshire County. Food prices are really high here.

[Bonobo]

54. I'm in Hampshire County!

We should have a meetup!!!

Thank god for Trader Joe's. I think that place is pretty amazing.

[debbierlus]

59. We don't have one in Berkshire - bums me out

Yes, I think there are a lot of DU'ers from these parts. We should have one!

[KathieG]

45. About $400 for the two of us which includes eating out, but doesn't include pet food.

[mrmpa]

46. $180-200 for 2

My mother lives with me, she is 79. I turned her onto Costco a few years back. She does all the shopping and cooking for us. About every 6 weeks she spends about $150-200 at Costco. She uses a lot of coupons and shops at the grocery stores that have the deals and spends about $50-75 a month.
In the summer we go to the farmers market every two weeks. She freezes our leftovers meals and vegetables. She uses the vegetables for her homemade soups. There's nothing like living with a Depression era kid, who knows how to stretch the dollar.

[Odin2005]

47. About $150

[rucky]

50. 300 - family of 3

Nothing fancy. One or two restaurant trips a month. Fast food when things get crazy.

[Alcibiades]

51. Our grocery bill is $75-$100 a week

For myself, my wife and two small children. We also eat out about two times a week, which runs about $50.

So we spend anywhere from five hundred to six hundred a month on food. We could spend less, but my wife insists upon a variety of health food.

[Bonobo]

53. This is a great thread and very informative. Surprisingly consistent too.

It seems, on average, that the price per person is roughly $200/month.

90 meals/month = Average of $2.22/meal.

The scary thing is that McDonald's offers a price point competitive with that. But...it's not 'food' if one defines food as a healthy, life-sustaining substance.

[Eric68601]

55. $320

$320 a month/ $80 a week.

Family of 4. Me, my wife, and 2 kids.

We rarely ever eat out as I am a master chef and cooking guru who knows how to live on a budget and eat well.

Edit: And I grow a garden every year.

[Broken_Hero]

56. hmm,

about 3-4 hundred a month, family of two.

[mn9driver]

57. Family of 5 with 3 teenage boys-$850

They eat it faster than I can buy it.

[proteus_lives]

61. I remember being a teenage boy.

I was always hungry!! I remember polishing off a large pizza and still mowing my way through a bag of chips an hour later. :rofl:

[intheflow]

58. Household of 3 adults = $550-600/mo. on food. n/t

[K8-EEE]

62. When everybody's working, $800 for 4. Including going out for drinks in that

We like to go out once a week or so and hear live music and have a couple of drinks -- with tipping cover and all that that's always around $40.

We do a $200 food/entertainment budget when the money is coming in -- I do feel like you have to enjoy life and we love going out to eat and going to hear a little jazz now and then! My husband is an artist so he is well paid when working but has time between projects too.

When he's off we try to keep it at less than $100 which is getting way harder to do, even though I have an almost year-round vegetable garden here in LA and use something from it for almost every meal.

My budget strategy when we're strapped is basically, a lot of brown rice and high-protein pasta supplemented by garden veggies and veggie burger type stuff from the freezer. The old close out hamburger buns are fine if you put them on the grill!

Luckily my kids love stir fries and could live on pasta, steamed veggies and parmesan cheese! Their favorite dinner is quesadillas with home made salsa and salad. Very cheap since I grow the salsa in the summer and the salad in the winter.

When we're in the chips we're more carnivorous and apt to bbq chicken on the weekends and that kind of thing. Except my oldest daughter who won't eat anything that "had a face." :)

And thank God for Trader Joe's!

[MilesColtrane]

63. Probably $300-400 a month.

Almost all of that is spent at grocery stores.

I could probably eat cheaper, but I've got a tiny freezer and almost no pantry space.

[highplainsdem]

64. $300-400 for two adults who rarely eat out. Another $30-40 for 1 cat.

Another cat, no longer with us, was on prescription food, at about $60 a month.

We shop very carefully but eat well, and always eat three healthy meals a day.

Add in vitamins and minerals and other nutritional supplements, and it's much higher, but prevention is important, and cheaper than drugs and hospital bills.

[deoxyribonuclease]

65. < $200, single

I cook most of my meals and buy ingredients from the Asian market, Trader Joe's, or a farmers market.

[lamp_shade]

66. One person - Food and sundries $153/mo. (I keep records).

[quiller4]

67. $450-$500 mo for two retired adults who eat all meals at home n/t

[SoCalDem]

69. 2 "oldsters"..we eat at restaurants at least twice a week

and I cook from scratch..

we spend about $600 a month at stores, but some of that is also for stuff like cleaning supplies, paper foods, & whatever goodies I can;t resist at Costco:)

[cali]

70. $200 to $250

for one. It means shopping carefully, lots of dried legumes and rice. I eat well but it takes time and effort.

[tavalon]

72. I don't want to know

My son and I are both on gluten free diets. My husband can't have milk so in deference to our many challenges, it's pretty expensive. We don't eat out all that much and really, no fast food.

[Hannah Bell]

73. when i tracked it, a little over $100/mo including sundries. i was vegetarian

but for dairy & followed a pretty basic food plan which included 25# bags of short-grain rice. coffee was my most expensive item. i was 10# lighter then, too.

[NeoGreen]

74. Between $450 and $550 for a family of 5...

... but that includes all groceries (cat litter, paper products, soap and the like) and the occasional night out (~3x per month, usually at a locally owned restaurant).

Since I lost my job in August, I buy a lot of fresh vegetables and prepare meals for the freezer to reduce costs and improve quality (less high fructose corn syrup).

[Mari333]

77. beans beans beans beans beans

for one person, and some vegetables and fruit. not much, about 300-400 a month but I dont buy dairy or meat for myself so I save a lot of money.

I think I buy more for my dog, cats,and bird. I buy meat for the dog and cats and the bird eats anything I eat.

[madinmaryland]

78. Probably around $750, for three people and three cats.

We rarely eat out.

[Vincardog]

80. $600/Mo for 2 people + $200/month/8 dogs + 100/Mo/Horse donkey and sheep

[pinto]

81. ~ $160 - $180 / month.

I only buy on sale / in bulk, except for milk. Cruise the weekly sales.

i.e. "Family packs" of meat/chicken/pork, then repackage for individual meals and freeze. Eggs in 18 count cartons / on sale and split them with a friend. Buy beans, rice, pasta, oats, potatoes, etc in bulk - stuff that stores well.

Fresh veggies, in season and on sale.

Supplement with some veggies I grow on a small plot.

Fresh fish ~ once a month and lunch out with friends ~ once a month. Potlucks with colleagues, anytime.

Trade dog-sitting stints for home-canned fish with my sister, who trades haircuts for albacore and cans a mess once a year. Sometimes salmon, sometimes shark. Depends on her customer's catch. But a win-win deal.

I cook now with "left-over" meals in mind.

Live on a fixed income, so I have to cut as many corners as doable to stretch the money. Took me a while to get it, but it works for me.

[Nikki Stone1]

86. Wow

That's good!

[AwakeAtLast]

83. Family of three here - I would say $550

but we have cut WAAAYYYY down.

[wickerwoman]

87. About $150 for myself

I cook pretty much everything from scratch and eat leftovers about 2/3rds of the time. Also buy a lot of bulk, focus on what's in season and cheap, do a lot of meal planning and portion control, shop at Asian markets and do a little gardening. I eat out a few times a year so I didn't include it in the monthly average (it's probably something like $80 a year).