how much do you spend on food a month?

[Anonymous]

We're a family of five (kids are little still) and spend about $1,000/month on groceries and household products (paper towels, etc., diapers and wipes still for the youngest). That includes a biweekly produce delivery box from Hungry Harvest.

Most of what we spend is at Costco: organic eggs and milk, yogurt, cheese, fish, coffee, bread, cereal, fish, etc. We get most of our produce from the delivery box, but even in season it costs money. I'm not limiting our produce consumption to one banana per day and iceberg lettuce.

And anyone foolish enough to skip the flu vaccine (especially this year) has no business lecturing anyone on health. Good lord.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mystery solved: the $50 a week we eat seasonal fruits which are so cheap my kids are better than yours anti vaxxer is Elyse the affluent begger. Has to be.

Hilarious. Ehmm what's wrong with seasonal fruit?

You don’t get it

[Anonymous]

So $50/week poster admitted that he/she could not do it in the DC area and it would be twice as much here. I was beginning to wonder if I were crazy!

However, if all we ate were pasta, jarred sauce, rice, canned beans, frozen veggies, oats, and eggs we could eat pretty cheaply too. I buy that stuff as pantry staples on sale and can get it to $0.89 for pasta, $2 for sauce, $1/bag veggies etc. I just can’t do that every day. I love to cook and make interesting meals. As necessity, again, sure but not as a game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So $50/week poster admitted that he/she could not do it in the DC area and it would be twice as much here. I was beginning to wonder if I were crazy!

However, if all we ate were pasta, jarred sauce, rice, canned beans, frozen veggies, oats, and eggs we could eat pretty cheaply too. I buy that stuff as pantry staples on sale and can get it to $0.89 for pasta, $2 for sauce, $1/bag veggies etc. I just can’t do that every day. I love to cook and make interesting meals. As necessity, again, sure but not as a game.

Well $400 a month for DC area is still low. And no we don't buy canned beans. Dry beans and lentils only. And never frozen veggies, they don't taste like much, so no thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask the $50 poster why? Is this a choice or a need to eat this way?

We spend $400 a week at the grocery store and abou $200 eating out on a weekend, or $600/week.

It's a choice, but again we are not starving. There are a lot of household items we don't buy such as paper towels. We are just frugal, nothing wrong with that.

What do you buy for $400 a week. It's a lot. Do you buy a lot of chips and other processed snacks? Or is it because you buy organic meats?

NP

I spend a bit less $300/wk (does not include dining out though). Can’t name everything I buy, takes too long, but here is a example. I have two teenaged sons. Both over 6’2” and under 178lbs (so very thin) and both play sports.

Weekly, much of it as Costco:

3 Gallons of milk
3 loaves of bread
1 family size jar of PB
16 chicken breasts
Family pack of chicken drumsticks
3lbs of ground beef
3lbs ground turkey
1 large salmon fillet at Costco
4 dozen eggs (each boy eats about 3 eggs each morning, plus an English muffin, and a lot of fruit)
4lbs of lunch meat
5lbs of broccoli
3 large bunches of bananas
2 large boxes of salad mix
2 bunches of Tuscan kale
Family pack of bell peppers
Family pack of Cucumbers
Family size hummus
Family size mushrooms
Family size tortellini
10 avocados
15 apples
2 pineapples
4lbs of Brussel sprouts
2 heads of cabbage
2 Costco sized bags of nuts (such as almonds, pistachios…ect)
2 big tubs of yogurt
Costco cottage cheese

** the boys packed their lunch this morning and between the 2 of them they made 4 sandwiches. They do not buy school lunch because they often end up having 2 lunches.

I have ZERO idea how I could possibly feed my family on $100/wk let along $50. My boys cannot live in beans, rice, and pasta. They are already so thin and burn through what they eat as it is. They need protein for their growing bodies and muscle stamina.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So $50/week poster admitted that he/she could not do it in the DC area and it would be twice as much here. I was beginning to wonder if I were crazy!

However, if all we ate were pasta, jarred sauce, rice, canned beans, frozen veggies, oats, and eggs we could eat pretty cheaply too. I buy that stuff as pantry staples on sale and can get it to $0.89 for pasta, $2 for sauce, $1/bag veggies etc. I just can’t do that every day. I love to cook and make interesting meals. As necessity, again, sure but not as a game.

No that poster is crazy. Not you. They are eating like they are living on an indian reservation with government issued food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So $50/week poster admitted that he/she could not do it in the DC area and it would be twice as much here. I was beginning to wonder if I were crazy!

However, if all we ate were pasta, jarred sauce, rice, canned beans, frozen veggies, oats, and eggs we could eat pretty cheaply too. I buy that stuff as pantry staples on sale and can get it to $0.89 for pasta, $2 for sauce, $1/bag veggies etc. I just can’t do that every day. I love to cook and make interesting meals. As necessity, again, sure but not as a game.

No that poster is crazy. Not you. They are eating like they are living on an indian reservation with government issued food.

We all know America has an obesity problem. If you grew up with large portion sizes, you would think that is "normal".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So $50/week poster admitted that he/she could not do it in the DC area and it would be twice as much here. I was beginning to wonder if I were crazy!

However, if all we ate were pasta, jarred sauce, rice, canned beans, frozen veggies, oats, and eggs we could eat pretty cheaply too. I buy that stuff as pantry staples on sale and can get it to $0.89 for pasta, $2 for sauce, $1/bag veggies etc. I just can’t do that every day. I love to cook and make interesting meals. As necessity, again, sure but not as a game.

No that poster is crazy. Not you. They are eating like they are living on an indian reservation with government issued food.

We all know America has an obesity problem. If you grew up with large portion sizes, you would think that is "normal".

Yes and Indian reservations have some of the worst obesity in the country and 3rd world life expectancy rates. Surly the cheap garbage food the get from the government doesn't help.

It's no surprise people in poverty have high obesity. They can't spend money on high quality fresh foods. It's amazing that people with means would choose this when so many don't have the choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4, two adults, two children 4 and 1.5. We spend closer to $2000 on all groceries and household goods (paper towels, soap, shampoo etc). We eat breakfast and dinner at home and some snacks. All lunches are out, and the cost of these lunches is in addition to the $2000.

We buy branded stuff, no store brand. Generally our meals are pretty good, but nothing too fancy, like no steak every night etc. How on earth are people feeding families for $500???

We are family of 4 and we spend around $500 on food monthly. My weekly bill from Trader Joes around $70-80, plus 2 runs during the week to get fresh bread (I buy it at the Whole Foods ) and milk (only 2 members drink mild). We buy most of the protein at Costco (mostly chicken and fish. We rarely eat beef, sometimes lamb for holidays). I do buy a lot of fresh veggies from Hmart, fish also from them. We don't eat anything frozen pre-cooked food (I do buy frozen vegetable sometimes) or processed (occasionally box of cereal, but not that often). We don't buy sweets or desserts, just dark chocolate.

Here is a sample of our weekly menu:

Breakfasts: banana with penaut butter; scramble eggs with toast; boiled eggs; fresh berries; yogurt (plain) with fresh or frozen fruits; oatmeal, buckweat, quinua or any other cooked cereal; cottage cheese with jam or fresh fruits; toast with butter and jam.

Lunch: most of us take lunches from home. My husband don't like to bring his lunch, but he doesn't go out either. He usually brings an orange, apple or banana with him. He lives work at 3:30-4, so it is doable. The rest of us pack either salads with some protein, quinua salad, sandwich or dinner leftovers.

Dinners:
Sunday: homemade chicken soup/turkish lentil soup/ lamb and barley soup; stew or something that takes a long time to cook. I make my own broth for soup, so I will split it a half and save for later (freeze). I split a whole chicken and use a half for soup, and a half for later.
Monday: leftovers of the last night meal
Tuesday: grilled salmon and fresh veggies (salad gets ready while fish is cooked). If someone very hungry, i will make a side dish (rice, pasta, mash potatoes, etc.). Takes 30 min. to cook
I would pull out a chicken breast from the freezer, and defrost it.
Wednesday: leftovers from last night, if none, something easy: rice and beans; pasta with sundried tomatoes, garlic and leftovers of the chicken from Sunday or some shrimps from the freezer.
Thursday: Baked chicken with veggies;
Friday: leftovers from Thursday; sometimes pizza;
Saturday: I will cook something substantial, like lazania; taco night; chilie, etc.

All this will cost approximately $100/week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4, two adults, two children 4 and 1.5. We spend closer to $2000 on all groceries and household goods (paper towels, soap, shampoo etc). We eat breakfast and dinner at home and some snacks. All lunches are out, and the cost of these lunches is in addition to the $2000.

We buy branded stuff, no store brand. Generally our meals are pretty good, but nothing too fancy, like no steak every night etc. How on earth are people feeding families for $500???

We are family of 4 and we spend around $500 on food monthly. My weekly bill from Trader Joes around $70-80, plus 2 runs during the week to get fresh bread (I buy it at the Whole Foods ) and milk (only 2 members drink mild). We buy most of the protein at Costco (mostly chicken and fish. We rarely eat beef, sometimes lamb for holidays). I do buy a lot of fresh veggies from Hmart, fish also from them. We don't eat anything frozen pre-cooked food (I do buy frozen vegetable sometimes) or processed (occasionally box of cereal, but not that often). We don't buy sweets or desserts, just dark chocolate.

Here is a sample of our weekly menu:

Breakfasts: banana with penaut butter; scramble eggs with toast; boiled eggs; fresh berries; yogurt (plain) with fresh or frozen fruits; oatmeal, buckweat, quinua or any other cooked cereal; cottage cheese with jam or fresh fruits; toast with butter and jam.

Lunch: most of us take lunches from home. My husband don't like to bring his lunch, but he doesn't go out either. He usually brings an orange, apple or banana with him. He lives work at 3:30-4, so it is doable. The rest of us pack either salads with some protein, quinua salad, sandwich or dinner leftovers.

Dinners:
Sunday: homemade chicken soup/turkish lentil soup/ lamb and barley soup; stew or something that takes a long time to cook. I make my own broth for soup, so I will split it a half and save for later (freeze). I split a whole chicken and use a half for soup, and a half for later.
Monday: leftovers of the last night meal
Tuesday: grilled salmon and fresh veggies (salad gets ready while fish is cooked). If someone very hungry, i will make a side dish (rice, pasta, mash potatoes, etc.). Takes 30 min. to cook
I would pull out a chicken breast from the freezer, and defrost it.
Wednesday: leftovers from last night, if none, something easy: rice and beans; pasta with sundried tomatoes, garlic and leftovers of the chicken from Sunday or some shrimps from the freezer.
Thursday: Baked chicken with veggies;
Friday: leftovers from Thursday; sometimes pizza;
Saturday: I will cook something substantial, like lazania; taco night; chilie, etc.

All this will cost approximately $100/week.

Exactly. It's doable. I'm the $50 poster a few call crazy. We would spend about $400 during our time in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4, two adults, two children 4 and 1.5. We spend closer to $2000 on all groceries and household goods (paper towels, soap, shampoo etc). We eat breakfast and dinner at home and some snacks. All lunches are out, and the cost of these lunches is in addition to the $2000.

We buy branded stuff, no store brand. Generally our meals are pretty good, but nothing too fancy, like no steak every night etc. How on earth are people feeding families for $500???

We are family of 4 and we spend around $500 on food monthly. My weekly bill from Trader Joes around $70-80, plus 2 runs during the week to get fresh bread (I buy it at the Whole Foods ) and milk (only 2 members drink mild). We buy most of the protein at Costco (mostly chicken and fish. We rarely eat beef, sometimes lamb for holidays). I do buy a lot of fresh veggies from Hmart, fish also from them. We don't eat anything frozen pre-cooked food (I do buy frozen vegetable sometimes) or processed (occasionally box of cereal, but not that often). We don't buy sweets or desserts, just dark chocolate.

Here is a sample of our weekly menu:

Breakfasts: banana with penaut butter; scramble eggs with toast; boiled eggs; fresh berries; yogurt (plain) with fresh or frozen fruits; oatmeal, buckweat, quinua or any other cooked cereal; cottage cheese with jam or fresh fruits; toast with butter and jam.

Lunch: most of us take lunches from home. My husband don't like to bring his lunch, but he doesn't go out either. He usually brings an orange, apple or banana with him. He lives work at 3:30-4, so it is doable. The rest of us pack either salads with some protein, quinua salad, sandwich or dinner leftovers.

Dinners:
Sunday: homemade chicken soup/turkish lentil soup/ lamb and barley soup; stew or something that takes a long time to cook. I make my own broth for soup, so I will split it a half and save for later (freeze). I split a whole chicken and use a half for soup, and a half for later.
Monday: leftovers of the last night meal
Tuesday: grilled salmon and fresh veggies (salad gets ready while fish is cooked). If someone very hungry, i will make a side dish (rice, pasta, mash potatoes, etc.). Takes 30 min. to cook
I would pull out a chicken breast from the freezer, and defrost it.
Wednesday: leftovers from last night, if none, something easy: rice and beans; pasta with sundried tomatoes, garlic and leftovers of the chicken from Sunday or some shrimps from the freezer.
Thursday: Baked chicken with veggies;
Friday: leftovers from Thursday; sometimes pizza;
Saturday: I will cook something substantial, like lazania; taco night; chilie, etc.

All this will cost approximately $100/week.

Exactly. It's doable. I'm the $50 poster a few call crazy. We would spend about $400 during our time in DC.

Her menu on $50/wk is not doable in DC or in Timbuktu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4, two adults, two children 4 and 1.5. We spend closer to $2000 on all groceries and household goods (paper towels, soap, shampoo etc). We eat breakfast and dinner at home and some snacks. All lunches are out, and the cost of these lunches is in addition to the $2000.

We buy branded stuff, no store brand. Generally our meals are pretty good, but nothing too fancy, like no steak every night etc. How on earth are people feeding families for $500???

We are family of 4 and we spend around $500 on food monthly. My weekly bill from Trader Joes around $70-80, plus 2 runs during the week to get fresh bread (I buy it at the Whole Foods ) and milk (only 2 members drink mild). We buy most of the protein at Costco (mostly chicken and fish. We rarely eat beef, sometimes lamb for holidays). I do buy a lot of fresh veggies from Hmart, fish also from them. We don't eat anything frozen pre-cooked food (I do buy frozen vegetable sometimes) or processed (occasionally box of cereal, but not that often). We don't buy sweets or desserts, just dark chocolate.

Here is a sample of our weekly menu:

Breakfasts: banana with penaut butter; scramble eggs with toast; boiled eggs; fresh berries; yogurt (plain) with fresh or frozen fruits; oatmeal, buckweat, quinua or any other cooked cereal; cottage cheese with jam or fresh fruits; toast with butter and jam.

Lunch: most of us take lunches from home. My husband don't like to bring his lunch, but he doesn't go out either. He usually brings an orange, apple or banana with him. He lives work at 3:30-4, so it is doable. The rest of us pack either salads with some protein, quinua salad, sandwich or dinner leftovers.

Dinners:
Sunday: homemade chicken soup/turkish lentil soup/ lamb and barley soup; stew or something that takes a long time to cook. I make my own broth for soup, so I will split it a half and save for later (freeze). I split a whole chicken and use a half for soup, and a half for later.
Monday: leftovers of the last night meal
Tuesday: grilled salmon and fresh veggies (salad gets ready while fish is cooked). If someone very hungry, i will make a side dish (rice, pasta, mash potatoes, etc.). Takes 30 min. to cook
I would pull out a chicken breast from the freezer, and defrost it.
Wednesday: leftovers from last night, if none, something easy: rice and beans; pasta with sundried tomatoes, garlic and leftovers of the chicken from Sunday or some shrimps from the freezer.
Thursday: Baked chicken with veggies;
Friday: leftovers from Thursday; sometimes pizza;
Saturday: I will cook something substantial, like lazania; taco night; chilie, etc.

All this will cost approximately $100/week.

Exactly. It's doable. I'm the $50 poster a few call crazy. We would spend about $400 during our time in DC.

Her menu on $50/wk is not doable in DC or in Timbuktu.

$100/week is doable in DC. It will cost $50/week for same food in lower COL areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4, two adults, two children 4 and 1.5. We spend closer to $2000 on all groceries and household goods (paper towels, soap, shampoo etc). We eat breakfast and dinner at home and some snacks. All lunches are out, and the cost of these lunches is in addition to the $2000.

We buy branded stuff, no store brand. Generally our meals are pretty good, but nothing too fancy, like no steak every night etc. How on earth are people feeding families for $500???

We are family of 4 and we spend around $500 on food monthly. My weekly bill from Trader Joes around $70-80, plus 2 runs during the week to get fresh bread (I buy it at the Whole Foods ) and milk (only 2 members drink mild). We buy most of the protein at Costco (mostly chicken and fish. We rarely eat beef, sometimes lamb for holidays). I do buy a lot of fresh veggies from Hmart, fish also from them. We don't eat anything frozen pre-cooked food (I do buy frozen vegetable sometimes) or processed (occasionally box of cereal, but not that often). We don't buy sweets or desserts, just dark chocolate.

Here is a sample of our weekly menu:

Breakfasts: banana with penaut butter; scramble eggs with toast; boiled eggs; fresh berries; yogurt (plain) with fresh or frozen fruits; oatmeal, buckweat, quinua or any other cooked cereal; cottage cheese with jam or fresh fruits; toast with butter and jam.

Lunch: most of us take lunches from home. My husband don't like to bring his lunch, but he doesn't go out either. He usually brings an orange, apple or banana with him. He lives work at 3:30-4, so it is doable. The rest of us pack either salads with some protein, quinua salad, sandwich or dinner leftovers.

Dinners:
Sunday: homemade chicken soup/turkish lentil soup/ lamb and barley soup; stew or something that takes a long time to cook. I make my own broth for soup, so I will split it a half and save for later (freeze). I split a whole chicken and use a half for soup, and a half for later.
Monday: leftovers of the last night meal
Tuesday: grilled salmon and fresh veggies (salad gets ready while fish is cooked). If someone very hungry, i will make a side dish (rice, pasta, mash potatoes, etc.). Takes 30 min. to cook
I would pull out a chicken breast from the freezer, and defrost it.
Wednesday: leftovers from last night, if none, something easy: rice and beans; pasta with sundried tomatoes, garlic and leftovers of the chicken from Sunday or some shrimps from the freezer.
Thursday: Baked chicken with veggies;
Friday: leftovers from Thursday; sometimes pizza;
Saturday: I will cook something substantial, like lazania; taco night; chilie, etc.

All this will cost approximately $100/week.

Exactly. It's doable. I'm the $50 poster a few call crazy. We would spend about $400 during our time in DC.

Her menu on $50/wk is not doable in DC or in Timbuktu.

$100/week is doable in DC. It will cost $50/week for same food in lower COL areas.

Not even. I live in Shenandoah County and the COL is incredibly lower than in DC. Additionally, it is very easy for me to source fresh food directly from farmers, including buying my meat in bulk, eggs from my neighbors, and countless farm stands outside of the winter months. I work with DSS and for a family of 4, SNAP benefits in Shanandoah Couty are 3x your claim of $200 . If there were doable, I can assure you the USDA would scale it back to $50 a week and cut their costs by 66%.

[Anonymous]

^^Shenandoah County

[Anonymous]

We are close to 1,000 each month for 2 adults and 2 teens who are both in sports, one in multiple sports.

-Everyone eats breakfast at home.
-The kids always take a packed lunch (hate school food unless they get the salad bar option)
-Husband and I eat a packed lunch 3 or 4 days each week
-Each kid has a school sports practice after school, so they usually take a packed 2nd lunch/mini dinner to hold them after school
-Dinner is eaten at home Sun-Thursday. We eat out Friday nights. Saturday lunch is sometimes leftovers or eaten out, depending on what errands are being run. Saturday dinner is usually eaten out as it's date night for DH and I and the night the kids do things out w/ friends.