how much do you spend on food a month?

[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.

that seems reasonable to me, especially if you're not including paper goods.

[Anonymous]

~550\wk on Territory Meals for family of 4. Total of 24 dinners, and 14 lunches)
~75\wk on groceries (breakfast only, snacks, and kids lunches, everything else is Territory)
~75/wk on one dinner at a restaurant.

So in all $2,800/no and worth every penny not to cook, but still have great, healthy food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:~550\wk on Territory Meals for family of 4. Total of 24 dinners, and 14 lunches)
~75\wk on groceries (breakfast only, snacks, and kids lunches, everything else is Territory)
~75/wk on one dinner at a restaurant.

So in all $2,800/no and worth every penny not to cook, but still have great, healthy food.

Which restaurant do you eat dinner for $75 with a family of 4? My family of 4 eats at Morton Steakhouse for $250 for one dinner. $75/week for breakfast is quite low. I spend about $225 for breakfast for a family of 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 5. Two gallons of milk/week, one of orange juice, no other juices or sodas. Yes, organic dairy and meat is pasture raised and local. We have a stand up so purchase 1/2 cow a year. We grow our own herbs and peppers. We eat a wide array of fruits and vegetables. I don’t bake sandwich bread tortillas or rolls. We eat a lot of nuts, fish, oils. My kids like green smoothies and the like- but they aren’t cheap! Chips would be a lot cheaper than the quality ingredients I purchase.

My family of Five weekly grocery cost:

3 gallons of organic milk: $18
1.5 gallons of fresh squeeze OJ from whole food: $36
72 AA organic eggs: $24
free reign chicken: $150
wild caught salmon, tuna and shrimp: $400
70 Avacado: $80
Bananas: $25
Strawberries: $40
blueberries: $25
pineapple and mango: $35
Apple: $20
brocoli, caulifornia, asparus, greenbean: $100
Oatmeal, walnut, cranberries, sunflower seed: $50

I give my chickens free rein, too. Lets them strut their stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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%.

I grew up in the sticks of central PA and my parents still live there. No way does food cost 1/2 there what it does here. There is some savings but it's not half price. My parents are elderly and I often go grocery shopping when I visit them. Housing is about 10% of what it is here in DC. Jobs pay very little. But good is by no means 1/2 price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:~550\wk on Territory Meals for family of 4. Total of 24 dinners, and 14 lunches)
~75\wk on groceries (breakfast only, snacks, and kids lunches, everything else is Territory)
~75/wk on one dinner at a restaurant.

So in all $2,800/no and worth every penny not to cook, but still have great, healthy food.

Which restaurant do you eat dinner for $75 with a family of 4? My family of 4 eats at Morton Steakhouse for $250 for one dinner. $75/week for breakfast is quite low. I spend about $225 for breakfast for a family of 4

We don't eat at Morton's. I have teens usually somewhere very casual like a sports bar or wing place. It's their choice.

I have no comment on your breakfast expenses, except can I come to your house for breakfast?