Anonymous wrote:For those of you that spend less than $50 per week per adult/teen. What do you fix for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I can't figure out how to do it unless we eat pasta and rice and beans all the time.

Eggs, yogurt, oatmeal for breakfast. Plus a serving of veggies.

Leftovers for lunch. DS gets a sandwich a few times a week.

We eat primal/paleo with some grains for DS. We fill out meals with lots of veggies. My spaghetti sauce is two pounds of ground beef, 2 big onions, a pound of carrots, 3-4 zucchinis, a pound of mushrooms, plus tomato sauce pureed together. We serve it over zoodles or eggplant noodles.

And we are obsessive about not wasting food.

$300/week family of 5

For those of you that spend less than $50 per week per adult/teen. What do you fix for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I can't figure out how to do it unless we eat pasta and rice and beans all the time.

About $800/mo for a family of 5 (kids are school and preschool age). We go out to eat as a family perhaps once a month, if that, and DH gets lunch out at work once a week -- that is a separate line item in our budget. All our meals are cooked from scratch with the exception of a breakfast like toast. We eat a lot of fresh produce and buy organic milk and eggs, and we shop at Wegmans and Costco pretty much exclusively, with an occasional food expense at Target. That $800 does include some household items like toilet paper and kleenex, and also includes beer and wine. If I was willing to fill up on carbs and forgo meat we could eat more cheaply, but I am genetically predisposed to diabetes and I just can't eat a ton of rice and pasta. I think we do pretty well on costs given how healthy we eat.

Upwards of $1,200/month for family of four, including two preschoolers. Mostly Whole Foods, plus Soap.com. Hard to get out of WF for much less than $300. Although, that includes some pricey skin care and vitamins and homewares that are not precisely groceries; usually there's some exotic skin cleanser or candle or baby bottle something upping the bill another $20 beyond food and basic dry goods.

Seems like a bit much after reading this thread, and I figured as much. We do eat out about once a week, but we both work and rely on a lot of prepared and packaged yet unprocessed foods. It's basically impossible to get supremely nutritious, flavorful, convenient, and cheap food. So we pay. Because we can. For which I'm thankful.

800-1000 a month for 2 adults, i preschooler. I am also breastfeeding. WF. We got to Costco every 2 months.

We cook from scratch 90%, and have people over 1-2x a month. We go out to eat 1x a week.

Have prices really risen a third?

Family of four and it varies. I think we spend $100-$200 / week for groceries, probably a little more if you count in the organic farm share I pay for in the spring. Almost no meat (sometimes chicken) and I cook quite a bit, but I buy a lot of organic stuff, including milk, eggs, and chicken. Mostly shop at TJ's.

We eat out/order in maybe twice a month, usually spending $30-80.

$160/week. Family of 3. We never eat out.

Prices have gone up 33% in the past 6 months. I used to spend only $120. Not sure why they've been jacked up recently.

I remember 5 years ago when chicken was on sale for 49 cents/lb. And 32 oz. of coffee was about $7.

Getting kids meals for takeout at restaurants is the way to go as an adult

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how does one spend $10/week for dining out for two adults and 1 child??

One week it might be Chipolte for lunch for one person. Another week it might be Panera for dinner for 2 people. It is almost never all 3 of us at the same time unless we are on vacation and that would be a different budget line item.

2 adults cannot eat at Panera for dinner for $10-15.
Why is it with these threads that people always underestimate??

Myself and DW are able to wrap it up for that amount at Panera and Chipotle

We spend about $250 per week for a family of four (two teenage boys). I shop mainly at TJs and Target. I get most of our meat from the Local Store in Falls Church. I would like to get back to farmer's market for fresh produce, but the prices are too high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these budgets seem really high to me. We spend about 100/week for 2 adults, 1 small child. I think we eat fairly well, but we always have a couple of meals per week that are extremely inexpensive like pasta and marinara and crock pot black beans with rice.

One thing I am very strict about is drinks. If I didn't watch him, my husband could spent 40 bucks a week on soda, juice, teas, bottled water, Gatorade etc. Sure it's great to grab a Vitamin Water out of the fridge anytime you get thirsty, but how do people justify the expense?

Keep in mind that not everyone has the same budget. I am the one spending $700-$800 a week, and I justify it by saying I can afford it, and we enjoy great food. We'll go out to sushi one night, a steakhouse another, etc. We'll have a family over and serve nice bottles of wine or something. If we couldn't afford it of course we wouldn't be spending this way. Everyone has to do what works for their family.

Thanks for stimulating our economy.

125/week for groceries and toiletries and about 200/month on eating out.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these budgets seem really high to me. We spend about 100/week for 2 adults, 1 small child. I think we eat fairly well, but we always have a couple of meals per week that are extremely inexpensive like pasta and marinara and crock pot black beans with rice.

One thing I am very strict about is drinks. If I didn't watch him, my husband could spent 40 bucks a week on soda, juice, teas, bottled water, Gatorade etc. Sure it's great to grab a Vitamin Water out of the fridge anytime you get thirsty, but how do people justify the expense?

Keep in mind that not everyone has the same budget. I am the one spending $700-$800 a week, and I justify it by saying I can afford it, and we enjoy great food. We'll go out to sushi one night, a steakhouse another, etc. We'll have a family over and serve nice bottles of wine or something. If we couldn't afford it of course we wouldn't be spending this way. Everyone has to do what works for their family.

A lot of these budgets seem really high to me. We spend about 100/week for 2 adults, 1 small child. I think we eat fairly well, but we always have a couple of meals per week that are extremely inexpensive like pasta and marinara and crock pot black beans with rice.

One thing I am very strict about is drinks. If I didn't watch him, my husband could spent 40 bucks a week on soda, juice, teas, bottled water, Gatorade etc. Sure it's great to grab a Vitamin Water out of the fridge anytime you get thirsty, but how do people justify the expense?