Our family of 5 spends $178 weekly almost to the penny at Trader Joe’s. This includes two parents, the 20 year old au pair, a 15 year old female competitive athlete who eats a lot, and a 13 year old boy. 180 divided by 5 is 36. Given this, I think it’s totally fine to leave 50 for a week for the au pair. We have a very deep freezer and well stocked pantry in addition to our weekly shopping.

$100 to replenish parishable items. We have a big storage of cereal, rice/pasta, sauces/soups, meats in the freezer. So honestly, $100 for fruits/veggies, replish milk, eggs, yogurt etc is generous for one person for one week. The cupboards are definitely not bare and honestly there would probably be enough eggs and yogurt left behind anyway.

AP is hopefully going to be out exploring/with friends/day trips. I don’t pay for her food outside of the house.

$30 is really cheap ! You wouldn't leave that to your teenagers if you went away I bet !

I agree that depending on the depth of your pantry/freezer $50-100 is fine.
We regularly keep her breakfast and lunch things in the house, so I might ask what she plans to cook for dinner, help her generate a grocery list, and leave those things plus $30. (Our APs have been ok cooks but don't have a lot of experience going from recipe to table.)
It may be that she wants to eat out a lot (not your responsibility) because she has extra time to go exploring.

I'd leave $50 if you had stuff in the freezer and fridge that she can use. And $100 if it's almost bare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Just wow. You people are nuts. Would you behave the same way to your kid in college? I doubt it.

I’m curious what you think is “nuts” about people’s suggestions? They seems pretty balanced and reasonable to me.

Show me your weekly grocery receipts.

https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodJan2018.pdf

this breaks down how much the USDA thinks you should spend. $40 is considered very cheap for a young woman.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Just wow. You people are nuts. Would you behave the same way to your kid in college? I doubt it.

I’m curious what you think is “nuts” about people’s suggestions? They seems pretty balanced and reasonable to me.

Anonymous wrote:My personal grocery budget is $60-70 for a week for my roommate and I together. WIth just one of us it'd be closer to $45-50.

What all do you eat?

My personal grocery budget is $60-70 for a week for my roommate and I together. WIth just one of us it'd be closer to $45-50.

Wow. Just wow. You people are nuts. Would you behave the same way to your kid in college? I doubt it.

How many days ? 5 or 10 ? If 5 days I would leave 40 if 10 days I would leave around 70. Assuming she has things like milk bread and fruit already there. If the fridge and cubbords are bare I would leave 10 per day.

$50 should be plenty, assuming the staples left behind (eggs, rice, cereals, milk, etc.)

$100
actually should be much less, but this will allow for a couple specialty items or ordering out a pizza some night.

We are going away for spring break, and AP has decided to spend her vacation at home. How much would you give for groceries?