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M$2.25 November 05, 2009 02:08 AM

How much is your grocery bill?

I'm trying to figure out what is reasonable for my household. I know it varies depending upon where you live, but how much do you spend on groceries?
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November 05, 2009 02:31 AM
When I have the time to go to the grocery store regularly, I spend about 30 dollars a week, at most. I am just a single 20 year old female that eats 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. 30 dollars is usually two trips, in which I get 2-3 large bags of fruit and veggies. I eat a lot of whole wheat pasta and oats for grains, and chicken breast for meat. It's when you start to stray into things like pre prepared sauces and mixes that you incur lots of expenses, but 30 dollars a week would not be unreasonable and would even allow for a few treats. Stocking up on meats when it's on sale also helps, and I find shopping and somewhere like No Frill's saves a lot of cash just by taking a trip down the sale aisle first and selecting low cost alternatives. I find fruits and veggies are very cheap, I can get a weeks worth of plums, nectarines, apples, oranges, banana, potatoes, etc, enough for 8 servings a day, for about 14 dollars a week. The other food groups make up the remainder. Buying what's in season also really helps - lots of squash, potato, and ground fruits and veggies in the winter, and tree fruits in the summer. I could easily live on 15 dollars a week by not allowing myself things like cheese, jam, popcorn, or cereal, but I do like to eat some amount of processed foods. Drinking water rather than juice will also help a lot, and base you dairy on what is on sale (milk, yogurt, or cheese - you don't need all 3).
Lately I have only been able to make it to the grocery store about 2 times a month, so I can't eat as much fresh food because it spoils. I have to eat out more, and with buying more frozen foods to keep longer, I'm spending closer to 80. I'd like to go back to my old ways but I just don't have time.

My family, on the other hand, a group of 3 (parents early 50s and 12 year old brother who is a light eater) have a grocery bill of roughly 250-350 a week. They buy a lot of junk food, cakes, fancy juices, pie, deli meat etc. They never eat fruit, and veggies are limited to what comes frozen in a bag. They also drink a lot of soft drinks, and their fridge is full of "fancy" food no one eats like 30 bottles of salad dressing, each which they buy for just one salad, 12 kinds of jam, etc - all things that are unnecessary. They buy specialty things for just one meal, like a cereal they have on bowl of and forget. It's things like buying hot dog buns AND hamburger buns AND bread AND rolls AND wraps that kill you, rather than simplifying and buying just one standard that will work for everything. Less waste, less overhead, more room in your fridge.

The cheapest way to shop is to base your diet on non-processed foods, and practice shopping around the outside of the store - fruits and veggies, rice, pasta, bread, whole cuts of meat (rather than processed burgers, breaded fish, or deli meats), milk, etc. The less processed food you buy, the cheaper your bill will be.

To have a reasonable diet where you allow yourself some amount of processed foods (french fries, cereal, etc), I'd plan for about 40-50 per week, per person, based on local food costs. A very clean diet could easily be 25/week/person or less, but when you get into eating little fresh foods and more processed, with takeout, something like 70/week is probably more reasonable.


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November 05, 2009 02:18 AM
We've recently been cutting back and clipping coupons from mailers and various sites, because of the economy. Our bill is still around 80 bucks a month. There are some rewards programs you can start that will pay you to buy certain products though, and that will significantly drop your grocery bill if you don't mind purchasing the things they want you to.

http://selectcouponprogram.com/
https://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/user/extracare/extracare.jsp;jsessionid=xvNvKq1Z1QQTdvBBz3CdRMWXxLnpQp85sQQjJJCdLN76nyvhdCj9!12575679

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November 05, 2009 02:40 PM
To clarify, 80 a month is for 2 people, but we choose pretty specific foods. Natural/Organic, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups over generic, etc.

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November 05, 2009 02:22 AM
I spend about $50 per week, but that is for just 1 person. I try to avoid foods that are costly. I also try to stick to items on sale and use coupons.

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November 05, 2009 02:27 AM
A good approximation for my monthly grocery bill (2 adults, 1 dog, 2 cats) would be $350.00 for my household. I had never been a coupon clipper until recently and now, with a bit of help from Mahalo, I save around $20.00 per trip to the grocery store.

Tags: food, grocery, bills

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November 05, 2009 03:04 AM
On food alone for my family of four I spend a total of $100-$120 per week. But, I do save at least $50 per week making a few simple changes. I look around for the stores that are having the best sales that day. I am an avid coupon user. I save around $15 a week just with coupons. I have a rule of thumb I try to go buy, if it isn't on sale I don't buy it!

Try to buy items in bulk when they are on sale it saves money in the long run. Cut out all the junk food and sweats. Make sure you do the math. Stores like to trick you and make you think you are buying an item at a great price but really you are not. Check the amount of the contents of the package and compare it to the net price. It may take a little long comparing prices but it really helps save money.

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November 05, 2009 03:08 AM
My grocery bill for our household is about 350.00 a month. This covers a house with 2 adults and three cats. Since every house hold is different its a pretty good chance that no two will have an exact same amount they spend. In our case the grocery bill is split 3/4 to me and my husband and 1/4 to the three cats. We have found that in addition to coupons, its wise to take advantage of sales, and in some instances to buy items in bulk. This allows us to make the best use of the money we have for food each month. Another thing is you don't always have to buy name brand, as store brand items are usually about the same and cost less.

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November 05, 2009 03:11 AM
It depends on the city and country you're in. In our household of four people living in the Philippines, we spend a minimum of $173 a month. That's just for the grocery items only. No meat, fish, vegetables yet for everyday meals. During months where we have a celebration like birthdays, or Christmas, that amount increases.

I have a tip for you. I started doing this since I started earning for myself. Make a list of the things you need at home. This will enable you to just pick up the things you need. Categorize them by priority. For instance, let's set 1 as the priority items and 10 as the least priority. Then set a probable budget.

Now, list down the items you need the most down to the least priority items. When you're already in the grocery, pick up the first items in your priority list and with a calculator or your mobile phone, calculate the items you have at hand. Then when you reached your budget, you can simply choose to leave the ones you don't really need.

It's much better if you know the prices right away so you can put it in your list too. Check out different stores out there that offers cheaper price.

Another thing, budget the items you have for a month by dividing them day per day so that you won't have to run out of things before the month ends and have to run to the grocery again for some items.

Good luck, I hope this will work for you as it works for me... ^^

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November 05, 2009 03:32 AM
It is sometimes $150 a week. some other times it will be $100. If I am buying most of my bulk items the amount for a week will be more than 180.
I don't keep the accounts that carefully about grocery. because it is the expense for just living

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November 05, 2009 09:51 AM
I receive my money monthly so try to get everything required for the month in one go. I dont really have much choice about how much I spend, I have other necessary expenses like rent, phone, electric and water bills so I have to make do with what is left. This amounts to about €20 ($30) a week for 3 dogs, 2 cats and me.

Thats not too bad to manage, but going veggie and buying from low cost saver shops makes it that much easier. I dont buy processed foods and have no fridge or cooker so meat is really out of the question. I live in a produce rich area so all of my fruits and nuts are picked directly from the trees, and herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme, wild garlic and some local greens are free for the taking.


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November 05, 2009 11:26 AM
I'd put it at about 350.00 a month for myself, my husband and our 1 year old son. If you add in food for the aptly named dog, Fenris, it goes up to about 450.00.

It wouldn't be that low except I don't shop per month per say, though I do go shopping each month. Say one month I spend 90% of the food budget on bulk meat. Package, freeze, don't run out again for months. the next month I'd spend 90% of the budget on canned goods. I continue to cycle items and refresh my stalk. I also shop at costco. I use very little on everyday shopping each month because I always have what I need in my cabinet/fridge/freezer. We also grow our own most our vegetables year round in our home. All I ever need to buy is things like lettuce and potatoes.

My husband wants a cow and chickens next lol I told him for now WIC does it and try to remind him we live in city limits.
Source(s):
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1648366/fenris_famous_wolf_of_norw...


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November 05, 2009 02:55 PM
The Wolf God of Norway?

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November 05, 2009 03:48 PM
My husband wants those barnyard 'pets' and sheep and a goat too...oh yeah a boarder collie to herd them all around to boot! We don't even have a vegetable garden :)

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November 06, 2009 02:35 AM
@buddawiggi lol Yes, that's why I included the link the dog name joke makes little sense if you don't know who Fenris is. The wolf god from Norse mythology said to eat Odin during Ragnarok. His jaws were so great they stretched from sky to earth. His children eat the son and moon at the end of time. :)

I love your new avatar btw.. very cool.

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November 06, 2009 02:38 AM
@Hillo We don't ether really. We live in Alaska so it's indoors. We have at lest 100+plants in a 700 sq. foot flat lol At least the air is clean...

When we get a new house I know I won't be able to fight off at least the chickens. lol I don't dislike the idea but he keeps telling me I'll be slaughtering them. Hunting is one thing, killing a caged animal is another. I'm way to much of a bleeding heart for it.

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November 05, 2009 04:06 PM
My answer will be different because I have many variables that add into my grocery bill. Here it goes:

Short Answer:
It varies from place to place and situation. It can range from $80 a week to $500 every 2 weeks.

Long Answer:
For each budget I plan for breakfast, 1 large meal, 1 smaller meal and 2 snacks for the number of people stated.

We have special diets that are considered when planning meals (soy-free, lactose minimal, diabetic, lower-sodium) which can make our bill a little higher.

When I am in NW Montana and do not leave my town (small town in a forest, grocery prices are insane) for 3 people for 2 weeks, the grocery bill runs $400-500

When I leave and go shopping in the panhandle of Idaho and have more store varieties, for 3 people for 2 weeks, the grocery bill runs $200-300

When I am traveling (every 2 months), we plan $40 to $50 per day. We pack a lot of food to take with us but eat out once a day. Usually we eat at Subway, Arby's or Taco Bell as those are cheaper. This also includes bottled water since water varies region to region and I don't need illnesses such as nausea and vomiting while traveling.

When we are in San Diego, CA for a month: We have more stores to choose from but we eat more meat. We feed 4 people with more dietary restrictions depending on time of year.

If my husband is training for the PRT, we eat more meat when at the boat. The grocery bill will run $300 for 2 weeks.

If he is not doing the PRT training, we still eat more meat but his diet isn't limited and the bill can be as low at $80 a week.

Since we live on a boat in San Diego, CA during the summer time we eat out more since I can not handle the heat. Cooking on the stove will heat the cabin and make it impossible for me to be on-board until nighttime. So we eat out more to keep the cabin at a livable temp for me. Then the grocery bill can run as high as $500 for 2 weeks. We try to minimize by having cook outs, picnics and eating later at night... which can help reduce it more.

During the winter time, I can cook on-board again (assuming the daytime high isn't too much), I have more options available for food (hot meals and soups are back in) so the budget goes back down to $80 a week to $100 a week.

If we are having health issues then we have to alter our menu again. If my duodenum acts up then the food bill goes down because I can't eat. But if my youngest son gets sick, I have to plan to buy Ensure or Boost since he becomes a weight risk and we have to monitor him closely. That can bring up the bill a little.

It just varies from place to place and situation to situation. But that's the basics.
Source(s):
Personal Experience.


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November 05, 2009 07:03 PM
My husband and I spend about $75 for the two of us each week. We prefer to purchase produce and organic foods and only go out to eat (including fast food) every once in a while. A cheap meal solution is vegetable soup. You can make lots of it for really cheap.

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aw aw
 
November 05, 2009 08:12 PM
I spend about $60.00 to $80.00 a week here in NJ thats for 2 people.

Mostly we shop sale items and stock up on certain things when they are really cheap. Once every other month or so we also go to COSTCO that trip costs us about $150.00 to get stuff like bulk papertowels and TP, and random other things.

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November 05, 2009 09:45 PM
The average U.S. household spends 13% of its budget on food. That said, I am way over that. Quick trips to the supermarket to satisfy cravings usually end up expensive. Between me, my husband, son and cat we spend about $100 per week at the least. It adds up quick. The hubbie likes meats which tend to get expensive. This is not including the weekends eating out which probably adds another $50 a week to that.
Before baby we used to go to the movies like twice every weekend. Now we substituted that money and use it for other things like groceries. In a way it evens out.
Source(s):
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/TakeABig...


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November 07, 2009 04:45 PM
I spend about 120-135 dollars a month on groceries, and I live in a single household.
I buy milk (for the lactose intolerant), coffee, fruits, vegetables, pasta, rice and what really gets the bill high are the extras that I get like a bottle of wine, red meat and the occasionally pre made meals like the already made roasted chicken or sushi, when I get lazy or tired that I do not want to cook.

However when I go to Wal-Mart I do get my bill slashed by 10-20 percent, even though I have to drive a little farther sometimes it is worth it.

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