i know this question has probably been asked before, but I was reading how much some moms spend on groceries on the "hunger" question, and I couldn't believe what some people though was minimum. We usually shop for two weeks at a time. and spend $60-$80 for two weeks. occasionally we will have to get another dozen eggs or a loaf of bread but its rare. Its trur that one of our three people is a toddler, but my mom has three grown people in her house (her, my dad, and my 18yrold sister) and sometimes only spends $20 a week oh we eat healthy too. So how much do you moms spend and what do you buy when you know you have a limited amount to spend? Just curious.
ETA: I was thinking about how it cost more depnding on where you live, but I would imagine minimum wage is also a little higher in certain parts of the county. It is 7.25...but wow, $8 for a gallon of milk. I can get it on sale for $2 thats crazy. And $6 to make beans and rice for 3 people. That would mean rice would have to be $10 a bag. Its about $1 here
ok my mom does spend $20 a week...not every week but some weeks thats all she has. Things like spegetti is a two dollar meal. a bag of rice is less then two dollars, so is a bag of beans and they each have 10 servings in them. my mom doesnt eat as healthy as I do but those are some examples of how you can eat for $20 a week with out eating just ramen noodles
Very good points from the moms who mentioned how location does make a difference. I know when I lived in Massachussetts I use to get seafood all the time because it was so much cheaper then here in Indiana. I do most of my shopping at korger and walmart. our typical grocery list is. Canned tomatoes, corn meal, brown rice, cheese, eggs, bread, eggs, lentils, onion soup mix1 chicken (which I use for three or four meals of soup and stir fry), tofu, 6 or so bags of froz veggies (I buy them when they are 10 for $10) bread, milk, oatmeal, bananas, potatoes (sweet and white), brocollii, a couple cans of carrots, tortillas. Typical meals are chicken tacos or fajitas, tofu stirfry. cheesey polenta, beans and rice, chicken soup, lentil stew and corn bread, meatless chili
I have a family of 4-teen girl, 10 yo ds, hubby, me. If I get out under 200/wk I think I'm lucky. Mostly organic, meats and snacks only on sale, I make as much as I can--minimal amount of prepackaged stuff. You are amazing.
I think how much you spend also has to do with where you live. I don't think you can totally compare unless it's two people in the same area.
Food is much more expensive in Chicago and the taxes are higher. In Minnesota they don't tax food at all, and in Wisconsin the tax is just lower. Food prices for us vary wildly from town to town, even 10 miles can change the price!
Around here a gallon of organic milk is between $5.50 and $6.
I buy JUST the basics with very few extras and we eat meat with every dinner, plus a veggie and potato. We eat things like toast and oatmeal for breakfast and sandwiches, soups and dinner leftovers for lunch. I'm hard-pressed to keep it under $100 and keep variety.
No one can feed a family of three for $20 a week unless they're eating nothing but Ramen noodles...I'm sorry, I just don't believe that.
**EDIT** Two dollars spaghetti has to be spaghetti without meat, and rice and beans...well, those meals are about the same as Ramen noodles. They have no nutritional value. Sure, beans and whole grain brown rice can be good for you...with other things. I'm not knocking it if that's all you can afford...believe me, I've been there...but that's not what I call eating healthy. That's the sad thing...some people can only afford that, or less.
I spend at least 600 a month to feed my family of four, and that's four people that actually eat. We eat mostly whole foods...fresh meat, veggies, fruits, cheeses, etc, and dinners made from those things. We eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Well, my husband and I don't eat breakfast.) We have a Celiac toddler who I'm still nursing so she and I are both gluten free, and that can be a bit more expensive...which is why we've just gone to whole foods.
This is a REALLY regional Q that pops up from time to time. In the midwest I can feel 3+dog for $200 or less per month. In Seattle, buying the SAME THINGS. I spend $600 per month. Same stuff. Different prices
Just to give you and idea: (NOT organic on any of this, just average pricing)
Lunchmeat here is $10 per pound. Chicken Breast is $9 per pound. Thighs are $5. Steak is $15-$20 per pound. Hamburger is $5 per pound. Bacon is $7 per pound. Milk is $4-$6 per HALF gallon. Bread is $4 a loaf. Laundry Detergent is $20 (for 96 loads). Toilet paper is $5 for 4 rolls.
But I can go visit family in NY or the Midwest and STEAK costs what HAMBURGER does here. Frozen meals aren't $5 they're $2. Many things are 5x more expensive (like steak v hamburger, or bread v bread), other's are "just" 2x as expensive here.
I spend $60 on MILK ALONE.
And it's not organic. Just plain old regular milk bought CHEAP. That's what you could get for $60 here. The added $20 would feed the dog. If I only had 200 to spend on groceries... we'd be eating a LOT of pasta, and oatmeal, nothing fresh, and have to wear a lot of dirty clothes (laundry detergent, remember costs $20-$40 per month if we want clean clothes every day). I know, because I've had that budget.
((Spaghetti here is $3 for pasta, $5 for sauce= aka an $8 meal. Rice and beans is apx $6 per meal))
we spend roughly $450 a month for myself my husband and our 2 1/2 year old. Produce is expensive, no matte where you buy it, it adds up. especially because it only lasts so long before it goes bad. meat is expensive, unless there is a good sale in which case I try to stock up. when we are down the last bit we have for food, i focus on meat and veggies. my hubby laughs at me sometimes when I come home with 10 boxes of stuffing for example. but hey, when they are on sale I stock up because there always comes a time when we have nothing more for food and have to make it a week and might only have enough veggies or other sides for a few meals, but hey, we have stuffing, or those Knorrs(or store brand) rice or pasta mixes, those are always going on sale 2 for $1. and it is hard to judge what someone else spends because prices for food are different all over the country, not all towns have stores like Aldi or Save A Lot where your money stretches further. and danggit, I like to get my toddler some snacks sometimes. yes, I know he doesnt need them, but I grew up pooooooooor like, "this week all we have to eat are potatos and pickles" poor, no joke it was like that sometimes. so I hate for my lil guy to go without an extra something, so sometimes i spend that lil extra, if we have it, on getting him a bag of store brand chex-mix (the kid loves chex mix) or the great big bad of animal crackers that last for 2 months.....when milk, even the walmart brand, is almost $4 dollars a galloon and you go through tons and tons of milk, it adds up.
I have always hesitated to answer this type of question. I know we spend way more than we should in this category. I just don't know how to scale down. We eat healthily, lots of fresh produce, meat with every dinner. I basically buy whatever I want to buy each time I go to the store. We probably spend over $2000 a month on groceries. I have 6 children, three of whom are teenaged boys. We are all thin, not overweight. Toilettries and paper goods are included in that amount if that makes a difference. Yeah, I know. It's a lot. In theory, I wish I could cut it down, but in practice, I like being able to get what I want/need for the family. We don't do many snacks at all. It is one thing my husband often complains about: no snacks in the house. LOL
Oh my god, I can't believe you spend that little! I'm guessing where in the country you are located makes a big difference.
For myself, husband and toddler we spend about $130 a week which includes all food items and random household things (paper towels, soap, etc.) Most of the cost is food. We buy a fair amount of fresh produce and meat as well as dry and canned goods. We eat out lunch on the weekends usually and send lunch to work with hubby daily. I buy things when on sale and also buy mostly store brands.
I feel they have gotten more expensive lately....I think I used to spend more like $100 only a few years ago, but then again that was without toddler as well.
I don't even know exactly, but I know I spend more than $20/week to feed myself and my daughter (half-time). I've gotten better at planning meals, and buying small quantities of fresh food so that it doesn't spoil, and cooking meals not frozen or prepared meals. I buy the store brand of everything possible.
Now I'll have to start tracking this just for my curiousity...
OMG... I can't believe you only spend $60-80 on groceries every 2 weeks.
How lucky!
Here in Hawaii: I shop for groceries on a weekly basis, and just for 1 week of groceries (for our family of 3 and my Mom that lives with us), we spend a about $200 per week. PLUS, I'd need to go to the grocer to pick up other things too as we run out. Being, the kids will eat 1 bag of nectarines in 2 days.
Things here are expensive.
Gallon of milk: $8.00
I go to the store about every 2-3 weeks and spend no more than $150. I buy all our meat when its only on sale as well as fresh fruit and veggies. We always have salad and fruit. I buy pasta when its on sale 10 for $10 and anything else that is majorly marked down and build my menus around my purchases. I pay very little for anything really and although we are not super healthy eaters, we eat well and a variety of things.
It's pretty expensive here so for the two of us, it is about $125/week. We do eat out and both gone quite a bit for work as well. My last trip to PetSmart I spent $160, that will last about three weeks. My guinea pig eats more than $20/week.
We eat great food around here, i dont think food is where to skimp. Mostly we eat fresh fruit and veggies, but we get our frozen and pantry stuff organic and meat free at places like whole foods and central market (a swankier h.e.b.) A typical month we spend about 400 to 600 on food. But thats actually cheap for this type of food. Not eating meat saves us a lot of dough.
Holy cow! How do you shop every other week and only spend $60-$80???? That's amazing. I shop once a week and spend between $100 - $150 each time. And I'm not buying crazy stuff - prepared foods, etc. I don't even buy meat that often. Of course I'm shopping for me and my husband, and our 2 elementary school aged girls, but still!!! I wish I could follow you on a shopping trip and see how you do it.
We have 3 kids and 2 adults in our house... I spend on average 600.00 per month. I would love to have your grocery bill!!! :)
There's 6 of us (4 little kids, but they eat as much as I do most days). We spend at least $125/wk. Most weeks I also pull 20 or so dollars from another part of our budget for food. I spend $60-80 on fruits and vegetables for a 2 week period, easily. We eat pastured meats, organic milk, truly free range eggs, lots of cheese, fruit, and vegetables, and whole grains. A whole chicken for us lasts for one dinner and one lunch. Sometimes I can stretch it into 2 dinners by having beans with the meal like chicken and black bean burritos. When these 4 boys get to be teenagers, I'm going to need a second job!
i am in kansas, so midwest too i guess...there are three of us, hubby, me, and a 5 year old eating machine ;) we spend about the same as you. we may go crazy some saturday and spend a good hundred bucks, but if we do that it's at least two weeks before we really "need" anything. normally it's more like about thirty or forty bucks a week. but we also live about five blocks from walmart (ugh!!) lol...SO we spend more than we need to. we also eat out a couple times a week, or get takeout. never anything too expensive but in the twenty-thirty dollar range sometimes.
