How much do you spend on food?

[LostOne0069]

OK, quick question(s) for everyone:


How much do you spend on food per month? For how many people?


It amazes me sometimes how fast the grocery bill adds up. I was just playing with numbers a bit and figured out that if I averaged the cost of a meal to $2 for each member of my family... multiply that by 6 members of the family and then by 3 meals a day and then by 30 days in a month.... you get $1080/month!

Imagine what it would cost if we ate out at restaurants or even fast food!

[StaciMM]

About $100 per week, for a family of 5. Every now and then (as in once every 1-2 months) we'll do breakfast or lunch out as a family.

I take stuff to work to make sandwiches for my lunch. That doesn't include school lunches, which for 2 kids is $576 per year.

(Underlined for Bkfiler's benefit.)

[bkfiler]

About $100 per week, for a family of 5. Every now and then (as in once every 1-2 months) we'll do breakfast or lunch out as a family.

I take stuff to work to make sandwiches for my lunch. That doesn't include school lunches, which for 2 kids is $576 per year.

ok you are a liar. i could only list around $315 for food per my attorney but i tracked it and it was $425+ and that was buying cheap arse at bargain places food and no fasat food except $2 per week maybe.

remeber that i drink 2 2 liters of soda a day and that costs $1.50 a day. yes its an additction. and yes im waiting until i cans sue the soda companies for my problems. (if you think it aint an addiction then quit your soda and watch how severe the back of your lower head upper high neck area gets). thats $45 a month for just soda. that leaves me with 360 for food at 4.3 weeks and thats $88 per week. thats $12 a day. i aint scrimping and im not tiny little girl either but that aint buying high priced meals at all. im talking budget stuff mostly.

and yes it does inlcude the buffet at the strip club for $5 entrance fee

[StaciMM]

I'm serious.

For dinner during the week, I do things like spaghetti ($.50 for noodles, $2 for a jar of sauce and the jar is good for 2 meals), hamburger helpers ($1 on sale, plus $2 ground beef), and some things that I buy in the freezer section for $2ish. (Noodles and meatballs, turkey slices w/ gravy, or salsbury steak.) Add to those a veggie (store brand broccoli, frozen, $.69). The weekday trend is about $3/day for dinner. Only one eats lunch at home-either leftovers, a sandwich, or a meal that runs in the $1 range. Breakfasts are simple-cereal, pop tarts, toast, fruit. On weekends, we eat together more of a family meal-but still, nothing costly. We probably spend as much for the Sat/Sun as we do for Mon-Fri though.

So-
$15/week for dinners
$3/week for milk
$10/week for me (soft drinks for work, sandwich stuff)
$5/week for DD lunch
$10/week for breakfast
$10/week for DH at work
$35/week for weekend food
$10/week odds & ends

We do stock up when things are on sale. Like last week, Digornio pizzas were $3.99, and had an extra $5 off for buying 4. So-did that twice, and have pizzas in the freezer. That's a weekend food, LOL.

[SinkingFast]

We spent right at $1100 last month. Family of 6. And that doesn't count some foods my Mom buys for herself. She likes to eat some different things than we eat, plus she drinks Ensure or Boost every day.

We've been saving every receipt for about 6 weeks now. I started at the beginning of January so the grocery total didn't include holiday meals foods.

We buy bottle water by the gallon for drinking, coffee, tea, etc.. Water softener and salt issues. I just included it as a grocery expense. (Son works at a grocery and gallons of water are non taxable grocery items.) That was only about $20 of the total. Just an FYI for you.

The actual grocery receipts from January line up with what I was spending on CC's. I checked against CC's statements statements since September.

BKFiler,......... You outa try Sam's soda. It's not bad. We buy between 4 and 6, 2 liters of soda a week. Switching off to Sam's brand cut our soda bill by more than half.

[SinkingFast]

Beef is extremely expensive here. $3/lb minimum. That's buying bulk at Sam's. Shopping for older persons' diets and teens is a little more expensive than when you are young and have little kids. I buy lower fat stuff like 90/10 beef and light hotdogs and bologna. I try to stock up when I find it on sale to keep the price lower.

Teenagers can eat you outa house and home. We only get one dinner out of a jar of spaghetti sauce. That's tossing in a pound of ground beef. Spaghetti is one of our cheaper meals, tho. Pound of pasta is $1, bag of mixed salad stuff is $1.50 (Walmart sells them 2 for $3, cheapest around), $2 for sauce, $2-3 for meat, and I usually pick up french bread or sourdough on the clearance rack for $1 to $1.50 for a loaf.

I didn't think $1100 was too bad. I've seen other people's Sched J's from around here. 2 people are claiming $400. So that would be equal to us claiming $1200 for 6 people.

[edwards2]

Sinking fast...boy can I relate to the teenagers eating you out of house and home especially males...at least that's the way it was for my youngest son - age 16 - a few months ago. Now he is on a health kick...he isnt fat and never has been but he will not eat anything that is not fat-free. He eats lean pockets, salads, chicken and drinks hundreds of bottles of water. He is athletic and works out on the treadmill every day. We also buy a lot of the bags of salad. We also buy store brands when we can too except canned veggies at Kroger...they are nasty. The Target superstore is pretty good though so I shop there too. The Walmart superstore here is horrible. The meat I cannot believe has even been inspected and the fruit looks diseased. The store always looks like it needs to be cleaned with Clorox. And Staci...I take stuff from home for lunch too..my husband and son do the same. Most of the girls I work with eat out...every day. Not only is that expensive it is extremely fattening but they dont seem to care. We do try and eat together as a family Sunday night. During the week and Friday and Saturday nights it is almost impossible with everyone going different directions. We also eat out at least once a month somewhere..nothing fancy just getting out...

[bkfiler]

I'm serious.

For dinner during the week, I do things like spaghetti ($.50 for noodles, $2 for a jar of sauce and the jar is good for 2 meals), hamburger helpers ($1 on sale, plus $2 ground beef), and some things that I buy in the freezer section for $2ish. (Noodles and meatballs, turkey slices w/ gravy, or salsbury steak.) Add to those a veggie (store brand broccoli, frozen, $.69). The weekday trend is about $3/day for dinner. Only one eats lunch at home-either leftovers, a sandwich, or a meal that runs in the $1 range. Breakfasts are simple-cereal, pop tarts, toast, fruit. On weekends, we eat together more of a family meal-but still, nothing costly. We probably spend as much for the Sat/Sun as we do for Mon-Fri though.

So-
$15/week for dinners
$3/week for milk
$10/week for me (soft drinks for work, sandwich stuff)
$5/week for DD lunch
$10/week for breakfast
$10/week for DH at work
$35/week for weekend food
$10/week odds & ends

We do stock up when things are on sale. Like last week, Digornio pizzas were $3.99, and had an extra $5 off for buying 4. So-did that twice, and have pizzas in the freezer. That's a weekend food, LOL.

oh my arse! you cant live on $100 a week for 5 people. reality check girlfriend.

$3 a week for milk? are you getting special prices from hubbby? lol

thats 1 gallon. 5 people at breakfast qith one ceral bowl takes at least 1/3 of that for sure.

$15 a week for 5 people for dinner? lets say you mean 5 days. thats $3 a night for dinner.

lets revise that one.

[bkfiler]

thats 2 bottles of 2 liters fo soda each day. adn that is walmart price 0.58 each + tax. 1.50 a day for 30 days is $45.

[StaciMM]

Yes-the $15 for dinners was for weekdays only. Which is why I listed for weekends $35. Yes-$3 for dinner and I rounded up. Did you read the post or just the list, LOL!

Dh & I don't drink alot of milk. The kids drink milk for breakfast-when they eat cereal, they usually have it dry. (Their choice.) Normally, 1 gallon lasts a week.

Big tip-I check what we have before going shopping for the week. Unless its a good price-we only buy what we need. I won't even spend the $100 this week-have a couple of pounds of ground beef frozen, have a bunch of hamburger & tuna helpers (from when there were on sale for $1/box). Will probably eat pizzas on Sunday for the Super Bowl.

[bkfiler]

staci,

ok first let me apologize for calling you a liar. upon re-reading my post it seems harsh. i have too much respect for you to say that to you in such a way.

[bkfiler]

ok, now you are such a liar!

1 gallaon of milk a week and everyone loves milk? lol 5 people?

$3 for dinner rounded up? for 5 people? no freaking way.

are you the same poster that said her daughter is sneaking food? hehe maybe you are starving them

[StaciMM]

At work, I drink 2 of the 24 ounce bottles of Pepsi each day. 6 pack costs $2.50, so roughly $5/week. $1 for bread, $3 for cheese singles, $3 for ham or turkey. The sandwich supplies tend to last for a week and a half, so I don't feel that I'm cheating for claiming $10!

Possible Dinners - weekdays:
Hamburger Helper $3
Spaghetti $1.50 (1/2 jar of sauce)
Salsbury Steak & Broccoli ($2.75)
Noodles & Meatballs & Misc. Veggie $2.75
Tuna Helper ($3)
Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese & Misc. Veggie $3.50
Lasagna (frozen) $3
Vegetable/Beef Soup $3
Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwich $2.50

Weekend Meals add up to a little more per day-
Home made sloppy joe
Tacos
Quesadillas
Hamburgers/Hot dogs
Fryer Food

During the week, Dh eats sandwiches, leftovers. Sometimes he'll make dirty rice ($2 for the mix, $4 for 2 pounds of ground beef) and work on that for a few days. He'll also sometimes make a big batch of spaghetti and eat that as leftovers.

[StaciMM]

Keep in mind that a 4 year old & Dh are the only ones to eat lunch at home, and w/ his schedule Dh usually only eats 2 meals per day. He has developed a habit of eating mashed potatos and gravy alot here lately-I like 'em, but not 3-4 times per week!

And, they are 4, 5, and 7. Most meals have leftovers!


Ps-I'm CHEAP and I buy things that are good prices.


Underlined for Bkfiler's benefit.

[bkfiler]

me too but it just doesnt work that cheap.

btw, you can get cheese singles for $1 at the 99 cent store. unless you mean a large stick of real cheese like i used to get when i was a kid