How much do YOU spend on food/etc. per week?

[Edamommy]

What's your weekly grocery bill? How do YOU save money? We're trying to be a bit more frugal lately and I'd love to hear what everyone else does!

[bethanie]

well...actually I'll be looking into that as well. It's just that now we do try to buy everything...or most things organic (or I do, I do the shopping for the two of us of course). And organic is expensive. I save money in general by buying only in season fruits and vegetables as well as anything on sale (like tonight organic avacados for 99 a peice... I got three). I buy all of my rice, pastas and beans in bulk now. Nothing packaged that can come from a bin. That does cut down on my hfs bill a bit. I also go to my 'regular' grocery store about once every two or three weeks to check out sales they have there on dry goods like pastas or beans. Plus our grocery store carries it's own organic soy milk which is way cheaper than silk or other soy brands. But really it helps if your using a hfs, when they have a good sale, pick up several at a time of the sale item.

Course I'm totally bummed that cinnamon puffins, which I love have been on sale for two weeks at my hfs (both branches) and every time I go in to see if they have them, they're cleaned out.

B

[bluegrrrl79]

I have a question, how much cheaper is it to buy in bulk vs. bagged or canned items?

[CocoBanana]

I buy dried beans/lentils instead of canned. A 1kg bag of lentils cost me $3, and would make 5 meals. A can costs me $1.50, and makes 1 meal, with the addition of salt and preservatives

[SystmDwnGrl2]

I spend about 50.00-80.00 a week for 4. I used to spend more when I lived in North Dakota, simply because produce was far more expensive there.

[kristadb]

I don't look forward to when both the boys are teens :(

[SystmDwnGrl2]

oh man... don't remind me...I have one approaching teenage years... Ugh... now I feel old.

[Allergmom]

I think we spend about $60 p/week for me, my husband, and our 15 month old. We've been buying dried & canned beans (canned for quick meals). We shop at Costco for large amounts of frozen veggies, canned goods, and paper goods. There's a local orchard that sells a huge amount of second-grade apples for $7, which lasts us a month. And 50 lbs of potatoes for $15 (we love 'tatoes).

I'm hoping to cut down a bit further, but the Silk/soy cheese/soygurt is expensive no matter where you get it. We have to buy enough silk for our son to drink and to use in cooking, so that adds up fast. And the soy cheese-there's only one kind I've found locally that doesn't contain casien, and it's pricey!

[zoebird]

well, remembering that my husband is an omnivore who buys the most expensive meats available (biodynamic, local are expensive!), our weekly food bill is somewhere around $100. we buy a lot in bulk, we buy a lot of produce on sale (usually, we only buy what's on sale)--that's cut back on costs. We don't buy processed vegetarian meat analogues or the like.

we consider our food an investment in our health. because of this, we're willing to spend more money on it. If we need to budget and be frugal, our food budget is the last place we look for extra coins. We look to other household expenses (phone, electric, gas, tv) and other expenses (cars/gas, entertainment, coursework, etc) first. Usually, we can find something that we can let go of or use less of in order to get the extra funds that we need for something else.

because we lived so lean last year, we're feeling particularly wealthy this year. but, all that extra money is going into savings so that we can have a base to build on over the next few years. (BTW, saving was the first thing to go when things got lean. we cut our self payment in half).

[Edamommy]

Like Bethany, we also buy mostly organic! How many of you also try to get organic or "responsible" foods?

My mother is constantly giving me a hard time about spending the extra $ for organic. It's surprising to me that more people don't "get it" about organics and health and their FUTURE health.?.

[renaissancesun]

well, remembering that my husband is an omnivore who buys the most expensive meats available (biodynamic, local are expensive!), our weekly food bill is somewhere around $100. we buy a lot in bulk, we buy a lot of produce on sale (usually, we only buy what's on sale)--that's cut back on costs.



Same here with the meats, only for husband and kids. We have a 180 a week grocery budget and that includes all pet supplies, supplements, cosmetics/hygeine items. Sometimes I use if for other things, like school supplies, so I really can't answer the question very clearly.

[FalafelsRule]

I spend between two and three hundred dollars on food per month. I look for sale items and good deals. I buy bulk items often. Fresh organic produce and fruit tends to be more expensive than I would like for it to be. I do not mind buying high quality organic food, even if I have to pay extra. I find other, less important things to not buy instead of forsaking good, healthy, wholesome food.

[eggplant]

I spend about $25 a week or less for just myself. I try to buy mostly organic, but also in-season and on sale items. I also buy a lot of items like soy milk, tofu, nut butters, jams, pasta, frozen fruits and veggies, nuts, dried fruit, etc. at Trader Joe's where the organic stuff isn't that expensive. I use the bulk bins for grains and a few other things. And I seize opportunity. If I see one of the three brands of cereal I eat on sale at Wild Oats or elsewhere (they have occasional two-for-one sales) I basically buy the whole shelf. Well, not quite, but I stock up. I buy very few processed foods, which tends to cut down the cost of groceries as well.

[zoebird]

we buy most of our stuff organic/biodynamic. all of our frozen fruit and veggies, some of our fresh, all of our dairy/eggs, all of my husband's meats, all of our grains and sauces. i think only about 1/2 of our fresh produce is not organic.

[dirtysole]

we consider our food an investment in our health. because of this, we're willing to spend more money on it. If we need to budget and be frugal, our food budget is the last place we look for extra coins. We look to other household expenses (phone, electric, gas, tv) and other expenses (cars/gas, entertainment, coursework, etc) first. Usually, we can find something that we can let go of or use less of in order to get the extra funds that we need for something else.


us too. well, me anyway and i do the shopping/cooking. we wind up spending at max about $150 every two weeks or so for the two of us. the funny thing is, with the way i cook, there could be three or four of us and it probably wouldn't change the food bill.
not all (or even most) of our produce is organic, but a lot of it is locally grown (we go to a outdoor market that carries stuff from all the local farmers) so i see it as a bit of a trade. :D

[bumble]

120$ a week..Plus little extras I may have forgotten.So maybe more.Were pretty bad about buying expensive/neat things.We really like to try new things and were pretty boring,so having fun groceries is fun for us.

:)

[Lee]

I buy all my groceries on 1st of each month, and just buy extra milk or bread each week as I run out. Everything else has to last the month. I get paid once a month. So yeah. ^^;; I buy from places like food basics and Sobeys when I want purely organic foods (Sobeys has a great organic foods section, the cheapest in my city!)

[Edamommy]

us too. well, me anyway and i do the shopping/cooking. we wind up spending at max about $150 every two weeks or so for the two of us. the funny thing is, with the way i cook, there could be three or four of us and it probably wouldn't change the food bill.
not all (or even most) of our produce is organic, but a lot of it is locally grown (we go to a outdoor market that carries stuff from all the local farmers) so i see it as a bit of a trade. :D


ME TOO! I cook enough for 4-5 people and there's only 2 of us and one skinny 22 month old! LOL! Now that we've moved home I am delighted to be able to freeze a little of the left overs and also take some to either my Grandmother or my Dad- I LOVE to have them ewwwww and ahhhh over my cooking! :sunny: But, James is always kidding me that we could adopt two teenagers and not spend any extra $ feeding them!

[zoebird]

ryan eats enough for two people. so, we're feeding three people. and, the 7 lb prince of rabbits gets lots of produce. i'm reading watership down, man. oh, man. :cry:

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

James is always kidding me that we could adopt two teenagers and not spend any extra $ feeding them!

Would you adopt mine then? Please-Oh-Please?

I thought I cooked a LOT, I have always cooked with leftovers PLANNED into it, so I could freeze for my husbands lunches.

But in the past couple years,... never a leftover to be found.

They eat us out of house and home - they're tall, slim, athletic GIRLS and they MUST have hollow legs because they can eat ENORMOUS servings and still be hungry. I know it's mainly all very healthy stuff or just fiber, but they eat three times more than my husband almost every day... and heaven HELP my budget when a friend spends the weekend - have to cook for an ARMY!

(And no - for the skeptics out there, no 'eating disorders' or anything like that - they're just teenagers!)

Get your walletts prepared, the teenagers will hit your home some day too! :yes:

[SallyK]

I spend anywhere from $100-$150 a week for a family of 3 or 4. This includes everything I buy at Whole Foods (laundry soap, dishwasher soap, toilet paper - I'm bound to stock up on one of those things each time I go grocery shopping).
Right now our budget is tight - so I'm trying to stay as close to the $100 level as possible. As much as my husband wants me to (for budget reasons) I just don't feel okay with "downgrading" to non-organic foods.

[FalafelsRule]

I just don't feel okay with "downgrading" to non-organic foods.

I am glad to hear that. :up:

[Cinnamon toast]

For my family of 4 I've budgeted about $125.00 per week for groceries and household products. I could easily spend far more. I tend to do the vast majority of the shopping, unless I send my husband out with a very *specific* list (love him, but he never looks at the price of anything!). I'm very careful/frugal when I shop and I am happy to go to discount shops (there are a few down by my workplace) if I can save some money.

I also try to buy at least one new product or fruit/veg when I go shopping. I think variety is important and I like exposing the family to new and different things. I never feel bad about spending money on food, it is a priority for us and good budgeting is all about priorities!

[veggiesrule]

I would say we spend around $125 per week, but that also includes nonfood items like toilet paper, hygeine products, etc. That's what we spend going shopping each week.

What I started doing a year ago and it works great is that I bought a small white board and put it on my fridge. Then I have the days of the week written out and on Sunday before shopping I decide what we are going to eat each day for that week and write it on the board. This is great because you can figure out exactly what you need to buy and you don't have to do the "what do you want" thing back and forth.

Then I never grocery shop without a list, I look at my planned meals for the week and write down everything I need to make them. Then I shop and use coupons when I can and only once in a while do I pick something up that wasn't on the list.

[Edamommy]

I post "meal plans" too! I LOVE to cook so it's fun for me to pour thru cookbooks and plan out just what we're eating for each meal. And list it on our chalkboard so my husband knows what's up! He also writes down what he wants in his lunches on my grocery list too. This has saved so much time and YES, it avoids the age-old "what do you want" nightly debate! :up: