Food Budgets Around the World

[ceecee]

I bulk cook/OAMC and have for many years. For me it is the way to go. I shop and cook a bulk session every two weeks. This allows me to maximize sale shopping. I spend roughly $200 every time I shop and I make about 20 meals plus breakfast's and snacks. I stop at the farmers market weekly for veggies, fruit and deli meats for lunches. That runs maybe $50. So around $1000 a month for 6 people, 4 of which are starving to death teenagers. I pack everyone's lunch and I take bento every day to work. We might get pizza on really busy nights but that's not even every week. I get all my cleaning/household supplies at the dollar store too. I grill 20 marinated chicken breasts at a time and freeze them, for example. Or brown 10 pounds of ground beef, divide into quart sized bags and freeze. To me this is more about good time management but the savings is a very attractive feature as well.

[Ivy]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

(For reference, when I moved in in March, I bought a 4-pack of toilet paper and a 3-pack of paper towels. I'm still either on roll 1-2 of the paper towels, might be roll 1, and on roll 2 of the toilet paper.

That's because you're cheating: no period and you can drip dry. /gelus

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Ivy

That's because you're cheating: no period and you can drip dry. /gelus

....well... it does all have its perks. but one day... my consumption will go up.


A moment of sadness: I must have been using a roll or two of tp that I brought with me when I moved, because over the weekend I had to break open the six-pack I had bought on my first shopping trip.

Alas.

I think I use it more to blot my lips.

[Ivy]

I don't know anyone who spends even close to $341 a week on groceries. And I know a lot of people who shop exclusively in organic specialty stores like Whole Foods. Typically I spend about $100 at Trader Joe's and $50 at Wal Mart each week to feed my family of four plus our pets. I could do it for less, but I buy TJ's convenience foods for.. well, convenience.

Groceries cost a lot more when we lived in NYC, but I still can't see routinely spending over $300 a week even at that price level.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Ivy

Groceries cost a lot more when we lived in NYC, but I still can't see routinely spending over $300 a week even at that price level.

Nor wanting to. Think of all that money that could go towards something non-consumable.

[prplchknz]

Originally Posted by ceecee

I bulk cook/OAMC and have for many years. For me it is the way to go. I shop and cook a bulk session every two weeks. This allows me to maximize sale shopping. I spend roughly $200 every time I shop and I make about 20 meals plus breakfast's and snacks. I stop at the farmers market weekly for veggies, fruit and deli meats for lunches. That runs maybe $50. So around $1000 a month for 6 people, 4 of which are starving to death teenagers. I pack everyone's lunch and I take bento every day to work. We might get pizza on really busy nights but that's not even every week. I get all my cleaning/household supplies at the dollar store too. I grill 20 marinated chicken breasts at a time and freeze them, for example. Or brown 10 pounds of ground beef, divide into quart sized bags and freeze. To me this is more about good time management but the savings is a very attractive feature as well.

my mom does this. though the meals she makes are dinner for my dad if she has to be out of town for an extended period of time. everyone's on their own for breakfast on lunch, plus it's usually cereal, bagel, or a danish you can't really prepare those ahead a time. She does keep bagels and danishes in the freezer though.

[mysavior]

When I grew up $50-75/week got put towards food for three people. Now, living alone, I spend anywhere between $150 and $200 a week. I'm being stupid.

[bluebell]

Originally Posted by Athenian200

So, you buy all the food you need with that, along with light bulbs, toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, lotion, laundry detergent, paper towels, Kleenex, air freshener, dish soap, wood cleaner, glass cleaner, tile cleaner, carpet stain cleaner, toothpaste, mouthwash, and a toothbrush?

The bolded bits I see as unessential (you do need something to clean the bathroom with, though), and some of them I've never bought in my entire life. Even Kleenex is unessential if you use cloth handkerchiefs.

I'm somewhat extravagant with food purchases. I'm guessing for the two of us we spend $150 a week plus we eat out every week or so, but that includes a lot of luxury items that we're indulging in now after having a number of years below the poverty line. Also, food prices have gone up a lot recently - a loaf of bread now costs $4 where I live and we easily go through 3 loaves a week (my partner is always hungry).

If we had to, though, it would be easy to switch back to our old shopping habits and start eating legumes and beans instead of meat, for example. Bottled drinks I consider to be unessential and that would be an easy thing to cut out, as well as name brand foods and desserts such as ice cream.

[Wolf]

Every day I am reminded of something that makes Varelse amazing. Thanks. (Of course, I couldn't realize this without her being amazing, and nobody else has anything to do with that...)

My last trip to Sam's was shocking! Just short of $90. Most of which is attributable to a flat of Vitamin Water ($17), a block of Parmesan cheese ($9), some fresh pasta ($9) (4-6 meals worth, but uses my existing pasta sauce and other toppings, bumping the price), 72-pieces of cooked bacon ($8), sea salt w/ grinder, whole pepper w/ grinder, and lots of other pointless items (like packs of canned foods).

Last shopping trip I picked up a head of romaine, a bunch of green onions, a pack of tomatoes, some sliced mushrooms, and two avocados. All organic, where available. Total was $6.60, for at least a few meals worth of salad stuff that will hopefully last long enough to eat. I warm and cut up the bacon and grate the Parmesan cheese for the salad.

So, I've been running under a false impression of eating out. Apparently you can buy groceries far cheaper than you can eat out, even though it seemed like eating out is about as expensive as buying groceries where my parents live (which it is, and worsening).

bluebell: You need to get that fixed. They don't work if you let the magic smoke out.