Food Budgets Around the World

[Jennifer]

Not sure where to put this, but I found it so interesting.

Hungry Planet (ABCNews.com)

They've assembled a weeks' worth of groceries for "typical" families in many different countries. The visual gives additional impact to the differences. And if you mouseover the bottom of the pictures, you'll get text that explains the family, plus the monetary value of the groceries they live on.

I'm still rather blown away that the family of four in the US spends $350 a week on food. Good grief. We have five and spent only $125 a month or so, including all the cleaning supplies and plasticwrap/foil and things.

[Geoff]

Wow, yes. The Uk one was $100 a week cheaper, but I don't see a great deal of difference in food delivery or style (although it probably depends a whole lot on whether the families chosen were typical for things like "organic" or "home cooked" vs prepared meals).

Edit : Jennifer, you mean $125 a week, right?

[cafe]

Weird. We are a family of six and spend no more than $250/week including cleaning/paper goods at today's prices, which are higher than 2005's. We could spend less than $250/week pretty easily. Much less than $200/week, though, and we start to feel a little pinch.

That's if we don't eat out, though, and most families eat out at least once a week, I'm guessing, and that can add up quick.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Geoff

Edit : Jennifer, you mean $125 a week, right?

DOH!!!!

yes. Week. (so about $500 a month)

...although we could go back to that cardboard diet... lotsa fiber.

Originally Posted by cafe

That's if we don't eat out, though, and most families eat out at least once a week, I'm guessing, and that can add up quick.

I'm sure that is part of it. Snacks out of the vending machine, a sandwich and soda for lunch, fast food 1-2X a week, pizza for dinner 1/week, etc. It all adds up QUICK.

[scantilyclad]

We spend about $80 a week on groceries, and we eat out once a week, and that is usually about 20 dollars, so i'd say we spend... 400 a month on food, wow that is really too much for a family of 3, considering one is a 6 month old baby!

[Wolf]

I spend ~$45-90 a week on eating out (90 is if I go for sushi in that week and had an otherwise-high week, my usual is no more than $50), and ~$40-80 a month on groceries (haven't done a major grocery shopping in over two months (wait...it's been over four...time is flying on me); my last trip was $18.67 for ingredients for soup, whipped cream, and strawberries, which is about two meals worth and is more expensive than eating out), which is seriously exaggerated because I have no clue how long what I have will last and I keep dividing the last shopping trip out. The contrast in costs between selecting sensible choices eating out and going to the grocery store is pretty striking because it's very nearly identical in price, and grocery shopping often loses. With my family here (total of 4), dinner was $28 with tip on Saturday, then mom found some ambition to get groceries and cook, which cost 38 for groceries for the meal (plus a bottle of sauce I had in my cupboard). She finally accepted that I was right - it's about the same to eat out around here, and often better, especially for just one person. I keep considering trying to uber-economize on food or go vegetarian (which means I'd need to make my own food) to see how it stacks up to my current food costs.

My last few months of effort to reduce fixed expenses has finally shown dramatic effects, with account balances many times higher this month (plus 80% less on credit cards, and including a large purchase of a washer and dryer) than they were before the effort began (even higher than expected, especially since it appears I have grossly over-estimated certain costs). The costs have already been more than paid for in utility expense reductions alone (at this point SDGE has enough over-pay from the level-pay-plan on the old place to pay the normal monthly here for four months). Petrol consumption has also been reduced considerably because I now walk to places that once took an 8-10-mile round-trip (stupid suburbs). As such, the only easily-reduced thing I have left is food.

[Jennifer]

My personal budget (living alone) right now for groceries is $50/week.... and i have to put eating out into that (along with living supplies).

It's not necessarily easy, I do a lot of bargain shopping, but it's not hard either -- I haven't been eating poorly and might even get more red meat than I used to. Many of the meals I make, I have leftovers for the next 2-3 meals. If I needed to do a $10 week, I suppose I could.

I buy a lot less diet soda than I used to.

It always just seems to be a trade-off between what you can scrape by with and enjoying your food a bit.

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

My personal budget (living alone) right now for groceries is $50/week.... and i have to put eating out into that (along with living supplies).

It's not necessarily easy, I do a lot of bargain shopping, but it's not hard either -- I haven't been eating poorly and might even get more red meat than I used to. Many of the meals I make, I have leftovers for the next 2-3 meals. If I needed to do a $10 week, I suppose I could.

I buy a lot less diet soda than I used to.

It always just seems to be a trade-off between what you can scrape by with and enjoying your food a bit.

Live on your own? The crockpot/slow cooker is your friend! Bulk veggies, chopped tomatoes, some spices, potatoes and a little red meat go a long way.

Make up some kind of meat stew in enough for 3 portions.

Day 1 : it's great with just some bread or a baked potato

Day 2 : Take half the left overs and add some indian spices (maybe mexican?) and some boiled rice, and have a curry/chilli out of it.

Day 3 : Freeze the last bit a week, or just eat it if you aren't bored.

This is a great way of feeding yourself, and slow cooked stews on the go all day give remarkably good flavours for the low hassle and low cost involved. Also, a curry done this way (you only need a few indian spices if you already have a tomatoe/vegetable/meat stew) just gets better and better with sitting a day or so.

Hope I'm not teaching you how cheap it was for your grandmother to suck eggs!

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Geoff

Live on your own? The crockpot/slow cooker is your friend! Bulk veggies, chopped tomatoes, some spices, potatoes and a little red meat go a long way. Make up some kind of meat stew in enough for 3 portions.

yes, very cool -- this was my experiment this past weekend.

I got a discounted peppercorn pork roast for $4-5, then cut up peppers and onions and mushrooms and added cream of mushroom soup to it.

Along with the white rice I made, I have enough for 4-5 meals altogether. Not bad... and I love that stuff.

Just a matter of getting some variety in there.

Hope I'm not teaching you how cheap it was for your grandmother to suck eggs!

No, she always ate them with the shell on.



I'll have to attempt curry at some point. Never made it before.

[Geoff]

That's where the curry comes in, in terms of variety.

Buy a sachet of "curry spices", toast them in a dry pan and stir them in. Also maybe stir in a tablespoon of mango chutney. You'd be amazed how you suddenly get this exotic, slightly fiery, sweet curry out of what was just a stew before.

Damn, I'm a hungry brit, now.