• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Groceries

Tigerlily

unscannable
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
5,942
MBTI Type
TIGR
Enneagram
3w4
How much do you spend per week and how many in your household?
 

kelric

Feline Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2007
Messages
2,169
MBTI Type
INtP
Hmm... I don't really keep track or anything, but I'd say $65 a week. Not counting going out to lunch once or twice a week. Just me:popc1:
 

kyuuei

Emperor/Dictator
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
13,964
MBTI Type
enfp
Enneagram
8
Including home provisions, to feed a family of four for us, it's about 100$ a week, give or take. Sometimes things add up and we need more than that (Omg, the dog food is out, we're out of paper towels and toilet paper, we happen to need more shampoo and there's a lamp on sale.) but I can normally get by with 100$ a week. I should mention that I consider water room/cleaning necessities in with grocery bills, since we get all that at the same location.

I do "no spend" days.. so whenever I buy groceries, immediately we claim the next day is a no-spending day.. so unless it's an emergency, we don't buy anything the next day. It keeps us on budget and forces us to plan everything out in advance.
 

Tigerlily

unscannable
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
5,942
MBTI Type
TIGR
Enneagram
3w4
Holy crap! Kelric & kyuuei, that's awesome! I'm not telling what I spend until someone else comes close! :laugh:
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
A couple hundred a week, give or take. That includes paper and cleaning products, toiletry items, pet food, etc. There are seven of us.
 

kyuuei

Emperor/Dictator
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
13,964
MBTI Type
enfp
Enneagram
8
Jen: :laugh: It's not so awesome, but I don't have much of a choice in the matter either. I wish I could spend more on better foods, but we work with what we've got :) and we're satisfied, which is all you really need to be with food. The main thing is to identify what you can't live without eating.. then work around the rest.

Cafe: At first when I read that I was like "omg rly?!" but with 7 to feed, that's about what my parents spent back when there were more of us in the house.. we had 8 mouths to feed everyday for quite a while.
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Cafe: At first when I read that I was like "omg rly?!" but with 7 to feed, that's about what my parents spent back when there were more of us in the house.. we had 8 mouths to feed everyday for quite a while.
We use paper plates and a decent amount of convenience food because it's difficult to find anything besides chicken nuggets that everybody will eat, especially with autistics in the house. We've also found that if we don't keep some easy stuff on hand, we eat out more and expensive food at home is still usually cheaper than cheap food eaten out. And Don takes a lunch and several sodas with him to work most days.

We keep most of our other expenses low, so food ends up being our single largest monthly expense.
 

angell_m

Permabanned
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
818
MBTI Type
IxFx
Enneagram
5w4
Unhealthy mood:
About $750 a month

Healthy mood:
About $450 a month

This includes cigarettes / food / beverages (non-alcoholic).
For one person ; me.

When I'm on my lows, I eat less, and drink more (chocolate milk, ice coffee, energy drinks, etc). And only eat microwaved/junkfood.
On my highs, I eat more and drink less. Eat a lot of bread, fruit, and I cook my own food. And drink orange/pineapple juice.
 

Valiant

Courage is immortality
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
Messages
3,895
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8w7
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
How much do you spend per week and how many in your household?

About 160$ per week. (Used an online currency converter. 1200 SEK.)
I'm alone in my household, but I have a cooking interest.
Sometimes I spend more, sometimes less.
Depending on what type of ingredients are needed.

Edit: as I saw in the post above, I wanted to state that this does not include cigarettes, eating out or such.

Apart from a period (6 months) of actual poverty when I got scammed back in 2008 working in Norway, I haven't eaten boring food since I moved to my first apartment.
 

PuddleRiver

It's always something...
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
2,923
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w6
We spend about $100 to $120 a week for 3 people and every other weekend that the grandboys are here. We don't buy a lot of junk but I am a hoarder of food for the times I can't afford to go to the store so I have a bit extra on hand to tide us over.
 

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
5,059
MBTI Type
INtp
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I honestly don't keep track of what I spend on groceries. I think its in the reasonable range because I'm always able to pay to bills. I live alone and find that grocery shopping isn't always single person friendly. I just want a few slices of bread, not a whole loaf. Otherwise, it will go moldy and to waste. The best deals on things seem to be the family size stuff which is way more than I possibly want. Luckily I have family close by and I end up sending some food with them.
 

kyuuei

Emperor/Dictator
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
13,964
MBTI Type
enfp
Enneagram
8
I can't imagine $750 a month for groceries.. Imagine all the awesome things I could cook with that sort of money for my family. Where's that swooning emoticon..
 

angell_m

Permabanned
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
818
MBTI Type
IxFx
Enneagram
5w4
I can't imagine $750 a month for groceries.. Imagine all the awesome things I could cook with that sort of money for my family. Where's that swooning emoticon..

I don't use money on anything else. Just the little things. If I want a cookie, I'll buy it. I don't need money for a new car, apartment, stereo, etc. I look very poor, but I live rich, well, when it comes to food. Besides, this is Norway, everything is expensive. I can live for three months in the US on one Norwegian paycheck because the US = Third World Country :x j/k
 

Tigerlily

unscannable
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
5,942
MBTI Type
TIGR
Enneagram
3w4
Thanks for sharing everyone :)

Here's my thing. I don't want to spend a lot on groceries. I'd rather save the extra money for something that we as a family can enjoy. I don't eat junk food anymore, that includes soda so that should cut our bill down considerably. I'm wondering if shopping at Sam's club (or similar) is more efficient? I've read that if you just stick to what you need, you'll be OK.

I am trying to become more environmentally friendly and found How much are you spending on groceries? - EnviroMom site. Appearently there is a woman in Oregon that gives workshops on how to slash your grocery bill in half of course I'd have to fly there and pay whatever she charges to take the seminar. :laugh:

I have a friend with 7 people in her household. I haven't asked her yet what they spend on groceries, but she is amazing with coupons. She has an organized coupon book and I'd be surprised if she spent over $150 a week for a family of 7. I'm going to pick her brain today.
 

Lateralus

New member
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
6,262
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
3w4
If you're actually able to make use of the larger sizes of the products Sam's Club sells, you can definitely save money. I've got a membership and it has helped me cut down my grocery bill by about 20-25% (from ~$400 to around $300 per month). I could probably cut it down more, but I've used some of the savings to buy more meat than I did before.
 
O

Oberon

Guest
We spend between $500 and $600 per month for a family of six, including two teenagers and a ten-year-old.
 
O

Oberon

Guest
If you're actually able to make use of the larger sizes of the products Sam's Club sells, you can definitely save money.

...but only if you had been previously buying name brands, or not shopping the sales. My penny-pinching wife has been to Sam's, and she's not impressed.
 

Lateralus

New member
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
6,262
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
3w4
...but only if you had been previously buying name brands, or not shopping the sales. My penny-pinching wife has been to Sam's, and she's not impressed.
Not true. The price Sam's Club has on its meat and produce is lower than any supermarket around here, with one exception. The supermarkets drop the prices to Sam's Club levels on food that's about to expire. Take boneless chicken for example. Sam's Club usually sells that for $1.97/lb where I live. The supermarkets sell the same meat for ~$3.99/lb (when it first reaches the store), then slowly drops the price as time passes. Right before expiration, the supermarkets finally meet (or come close to meeting) Sam's price.

With items like potatoes, the price isn't even close (~$5/15lbs at Sam's vs $3.49/5lbs at the cheapest supermarket).

I don't buy name brand anything.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
It can vary a lot for me, between 150 and 300 a month depending on if I'm stocking up on nonperishables, what's on sale and how much I feel like splurging (mostly cheese or pastries). Usually 200 or so, so 50$ a week as a very rough average. If I had unlimited money ever (ha!) I'd probably spend 300-400 a month, mostly on things like nice cheeses and organic stuff and good quality meat and such. Not counting toiletries, alcohol or eating out (none of which I spend much on).

I'd call myself a 1.5 person household since I'm the one who cooks and I buy the food for "real meals" except I don't really buy meat much so he buys it if he wants it - but we buy food separately so he buys snacks, breakfast foods and whatever else he wants.

Of course, the comparison isn't really all that relevant until you know what that money buys. Prices can be very different in different regions/countries.
 
Top