How much do you spend on groceries?

[mouse24]

Yes hi, i was just wondering how much do you guys spend on groceries... my parents are stupid and buy 1 meal at a time -.- we spend 20 bucks a nigh on dinner, which is 600 bucks every month... then they cry that there poor.... so how much do you spend and how often?

 

[Pyree]

Family of 4 about $100 AUD a week. But we grow our own vegetable and only buy bulk meat (5kg+), eggs (5 dozen+), milk (20L+), rice (25kg+), sugar and salt (10kg+), canned food (10 can+), potato (10kg+), vegetable oil (25kg+), etc. You get the idea.

 

[nordlead]

Family of 3 (child is under 2) and we spend around ~$850/month on what I will call "essentials". Basically anything you'd buy at a grocery store or club (BJ's, Sam's, and so on). So this also includes things like Diapers, cleaning supplies, paper products and so on. Also, this sometimes includes "other" purchases when we buy a non-essential item along with other things and I don't feel like splitting out the bill.

I'm going to try the local farmers market and see if I can get cheaper products there.

 

[crowmag]

Wife and I spend about $280-$300 a month US. Once you stop eating out all the time you start to crave home cooked food.

 

[Pyree]

^wow! food must be really cheap in US.

Edit: Ok, only two people.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I spend about $300.00 a month!

 

[joshyboy82]

I eat out every meal and the average meal costs $15.00, so $450.00 a month on myself.

yes, math would dictate I only eat one meal a day, which for the most part is true, but I do buy energy drinks and an occasional snack, so the number would probably be closer to $600.00.

 

[jitpublisher]

Me and my wife, about $350 average I would say.

 

[Energy96]

About $175 to $200 every 2 weeks on average for 2 people and we buy lots of crap that isn't essential like snacks, beer, etc. Though we go out to eat at a nice restaurant 1-2 times a week for an additional $100 or so, something that also isn't essential but quite enjoyable.

Yes, compared to most of the world food is cheap in the US. Mostly because we produce most of the worlds food. It's about the only major thing we still export haha.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Family of 4 about $100 AUD a week. But we grow our own vegetable and only buy bulk meat (5kg+), eggs (5 dozen+), milk (20L+), rice (25kg+), sugar and salt (10kg+), canned food (10 can+), potato (10kg+), vegetable oil (25kg+), etc. You get the idea.

thats insane, i have a family of 3 in AUS and we do at least 150-200 per week (including cleaning products and toiletries). I must start growing veggies and buy a cow me thinks. but 20L+ milk? doesnt it go bad??? or do you really use 20L per week?

 

[Energy96]

thats insane, i have a family of 3 in AUS and we do at least 150-200 per week (including cleaning products and toiletries). I must start growing veggies and buy a cow me thinks. but 20L+ milk? doesnt it go bad??? or do you really use 20L per week?

You would be surprised how much you can save by NOT buying non food items at the grocery store. Buy them at wall-mart or home depot for about 50% less on average.

edit* oh wait, you are not US, not sure for you then, but I would imagine the same applies in AUS.

 

[mrmez]

LOL @ Mouse. That sucks, but if you have a better idea its never too late to help teach them.

I have one massive appetite and try buy as much organic as possible.
I also travel a lot, but id say on average id spend ~75-100 AUD/week.

Things that cost more:
-Organic
-Quality foods. Eg. I'll only buy scotch fillet. (supermarket steak here (aus) is usually very good)
-Sports supplements. Protein, BCAA, Glutamine, vitamins, sports drink mix, energy bars etc etc.

Things that save me:
-Buying organic is expensive. I buy less and make sure i don't end up throwing anything away. This way it does't need to cost more.
-Buy fresh, unprocessed foods. Yes they cost more, but I'll never get diabetes etc so I'll save by not having to buy that medication
-Skip anything sweet. Juice, choc, etc.
-Skip fast food. It's jammed with calories, but no nutrients, which is often why your body still feels hungry but your stomach is full.Then you eat more to satisfy the cravings and you get fat. Sound familiar?
-Planning on a vege garden too... eventually. Growing your own food is about the best thing you can do. Everyone should have the skills and knowledge to feed themselves.

Buying good, pure, organic unprocessed food is not about saving money now, its an investment in your health for the future, an investment in a happy healthy life.

 

[Pyree]

@iam2thecrowe

I didn't include cleaning products and toiletries. Plus we don't have junk food in the grocery/we don't eat junk food. Also my parents, now retired, collect throw away food stuff from the Asian groceries we know for the worm farm as fertiliser or else the fertilizer cost will be very high. They indeed do a really good job on turning the entire backyard to productive vegetable garden. Helped by the good rainfall these couple of years, the productivity is really good. However, it is not so good for my internet because the water seep into the phone line (stupid Telstra and stupid government for not completing NBN more quickly). The spaghetti melons in the garden are growing and they are my favourite.

The milk we drink is in air tight uht carton for 79c/L.

One more thing to add, we don't throw away our food. My parents managed the use by date and they only cook enough for everyone. Also, our family is really small physically. I am the tallest and only 168cm and mum is probably below 150cm. So, I think we eat way less food then taller people in general.

 

[zero888]

My family of 4 spends about 200-300 a week. We don't eat out because it's cheaper to cook and since we eat healthy (everything is fresh), its not at all bad.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

About $40.00 to $45.00USD/week. I'm single and eat single.
If I eat at McD's or similar, I'll spend 3X that. NOT a good bargain.

 

[ajay_vishvanathan]

about 10000 INR (comes to some 202 USD) on groceries.. then another 20-25 USD for milk.. (per month) then another 40 to 45 USD for vegetables.. so summing it up we a family of three adults spend about 275 USD every month for groceries.. since we buy in bulk.. we tend to get discounts and we target discount offers..
all that converted from INR (Indian Rupee) to USD..

 

[iam2thecrowe]

"However, it is not so good for my internet because the water seep into the phone line (stupid Telstra and stupid government for not completing NBN more quickly). " your lucky you can get internet, i live in the metro area near Adelaide and cant get ADSL2, and there are no ports available for any broadband except Cable which is expensive. Luckily the neighbours are nice and are sharing their service with me wirelessly. I swear some areas of Australia its like living in the dark ages for lack of broadband services. you can blame that on Telstra too.

 

[ukee1593]

^^ Bit out of place?? (BTW I'm Australian and water got into my phone line and broke it over the last couple of days (water main burst))

Its not uncommon for a family of 4 Australians to spend $250 - 300 each week on food and other "supermarket" type products. I have seen statistics that says Australia's grocery prices are over 2 times grocery prices in the USA, and even Britain. Not sure how accurate that is though?

 

[mrmez]

I've lived and travelled a fair bit overseas, and Its pretty accurate.
We get reamed every time we open our wallets in Australia.

Cars in particular, but almost everything is just super expensive here.
Eg: Audi R8:
Australia: $300,000
USA: $115,000
Go to the websites and check it yourself.

Food is no different. Only place i found food to be consistently more expensive was northern europe. Norway, Sweden, Finland etc.

 

[Kewlx25]

USA here. About $300/month for two people. Probably too much meat and dairy in our diet though. Steaks/Chops/Roasts/Chicken/Ribs/Brats 2-4 times a week. Wife loves to cook.

We tend to snack on veggies and fruits. Can't handle candy like I use to. Even soda is hard to drink, but I typically have 1 beer a day and water or 100% juice for the other times I'm thirsty.