Poll: How much do YOU spend?

[kendra]

After dropping $120 at the grocery store yesterday, I was curious what other folks spend at the grocery store each week. So, I thought I'd post it here. How many times per week do you shop at the grocery store? How much do you spend per week? To feed how many? I'll start. I spend about $100 per week for just my husband and I and shop once per week. (Of course we must keep in mind that answers will vary according to local cost of living.) I tend to splurge on certain things. For example, I only use good parmesean - not that dry tasteless Kraft powder. But I always buy generic on basic items like canned tomatoes, pasta, beans, etc.

[BernK]

I too spend over $100.00 a week on groceries. It usually averages out to around $120 a week. There are only 2 of us. I think it is very high so I will be curious to see what other people think. I don't buy the most expensive items on the shelf but neither do I buy generic brands. that by the way is only buying for 4 dinners a week since we eat left overs a few nights and most of our lunches are also leftovers.

[This message has been edited by BernK (edited 10-10-2000).]

[lorilei]

We had an interesting discussion about this topic a number of months ago, and it's amazing how many people felt that they spent too much on groceries. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

I shop once a week for my husband and I -- and the amount I spend varies greatly from week to week. I tend to stock up on sale items when I can and those weeks our bill is closer to the $100 mark. On a week when I'm strictly buying perishables (fruits, veggies, milk, bread) I spend around $50.

Since we stopped eating meat regularly, I've found that our grocery bill has gone down significantly, even though I still shell out good money for organic produce, quality cheese and bread. If given the chance, I would gladly drop $100 on food for the week if I know that we'll be eating well http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Natasha]

Hi Kendra,

Great question! And I can tell you right off the bat that we probably spend quite a bit on food, but it's worth it!

You may find this thread interesting:
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/000399.html

[lindrusso]

Kendra-

To read answers to this question from some of the "oldies" on this board, here's a link to check out:
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/000399.html

My grocery bill seems to have gone up recently, but I think it's because I now shop at a supercenter (Meijer - a Midwest store), so I'm not just getting groceries. I'd average my bill to be between $100-$150 per week. I faithfully clip coupons, just joined Sam's Club and buy on sale whenever I can. I buy generic or lower-priced items when taste is not compromised (for instance I found that lower-priced peanut butter just wasn't worth the savings, but lower-priced sugars and flours are just fine IMO).

[lanie]

Interesting question - I probably spend about $200 per week - mostly for 2 - sometimes 3 (my son) - and live in Toronto - I think Canadian prices are quite a bit higher than US - from my experience when on holidays anyway - used to feed 5 - but down to basically 2 and I buy good quality near everything and I shop daily - I love grocery shopping!!! Dog food alone (2 large dogs) costs me about $55.00 for about 3 weeks.

[Mandy]

I'd say that for my husband and I, I spend anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 per week. Like lorilei I stock up on sale items when I can, but when I feel I'm pretty well stocked and just buying a few things make through the week, then it's around $50.00. But if we are having guests then it'll be higher, or if I end up buying wine for dinner. But on average it's $50-100 per week.

[MrsReber]

My big question is how often does everyone go food shopping? I tried to answer the survey on the CL home page about how often I go to the grocery store, but I try to go once every two or three weeks. I usually suceed at my goal, too. I find I spend less money that way and besides, I can think of better ways to spend my weekend than having to go to the grocery store!

I spend about $180-$240 every three weeks. If I go every two weeks, it's more like $140. I just know if I went every week, I'd be spending over $100 a week! I do stop in the convenience store for milk or at a farm market for fruits and veggies on my way home from work between shopping trips.

[Beth H]

It seems recently as I've been cooking more, that my grocery bill has increased. I shop every Sunday afternoon and usually spend about $80 - 110, for my husband and I. I try to use some coupons, the store's shopping discount card, and buy generic/store canned goods, etc., but I really can't ever get it much below $75 no matter what I do. I guess we are saving though in that we eat out a lot less than we did a couple of years ago.

[valeriek]

I am a big coupon clipper and like Lorilea I stock up when things are on sale (Del Monte canned tomatoes - any variety - were recently 3 for $2.00 and I went nuts. Now searching for recipes to use canned tomatoes!). I live alone and spend about $50.00 every two weeks. Like Mrs. Reber, this doesn't include stops for perishables like fresh veggies or my weekly supply of OJ (I'm like a fish when it comes to Orange Juice).

[Connie]

Another question to consider is how many meals will those dollars buy? I am probably in the range of $100 a week, but I also take my lunch to work most of the time. That save a lot of eating out money! I try to shop once a week, but it seems like I'm always running out for something I forgot, or for something I now have room for in my fridge. You'd think that with my new bigger fridge, I would have lots of room, but it hasn't seemed to work that way!

[RunnerKim]

I shop once a week (although on occaison will have to make a run mid-week for 1 or 2 items). We spend $70-90 a week with a $70 target amount (we're budgetting, but not very well). There are two of us but also in there is food for 1 large dog and 2 cats (they don't eat kibble and I once estimated it costs me about $1.50/day to feed them). Connie brought up a good point - we both work outside the home and take our lunches (generally leftovers) and we rarely eat out. We've gotten very good about food not spoiling on us - we used to have produce go bad and cotainers of mystery stuff in the back of the fridge. So we pretty much consume the food we buy (granting that we stock up on sale items) - I'm one of those menu people so that dictates what I buy.

Something I'm curious about - although I diligently clip coupons every week, I rarely use any! Most of the food we buy does not have coupons since we've really gotten away from convenience food. We don't get many items from the shelf part of the store.

Kim

[andi]

Great question! I spend around $560/month (at least that's what I have budgeted!) for five of us. I stock up at a Sam's club once a month and find I save quite a bit doing that. I also try to stock up on meats/bread when they are on sale and stick them in my deep freeze. Then the challenge becomes finding recipes to utilize these! I do much better when shopping without the little ones and if I have a list in hand based on menus. I try to use coupons but often the store brand is still cheaper. I am reading all the above suggestions closely! If I could cut back here I've got all kinds of places I could use that extra money!

[AndreaU]

For just my husband & I, the bill ranges from $50-75 (I shop once a week). I only buy fresh produce- and lots of it. We never buy meat, though usually eat fresh seafood every week. Last week, however I spent $95 (!) due to a 40-lb bag of dog food and quite a bit of Halloween candy for our trick-or-treaters. I use coupons whenever possible, though only for items we actually need. I will stock up, too, if something is on a good sale.

[slknight]

Great question. I've been thinking about asking the same thing, because it seems like my husband and I spend a ton of money on groceries. After reading these answers, I guess our numbers aren't too out of line.

We spend about $125 a week for the 2 of us and 1 dog. My husband takes his lunch to work every day and we rarely eat out (about 1 a month). I guess this covers non-food items like laundry detergent, alumninum foil, dog biscuits, etc, since I buy most of that stuff at the grocery store. Also, we're in the Boston area which has very high prices. I will say that we do have a tendency to waste some food (stuff going bad before we can use it), but we've been making progress on that.

As for how often we shop, it's usually twice a week, sometimes more. We usually have 1 big trip, and then some smaller trips to the local market, where I can be in and out in 5 minutes to pick up fresh produce and meat.

[Abby]

Our grocery bill is pretty sporadic because my husband is out of town quite a bit so we don't have planned meals all the time. However, I can say that one of the things that drives our grocery bill up are the unique items that are often called for in CL recipes that don't get used all that often - Chili garlic sauce, Tahini, etc. It seems as though my fridge is packed with these kinds of items.

[Laura]

I spend about $80 - 100/ week for myself and my two kids (8 & 11) that includes all the things I need to make them lunches. I know my fiance who has 3 kids (2 of which are teenage boys) spends about 150-175 week. Yikes, I will need to get a second job just for the food bill!

[Missi]

My soon to be husband and I spend around $70-80, but I try and stock up as well when prices are low. I don't mind spending more than that or going several times to buy special things for certain recipes if I don't have them on hand. We rarely eat out, and the money spent goes on mostly produce and meat and seafood, not microwave dinners. I would much rather spend lots of money on ingredients to cook with than a freezer full of frozen dinners.