I was talking with someone yesterday about food budgeting--something I work very hard at and actually teach. They thought my budget of $120 to $200/week for a family of 4 (plus Kingston the Wonder Retriever) was high. I admit I was a little shocked, before I started meal planning I would easily spend twice that and waste a significant amount of food each week. Meal planning has literally saved me thousands of dollars over the past few years, not to mention I no longer waste anything--everything I buy has a plan.
So fellow food lovers, I would like to know what you spend monthly (or weekly) on food. I think this will be helpful to many.
Please post in the comments section (you can remain anonymous), the following:
1. How much is your weekly of monthly grocery store budget? (Please indicate weekly or monthly)
2. How much do you spend at restaurants?
3. How much do you spend at coffee shops?
4. How much do you spend on alcohol?
5. What is more important: food quality or saving money?
6. How many people do you feed?
7. Grand Total?
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Your post got me thinking, so I checked out our spending from last year. We are a family of two. We own four cats, and we do quite a bit of entertaining -- so our food budget reflects that.
The emphasis at our house really IS on food quality, rather than saving money -- though we try to do both. We also try NOT to waste food.
On average, we spent $200/week at the supermarket (this includes our alcohol purchases and also most cleaning products, which we buy from our co-op).
We spent $40/week at coffee shops/restaurants (not bad at all, in my opinion).
The grand total comes out to approximately $11K for the year -- significant. But, I'd argue that food is a priority at our house. So, I'm actually surprised it's not higher.
Okay, do you know I have never tracked it...I'm afraid to actually.
Food quality is always more important to me, I will always pay more for that.
We entertain a lot and plays plays a big role.
I'm sure I spend 800-1000 a month.
Amanda,
Good on you for your entrepreneurial endeavors!
1. I try real hard to stick to $500 a month on groceries. That was a lot easier to do a year ago!
2. We probably spend another $200/mo on restaurants (depending on how nice and how many date nights we get).
3. I've mostly cut out coffee shops :-)
4. how much booze? not as much as I'd like :-)
5. quality vs. savings is definitely a balance for me.
6. I feed 6 daily (including 1 breast fed baby, not including our 85lb dog) and probably another 3-6 guests per week.
7. I guess that brings our total to about $700/mo, but I bet we go over that half the time. We sure praise God for His daily provision!
High? I don't think so.
I feed 2 humans plus a cat, but really, I have family and friends over a couple times a week and I insist on feeding them when they are over. Kind of Italian grandma-ish, but I am not a grandma...anyway, I am attempting to keep our budget to $100 a week right now on food alone. Before I was being uber concious about it and not buying what was on sale or really doing a good job planning, it was more like $150 a week.
Food quality is a BIG deal in our house. We don't eat garbage and we make most of our stuff from scratch.
Eating out - We budget/plan that each of us gets one weekday to lunch out. So about $15 each, once a week. And then we plan on one night a week going out and grabbing something for a date so figure $60.
Coffee shops are mostly my vice and I limit myself to a once a week indulgence which is about $4.
Alcohol ranges, but probably no more than $50 a month. Usually we are wine drinkers and the occasional beer. Going out and drinking is what kills your alcohol budget so we try to keep that to a minimum.
So that brings us to a grand total of about $800 a month. If you count in my impromptu experiments with food and recipes, it's probably a bit higher so assume $850ish.
Our family is budegeted to death. So every item spent during the month is placed into some category I have. Really does help me know where Scott's paycheck is going.
1. $450 month on groceries
2. $200 month on restaurants. Because of the kids, more takeout than any nice restaurants.
3. Don't do coffeeshops.
4. Alocohol, no budget. It's in with the groceries. But, we really only have beer in the house, and that's not that often.
This is all for a family of 4. We may go over occasionally, but it's pretty accurate most of the months.
we spend about 600 dollars a month on grocery for 6 people.
we don't eat out often so maybe anywhere form 75-100 a month.
for coffee shops, maybe 5 dollars a month max.
neither one of drink much so i would over estimate and say 40 a month.
food quality is much more important than saving money but i don't buy organic either.
i feed 6. 2 adults and 4 kids...one 16 year old girl, and 13and 11 year old boy, and a 10 year old girl... and all of their friends who are in and out of the house.
total:about $745 so i will round up to $800
Amanda, So this is kinda scary to think about but really the amount varies greatly by month (this month I did a lot more celebrating and eating out).
1. How much is your weekly of monthly grocery store budget? (Please indicate weekly or monthly) During any given week in summer I spend from $25-$50 at the farmers market. And usually another $60 at the store.
2. How much do you spend at restaurants? Depends on how many times I eat out and where but usually about $150-$200 month
3. How much do you spend at coffee shops? The one place I don't spend. I make mine at home.
4. How much do you spend on alcohol? Usually not much but this month I went through or gave away 6 bottles so about $100.
5. What is more important: food quality or saving money? Food quality - though I love a good sale on quality products.
6. How many people do you feed? Me - and whomever is lucky enought to drop by.
7. Grand Total? about $400-$500 for one (and the guests)
I spend a lot, mostly because I eat out a fair amount. But thought you might find the stats in this post interesting. It's the Bureau of Statistics 2005 stats on what an average American family spends on food.
http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com/2007/03/announcing_the_.html
I'm just starting to track what we spend on food. My sense is that I can/do feed a family of four for $140 a week (or $20 a day), but my sense may be way off. We usually don't eat out more than once a week, and usually don't spend more than $25, so $100 a month on restaurants. No money on coffee shops. No extra budget for alcohol (would be thrown in with the groceries). So that's about $700 a month. As I actually start tracking this, it will be interesting to see if I'm right, or if we actually spend significantly more or (less likely) less.
So happy that you posted this question. I'm interested in the replies. Yes, I choose quality over price. I shop for just my husband and myself. I don't keep exact tabs on what I spend on food, but here's the "abouts": Neither of us drinks, so no money is spent on alcohol. My husband buys one cup of black coffee six days a week at a nearby shop. He brings his own cup, so gets a dime savings. The coffee is $1.30 a day, so that $7.80 a week. He has breakfast once a week with some other fellows. That's $9.00 a week.
I buy high quality loose leaf tea from tea shops and make it at home. I probably average $10 a week on that as we both drink it everyday, and I use it when entertaining which we do a couple of times a month in some fashion. We eat out together about twice a month spending about $70 total. We do not eat fast food at all.
I shop once or twice a month at Trader Joe's spending about $100 total on basics that cost more elsewhere. We get a CSA farm box weekly which we pay for in early spring in four monthly payments and then get our boxes from the end of May until the end of November. It's about $25 a week. When I'm not getting my weekly box, that is from December through most of May, I spend that money at the farmers' market nearby.
The wild card is Whole Foods which is where I do the bulk on my food purchasing at least twice a week. I'm estimating that I spend about $150 a week there. This would included some paper goods, shampoo, soaps, etc.
It's very sobering to see how much and how quickly prices are rising. Ezekiel sprouted bread which I've been buying for several years has been $2.19 a loaf at Trader Joe's for a long time. In May it was $2.49 and yesterday the loaf I bought was $2.99- same store, same bread. Another TJ's example is for pure maple syrup. The large bottle of grade B, not organic, had been $9.99 for a long time. Yesterday the price was $13.99. Think of it, a $4.00 jump in just a couple of months since I last purchased it. I wonder how young families are managing unless they have a really big salary.
my husband and i have found that if we go to the grocery store every 2 weeks instead of every week we spend less. I don't buy sweets at the store, i bake everything at home. i have a freezer chest and take advantage of meat sales. we go to a farmers market and get fruit and produce because it's cheaper and better than the store. we have a family of 5 and we very rarely eat out. no coffee shops. as far as alcohol, i don't drink but my husband does so he buys a case of beer maybe every couple weeks. we spend anywhere between 150.00 to 175.oo a week for groceries.
Thanks everyone for the posts. I really feel that its important to discuss finances/budgeting, especially right now.
I hope that we can all learn from one another. Please share any great tips. I would love to hear them.
Thanks Jen for posting that link. I suspect the stats would be a little higher now, but we fall pretty close to the average.
Family of 7: $800 a month at the grocery store - $200 month on restaurants, more during soccer season - No coffee/alcohol ( a benefit of being a mormon, but we spend $100 mon on food storage) TOTAL $1100.
We sit down on Sunday afternoon write up a weekly menu. Everyone picks a meal or two they will make and then we look for the ingredients we need.
Because we do have a food storage system going at our home, we have the space set aside to buy in bulk when items we use often are on sale. We keep those items in mind as we plan our week.
We also have a large garden for the first time, which has not only been fun, but also helps the budget.
My oldest has had a new interest in canning this year. We were given a bucket of plums that she turned to jam. It should last for the whole school year! Plus all the great conversations we were able to have! A friend bought peaches for .20 a pound, they purchased 1000 pds. Several of us are getting together to can them next week, I hope with a small group of friends it will be fun! That too should last about a year.
It has been really fun to involve the kids more...I guess it is the up side to all the smoke keeping us inside!
Robin
Today I just bought $200 in groceries from Safeway.com. That is a little steep because I had to stock some of my pantry items. I usually buy $150 worth of groceries every week. Then we spend another $50 - $100 on eating out at each week. We don't do the Coffee House thing (thank goodness there's at least one fad I didn't fall for!) Therefore, we spend about $800 per month on food. (Which is also how much we spent on gas last month! Yikes! At least I like to eat!)
Well I think our wine expense is about 400 a month and groceries about the same! WE are a couple no kids
So thought-provoking and a subject I've thought of often in this day of economic crisis. I have a feeling I'll be much tighter about certain things (our weakness is restaurants and eating in very well) when we have kids. There's only me and my husband right now, so I'm a bit more selfish. We also live in NYC, so I feel like we work VERY hard for kind of very little (except the ability to live
in one of the best cities in the world). Our rent is ridiculous and alot of our $$ goes towards that.
So, Groceries = about $250-$300
Restaurants = we eat out once or twice a week - b/w $250-$300/mo
Coffee Shops - ZERO - to me, a big, fat waste of $$. I buy Pilon or Bustelo (strong coffee) and make it on a stovetop perculator - better than any coffee i can buy anywhere
booze: we usually meet for a drink or 2 one night a week - about $100/mo... BUT we drink a glass of wine about 5 nights/week, so we spend another $75 on wine/week.
Food quality is much more important than saving to me. It should be a better balance but food is one of the most important things to me. it makes me happy, so i'm going to spend money on it.
we feed 2 people.
I'd say we spend about $700 to $900 on food/alcohol-related things per month. PHEW... it does seem like a lot!
Its the end of the month, which is when I sit and look at our spending for this past fiscal month (June 25th through July 25th). I know what I spent, but then there's hubby too. Sometimes I need to make sure the right hand and the left hand are communicating. We spent just under $700 at Whole Foods, Farmers Market, Bel Air, Safeway, Costco and Trader Joe's on food. and another $100 at restaurants, ice cream parlors (this is how I bribe my kids), coffee shops, sports bar (that would be hubby-not me!).
We entertained 2 large groups (one family party was about 30 people).
We spent another $150 on non-edible items (Soaps, paper towels, TP, etc). I dont typically consider the bulk of this in my "food budget". I keep it separate. There are exceptions with the few things that I pick up at the grocery stores that get tosssed in with the food.
It is getting increasing difficult to get my budget on the lower end of my monthly $$ spectrum. I am going to revisit (which I do from time to time) how we live and try to simplify where I can.
Thank you everyone for your input---keep it coming.
I agree that this is a really timely discussion. We revisit our "budget" (the term is used rather loosely around our house) every now and again -- and lately I've been feeling as if I should look things over again. But, I'm a little frightened.
Just last week I noticed that my favorite whole grain sourdough bread went up by almost $0.70 in the last month... and the nitrate free bacon I buy went up by almost a dollar. The price increases are giving me pause and making me reevaluate what I've taken for granted.
We buy as much as we can in the summer from the farmer's market, which saves us a bunch (we spend about $30 or so each week). And we have a CSA membership. So, we can get away with spending $60 at the grocery store if we're just eating for the week. Which isn't bad. But, I'm dreading the approach of fall/winter. Even with what we can can/freeze, I'm suspecting we'll see a rise in our grocery bill.
Since I keep track like you do, I know we are now spending about $1600 per month on food for 6 people (two adults, two 11yr olds, one 6 1/2 yr old, and one 2 1/2 yr old). That works out to $9 per person per day.
Our dry goods are a separate budget and are $120 per month.
We do not drink coffee or alcohol, we usually eat out twice a month or less, and quality of food is more important than cost.
Our food expense is 39% of our household monthly budget.
Kelly
1. How much is your weekly of monthly grocery store budget? weekly - need-based. ends up being anywhere between $40 on a good week to $80 if i'm out of coconut oil AND really want that nice grass finished meat to treat myself!! i'm not including supplements.
2. How much do you spend at restaurants? again, varies. $20 on a good week to...$120 on a bad week...i rarely do that and feel the pinch for a few weeks afterward if i do.
3. How much do you spend at coffee shops? very little, as i don't drink coffee and hate the idea of paying for tea. maybe $5 per month.
4. How much do you spend on alcohol? hm. maybe $15 per week?
5. What is more important: food quality or saving money? quality, but as a poor social worker, i should be more focused on saving money. i am obsessed w/ food though.
6. How many people do you feed? one
1. I spend on average of about $120a month on groceries. I always wait till something goes on sale to stock up, especially chicken breast and seafood. I buy whatever veggies and fruits that are on sale at produce market or supermarket.
2. Restaurant expense averages to about $40 a month
3. Coffee shop -- many months are 0 in this category. A few maybe about $5
4. Wine -- about 30 a month
5. Ratio of quality to price is the most important
6. Just me on weekdays and my DH on weekends.
total: Approaching $200 per month
We are a DINK couple.
Grocery spending: ~$275 monthly. I cut coupons and buy items on sale.
Restaurant spending: $350-$400 monthly. On a typical week, each of us will eat out lunch once. And then we go out together to dinner twice a week. At most, 3 dinners out. I know this spending seems high, but we both love eating out and our city has great restaurants. If we were in chain restaurant suburbia, we would rarely eat out.
Alcohol spending: not very much since we don't go clubbing much anymore. Cheap beer or wine when we buy at home.
Coffeeshop spending: None. I brew my coffee at home.
I have a hard time finding friends or family that really know what they spend! I have tracked our expenses for years and can tell you that we spend $800 a month average (DINKS) and that includes good quality food, non-food, suppliments, booze and eating out. When we have company or treat others at a restaurant our monthly can go up to $1100. We also like to travel so the eating out during our trip adds to our overall grocery bill for the year. When we eat out we either go to a decent restaurant or a healthy fast food like Chipotle, Pei Wei, Tokyo Joe's (in Denver) or Baja Fresh. I buy range free eggs and we are gluten, dairy, and soy free because of allergies. We drink our coffee at home. We are wine snobs and my husband complains when he gets less than a $18 bottle of wine. I can't slip a cheaper one past him!
I am trying to take the longer way around cooking to save some money. I am buying beans dry instead of canned (organic). I am reducing the meat (Dr Oz says meat should be a sidedish). I am going to try to buy less alcohol. It's hard to spend less than $100-150 when you entertain, though.
I really miss Trader Joe's and Costco alcohol. Colorado is behind the times!
nice post. thanks.
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