food bills...

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Posted by am470

I am feeling so guilty looking at everyone's numbers. The last two weeks of groceries I have spent $175-200 each week. We easily spend another $200 a week eating out.

How could we spend $400 a week on food and everyone else spends so much less???

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I'd say we are about the same ... maybe less eating out most of the time. I go through stages where I don't let us get take-out or go out for a week.

We spend about $150-$175/week at the grocery store...(this is for 3 people). We all take breakfast and lunch to work/school out of that. We usually eat out Friday & Saturday afternoon and night, so that would be another $100 or so. Wow....that seems like a lot

I live alone so I'd say i spend about $40 - $45 a week in the grocery store - sometimes that can last me more than a week. Sometimes on the weekends I'll eat out or order in, but that varies. HOWEVER, i do spend about another $40 a week on lunch - lately I've been bringing my lunch though because I hate spending so much on sandwiches when I can make them at home or a salad for much less.

When I was in college I use to ONLY shop at Whole Foods - this was in Washington DC - thank goodness I don't live close enough to the one here or I would be spending much more than I do now!

I know I didn't really give a money value on what we spend .. but I just wanted to add .. I think alot depends on people's habits.

We're not breakfast people, at all .. and that includes coffee .. does not exist in our house .. though we do have a coffee maker on the counter!


Some people do not like leftovers .. but we do. I'll make a small tray of lasagna that will get us through 2 dinners and 1 lunch.

The CrockPot is HUGE .. when I make stew .. that's dinner for 2 nights .. or dinner and lunch.

I'll admit .. we don't clip coupons .. can't recall when or if I've ever used them in the food store (sad, I guess) .. but I am very aware of what's on sale .. AND .. if the sale price is actually a good price .. sometimes the 'sale price' isn't anything special.

Another of our best finds in recent months .. Stop & Shop had cases of Coke cans .. 4 for $8.88 .. boy .. did we stock up .. you'd of thought we were a Coke distributor!!


And princess99 thanks for the heads up on the Turkey .. I am a GIANT fan of Turkey .. it's a shame it's so hard to find. We particularly like Turkey Thighs .. Turkey London Broil .. there is a Turkey product they sell at our local Stop & Shop that I am not a fan of .. some kind of Turkey cutlet .. I know it when I see it .. for us, it's frustrating that basically the only constant we can find is Turkey Wings & Drums .. everything else is hit-or-miss .. and Turkey Thighs .. you have to be really lucky to find. Last week .. they were on sale .. so I snatched up every package they had .. which was a whopping 3!!

Wow!! We are a family of 4 and I spend $80/week at the grocery store. My son eats lunch and snacks at daycare and my daughter will take her lunch or one of us will pay for it. She has snacks at after-care. I go home for lunch and my husband will either take something from home, get something or his bosses pay for his lunch.
We usually get out for lunch and dinner on the weekends and that will come out of our pocket money.

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Posted by palebride
...we spend about $300 a week on food - but we rarely go out to dinner

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Posted by am470
How could we spend $400 a week on food ...

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Oh my .. that $300 sounds like an awful lot .. especially without going out!

Sorry .. hope I'm not being rude .. I just can't imagine spending $300 - $400 a week on food.

I would say we spend aroung $150 a week on groceries and eating out. We go food shoppeing every 2 weeks and it's abround $200. We eat out 1-2x a week (usually weekends).

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Posted by Kel

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Posted by palebride
...we spend about $300 a week on food - but we rarely go out to dinner

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Posted by am470
How could we spend $400 a week on food ...

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Oh my .. that $300 sounds like an awful lot .. especially without going out!

Sorry .. hope I'm not being rude .. I just can't imagine spending $300 - $400 a week on food.

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I also think when we say 'food,' maybe sometimes we are thinking of what our grocery store bills are and not simply 'food.' I know for me, when I go to the store it includes househould supplies too - cleaning stuff, dishwasher detergent, paper towels, shampoo, etc. It adds up.

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Posted by Snowboardgirl

we spend somewhere between $400-$600 per month, and we never go out to dinner, just a few nights of take out. This includes everything fron groceries to shampoo. Basically it is our grocery store bill.

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Thank you, I was starting to get scared that we were spending WAY too much. This is about what we spend a month. We have a grocery budget of about $500 for the month and that is supposed include ordering in/take out. But it doesn't include what DH spends on breakfast and lunch everyday. I buy a box of cereal & take it to work and that lasts me all week.

I can't believe how much money we spend on food -- it's truly insane!! I like the Stop & Shop thingie -- gonna look into that!!

Also -- for the people only spending $75 - $80 per week -- how the heck do you do it?? What are you eating --- rice for dinner every night??? Seriously, buying different meats for the week really adds up, as does produce. Your kids take sandwiches to school everyday?? Even MORE $$$ -- cold cuts are SO expensive we only get them once a month, if that. How are you only spending $80 a week and not eating only potatoes and rice? I'm baffled! Share you secret!

We do all of our grocery shopping at BJ's - we actually end up saving so much money bc we buy in bulk! We stock up once a month, and it averages out to around $200 - $250. But that's just for everyday groceries -the holidays get a little more expensive since we usually have them at our house!

We budget our food expenses very carefully though - we've cut down a LOT and now only buy what we need. I freeze all the meats we buy in single servings so I can just pop it in the microwave to defrost for dinner. I bring my lunch to work every day too. We also stopped going out all the time for dinner and drinks and only order takeout once a week, if at all. It's just the two of us and the puppy though, so I can imagine grocery bills being much more expensive for those with larger families!

Kel, you r welcome. Please tell me where you found turkey thighs , we love them and they are so hard to find.
Tonite is left over turkey and I am also going to make turkey soup this weekend. I may as well be frugal and get some more meals out of it. All week we eat turkey or chicken with an occasional meal of beef. Maybe that is why our bills are so low. This week we had turkey burgers, pork chops- which by the way where on sale too at Stop and shop, turkey kielbasa, which I bought when it was buy one get one a few weeks back and froze it, and yesterday was turkey breast, tonite is turkey again, and tomrrow we might go out we have a lot of gift certificates from the holidays and sunday we are going to a surpirse party. That leaves Monday which is Valentines day- I got a great buy on Rock shrimp and froze it too, for 10.00 a pound toss with pasta and vodka suace yummy! Rock shrimp tatse like lobster and a lot less $$ then a lobster.

How we spend $80/week for a family:

My daughter only eats Ham so I buy either the Butterball or Healthy Choice in the box ($1.99/week). I give her a juice box, cookies and a snack.

Breakfast: I have a bagel everyday and the kids cereal. My dh either doesn't eat breakfast or picks something up before work. On weekends either my husband will buy bagels or we will make pancakes, french toast or muffins.

Lunch: daughter (see above), son (eats at daycare), myself (I will also get a package of turkey or chicken Health Choice for the week), hot pockets, Smart Ones or leftovers. My husband will either bring something from home, eat at work or his bosses will buy lunch.
On the weekends we usually go out to lunch.

Dinner: I try and buy a variety of things for dinner, it gets soo boring-lol! Steak, Chicken, Pork, Sausage, Spaghetti, Hamburger Helper, Manwich's, Tacos, Meat Loaf, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Chicken Nuggets, Fish Sticks, Pot Pies, Pierogies, Raviolis, Tuna Casserole. Usually once a week we get a pizza.

Snacks: I always have some reduced fat cookies on hand (whatever is on sale) and other snack for the kids and dh. Chips and Pretzels also a necessity.

I think I just really budget well. I use coupons and shop at Pathmark. Stop and Shop, Walmart and King Kullen are more expensive. We also shop at Costco so that helps with diapers, wipes, detergents, etc.

I hope that helps!

ooopsie!
I was just reading my post again - we spend about $300 a month on food - not a week!!!
Sorry!
I wish we could afford $300 a week! But I would be a whole lot fatter than I already am

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Posted by princess99

Please tell me where you found turkey thighs , we love them and they are so hard to find.

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I know, I know!!! I got lucky last week when Stop & Shop had them on sale .. grabbed the three packages they had .. and whenever we see them, we always buy at least one package. We haven't been able to find anyone who stocks they regularly .. but have found them at Stop & Shop, King Kullen & Pathmark.

You should talk to the head of the meat department at the S&S you go to .. I did .. and he told me when he was expecting his next order .. only I wasn't able to get there that day .. so by the time I did .. they were sold out. When I think back to that .. I should have asked if they could have held some for me .. I'm hearing more and more about how customer friendly the meat departments are .. and that if you don't see something, you should ask. Give that a try!

I would say we average about $150 a week for two of us. We usually do a Sam's Club trip 1-2 times a month which includes dog food, some household stuff, some toiletries, etc. So maybe that bumps it up to $200 a week but I definitley don't think we go over that.
We rarely eat out or order take out so that isn't a big part of our budget.

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Posted by Kel

Hard to say exactly for us .. or to even guess .. I stock up when things are on sale .. and sometimes our freezer gets so full .. we don't need to really do any shopping for a few weeks.

Some really good buys recently .. buy 1 package of cornish hens - get 1 free .. ground turkey was also buy 1 get 1 .. london broils were insanely discounted (not manager's specials, though - I NEVER buy 'manager's special' meats).

On a weekly basis .. we will buy some deli meats .. turkey .. ham .. and a fresh loaf of break .. and we'll bring sandwiches to work for lunch.

I keep cans of chicken in the cabinet for chicken salad .. cans of veggies .. bags of frozen veggies .. lotsa pasta, rice, etc.

As for eating out .. including lunches, dinners, etc .. that varies greatly from week to week.

Stop and Shop has a cool web site .. they track your purchases over the past 12 weeks .. and they personalize a circular for you based on the store you choose .. each week you can see what's on sale. You need to have one of those 'cards' .. but that's great too .. because you get weekly no-clip discounts.

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i am the same way, my dh teases we would be set if we got stranded in the house b/c i stop up on sale stuff...i am obsessed with sales and coupons - anything for a deal - hey! we live in NY - we have no choice! - i love king kullen b/c they double $1 coupons which means the coupon is then worth $2.00!!!!