Comments on: What Do You Spend on Food?: A Grocery Budget Experiment

By: Andy Hough

Andy Hough — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:09:26 +0000

Lillie – Are you talking about a fast from buying food?

By: Lillie

Lillie — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:09:31 +0000

I’ll have some results beginning next month. Beginning February 17th I will be on a 40-day fast which is definitely going to force me to eat more healthy. My biggest problem is that I like to reward myself with my favorite ice cream too often.

By: Andy Hough

Andy Hough — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:17:09 +0000

Lainey – Thanks for the input and thanks for the post on “Possum Living” on your website. I had forgotten about that book and want to read it again.

By: Lainey

Lainey — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:15:54 +0000

Wow, $100 for groceries? I spend $400, and that’s just for me and my husband, NOT including eating out! I live in Canada, though (groceries are more expensive here). I’m trying to lower it and chronicling my efforts at http://theskepticalhousewife.blogspot.com.

By: Andy Hough

Andy Hough — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:06:47 +0000

Marilyn and Katherine – Your ability to keep your food bill so low is impressive. I knew there were people spending less than me. It is interesting to see how much people’s food budgets vary.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:54:20 +0000

My husband and I eat on 35 bucks a week, with 25 dollars a month (out of our budget) to eat out on. If we get extra gift cards (like from MyPoints and or whatever) we don’t count that in the 25$.

It’s not easy, but with stockpiling, the drugstore game and coupons we usually make it. Actually, eating healthy on so little is a challenge, but I get a rush from saving an average of 50% from my grocery bill every trip.

We also live in a relatively low-cost area, so that helps.

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Andy, I spend about $200 per month for a family of 2 adults and one teenage girl. I also spend about $75-$100 a month eatting out. (I wish I could stop that!) We eat a variety of foods and fresh meats everyday. I try to keep meals under $4 for 4 servings.

By: Andy Hough

Andy Hough — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:39:22 +0000

Frugal Miser – I think we are pretty close on the food budget other than the eating out.

MP – I will be sharing what I buy and what I spend next month so you will be able to see how I do it.

John Bardos – Japan is a lot more expensive than Kansas City. Since I don’t make $1500 a month I couldn’t spend that much on food.

thriftygal – Your budget is lower than average I would think. The last U.S. government info I could find was from 2004 and they had a total food cost of about $192 per person per month. That was including eating out. Since that data is almost six years old I would guess the average is over $200 now.

By: thriftygal

thriftygal — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:38:58 +0000

I didn’t have a budget before 2010. But I created one as a resolution, and so far we have been sticking to it. Our weekly grocery budget is $100. Is that too high for 2 adults and a baby? I didn’t have a point of reference, so I picked a nice round number. Since we’ve been underbudget for the past couple of weeks, I might try to cut it down by $20.

By: John Bardos - JetSetCitizen

John Bardos - JetSetCitizen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:22:44 +0000

$100 per month on food is impressive. My wife and I average about $1500 per month. Eating fresh and quality food is very important to us. Japan is more expensive than most countries but the quality is really incomparable.

Food is more than half of our monthly expenditures. This is definitely one area where we are not afraid to spend. Healthy food gives us much more energy and vitality.