What Do You Spend Weekly On Groceries?

What the US Gov thinks we're spending on (just) food https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodJan2019.pdf I think the chart considers just foods, not paper products, etc.

I think they're off, but that could just be me. I know that Rick and I spend between $80 and $90 a week on groceries, including cat food, paper products, spring water for the kids, cleaning supplies, etc. That doesn't include food for The Beast because she's on a special dry food for her bladder and kidneys. Her food, from Chewy, is around $70 now and lasts us about two months, give or take. According to the chart, that's considered a "thrifty plan". But I think that, overall, we eat fairly well.

What about you? How much do you spend on groceries?

I've always meant to figure that out, just because I know a lot of people who get SNAP, and I want to see if I could live off that amount (between $120-$192 per month). But I've never taken the time to sort that out.

If I counted cat food, that would definitely skew the results! But SNAP doesn't cover pet food so I wouldn't count it.

About $60. - $65.00.

Michele and I shop at ALDI and Save-a-Lot, so our bill comes to about $50- $60 a week, not counting anything but food, but we don't go hungry by any means.

Maybe $40 for all groceries including non-food items like napkins or dish soap.

I probably average about $50.00 a week on just groceries. That is an estimate though because I shop at a supermarket with a lot of things other then food so I buy more than just food there.

I need to take lessons from you guys! Our weekly bill for groceries (including paper products, soap etc is between 150-180. That does include about $8 of Fancy Feast for my allergic cat. The rest of the animal food/litter is purchased separately (and I won't give you a heart attack on how much that costs!). Now both of us are supposed to be on low salt, diabetic diets - which is not cheap! I don't shop Aldis - the fairly local one is more like a glorified convenience store. I do compare ads and go where the best deals are and I also make a menu for the week. However I will not drive all over creation to shop more than one or two stores that are close together. We live out in the 'Burbs. Closest grocery store in 3 miles away and you need to be wealthy to shop that one. The rest are at least 11-15 miles away. Since I am now retired I am planning on growing a lot of our vegetables this year.

I live alone so $40-ish a week for groceries is plenty. I don't buy cat stuff from the supermarket. I go to Stop and Shop and the local independent grocery store. The independent grocery store only sells food. Maybe $10 of the $40 is spent there but it varies.

I'm embarrassed to say about $180 on average for the two of us. That does not include cat related items nor does it include my lunches - I commute to work and buy lunch in NYC.

Sometimes I can get it down a bit lower if I'm stocked up on basics like paper goods and such but that's a good basic average.

Both of us tend to be somewhat picky about quality and I also prefer buying organic when possible.

But, mostly the problem is my belief that my husband has an eating disorder of some type. I'm not kidding. He plows through food. Gallons of milk, boxes of cereal and crackers all are gone within days of buying them. I buy a huge thing of plain iced tea for myself that last 2 weeks but he drinks sparkling water like he's been walking through a desert everyday. A case of Pellegrino goes in a week. A CASE. Makes me crazy.

If I lived alone, I wouldn't be spending anywhere near half of that amount for myself - it's mostly what he's consuming, not me. He truly needs help and he knows it but seems powerless to stop. It's not like he's that big either - he's obviously burning it off somehow but geez his choices to binge on are pretty terrible and expensive to our budget.

Granted, I live close to NYC, northern NJ and prices are pretty high here.

I spend between $80 and $100 per week, but that includes cat food and litter, cosmetics, paper products and cleaning supplies, OTC medicines, and the occasional bottle of wine. What I spend on just food is much lower, probably about $40 per week or less. I've thought of going to Aldi, but the last time I went, years ago, the only things they had were canned goods and paper products.

I would say $75 a week. This would include paper product and bottled drinks. I don't have to buy bottled water anymore because we got water softening/reverse osmosis faucet at the kitchen sink. I do buy spring water to use in my iron and in my Keurig coffee maker. We only use a little of the water there because it is not our main source of coffee. This figure would not include toiletries like toothpaste, body wash, band aids, etc. as I buy all of that at Wal Mart. I buy cat food at the pet store.

I live alone and only shop for one but I am big at shopping sales and bargains. I do not buy meat, for example unless it is on sale. Then I buy in bulk, package it into individual servings and freeze it. I also cook meals and freeze in individual portions. So some months I might spend $200 and some months $100 or less, depending on sales and the contents of my freezer.

I do the same thing with food. That's why it's so hard to estimate because my budget includes so many other things.

Since I'm vegetarian, DH is not, I buy a lot of fresh produce. I'd say we spend between $85-90 on food alone, excluding cat supplies.

Well if I do cook meals it's easily 150 a week but this includes my lunches for work. This is what I budget for two of us. The past 2 months I've not been cooking like I should so it's been 50 a week. I buy veggies and make salads. He wants beans and then spends his own money on ice cream and candy. I usually buy a cooked chicken a week and eat that with my raw spinach cooked for lunches. I stopped buying tv dinners and the chicken/spinach cost me $13 a week and get just about 5 meals out of it. Then at night try to have meat and salad but some nights all I want is salad then my cookies at 8ish before bed. I started the dumb diet cola again so i need to get off it. I prefer something fizzy during the winter. I tried flavored fizz water and it is just not the same. Last week i made a casserole of baked mac n ham. Yeah that was gone in 3 days....I am running out of things to make..I did buy some cauliflower to make keto cauliflower pizza...still got to do that..yeah I cant buy crackers n chips otherwise that's all I will eat. I tend to eat my feelings....

sivyaleah said:

I'm embarrassed to say about $180 on average for the two of us. That does not include cat related items nor does it include my lunches - I commute to work and buy lunch in NYC.

Sometimes I can get it down a bit lower if I'm stocked up on basics like paper goods and such but that's a good basic average.

Both of us tend to be somewhat picky about quality and I also prefer buying organic when possible.

But, mostly the problem is my belief that my husband has an eating disorder of some type. I'm not kidding. He plows through food. Gallons of milk, boxes of cereal and crackers all are gone within days of buying them. I buy a huge thing of plain iced tea for myself that last 2 weeks but he drinks sparkling water like he's been walking through a desert everyday. A case of Pellegrino goes in a week. A CASE. Makes me crazy.

If I lived alone, I wouldn't be spending anywhere near half of that amount for myself - it's mostly what he's consuming, not me. He truly needs help and he knows it but seems powerless to stop. It's not like he's that big either - he's obviously burning it off somehow but geez his choices to binge on are pretty terrible and expensive to our budget.

Granted, I live close to NYC, northern NJ and prices are pretty high here.

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I'm in Northern NJ in a commuter town. We spend comparably. It's not just you. It's just two old-farts who eat mostly vegetables and some poultry and we can easily spend $95 at the supermarket. We did tonight. The only nonfood items we bought were for two rolls of paper towel and some black garbage bags. We don't even buy junk food or organic.

I honestly have no idea. I do know I would spend a lot less if I was a vegetarian though. Meat is so freaking expensive!

Willowy said:

I've always meant to figure that out, just because I know a lot of people who get SNAP, and I want to see if I could live off that amount (between $120-$192 per month). But I've never taken the time to sort that out.

If I counted cat food, that would definitely skew the results! But SNAP doesn't cover pet food so I wouldn't count it.

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What is SNAP?

Right now I easily spend close to 180-200 dollars a week, but that includes cat food which is over 100.00/mo for all he cats I feed. I say right now because we are on the Keto diet and have been since the beginning of Feb. and everything that is needed is SO expensive! Everyone else must be on it too, I've never seen shelves so empty of everything I need, just THOSE items, like almond flour, coconut oil, sugar substitute and sugar free items. The only great thing is eating lots of fatty things you wouldn't otherwise, like salami and cheese, bacon, lots of eggs, sausage, and I absolutely LOVE all the whipping cream I use instead of milk in cooking and my coffee! We eat a LOT of salads (with cheese, veggies, and vinegar and oil) and veggies with our meat. Mostly steak and pork chops. I didn't have a huge amount to lose and have only been averaging about a pound a week, so 8 pounds right now. But I guess it is better than gaining which I usually do this time of the year. My husband had to lose about 40 pounds and has already lost close to twenty. Why do men ALWAYS lose more on teh same diet?!!!

tabbysia said:

What is SNAP?

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Food stamps

susanm9006 said:

I live alone and only shop for one but I am big at shopping sales and bargains. I do not buy meat, for example unless it is on sale. Then I buy in bulk, package it into individual servings and freeze it. I also cook meals and freeze in individual portions. So some months I might spend $200 and some months $100 or less, depending on sales and the contents of my freezer.

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similar here. for me, i buy many food/nonfood items in bulk -- freeze in portions, or store properly for more long term storage. overall, i'd estimate what i'd spend weekly on food (based on yearly total, then divided by 52 weeks) is in the $40 (per week) range.