Depends. With my husband and teenage son maybe 150-200, when my other two are home from university, 200-300 sometimes more.
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What Do You Spend Weekly On Groceries?
- Thread starter Winchester
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I buy meat and poultry when it's on sale, portion it, then freeze it. The only reason I buy spring water is for the cats. We have a water softener/reverse osmosis system in the house and we use filters for the water and ice for the fridge. I still feel better giving the cats spring water; I'm so paranoid about them getting crystals. Both Hydrox and Boo ended up with crystals and we do think it was the well water. We don't have any boys any more, but I still worry. I drink our fridge water, but the cats don't. (With bottled water, the plastic bottles make me crazy. I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, recycling-wise.)
We should own stock in paper towel companies, same with toilet paper. It's ridiculous the amount of paper products we go through. But no paper plates or paper cups. We do keep plastic forks on hand because when we take baked goods to Rick's mom, sometimes she'll need a fork and it's difficult to get a fork for her from the nursing home.
Since Dear Richard is retiring in May, he says we shall have a garden this summer. I hope we can manage it because I hate having to pay $1 for a green pepper! I miss our fresh green beans and our squash. A garden helped our produce budget quite a bit.
The kids eat Friskies Buffet cans and Friskies dry for snacks. Yes, I know many consider it junk food. But all of our cats grew up on it and they're healthy and happy. I love it when it's on sale at the grocery store and I have coupons. Digital or print coupons, I don't care. It all helps out. Pepe is in renal failure and she was eating the special Royal Canin cat food cans and dry, but she stopped eating. One morning, she just looked at me and said, "That's it. I can't do this anymore! This stuff is horrible! Please don't make me eat it!" And I couldn't do it. The look on her face when she was given a plate of Friskies. nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. She was so happy. She's old....at this point, I give her what she wants.
Everything is getting so expensive. I don't think we spend a lot of money on groceries. That $80-$90 a week pretty much includes everything: food and meat, cat food, litter, dog treats, paper stuff, meds and supplements (Advil, etc. for Rick, vitamins, etc.). I get my hair stuff at Ulta's, using points from getting my hair done.
I have to say that I do worry about what we're spending at the store. There's just two of us, but the five cats and The Beast are expensive to keep! I do think we eat fairly well and Rick doesn't complain about meals or anything. I don't know how to reduce the bill any further.
We should own stock in paper towel companies, same with toilet paper. It's ridiculous the amount of paper products we go through. But no paper plates or paper cups. We do keep plastic forks on hand because when we take baked goods to Rick's mom, sometimes she'll need a fork and it's difficult to get a fork for her from the nursing home.
Since Dear Richard is retiring in May, he says we shall have a garden this summer. I hope we can manage it because I hate having to pay $1 for a green pepper! I miss our fresh green beans and our squash. A garden helped our produce budget quite a bit.
The kids eat Friskies Buffet cans and Friskies dry for snacks. Yes, I know many consider it junk food. But all of our cats grew up on it and they're healthy and happy. I love it when it's on sale at the grocery store and I have coupons. Digital or print coupons, I don't care. It all helps out. Pepe is in renal failure and she was eating the special Royal Canin cat food cans and dry, but she stopped eating. One morning, she just looked at me and said, "That's it. I can't do this anymore! This stuff is horrible! Please don't make me eat it!" And I couldn't do it. The look on her face when she was given a plate of Friskies. nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. She was so happy. She's old....at this point, I give her what she wants.
Everything is getting so expensive. I don't think we spend a lot of money on groceries. That $80-$90 a week pretty much includes everything: food and meat, cat food, litter, dog treats, paper stuff, meds and supplements (Advil, etc. for Rick, vitamins, etc.). I get my hair stuff at Ulta's, using points from getting my hair done.
I have to say that I do worry about what we're spending at the store. There's just two of us, but the five cats and The Beast are expensive to keep! I do think we eat fairly well and Rick doesn't complain about meals or anything. I don't know how to reduce the bill any further.
I feel better now lol. I don't buy junk food anymore either. I've been eating healthier since October, so there's no way any of that is in the house - I've lost my taste for it anyway. We eat similar to you - poultry, veggie meals, fish. Very little red meat - gosh I think it might be as little as once or twice a month if that. I think what costs the most is all those "extras" that aren't food related - the toilet paper, paper towels, various foils & wraps, cleaning products, etc.
I used to shop at places like BJ's/Costco but I didn't find it was saving me much money since it's only 2 of us, we don't really have much room to store all of it in our small house and if it was food related, would then go bad before we even got a chance to use it. Plus, we are both prone to making snap purchases that were unnecessary like books, stuff like that
So, yea, not exactly a money saving shopping experience for us.
I don't even want to know what I spend on groceries. I tend to buy more expensive items. Veggies, I will buy the leaner, better trimmed boneless chicken, lower fat meats, scallops, shrimp, etc.
My husband is going to be working from home more and the other day he was complaining that there were no snacks in the house. He will often snack for lunch. His idea of snacks is cashews, pistachios, mixed nuts, jerky, etc. You really don't want to know what the recent "stock up on snacks" grocery visit cost me. Agree with
sivyaleah
about the seltzer, etc. We could buy a 2 liter, but he prefers the more expensive small bottles. I buy this stuff and a few days later I will go for a bottle or a few pistachios and they are all gone. 
He likes granola for breakfast and that is also not cheap. I haven't made any in a while, which I should probably do.
My husband is going to be working from home more and the other day he was complaining that there were no snacks in the house. He will often snack for lunch. His idea of snacks is cashews, pistachios, mixed nuts, jerky, etc. You really don't want to know what the recent "stock up on snacks" grocery visit cost me. Agree with
sivyaleah
about the seltzer, etc. We could buy a 2 liter, but he prefers the more expensive small bottles. I buy this stuff and a few days later I will go for a bottle or a few pistachios and they are all gone. He likes granola for breakfast and that is also not cheap. I haven't made any in a while, which I should probably do.
The "all gone for me" syndrome - I know that one well!I don't even want to know what I spend on groceries. I tend to buy more expensive items. Veggies, I will buy the leaner, better trimmed boneless chicken, lower fat meats, scallops, shrimp, etc.
My husband is going to be working from home more and the other day he was complaining that there were no snacks in the house. He will often snack for lunch. His idea of snacks is cashews, pistachios, mixed nuts, jerky, etc. You really don't want to know what the recent "stock up on snacks" grocery visit cost me. Agree with
My sympathies on your inability to have a few nuts to nibble on
I live alone. For food for me about $40 per week, depends if I need to stock up on other things or not
I spend about $30-40 a month on cat food
I spend about $30-40 a month on cat food
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I'm not sure how everyone here spends so little! After the rent, my next biggest expense is food related items. I really am passionate about food too. But also, I live in Texas now and I feel like groceries here are more expensive than groceries in socal (not LA, but nearby suburbs). Asian products are 50% more expensive compared to asian stores in socal. And I simply cannot live without asian stuff. In addition we often do get premium products because, we love good food. We also really appreciate yummy cheeses from wholefoods and other snacks. We'll have kombuchas a couple times a week which is pretty pricey. Oh and we love seafood.
I think we both spend about $100 each, so 200 in total on groceries every week. And that doesn't include lunch for weekdays since we either eat out or buy cafeteria food available at our jobs. We'll also eat out a couple of times for dinner in a given week and take turns paying. I know one reason cost is so high is that my bf eats too much. He gets jealous I get to have leftovers for the next day.
The 3 cats run about $200/month on their own for food. We do homemade raw and high quality canned. Yes we love ourselves and our cats lol.
I think we both spend about $100 each, so 200 in total on groceries every week. And that doesn't include lunch for weekdays since we either eat out or buy cafeteria food available at our jobs. We'll also eat out a couple of times for dinner in a given week and take turns paying. I know one reason cost is so high is that my bf eats too much. He gets jealous I get to have leftovers for the next day.
The 3 cats run about $200/month on their own for food. We do homemade raw and high quality canned. Yes we love ourselves and our cats lol.
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Smart planning. Make a general meal plan for a week, then shop your kitchen first. Whatever you don't have (meat, produce, perishables, etc) gets put on the grocery list to buy. I tend to cook one big meal of something and repurpose the leftovers in various ways.
There are web sites and books that specialize in budget meals and planning.
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That's true I don't take time to plan. And also I just really enjoy good food. Sometimes things like cod, mackerel or fresh dungeness crab is not ever going to be that cheap. Especially in Texas where we're lucky to get those things at all. Tons of other foods and snacks to enjoy as well. To me food is life. Yum! I don't buy designer clothes or anything but I don't mind spending on food.
I live alone but I have a cat, feral cats plus squirrels, birds and raccoons that I buy nuts and sun flower seeds for our of my grocery money. I spend about $100.00 a week. I am a vegetarian and I buy good quality food. Mostly organic. I also buy TV dinners and some processed food because I cannot do a lot of cooking.
There is a large Asian population on the West Coast, I remember that was true when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis Washington. That is probably why there was a large selection of reasonably priced Asian food in Southern California.
I use to be good at keeping my grocery budget low. At one point it was $220 a month for 2 adults, but prices went up. Then it was maybe $250, not including pet food/supplies. Pet items use to run $110-125 a month for 2 medium size dogs & 2 cats. Now its around $140 for 1 dog & 2 cats. Supplements are pricey for one guy & using mostly wet cat food has also increased costs. I'd like the pet budget lower, but I'm okay with it since they are doing well on current food.
I haven't really kept track of our grocery spending each week/month (includes household & some health/beauty items) for awhile. Instead I've focused on couponing, sale prices & buying extras when prices are lower. Big mistake!
I finally totalled up my receipts for January & February. Think the average was around $80-85 a week for 2 adult (pets not included). Crazy high since we eat smaller portions of meat (2 chicken breast or 3 pork chops make 3 meals for us). We have homemade cheeseburgers every week & have a weakness for snacks though. Hubby also eats a lot of cereal. However he tends to lose weight (which he doesn't need to do) when we eat healthier & he cuts out his 1 soda a day.
I think non food items are a big part of the problem like others have mentioned. Things like water filters (no bottled water), paper products, detergents & soap can really add up even on sale. Should look at those separately to see if I can cut there.
Its interesting to see what others are spending in different areas. We're in the southeast & I think regular grocery & household prices are high. Getting reasonable prices on the items we use requires multiple stores week after week. Actually we can't buy all the items we use at just one or two stores as the selection is limited (not carried or empty shelves). I waste a lot of time trying to grocery shop.
I haven't really kept track of our grocery spending each week/month (includes household & some health/beauty items) for awhile. Instead I've focused on couponing, sale prices & buying extras when prices are lower. Big mistake!
I finally totalled up my receipts for January & February. Think the average was around $80-85 a week for 2 adult (pets not included). Crazy high since we eat smaller portions of meat (2 chicken breast or 3 pork chops make 3 meals for us). We have homemade cheeseburgers every week & have a weakness for snacks though. Hubby also eats a lot of cereal. However he tends to lose weight (which he doesn't need to do) when we eat healthier & he cuts out his 1 soda a day.
I think non food items are a big part of the problem like others have mentioned. Things like water filters (no bottled water), paper products, detergents & soap can really add up even on sale. Should look at those separately to see if I can cut there.
Its interesting to see what others are spending in different areas. We're in the southeast & I think regular grocery & household prices are high. Getting reasonable prices on the items we use requires multiple stores week after week. Actually we can't buy all the items we use at just one or two stores as the selection is limited (not carried or empty shelves). I waste a lot of time trying to grocery shop.
