We eat at home 98 percent of the time. I thought I was spending too much on grocery each month but not really because household items fall in also. About $520-550 for two of us. Am working on ways to cut that down some regardless. Was wondering how much do you spend for actual food..then household things? How many meals do you eat each day or week? How often do u go to the store?
Our grocery bill is about $200 a week, but that doesn't include just food. However, we also buy food from Amazon and my wife makes a few extra trips for things that we missed during our weekly shopping trip. Actually, calling it a weekly shopping bill isn't quite accurate because we don't have a large shopping excursion every week. In conclusion, I don't have a clue. We don't budget. We simply quit buying stuff when we're broke, but it's been a while since we've been broke.
there's 2 of us... food ...house...yard ... personal items$400-$500/mo we have 3 small dogs....$100 or so a month im sure there's more or less sometimes.. usually more
We eat at home every week day. Usually pick up to-go stuff on the weekends. I spend about $150 a week on groceries in a typical week for the 2 of us. This is for food only; I buy household items and coffee k-cups from Amazon or Walmart separate from grocery expenses. I have noticed that groceries are getting more expensive lately, though.
When I first went on Social Security, I tracked every penny for a full 12 month cycle. My monthly average for groceries was $350. That still strikes me a high for a single guy, and is my single highest expense by far. I could easily track the details of what I buy (I do my shopping lists in a spreadsheet), but there's nothing I would really change. I don't buy pre-made foods (no frozen dinners except on very rare occasion), and I don't drink alcohol or sodas. Honestly, my single most expensive item is likely coffee, because I drink a lot of it. And I drink well water. So it's gonna be what it is. This amount may have gone up a bit since there's been slack in my budget and recently I've been buying high-quality specialty foods. I used to eat out often when I worked, then not at all when I initially retired. The past year I tried to make it a point to go out for dinner a couple of times a month. COVID put a stop to that, which is partly my justification for buying quality foods to cook with. But even eating out a couple of times a month was $50 or less. My household expenses (everything but utilities and food, includes one-off purchases) averaged $130/month, plus about $50/month for Lowes. The rest of my costs are taxes (vehicles and real estate here in Virginia), insurances (home/auto/health), utilities and firewood (my primary heat source.) Edit to add: I find that--especially with everything else going on--making nice meals is a significant source of pleasure in my life. The food we have on our plates and put into our bodies is the most visible thing we do. Unless there are real reasons to cut back here, this would be the last place I looked (unless what you're spending grocery money on is expensive "junk" and is detrimental to your health, but I don't think that's the case.) That's the conclusion I arrived at when my $350/month freaked me out...I didn't want every meal to be a negative experience. I also gotta add that I was lucky enough to pay off my house, and the amount it takes to "just live" is a real eye-opener.
I spend from 50 - 100 each week for food and household items like paper products and soaps. We don't drink soda. MY indulgence in the summer is to buy tomatoes from a farm stand where I get these large one that are so tasty. I buy tuna Italian subs each week for us and if I don't feel like cooking I get takeout from either a seafood restaurant or a steakhouse or a diner for comfort food.
I appreciate your responses, but remember, only need your expenses for food and non edible items. Just trying to determine a happy medium for eating and non eating expense. I do more pre made things latley because of my hands and arms , hope to change that soon.
About $200 per month on food only for the two of us plus Sari. In hard times hers gets dropped. About $500 per month if non-food household goods are included. Eating in 7 days a week. I do grocery shopping once or twice a week. No really noticeable price increase. If there is one on one food item, it gets balanced out by other items getting cheaper.
I was gonna comment on how the rest of us fell into the same range, but I believe he is out-of-country.