Food Expense

[gekkoplus]

How much should a family of two spend on food related expenses to be considered average spenders?

I just found out that we have been spending around $50 a week on food. That's $200 a month. I want to know whether this is very high or within acceptable range.

We both are vegetarians. We cook at home all the time and don't eat outside at all. We are big on green vegetables and fruits which I suppose is a major factor contributing the total. We live in bay area and on a single income.

[zetta]

Prices will vary a great deal by region of the country. I suspect that for the bay area you are doing very well!

[ScrimpAndSave]

$50 a week is awesome.

[jimmyengland]

50 bucks that sounds unbelievable. we spend about 120-130 a wk. we do not eat out live in pa personally i think our bill is too high but i know thats what the wife spends. we tend to not eat out very often once a month usually and this is not included in the figure above. will be interested to see what others put on here as i am pretty sure she is spending far too much then i will be able to drop the hammer hhahahha

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Sounds great! We spend $200/month groceries for 3 adults and $200/month eating out for a 2 grown adults. Maybe a bit more eating out.

I budget up to $400/month.

[maat55]

DW and I spend around 125.00 per week, that includes toiletries but not eating out.

[anonymous_saver]

My partner and I spend around $350 or so on groceries. We shop at a local co-op and buy everything organic, and we are vegetarian/vegan, so we buy a lot of specialty items. That being said, to us, this is our splurge, we don't spend a lot of money other than on food. We live in Minnesota. I know we could spend a lot less money if we didn't buy everything organic and such, but that's just not for us. So therefore, I think $50 a month for two vegetarians is crazy good.

[mom-from-missouri]

For 5 full timers, and 2 part timers, we spend around $275 a month--was much lower but prices have shot up. But we also garden and raise our own pork, beef and fish.

I also get the bulk of our food at Aldi or in bulk at an amish store. I coupon and take advantage of cvs, walgreen and dollar general sales and rebates and combine them with coupons resulting in free items.

I also do not include nonfood items in the food budget--such as soaps, trash bags...

[Radiance]

How do you do it! 50 a week for two adults!

I went in and bought some escentials and spent $40.
I wanted to post the details here but I lost that one receipt.
I am tempted to see if the store can give me a copy

I remember I bought:
1 bag of brown rice
3 pears
10 string cheese, these I memember was 87c each
1 tray of green beans
1 garlic head
1 tray with two zuchinnis
a 4 pack of veggie broth
1 lb of almonds
Gosh, I don't remember what else!, I'll have to check my fridge and try to recognize what I bought.

And this is for one adult and one toddler.
I am not vegetarian, but love veggies
From there I spent $24 on a big tray of chicken, good for 6 servings of me and baby. (I think) an and a medium tray of ground turkey.

Then I spent additional $7 on a gallon of organic cow milk for the baby, I am lactose intolerant so that should last one week, he drinks two glasses a day.