How much do you spend on food?

[disneysteve]

For those of you who keep track, can you please post the following:

How many in your household - adults and children?
How much do you spend, on average, per month on food? Just a grand total is fine but if you want to break it down by groceries for home and dining out, that's fine, too.

I've posted before that I know our food spending is a definite weak spot in our spending. I wasn't sure how much we actually spent but over the weekend, I added up the food-related spending on our last CC bill and I was very surprised by the number. Now I want to go back and get the numbers for the past few months to see what the average has been.

[MonkeyMama]

2 adults/2 children (kids eat as much as any adult though!)

$450 per month average.

We primarily home cook, so we buy in bulk, and eat a lot of leftovers. I do find that we can get better discounts shopping for 4 than many get shopping for 2, etc. On the flip side, we like our food and there is plenty of fat to be trimmed here if push came to shove.

[Radiance]

One mom, one 18 month old toddler= 350 month
No eating out

Considerations

• This is Fort Lauderdale Florida area.
• Most of our food is organic/natural aka more expensive.
• I am skipping meals so I should really buy more.
• No defined meal plan yet.
• Baby eats 20% jarred baby food, rest is home made.
• Household items not included (tooth paste, toilette paper, detergent, etc. That is a separate item)

[LivingAlmostLarge]

First month without the 3rd adult, so I'm not sure. And I'm pregnant so I've been buying stuff I crave which is WEIRD.

Normally $300/month for 3 adults. I think last month it was closer to $400 because of stupid cravings.

I am also buying more organic foods now, including milk, meat, fruits/veggies, so it may go up.

I've always budgeted $400/month for 2 adults and we eat well, including all fresh meats (mostly seafood) and fruits/veggies.

My DH is supposed to eat fish 3-4x/week.

[boosami]

By current breakdown on my personal AmEx statement, the last period for food was $1,500.82.

That's for two people. Oh yeah, groceries are not included in that number. Believe it or not, it actually seems a little low to me for the past month. It will absolutely be higher next statement, as I just paid for ~60 people's dinner the other day (for a party). That's just personal spending--You probably don't want me to add up the business food expenses!!!

Of course, while I'm a saver I'm by no means frugal so I only half belong on this board.

[DC Metro Crab]

$30/week for 2 adults for groceries, cleaning and paper products. I buy the latter maybe once a year, so it mostly goes towards food. Est $200-300/month eating out. Helps the budget (not necessarily my health) that I have no sweet tooth, am lactose intolerant, and for some reason never crave fruit. I buy it, it magically goes bad without consumption.

- eat out 1-3x week (our hobby, no fast food). Taken out of weekly fun allowance.
- cook from scratch
- eat out at places that tend to generate leftovers
- brown bag daily and eat leftovers often
- Asian diet, rice and veggie based
- don't eat meat often
- buy mostly veggies, shop once 2x per week on avg
- rarely buy bread, soda, milk, fruit, juice, processed foods, no snacks

[Caoineag]

Well, I label our entire food bill as discretionary money so I know its a big black hole for us. Groceries are than $150-250 per month. I would say anywhere between $400-800 per month is out to eat. Yup, its really that ridiculous (and oh, the two sets of numbers are inversely related as one goes up, the other goes down). So total is $650-950 per month.

[Bimmer]

Family of four, but one is 4 months old. We spend between $600-700 a month on groceries/household. This includes food, paper products, baby items (sippy cups, diapers, etc), cleaners, OTC medication. I found it tedious, time consuming and pointless to break each little sub-category down. We are consistenly in this range, so its easy enough to track whether we are well under/over budget.

We spend $90-120 eating out each month.

[momof1in150]

Family of 4 and a dog - $600 a month - everything - food, paper goods, cleaning and dog food

We eat 90% of our meals at home or I pack lunches each day. This could be lower but am happy when we stay within the $600.

[ceejay74]

I'm curious--do the people who know their numbers track food expenses separate of other household items?

It's difficult for me to know how much straight-up food costs are, because we have a blanket grocery/household budget that also covers other supplies such as toiletries, cleaning products, replacement small appliances, etc. We also buy party food with this money.

Usually it's $900 per month, and we generally have money left over, so sometimes we use that to eat out or to purchase alchohol for parties. Currently due to job woes we're down to $700 per month and so far managing to stay within that. No idea how much of it is food. We do buy multigrain or whole-wheat versions of everything, plenty of fruit and fresh veg, eco-friendlier paper products and toiletries, etc., so our costs are probably higher. We can't buy in bulk because of our small living space, so that adds up as well I guess.

Otherwise, if we eat out, it comes from our discretionary personal spending money, which we get in cash each Friday and do not track after that--we can use it for whatever. So I really have no clue about total food costs.

[disneysteve]

I'm curious--do the people who know their numbers track food expenses separate of other household items?

We don't buy household items - paper goods, cleaning products, OTC medications, etc. - at the same store where we buy our groceries so it is easy to keep them separate.

[zetta]

Two adults, one preschool-age child. These numbers are embarrassing to admit. We've never really focused on them, but will have to bring them down when I quit working:

grocery store: $400 - $500
Trader Joe's: $200
eating out: $200 - $300
Total: $600 - $800

This does not include toiletries or the occasional Costco run.

[Cassandra]

Well, while I was living at my dad's it was about $400/month for 3 adults.

Now that it is just fiance and I, I am expecting to spend about $170/month on food for the two of us.

[kork13]

I'm curious--do the people who know their numbers track food expenses separate of other household items?

I consider them the same thing -- "groceries". Plus, I buy them all in the same store anyway, so it would be a pain in the butt to do otherwise.

I've been living with 2 roommates for the last year or so, and we've normally averaged about $300-$350 for the 3 of us. Additionally, I spend ~$60/mo eating out (almost exclusively going to lunch 1-2 times per week).

Now that my roommates are moving out, I'm estimating my grocery expenses (excluding eating out) to be ~$150/mo for the last 3-4 months that I'll be here.

[disneysteve]

I'm sure someone noticed that I didn't post my numbers. I wanted to see what everyone else said first. Now I don't feel so bad - thanks for the replies. Last month, we charged about $600 at supermarkets and restaurants. Then there is probably another $30-$50 that wasn't paid for by CC. That is for 2 adults and one full-grown teen, so essentially 3 adults. That looks to be in the ballpark for what several of you spend.

I do want to look back at prior months to see if that is typical for us as I honestly have no idea.

This month won't help because we'll be out of town for 2 weeks so our numbers will be skewed dramatically.