Alfster 

Just curious how much others spend on:

a) groceries?
b) dining out (includes fast food & coffees)?

and:

c) how many people are you feeding with that budget?

I've been re-doing our household budget today, and I'm curious to see how we compare to others.

Our monthly budget for 2011 is:
a) $550 groceries (includes toiletries)
b) $150 (dining out)
c) 2 people

ModoVincere

Last month $440.48 in groceries.
Dining out $90.35.

2 people. I'm excluding the daughters expenses as she's away at college and I have no way of really tracking what she's spending money on.

skijor

That's in line with what I spend for myself per month. Though I just blew $40 for wings and brewskis while watching the Pack beat Carolina. Would've been more if not for a visit from the Shock Top girls at The Corner Pocket. Beer counts as food right?

Taerom

a) Maybe $150 for groceries/consumables
b) $20 for eating out/misc.
c) Just myself

Alfster 

You're skinny, aren't you?

Taerom

Well, I'm not exactly eating steak and drinking expensive wine every night.

Alfster 

The USDA lists for 2011, the Cost of Food at Home - for 4 different cost levels.

For a family of 2 (19 to 50 years old):
$358.10 - Thrifty Plan
$457.30 - Low Cost Plan
$566.00 - Moderate Cost Plan
$708.90 - Liberal Plan

https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publication...oodJan2011.pdf

Alfster 

Per the same USDA list, a single male (19 to 50 years old) would spend:
$172.40 Thrifty Plan
$222.40 Low Cost Plan
$277.50 Moderate Cost Plan
$339.70 Liberal Plan

Taerom

I just went back and rechecked my expenditures for the last 3 months and got an average of $156/month for groceries.

I graduated last year, but I still live like a college student (minus the beer).

Lamplight

Just guessing I'd say I'm somewhere between the two in bold, probably closer to the Moderate Plan. I don't bother recording my expenses or anything, so it's just a guess. I usually spend about $60 a week at the grocery store, but some of that will be non-food items, and my brother is still living with me so he'll consume a little of it as well, though he also buys his own groceries. Lately I've been dining out more than I should, probably spending $25 or so per week. In my normal routine (which I've been slipping on since I moved) I'd probably spend no more than $10 per week dining out, and some weeks nothing at all. I definitely need to get back into that routine.

dcrowell

I haven't tracked mine closely (because I pay cash), but I spend an obscene amount of money on food. Probably 60% is eating out. It wouldn't surprise me if the total were $700/month... and I live alone!

On the other hand, that does include dog food (two big dogs), cat food & litter, and assorted toiletries.

pgoat

Ummm...this is also a well-timed thread, as we just did our budget this AM...let;s just say we're EXTREMELY liberal. we need to cut back dramatically. The bills are one sign of that (about $900/month, 2 adults, that includes eating out and household supply stuff, but not laundry). My fat stomach is another...

If you wanna look like Taerom, ya gotta eat like Taerom!! Right now I'm eating like Ralph Kramden.

no1mad 

According to the guidelines, my family should be spending $598.90 a month. We spend maybe just over half of that at the store, kid's are on Reduced Meals (breakfast and lunch), the wife and I both eat 2x daily during work week and 1x day on non working days. The last time the whole family ate out was last month- and that's only because the kids got to eat for free.

robberry

I typically spend about $50-60 at the grocery store each week, about $20-50 for pizza and takeout each week, and about $100 on toiletries, TP and paper towels about once a month. That's for just me.

____asdfghjkl

my mom spends about 400 dollars on groceries i think.
we never eat out anymore. unless there are coupons.
at least 100 dollars in other
i haven't bought any new clothes since high school :O

mechBgon

I'm surprised those are that high. For myself, "thrifty" would be under $100/month and involves lots of bread, peanut butter, and mac & cheese. I'm probably in the $150/mo area at the moment.

Oh, and dining out = never. I went to a McDonalds about six months ago. If I'm going to treat myself to something special, it'll be a gallon of chocolate milk and a frozen pizza.

Denelle

I spend less than the thrifty amount for a family Of 5.

Alfster 

Wow! Do you use lots of coupons? Grow your own veggies?

Denelle

Nope it helps that we live in a low COL area. We buy very little processed foods. I cook most everything from scratch. Our youngest is allergic to dairy and eggs so it's more of a necessity than anything.

What kind of foods do you eat?

DataJunkie

Family of 2 adults, 1 8 year old, and a 7 month old.

Groceries: $400 a month. My wife cooks just about everything from scratch.
Eating out: maybe $30. Her cooking is yummy.

We are usually overflowing with food.

eofelis 

Timely topic.
I just decided to start a spreadsheet to keep closer track of my food spending.

It's hard to estimate what I spend on food because I stock a pantry (closet) when there are good sales rather than buying a selection every week. When something I use regularly is on rock bottom sale price I buy a lot of it. Then I might not buy any more of that item for months. Some weeks I'll spend $100. Other weeks that not much is on sale I'll buy a few fresh items for $20 and we'll eat stuff out of the stocked pantry or the freezer.

I also sort of keep track over what is a good sale price and what is not really a good sale price of an item.

It will be interesting to see the average I spend over a long term.

We eat out occasionally, 1-2x per week. Usually very cheap, like Subway or lunch specials at a local Asian restaurant.

pgoat

this is such a great idea - we have to do this too. for food but also discretionary spending - you need $16 cash for something, so you get $20 from the atm - where does that extra $4 go? Multiply that once, twice or three times per week, and $600 just vanished mysteriously from your annual net.

Ours is so high for food, partially b/c we live in New York, but mostly because we (and by 'we' I mean 'me' - my wife is pretty good about making wise food shopping choices) buy food with thinking about how much it costs. I'm not talking about eating out in posh restaurants - we do that maybe once or twice a year. I am not saying buying fancy schmancy high end bon-bons and similar stuff; I mean when I decide I want to buy some healthy cereal at the market, I just impulsively grab what looks good on the shelf, without checking and seeing which choices might be on sale. Then I get the sticker shock at the cashier...again, one-time is no biggie but if you do this several times per month it's budget suicide.

Lamplight

There's is some shockingly expensive cereal out there! At my local store they have a selection of locally produced, organic, etc cereal and some of them are $8 or more for a small bag! I get another brand that's local and it's $4 for a normal sized box, and if I stop and think about it, that's pretty expensive too. But it's so good!

pgoat

yeah, exactly - good stuff is usually pricey. But for example, by us, I can go to the health food store - where cereal is usually a wee bit more than at the supermarket - and buy their sale stuff. It's typically close the expiration date, but still fine - and very cheap! ($3 for a big box). Of course the market has sales too - I just typically don't even think about it, which is so stupid of me.

himespau 

For the 2 of us and a baby, it's probably ~$500 a month (maybe $400) for groceries and maybe $200 for eating out. Man, that's a lot. Time to tighten the belts a bit (wouldn't hurt if it allowed me to actually literally tighten my belt if we did it, either).