How much is reasonable to spend on food?
 

One of my New Years' resolutions is to spend less money on food, waste less food (and also to eat less of it); and therefore to save money. I always overspend at the grocery store, and eat out way too often. I end up throwing food away because I don't cook it before it goes bad, too.

I may have already asked this and forgotten, but how much is a reasonable amount to spend on food? For one person, per week (or whatever increment you wish). A generous amount (not bare bones); with maybe, once per week eating out. I have no idea, really, so I thought I'd ask y'alls' opinion.

No clue. As a family of four, we spend a ridiculous amount at the store. We spend somewhere between $150-200 a week, easy. I've got to get better at this.

Here's some info from the USDA, for comparison:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPlansCostofFood.htm

I think I spend almost that much myself (as a single person). I buy expensive stuff, sometimes, and love going to restaurants.

I suppose just to buy as needed?
It's hard to cook for one.

I don't know what I will do when I am cooking for myself only.

I have this terrible image of me annoying my neighbors with plates of cookies. I like to bake but I sure can't eat them all.

My food bills range anywhere from £20 to £80 in a week.

I love living alone because of how empty my refrigerator is: so empty that I haven't replaced the burnt-out bulb in a year and a half. No housemates clogging the shelves.

My view is: only buy large volumes of things that don't spoil quickly (olive oil, eggs, peanut butter, mayo, potatoes, pasta, canned beans/canned tomatoes, etc.) For everything else, go to the store every 1-3 days.

This works well for me, because I live upstairs from a great little grocery. Their produce is wonderful, but their dried/canned/preserved foods tend to be expensive. Regardless, if you're commuting, work it into the trip home. When you're shopping that frequently, you don't have to buy as much and can generally fit a single trip's worth of groceries on top of whatever else is in your bag.

$150-$250 a week (about half of what I was spending shopping at Whole Foods, but the kids are less sensitive to dairy now, and dairy free stuff is more widely available), depending mostly on how much I spent the previous week or if something special is going on. We're a family of 4 but Jim spends extra on his lunches.

You guys with big families do very well. There are two here and budget is around $80 to $100 dollars a week but that includes paper products,laundry soap, toiletries and pet supplies/ food too. I can manage on $60 if I have to and that would be just for grocery items and if I am stocked up from a previous week.

Oh yeah, I'm not including cat & dog food. We get that at Tractor Supply, so I don't tend to think of it as "groceries." Nor am I including the kids' school lunches. I am also not including dining out - we do that at least once a week (Sun. after church), maybe more if I'm having a hard week, and hubby won't pack his lunch so he gets fast food every day. When I have time, I cook mostly from scratch, which is cheaper.

We eat out about once every six weeks. For our family of four, we spend around 150-175 a week. That includes packed lunches for everyone. For weeks that we eat out that one time, you can add $75-100 to that.

Slightly off topic as far as the question goes, but interesting to see how your spending stacks up to the "norm".

ok then where did you find that chart?

McDonald's pre-launch happy meal board meeting?

I don't even go to McDonald's. :eyebrow:

about $500/month for 5 of us. everyone packs lunches. we're just not food people, but we do cook from scratch.

Bruce, that is an interesting look at how it all breaks down.

thread/ Note the healthcare costs that are seemingly static. /drift

Food dropped significantly because of improved transportation. And transportation costs went way up at the same time, erasing all those savings. Ironic.

My plan is to designate an amount, and to see how well I can budget within that amount. It can be when you are only one person. When I was really poor and had little kids, I was able to stretch things and plan meals. But just for me? I rarely want to cook, and sometimes do not even want to eat what I cook. It's a struggle.

I would be the same way cloud.

Not only transportation costs, big change in our diets and eating habits, made it possible to take advantage of economies of scale. The switch to processed, pre-prepared foods, means less spoilage than fresh foods, but soylent green will be even cheaper.;)

what went on between 1972 and 1984?

1972 - Richard Nixon goes to China
1972 - Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with USSR
1972 - U.S. presidential election, 1972 (including Watergate burglary, Richard Nixon re-elected)
1972 - Apollo 17 flies to the Moon, the last manned mission there for many decades
1973 - Vietnam Peace Treaty. Troops and POWs return home.
1973 - Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling over-turns state laws against abortion
1973 - The celebrated Senate Watergate hearings, highlighted by Fred Thompson's discovery of Nixon's secret tapes.
1973 - Skylab, USA's first space station launched
1973 - Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns in disgrace as part of a plea bargain
1973 - Congressman Gerald R. Ford of Michigan becomes the first person to be appointed Vice President under the 25th Amendment to the constitution
1973 - In a single day, President Nixon fires three Attorneys General over disposition of the secret tapes and the actions of the Special Prosecutor.
1974 - The House Judiciary Committee votes to impeach the President
1974 - Richard Nixon resigns Presidency over Watergate
1974 - Gerald R. Ford becomes President (by succession rather than election)
1974 - Nelson A Rockefeller of New York becomes the second person to be appointed Vice President under the 25th Amendment to the constitution
1974 - Ford Pardons Nixon
1975 - Fall of Saigon
1976 - U.S. presidential election, 1976
1977 - Jimmy Carter becomes President
1978 - Humphrey Hawkins Full Employment Act
1978 - Camp David Accords (1978)
1979 - Three Mile Island nuclear accident
1979 - Iran hostage crisis begins
[edit] 1980s

President Reagan was the face of the United States during the 1980s1980 - [bockeys on deck
1980 - Mount St. Helens eruption in Washington kills 57 (see 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens)
1980 - U.S. boycotts Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1980 - U.S. presidential election, 1980
1980 - John Lennon Assassination
1981 - Ronald Reagan becomes President (Iran releases hostages)
1981 - Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley
1981 - Kemp-Roth Tax Cut
1981 - Sandra Day O' Connor becomes first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court
1983 - 241 U.S. Marines killed by suicide bomb in Lebanon
1983 - United States invades Grenada
1984 - Most of Eastern Block boycotts Summer Olympics in Los Angeles
1984 - U.S. presidential election, 1984 (Ronald Reagan is re-elected)

1973 oil embargo.

I think more significant was the change from local, regional growing to massive centralized growing, gov't farm subsidies (especially the really big growers), and a change in our dietary practices which oddly saw an increase in consumption of typically more expensive foods that had become cheaper due to centralizing production and economy of scale.

And breeding practices as well. eg, in 1935 it took 112 days to raise a chicken to 2.85# slaughter weight and it req'd 4.4# of feed. By 2000 it took 47 days to raise a chicken to 5.5# and it only req'd 1.95# of grain.

At about the same time an acre of corn would produce about 20 bushels, now it is close to 180 bushels. On a creepy side note the amount of nutrition in a bushel of wheat is about 1/3 of what it was 100 years ago, meaning that you need to consume 3x as much food (and calories) to get the same nutrition as one did 100 years ago.

Obese kids are presenting with scurvy and rickets (probably more a chips and mountain dew issue, but still...)

It reminds me of that old chestnut (haha) Cheap, quick, or good. You can have any two. Obviously it applies to food.

Finally, the real question should be "What is the real cost of food?"

Good lord. Are you guys counting just food, or all household supplies? Ie: Including dog food, paper towels, shampoos, cleaning products, etc.?

My weekly market bill runs $250+, although I'm desperately trying to get it under $225. That does include ALL household/pet/personal products in addition to food. But dang...I don't know how other people spend so little. We are a family of 5 + 1 cat + 1 dog. Included are two grown men, one teenager, one preschooler, and me.

We eat mostly organic, all natural, unprocessed products although I do not go to a specialty store to buy that it. We pack our lunches and only eat out 1-2x a month and never, ever eat fast food or take out. But still, my marketing bill runs nearly as much as my mortgage/rent bill. That's just amazing!!

Everything. I comparison shop for everything, I shop in three or four stores, I buy in as much bulk as I possible can, stocking up on sale items, I rarely buy organic all natural unprocessed......

I hear ya, Stormie. We buy the expensive (i.e. good) ingredients too, and our normal grocery bill is easily $200 a week. Jinx noted earlier in the thread that hers was about as high too, and they're another family that sticks with the healthier foods.

I bought organic corn chips that tasted like feed corn and organic brown rice that had organic material in it that wasn't rice. I think organic vegetables and fruit suck as well. If they from a local farm fine but I do not want organic vegetables from Mexico.

I'll buy less refined healthy nutritious food but grotie on the organic stuff.
I think mass produced organic label items are overrated.

Ive stayed away form the 'organic' line of foods at the grocery store because I don't really trust them to be organic. Especially anything processed...it seems like its more of a marketing gimmick. I will, however, consider them from a natural foods store or farmers market where the farmers are local.

It seems if the package is a certain type of paper, adorned with greenish and tannish hues, usually a field of wheat included, we are to believe it's organic.

They should change all the packaging with the word "organic" to "orgasmic." I might buy some orgasmic wheat crisps.

I feel exactly the same.

I think the importance of organic depends largely on the conventional alternative. Round-up Ready genetically modified soy products don't appeal to me at all, so I look for organic soy or skip it. I buy local fruits/vegetables that I can wash the pesticides off of more often (when available) than organic at the grocery store.

We shop at our local food coop and we are really lucky that we live in a very vibrant farm community and have a very large garden.

I rarely buy organic from the big chain stores, would only shop at Whole Paycheck, if there were no other grocery stores around.

There is a lot of deliberate misinformation when it comes to describing food. For example the term "free range chicken" has a specific, legal definition. All that is required to call a bird "free-range" is that it have access to the outdoors. You could have 60,000 chickens in a gymnasium with no ventilation or lights and a single 12"x12" opening leading to a barren concrete lot as far as the eye can see and you can legally call your chickens free range.

Organic produce is suspect to me, it is not necessarily better for you for starters, the definitions of organic have been cut off at the knees by the gov't so it is pretty much meaningless. Friends of ours who are not "certified organic" actually have better, stricter growing practices than certified organic farms. They can't afford to be certified.

At the Park Slope Coop where mrs. nutkin was a member there was a memeber whose job it was to test all the produce that came in for traces of herbicides and pesticides. (It is a big coop) They were always finding non-organic stuff.

I wouldn't spend my money on a label whether the label is Organic or Gucci. It means nothing.

Save your money buy things that haven't been cooked already, cultivate relationships with farmers and growers, eat in season, you can reduce your food bill and eat healthier.

Still, $200. a week for a family of four doesn't seem out of line.

I want to clarify that when I say "Organic is not necessarily better for you" I mean if you don't know the pedigree of that particular thing. An IPM grown carrot from rich healthy soil will be more nutritious for you than an organically grown carrot from poor soil that's been poorly stored and is wilting away.

All things being equal, and with a real, meaningful definition, organic is of course a better option on multiple levels.

You just can't trust anyone who is in business to make $ to lookout for your interests.

There is a guy here I occasionally buy veg from. His veg is truly organic and prices similar to the supermarket. The incredibly high cost of "organic" food has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with marketing.

As an interesting aside, I sell scrip as a school fundraiser and there has been an enormous shift from Whole Paycheck to the local food co-op over the last few years. Both give 5% to the school, I don't believe there's an awful lot of difference in the prices, but the people's food co-op is local and they source their own suppliers, mostly locally.

Oh, and.... one family of four who don't shop anywhere else as I understand buy $150 PFC scrip from me each week.

I shop at the supermarket for some stuff; but I mainly buy from the village store. I'm not much swayed by the 'organic' label, but occasionally wil go on a healthfood shop binge; particularly if I've been eating a lot of meat products and am craving veggie stuff. I am swayed by goods that are locally produced. And I am swayed by animal welfare. I generally get eggs that are from free to roam hens, rather than just 'free-range', and I try to get the ones that are from Yorkshire rather than those from further afield. If i can, I get Northowram Farm eggs. Much of the fresh veg I buy is locally grown.

I don't buy foods just because their label says "organic". And I don't go to a "health food store" to buy them. I know I've posted this before, but I shop at three stores every week...a farmers market for fruits/veggies, Family Dollar for paper goods, and grocery store for the rest.

But, I refuse to buy processed meats (lunch meat, hot dogs, bacon) with nitrates in them and the alternative is expensive. I just buy these sorts of things rarely. I do buy organic meat like chicken and beef, and a few other items such as Silk (my husband has to drink on Dr.s order) and milk. I buy cage free organic eggs and other dairy such as cheese.

Most everything else is just regular off-the-shelf stuff but I won't buy anything with artificial coloring, MSG, HFCS, mechanically separated meat, or other artificial flavorings/preservatives.

I'm fairly new to the healthy eating crowd, and I'm not fanatical about it...just trying to cut out the worst of the offenders. I know that a few years ago, organic didn't mean diddly, but the USDA started requiring that anything labeled organic must be produced without antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, irradiation, or bioengineering, as well as certain humane treatment of animals. So, while it might not be ideal, the label appears to eliminate most of what I'm trying to avoid.

If I had the time, space, and ability, I'd do my own growing, canning, freezing, etc. But I live in a city and work two jobs, and buying it is the next best thing.

I really don't understand what people mean when they say "eat healthy" or "eat healthier."

Is the elk healthier than the mountain lion? They have completely different diets. The elk has a big belly and eats only vegetables. The mountain lion is thin and fast and eats mostly elk.

Neither the Elk nor the Lion go to McDonald's. We are omnivores, meat and veggies are both good for us, but eating healthier takes into consideration how the meat/veggies were produced and prepared.
No, deep fried Snickers bars, do not grow on trees.:headshake

plus, back in caveman days, a 40 year old was an old man. We live long enough now that an unhealthy diet is what winds up killing us. We aren't dying of starvation, or of infectious diseases or trauma like we used to. If we want to live longer, we have to focus on the diet now, because we've pretty much conquered the other causes of death. It's a good thing.

No, but cigarettes do! ;)

That's just what the Whole Foods marketing people want you to believe.

I'm sticking with a strict Spam and bacon diet.

(When we were in Kauai last week we saw Spam hot dogs in the grocery store. If I could afford it I would move there tomorrow.)