How much do you spend on Food & Grog?

[btdt22]

$900 p/m grocery stores (includes cleaning supplies etc) and $350 p/m grog (the good stuff). Restaurant visits not included

 

[Dash man]

This is the first time I have hear the term "grog". I spend nothing on alcohol and less than $200/mo on food

I would guess you never served in the military?

 

[jjquantz]

The two of us average about $350/month for groceries, $450/month for eating out and about $50/month for wine.

 

[CardsFan]

This is the first time I have hear the term "grog". I spend nothing on alcohol and less than $200/mo on food

Grog I knew, but I did have to look up "Mothers Ruin".

 

[unclemick]

We spend a boatload on eating out often with 2 or three other couples. Trying new restaurants and revisiting old favorites is a major pastime.

? No longer keep track of spending - unlike early ER when I really earned the name - cheap SOB.

heh heh heh - The clock is ticking and you can't take it with you. Plus the DW signed us up for gym membership. .

 

[mountainsoft]

We spend about $800-900 per month for groceries for a family of three. That includes food, wine, household items, cleaners, etc.


That does not include eating out, which we probably do once or twice a week. Of course, when we eat out our groceries at home last longer, so it's something of a fair trade.


Once our daughter moves out I suspect our grocery budget will drop $100-200 per month. With her working more our meals are already lasting longer than they used to (more leftovers).

 

[Al18]

$400 per month for food for the two of us. Alcohol is another $50 per month. We eat out 2-3 times a week and spend another $400 per month.

 

[kitesurfer2]

$100 a week for groceries for the 2 of us. not much for grog as grog is a killer in too many ways to name. however $600 buys me a 1/4 lb of Medical cannabis and it last a year.

 

[John Galt III]

Around $100 a month on food. Around $90 a month on booze (beer only, usually).

 

[DrRoy]

About $4-500/mo for groceries for 2, maybe $50/mo on grog. Don't count eating out separately. That is not often unless we are travelling.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We spent an average of $900/mo for 2 for groceries and liquor last year and $580/mo on entertainment, the majority of which was dining out. We don't restrict ourselves in this area of spending at all, considering it one of the joys of life. Both categories are down from prior years. At 69 and 71 I find that we are consuming less as we age. When we eat out it is often at lunch and we find that after eating a decent sized lunch in the 1-2pm timeframe makes for a light dinner if we eat dinner at all.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[iloveyoga]

I don't track my expenses closely, but around $750 per month for what we eat and drink at home. We do go out to eat quite a bit and probably spend another $450 on that a month.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Funny how people like to eat out. I personally do not, everything is cooked IMHO with too much salt. I do not have salt on anything at home, and to me it make all food simply tastes of salt, no matter how good it may seem.

After 25 years of business travel eating out every day, and at good restaurants, I honestly do not miss it.

 

[flintnational]

We are about $940 a month for three. DD is back at home. This excludes eating out. Wine is less than $100 of the total. The total includes some household items bought at Costco. I feel like an underachiever with our wine expense but I can't get the DW to drink better wine!

 

[flintnational]

Around $100 a month on food. Around $90 a month on booze (beer only, usually).

I like your beer to food ratio.

 

[athena53]

Food cost is 6.6% of all expenses. It's way below other categories such as travel, healthcare, gifts and donations (no, we do not attend church and do not tithe).

In economic hard times, I can see that our eating standards (and my drinking, as my wife is a teetotaler) will not go down, because we will be cutting something else.

I agree; my diet is one of the things that keeps me healthy and that means lower OOP Medical costs. Even a bare-bones budget would include pretty much the same food, but maybe eliminate the occasional $75 bottle of scotch in favor of more Kirkland scotch. I think I'd (ugh) fly Coach on transatlantics rather than cut back on the quality of food.

 

[street]

I would say we average about 550 a month.

 

[GravitySucks]

About $450 month for grocery store trips - food, beer ,toilet paper, cleaning stuff.
About $40 of that is beer.
Add maybe $10 a month tops for wine and spirits.
Spend to much on alcohol at the walking distance Village Taverns.

 

[audreyh1]

i'm budgeting about $1K a month on food/grog

That’s probably what we’re running for two people! On the other hand we rarely eat out.

Eating well is a top priority for us.

 

[msieweke]

Last year I averaged $412/mo in groceries for one person, plus $26/mo eating out. That includes more than $30 for butter alone . I cook almost everything from scratch, mostly organic/pastured/grass-fed. Some wine for cooking, only a sip for the cook.

I could easily cut food expenses in half, but I see it as a long-term investment in health. Now I need to calculate the cost of vitamins and other supplements...

 

[scrabbler1]

This is the first time I have hear the term "grog". I spend nothing on alcohol and less than $200/mo on food

Same here, around $200 per month tops and zero for alcohol because I don't drink. BTW "grog" is a good scrabble word, I have to remember that one.

 

[SnowBound]

$500/month for groceries, $100/month house supplies, eating out some from grocery budget plus about $50/month for 2 adults and a 14 yr. old. We can get milk for $1.79/gallon, bread for $1.19 and boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 at Wegmans plus deals at Aldis and BJs.

 

[karen1972]

$950 (including toiletries, etc)

Groceries - $730
Restaurants - $150
Alcohol - $70

This is for two people, though my BF definitely eats more than the average person .. run 6 miles, come home starving, eats you out of house and home.

Now before I retired, we use to spend $1800-$2000 a month. In order to retire early, we agreed to keep it under $1000.

Hard for us to justify having to work years longer just to save that extra $300-400k just to buy fancy food.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I HAVE Noticed that Inflation is creeping up for us this year. For the last 10 years or so it has been somewhat stagnant for US. I have calculated that with our historical spending inflation for the past 10 Years (FOR US) has been ~1 or 2%, Not Per Year, for the whole 10 year period.

That seems to be changing this year. Eggs are up ~$1 a doz. Gas is $2.89 a gal milk and meat are also a lot higher now here in Florida, and Produce is up about 30%. I wonder what is causing the spike? Anyone else noticing this?

 

[RonBoyd]

Interesting question. Last year, we (two of us) spent an average of $407 on groceries (only stuff that went into our mouths as nourishment) and $180 on liquor (at home). ($4,892.70 + $216.29 = $5,108.99)