How much do you spend on Groceries?

[daylatedollarshort]

Lately it has been around $300 on groceries to feed the two of us, including wine. I spend a bit more on groceries because of adult kids / house guests eating here random times. But to just feed the two of us is around $300. That is shopping mainly at 99 Cents Only and Grocery Outlet and stockpiling what I can store or freeze. If I shopped at the local supermarkets the prices are crazy high - 3- 4 times or more for the exact same items.

We only spend $20 or less dining out with the two of us with a half off coupon a few times a month, but club functions and social events usually bring our meals out expense closer to $100 - $200 a month.

 

[Singletrack]

About 600 a month for groceries for 2 people. However we eat out or order in 3 days a week for another 600.

About the same here, but we sometimes end up over $600 on the dining out budget. If we’re dining with some of our wine connoisseur buddies, we’re hosed...lol.

 

[Omega]

I am SHOCKED at how much everyone spends on food! I'm single and spend about $250, which includes my dog's food and treats.

 

[Dtail]

I am SHOCKED at how much everyone spends on food! I'm single and spend about $250, which includes my dog's food and treats.

One of life's pleasures for some folks including me. Depends if one eats just for sustenance or is a foodie or anything in between.
There are some folks on this site who spend more on travel than some other folks' entire spending budget. Just depends....

 

[foxfirev5]

About $800 per month for two. Lots of fresh produce, fresh protein and other perimeter of the store stuff. Dining out is usually reserved for travelling.

 

[wmc1000]

DW and I are averaging $350 mo. for the last 2 years. Includes food, alcohol and household supplies. Averaging $150 mo. in dining out.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We eat a lot of meat, good quality steak and lamb. That will make for a minimum of a $350 - $450 Costco run alone each month.

 

[RobbieB]

Don't know either. I imagine at least a grand a month.

 

[imoldernu]

We rarely eat out anymore, and food is not as important as it once was. We eat simply, except when the kids come, but even then nothing extraordinary. Aldi's for the most part. A few years ago we figured an average food budget of about $6500, but now it's close to or under $4000 including the cleaning stuff..
Not to save money, it's just that we don't eat as much. The appetite has changed, and this is fortunate, as all of the symptoms associated with the younger days are under control. Blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, etc., are under control, and some of the long time medications are no longer necessary.

Only major vice is that I like to snack on frozen chips of ham... but as to that, a ten pound ham only costs $15 and it lasts me 3 months.

 

[grasshopper]

We rarely eat out, enjoy wine with our dinner, and include paper with groceries.

Groceries $580 a month lots of organic no meat/fish
Alcohol $90 a month 1.5 ltr Costco Pinot Grigio
Dining out $110 a month a one cafe town

 

[kgtest]

On groceries themselves from the grocer, about $5200/annually and that includes a bottle of wine a month for DW.

We also go out to eat maybe once every few months as a family and during travel... and I eat out for lunch occasionally. (okay maybe more than I should).

~ $7500 for a family of four total food/wine" budget annually.

I don't ever order any beverage other than water, and I keep it under $6 at lunch. We do try to avoid fast food and eating out though.

I am tempted to do a grocer fast where you see how long you can go with just the stuff in the cupboards before you need to stop (excluding milk and fresh produce/meat).

DW and I both get 10% coupons at our grocer if we schedule flu shots with the minute clinic, so we usually stock up on the before xmas groceries and the end of the year non-perishables to eek out the discount.

 

[aaronc879]

For one person I spend around $150-$180/mo. That is all food, drink, and toiletries. I don't drink alcohol, eat out, or get delivery. I stock up on things that are on sale if I eat them regularly so some months may be over $200 while some are under $100.

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't track it since retiring but a quick back of the envelope guesstimate for groceries and eating out is between 1200 and 1300 a month for the two of us. Add maybe another 75 to 100 for the dog. He's a big dog. Eats his food and any scraps we have plus all the dog treats we give him. And he is looking for more all the time.

 

[scrabbler1]

For one person I spend around $150-$180/mo. That is all food, drink, and toiletries. I don't drink alcohol, eat out, or get delivery. I stock up on things that are on sale if I eat them regularly so some months may be over $200 while some are under $100.

While I'm a little closer to $200, as I wrote earlier, what is part of it and the unevenness in getting there is just like yours.

 

[flintnational]

We budget $800 per month for 2. This includes wine and household supplies but not dinning out.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Do we think it could be the cost of groceries in a given area? I would hate to see Koolau's numbers.

 

[Golden sunsets]

So far in 2018 we have averaged $867/mo for groceries including alcohol and cleaning/toletries for a family of 2. We have averaged about $414/mo for dining out. We snowbird 2 months per year and the grocery/eating out expenses for those months are accounted for in our travel expenses.

 

[Doribe]

For two of us we spent $658 for the month of November. We did have college DS home for one week. Only a few restaurant meals. I try to focus on eating healthy, cost is secondary as long as we can do it.

 

[La Mer]

Save on other things not food!

Saving on food is not very wise; quality foods are expensive. There are lots of other ways that we can save such as gas, electricity, mobile, restaurants, decorations, etc...

 

[Another Reader]

I'm in the HCOL Bay Area. I shop at Sprouts and Safeway, with a few grocery related items from Costco, Trader Joe's or Lucky. Milk is actually cheaper at the local fancy Whole Foods clone. Paper products usually come from Costco or Target.

My freezer is full of $1.99 boneless skinless chicken breasts and tenders from Sprouts, and cheap pork from Lucky. Egg noodles, rice and pasta on sale also are frozen to keep the bugs out. Frozen fruit when bags are on sale for $2.00 at Sprouts. Great for smoothies. Frozen peas and corn from Trader Joe's at $1.29 a bag. Fresh organic lettuce and green beans on sale at the Whole Foods clone - cheaper than Safeway. Fresh fruit wherever it's decent quality and on sale. Safeway whole wheat bread (Orowheat type) on sale 3 for $5.00. Some months a lot comes out of the freezer and the grocery bill is less than $75 per person.

My mother knew the standard price of everything she bought and went through the Wednesday grocery ads for sale prices before heading to the supermarket. I learned that at an early age and it has served me well.

 

[24601NoMore]

For DW and I, JUST food as we break out our receipts..

Total: $689/mo average, YTD.

- $391/mo groceries
- $129/mo alcohol
- $103/mo dinners out
- $16/mo lunches out
- $38/mo carry-out (Chinese, pizza)
- $12/mo fast food (Panera, Arbys, etc)

Hopefully some of these (especially alcohol) come down a bit in the new year once we are both ER'd and there's both more time and less stress..

We track everything to the penny in Quicken. It'd be interesting to hear how many of the numbers posted are tracked to actuals vs estimated..

 

[deserat]

I budget $400 a month for one (includes cleaning supplies, paper products, basic wine and beer, etc...). But my food expenses have been dropping. I am simplifying my diet (I loved to cook a large variety of food when I was married but it is not so fun now that I am single). And I am lowering my meat consumption. The goal is to move towards a more plant-based, seasonal, and streamlined diet. But I still favor what I would call "high quality ingredients".

Since you are moving back to Europe, you will probably enjoy the seasonality - I loved that about Europe and I ate most anything they had. I shopped at Aldi and the local stores and ate at local restaurants. Still love it when I'm there for pfefferlingen or spargel season! I've also found that in many countries wild meat is eaten a lot (deer meat or other meat that has been hunted by the family) . Very clean and high protein....

 

[deserat]

Single person - ~$240/mo includes paper goods, cleaning goods, booze, everything.....huh, not too bad. I buy good proteins (fish, beef, chicken, cheese, eggs). I've found that the deals at Sprouts for meats, fruits and vegetables are very well priced for excellent quality. Costco is a good deal, although being single, the quantity can be overwhelming. The Wednesday flyers now feature in much of my shopping and eating. I cook for myself and eat out rarely. I've found I like my cooking and if I am disappointed with a restaurant feel like I wasted money.

Dining: - $249 so far for the year

Does not include vacation expenses - those were: $3600 total, but many of my trips are combined business/pleasure. I skied Alaska, hiked the Grand Canyon, traveled to Portugal, Germany and Paris as well as the Baltics and Sweden this year. I was able to expense all of the travel expenses to Europe....I do try to eat out at good restaurants when traveling and found out about the White list (comparable to the Michelin list, but for the Nordics and Baltics) and ate at two of those restaurants (one in Lithuania and one in Estonia) - wow - great food and of course the Baltics are fairly cheap, so the meal was an excellent price. I also went at lunch time so the prices were lower.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I usually buy about 20 pounds of produce or so from 99 Cents Only for around 50 cents a pound. A lot of it just seems to be overstocks or irregular shapes, like peppers that are fine, just part red and part green. Or a bag of 8 kiwis for $1 - some might be on the small or large side but perfectly fine.

I find it kind of fun to go and stock up on the super bargains - fresh asparagus, shitake mushrooms, oyster mushroom, blueberries, blackberries are all just a $1 a package / bunch. The other week they had frozen artichokes for a $1 a package, $4.50 at the local retail supermarkets. One day they had brand name almond butter on sale for $1 a jar, $11.29 retail so I stocked up quite a bit. Often I get cheese and nitrite free lunch meat for just $1 pound.


Most of our meat I get on sale for $1 - $2 a pound like chicken tenders from Sprouts. Grocery Outlet has organic grass fed ground beef for $4.99 a pound. We try not to eat too much meat so that lasts us a while.

I wish I would have known to shop like this years ago, especially when we had teenagers in the house. It might have knocked some years off our retirement date. I've started taking some of the money I save on groceries and donating it instead. I would rather see the money go to causes I support than over-priced supermarket store profits.

 

[Katsmeow]

There are actual spent numbers. Does not include non-grocery items. Per month, mostly for 2. During 1st half of 2017, DS was at home with us and he has been with us some this fall. We do not drink alcohol. We eat out 2 to 4 times a week. Most meals are under $40 for 2.

2016

Groceries - $743
Dining out - $446

2017

Groceries - $635
Dining Out - $397

2018

Groceries - $652
Dining Out - $626

Dining out is high in 2018 because we moved this year. We ate out a lot when we were painting our kitchen and having other work done to the house and when we were living in a short term rental while trying to find a new house while visiting my mom in the hospital/rehab almost every day for 2 months.

We do eat a lot of organic food. Also spend about $80 a month on Coke Zero which I am currently trying to cut down on or eliminate.... I would like to get dining out to $400 but not sure I will get there. We now live much closer to a lot of restaurants that I like. Many are not that expensive (under $25 for the 2 of us) so we are able to eat out more often. I would like to see the combined total closer to about $1100.