OT-grocery budget?

[Brandi]

I just wanted to see how much we spend at the market a month. To be honest I have no idea what a good budget for something like that is. And there is only two of us.
I don't buy junk food, so I pay a little higher price for snacks that aren't made with a bunch of junk. And we eat out maybe 3 times a month sometimes more but not a whole lot,like one day a week. I love to cook and go by my gut and what it wants so I run to the market every few days. So far it looks like we spend around $500.00 a month.
Is that a lot? Anyone do food budgets? Now I know i could stretch this budget but I don't like to buy junk. NO doritto's or soda. No ground beef or white bread. I buy sprouted bread, organic corn chips,homememade salsa,lot's of trader Joe's snacks. We drink sparkling water and good local coffee. Meat we eat is fish, pork, chicken sometimes steak. I make a lot of soups.
Just wondering. It is an odd ? I know.

[SouthernBelle]

500 for how many?


See the IRS and USDOJ national standards here:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...104627,00.html

[7rider]

Brandi indicated that it was for 2 people.
Based on that website, Brandi, you're about "normal."

edit: but that table makes a lie of the statement that "two can live as cheaply as one."!

[Brandi]

True I know we could eat cheaper. But I love to cook. so that doesn't help much.
I am glad we are normal I was a little concerned. $500.00 seems like a lot. But it would probably be more if we ate out more. I know some people who eat out way to much. For us we eat out if I am totally burnt on cooking. The we get local thai or mexican. That is maybe a $23.00 meal for both. Or if we go out with friends to celebrate something or just to hang out.
I also shop our farmers market. I can easily spend $20.00 a week on stuff there! I hate super market veggies. I am spoiled!

[smilingcat]

and my mother used to complain about how she hated taking my father grocery shopping.

"I could buy a whole weeks worth of grocery for $25.00" Sure dad. That was the 50s when sirloin steak cost 35cents a pound.... And houses cost $18,000. The again, your doctor's pay was how much? $1000/mo if that?

I'm gettin grouchy like my dad. OMG cup of yogurt used to cost about 40cents now its HOW MUCH?? Never mind I'll make my own. OMG gallon of milk is HOW MUCH??

We haven't bought beef for many years so I have no idea how much steak costs. We buy NZ leg of lamb, lamb chops... free range organic chicken... farmers market and trader Joe's. Monthly grocery for the two of us is around $600. It's my partners fault. She likes junk food and pre-made stuff.

smilingcat

[kat_h]

I don't really keep track of what I spend but I went back and checked my credit card statements and in January spent about $200 feeding the two of us. I know that sounds really low but my husband buys his breakfast and lunch at work and we eat out a couple of times a week. We also have a freezer so I stock up when food that freezes well goes on sale. I also tend to only buy things that are on sale. There's a discount produce store near my house that sells food that is close to going off. As long as I eat it withing two or three days it's fine and it costs about a third of what normal grocery stores do. There's also a bakery near me that sells day-old bread for $0.79.

We used to live in England and didn't have a car there so I had to plan my groceries around what I could fit in my backpack without being too top heavy to bike home. That was fun.

[Crankin]

I spend more than you, Brandi, for 2 people also. I like to cook and I don't buy junk food either. No soda, chips, etc. I go to farm markets in the summer for fruits and veggies and the local gourmet market sometimes during the rest of the year (less than I used to, since I live further away now). I don't really track what i spend, but it's probably about $600.00 a month. And, we go out, too, maybe 1-2 times a week. I look at it as being better than spending the money on cigarettes and other unhealthy stuff. Food is probably the next important thing in our lives besides cycling!
I seem to have spent about the same when both my kids were living at home. I think I buy more gourmet and organic things now.

[Pax]

We tend to spend around $400 a month for two. We eat primarily plant based so the food costs a bit more...if we would stop eating out so much I think our grocery bill would be much higher.

[SouthernBelle]

Brandi indicated that it was for 2 people.

Duh!

[Zen]

It costs a lot more to eat healthy food than junk food.
I don't eat out and rarely buy meat but I enjoy a good piece of salmon now and then. Apples are sometimes $2/lb but they're a staple item as is organic milk.
Non-organic would be a lot cheaper but i'm not having it.

I spend about $150-200/month.

[maillotpois]

I occasionally run a Quicken category search on the home computer as to what we spend for groceries. I think it's going to be a lot because we spend a lot on wine.

[Brandi]

and my mother used to complain about how she hated taking my father grocery shopping.

"I could buy a whole weeks worth of grocery for $25.00" Sure dad. That was the 50s when sirloin steak cost 35cents a pound.... And houses cost $18,000. The again, your doctor's pay was how much? $1000/mo if that?

I'm gettin grouchy like my dad. OMG cup of yogurt used to cost about 40cents now its HOW MUCH?? Never mind I'll make my own. OMG gallon of milk is HOW MUCH??

We haven't bought beef for many years so I have no idea how much steak costs. We buy NZ leg of lamb, lamb chops... free range organic chicken... farmers market and trader Joe's. Monthly grocery for the two of us is around $600. It's my partners fault. She likes junk food and pre-made stuff.

smilingcat

I am afraid I am not a big lamb liker. It is a bit strong for me.
It's funny you and my dh sound a bit alike. He is always saying things like "How much are tennis shoes?, I remeber back when you could buy a pair of vans for like $15.00, now they are how much?" And they aren't custom made anymore either.
What kind of junk food does your partner eat. See I thought the junkier food was less expensive. You know cause it seems like all that stuff is on sale all the time. It seems to cost more for organic. Like organic milk which I buy. But I only go through a half gallon a week so I guess it even's out.
Do you two eat out a lot?
Do you have a good lamb recipe? maybe that is my problem, my dad used to cook lamb and the only way I could eat it was with mint jelly. It was so gamey!

[Brandi]

So I wonder? Should we include eating out and things like wine and beer on top of our market bill?
My dh is really into belguim beer's right now. It's like having a drug addiction! These beers cost from $5.00 to 12.00 a bottle! They are big bottles and the alcohol content is like 9% to 10% so you don't drink as much. But wow pricey! And he complains about the price of shoes!
He mountain bikes, and I swear he is fixing something on that bike once a week! It has been rebuilt I swear two times in the past 5 years he has had that bike.

[maillotpois]

I will sometimes categorize wine separately in Quicken when we do a large purchase of just wine at a wine distributor or something, but ordinarily I'd count wine and beer as "groceries".

So Brandi your numbers may be going up!

[7rider]

We just blew $300 at Sam's Club this weekend on "the basics"....won't go back for another 6 months, if all goes according to plan. But that ... and those periodic trips to the wine and beer store ... certainly blow any consistent spending plan out of the water. The rest of it is maybe $400 or so a month. DH eats lunch out each day. We eat a lot of pasta. I buy what's on sale if I can help it. Our rabbits get 2 salads a day - they're our biggest consumers of fresh perishable stuff - organic spring mix mostly, the spoiled brats! Our weekly splurge may be $18-20 on pizza or Chinese food. Delivery, of course! Once a month to a "real" restaurant, which may set us back $60.