Post # 1
Member
84 posts
Worker bee
I was wondering, how much do you as a couple spend on food each month? If you are a vegetarian, could you also list a few of the things you eat?
Fiance and I moved in together for the first time one month ago and are trying to figure out what is a reasonable amount to be spending. We are young so this is all new for us, and we live in one of the most expensive areas for food in the United States. Our incomes are roughly equal and pretty average, but we are trying to save as much as possible so that we can afford for him to start his masters next year. We are vegetarians (have been for 5 years) and last month we spent $190 including things like paper towels/soap/etc. He also gets six free meals a week from work and volunteering, and I get about 1-2 free meals a month through events in my grad program. We hope that since we bought a lot of house things in bulk, we won’t need to spend as much for the next few months. I’m aiming to spend around $150 this month on groceries and budget about $25 for going out.
Post # 3
Member
148 posts
Blushing bee
To be honest, I’m impressed that you’re spending that little on groceries per month. I currently live alone, and if I could get anywhere near your budget, I would feel awesome! The USDA publishes periodic reports on the average spending on groceries, so that can give you a rough idea if you want to know the the government’s view of “average” spending is.
ETA: included link to the most recent data. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJul2012.pdf
Post # 4
Member
1202 posts
Bumble bee
This is going to sound like a lot, but my ex and i, when living together, spent about $500 a month. But we would shop at wholes food, ralphs and trader joe’s. And we wouldn’t get the cheapest items either. I love to cook, so I would always buy goumet items. I would spend about $100-250 every paycheck and he would spend about the same to $500 a month. So sometimes over $500 together; including household items.
Post # 5
Member
807 posts
Busy bee
We spend about $200-$220/month including household items, and we do eat meat. I really love to cook and we eat really well. Overall I’m ok with that number, but I know it could be less. I used to do a much better job of menu planning and stocking up when things were on sale and I need to get back to doing that.
Post # 6
Member
84 posts
Worker bee
@MrNavidson: Thanks for the link, and your response. My only reference points are my mother who thinks food should be $20 a day per person (which I think is outrageous and could never afford), and my brother and my sister-in-law who make way more than us, eat meat, and still spend a little under $200 a month.
Post # 7
Member
10355 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
If we only spent what you spend, we’d be living off of ramen and not eating anything that’s actually good for us! We spend around $400-500 depending on how fancy I get with dinners.
Post # 8
Member
6737 posts
Bee Keeper
My Fiance and I eat out every day. We don’t have the option of cooking food right now. And, living in NYC, that gets expensive. I don’t want to tell you how much we spend. You might have a heart attack…
Post # 9
Member
8481 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
We arent married yet, but do essentially live together… And I think the last time I bought groceries was like 2 or 3 months ago. We just never go grocery shopping. We basically stop and buy enough stuff to eat for the next 48 hours. And we never cook, so we only really buy grab and go type things.
Post # 10
Member
84 posts
Worker bee
(Edited for personal information)
ETA – We eat cooked meals for lunch and dinner and eat oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. Tonight we are making eggplant parm, lentil soup, and mashed potatoes, and I will refrigerate the leftovers to take for lunch.
Post # 11
Member
7768 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
At LEAST $400 a month is necessary to eat healthy. I would love to spend way way more!
Post # 12
Member
233 posts
Helper bee
We spend between $400 and $600 a month for the two of us. But we eat almost entirely fresh (or fresh to frozen) foods, and eat very very few pre-made foods (cereal, and a very occassional canned soup are about the only exceptions).
We also live in Canada, where eating fresh food is exceptionally expensive throughout the winter months, which is when we mostly rely on frozen foods (I but fresh in the summer, and then freeze for the winter).
There is no way we could survive on under $200 a month. That means we would each be eating $25 worth of food a week. That’s about $3.5 a day per person, and I can’t imagine what we would eat for so little, every day.
Post # 13
Member
3175 posts
Sugar bee
@MrNavidson: That’s funny, we spend almost exactly the “thrifty” plan for our family lol.
Post # 14
Member
265 posts
Helper bee
I buy all of our dinner groceries and my own breakfast/lunch food, and I usually spend about $300/month (my SO pays for his “daytime food,” cleaning supplies/paper products and picks up the tab when we go out to eat, and we end up about even). I have spent way less in the past, though, especially before going gluten-free. Now I splurge a little on good dairy/meat/veggies.
Post # 15
Member
4997 posts
Honey bee
We go to the grocery store once a week and spend about $100 each time. However, we eat out once a week max and only spend about $35-40 for both of us when we do.
Post # 16
Hostess
2555 posts
Sugar bee
We budget about $70-$75 a week for groceries. Sometimes we are careless and go over that, but I’m not as vigilant about sticking to that amount as I could be. We could do better (more coupons, more generic brands, etc). I usually cook 4 or 5 dinners a week — more in the falll because we are more likely to sit home on a Saturday night and eat vs. go out to eat like we normally would. We go out or get take out the other 2 or 3 nights a week.