How much do you spend on groceries?

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Default User BR
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Default User BR »

hsv_climber wrote:To All the people who posted "No idea" / "Never budgeted" - I was in your camp a few months ago.
And then I've discovered a magic. Magic has a name - Mint.com.
Why? I don't know/don't budget for a simple reason. I don't CARE. The activity to track or budget would be completely wasted time and effort. There's nothing I would do with the information, so I don't collect it. That goes for any budgeting or spending data, not just groceries.


Brian
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hsv_climber
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by hsv_climber »

Default User BR wrote: Why? I don't know/don't budget for a simple reason. I don't CARE. The activity to track or budget would be completely wasted time and effort. There's nothing I would do with the information, so I don't collect it. That goes for any budgeting or spending data, not just groceries.
Brian
Are you retired (or FI) with an unlimited pension and/or portfolio and you have people in India paying your bills?
Because otherwise you definitely collect this information, which is available on your credit card bills (or other forms of payments) and then you use this information to pay your bills and balance your checking account.
I mean, either you like it or not, but your spending information is getting collected and stored on Internet servers.
Default User BR
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Default User BR »

hsv_climber wrote:
Default User BR wrote: Why? I don't know/don't budget for a simple reason. I don't CARE. The activity to track or budget would be completely wasted time and effort. There's nothing I would do with the information, so I don't collect it. That goes for any budgeting or spending data, not just groceries.
Are you retired (or FI) with an unlimited pension and/or portfolio and you have people in India paying your bills?
Because otherwise you definitely collect this information, which is available on your credit card bills (or other forms of payments) and then you use this information to pay your bills and balance your checking account.
I mean, either you like it or not, but your spending information is getting collected and stored on Internet servers.
I don't collect the information. My credit card company does. I merely scan the list of charges each month and pay. That is not in any way budgeting. I live way below my means, so what I spend on groceries is completely irrelevant. I know what I need each week (staples) and the rest is discretionary spending that my naturally thrifty ways will automatically perform in a highly efficient manner.

Unless you want to redefine "budgeting" to some highly non-standard form, I don't do it.


Brian
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hsv_climber
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by hsv_climber »

Default User BR wrote: I don't collect the information. My credit card company does. I merely scan the list of charges each month and pay. That is not in any way budgeting. I live way below my means, so what I spend on groceries is completely irrelevant. I know what I need each week (staples) and the rest is discretionary spending that my naturally thrifty ways will automatically perform in a highly efficient manner.

Unless you want to redefine "budgeting" to some highly non-standard form, I don't do it.
Here we go again...

http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 0#p1376531
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touchdowntodd
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by touchdowntodd »

$200-225 a month for my wife and I .. and we eat NICE meals ..

loving the Primal lifestyle we eat less but eat healthier food and both feel 10 years younger easily!
tryin to do this right... thanks guys
Tom_T
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Tom_T »

Family of four, maybe $800 - $900. I don't track the exact amounts month-to-month, but I know the ballpark figure. If it were just me, I'd spend less than 25% of the total. The wife and kids do more eating per person (although they are all thin.)
Elysium
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Elysium »

We used to track this a long time back, before our first child was born, I know it used to be $400-$500 a month back then including supplies. But I stopped bothering ever since my wife switched over to the joys of organic food bought exclusively at Whole Foods. After resisting without any success for many years I have now resigned to my fate and dutifully buys all food from WF. I shudder to look at the cost let alone compare with what it will cost for conventional food. Must be at least around $1000 for food alone for our family of four. I am sure we are at the higher end of food chain :) Last week alone there were several bags of groceries from WF and a dent of $300 in her bank account. I don't look, just console myself by saying we are eating quality food.
Tom_T
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Tom_T »

This is why I use the American Express blue card. The 5% back on groceries more than makes up for the $75 annual fee.
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hsv_climber
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by hsv_climber »

Some stores don't accept American Express, e.g. Sam's Club (MC / Discover) & Aldi.
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6miths
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by 6miths »

Somehow I think that with 4 teenagers, the less I know the better! That said, we do try to buy in season and use Costco sales to stock up as much as possible. Someone please tell me that they will all leave some day right?! :D
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neurosphere
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by neurosphere »

Hmmm, I scanned all of the entries, and I THINK I have the record.

Married, no children.

Average for month on groceries: $650 (includes occasional items like garbage bags, laundry detergent, etc).
For restaurants (delivery or eating out): $750.

Our largest expense by far, after rent, is food. We live in manhattan. We are not able to cook as much as we would like, given our work schedules. On a typical evening we have 1.5 hours from the time we get home from work until the time our heads have to hit the pillow, and this does not leave much time for preparing food, cooking, and doing the dishes. Another contributing factor is that at work I have no option to store or to heat lunches, so if I want to eat, I have to buy lunch (I skip lunch about 3 times a week though, so this cost is not as bad as it could be, but it adds up). We do realize we could reduce this amount. As an experiment last year, we went three months on an "extreme" dining plan, which was to cook at home 6 days a week and/or get very cheap take-out such as a subway sandwiches. We were able to save about $300/month, which is substantial savings. However, the investment in time (grocery shopping, planning meals, cooking/dishes) and other minor annoyances (such as "having" to eat what you might not be in the mood to eat to because it will otherwise go bad, or turning down social opportunities because it involved eating out) was not worth the cost savings, in our opinion. So we chalk up to the costs to "quality of life", similar to how some view vacations. Maybe because we share a 500 sq. foot apartment, we'll take any opportunity to get out of the apt, and eating out is one of the ways to do that.

NS

P.S. As an aside, we have about the same income or more than the majority of our friends. However, we are continually turning down invitations to go out due to the high expense. I have no idea how our friends are able to go to some of these restaurants on a regular basis. One example, we accepted an invite to join a group at a place we had never been. We were out when the last minute invite came, and did not have time to look up the menus online. We were in the mood to go out anyway, so we accepted "sight unseen" but with the understanding that we would be prepared for a potentially big bill. At the restaurant, my wife and I each had an averaged priced entree with an average appetizer and two "average" drinks each. Total bill with tax and tip was a combined $220. On one meal. Yes, this was the "cutest little place", and yes, the appetizers and drinks are entirely optional. But the general point which baffles me is how much our friends go out to places like this on a REGULAR basis. And, of course, this meal was not "4 times better" than the $50 meal we get at our corner italian place with the red and white tablecloths and the ornery manager named Hugo. :D
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GammaPoint
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by GammaPoint »

I'd say my wife and I spend about $400-$500 a month on groceries. We buy lots of fresh fruit, good meats and fish, etc.
pc95
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by pc95 »

Grocery Shop occasionally Saturdays and usually Sundays. Costco once a month for $80, and groceries around $60 a weekend comes out to $320/month for wife and I.

In regards to shopping, Recommend :

1) making a list before leaving to guard against impulse buying and over/understocking.
2) Not shopping on an empty stomach or thirsty throat.
3) If you shop Costco, arrive at opening on weekend to help avoid crowds, and quickly peruse and survey through the aisles for special instant rebates in addition to their coupon prices that may yield an excellent price on a needed product.

A time and cost-saver related to item 1 above which some people probably already know, if you dont have circular sale-ads for your super-market(s) delivered to your mailbox, you can (and ought to) look up the circular of the store you use online before heading over there. We have always shopped based on sale-price first evaluating items to our list off the circular. Some weeks if there's nothing on the circulars we like, we buy very little and hold-out until desired products go on-sale. We rarely buy groceries that aren't on sale, unless time dependent.
Default User BR
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Default User BR »

supersharpie wrote:
Default User BR wrote:Why not?
Most people who drink diet soda do so because they are trying to limit their caloric intake. When you are already injecting 3000+ calories at a shot, what's another 200-300?
Do you think that there is a saturation level? I would say that if you're going to consume other high-calorie foods, cutting out a few hundred elsewhere makes MORE sense. Or should someone who consumes something high-calorie try to maximize the intake?


Brian
Default User BR
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Default User BR »

hsv_climber wrote:
Default User BR wrote:Unless you want to redefine "budgeting" to some highly non-standard form, I don't do it.
Here we go again...
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 0#p1376531
Not sure what you're getting at.


Brian
Tom_T
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Tom_T »

Default User BR wrote:
supersharpie wrote:
Default User BR wrote:Why not?
Most people who drink diet soda do so because they are trying to limit their caloric intake. When you are already injecting 3000+ calories at a shot, what's another 200-300?
Do you think that there is a saturation level? I would say that if you're going to consume other high-calorie foods, cutting out a few hundred elsewhere makes MORE sense. Or should someone who consumes something high-calorie try to maximize the intake?
There is no saturation point. We've seen 1000-pound people, haven't we? Calories consumed have to go somewhere. 3600 calories = one pound. Another 300 calories/day = one pound in 12 days = 30 pounds in a year. Yeah, we shouldn't be eating 3000 calories to begin with, but anything we can cut back will help, or at least not make things worse than they already are.
guitarguy
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by guitarguy »

Around $450 for 2. This includes everything one would buy at the grocery store (toiletries, etc) but doesn't include things we buy at Costco (pet food, some bulk groceries, etc) or eating out.

This can vary $100 each way depending on how many weekends are in the month and whatever "random" expenses pop up from month to month.
guitarguy
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by guitarguy »

Tom_T wrote:we shouldn't be eating 3000 calories to begin with
Keep in mind a statement like that is relative to ones BMR and activity level...but continue. :beer
Tom_T
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Tom_T »

guitarguy wrote:
Tom_T wrote:we shouldn't be eating 3000 calories to begin with
Keep in mind a statement like that is relative to ones BMR and activity level...but continue. :beer
Good point. I believe 2500 calories is the guideline for a moderately-active man. Bump it up if you like to exercise a lot. And certain high-level athletes need a lot more than that. I remember reading that Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, requires a crazy number of calories every day while training. In my running days, when I would run 45-50 miles a week (which is nothing compared to many other runners), I used to eat all the time and not gain a pound. Those were the days...
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hsv_climber
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by hsv_climber »

Tom_T wrote:
guitarguy wrote:
Tom_T wrote:we shouldn't be eating 3000 calories to begin with
Keep in mind a statement like that is relative to ones BMR and activity level...but continue. :beer
Good point. I believe 2500 calories is the guideline for a moderately-active man. Bump it up if you like to exercise a lot. And certain high-level athletes need a lot more than that. I remember reading that Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, requires a crazy number of calories every day while training. In my running days, when I would run 45-50 miles a week (which is nothing compared to many other runners), I used to eat all the time and not gain a pound. Those were the days...
Some calories are different from the other calories. It is probably not as simple as calories-in / calories-out. There are too many factors involved.
For example, wood has calories (i.e. you can measure them by burning wood). Well, try to get fat by eating wood.
So, either you consume carbs, proteins, or fat, calories are processed differently by our bodies. But this is a topic for a different discussion. :sharebeer
wander
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by wander »

Average: $10 a day for one person.
Balance
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Balance »

$400-$500 per month for two of us. We try to buy local/organic grass fed as much as possible. We eat at home most nights and always brown bag lunch. We probably do 2 dinners out per week.
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og15F1
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by og15F1 »

I've been tracking this pretty intensely since the 1st of the year - splitting out our receipts in mint.com

For 2 adults and 2 infants we average $550/mo in stuff we eat which includes baby food type products.

We spend about $75-$100/mo on meat & chicken. These numbers exclude paper towels, cleaning stuff, etc. which I file under "home supplies". It also excludes eating out. Also excludes diapers, etc. The $550 is just food. I'd say $100 of that is junk type food or expensive coffee/soda. Maybe another $40 for specialty baked goods my wife likes.
Dealmaster00
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Dealmaster00 »

I'm living alone and spend maybe 100-150 a month on groceries. But I eat out too, maybe 100/month on that (I can get to-go indian for a flat $6 right across from where I work, so I load it up and that is good enough for lunch for 4 days).
lump532
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by lump532 »

We just figured it out for the first time over the weekend. It looks like we spend about $750 a month for two of us including toiletries, cleaning, soap, etc. We are eating a low carb diet so we expect to spend more than average. Still, $750 a month startled us a bit and we will be trying to cut that down at least a little bit over the next month or two.
blackjack4808
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by blackjack4808 »

We spend 800 a month
chaz
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by chaz »

I do not keep track of the small stuff.
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Toons
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Toons »

chaz wrote:I do not keep track of the small stuff.
+1 :happy :happy
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Traveler
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by Traveler »

Single person: $370 for groceries and meals out, and occasionally includes some household products if bought at the grocery store (paper towels, cleaner, deodorant, etc). BUdget is $185 for groceries and $185 for meals out, but they each vary with the total almost always very close to $370.
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by wvmtnbkr »

Family of four (two adults, 13yo & 2yo) - $260/week. This also includes non-food items like garbage bags, toothpaste and similar sundries. We buy a lot of fresh vegetables/fruits & high-quality meats. Wife has Celiac disease, so also spend a good bit on non-standard flour/baking supplies. Meat is single most expensive food item.

But, we usually make enough for dinner to provide leftovers for lunch the next day, thereby saving that (admittedly) minor expense.

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JDCarpenter
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by JDCarpenter »

2015. DoC/Lawyer couple in mid 50s with all kids off payroll: $582 per month. FWIW, restaurants are $429.50, due to extreme expenditures 4-6 times a year.
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mchriton
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by mchriton »

For a family of 3 with a 1.5 yr old, we spend around $1300/mo for groceries (~$1000) + eating out (~$300). Includes diapers and toiletries.

Lots of fresh produce, quality cuts of meat, etc. Meals mostly simple and cooked from scratch. As others have said, we don't worry too much about food costs as it's in the noise relative to other expenses, i.e.: primarily house and nanny.

I'm impressed with numbers others have. We could likely do a better job of utilizing left overs.
betterfinances
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by betterfinances »

I have no idea.

For years, wife has shopped at variety stores (Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, Costco, etc) and it is too time consuming to study each receipt and keep track of how much she spends on groceries versus other items.
john94549
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by john94549 »

blackjack4808 wrote:We spend 800 a month

For two folks, empty nesters, buying fresh food and quality groceries, I would not regard this as unusual. Mind you, my wife sets priorities. Food comes first.
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mickeyd
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Re: How much do you spend on groceries?

Post by mickeyd »

Yet another 4YO post is reborn.

We spend whatever we want to spend, including adult bevs.
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