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What does the government want you to spend to eat each month??? - Page 2

post #21 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:00pm
I just found one for Canada but it's from 2007
http://www.toronto.ca/health/pdf/nut...asket_2007.pdf
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post #22 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:21pm
Not counting new baby, since she is bfed--
Thrifty- $426.60/ Liberal-$824.80

I don't keep a budget for food (New Years resolution, ahem), but we spend about $300 per month. Add in what we get for WIC and what we spend eating "out" and we probably do hit the "thrifty" plan level.
post #23 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:31pm
I rounded everthing. 960 for thrifty. And 1800 on the liberal. WOW!
post #24 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:33pm
Okay, did my family but didn't include 8mo dd since she only eats a couple meals a day:

From US site:
Thrifty per month: $844.97 USD (converted to Canadian dollars: $1062.62)
Liberal per month: $1585.75 USD (converted to Canadian dollars:$1994.22)
Oh my the meals I could make with that budget!

From Canadian site:
$717.94/month

Our actual budget is $600/month.

ETA:
Is this just for food or for everything i.e. paper products, cleaning products etc?
Our $600 is for all those things and food.
post #25 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:36pm
Holy Moly!

705.60 for the lowest plan, which is pretty close after I figure in the side of beef and pork we get each year. Still more than I spend each month, as I figure in all my personal and household items into our food budget!

1358.40 for the liberal.............oh the food I could buy then!
post #26 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:38pm
We spend about what they estimated for low-cost for my family. If you include meals out, we reach the moderate level. When I paid no attention to cost while DH and I were both working full time, no kids, we probably spent the liberal amount for 2 people. Seems about right for me in our geographical area. Although, I just realized that I include tp, papertowels, toothpaste, etc. in that. If it's just food, I guess it would be lower.
post #27 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:40pm
If I added right: thrifty for my family is $173. No way could I imagine eating on that amount only.

again, if my math was good Liberal added up to $1374 and I could see spending that amount if it included eating out a few times a week and getting lots of fresh fruits and veggies, organics, etc.

We fall into the moderate category which equaled $1110. We tend to spend about $1k per month on groceries. I've been trying to bring that number down but still eat well. It's good to know it's not an unheard of amount for a family of 6.
post #28 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:49pm
Interesting to compare the Toronto one with the Vancouver one
http://www.dieticians.ca/resources/r...contentid=1944
It looks to me like the costs of living have gone up a lot since the 2007 rates. Our average 3 bedroom apartment costs( without utilities or phone) are the amount that they quote for a place including all phone and utilities... I can't even imagine the costs in a city center like Vancouver.
post #29 of 93
12/10/08 at 1:50pm
For our family, 121.70 a week for thrifty, 234.50 a week for the most liberal plan.

I thought they should have allowed a difference between a pregnant woman and a non-pregnant woman. I eat significantly more when I'm pregnant.

Otherwise, the frugal figure seems about in line with what we spend now, but we live in the highest cost-of-food area in the 48 contiguous states. We currently eat almost no organic food at all. When we used to buy all organic (I miss that ) We did spend about 200 a week, easily-- and that was with trying to be frugal and budget very very carefully. So for us, pretty accurate.
post #30 of 93
12/10/08 at 2:28pm
That's funny! According to the chart I spend about $200 less than the thrifty plan for a family of 5. I think we eat really well too. Lots of organics and I'm not especially thrifty.
post #31 of 93
12/10/08 at 2:36pm
Our "thrifty" total was $804.20 per month. I spend about half that, with a little extra during the holiday months.
post #32 of 93
12/10/08 at 2:44pm
The government gives each of our clients $106 a month for food.

For our family of 4 we spend about $250ish a month for food. We don't eat crap either, I just got 6 lbs of organic apples at 50 cents a lb and 10 lbs of organic bananas for free. the local natural foods store is always discounting the older produce and fresh is fairly comparable to WM's non organic produce. Almost everything we cook is from scratch.
post #33 of 93
12/10/08 at 2:48pm
You are someone that I specifically recall having a pretty low cost of living Sharlla.

I am so blown away by the low amount many people spend on groceries!!!!
post #34 of 93
12/10/08 at 2:58pm
Thrifty: 756
Liberal: 1466

We spend around $500/month.

Looking at the basic food website for my state, if we had no income at all we could get $838 in food assistance.
post #35 of 93
12/10/08 at 3:05pm
For us, it's $393-$761.

Most months, I do spend about $400. I can do it less, but it's really hard for me. And, when I was working, we spent up to the liberal amount. (We'd have bagels with lox every Saturday for breakfast, lots of fruits and vegetables, pricey coffee every day, and more elaborate meals)
post #36 of 93
12/10/08 at 3:31pm
We're $1016.1 liberal. $558.30 thrifty.

I'm guessing that we're closer to the thrifty end of things. Our monthly costs that include cleaning products and toiletries average to about $780 month. I'm in a high cost area too.
post #37 of 93
12/10/08 at 3:31pm
Ours was about $810 a month if I added correctly, and that's the thrifty plan. We spend about $350 a month on groceries for seven of us.
post #38 of 93
12/10/08 at 4:09pm
Just to be clear, the USDA guides are for food ONLY- no household expenses are included in this amount. The guidelines also assume that all meals are prepared and eaten at home.

For my family:
Thrifty: $772.54
Liberal: $1507.18

Our grocery budget is $550/month. We also spend about $150/month on eating out. So that gives us a total of $700/month on all food, which is far less than what the thrifty plan recommends.
post #39 of 93
12/10/08 at 4:20pm
WIthout budgeting or really even cutting back severely, I spend about $100 less per month than the thrifty plan! We eat healthy, no processed food (it's more expensive) and some organics, although they are getting less and less with the economy tanking. (DH needs to see that, he thinks I spend too much on groceries, when I'm spending $100 a week for a family of 4 plus a day care kid, 2 dogs, and a cat ) If I needed to, I could feed us for 1/2 that...for a little while, since we have a decent stockpile going. My bff (also on MDC) feeds her family of 3 on about $30-$50 a week. I'm amazed at that, especially since they eat a veggie, healthy, non-processed food diet.

We are in a high cost area of living (Orlando) and don't have access to farmers or cheap farmers markets (the one we have is MORE expensive than going to Target Our $100 a week includes dog and cat food, toiletries, detergent and cleaning stuff (basically just vinegar and citra-solve).
post #40 of 93
12/10/08 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lolar2 View Post
That's not what they WANT you to spend. That statistic is based on a survey of what people ACTUALLY spend. They use it to help calculate food stamp allowances and things like that on a general population basis.
Yeah I know, but it made a catchy thread title.






Quote:
Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife View Post
If I added right: thrifty for my family is $173. No way could I imagine eating on that amount only.
Did you mean per week or per month? The math can't be right for per month.
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