What does the government want you to spend to eat each month??? - Page 4

[fancyoats]

for me, dh and almost 14 month old dd we calculated:
thrifty: $452
liberal: $877

i went grocery shopping today and spent $255, but that will last us 3 weeks approx, so we are a bit below the "thrifty" plan

[MrsAprilMay]

Thrifty: $519
Liberal: $991

I can't even imagine spending that much. We must be super duper thrifty!

[eccomama]

it's just dd and I and i have noticed the prices in our area double over the last year!
when i dont have dd i spend about $50, with dd I spend $100 a week. we eat meat 2 times a week, some eves we have turkey sandwiches, some nights cheese sandwiches and soup. twice a month we do pizza slices and once a month we got to in-n-out burger. so nothing fancy...

[2xy]

For the four of us, according to the kids' ages we should be spending about $150/week on the "thrifty" plan....and that's about what we spend.

However, DH and I often eat at work. He works in a bar and I work at a restaurant, and we can both eat for free to an extent. So we'd probably be in the "low-cost" camp if we added those meals to our grocery bill.

Of course, only about a 1/4 of what we buy is organic, but most of what we buy is all-natural. Our milk is delivered weekly and doesn't bear the organic label, but the cow's are pasture fed and get to sleep on waterbeds!

I think people who spend a lot of money on groceries might not necessarily be buying filet mignon and shrimp. They might be buying lots of convenience foods, juice boxes, bottled water, etc. And, they might just consume more food than average.

[justmama]

$482.30 on the thrifty plan and we get $317.00 in food stamps so that is the entirety of what we spend.

[leximom]

thrifty 476.4
liberal 750.8

I do spend about what the thrifty is projected at if you add in toiletries.

[BrooklynDoula]

Luxury for us would be about 1050 and we spend about 700 on all organics plus all, the household stuff, beer, fancy cheese, etc.

[dsaucone]

$106.10 weekly for thrifty
$204.30 weekly for liberal

We spend about $75 a week on everything including supplies for the cat, toilet paper, etc.

[Llyra]

Holy cow. If I spent that much, we'd be eating porterhouse steaks three days a week. Even the amount I calculated for "thrifty" is more than we spend.

[JamieCatheryn]

We're right on for thrifty, $106 a week. Liberal says $202, which is where I expect to hit or pass next week when I include an 18 person Christmas feast in the shopping.

[BetsyS]

Originally Posted by CarsonBookworm

DD and I are lactose intolerant and DH uses evaporated milk reconstituted to cook. Its a lot of monotony....same old same old. We all eat oatmeal and a small bowl of canned fruit for breakfast. DH makes his lunches for the week on Sunday (Brown rice with pepper, paprika and other spices mixed with cubed chicken) and puts them in the fridge, takes one container with him for lunch each workday. We drink water and herbal tea only. DD and I eat Steamed Baby Carrots or whatever veggie is on sale, Brown rice and 1/4 of a chicken breast each day for lunch. Dinner we eat a lot of soups, stews and casseroles for dinner. We follow a very strict meal plan. Nothing fancy.

I'd be glad to explain the price breakdown for our monthly shopping list, but give me some time to write it up.

When you eat like this, are you just counting down the days and weeks and months until you'll have more room in your budget for better food? Or are you happy with this?

I'm honestly quite curious.

I spend a lot of time and energy on our food budget, cause it's the place where I have the most lee-way. Normal months have a budget of $400. This month was $250, and next month will be $150. We're definitely looking forward to February.

When I was working, I spent what I wanted, and some months were in the $800 range for 2 people. I guess I don't understand the shock at how people could spend that much. It's not that hard.

And, no, it's not processed foods or steak every night. It's fresh breads, at least 2 vegetables with every meal, an appetizer once a week, a bottle of wine here or there, a fun meal of wings when you watch the game. That sort of stuff.

[joyluc]

I try to spend $150 a week for the three of us - me, DH and 12 year old DS who is a bottomless pit. For that we get food (mostly not organic but RGBH free dairy and a fair amount of processed food), toiletries, cleaning supplies and miscellaneous (I shop at Meijer most often and they have everything). DH and I usually eat lunches out but otherwise we eat at home almost every night but Friday which is cheap good pizza at a New York style pizza place in Ohio!!

I should be trying harder than I am to be thrifty and we are at the Low Cost Plan level. DH would have a heart attack if I spent $223 a week (the Liberal Plan amount for us) and we would have so much food we would have even more struggles with our weight.

[lactivistmama]

We spend about $120 LESS than the thrifty plan..

[Valkyrie9]

Jumpin' Jehosophat...ours is $426.60 on the thrifty side, $824.80 for the liberal end.

I don't budget, but I think if I added up the organic, free-range meat I buy, the organic, free-range milk and eggs, all the organic produce I buy at the farm and freeze, and then the stuff from the grocery...we might scratch the thrifty weekly budget. That's astonishing. I know Idaho has a lower cost of living, but can it be THAT much lower?

[lmonter]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie9

Jumpin' Jehosophat...ours is $426.60 on the thrifty side, $824.80 for the liberal end.

I don't budget, but I think if I added up the organic, free-range meat I buy, the organic, free-range milk and eggs, all the organic produce I buy at the farm and freeze, and then the stuff from the grocery...we might scratch the thrifty weekly budget. That's astonishing. I know Idaho has a lower cost of living, but can it be THAT much lower?

It even depends on the region. There's no way at all I could do all free-range meat, milk and eggs for my family for even $200/mo, let alone any other produce and other pantry staples. Up here real estate is more profitable when you throw 8 houses on an acre and a half rather than gardening/growing on it. Heck, a half-gallon of raw goat's milk was $7 last I checked, and no raw cow milk to be seen within a 100 mile radius.

[wifeandmom]

Thrifty is $808.50 for our family.

Luxury (or whatever they called it) is $1573 for our family.

[Poddi]

We spend about $700 Cdn for a family of 5 per month. That include eating out. I think it's below the thrifty plan. This include some household items as well and an occasional book or toy. I think mostly our eating habits are naturally cheap. We mostly drink water, so we save money on more expensive drinks like pop, juice, beer, coffee...etc.

[Alyantavid]

For us its $1016.10 and $527.10.

We eat mostly organic/local/grassfed, but it comes from a variety of sources. If we did have to buy everything, I could see it going close to $1000 a month.

[kijip]

431.30 for thrifty.

838.20 for liberal.

We are between liberal and thrifty ($500-700/month) and that is with mostly scratch cooking and a ton of bulk buying. We eat a lot of nice food, and mostly organic. We also eat meat a few times a week, which adds up, more so since it is organic. And we buy a lot of fish, which is expensive. And we generally have 5-10 servings of veggies and fruit each day. Not seeing how all that produce would be possible (esp on our small city townhouse postage stamp yard) on a much smaller budget.

[kijip]

These plans also reflect the basic food groups and nutrition. Make no mistake, I could feed my family on way less than I do but for some of the amounts people post, I can't see the meals being that balanced or nutrient rich.