If you spend <$25 per person per week on groceries...

[laurac5]

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?

4. What do you eat for snacks?

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? (go to http://www.bestplaces.net, search for your location, then click the "cost of living" link above the Overview table.)

My family of 2 adults and 1 toddler (who eats 1/4-1/2 an adult serving) is stuck at $75ish a week (although that includes non-food items) and I'm looking for some ways to shave that down a bit.  Our food cost of living is 109% the national average.

Update: Changed the post title to be cost per person... I definitely did not think about the fact that for a family of 4, $50/week  would be incredibly tight!

Thanks!

Edited by laurac5 - 3/24/11 at 8:24am

[BetsyS]

$50 a week sounds a bit unusual, I think.

I have one friend that does this.  She runs a yearly average, and her average is about $42 a week (which includes animal feed costs, seed costs, etc).  She has one teenage and one 6 year old boy, her, and her dh.  They raise hogs, and that pork is probably 75% of their meat.  They have a huge garden (in the midwest), and she cans and freezes like there is no tomorrow.  She barters for chickens.  She never turns down free food (leftovers from the church supper? Sure! that sort of thing).  She shops almost exclusively at Aldi's.  She is VERY good at not wasting anything.  I remember last year her garden grew cantaloupes that weren't great for eating.  She pureed them and baked them into bread.  So, hardly anything goes to waste.  And any waste goes to the hogs, so they'll eat it down the road anyway.  She's in the midwest, and she pays her Amish neighbors $1/dozen for eggs.  That sort of thing.

IMO, they eat sort of a limited diet, but they are okay with that.  Her dh is crazy picky, and he wants meat at every supper.  So, if she makes a meatless meal, she puts a (naked) hotdog on the plate alongside the meal for him.  This cracks me up, but it works for them.  They only eat fish during Lent, and then, it's salmon burgers from Costco.  Their typical non0garden veggie side dish is steamed california mix.  And they like it that way.  So, they don't feel deprived or anything.  They just like simple stuff. 

[Tumble Bumbles]

My cost of living is 1% more than the national average for my city.

We don't quite have it down to $50 per week but I can do $50 per week (and have many times) when I needed to.

We buy natural,  but very little organic right now. We do organic yogurt because our daughter eats a ton of that. We typically buy food in its natural state -- dry beans, brown rice, not a lot of pre-packaged things at all or convenience foods.

For veggies and fruit, we do a combo of fresh and frozen. For a lot of my meals, frozen works (casseroles, stews, steaming and such) but we do buy fresh greens for smoothies and salads and fresh veggies/fruit when they're in season/on sale.

Breakfasts are typically -- homemade pancakes, homemade quick bread like banana bread or pumpkin bread, cereal if I get a really good deal with coupons, homemade granola, eggs, green smoothies, fruit, or even leftovers from the night before.

Snacks are usually things like - homemade granola, inexpensive fruit (like an apple or banana), roasted chickpeas, popcorn, homemade pita and hummus, carrot sticks with dip,  stuff like that.

I cook almost everything from scratch which is fine mostly since I like to cook but other times is a huge pain with soaking beans, planning ahead, it's more time intensive etc. I typically shop the sales and use coupons for certain items if they're natural -- we hardly do pre-packaged stuff. I try to make things as nutritionally dense as possible but like I mentioned,  organic is pretty much out except for the allowance we make for yogurt (it's among the only dairy dd will eat and she eats a lot of it, we don't want her to have the hormones etc).

Hope that helps.

[Chicky2]

Even though we raise our own meats and garden and forage for nuts and berries and plums, we cannot do it on $50/wk!  We have 4 adult appetites, though.  plus one very much growing one...

[laurac5]

Bumping because the title was not clear before...

[mum4boys]

1. you buy any natural or organic foods? We buy very little processed food. The rest of our diet is made up of a mixture of organic and non organic food.

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?) We buy what is in season and what is on lost leader. During the winter we do frozen veggies and a lot of frozen berries.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts? Breakfast in our house is the biggest meal since my husband works 2nd shift. We have usually a starch like pancakes or waffles,. a protein like turkey bacon or eggs and fruit. Sometimes veggies if I make an omelet.

4. What do you eat for snacks? Popcorn, yogurt, quesadillas, pizza,

5.If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? (go to http://www.bestplaces.net, search for your location, then click the "cost of living" link above the Overview table.)

Compared to the rest of the country, Mukilteo (zip 98275)'s cost of living is 34.50% Higher than the U.S. average. 



We were spending about $350. a month for a family of 7, 2 adults, 2 teenage boys and 2 boys and 1 girl. That is including paper goods and cleaning products. Since December though we have spent a lot less then that. We average now $45 every other week for 2 adults, a 13 year old, 11 year old and 4 year old just because of some issues going on with our family. I do budget about $75.00 for a us a week.  

[frugalmum]

I spend just about $20-25 per person per week

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?

No organic, too expensive.  I do buy "natural" in that I buy nothing with artificial flavorings or coloring (except occasionally ice cream if a particular brand is on sale-- all brands except a few have fake stuff in them).

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)

I buy fresh if it is on sale or inexpensive (like bananas).  Most of the greens I buy are frozen bulk generic-- broccoli crowns, collards, spinach.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?

Pancakes, toast, bagels, fruit, fruit juice.

4. What do you eat for snacks?

Nuts, fruit, toast, homemade cupcakes and cookies.

The chart says my COL is 33% higher than average food cost 9% higher than average.

[Kyamo]

We are pretty much exactly on your $25 per person line. Just over $200 per month for 2 adults.

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?
I buy organic produce when I see it for the same price or cheaper than the regular (happens occasionally). I think the soy drink we buy is organic too. As for natural, we don't buy much processed/convenience stuff, except for the soy drink and some condiments.


2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables? (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)
Almost all fresh, skewed towards whats cheap or on sale, but this is not at all a hard limit. We love mushrooms for example, even though they are more per pound than many veggies. We do buy frozen peas and corn.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?
Toast with cheese or peanut butter, eggs, oatmeal.


4. What do you eat for snacks?
Homemade muffins, nuts, fruit, toast.

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? (go to http://www.bestplaces.net, search for your location, then click the "cost of living" link above the Overview table.)
I don't live in the US. I think food costs here are cheaper than most places in Canada, but more expensive than most places in the US.



ETA:

Originally Posted by Alyantavid 
My grocery bill varies a lot by month. I shop sales mostly and stock up when things we use go on sale. The rest of the time I don't buy much.

Me too. The figure I posted above is an average. I think this plays the largest role in my average grocery bill being low.
Edited by Kyamo - 3/24/11 at 12:27pm

[Alyantavid]

My grocery bill varies a lot by month.  I shop sales mostly and stock up when things we use go on sale.  The rest of the time I don't buy much.

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods? Some.  We don't buy too many packaged items but not everything is organic.

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?) A combination of all three.  We raise and preserve our own in the summer.  During the winter, I do supplement with some canned and frozen things.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts? bagels, eggs (free from dh's aunt), oatmeal.  Rarely we'll have cereal or poptarts.

4. What do you eat for snacks? mostly fruit, cheese, crackers

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? it says we're 21% below the national average  

[jessaroo]

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?   I buy some organic snack bars and crackers if there is a coupon.  I buy only natural foods

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)    I buy fresh and frozen foods. 

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?    I make my own yogurt and granola.  I use some of the yogurt for muffins and waffles.

4. What do you eat for snacks?   we eat celery and pb, guacamole and chips, salsa and chips, bean dips with veggies and chips. 

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average?  NOt sure.

we are a vegetarian family of 4 and our budget stays around $50 a week.  I make most of our food and plan ahead for convenience as to not blow the budget on quick prepackaged convenience food.

[doubledutch]

in our case, that would be $75/week for one adult and two children.  i budget $100/wk but i often don't spend that much; i could easily spend $75/wk on a regular basis, and in fact that was my grocery budget until very recently, with another adult in the house. 

Originally Posted by laurac5 

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?  of course!  especially "natural" . . . not really sure what this means other than non-processed, but in terms of produce, dairy, legumes and whole grains, these are all natural foods that make up a big part of my grocery bill.  produce is mostly organic, milk is organic but butter and cheese are generally not.

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)  fresh fruits, but i buy a bag of apples and/or a bunch of bananas, and one "special" (read: expensive) fruit like berries.  i deviate from that when we really want to (like, we really want a pineapple or something) but it generally works well for us.  cheap fresh veggies like potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic; and fresh veggies for salad, like greens, tomatoes, cucumbers.  things i can tolerate frozen, i usually buy frozen, like peas, green beans, broccoli, but when they are in season locally, i buy fresh.  i'm getting a csa share this year.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?  when eating on the cheap, we eat oatmeal for breakfast (and fruit if we want), but when being lazy, we eat cereal, which probably runs us $10 a week when you include milk, which we otherwise don't buy.

4. What do you eat for snacks?  fruit, veggies, hard boiled eggs, leftovers, peanut butter sandwich, sometimes we have cheese and crackers but not often

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? (go to http://www.bestplaces.net, search for your location, then click the "cost of living" link above the Overview table.)  103 (but overall 88 so i guess that means other things in my life are cheaper than average?)

my grocery budget is just for food (supposedly) - i have a separate "target" budget of $50 every two weeks, which is for:

paper/plastic (paper towels, toilet paper, plastic bags, tin foil, trash bags, etc

medicines and other health care needs

beauty/hygiene stuff

diapers (only at night)

cleaning products (mostly use vinegar/baking soda but i buy dish soap, dishwasher detergent, laundry soap, and yummy method bathroom cleaners)

things that help me save money on groceries:

no meat

not a ton of dairy

not a lot of processed or convenience foods

my kids eat lunch at preschool/daycare which is included in their tuition

things i blow "extra" grocery money on that i'd cut if needed:

fancy cheeses

fake meats, which i don't buy a ton of, probably $5/wk but sometimes closer to $10 if i buy a few and they're not on sale

the convenience foods i do buy, especially snacky stuff like fruit leathers, granola bars, as well as canned beans (soaking is not hard!) or canned soups

soda

magazines, only buy one or two a month, but still

gum

i might consider not buying tea, or buying loose tea, or printing coupons . . . but only if it were really tight!

[Dmitrizmom]

Cost per week is between $20-30 per person.  Would be lower, but living with my parents and they have certain "standards"  When it is just us (me, dh, ds, dd1 and dd2), I spend $10-15 per person per week.

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?

natural, when available.  organic - sparingly.

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)

In the winter, we do a mix of frozen, fresh and canned.  We watch sales and stock up when we can.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?

cold cereal, oatmeal, cream of wheat, bacon/eggs/pancakes... just about any breakfast food we like. :)

4. What do you eat for snacks?

fresh fruit and veggies.  dried fruit, toast...

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average?

Our cost is lower than the national average.

I'm feeding 4 adults, a 10 yo boy, a 7 yo and a 1 yo girl... so 7 of us in the house.  If I watch what is on sale, meal plan and coupon (and our local stores do NOT double coupons), I can keep us under $400/month.  This week, my deal was bone in chicken breasts for $0.79/lb with a 6 lb limit. I'll be going back again on Monday to get more.  Sometimes I can get ground beef for $1.89/lb for 85% lean in a 10 lb tube.  I don't buy much as far as processed foods go - much easier to go from scratch.

In the warmer weather, we have a garden and grow tomatoes, zucchini, peas, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, raspberries, etc.  I'm hoping to harvest enough this year to try canning.

[danaf617]

We're not even close!! 

I spend about $175/week for 2 adults and 2 kids.  (almost 3 and 4.5)  I do buy mostly organic and tons of fresh produce and chicken.  This also includes items like laundry detergent (when I don't make my own), toilet paper, etc.

[texmati]

we do... but only because we eat out too much, and dd is only breastfeeding!

[Momsteader]

I am pretty close to that, though right now I'm closer to 90/wk for 3 (myself, 14.5 yo, 11 yo) as we just moved and I'm trying to restock on things. By summer, I want to be at $60-75/wk.

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?  Not a lot of organic unless the price is very close. But buy mostly single ingredients and cook from scratch, and we rarely eat out.

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)  I use a lot of frozen, but recently started purchasing a basket every two weeks from www.bountifulbaskets.org  It's all fresh produce 50% veg/50% fruit and you get a ton for $15 (about $50 worth). They do organic in some places for $25.

3. What do you eat for breakfasts? We do oatmeal, bagels, toast, and tons of eggs (we have chickens).

4. What do you eat for snacks? Nuts, popcorn, fresh fruit, biscuit with jam, cookies we've made, etc.

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? (go to http://www.bestplaces.net, search for your location, then click the "cost of living" link above the Overview table.)  It says 22% below national average, but I'm not sure that takes into account that I have no grocery stores (other than very SMALL local convenience type store) and need to twice a month drive 120 mi round trip to 'town' to shop. Though...that does mean I'm more apt to 'make do' as I can't just run down to the market, and there are no fast food places in our town, so we can't just grab a quick taco or burger.

[fierrbugg]

I try to stick to a $60/wk grocery budget for 2 adults.  Some weeks we spend more, some weeks I don't have a budget at all.  Lately I've been stocking up on food with our tax refund because we anticipate losing an income stream in the next few months just in time for the Arizona summer, which may make weekly shopping difficult. 

1. Do you buy any natural or organic foods?  Whenever possible yes.  At the very least, I try to have organic milk in the house - since my tummy doesn't like the other stuff.  We do more processed foods than I would like - but I shop local sales and am a coupon queen.  If I can find it for a decent price it gets purchased.  I do try to make alot of meals/staples from scratch including bread and occassionally pastas. 

2. What do you do for fruits and vegetables?  (frozen, canned, fresh? wide variety or just the cheapest stuff?)  All of the above.  Whatever is on sale - my 'buy price' is $.99lb or less for fresh or frozen produce and $.50 or less for canned veggies.  Fresh and Easy helps alot with this - their $.98 produce packs have saved my budget many times.  We tend to love stews so I try to have carrots, celery, onions, potatoes and mushrooms on hand all of the time.  When certain fruits or veggies are in season and cheap, I'll buy a bunch and can them.  We also have plans to finally get a raised bed garden going this year. 

3. What do you eat for breakfasts?  Coffee.  Eggs & Toast, cereal, dh loves leftovers, pancakes, etc.

4. What do you eat for snacks?  hardboiled eggs (like to keep them on hand - easy and satisfying), granola bars, popcorn, dh loves chips and salsa or homemade guacamole, fruits

5. If you're in the US, how does your location's food costs compare to the national average? (go to http://www.bestplaces.net, search for your location, then click the "cost of living" link above the Overview table.)  We are at 104 for food costssts.   .

[jimblejamble]

Lately I've been spending about $45 a week on...

Bananas, spinach, flour, yogurt, apples, kale, carrots, potatoes, tomato sauce, eggs, stuff like that. Plus I'll stock up at Costco every couple months on rice, quinoa, beans, whole chicken, peanut butter, cheese, etc. I'd say half to 3/4 of what I get is organic.

We eat a lot of soup, rice & beans plus a meat (chicken, steak) and veggies (sauteed onions and peppers, shredded lettuce), quinoa burgers, and pizza. I bake a couple loaves of bread a week as well as muffins to snack on. For breakfast my boy and I will have fruit (plain or in smoothies) or oatmeal. My husband doesn't eat a big breakfast--he's good with half a banana or a smoothie until lunch time. Leftovers or muffins for lunch. Sometimes I'll make tortillas and fill them like Salvadoran pupusas with a few fillings (whatever's on hand) and freeze them for my husband to take to work for lunch.

[Zach'smom]

I spend about $30 a week per person on average.  That includes cleaning products, personal hygiene, some pet products (we have cats, dog, fish, frogs), etc. 

We don't eat out a lot and that also includes packed lunches for dh and ds.

I buy a combination of fresh, frozen and organic produce.  I buy lots of produce.

I try to buy everything on sale and use coupons where I can.  I have a large pantry in the basement, so I stockpile when I can get a really good deal.

We don't eat much in the way of processed foods. 

Breakfast during the week for dh and I is coffee.   Ds eats pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, oatmeal, english muffins or... He likes a lot of variety.

Snacks are fruit, cheese, yogurt, popcorn, granola...

[Knittin' in the Shade]

We were spending about $350. a month for a family of 7, 2 adults, 2 teenage boys and 2 boys and 1 girl. That is including paper goods and cleaning products. Since December though we have spent a lot less then that. We average now $45 every other week for 2 adults, a 13 year old, 11 year old and 4 year old just because of some issues going on with our family. I do budget about $75.00 for a us a week. 

Okay, I *have* to know what you're eating/where you're buying?!  I've got a family of 6 (DH, me, and 4 boys aged 11, 10, 7 and 4) and my weekly budget is $200 and I cannot fathom any way I could get it lower (don't buy processed foods, no organics, buy in bulk, etc - though that $200 does also include toiletry/cleaning, and pet stuff)  $75/week for 7 people is approximately 50 cents per person per meal (and that's only counting 3 meals a day, no snacks or anything else)   $45 biweekly is 21 cents per person per meal.  That seems utterly impossible to me - please share your secrets! :)  Do you get other food assistance that supplements your budget?

[Lucy Alden]

Originally Posted by Knittin' in the Shade 

Okay, I *have* to know what you're eating/where you're buying?!  I've got a family of 6 (DH, me, and 4 boys aged 11, 10, 7 and 4) and my weekly budget is $200 and I cannot fathom any way I could get it lower (don't buy processed foods, no organics, buy in bulk, etc - though that $200 does also include toiletry/cleaning, and pet stuff)  $75/week for 7 people is approximately 50 cents per person per meal (and that's only counting 3 meals a day, no snacks or anything else)   $45 biweekly is 21 cents per person per meal.  That seems utterly impossible to me - please share your secrets! :)  Do you get other food assistance that supplements your budget?

Mum4boys, I'd love to know too.  Do you use coupons?  Limit milk and other dairy? Do you have other people over for dinner?  Where do you shop?