What a great question and a way to compare. I am not sure exactly how much I and DH spend. But I am being financially conscious. I have to say it is likely around 150 per week on average. That does not include kitty litter and cat food. I saw only one other poster from Canada and I have to say I think our food is much more expensive.
I do look at flyers weekly and shop with sales in mind. I do not drive, I am in a major city and walk to the grocery store so I typically go to the one nearest me. Best deals this week were 2 heads of cauliflour for $5, 2 celery -organic $5 and pears 99 cents a pound. This was a sale!!!!! I cannot afford all organic but some things I only buy organic, like berries. I have researched which foods are the least risky to eat non-organic. I eat fish once per week, I eat wild fish only. Cod was on sale this week. Last week I paid $14 for wild salmon for two people, typical serving size.
I got canned tuna for $1 per can. That is a good deal here.
Buying kitty litter I buy a big bag for around $30, swheat scoop, no clay, etc. around 5 bags for two months. I have two cats and two litters. I scoop daily and change litter every 5 days, adding no new litter in those 5 days.
I feed my cats the best I can afford, they get wellness canned and kibble. They only like the salmon kibble. I got the large cans on sale for 3.19 recently, that is a good sale.
I do not eat meat but DH does. We do not buy organic. But I get what is on sale. They had angus sirloin tip roasts buy one get one free, things like that, but still costs $23 for two roast but lasts him a long time.
Does this sound expensive to you?
Curious.
We got through about $320 a month, but we're on food stamps, so there's no taxes in there.
I don't really plan meals. I just buy roughly the same stuff every month, which includes organic spinach/lettuces/carrots, and then nonorganic produce, lots of bananas, and whatever fruit I can stock up on in season (right now it's been different varieties of oranges). I also buy breads/tortillas/noodles/rice, cheese, dry beans, frozen fruit, canned salmon, eggs, almond milks, Greek yogurt, hot chocolate (husband loves the stuff), and a few frozen items that are a little junkie (we've been trying to wean ourselves from eating a lot of junk by having a small amount with a huge salad).
I shop bi-weekly, usually spending 95-230 the first week, and then spending the rest the third week. We shop at Kroger and Walmart. There is an Aldis where I live, but it's a bit longer of a drive, and since I carpool with my mom, she doesn't like going out of the way.
I have managed to spend less on my regular stuff. I use Dr. Bronner's magic soap as a dish/counter/table cleaner, tooth paste, laundry detergent, white vinegar as a replacement for bleach, water filters, toiletries (the cheapest kind), trash bags, and cat litter and food. Some of this stuff lasts us more than a month, so we don't always buy all of these every time.
Last edited by 3FCer344892; 03-09-2012 at 04:20 PM.
i'm in canada and i'm in an *expensive* part of canada to live - haliburton county, ontario, where milk runs about $6.39 for a bag (it's 4.99 or less just about everywhere else).
i hit the grocery store about 3x a week for fresh fruit and veg and pet food (my dog and two cats eat raw food, not commercial) and i spend usually around $40.
before i started the VLCD with it's high emphasis on fruit and veg, it was more like $400 a month for 3 ppl, the dog, and two cats.
Last edited by threenorns; 03-09-2012 at 05:00 PM.
We spend somewhere between $100-120 a week on food (and including paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc) for the two of us. Cat food and litter is included in that, but dog food is separate (ours has food allergies, so needs special food). That buys us enough food to have just about every meal at home - usually on Saturday or Sunday we'll go out for one to two meals, but the vast majority of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks come from that budget. Admittedly, pregnant I'm nearer the top of that range...baby boy needs a lot of fuel! But still under $120 each week.
We make 2 grocery stops each week. Stop 1 is the year-round Farmer's Market, where we buy whatever is in season. In summer, we eat a ton of squash, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and stone fruits. In winter, we get greens, root vegetables, winter squash, apples, oranges etc. Right now is my favorite time of year - strawberries, asparagus, greens, spring onions, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, carrots, and the like. If you buy in season, you can get a meal's worth of veggies for 1-2 dollars. We budget about $40 a week, and get all of our veggies, plus fruit for snacks and desserts, and a dozen eggs. In summer, if we have money left over, I use it to stock up on something cheap that I can preserve - pickles, jarred tomato sauces, salsa or diced tomatoes, and jam all come out of that market budget in the summer (I also use those jars as the basis for a lot of my Christmas gifts...everyone loves homemade jam and salsa).
Stop #2 is a local grocery store that has consistently had the best deals. Now, we do have to WORK for those deals - they have a website with promotions you can add to your store loyalty card, one-off promotions, special prices based on your buying history, etc. We also coupon pretty extensively. So each week we do maybe 2 hours of prep for the grocery store, between searching out the deals, planning our meals, and clipping the coupons we plan to use. Then we do our shopping. That store also has gas stations, and a promo where you get 10-30 cents off a gallon of gas once you've spent a certain amount, so if we have a promo, we'll go fill up the tank at a discount.
I average $100 per week (one adult, one 8-year-old). That's pretty much for 3 meals a day for both of us. I almost exclusively shop at Trader Joe's except for a couple things at Target. We don't eat a lot of meat and when we do it's frozen chicken, whole chickens, or ground turkey/beef. I buy organic when there's the option, and I spend close to $20/week on yogurt alone.
A big money saver is that we often take leftovers for lunch. Monday nights I make spaghetti & meatballs for him, and a pot of chili or curry for myself, and the leftovers are lunches for the rest of the week (he gets school lunch occasionally to break up the monotony - I don't mind it).
As a single, lowly paid college student, I spend anywhere from 20-50 bucks on food, depending on how much money I have. Since I have access to a dining hall, I don't feel like I need to spend so much on my groceries. My typical list includes nonfat milk and yogurt, stuff to make sandwiches (light wheat bread, turkey, cheese, mustard), at least 2 kinds of fruit, some sort of vegetable, something to go with said vegetable, cereal, and peanut butter.
I live in a developing country, which means fruits, vegetables, beans, etc are dirt cheap and imported items (cheese, bread, pasta, etc) are quite expensive. I usually do 1 big grocery run a month (equivalent to $70) and walks to the nearby shops for fruits, veggies, eggs, and milk every few days ($20/week). So around $150 for my fiance and I.
When I lived in the States I did something similar- 1-2 medium-sized grocery runs a month to the grocery store ($100), then 1 run a week to the farmer's market ($20), for a total of $140/month. That was just for me though.
i'm in canada and i'm in an *expensive* part of canada to live - haliburton county, ontario, where milk runs about $6.39 for a bag (it's 4.99 or less just about everywhere else).
i hit the grocery store about 3x a week for fresh fruit and veg and pet food (my dog and two cats eat raw food, not commercial) and i spend usually around $40.
before i started the VLCD with it's high emphasis on fruit and veg, it was more like $400 a month for 3 ppl, the dog, and two cats.
Hello fellow Canadian. I had two dogs that lived to 21 and 12 years old on a raw diet. I used to cook for them and then switched to raw. They have sadly both passed away several years ago. And I fed them raw which included grinding organ meats while I was vegan. lol They loved it and it was cheap. I tried with my two cats but they will not eat raw food. sigh
I am going to track my grocery bills closely and see. I know when I can hit the farmers markets it will be cheaper for veg and fruit. The only problem is with working full time it is difficult to get there and not much available yet.
I come from a poor background and still enjoy penny pinching.
For just myself, I spend no more than $60 a week on organic fresh and frozen fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fortified unsweetened almond or coconut milk. It helps that my staple foods (apples, oranges, bananas, and spinach) are relatively cheap.
I have a good idea of what I’ll be eating throughout the week so I try to avoid pit-stops between buying days. I’ve also compared everyday prices from my farmer’s markets, food co-ops, and grocery stores. I keep an eye out for sales and swap out items when the deal is good. I like looking for ripe produce that has been marked down, because the seller wants to make some money off it before they have to toss it. If I wasn’t feeding just myself, then I’d join a CSA and get large vegetable boxes delivered from a local farm to me at an incredible discount. Another idea would be to contact produce vendors to see if I can get my food cheaper if I were to buy from them in bulk quantities. I also have a credit card that has no annual fee and offers cash rewards for grocery store purchases.
What is helping me save a lot of money is giving up junk food, meat, and eating out often. I have also simplified my home cleaning supplies (I clean everything in my home with baking soda, vinegar, alcohol, and water) and toiletries.
And like other chicks, since I expect my body shape to go through a lot of changes before I reach goal weight… I shop for clothes at thrift stores too. For the price of a top at a department store, I can buy a few nearly new outfits at a thrift store.
we have no kids. my mans off working 5 months of the year. when im here alone during that time i spend on avg 25-50 a week. when my mans home its usually 50-75 a week. but he also likes to take me out to dining.
we live in an alaskan coastal city but there are no roads to or from town...all food as well as everything else (vehicles to buy, people coming to and from town) all arrive by ferry, barge or airplane...for a family of four plus one puppy, i spend about $300 every two weeks on food including other supplies...i make a few other random stops for small items as needed but that's pretty much what we spend....i do a big shopping trip every two weeks when i get paid, a stop at costco for things we use in bulk (meat, toilet paper, lunch supplies) and a stop at walmart for smaller items (deoderant, puppy treats, seasoning packets etc) and occassionally fred meyers for specialty things like greek yogurt or ground pork (which WM doesnt carry)
prices here include, off the top of my head, a gallon of milk for $4.12, hamburger for $3.29/pound, hunk of pork for $2.29/pound, etc...prices here seem about the same as the other places that i've lived in alaska...i've never lived outside of alaska and havent even left the state itself since i was four years old
I had two dogs that lived to 21 and 12 years old on a raw diet. I used to cook for them and then switched to raw. They have sadly both passed away several years ago. And I fed them raw which included grinding organ meats while I was vegan. lol They loved it and it was cheap. I tried with my two cats but they will not eat raw food. sigh 
