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The cost of living varies greatly across the country, as does the cost of food. A standard market basket, as used by the government in their monthly surveys could cost $80 one place, and $170 somewhere else.
That's why it doesn't mean much to ask how much people spend without knowing where they live, and what the Consumer Price index is there. $70 might be low for one location and high for another.
We also spend just over $70/wk. in the Bay area. My husband is vegetarian so we save a lot of money by not buying much meat. I eat chicken several times a week. We like yogurt so I make our own. We don't eat as much as we did when we were younger but I still find myself buying more than I should at times. We also avoid the chain grocery stores in this area as they are expensive. Friday I shopped at a local produce store and paid less than a dollar each for mangos and .29/lb for onions, .39/lb. for a few red onions. I think I would pass on a $7 melon and eat a few more mangos or avacados. That reminds me, time to make an avacado and cheese sanwhich for lunch, along with a smoothy!
It looks like I might be about on target with $70 a week for two persons. I have to eat low carbs, low fat and no sodium, so it does take some special food. Fish and chicken are the two mainstays for me but I fix Mr. Chickie some beef and pork too. The veggies and fruits are the most expensive. We do buy some meat from local farmers too. For some reason vegetables and seasonal fruits have not gone down in the grocery stores in Central Illinois.
I've been going to the farmer's market, but by the time I drive 25 miles to get there from our rural house, I'm not saving with the high price of gas. The local farmers haven't had any produce stands this year after they lost big money last year with our horrible drought here. I don't think they planted their normal big produce amounts. Right now we are having a sort of drought, so maybe they were right in not planting huge amounts this year.
Thanks for your comments, it's interesting to see how others compare.
Last edited by rural chick; 08-18-2013 at 01:38 PM..
We spend a lot for groceries for two of us but we eat very well and my husband is diabetic so I have to watch carefully what is on the menu and account for everything. We do not have a lot of pasta, breads, rice or other high carbohydrate foods because of his diabetes. If he wants something specific I plan for it and he eats accordingly since whatever item it is has been worked into his daily consumption.
I'm glad I'm not feeding 3 teenage boys anymore! I spend more for just me and hub than I used to for a family of 5 back in the 90's and 2000's. Everything is so much more expensive now! I don't have an Aldi near where we live now, and we do try to eat very healthy: lots of fresh fruits & veggies, seafood, chicken, nuts, whole grain products. Practically no junk food, and very little red meat.
I spend at least $130-150 per week, but that includes 3 or 4 bottles of inexpensive ($10-15) bottles of wine (heart healthy).
It's two of us in our household and I spend $80-$100 a week if I go to Stop and shop, if I go to Aldi's then I spend $65.00 to $75.00 that week. I used to spend $120 to $140.00 a week. Our financial situation has changed and I have to try and spend under $100. We eat healthy too, lots of chicken, red meat once a week, I make different pasta dishes, we do eat fresh fruits and veggies. I look for sales and buy what's on sale that week. I do clip coupons but I am not one of those extreme coupon queens. I buy chicken in family sized packages which I wrap individually and put in large freezer bags. I just pull out what I need for dinner. I'll make marinara sauce and freeze some of it too. The only time I go over budget is if I am having people over for dinner. I love fish but it's so expensive and I only buy it occasionally.
I spend about $50-60 a week, on average, for one person. That does include some toiletries and cleaning supplies that I buy at the grocery store though.
I'm not terribly frugal when it comes to food shopping for myself, though. I buy a lot of fresh/in season fruits and vegetables, use quality olive oil instead of regular cooking oil, tend to buy Kashi, Pepperidge Farm etc cookies instead of the much cheaper ones, Peets coffee, and often splurge on deli/artisan-type cheeses and various goodies from the "International foods" aisles.
I could do a lot better! But I do enjoy eating good food.
It probably takes $80 a week to feed just me. I can't eat 90% of all vegetables so that complicates things. I love meat.
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