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My household includes 4 people. We eat extremely healthy and mostly here at home. I'm doing a raw diet right now and my wife is mostly vegan. We spend between $700-800 monthly on food.
In a household of two adults, we budget $800 for the month. We cook at home, eat healthy, mostly vegetarian, and shop in neighborhood markets and the farmers' market in Queens.
I shop at Whole Foods but only certain items. I'm not paying $27.99 for a pound of Alaskan wild salmon just because it's 'organic' and marinated in herbs and oil. Or $6.99 for a pint of strawberries. I like the 365 brand and their dry goods. But any of the prepped stuff and most of the organic is a major rip-off IMO. I often wind up at Fairway, which isn't much better. I wonder where to go where you get actual quality that is priced better? I don't really care for the ethnic markets.
Fairway at least the UWS location is expensive since a fair amount of tourists shop there to get snacks or lunch dinner items there. They seem to have caught on to this and jacked their prices up. Fairway also had some health violations also in recent years.
Farmer's Market for vegetables when it's warm, Stiles for an indoor farmer's market when it's cold and a the 365 items at WF and a combo of CVS, Rite Aid when things are on sale. People love Trader Joe's but all of their NYC locations are a mad house. I also found a great butcher which has reasonably priced meat; no more WF rip off "sales" on pork chops and chicken breasts.
I spend somewhere in the $400-$500 range just for myself, but I also went vegan around 6 months ago and that kicked my bill up. Before that it was like $300ish.
Cannot believe sometimes how expensive food is in Manhattan much less NYC.
A bag of store brand frozen veggies is $3.99 at Associated. Same is over $4.00 at Food Emporium and so it goes.
While one does love fresh veggies only purchase and eat what is in season. Have just learned the hard way grapes from halfway around the world in dead winter are horrible tasting. That and they are very expensive for what you get.
When possible simply drive over to NJ and do grocery shopping there, something have in common with many from my home town Staten Island. Petrol is cheaper there as well so you can kill two birds with one stone.
Have noticed the past year or so the price of "good" chicken (Murrays, organic, etc....) has gone way up in NYC in terms of price per pound, but often you get much less per packet if purchasing pieces. It wasn't that long ago thighs came six to a packet, now you are lucky to get three with the usual number being between four or five. That awful Tysons, Perdue and other "yellow" fatty and water filled chicken is still some what inexpensive, but you get what you pay for with that lot.
Don't eat red meat that often in our household which is rather good since the price of beef, even the bottom shelf stuff is insane as well.
Thing is if you travel around the United States, especially towards the South and Mid-West food prices are so much cheaper than in NYC.
Have noticed the past year or so the price of "good" chicken (Murrays, organic, etc....) has gone way up in NYC in terms of price per pound, but often you get much less per packet if purchasing pieces.
YES. I'm being pushed toward semi vegetarianism by this trend. Chicken used to be a staple.
I typically spend 200-350/month on groceries and eat out probably 2x a month (so maybe add an additional $60). I shop at Fairway on the east side and there is a local grocery store near me called "You don't Know nothing produce" (Horrible name!! LOL) but it has a lot of staple items and is much closer than trekking to Fairway when it is cold. Produce is majorly expensive in NYC. My Mom (native NYer now moved to North Carolina) loves to hear the prices of certain things to compare the price in North Carolina. One that blew my mind was pomegranates. I forget the price difference now but it was at least a 2-3 dollar difference!!
We spend about $500/mo on groceries/paper products for two people. Our regular store is the Whole Foods in Tribeca - we try to buy mostly their store brand items. Meat usually comes from Peapod, where I try to stick to the sales, or else I'll trek to ShopRite in Jersey City. Bringing a heavy rolling tote back on the PATH can be a pain, though. Sometimes we'll make it down to the fruit & vegetable store in Greenwood to get those items for a fraction of the Whole Foods cost. Maybe twice a year I rent a zipcar & drive out to Long Island where I can stock up on a bunch of things - I'll buy a few months worth of toilet paper/paper towels/detergent for many times cheaper than the local stores.
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