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$450 dollar a month for one person on groceries? are you going to be eating golden apples?? lol. i can feed my family of four for 2 months on 450 bucks. if u get a internet/phone/cable combo, it will run you about 160 a month, taxes included. as for utilities, if you cook a lot, your gas bill will be about $20 bucks, if you dont cook a lot it will be 10. electric will vary, depending if you run the AC in the summer or not, but estimate to be no lower than about $60 bucks. my electric bill when i was renting was $75-$85 a month, and thats for a desktop computer, deep freezer, stove, micro, 3 flat screen tvs, and other assorted appliances.
Thank you! The first person to tell me i'd be spending too much!
$450 a month is $15 a day in groceries. I think this figure is correct for a budget for a single person. Even though it may be possible to feed a family of 4 for $450 a month (which comes out to $3.75 per person per day), I think it's only possible if you shop primarily at Costco.
In many places, a pound of boneless chicken breast costs $7 per pound. For half a pound (one serving of 8 oz) that's your entire day's food budget if you use the $450 a month for a family of 4 figure.
The $7 per pound I quoted is the price at the market at Grand Central as well as Ottomanelli's Butcher in Woodside, Queens and it's something similar at Whole Foods. It's also about that for the higher quality/organic chicken at Trader Joes.
Sure, you can get chicken much cheaper at Costco, but if someone is living a Manhattan lifestyle, they may choose to shop in their neighborhood and they may also choose a higher quality of product than you get at the discount stores.
For budgeting purposes for non-Costco shopping, I would go with $450 per month.
For budgeting purposes for non-Costco shopping, I would go with $450 per month.
I agree. It all depends on the quality of food a person can tolerate.
If you are really on the lookout for cheap places to eat in Manhattan, you can eat out almost half the time for that kind of money - unless you buy any kind of alcohol with your meal.
I don't know, I get much more particular about what I eat as I get older. Younger people are more ok with eating all sorts of crap, that's why I hear things on this board - like $200 for food in Manhattan per month. Not if it's fresh and tasty!
It's also possible to save a LOT of money on nightlife or "afterwork" life if you know good happy hour spots. I know of at least two places that have $3 drafts until 7/8pm, which is like an incredible steal in this city.
Sure, you can get chicken much cheaper at Costco, but if someone is living a Manhattan lifestyle, they may choose to shop in their neighborhood and they may also choose a higher quality of product than you get at the discount stores.
That's funny. I find Costco produce not only cheaper but much better quality than local Manhattan supermarkets. Many times I was buying meat in local supermarket last summer only to find out at home that it smelled funny. You don't know what you get in the deli counter, the quality is so inconsistent. Fruits and vegies are by far better quality at Costco. I can't think of a single thing that local supermarkets have better.
That's funny. I find Costco produce not only cheaper but much better quality than local Manhattan supermarkets. Many times I was buying meat in local supermarket last summer only to find out at home that it smelled funny. You don't know what you get in the deli counter, the quality is so inconsistent. Fruits and vegies are by far better quality at Costco. I can't think of a single thing that local supermarkets have better.
Thanks - that's a good point. I don't have personal experience with getting groceries at Costco. For a single person living a non-car lifestyle, it doesn't make sense to join Costco. So that leaves the Manhattan resident to shop at Whole Foods or Grand Central Market, buying the $7 per pound chicken, in order to avoid the funny-smelling chicken.
Which was my original point - most likely the OP is going to be buying chicken that costs $7 per pound.
$450 dollar a month for one person on groceries? are you going to be eating golden apples?? lol. i can feed my family of four for 2 months on 450 bucks. if u get a internet/phone/cable combo, it will run you about 160 a month, taxes included. as for utilities, if you cook a lot, your gas bill will be about $20 bucks, if you dont cook a lot it will be 10. electric will vary, depending if you run the AC in the summer or not, but estimate to be no lower than about $60 bucks. my electric bill when i was renting was $75-$85 a month, and thats for a desktop computer, deep freezer, stove, micro, 3 flat screen tvs, and other assorted appliances.
I don't think $450 a month is a lot on groceries unless he is eating ramen noodles every night. Groceries are expensive here. Everyone will eat differently, but I don't think he is overstretching that far. As far as gas goes, I hardly ever used my gas and con ed still charges about $16 a month just to have the gas on. I don't think this kind of bill runs into the hundreds, but just something to be aware of that is going to be added on his electric bill.
As far as electric and how much it will cost, that is something in my experience, you can ask 10 people that live in different parts of manhattan who all use similar electricitly and will pay 10 different amounts. My friends used to get $300 electric bills when they were hardly using anything (they were both resident doctors, worked 80+ hours a week and were never home). They contacted the landlord and there was nothing they could do about it. The landlord told them that the last tenants complained about the same thing but nothing can be done. They were never told of this when they signed the lease. I lived in Hell's Kitchen and my bill was about $85 a month including the gas, and I barely used any electricity. In the summer it would go up to about $150 with the a/c and I didn't leave the a/c on if it wasn't really hot or if I wasn't home.
I don't think there is a right or wrong with electric bill estimates, I would just rather err on the side of it being higher so you don't get stuck trying to pay the bills.
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