fire34fighter
Cook
I see. In the US most college students tend to put Beer as a higher prority than food, especially with ramen noodles being so cheap.
What is your limit?
- Thread starter deelady
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I cannot answer as I bulk shop. Meaning I go out once a week for staples while using the stockpile in the cabinets and freezer. Then about once ever two months I bulk up and buy to refill the cabinets and freezer. Usually I wait for a great deal on meat and just buy a huge amount.
You know, $.99 chicken, $1.80 chuck roast, $1.65 pork loin, $.99 pork shoulder.
I do save money on sausage and ground meat as I make my own. 60/40 beef/pork ground meat makes an excellent, low fat, low price burger. Pork shoulder makes the best sausage. Most times I have to buy a pork belly to get enough fat to make the sausage but that is similar in price to the shoulder.
You know, $.99 chicken, $1.80 chuck roast, $1.65 pork loin, $.99 pork shoulder.
I do save money on sausage and ground meat as I make my own. 60/40 beef/pork ground meat makes an excellent, low fat, low price burger. Pork shoulder makes the best sausage. Most times I have to buy a pork belly to get enough fat to make the sausage but that is similar in price to the shoulder.
CasperImproved
Sous Chef
Jikoni - Thanks for having such a pretty picture for your avatar. It makes it easy for me to find your posts 
$530(US) per week for groceries? Can I come and clean your kitchen for you in exchange for your cooking (feeding me)?
Bob
$530(US) per week for groceries? Can I come and clean your kitchen for you in exchange for your cooking (feeding me)?
Bob
fire34fighter
Cook
SammyP
Assistant Cook
I spend in the UK about £160 which in US dollar is about $250 per week. There is only the 2 of us but that includes pet food, toiletries etc. I try really hard to budget, we only eat out maybe once a month if that, same with takeaways. food here has got very expensive. want to get it down to about £100/week (approx $160) but struggling
qmax
Sous Chef
I have never really tracked it, but to hazard a guess..~$350/week.
But I don't spare any expense on my Saturday cooking adventure (the only day I REALLY cook), and it is always accompanied by a good wine.
My wife typically does a real nice meal once a week as well.
Then everything else are the snacky things, staples, coffee, dog food, sundries, etc.
But I don't spare any expense on my Saturday cooking adventure (the only day I REALLY cook), and it is always accompanied by a good wine.
My wife typically does a real nice meal once a week as well.
Then everything else are the snacky things, staples, coffee, dog food, sundries, etc.
chefkathleen
Sous Chef
Since my husband and I have both lost our jobs, yeah economy, I'm trying to keep it between 5 and 10.00 a day. Ain't easy.
justplainbill
Executive Chef
We've been saving for retirement for 45 years but try to keep our 'grocery' bills, for two, down to below $1,200 per month. Those 1980's dollars do not go nearly as far as they used to and most economist 'experts' tell us that 'moderate' inflation is good for the economy. Taxes continue to be and promise to increasingly become a far bigger drain on our income.
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Mimizkitchen
Head Chef
Ah Kathleen the joys of living in florida... Because of the economy, I too am having a hard time finding employment, that pays me anything...
chefkathleen
Sous Chef
It's nice to know someone understands but, it sux that you have too. I've even looked at Macy's and the like and no one is hiring around here. Meaning Central, near Orlando and Tampa. But HEY! Disney is raising it's prices starting tomorrow to $82.00 per ticket!Ah Kathleen the joys of living in florida... Because of the economy, I too am having a hard time finding employment, that pays me anything...
Shelvasha
Assistant Cook
It's just me alone. I'm in college, and I spend about $50 per week. I think that may be a bit much.
Aussie Chick
Assistant Cook
There is 3 of us and I try to keep our grocery bill under $100 a week. It helps that once a year we buy half a beef & have it processed. I only need to buy Chicken & Pork at the supermarket when we run out, but I tend to buy extra if I see it on sale.
Tiffy1
Assistant Cook
It's just two of us. When I lost my job we set a $50 weekly budget for food. It was hard at first but I learned to work around that. I still try to keep with it. I usually never go over $60 a week.
chefkathleen
Sous Chef
Any tips for the others of us out of work Tiffy?
Tiffy1
Assistant Cook
Well, I used to just grocery shop to shop and that would lead me to a huge bill. That was the first thing I had to remedy. I sit down on Saturday and I make my list of what I want to cook for the upcoming week. Dinner is mainly what I have to focus. So I plan what I want to cook and stick to that exact list. I try to buy meat/poultry in bulk when I catch it on sale since that's always the most expensive item. Sometimes I even have to go to multiple grocery stores because someone else might have 1 or 2 things for really cheap. I try to stick to dinner that have minimal ingredients yet are easy to spice up with stuff I may already have.
chefkathleen
Sous Chef
Yep that's what I'm doing. Sounds like we're on the same page.
I'll be so glad when the job market opens up again.
I'll be so glad when the job market opens up again.
Athometrixie
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2010
- Messages
- 4
A couple of weeks ago I was down to collecting the spare change in the house to make it another week to payday. I managed to scrounge up $15. With that, I bought $5 worth of gas to get to work for the week; the remaining $10 I used for food for a week. Yes, it was a lean and somewhat uninteresting week, but it set me on the path to cut my expenses by being aware of what I spent. I took a good hard look at how I had spent my money for the past two months and realized it was crazy out-of-hand.
So that day I bought a loaf of bread at the bakery outlet for 79 cents. For a few days I had tuna salad or pimento cheese or chicken salad sandwiches and fruit.
Payday came and I spent $145 on groceries to last a month. That included buying family packs of things like ground beef, pork chops, etc. and dividing them into individual servings to freeze. I also got a couple of roasts and a whole chicken, a pound of sausage and a package of pepperoni. Then there was bread, cheeses and fresh produce.
I take my lunch every day and cook from scratch. I find a lot more satisfaction in making a wonderful homemade large pizza for $2.50 that makes two or three meals for me than I do in eating out (not just because our restaurant choices are so limited here.)
This stash has already lasted me two weeks and basically I've used mostly the ground beef. I make large casseroles that I can make several meals from - cook once, eat many times. I keep a couple of those going at a time, freezing some of the leftovers so I can trade off and not get sick of eating the same thing.
I easily have enough food in my freezer to go at least another two weeks -- probably longer.
It's all a trade-off. You have to decide if money is scarce enough to make a plan to spend less, or if eating lobster brings you enough pleasure to make the cost worth it. For me, well, lobster is nice, but it doesn't bring me an amount of satisfaction that is worth the extra cost. I'd personally rather make a great pizza, eat some wonderful fresh fruit and maybe bake some cookies, and stop running out of money before payday. That's speaking only for my budget; I don't have any argument with anyone who chooses to budget their money differently. For me, I find satisfaction in the creative use of what I have on hand, and coming up with as many ways as possible of using the same basic ingredients in completely different ways. (Ground beef has gone in a casserole, a spaghetti sauce, pizza and finally tonight sloppy joes, as well as just plain cheeseburgers. All that from an $8 package of family pack ground chuck.)
So that day I bought a loaf of bread at the bakery outlet for 79 cents. For a few days I had tuna salad or pimento cheese or chicken salad sandwiches and fruit.
Payday came and I spent $145 on groceries to last a month. That included buying family packs of things like ground beef, pork chops, etc. and dividing them into individual servings to freeze. I also got a couple of roasts and a whole chicken, a pound of sausage and a package of pepperoni. Then there was bread, cheeses and fresh produce.
I take my lunch every day and cook from scratch. I find a lot more satisfaction in making a wonderful homemade large pizza for $2.50 that makes two or three meals for me than I do in eating out (not just because our restaurant choices are so limited here.)
This stash has already lasted me two weeks and basically I've used mostly the ground beef. I make large casseroles that I can make several meals from - cook once, eat many times. I keep a couple of those going at a time, freezing some of the leftovers so I can trade off and not get sick of eating the same thing.
I easily have enough food in my freezer to go at least another two weeks -- probably longer.
It's all a trade-off. You have to decide if money is scarce enough to make a plan to spend less, or if eating lobster brings you enough pleasure to make the cost worth it. For me, well, lobster is nice, but it doesn't bring me an amount of satisfaction that is worth the extra cost. I'd personally rather make a great pizza, eat some wonderful fresh fruit and maybe bake some cookies, and stop running out of money before payday. That's speaking only for my budget; I don't have any argument with anyone who chooses to budget their money differently. For me, I find satisfaction in the creative use of what I have on hand, and coming up with as many ways as possible of using the same basic ingredients in completely different ways. (Ground beef has gone in a casserole, a spaghetti sauce, pizza and finally tonight sloppy joes, as well as just plain cheeseburgers. All that from an $8 package of family pack ground chuck.)
Ideally, if it was just my daughter and me, we would spend about £70 a week on food. This does not include household chemicals for cleaning, neither does it include girly requirements, like hair care stuff, soaps etc: of which one could easily spend double. If ya getta my meaning.
Sprout
Sous Chef
It's me, my husband, and my 1-year-old who, believe it or not, often eats as much as I do. We typically keep it under 185 a month for food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, make-up, TP, etc, the whole shebang. Unfortunately that doesn't always include the stops at 7-11 when my husband forgets his lunch, but he's working on that. It does include a $15 splurge fund for each of us if I want to eat at work or he wants to buy something special... We usually use towels and cloth napkins, and storage containers instead of paper towels, napkins, and plastic bags. We keep napkins on hand for guests and use plastic bags to freeze meat, but that's it. I'd say about 75% of what I buy is on sale & I have a coupon for it. Most of the grocery stores around here double coupons under a dollar, so that helps too. We buy a couple things a month at Costco and buy almost everything else on sale. It's a lot of work clipping 2 sunday papers' coupons a week, organizing them, remembering them when I look at the flyers, and going to multiple grocery stores/ drug stores, but I get to do most of that at home instead of working an extra shift every week & spending more time away from my family. Also, since I started forcing myself to slow down and pay attention while I eat, I've stopped grazing and started eating half as much at meals because I actually know when I'm full. That helped the food bill as well as my waistline. Now if only I could get DH to do the same...
It does include a $15 splurge fund for each of us if I want to eat at work or he wants to buy something special... We usually use towels and cloth napkins, and storage containers instead of paper towels, napkins, and plastic bags. We keep napkins on hand for guests and use plastic bags to freeze meat, but that's it. I'd say about 75% of what I buy is on sale & I have a coupon for it. Most of the grocery stores around here double coupons under a dollar, so that helps too. We buy a couple things a month at Costco and buy almost everything else on sale. It's a lot of work clipping 2 sunday papers' coupons a week, organizing them, remembering them when I look at the flyers, and going to multiple grocery stores/ drug stores, but I get to do most of that at home instead of working an extra shift every week & spending more time away from my family. Also, since I started forcing myself to slow down and pay attention while I eat, I've stopped grazing and started eating half as much at meals because I actually know when I'm full. That helped the food bill as well as my waistline. Now if only I could get DH to do the same... 
