Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 12:55 am Post subject: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
I know there have been a number of thread on "how much do you spend on food" and no one seems to have any idea of what is "normal". Well, my husband talked with someone today who is a professional that helps people come up with budgets. He said $50 per person a week is typical. I was so shocked to find out that we spend less than is considered "typical". He said the extra cost of kosher food is balanced out by the amount of prepared food the "typical" American family buys. My only question is how much this varies by region (I'm not in NYC)
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 1:06 am Post subject: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
I just made a $200 grocery order, we are a family of 3, 1 is an infant. I bought 2 weeks worth of food, 3 weeks worth of kosher meat, paper goods for 2 months.
I wasn't really looking to see how much people spend (and bnm, you see to be supporting what this guy was saying) as much as giving people an idea what "experts say" is normal. Esp. given all the kvetching about the higher price of kosher food!
Joined: Feb 07 2008 Posts: 1217 Location: outside D.C.
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 1:36 am Post subject: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
I think it would vary somewhat by region, since different areas have different prices. When I went to NYC, I was surprised by how expensive the grocery stores were! (Granted, I didn't shop around since I was there only to visit.)
I would think an even bigger variable would be the style of the main shopper/cook. If it's meat every day, it will be more expensive. If convenience foods, more expensive. If the person buys whatever fruits and veggies they want, without taking into account seasons, more expensive. Etc.
Joined: Jan 05 2005 Posts: 3591 Location: brooklyn, ny
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 1:47 am Post subject: Re: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budget
Amital wrote:
I think it would vary somewhat by region, since different areas have different prices. When I went to NYC, I was surprised by how expensive the grocery stores were! (Granted, I didn't shop around since I was there only to visit.
I think it probably evens out by region since meat is cheaper in nyc than oot.
when thinking about my food expenditures, I don't compare to other people's norms. for me, it's about how much time I have to spend in the kitchen. with the hours we work, the best option is to order in, or to make something I can prepare quickly. ordering for the 4 of us costs about $40-$60. my cheshbon is that with the time involved in cooking, if I can spend half of what it costs to order in, then it's worth it. so I do end up making expensive meals (more convenience foods, pre-spiced and marinated meat, etc.) but in my life it works.
interesting though that with kosher meat plus convenience foods, I nearly fall into the "norm" anyway. does that meat americans are buying prepared items by the cart load?
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 2:10 am Post subject: Re: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budget
nicole81 wrote:
interesting though that with kosher meat plus convenience foods, I nearly fall into the "norm" anyway. does that meat americans are buying prepared items by the cart load?
You order in and spend less than $200/week? I'm confused with your cheshbon. $40 - $60...what? A day? That seems to fall outside of this norm.
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 2:15 am Post subject: Re: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budget
Amital wrote:
I think it would vary somewhat by region, since different areas have different prices. When I went to NYC, I was surprised by how expensive the grocery stores were! (Granted, I didn't shop around since I was there only to visit.)
I would think an even bigger variable would be the style of the main shopper/cook. If it's meat every day, it will be more expensive. If convenience foods, more expensive. If the person buys whatever fruits and veggies they want, without taking into account seasons, more expensive. Etc.
BTW - I think you are confused as to what this guy is saying. This is the figure they use as a "norm" for budgeting. Of course people can spend more and people can spend less. But if you want a ballpark estimate of what a "normal" amount to spend per person/per week - this is what they advise. If someone is having financial problems and they say "hey, we are spending $500/week for a family of 4" - well, maybe they need to look at their eating habits. But if my millionaire friend wants to spend $500 A MEAL - and they can afford it - that's their call. See what I'm saying?
Joined: Jan 05 2005 Posts: 3591 Location: brooklyn, ny
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 2:23 am Post subject:
no, I spend an average of $25 on meals each night that I make. then there's breakfast and lunch foods too, which are cheap. by convenience foods I didn't mean that I order in. I buy a lot of packaged, precut veggies, microwaveable foods, individual fruit cups and applesauce, box drinks, premade kugels, takeout, pre-prepared meat dishes, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, etc. we also use plastic utensils, plates, and cups (yes I know we're not being eco-friendly at all... I hope cloth diapering makes up for some of our plastics overconsumption!)
definitely not the cheapest way to go, but still a lot cheaper than ordering in (which we do maybe once a week) and almost just as fast, which is what I need. for the record, we spend about $220/week.
now I use a lot of convenience items. if the average american family is using convenience items as well, yet not spending on kosher food, I'm interested in what exactly they are purchasing!
Joined: Feb 28 2007 Age: 44 Posts: 776 Location: Georgia
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 2:29 am Post subject: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
There is some great information available at the USDA website. They have a guide to what families should expect to spend on groceries. A family of 6, with kids the same ages as ours (5, 3, 2, and 1), has budget ranges that look like this:
I've got our groceries down to $800/month, and am pretty sure I could get it down to $700 if I was more careful. Dried beans are a great source of protein and are incredibly cheap. We actually enjoy eating black beans, pinto beans, and chick peas. Other beans we just tolerate. We eat meat 1x week (but usually just 1.5 lbs ground beef included in something else like pasta sauce) + Friday night and usually shabbos lunch. We also make homemade everything (soy milk, bread, jam, peanut butter, baked goods, etc., etc., etc.). We stock up on in-season veggies and fruits in the summer and freeze them for the winter. We never buy any out-of-season fresh produce. And we rarely pay over $0.99/pound for fruits or vegetables. If that leaves us with carrots, potatoes, and cabbage for the week, so be it.
Here's the link to the USDA website. Interesting information!
Joined: Feb 07 2008 Posts: 1217 Location: outside D.C.
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 1:07 pm Post subject: Re: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budget
chavamom wrote:
Amital wrote:
I think it would vary somewhat by region, since different areas have different prices. When I went to NYC, I was surprised by how expensive the grocery stores were! (Granted, I didn't shop around since I was there only to visit.)
I would think an even bigger variable would be the style of the main shopper/cook. If it's meat every day, it will be more expensive. If convenience foods, more expensive. If the person buys whatever fruits and veggies they want, without taking into account seasons, more expensive. Etc.
BTW - I think you are confused as to what this guy is saying. This is the figure they use as a "norm" for budgeting. Of course people can spend more and people can spend less. But if you want a ballpark estimate of what a "normal" amount to spend per person/per week - this is what they advise. If someone is having financial problems and they say "hey, we are spending $500/week for a family of 4" - well, maybe they need to look at their eating habits. But if my millionaire friend wants to spend $500 A MEAL - and they can afford it - that's their call. See what I'm saying?
Right, but wasn't your original question how much it varies? I would think that the kind of food purchased regularly would be the main variable in determining this.
now I use a lot of convenience items. if the average american family is using convenience items as well, yet not spending on kosher food, I'm interested in what exactly they are purchasing!
I think when the guy said "convenience foods" he meant things like "Lean Cuisine for lunch and dinner", etc. not "precut veggies, seasoned meat".
Joined: Jul 24 2007 Posts: 8258 Location: new york
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 10:58 pm Post subject: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
well, I think I spend an ok amount, but I have a few advantages. I'm home with my kids, and I go shopping myself unless I'm sick. so I get to compare prices, stock up on sale items, etc. my local supermarket usually has meat/poultry sales, so I stock up on the sale items for my freezer when the prices are good. they also occasionally send me coupons in the mail. I don't necessarily buy meat every week, though we tend to have it fairly often. I buy broccoli and cauliflower prechecked, and these days I'm going through a lot of prechecked romaine lettuce, but otherwise I check everything myself. I don't use many frozen food items. I buy some marinades, but I don't buy premarinaded or spiced anything. I make quick easy recipes in large batches and freeze leftovers. of course, due to all this freezing, I feel the need to invest in an extra freezer...
Joined: Jul 24 2007 Posts: 8258 Location: new york
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 11:02 pm Post subject: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
$200/week? we're a family of four, and on average I spend $120/week. I've been spending a bit more lately due to changes in my diet that don't conform to the family's general food interests. so I'm buying extra now, but I find that even with guests for the whole shabbos, the most I've spent in one week (except pesach/sukkos) is $185.
then again I do one course meals, even for shabbos, so I guess that would be the difference right there.
I spend too much on nosh. I'm a big nosher. I'm nuts.
Fish for shabbos costs about $10, chicken/fish/meat for the week costs about $35 a week, so the rest is groceries - I admit that paper goods, detergents, reading material etc. that are not classified as 'food' is also part of my grocery order - soap, baby wipes, dish detergent, steel wool, aluminum foils, batteries sometimes, stuff like that. It adds up.
Posted: Wed, Feb 18 2009, 11:47 pm Post subject: Re: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budget
interesting how every person has their own priorities. Did you see her latest post?
Why did she need bottles of steak sauce, steak seasoning, barbecue sauce...2 bottles of salad dressing? You can make your own dressing from mayo, garlic, lemon juice...
She uses cloth diapers. There you go!!! Paper diapers cost a lot more.
baby jars - there you go again, she could make her own baby jars with a bit of chicken and veggies.
Coffee creamers - again, something that's not so important in a grocery list.
and her bread list is so empty. 2 sandwich rolls in 2 months? I eat 1 or 2 rolls a DAY.
her fruit and veggie list is also pretty sparse.
And when you total it all, it's impossible that this was only $400 something dollars. If you'd do that list where I live, it'd be more around $600 or so. Especially the meat list. I guess non kosher meat is pennies.
What she's doing is amazing, but there are so many things she could cut out and instead buy other things I guess.
Oh and did you notice she has a stockpile of about $1500 worth of food ot be able to make the challeenge work?
Joined: Jan 04 2007 Posts: 2372 Location: The Twilight Zone
Posted: Thu, Feb 19 2009, 6:38 am Post subject: re: "How much do you spend on food?" - budgeting
Well that is interesting MB. I think everyone has their own chesbon of what they can make from scratch. The blogger works as a teacher, I think I saw. People that work some or all of the day often find it harder to make things from scratch simply because of the time involved (maybe not salad dressing, though...)
I work from home some and part time out of the house every day. I am trying more and more to make things from scratch. Pie shells are my latest thing. Challahs and cookies I have been doing since the summer. Baby food, I always made, but also bought a few jars to take with me when we were away from home.
These things really do save us $$$.
Now if I could just figure out how to make homemade fish sticks!!! One of my little guys eats them almost every day and the good ones cost a fortune.... : )
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We eat meat 1x week (but usually just 1.5 lbs ground beef included in something else like pasta sauce) + Friday night and usually shabbos lunch. We also make homemade everything (soy milk, bread, jam, peanut butter, baked goods, etc., etc., etc.). We stock up on in-season veggies and fruits in the summer and freeze them for the winter. We never buy any out-of-season fresh produce. And we rarely pay over $0.99/pound for fruits or vegetables. If that leaves us with carrots, potatoes, and cabbage for the week, so be it.
