What do you spend a month on food?

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What do you spend a month on food?

Andrey Y.
Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Inspired by this thread here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/152...

I was just pondering what I personally spend a month on food..

I looked at all my credit card purchases for food/snacks/drinks (only those where chase sapphire gives double points, likely underestimating it a bit) over the last few months and I got:

~$1000.00/month! Does this seem high to you guys? Its a common belief that eating out in Hawaii consistently is actually CHEAPER than cooking healthy food from a grocery store. Assuming you're not shopping at the commissary, from personal experience I find this to be definitely true.

What is your personal monthly expense for food? And do you think mine or yours are even adjustable? Or should I just suck it up. I also travel quite a bit and am not even including those food expenses.

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Ryan B.
Investor · -, IL · Member since 2010 · 409 posts · 616 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Andrey Y.:

Over here, I spend $80 at the grocery store to cook a dinner for 2 people.. meanwhile I can go out and eat a nice meal for $60. I bet some places in Cali are similar, though not as crazy.

 Ouch $80?  I can feed my family of 4 a nice dinner for $15.  Granted I am a cheapass.

$5 for some pork chops or chicken breasts

$1 for a can of green beans

$2 for some rolls

$3 for some salad

$4 for misc milk, spices, etc.

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  • Jeff S.
    Specialist · Portland, OR · Member since 2010 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Have her pay once in a while.

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  • Andrey Y.
    OP
    Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Jeff S.:

    Have her pay once in a while.

     Haha, you guys are more clever than I thought! But really, 'she'/dating/friends pays about 40% of the time when eating together, if I had to estimate.

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  • Aaron Junck
    Real Estate Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2013 · 415 posts · 84 votes
    11y

    I feel your pain buddy! 

    I freak out whenever going to the grocery store. I actually just went today and spent just under $200. That will last the 3 of us 1 week. I didn't even buy anything too out of the ordinary . No steaks or fish this time either. However, when she goes she grabs whatever she sees and i've seen receipts pushing $300. Hence, why I am going more now. Alas, this is still cheaper than going out all the time. We used to go out to eat probably half the time during a week and I just got sick of throwing money away.

    I know we could cut back even more. However, I like food  lol.

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  • Andrey Y.
    OP
    Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Over here, I spend $80 at the grocery store to cook a dinner for 2 people.. meanwhile I can go out and eat a nice meal for $60. I bet some places in Cali are similar, though not as crazy.

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  • Jeff S.
    Specialist · Portland, OR · Member since 2010 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    @Andrey Y. in 2013, the last time I tracked it I spent $142 mo eating out and $203 on groceries and $128 in cash for misc. This is just me and going out usually paying on weekends for myself and another.

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  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    11y

    My food bill is way higher than yours Jeff S.

    The grocery store I can't get out of the store under 60. We buy premium salads and fruits to balance out the times we go out to eat.

    Fruit isn't cheap but as my martial arts instructor says people either pay now or later. What he meant is that if you forego eating balanced and exercise and not go to the doc occasionally for check ups you will pay way more later in the form of heart attack, stroke, etc., etc.

    This guy still likes his beers and stays very active in his late 60's on the tennis circuit. Ripped like the solo flex guy.

    Sometimes Publix will have a special on fruit in season that week and we will buy it. We get stuff already in the containers but sometimes I buy the whole fruit and cut it up myself if time allows. We look for items we use on sale that have long shelf lives. Even if we won't need it for 3 weeks but it last 6 months etc. we will get it on sale then. I find manufacturers use less coupons these days so I have the wife sign up with a junk account to get direct coupons.

    People haven't seen anything for inflation yet. It is going to get much worse.

    A tip is if you can eat at restaurants during happy hour you get 50% off in savings sometimes. The other times I belong to all the clubs and get coupons off or if meeting someone for business they pay my meal usually. You have to work every angle to save.

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  • Ryan B.
    Investor · -, IL · Member since 2010 · 409 posts · 616 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Andrey Y.:

    Over here, I spend $80 at the grocery store to cook a dinner for 2 people.. meanwhile I can go out and eat a nice meal for $60. I bet some places in Cali are similar, though not as crazy.

     Ouch $80?  I can feed my family of 4 a nice dinner for $15.  Granted I am a cheapass.

    $5 for some pork chops or chicken breasts

    $1 for a can of green beans

    $2 for some rolls

    $3 for some salad

    $4 for misc milk, spices, etc.

    1Reply
  • Jean BolgerPro Member
    Aurora, CO · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    My husband and I spend probably $700-$800 groceries each month, and maybe $150 on eating out once or twice a month. But food is one area where we don't try to do too much economizing. We like to cook, and eat healthy food, and don't have any interest in doing coupons, etc (they're mostly just for the crap food anyway!). I don't buy all organic veg for example, but I get organic milk ($$! but the research on the ridiculous concentration of antibiotics in regular milk is pretty conclusive and I MUST have my homemade latte every day, lol ) . If we ate more meat I'm sure our bill would be much higher. Try cooking vegetarian a couple days a week or more and watch your bill drop. Although I bet you can get good prices on fish?

    The food on the mainland must be much cheaper  (which makes sense). My husband is from Europe and says one of the first thing he noticed when he moved to the US was how cheap the food was.

    But there are a lot of websites on frugal meal planning if you want to delve in to that...

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  • Account Closed
    Investor · Meridian, ID · Member since 2013 · 133 posts · 50 votes
    11y
    Crud, just realized I spend $120 / month on my Americanos or $1,440 a year. That's 1st class air to Cabo for my wife and I. Time to invest in an espresso maker.
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  • Kenny Fletcher
    Rental Property Investor · Richmond, VA · Member since 2014 · 12 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    This is one of the areas we try to save money. My wife and I together spend about $500-$600 per month on groceries and about $100-$200 per month eating out... So usually a total of $300-$400 per person. DC is known as an expensive city, but we try to be relatively frugal and healthy and prepare most of our own meals.  

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  • Jean BolgerPro Member
    Aurora, CO · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    @Account Closed 

     that's what I did! I knew I was making a good (frugal!) financial choice when I moved from Denver's "hipsterville" to a more working class suburb. But the place is a freakin' coffee desert, so I bought a nice Gaggia machine. A few youtube tutorials, and now I'm spoiled. My home coffee is better than 95% of the coffeeshops in town, if I do say so myself. Plus, I really enjoy my mid-day coffee making ritual.

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  • Bryan Jodon
    Miami, FL · Member since 2014 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    11y

    ~1500 a month between food and eating out. Family of 6. I bet $400 of that is in chipotles hands

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  • Bogdan Cirlig
    Real Estate Investor · Los Gatos, CA · Member since 2014 · 226 posts · 89 votes
    11y

    I spend about $1500 on groceries alone family of 4, again it's largely matter of what you eat and from where. Similar question to how much I spend on my car :). I buy from Whole Foods and Traders Joe, occasionally from Safeway. Dining out, different budget :)

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  • Andrey Y.
    OP
    Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Looks like I am spending way more than all you guys on here. Based on these responses, I don't think anyone spends even $700, month let alone $1000!

    @Tom C I am the same way, about $100-150 a month on starbucks.

    There's got to be a better way! :)

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  • NA Jones
    Flipper · Port Deposit, MD · Member since 2014 · 280 posts · 171 votes
    11y

    I feed 2 big, 1 medium, and 1 small mouths.  We used to spend ~$600 a month at the grocery store, and then another $300-500 at restaurants.

    Then we started reading Mr. Money Mustache's blog ("If you have to work for someone else to pay your bills, you can't afford it!")  and now I never get a meal out.  We "cant afford it"  ;)   *sniffle*  The grocery store bill has gone up to $720 a month.  

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  • Andrey Y.
    OP
    Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Jean Bolger:

    My husband and I spend probably $700-$800 groceries each month, and maybe $150 on eating out once or twice a month. But food is one area where we don't try to do too much economizing. We like to cook, and eat healthy food, and don't have any interest in doing coupons, etc (they're mostly just for the crap food anyway!). I don't buy all organic veg for example, but I get organic milk ($$! but the research on the ridiculous concentration of antibiotics in regular milk is pretty conclusive and I MUST have my homemade latte every day, lol ) . If we ate more meat I'm sure our bill would be much higher. Try cooking vegetarian a couple days a week or more and watch your bill drop. Although I bet you can get good prices on fish?

    The food on the mainland must be much cheaper  (which makes sense). My husband is from Europe and says one of the first thing he noticed when he moved to the US was how cheap the food was.

    But there are a lot of websites on frugal meal planning if you want to delve in to that...

     Thanks for your reply!

    Any suggestions on those websites?

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  • Dawn BrenengenBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    @Andrey Y. I probably spend 6-700/month at the grocery store, and another 3-400 eating out.  This is for a family of four.  I used to coupon a lot before I got really busy, so I have a pretty stocked pantry, and I shop at BJs regularly.  I do buy a lot of organic dairy, meat and some veggies. 

    I used to be able to keep food down to 300/month for the two of us when I used to coupon, but since having kids and opening my own business, I haven't found the time to get back into it.  Also, there aren't many coupons for the things I eat nowadays compared to my leaner years (in both my finances and waistline).

    If anyone in your family has the time to do it, I highly suggest couponing.  I still have at least 10 bottles of free shampoo in my cabinets, and I haven't done it in years.

    @NA Jones  I love Mr Money Mustache! He's way more badass than I could ever be, but if you just incorporate a little of his mindset, it can really save you some serious cash over the average consumer.  My husband's car finally went kaput a few months ago, and we've been dealing with just one car since then.  I could totally just go out and buy another one, but this has been my own mini-experiment with how much inconvenience I can deal with to save money.  It turns out it's not that inconvenient (he still has a motorcycle and has always taken a bus for the majority of his commute to work)

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  • Max T.
    Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    8y

    Ugh I used to spend 40-50 a week on groceries when single.

    Now I'm married with child and wife does the grocery shopping. She buys nice stuff at a fancier store and spends about 150/week. Kills me! But hey, it is nice not to worry about the shopping or food prep. I just have to do the dishes.

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