Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's just me, no pets. All in (food, grocery items, personal items, alcohol) about $500/mth. I go out to eat probably 4 times/mth on average. I'll do take out/delivery maybe once every couple of months. Oh, and I live in the Nashville area.
Single with one large dog. It averages about $140 a month for everything except alcohol and meals for company/holidays. I eat well, some days healthy, some days not so much. I think it averages out to "pretty healthy". Don't eat 3 meals a days, I eat when my body tells me I'm hungry, not based on what time it is.
Alcohol - puts me to sleep but I give it the old college try once or twice a month at the local bar. (one or two drinks plus tip) Don't usually have it in the house unless company is coming and I know they drink. Don't include this in grocery budget.
Eating out - Seldom if ever. Has more to do with not having someone to go with rather than not liking restaurant food or worrying that it's not healthy.
Food for company and holidays - Not included in the monthly food budget.
Average budget when there was two of us was about $650 a month. Granted we used more paper products, toothpaste etc. and two people eat more than one but looking back, we also wasted a lot of food.
Wow...I can spend that just for me at the farmer's market in less than 30 minutes. Are you each getting your 5-6 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day? I eat a whole grapefruit and a whole apple every day, along with a fresh green salad and steamed veggies - plus fresh fruit (strawberries/blueberries/raspberries) on ice cream or in yogurt several times a week. Fresh fruits/vegetables/salads are critical to health for me. I had a serious illness in my 30's and recovered eating only fresh raw food. Never forgot that lesson. $30/week would be impossible for me - one person. 3x that is more realistic.
I am on a major weight loss journey. So i eat about once a day. My go-to for me is what I call "chicken tuscano'.
Its a dish i made up ( i was a line cook in 2 different 4star restaurants ): it is rotisserie chicken ( marked down at Walmart to $2.45 for a whole chicken rotisserie the weekend leftovers on Monday morning).
Select your favorite meat off the bone, top with part of the following: $0.39 can of fire roasted, garlic and herb or plain diced tomatoes, (3 or 4 tbs.); sliced black olives ($0.49); sliced mushrooms stems and pieces (0.33); and melt a little mozzarella on top, sprinkled with Italian herb blend or just fresh chopped parsley. A salad on the side of it with vinegar/oil dressing.
You dont use the whole can of mushrooms or bl olives for one serving.
I get about 5-8 meals out of chicken easy and about 3-4 dishes with the mushrooms and bl olives cans .
Its healthy with protein and veggies.
Yes, you use fresh Tomatoes, mushrooms and olives, but i always kerp canned goods on hand fir "quickly use".
I have a nutritional shake for another "meal " every other day.
I always have fruits on hand, (right now special prices on strawberries, and i went and picked red raspberries the otger day at a nearby farm....going to make sugar free jam)
Any other questions???
One more thing...i eas still spending $25-30/w on both of us prediet, but have cut out the sweet stuff.
Oh and ive lost 85 pounds. Down to 213 now. On a male 5'6" frame...yes i was really fat.
Single retired guy, living in Germany since May. I do almost all grocery shopping at a chain store called Kaufland, 5 minutes walk from my apartment. I only buy what I can carry in my knapsack or cloth shopping bags, walk back to the apartment, and climb 3 flights of stairs! That tends to limit impulse shopping. I also don't buy any beverages, I only drink tap water, along with a cup or 2 of coffee in the am. The only thing besides groceries that I have bought at Kaufland are a bar of soap and some Oral B dental floss. So when I look at grocery expense, it is a pretty clean tally of food cost for just myself. I eat out a few times a week at an inexpensive (under $10) Indian, Thai or Kurdish restaurant in the area, but I don't count that under my grocery cost.
I always pay with my USAA credit card (no foreign currency exchange fees!) and my card categorizes each merchant with the type of expense. USAA even figured out that Kaufland is a grocery store. I was impressed! I can look at my online credit card charges, and view a breakdown of charges by category. I don't have to do the math myself or add anything up. In the last 90 days, I have averaged $225 per month in groceries. No dog food, no household stuff, no pharmacy items, no paper items. Wow, this is about 30 percent less than when I was living in Tucson shopping at Frys (Kroger / Ralphs)! I had no idea until just now.
Wow...I can spend that just for me at the farmer's market in less than 30 minutes. Are you each getting your 5-6 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day? I eat a whole grapefruit and a whole apple every day, along with a fresh green salad and steamed veggies - plus fresh fruit (strawberries/blueberries/raspberries) on ice cream or in yogurt several times a week. Fresh fruits/vegetables/salads are critical to health for me. I had a serious illness in my 30's and recovered eating only fresh raw food. Never forgot that lesson. $30/week would be impossible for me - one person. 3x that is more realistic.
Ww spend about 300 a month on food for home ( 2 adults), & we do eat at least 4 servings of veg every day. Lettuce & celery are cheap ( under a buck) Cabbage is also cheap, a head of cabbage will give us many meals ( stir fry, coleslaw, or wraps stuffed meals) I get our berries from a farm stand. I do not go to the farmers markets, but produce is often cheap at the supermarket or even the .99 cent store. Yesterday it was .50 cents a pound for tomatoes. But I already had some from the berry stand( they sell other veg too)
I do not go to the farmers markets, but produce is often cheap at the supermarket or even the .99 cent store.
Wow -- I have NEVER seen produce or any kind of non-prepackaged food sold at any 99-cent/$1 store. Ever. The main such chain where I live is Dollar Tree.
There are a few Family Dollar stores here also but to be perfectly honest, they are all in the lowest-income communities only. I just looked at their store locator in my state and that's the case for all of them. I've never been in one but I checked their current online circular and no fresh foods are mentioned so I assume they do not carry produce either.
Maybe it's a state-by-state thing regarding licensing of stores that sell fresh (versus packaged) foods and the dollar stores in my state either don't or won't qualify?
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,847 posts, read 58,440,876 times
Reputation: 46383
Quote:
Originally Posted by galaxyhi
I am on a major weight loss journey. So i eat about once a day. My go-to for me is what I call "chicken tuscano'....
I always have fruits on hand, (right now special prices on strawberries, and i went and picked red raspberries the other day at a nearby farm....going to make sugar free jam)
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,847 posts, read 58,440,876 times
Reputation: 46383
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
Wow -- I have NEVER seen produce or any kind of non-prepackaged food sold at any 99-cent/$1 store. Ever. The main such chain where I live is Dollar Tree.
There are a few Family Dollar ...I've never been in one but I checked their current online circular and no fresh foods are mentioned so I assume they do not carry produce either.
Maybe it's a state-by-state thing regarding licensing of stores that sell fresh (versus packaged) foods and the dollar stores in my state either don't or won't qualify?
Dollar Tree, Family Dollar are a different company / supply chain than 0.99 Cent stores (who carry fresh items).
Fortunately, we have a 'fresh produce broker' who buys culls and overstock from chain stores and warehouses. I like to pay <$0.50/ lb for most stuff and $0.19 / lb is even better.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
congratulations, and thanks for the recipe! 
