I've put myself on a voluntary tight budget because I am paying down my mortgage at a rapid pace (one year to go!) So I've been watching expenses and eating well but inexpensively. I am single and try to keep the grocery budget below $75. per week. This includes paper products and cleaning supplies.

My big "offender" in expenses is eating out too much.

I would say about $150 a week for two of us, though that's an average as some weeks are cheaper and some are more expensive. We eat vegetarian at home so that helps with the cost, though I do only buy organic produce so that eats up some of the savings. :)

I think the region has a lot to do with it as well. I live in Southern California and food is pretty expensive, though I know some areas are even worse. I saw a regular cucumber for $2.99 the other day at Vons and that seemed crazy to me.

Our bill, for 2 of us, runs about $100-125/week.

I shop weekly at the supermarket, and buy non-perishables in bulk when they're on sale.

Also(and this is tough on the wallet when you start - but buy bulk pack meats - like pork chops, chicken breasts), instead of single servings - keep meats in freezer.

I don't buy frozen foods or cans - just enough fresh vegs and fruits for the week.

Food prices vary across the country, as does the cost of living.
Most experts say to keep your food costs at 10% of your total expenses.
We average 8%.

I am at a grocery store 2 to 3 times a month, a warehouse store about 2 to 3 times a month, and the local butcher every other week.

I don't eat a lot, but have a stepson who can eat when he's home. I'd say for ALL 'groceries', to include laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, toiletries etal, I would think I spend about $125/week.

Groceries, wine, meals out (very few) -- $150/wk. for two Seniors living north of Chicago.

for two of us, for everything, about $80 a week

HMM I will take a wild guess at an average of $125-150 a week for everything we need. Not including any meals out.
That is for 2 of us~~

There are 3 of us. So I think that it is a good budget. I thought I was on too tight a budget, but after reading your responses to me it is a fair budget. So I will go every 2 weeks & stay on budget.

About $100/wk averaged out - I do a big shop at Sam's once a month and meat at my local small grocery which has great meat, and then pick up whatever I can't get locally plus milk, bread and produce at the supermarket on an as needed basis.

Depends on the time of the year and how active the boys are..
Family of 5 with boys being 21, 16 and 13. Right now..we are spending about 250-300 every two weeks. That includes 1-2 meals out...I buy a lot of organic and lower processed foods.

Its just me I am buying for and to buy things that aren't food wise but need in house, then food itself and try to buy healthy tasty food is so expensive. I went and bought a somethings today and its like gulp when total comes up. You no longer can come out paying little anymore

Like toilet paper is for 12 rolls in pkg. almost twelve dollars regular price and on sale its $5.--and so everyone flocks and buy two of them when on sale.

Even two bars of soap in one pkg. is like three dollars.

Its crazy what they charge us and each time we go in it has gone up.

I have said for years that groceries are priceless.

Even canned goods which I buy more in fall and winter are three regular prices, right now have been buying up what I like to eat during those seasons for under two dollars.

That doesn't count then, you say you only pay so much, then you say you eat out alot, that is your food then and so add that up too and it will come to alot more then food budget.

Not counting eating out twice a week, about 90-100 dollars for the two of us.

I try to go to Costco every two weeks. I get some meat from there, the rest I get from smaller stores. I usually get as much of our staple fruits & veggies as I can from there, unless I can get the items for less at the farmer's market or another store has them on sale. We buy a lot of unprocessed food & some organic fruits & veggies, so not a lot of coupons available. I try to watch the sales though. We spend around $75-100 weekly on groceries only.

We eat out on average 1-2 times every 2 weeks. Now last nights dinner will be it for the 2 weeks, because of the cost. Sushi isn't cheap, well good sushi isn't cheap..lol and we had great sushi!!

Three athletic teens, two adults, $250 per week.

Three athletic teens, two adults, $250 per week.

I can't compare some of these responses because they include/exclude different things.

Some haven't posted where they live or how many people are being fed. Are you including school lunches or non-homemade lunches for workers? Take-out food? Casual and fine dining? Alcohol? Candy? Speciallty coffee? Popcorn and soda at the movies? How about that snack from the vending machine, huh? LOL

You could spend as much in restaurants as you do shopping..or not.

I'm posting an average of $150/wk. as a total of all expenditures at grocery stores, bakeries, butcher, greengrocer, liquor store, Costco, etc. (including home-related non-edibles like paper goods), and *everything* we ingest -- wherever we eat or drink it.

If I included prescription meds, my weekly total would double. (Pet peeve.)

including all things, just me and I spend around $40 a week.
which could realy be about $25 to 30 if I did not buy stuff I want, but realy don't need to get.

I live alone, and recently some friends have been sending stews, etc. home, including a dish left over from a dinner at church, that a lady sent, as she said that she'd used cabbage that I'd brought from my garden: I've been bringing food to a couple of churches since July, then to social agencies, son and landlord.

I'd say about $25. - 30. per week, as I don't eat a lot of meat, and shop largely for specials, make bread in a machine.

ole joyful

I do a big shopping once a month and spend about $100 which includes pet food and pet treats and I may spend another $20 picking up extra veggies or bread or milk as needed. I shop between 2 stores, one a discount grocery store where I buy most of my groceries and another store that is more expensive for their sale items. With that money I also buy items for my pantry or freezer for when money is short and I can't afford to do a big shopping

.I am lucky I just have to shop for myself because I am finding grocery prices have risen quite sharply. I just shake my head at what some stores are charging for food, I do my own baking if I want baked goods. I can't see paying almost $4 for cookies that now contain less cookies per package. I also like to cook so stay away from the prepared food freezers and deli. Roasts, fresh chicken or cans of tuna or salmon go much further than prepared lunch meat for sandwiches.

I spend too much. I don't know where the government gets their inflation numbers. None of their numbers jive with the yearly increase I see in foodstuffs and common household items. And oh, have you been tracking the cost of new cars. The mean is approaching $30,000. I gulped when this number went over $10,000 a few years ago. Medical and dental care have been increasing much faster than my fixed income, although I realize the excuse for some of that increase is liability insurance. Liability has increased immensely since the tort was change ca 1970.

In the near future, our lifetimes will be linited by economics, not biology. We won't be able to afford to live that long.

I spend about $83 a week on going out to eat, groceries, pet items, pharmacy items, all the cleaning items for our bodies, and all the cleaning items for our clothes/house. But it's for one adult and young teen, and we live in place with a really low cost of living.

We also don't go out to eat a lot. We like to go to the grocery store and say, you can have anything/everything in here you want and it's still half of what it would be to go out. It usually lasts longer too unless it's somthing like a lobster or a steak. It's more fun too. To think you can whatever you want? Well, that's just fun for us. And after the first time or two, it gets really simple because you've already satisfied that steak and baked potato with everything on it splurge, so some good mac-n-cheese (with a crumbly bleu cheese, swiss, and white cheddar) sounds appealing. You just gotta want to cook.

We eat out three or four times a week and I probably spend a hundred to a hundred and fifty a week on food and supplies. When I'm in Maine at the lake we eat out more as it's sort of a vaca for us and, if we have guests, I don't want to be cooking every day. If they stay a week I cook only twice.

I need to get back to planning menus. That helps to keep costs down. I've been trying new foods with new spices and new ingredients. I know that is putting my costs higher. We also now live in an area where you can get store made sushi, store made tortillas, and store cut up fresh fruit, and store squeezed orange juice. We love it, but it costs more than the pre-packaged stuff. I'm not sure how much I'm spending, but it is probably $250-300 for a family of five. I think I can probably bring that number down a little bit and still have good nutritious meals.

Oh-oh. I forgot the DOG! Our Westie-rescue has always had an acid stomach. We feed him three times a day to keep something in his stomach. He eats a can a day of vet-prescribed food @ $2.67/can AND Pepcid twice a day -- AND Tramadol once a day for his arthritis. Until this year he was OK with less-expensive prescription diet kibble. He'll be 14 in January.

I am pretty amazed at how often some posting eat 'out'. Do you have some wonderful places to go, or is it more convenience? We are both retired, so 'time' isn't an issue, but I do get tired of 'dreaming up' dinners! There just aren't a lot of casual places nearby -- maybe anywhere! -- that serve healthy food, and I can't eat the huge portions served.

I need to keep up with it. I have a fully stocked freezer, and I could live out of that for a long time. I go to the store almost every day....buying yogurt for possums. I probably spend $100 a week....but that is just a guess.

It's just the 2 of us, but we manage to spend about 75 a week. Do you still have PX privilages? Not to hijack your thread but here are some of the things I do to keep my costs down. First, look at your grocery receipts and make a list of the stuff you buy there.. do some comparative shopping and see if the basics are cheaper elsewhere.. other groceries, dollar stores, etc. If you know what you buy regularly and at what price, you'll be alert to buy when on sale. Try store brands instead of national name brands, some are made by the same company. Do more from scratch cooking, you won't be paying for someone's labor. Learn to drink water from the tap, squirt some lime/lemon into it..stop the soda addiction.. snack on something cheaper like homemade popcorn, toss some parmaeson cheese on it.. Check out local library for cookbooks, or online look for frugal foodies...Keep a list on fridge of what's in there and the freezer..so you don't have to toss out leftovers or out of date stuff..

I usually spend about $185 to $200 for a shopping trip for two weeks for the two of us and then I will go the second week and pick up a list of things that we need to fill in until my shopping trip the next week...so my guess is for a week....for the two of us...I am going to guess that we spend $125/130 or so....but we don't buy any junk food at all...no ice cream, cookies, crackers, we don't eat carbs of any kind...no milk etc get the idea..

For me eating out with friends is my primary form of entertainment and socializing. One of the hardest parts of being single and living alone is eating dinner alone. I don't mind it during the week when I'm tired after work but weekends are another matter. The majority of my friends, like myself, are hard working professionals so the last thing anyone has time for is inviting people over for a meal. We'd far rather go out and let someone else do the cooking and cleaning! But it does get expensive.

For 2 of us, no pets, we only eat out occasionally @ Taco Bell or Papa Murphys......and average $50 a week. That means a grocery trip each week(to keep veggies fresh) is about $30, then a trip to Dollar Tree is about $12....then an occasional stock-up trip on toilet paper or kelp/fish oil/echinacea tablets....and Viola! $50 average...

We buy very little prepared foods. Mostly aged vinagrete & ranch dressing, mayo, mustard, sausage, bacon....

Just 2 of us humans plus 3 pets, including paper products, I allow $200 per week.

There are two full aisles in the center of our local grocery that I never enter. They hold all the sodas and bottled water and the salty snacks. Another area I skip is the deli counter.

I allow $150. a month for just myself but often have others join me for some things. I rarely eat out. I do stock up on weekly specials and could eat a long time without buying anything if necessary. Usually have some money left over each month. works well for me this way. Miss having a vegetable garden. Fresh veggies and fruits are not cheap.