$5 a day

[jenbrdsly]

I've been obsessively analyzing the USDA food cost charts this past week. I think of myself as thrifty, but there's no way I'm meeting the "thrifty" budget which ends up being about $5 a day per person. (And yes I garden, make my own chicken stock, clip coupons, buy in season, go to multiple stores to shop sales etc.)

 

Food takes such a big bite out of our own budget, that it's easy to obsess over my grocery bill. (I even starting a Pinterest board about it with a food blogger friend of mine.)

 

What we are doing well, is filling our plates up with half vegetables and fruits at (almost) every dinner. But that costs a lot of money! I researched it, and I'm spending about $2.5 a day per person on fruits and vegetables. Where we live that's like eating an apple, an orange, a small salad and some carrot sticks.

 

Are vegetables a luxury?

 

The other USDA things are thought provoking too. Fish two times a week? We're not doing that, although I'd like to.

 

So here's my question... Can you feed your family for $5 a day (per person) AND fill their plates up with half fruits/half vegetables AND afford fish two times a week?

[Catwoman]

No.

 

No.

 

No.

 

Just no.

[Lynnae]

Maybe. But only because the youngest is 2, and she hardly eats anything, so her money would go toward everyone else's food.

 

Otherwise, no.

[DragonFaerie]

Nope. Three of us would be $105 per week. Fruits and veggies are more expensive than that, especially to buy enough to last three people all week and each of them eating that much. Never mind the fish!

[Runningmom80]

No, we have lots of food allergies to contend with. I just calculated and we spend about $7 a day per person. Most of us are vegan, only one meat eater. Lots of fresh produce.

[Barefoot Explorer]

I don't think I could. I do use Bountiful Baskets though and that really helps us afford more fruits and veggies. I serve fish for dinner once a week maybe, but we also have tuna, salmon and sardines for lunch a lot.

[Guest inoubliable]

Maybe. But only because we're vegan. We spend roughly $400/month on food. $2.88/person per meal? I'm not rechecking the math on that. Anyway. Yeah. I might be able to go lower, if I wasn't buying wine and Nilla Wafers and chocolate soy milk.

[JessReplanted]

We never have fish. And, if I manage to incorporate fruit & veggies into every day (not at every meal, just at some point during the day), I am doing well.

[Melissa in Australia]

Well. I don't live in USA

We are practically self sufficient. We grow all our own veggies and produce all our own meat.

[AK_Mom4]

Yes, during fishing season..... Unless you include smoked fish in the "fish" category. We aren't so fond of frozen fish here.

 

On the veggies - yeah I could do it but only by hitting Costco so I would need to spend the $140 there. And we would be eating lots of beans, I suspect.

 

However, since doing this budget amount would mean giving up coffee for me..... It's just not happening!

[Ali in OR]

Probably not.

 

But I don't like fish (dh wouldn't mind seeing it more) and we don't like too many veggies--we don't do half the plate, but we do try to have one at dinner. We do like fruit. I was congratulating myself that we are pretty thrifty; we stick to $700 per month on average, so over the course of a year that's $23 a day for 5 people. But that's not counting meals out which is probably $50-$100 per month and would bring us up to maybe $26 per person. We have our own blueberries and raspberries, plus a little garden produce. The berries save us a lot because they provide snacks for our fruitivore all summer.

[NotSoObvious]

That's $140 a week for our family of four.

 

Yes and no.

 

I did it in Utah, but that was shopping at Winco with a $100/week budget. We've always eaten a lot of fruits and veggies and fairly healthy.

 

I would really struggle here in VA. I spend about $150 a week at Whole Foods plus we eat out once or twice a week. We aren't super tight with our budget anymore though.

 

There is a LOT I don't buy though. Virtually no snacks (we eat fruits and veggies or air popped popcorn), no drinks (except beer), and not a lot of prepackaged food.

 

Edited to add that I have girls. I'm sure I couldn't do it if I had teenage boys!

[NotSoObvious]

Oh, and the fish???? NO. Because I don't believe eating low grade farmed fish twice a week is healthier than eating fresh fish one every week or every other week. There's no way to afford good quality, non-farmed fish twice a week on that budget while still eating meat other nights. If someone has a secret fish supplier, let me know!!!

[Mnemosyne]

We spend about $500 a month... I would guess about $5 a person? We also have roommates that we share some food with, so not all that money is going towards us (they don't really buy any food we eat). We eat meat and veggies every meal, usually steak/chicken. Not so much fruit, nor grains. We'd be able to spend less, but my husband sometimes has to buy lunch at work, which is more expensive.

 

We get organic when we can, free range eggs, no canned foods (frozen and fresh veggies, depending on the veggie). Currently living in Georgia, had the same budget in Washington (but our son wasn't eating too many solids yet).

[jenbrdsly]

I should add, I mathed it all out and this is what the USDA My Plate requirements for my family of four would look like each week:

 

Vegetables: 73.5 cups

• 7 cups dark leafy green
  
• 20.5 cups red and orange
  
• 21.5 cups starch
  
• 6.5 cups beans and peas
  
• 18 cups other
  

 

 

But I should add that the USDA counts 2 cups of greens as one serving. So really 7 cups of dark leafy greens is only 3.5 servings a week for all four of us.

[Orthodox6]

Not even during our multiple-per-year vegan periods.

 

I assume that the "fruits and vegetables" come in large cans from the Dollar Store. Or, has the government resumed classifying catsup as a vegetable?

 

Maybe if I were to purchase items that do not qualify as "food" in my eyes.

 

We have no ground for growing urban crops. Container gardening is fair game for the dog. :glare:

 

Fish twice a week? :smilielol5:

 

(Well, maybe sardines all around.)

[NotSoObvious]

I should add, I mathed it all out and this is what the USDA My Plate requirements for my family of four would look like each week:

 

Vegetables: 73.5 cups

• 7 cups dark leafy green

• 20.5 cups red and orange

• 21.5 cups starch

• 6.5 cups beans and peas

• 18 cups other

 

 

But I should add that the USDA counts 2 cups of greens as one serving. So really 7 cups of dark leafy greens is only 3.5 servings a week for all four of us.

 

 

Whaaaat? That is ridiculous. We go through more than that in one meal.

[4kidlets4me]

I spend less than $600/month for 5 of us and that includes non-food items like dog food, t.p., laundry soap etc. We don't buy fish so not sure how much that would raise our totals. We eat a lot of fruits and veggies as well.

[jenbrdsly]

I spend less than $600/month for 5 of us and that includes non-food items like dog food, t.p., laundry soap etc. We don't buy fish so not sure how much that would raise our totals. We eat a lot of fruits and veggies as well.

 

Does the $600 include eating out?

[Arcadia]

We spend $50~70 per week on food. However if we buy food by the USDA my plate requirements, than I would probably spend more than $5 per person and have leftover food since my family are all small eaters.

 

For fruits and vegetables, it cost about (last month)

organic apple 42 cents

orange 40 cents average, various kinds

carrots $1 per lb

strawberries $1.25 per lb

mangoes 33 cents

bananas 19 cents (non-organic) 29 cents (organic)

 

Fish would range from $5.99/lb to $11.99/lb depending of type of fish

[Upward Journey]

oops. I voted wrong. I should have voted for the last option.

[mamatohaleybug]

I can do it but it's getting harder and harder. Our grocery prices have gone up considerably in the past 2 years.

[BakersDozen]

We spend about $3/day/person and eat a LOT of fresh fruits/veggies. No fish, though. Not because of the expense so much as the fact that most of us do not like it and it does not fill us up at all. Maybe someday when the dc are all gone...

[Amira]

I did that on $20/week per person in Seattle, which isn't exactly an inexpensive place to live. We're spending about $25/week per person now. The only difference is that we had fish once a week which wouldn't have changed the budget significantly.

 

Like another poster mentioned, Winco helped a lot and I stocked up there once every three months because it was far away. I bought almost everything in bulk and cooked from scratch. In any town I've lived in, I've been able to find produce place that sells decent produce for way less than the regular grocery stores, and we eat produce in season. Whole grains, beans, and a little meat filled out the rest of our food.

 

I couldn't do it if I only had a traditional grocery store to shop at, but as long as I have a car, I can be creative and feed my family well for not a huge amount of money.

[Upward Journey]

I did that on $20/week per person in Seattle, which isn't exactly an inexpensive place to live. We're spending about $25/week per person now. The only difference is that we had fish once a week which wouldn't have changed the budget significantly.

 

Like another poster mentioned, Winco helped a lot and I stocked up there once every three months because it was far away. I bought almost everything in bulk and cooked from scratch. In any town I've lived in, I've been able to find produce place that sells decent produce for way less than the regular grocery stores, and we eat produce in season. Whole grains, beans, and a little meat filled out the rest of our food.

 

I couldn't do it if I only had a traditional grocery store to shop at, but as long as I have a car, I can be creative and feed my family well for not a huge amount of money.

 

Yes, this is true (mostly), but sometimes it takes a while to find it. When we first moved here I was :eek: because of the food prices. But just this past month (we've been here 6 months) I found a wonderful store with good prices and a HUGE ethnic section. Now I'm able to find alternative beans, flours & noodles etc. for good prices. Their fresh stuff didn't really seem any cheaper than Costco though, and dairy stuff is out of the world expensive everywhere. But it's winter, so maybe when summer comes... I already know that the farmer's market is a no go for saving money, from last summer.

[Χά�ων]

We never eat out, I cook everything from scratch (including cereal and granola) and our snacks are fresh fruits and veggies, usually whatever is in season or is the least expensive. I serve a raw fruit or veggie when I start dinner and DS munches on it while I cook.

 

I do not buy noodles and I only buy meat from the town butcher and his standards are above and beyond anything found at a large chain store. I often cook large batched and freeze the leftovers for quick meals. The only manufactured foods I buy are ketchup, ranch dressing and mustard.

 

I spend about $3 per day per person. On average I spend less then 90 minutes a day cooking or preparing al 3 meals and snacks.

[beaners]

Coming up with my costs will take a bit, but what's the exact fish quote? Is this fresh, frozen, canned? I can look at my numbers for the rest, but the exact fish requirement will make a big difference in the budget.

[Luckymama]

We do it on less than $5 per person per day-----and we feed DS a few times a month. We only eat fish once a week because the girls don't really like it.

 

Older dd is allergic to soy so I make/bake almost everything from scratch. I do buy whole wheat sandwich bread from the Pepperidge Farms outlet but I think that's it. I even make all tortillas from scratch.

[Renee in NC]

I would say yes, but that amount equals $1240 a month for just food for our family. We don't live in a particularly low or high cost of living area.

[Χά�ων]

Oh, we do not drink any thing other then water. I buy rice milk in bulk every 2-3 months.

[saraha]

Coming up with my costs will take a bit, but what's the exact fish quote? Is this fresh, frozen, canned? I can look at my numbers for the rest, but the exact fish requirement will make a big difference in the budget.

 

 

 

Did you figure in the price of Kale?

[beaners]

 

 

Did you figure in the price of Kale?

 

 

59 cents/lb on sale, usually 79 or 89 cents. We had that soup for dinner tonight!

[regentrude]

We are four people, so that would be $600 per month for food- yes, I could do that.

I live in a low COL area and shop at Aldi's.

 

I do not understand how the fish requirement is a big restriction.

2 lb frozen Tilapia = $5.49 - that would be at least two meals for us.

1 lb frozen salmon - $3.99, one generous meal.

Quality meat is more expensive.

[chiguirre]

Yes, if you count tuna for your fish and use frozen vegetables.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Yes but F&V are frozen and canned mostly (I buy carrots, sweet potatoes, squash fresh along with spinach/ lettuce/peppers). Fish is just bags of cod, etc. or canned salmon. I shop at Aldi.

[joannqn]

I spend about $800 per month on groceries; about $600 of that is food. If I do the math, I spend about $4.44 per day per person for all groceries, and about $3.33 per day per person on food. (These are winter figures; I haven't kept track during a summer month yet.)

 

During the spring and summer, we eat a lot of produce. A typical day during the summer is eggs with about a cup of cut up fruit on the side, a sandwich with another cup of cut up fruit for lunch, and 3-4oz of meat with a cup of cooked veggies and a salad for dinner. During the winter, I don't get as much produce into the kids. There isn't as much available, and DS has OAS, which makes it harder since his edible fresh fruits aren't readily available. We sometimes have smoothies made with 100% grape juice, spinach, pineapple, and blueberries. That's the only smoothie I've found that utilizes fruit DS can have and is enjoyed. We'll sometimes have cooked apples on top of pancakes. For lunch, we'll sometimes have canned peaches and pears or grapes. For dinner, I try to serve 2-3 servings of cooked veggies and/or salad.

 

I try to serve salmon once a week, and we typically have tuna sandwiches once a week for lunch. For salmon, I usually serve salmon burgers using the frozen wild salmon patties sold by Costco. Sometimes I serve salmon fillets. I stock up on wild salmon when I can get it for a decent price.

[beaners]

I should add, I mathed it all out and this is what the USDA My Plate requirements for my family of four would look like each week:

 

Vegetables: 73.5 cups

• 7 cups dark leafy green
  
• 20.5 cups red and orange
  
• 21.5 cups starch
  
• 6.5 cups beans and peas
  
• 18 cups other
  

But I should add that the USDA counts 2 cups of greens as one serving. So really 7 cups of dark leafy greens is only 3.5 servings a week for all four of us.

 

Dark leafy greens - Kale, mustard, turnip greens @ 59 cents/lb low, normally 79 or 89 cents/lb; romaine or leaf lettuce @ 99 cents/lb

Red and orange - Carrots @ 50 cents/lb, squash @ 59 cents/lb, tomato sauce @ $1/can

Starch - potatoes @ $1/5 lb bag all the time

Beans and peas - dried lentils and similar items @ $1/lb for cheapest, frozen @ $1/lb

other - onions @ $1/3 lbs, any frozen veg @ $1/lb although we just filled some freezer space for 75 cents/lb.

 

How much should this cost? I'm going to make a very rough calculation that 2 cups = 1 lb. I know this is inexact, but 2 cups is a pint, and a pint of water is a pound. I think that's close enough. The starch would be about 10 pounds of potatoes. That's $2. Everything else is about 50 cups, right? Say 25 lbs and use the frozen vegetable cost to make that $25. That would be less than $30 a week according to that. Our grocery prices are pretty good here.

[busymama7]

I didn't read all the replies but my family is coming in quite a bit under that. There are ten of us but one is fully breastfed. Calculating for nine, yes we are considerably under that. We have no food allergies and eat meat dairy etc. we also eat very very little processed food, mostly graham crackers and corn chips :). I do bulk shop for grains and beans and baking stuff once a year and bake my own bread about 1/2 the time(not right now with a 3 month old...). We also get free raw milk about 1/2 the time but drink very little milk when we have to buy it. We do eat quite a bit if fresh fruits and veggies but not organic.

[Amira]

 

 

Yes, this is true (mostly), but sometimes it takes a while to find it. When we first moved here I was :eek: because of the food prices. But just this past month (we've been here 6 months) I found a wonderful store with good prices and a HUGE ethnic section. Now I'm able to find alternative beans, flours & noodles etc. for good prices. Their fresh stuff didn't really seem any cheaper than Costco though, and dairy stuff is out of the world expensive everywhere. But it's winter, so maybe when summer comes... I already know that the farmer's market is a no go for saving money, from last summer.

 

Yes, it can take a while! We move frequently and I've had to get really good at finding those stores quickly by searching online- the neighbors never know where anything like that is. I suppose some people research schools and neighborhoods when they move, and I research produce stands. :)

[LibraryLover]

No can do without stock-up sales, garden, canned/ frozen food from garden, hard squashes, or local produce (it's winter here).

[Parrothead]

Yes. $5 per day per person for 2 week is $210 and that is my cheap shopping trip. The veggies would be frozen instead of fresh and there wouldn't be many organics.

[Wabi Sabi]

I'm pretty sure I could do it if needed. It would take discipline though- I'd have to make a strict menu and stick to it. Right now we're just too unorganized and it ends up being easier to just pick up Chinese or order a pizza.

 

As for fish, what about wild-caught sardines? I know it sounds odd, but my kids LOVE sardines. We eat them a lot for lunch: sardines, a box of Triscuits, some carrot sticks, an apple. They don't cost too much, although admittedly I don't know what constitutes a full USDA serving of fish.

[QueenCat]

My total grocery budget is higher than $5/day/person but it's not all food. I know what I spend monthly on groceries but I include food, paper goods, toiletries and pet food in that amount. I do not include dining out. Most of us eat fruit at most meals, and vegies at lunch/dinner. And what constitutes fish? We eat scallops and/or shrimp at least once, sometimes twice a week. We rarely have other fish, or if we do, it's just dh & one son. Too many variables to truly answer the question.

[LibraryLover]

Oh, and the fish???? NO. Because I don't believe eating low grade farmed fish twice a week is healthier than eating fresh fish one every week or every other week. There's no way to afford good quality, non-farmed fish twice a week on that budget while still eating meat other nights. If someone has a secret fish supplier, let me know!!!

 

 

 

I love fish. But I agree. No farmed fish. The diet is terrible, and if not done properly, is devastating to the local eco system. I also don't think the seas can sustain so many humans, so we do eat vegetarian/local often. I do try to buy sustainable (if there is such a thing), and don't want to support ocean trawling. It is an ethical issue for sure. At my market this week, wild sockeye salmon is 11.99/lb, previously frozen. I bought some. A lb will feed the four of us at the USDA recommendation of 1/3 to 1/4 lb serving per person.

[starwarsmomma]

I could and have done it in the past. It's NOT FUN.. But we don't buy fish. We hate fish. other than the occasional tuna, we don't eat it.

[Orthodox6]

$6.66 per day per person for food AND nonfood items (including supplements). This also includes junk stuff that my father wants to eat in addition to regular. We eat a lot of organic produce (but not exclusively organic), hormone-free meat for maybe four meals per week (out of the standard 21 meals) (except during the Orthodox fasting periods), and occasionally spring for fish. Home-cooked meals, home-baked bread. No sodas. Water to drink outside of meals.

 

I guess we land on the "extravagant" side. [sigh. . .]

[lovinglife]

Interesting question. We manage it, but it takes a lot of work and planning. We try to eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies but rely a lot on what is in season and frozen. For fish it is often tuna or frozen fish from Aldi. We live in a moderately HCOL area outside of DC but I shop carefully and we have good bulk food storage for things like rice, beans, wheat, etc.

[LibraryLover]

Yes, if you count tuna for your fish and use frozen vegetables.

 

True. At any rate, frozen veggies and fruits often have more nutrition than fresh. I have my own garden veggies in my freezer, which is one main reason I have a garden.

 

Light tuna has less mercury than albacore, although I try to limit tuna consumption. Tuna is an 'easy' high protein source, and filling.

[beaners]

I have just over $20/day for our family according to the chart.

 

BREAKFAST (this is what we had today, although it lasts 3 or 4 mornings)

$1 - box of whole wheat muffin mix (awesome scratch and dent sale price, which is why I'm counting half a week's cost for this one day)

$1 - 2 lbs of mix-ins, sometimes pumpkin or carrot, often banana

$1 - excessive spreading of butter by my children

$1 - half-gallon of milk as a beverage

cost = $4

 

LUNCH (we ate candy today and skipped lunch, but pretend I served something)

$1 - 2 lb bag of carrots

$2 - 4 lb bag of oranges

$1 - loaf of bread

$1 - remainder of butter package

$3 - cheese for grilled cheese

cost = $8

 

DINNER (this is what we ate tonight, and it leaves some leftovers)

$4 - 2 lbs ground beef (sale price)

$2 - 10 lbs potatoes

$1 - 1.5 lbs kale

.30 - 1 lb onions

misc cost for assorted seasonings, normally also includes dairy but I'm avoiding it

$1 - optional add a loaf of bread for dipping

cost = $8

 

I tried to make it as close to $20 as I could. This is more dairy heavy than is usual for our family. We could easily swap out tuna sandwiches for the grilled cheese. It's around 10 lbs of fruits and vegetables, not including the potatoes. The "plate" page says we should have 9.5 cups per day. It looks like we're at twice the recommendation, but I need to stop looking at these numbers and go clean my real kitchen.

[LibraryLover]

I didn't count non -food items- coffee, wine, beer, sparkling water etc.