S/O-how much do you spend per person per day on groceries (including toiletries, paper products, etc.)

[HappyGrace]

I was reading the "frugal food" thread and a thought occurred to me. I've been horrified when over this past year our grocery bill has jumped to about $150 per wk to about $220 per week (kids are almost 11 and 14 and had a large jump this past year into eating as much as adults). This is for mostly organic food and all toiletries, paper products, etc.

 

I felt like this was SO high til I realized it is only about $7-8 per day per person, and then I felt better. That is only about $2 per meal per person and $1 per snack. We are on a very tight budget/small income, but eating quality healthy food is a high priority for us, and we very rarely have sick-related doctor visits so consider it a savings in a sense. (I shop at 3-4 different stores once every 2 wks to get best prices, buy oats and some other dry goods in bulk, cook from scratch, very little processed foods, meatless dinners 2-3x/wk, etc. We never eat out-maybe once every 4 months. We don't eat a ton of produce since organic is expensive and we buy cheaper fruits/veg like apples or bananas or baby carrots. We do each drink an organic green smoothie every day chock full of spinach/kale. We don't eat much red meat/pork at all; chicken is our main meat and we don't buy it organic-way too $$$ for 4 people-we get the "natural" brand in the grocery store.) Bread and milk are the most pricey thing we buy, since we go through quite a bit of both (I don't make homemade bread anymore due to time restraints, even though I know I could save more there!)

 

Anyway, it got me wondering how much others are spending per day per person? Is our amount in the normal range?

 

(note: we are in an upper middle class suburb in the northeastern U.S. fairly near a large city, so prices are probly higher here than in the southern U.S.)

[HappyGrace]

Thanks-the ages of the kids helped too! (we have no pets)

 

Is that organic or non-organic? I guess it would help if we say that too, for comparison's sake.

[Ann.without.an.e]

$6-$7 per day per person. 

 

We have food allergy issues so we have to buy some expensive sauces, etc to avoid certain additives but we just don't have the money to buy organic veggies and meats :(  Wish we did.

[littlebug42]

I spend about $6-7 per person per week. That does include some organic foods but not everything. I do buy high quality meat as well. We are working on doing all whole foods and I would say we have now gotten it to 90/10 and I am comfortable there. I cook more than I used to but it doesn't bother me too much. I go to a few different stores and watch sales for the meat I do buy and work my meals around what is on sale. I cannot however buy much in the way of snack foods. If I do, it shoots my budget. We have popcorn and an air popper here and I have been making my own homemade sweets, etc. I get a lot of stuff at Trader Joe's and then a local grocery chain that has a great points program where I can get organic milk cheaper than regular, if I spend my points right. We also use local, farm fresh eggs that we get at the local farmer's market.

[beaners]

There was a really long thread sometime last year where people talked about eating a diet including the recommended items like fish and different vegetables and staying on a budget.  One person had a big family and a super low daily per person cost. I've tried searching but I can't find that thread now. I remember that it would have been impossible for my family because their cost included gas, and my husband's commute is very long. It was an impressive goal though.

 

We buy organic if the cost is close to regular costs.  Often organic lettuce will be 99 cents/lb, or organic bagged apples might be the same as non-organic.  Carrots are close in price sometimes too.  We most often buy (not organic) pork or bone-in chicken breasts for meat, but sometimes we do a $2/lb beef roast or cheap ground beef or fish of some sort.  We do a lot of meatless meals or meals with only a small amount of meat included instead of as the main portion.

 

Our daily per person cost based on our recent grocery bills would be $4.50/person/day, but I have little ones and good grocery prices.  I think that number is actually high, because we had been buying quite a bit of food beyond our normal needs for storage purposes.  We have 90 pounds of rice on the dining room table at the moment.  :lol:  17 varieties and probably close to the same weight in assorted legumes in the cupboard. Maybe 30 pounds of pasta and 20 pounds of cornmeal?  I'm rotating all of the oldest stuff out of the cupboards, so our bills for the next month or two will be much lower.  It's hard to judge costs without looking at each meal, but then it's easy to forget all the other little costs that add up.  I could come back in a month and average those bills with my recent ones. :)

 

One of the grocery stores in PA always had a $10 dinner recipe that served 4 in their flyer. Their prices were good.  If you figure your daily cost is $32 in a more expensive area, and you're serving "good" food, I think you're doing fine.  

[QueenCat]

About $6/day per person..... does not include eating out as that is a separate line item in our budget. We eat dinner out approximately twice a week, and lunch out once a week. Dh eats out for lunch at work once a week and brings lunch the other days. Includes one dog's food but not the dog's meds. Not trying to be frugal but I do try to wise in my choices, both health wise and financially.

[Serenade]

We spend about $5.50 per person a day, and I would say we eat pretty well.  Some organic, but not extensive -- depends on the sales and pricing.   I'm in the RTP area of central NC, so on the pricier end.   I shop the sales -- in other words, pricing determines what we eat.  Our kids have been trained not to be picky, and we all eat the same thing.  We have one with a nut allergy, but that is easy to avoid.  It was harder when he was young and had a dairy allergy, but he has outgrown that allergy.  We try to cook big things on weekends so we can eat repurposed leftovers for much of the week ahead.   It's amazing what you can turn a 3 pound pot roast into, and we can frequently use it for 3 - 4 meals.  A pot roast, for example, might be first eaten with roast veggies, and maybe once like that again as leftovers.  After that, we might make meat pies, or  shred it for burritos, or something like that.  When they are on sale, I can get one for $11 or $12, sometimes for less, so that's a lot of eatin' for that price.  I try to buy veggies at Aldi or the farmer's market, and in the summer we grow some of our own.  We don't eat a lot of snacks here, because I want my kids to eat at meals -- we found that if they ate snacks, they were less hungry at meal time.  Our family consists of me, my DH, a teenage son, and a pre-teen son.  Both boys eat typical quantities for their ages.

 

ETA:  We eat out about once a week, often lunch on the weekends when we are running errands.  DH usually brings his lunch to work, but he will occasionally eat out an extra lunch or two, depending on whether or not we have leftovers for him to take.

[AHASRADA]

About $8 a day. My budget seems high to most people (and dh!), so it makes me feel better to know I'm only spending $1-2 a day more than you all.

 

I don't usually buy organic, but I do buy a lot of fresh produce, whole grain bread and pasta, fish and seafood, and a few items from the health food store (veggie burgers, stevia, quinoa and millet, etc.).

 

We very rarely eat out (1x/2-3 months), and we don't do sandwiches for lunches; I make double at dinner and we eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. That means double the chicken, ground beef, fish, fresh veggies, etc. than if I was only cooking enough for dinner.

 

Also, I have 2 teens, including an almost 17ds who is 6'3" and likes large quantities of healthy food.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I would say it comes out between $6 and $7 a day.  Doing that makes me feel better.  My costs have gone up in the past year, but really it's not as bad as I thought. 

[Mergath]

Mine's roughly $6.60 per person per day.

[Susan in TX]

My cost is about $4.50 per person per day. For food I try to stick with a budget of $2 per person per day: 50 cents for breakfast, 50 cents for lunch, and $1 for dinner. I don't have too much trouble keeping to that budget for breakfast and lunch, but dinner has creeped up to be more like $2 per person. And for my 16yo son, it is more like $4.

 

Susan in TX

[Um_2_4]

Mine came out to $4.44/person/day. Not organic (that would triple my costs). We are in a high COL area, but compared to others posting here, I think food is cheaper compared to other areas of the USA.

 

I cook everything pretty much, but I do buy bread, some jar pasta sauce, some treats for DH and kids, I do buy some gluten free items for DS9 and I do buy some "special" items (nutella, special buns she likes, etc) for DD7 who has sensory issues and is underweight with anemia (so my main concern is getting calorie dense food that does not overload her senses).

 

I could (if I had to ) get it down to $3.50/person/day, but that would eliminate any "treats" (homemade or otherwise) and restrict what type of snacks we had (limited cheese, cheaper fruit only (apples vs. berries), no nuts, etc.).

 

I think our meat is a big cost for us. It is more expensive as we buy only Halal slaughtered meat from a butcher we know, so regular ground beef is about $2.99/lb when I buy a large quantity. We buy quite a bit of lamb and that runs $4-5/pound.  And we eat meat daily (DH is a meat guy, he associates meatless meals with his teen years and war/starving, so I totally understand).

[Camelfeet]

If I don't count eating out... probably around 6$ per person.  Probably a lot more per person if I count restaurants.  I hate cooking.  :(

[dovrar]

My cost is about $4.50 per person per day. For food I try to stick with a budget of $2 per person per day: 50 cents for breakfast, 50 cents for lunch, and $1 for dinner. I don't have too much trouble keeping to that budget for breakfast and lunch, but dinner has creeped up to be more like $2 per person. And for my 16yo son, it is more like $4.

 

Susan in TX

 

Typical menu?

[alef]

I got $5.71, though that includes diapers for two children...

[walkermamaof4]

$7. Organic. Grass-fed. Free-range. The works. Mostly primal. 

[xixstar]

A conservative estimate looks at about $5/per person per day. But this doesn't take in account how much we also eat out, more than I'd like and we're working on that, so it's actually higher considering that doesn't cover 100% of our meals.

[Snickerdoodle]

A freakish amount.   I live in a high COL area.

[AdventureMoms]

4.50/person. A mix of organic and conventional, lots of produce, low carb adults and low-grain kids. Meat daily. But food is pretty reasonable here and three of those people are under 6. Dd is 5 and eats like a bird. The twins are almost 3 and eat a lot, really, but still. Ill be shocked if my food expenses don't double (or more) by the teen years. I will have three teens including two boys who I expect will be well past 6' as adults.

[AMJ]

Cost of living where I am is fairly good -- not the cheapest, but still under the national average, I think.

 

For our family of 4 (plus 2 small fish tanks and one cat) we spend about $200 per week on food and the normal household consumables (TP, girl supplies, allergy meds, basic first aid items, etc.)  That would work out to $50 per week per person, or about $12.25 per person per day if we take a little out for the pets.  We are looking at how to trim this a bit, and there is a little room.  Some of the groceries are our contributions to family gatherings -- sometimes we contribute more than we eat, sometimes we contribute less -- it tends to average out in the end, I think.

 

We don't really consume alcohol (about 6 drinks per year for me, less for DH).  I have been using some convenience foods more than I'd like lately, and this is where the room to trim the food budget lies.  I am working on getting a better handle on lunches for 3 at home each weekday, and I'm coming up with quick ideas for suppers on Aikido nights.  As I get these sussed out the food costs should reduce a bit.

 

[Arcadia]

Under $400 per month average, so less than $100 per week for family of four. That includes toilet paper and toiletries but exclude pet food and supplies. So per person per day is about $4 or less. We buy a mix of organic and non organic and mainly buy whatever is on sale. Boys are 7 and 8 and both eat an average amount.

[DawnM]

Roughly $450 per person per day.

[Laura Corin]

£4 per day, so USD6.  This includes gin and paper goods but not pet food, wine or cleaning products.

 

L

[Susan in TX]

Typical menu?

 

I don't like to cook so we eat a lot of convenience food. I mostly shop at Aldi and Costco, so that helps keep my costs down a lot.

 

Breakfasts: cereal, bagels, plain yogurt w/granola or frozen berries, eggs, sausage and toast, instant oatmeal, pancakes, store bought granola bars (for my kids who are going to public school.)

 

Lunch: Pb&J, refried beans with tortilla chips, homemade bean and cheese burritos, nachos

 

Dinner: Stouffer's or Marie Callendar's frozen dinners, frozen pizza, macaroni and cheese (sometimes from the box, sometimes homemade), burritos, cannned soup, canned chili, hamburgers, breaded chicken patty burgers, fish sticks, hot pockets, dh and I sometimes have salad, occasionally I will make a casserole.

 

Susan in TX

[KathyBC]

For our family of 4 (plus 2 small fish tanks and one cat) we spend about $200 per week on food and the normal household consumables (TP, girl supplies, allergy meds, basic first aid items, etc.)  That would work out to $50 per week per person, or about $12.25 per person per day if we take a little out for the pets.  

Wouldn't $50 divided by 7 days of the week be more like $7.14 per person per day?

[SailorMom]

I would say we're at about $7 or $8 a day per person.  I have two teen sons who eat more than my DH and I do, and even though we are in "middle of nowhere NM", the prices here are higher than they were in the resort town we lived in in Florida.

We also buy the coffee we like (Starbucks whole bean), and use honey like crazy as it is basically the only sweetener we use.  We don't eat a lot of red meat, but at least once or twice a week we do.  Milk disappears like magic here, and I eat Paleo - so quite a lot of fresh fruit, veggies, etc.  We don't eat a lot of grain for that reason, so inexpensive fillers like rice and oatmeal don't happen.

I think just having two teen boys kills us.  I say that amount above per person, but I'm probably only eating about $4, lol...  the rest goes to them.

[ajfries]

We're at about $4 a day per person. But the kids are young. I could probably do better with groceries, but it would require a trip into the nearest city, which is 45 minutes away. We just have 1 grocery store in town & it has fairly good sales prices, but the regular prices aren't great.

 

ETA: That includes diapers & paper products, too.

[Wabi Sabi]

About $4 per person each day. However, that number is a little bit misleading because it generally does NOT include toiletries and paper products since I don't buy those items at the grocery store. Also, it doesn't include eating out which we do a couple times a week. Finally, my children are small and are fairly light eaters.

[AMJ]

I thought I'd try a little experiment, and look at how expensive tonight's supper would be per person.  We are having calzones and salad at my in-laws' house.

 

I shopped this morning for some ingredients, after making dough last night.  The ingredients I bought this morning add up to $26.86.  Divide that by 6 people and we get $4.47 per person.

 

I rounded this figure up to $5 per person to account for ingredients we already have (not purchased today). These constitute one or two more fillings (for variety of choice), salad dressings, and juice if the girls don't want to drink water.

 

$5 per person isn't bad, though maybe a little extravagant for a meal.  However we will have lots of leftovers (perhaps some dough, but certainly some ingredients) -- once I figure out how many more meals we get out of that I can adjust our overall cost per person for the meal.

[Aspasia]

Ours is $4 to $4.50 per person per day, but we have pretty little kids. We do live in a high cost of living area and buy a mix of organic and conventional items. We're just super duper cheap, cook from scratch, and the kids and I are vegetarian.

[Gentlemommy]

We are a family of five. Kids are 8 (eats as much, if not more, than I do!) 5 (eats like a bird), and 3 (normal amount for her age). My dh has a job where his physique is important, and it is also physically demanding, so he needs to be healthy. For this reason, we eat low carb in general, and only whole grains and organic when we do. I do use some disposable products, like paper towels, but also utilize cleaning rags. For toiletries, we are simple, just basic stuff. I buy my makeup once a year from the Mac store, so I won't factor that in here. I don't use fancy face wash/perfume/lotions. We have a Costco card, and honestly, I prefer just going there because their produce is so much fresher, lasts a long time, and it's inexpensive. Sometimes I can't quite make it out there though, especially if my dh is out of town (meaning I have to drag all the kids with me lol).

 

If I spend $200 per week, it comes out to $5.71 per day per person. If I average out how much that is per meal/snack (assuming three meals and one snack-we actually have three meals and two snacks, so it would be less) its $1.42 per person.

If I spend $150 per week, it's $4.28 per day per person, and. $1.07 per meal/snack per person.

 

Both of those amounts are more than reasonable. And honestly, seeing that makes me cringe at the times we've driven through CFA and spent a days worth of $ on one fast food meal. :-/

 

We eat rather healthy, as much organic as I can afford (about 70%), and mostly whole foods. The bulk of our money is spent of produce. I prefer simple ingredients and meals. I do not buy very many pantry goods ,like cereal, cookies, crackers, canned items, or meals in a box type things. I may have a few in the cubbard, but not much.

[strange_girl]

Around $4 a day, but again, my kids are still pretty small. Not included are pet supplies (separate budget) and eating out (which happens 1-2x a month.

[carriede]

$5-6/person each day. That includes a physically active man, a pregnant woman, a bird of a 4 year old, and an almost 2 year old still in diapers.

 

The pricer items on our shopping list are free range, pastured meats. I get organic fruits/veggies if the price is right, but we choose to spend the extra dollars on meat and eggs. But we also have several meatless meals a week to balance that out.

 

Eta, this does not include eating out, which is 2-3 meals a month.

[Lisa in SC]

$5.10 per person per day. That includes paper and cleaning products, and our household consists of 4 adults, 2 children (3 if you count dd17, but I didn't since she's living in a dorm) and an infant. I did not include dd17 who is at university, but I did include formula and diapers/wipes for our granddaughter since we're buying that while dd21 finishes school.

[LucyStoner]

$5.50ish a day, food only. I don't know about toiletries, it's not a lot (cheap shampoo, we use vinegar etc for cleaning) and I don't include the cat costs there either. This is temporarily lower than normal because my husband is in school and we are on one income because both of us working and trying to meet the needs of our son with autism was just too much.

 

This is some organics and quite a bit local but it is not nearly all organics like when I worked and it is less fish and such than when I worked. This is as frugal as I am willing to go unless there is a disaster. To get adequate fruits and veggies and still eat meat (though not every meal), this is about the best we can do. I do cook from scratch.

[Ali in OR]

We're right at $750 per month for a family of 5 (including vitamins, contact supplies, paper products, toiletries. Not including cat food). That works out to $4.93 per person. That increased this year from $700 per month. There were some dietary goals we made that are a bit more expensive: more fruits and veggies, which for us translates to more fruit as we don't eat a lot of veggies. Changed to healthier Greek yogurt, etc. That all costs a bit more money. No organics, but I do buy grass-fed local beef for hamburger. But we only eat about 2 lbs of hamburger per month.

 

We have crazy kid activity schedules for maybe half the year and will eat out once a week, maybe twice a week during the craziest times. We do eat at cheaper places (ie pizza), and last I looked it was usually less than $100 per month. Disabled dd eats hot lunch at school once a week which adds a little. In general, safe to say we're at $5 per person per day for groceries and <$1 per person per day for eating out.

[Cindy in FL.]

I think it's $7-8 per person/per day including pets and everything else. I've got 4 teenage boys at home and sometimes they eat a lot!

[Susan in TN]

We run about $4 per person/per day - two 40-somethings, 18yo, 15yo, 10yo, 8yo, 7yo, 4yo.  We eat quite a bit of gluten free stuff, though few convenience foods.  Rarely eat out.  Roughly $900 per month for food and paper products for 8 people.  I'm trying to cut down on costs, but my 18yo is needing more food than he's getting at regular meals.

[bluemongoose]

Well, I high-balled it because some weeks I spend more than others. It figured out to be $9.50 per person per day. My kids eat a crazy amount of food for their ages, are rather skinny, and we have severe food allergies. So those things combined mean that we spend more per person than average I would think.

 

Our children are 8.5yo, 6.5yo, 4.5yo and 20mos. The 6yo can eat 2 whole sandwiches, a piece of fruit, some chips or something as a side, a cookie and half an hour later say he is hungry. The baby already eats a whole sandwich and piece of fruit by himself for lunch.

[AMJ]

Wouldn't $50 divided by 7 days of the week be more like $7.14 per person per day?

 

Yes, it would!  Serves me right for not checking my math.  I divided by 4 again, instead of 7.

 

Well, that's good!  We are usually more frugal than I thought we are.  Though this does not take into account any meals out (sometimes we will have lunch out with Daddy -- <$40 for the 4 of us, and Daddy has lunch out on work days for about $4-$5 per lunch).

[AMJ]

Roughly $450 per person per day.

 

What are you eating!?!  :eek:

 

Are you missing a decimal point?  :rolleyes:   I just had my own faulty math corrected, so I'm not judging.  Just saw the humor, that's all....

[JudoMom]

I spend between an average of $4.07/day/person.

[LostSurprise]

$4-5 per person per day. Some things equal out (whether the boys are taking hot lunch at school in the winter or we're picking bulk fruit for the freezer in the summer). For eating out, a lot depends on whether we're out of town for medical appointments all month or things are fairly stable. I added $5 to show the high range for that. 

 

This includes 6 family members including 2 teen boys, a 10-year-old boy, and a child who's on a special high fat diet (so we have to buy things like cream and bacon no matter what the prices). It also includes everything we buy at Walmart (so paper goods and toiletries) but not Target (more good-focused purchases) and the price of the pig we buy every 6 months (divided by 6 to get 1 month's cost). 

 

We do live in a semi-rural area in the upper Midwest. Food is near the national average, but its much easier to connect with food producers here. 

[Annie Laurie]

$4.08 per person per day. That is down from about $7.70 per person per day. My dh was laid off recently, so I've had to make big changes and have cut our grocery bill nearly in half. I cook everything from scratch and have had to give up organics. There are 7 people in our family, including two teen boys, and this total includes household items and pet food for 1 dog and 3 cats (and they have allergies and eat expensive food!), since it would take too much time to seperate that out of my calculations.

[HappyGrace]

Well, I'm feeling a little better about what we spend....looks like the majority of people that responded that are spending under $5 per person/day have little ones.

 

Such an interesting thread! Thanks for participating.

[Mrs Mungo]

$7.50/day, my kids are 12, 15 and 17; we live in one of the highest COL areas in the US. Including normal toiletries (not makeup), paper products, etc.

[Nancy Ann]

All of my groceries and household items and pet supplies are in one budget. It comes out to $180- $200 a week and about  $7 a person each day. But, like I said that is also pet supplies and household/toiletries. 

 

For breakfast we have egg sandwich and breakfast meat or steelcut oatmeal and breakfast meat. Sometimes cereal and sometimes yogurt for quick breakfasts.

 

Lunches - I have ready made salads from Trader Joes or sandwiches, the kids have sandwiches, or chicken nuggets, fishsticks, corn dogs with fresh fruit, sometimes canned fruit depending on the season and what's available at the grocery store. 

 

Afternoon snack - 1 fresh fruit or carrot sticks and ranch dressing, sometimes PB and J sandwich or crackers and cheese or yogurt.

 

Dinner - Most of our meals are chicken and ground beef. We do tacos, spaghetti with the ground beef. We do chicken with various sauces along with brown rice and various vegetables. We have BLTA's during warm months (bacon, lettuce, tomatoe, avocado sandwhiches) During colder months making stews and chili. 

 

Weekends are such a hodge podge of meals. We have lunch after church either staying at church to eat or going out. During football season we have snack type foods or wings or BBQ on the grill. Saturdays we end up just having two meals a day. We have a late breakfast and than an early dinner and than popcorn or something for snack. 

 

I don't buy organic, I buy an organic wash from Trader Joes and when I come home from the store I wash all my produce. I buy salads in the bag which are either triple washed or organic. Organic milk and meat is just too expensive, it's triple the cost. I spent several hours researching one afternoon and was just not convinced I need to pay that extra expense.

 

I am thinking of changing the lunches. I am not really happy they are eating those processed food and they are expensive. I am thinking of getting a quesadilla maker and making various quesadilla's for lunch. Also, home made pizza. Trader Joes has wonderful whole wheat pizza dough in the fridge section. Also thinking of getting a panini press. These are great sanwiches that you can load up with vegetables and heathy foods. I am thinking the ingredients for quesadilla's and panini's will be cheaper and healthier than fish sticks, chicken nuggets and corndogs. 

 

I also really need to start learning some soup recipes for the crockpot.

 

My husband bring leftovers to work for his lunches, or I get him canned chili or frozen burritos. 

 

My kids are 11 and 4. Snacks and drinks seems to be our biggest problem. Big expense and not healthy. So when I need to cut down on the grocery budget buying fancy snacks and also buying juices, gatorade, sometimes soda or seltzer waters. 

 

[Quiver0f10]

I spend $1200 a month, with 5 kids living at home still. Two of my adult sons come home every weekend and we have all 12 of us here on most Sundays.  Not sure how to figure the daily per person with some kids here only a few days of the month.

[mamatohaleybug]

About $3.50-$4.00 per person.

[KathyBC]

I spend $1200 a month, with 5 kids living at home still. Two of my adult sons come home every weekend and we have all 12 of us here on most Sundays.  Not sure how to figure the daily per person with some kids here only a few days of the month.

Revealing my utter geekiness:

$1200/4 = $300/wk.

(7 people * 3 servings per day * 5 days per week) + (9 people * 3 servings per day * 1 day) + (12 people * 3 servings per day * 1 day) = 168 servings per week

$300/168 = $1.78/serving * 3 meals per day = $5.36 per person per day (I think)

 

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