I would say just food maybe 800-1000 swiss francs. And then 400 for other necessities like toilet paper, trash bags etc.
Tbf that went down in the last 2-3 months since I stopped eating dinner for 5-7 days a week. No, not to save money, I am intermittent fasting so I only eat breakfast and lunch. More lunch though. So I guess most money now goes towards dinner for my partner. So we spend maybe 600-800 now.
Two adults, one small child: About $400 on just groceries in a high CoL area.
Eating out is expensive, maybe another $400 a month.
2 people, about €300 spent in grocery stores monthly, with the caveat that both of us get some level of food at work.
I aim for less than $500. In Canada, so…
It’s a lot of pork, beans, rice, frozen veggies, unsweetened Coconut not-milk. I buy some store brand junk food too I’ll admit. The sausage and cheese addiction inflates costs too. Fresh fruit usually I just get banana, kiwi, and watermelon sometimes if it’s on sale. I buy some frozen fruit but it’s much less than veggie. I don’t need the calories.
$500/mo. Single person, SE USA. I eat 2 meals per day and a snack. Cook all of it except for one treat meal per week.
I should add, that price might be a tad high, as my grocery bill includes things for the household like laundry detergent.
Usually around $300/month:
- $50/month on bagels, my favorite food that I eat way too much of
- $120/month on other food at home like salads, homemade fried rice, and chicken nuggets
- $30/month on snacks like pretzels (it’s an addiction sadly)
- $100/month on going out to eat
70€ (83$) food, 30€ (35$) drink. (Caffeine addiction)
I eat less than 1kg* per day, try to only buy food so it’s overall 2€ per kg of a meal, so it’s 62€ per month, with a monthly treat that’s 70.
Edit: Thinking about it, less than 1kg of food per day was perhaps too low, considering that realistically wouldn’t even be half of my recommended energy intake. Maybe the extremely high soda intake I used to have was just to balance that out? Anyway, since I switched to other drinks a month ago I probably eat way more.
It’s very impressive that your food in average is 4€/kg. Do you eat meat?
Not regularly. It’s a twice a month thing at best.
I don’t have a food-only budget, but our “supermarket + food” spending for 2 humans and 2 cats last year was ~280 euros per month. That includes takeout/delivery but not restaurants, cleaning materials, catfood (but not the vet), alcohol, snacks.
I spend about $200/month just for myself. I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Take lunch with me to work everyday. I eat very very plain food (ie rice and chicken every day). With grocery prices up, I cut out a lot from my diet to keep around $200/month. No beef, no fresh fish, no fruits, no yogurt/kefir.
Meat: chicken, turkey, tuna fish, eggs and egg whites Veggies: kale, collard green, frozen veggies, tomatoes Carbs: rice, pasta, sweet potato, canned beans, peanut butter, granola bars, cereal Fruit: I admit I bought a bag of apples recently Dairy: milk, mozzarella cheese
I go to the gym regularly and drink 1-2 protein shakes per day.
Kind of embarrassing that I live on such a restricted boring diet, but at least I cook for myself, stay within budget, and stay away from processed foods/ snacks.
Good for you ! But the fact that buying a bag of apples is a “frivolous”(that’s not the word but you get what i mean) thing is simply outrageous -_-
Probably around 500 bucks but I get a good amount of stuff for my girl too. In the US
$40 (CAD) / Day
A bit expensive, but I’m both autistic and rather picky. I’m paying for my mental health there, not just food
Generally I’ll spend $15 on breakfast, $3 on a waterbottle at work, $20 for lunch, and sometimes I’ll buy those discounted meals made with offcuts and leftovers from Sobey’s. Around $10 - $15.
On my days off I eat whatever I have available in my pantry when I remember to eat.
You said you didn’t want to carry around a water bottle, what about a cup/mug, there’s surely a waterfountain at your workplace and saving 3$ a day is like ≈90$ a month (though if you spend a thou a month on food, 90 might not be significant ;) )
why don’t you prepare more of your food? it allows you maximum control and saves tons of money. plus, it’s a lot easier than it might first appear.
I pay extra so I don’t have to do that. Carrying a waterbottle and a lunchbox was a significant contributor to my negative mental health as a teenager, and my life is way more pleasant without them.
In a similar vein, eating food that I don’t want to eat is very stressful for me, and I generally can’t know what I want to eat more than a couple of hours in advance. So eating food I prepared myself is usually rather disappointing.
Third, food waste. I never eat the same meal more than once a week if I can help it. That means that, when I buy a tomato, I end up only using a single slice and letting the rest rot in the fridge because there really aren’t all that many things I like that have tomatoes. The same goes for most ingredients. If I don’t use it within 4 hours, I may as well toss it, cause im never going to eat it.
I’ve tested out various ways of eating, and eating out often is cheaper compared to constantly re-buying ingredients for meals I’m not going to eat.
Single person and I do almost all of my own cooking. I average $500 - $600 a month.
This isn’t that far away from mine for two people: ~$600-$700 per month in a HCOL area and doing most of the cooking myself as well. I have found that sizing up a recipe for more people is only a marginal increase in cost. So, cooking for two is not just double that of cooking for one, but less.
Oh yeah. I made a YT video recently about money-saving tips, and one of the things I do is look at restaurants that have family-sized meals that they offer to-go. This works really well for pasta and rice, but I can get six meals for the cost of a few dollars each, package up five of them, and then I have five really yummy lunches for my in office days when I go in.
Jeez, are groceries really that expensive in the US? For me in germany I can get groceries for 2-3 month with this money.
They are very high yes, partly because they have climbed 25~50% in recent years. I cook most of our food for 3.5 people, shopping at the least expensive store in the area, making a wide range of things but mostly mid to lower cost ingredients. Eat out about once a week, never high priced places. Typically spend around 800/mo.
They are. Luckily I cook nearly all of my own meals, or the bills would be way, way worse.
My grocery bill is well more than double what it was before 2020. Both ruling parties here refuse to address the corporate greed in any meaningful way, so each individual has to make the best choices they can for themselves.
About 40 to 50 a week, so about 220 ish for one person
I could shrink it down to 20 a week if I just eat chicken, rice, and bok choy, but I’ve been trying to challenge myself to meal prep a different meal every week
Currently it’s about 160€ per month. One person in Germany. Potatoes and air fryers are a godsend
Potatoes and air fryers are a godsend
I could live off french fries and chicken wings for the rest of my life and convince myself it’s healthy because I cook them without fat.
Air fryers are the heckin’ best. I don’t even notice a huge difference in how my tater tots taste.
I get $298/month to spend on food and I am usually out of money a week before the end of the month.
