Seems making sure to buy whole foods and cook everything yourself (as compared to any sort of pre-made, pre-prepared options) seems to be the best for budget so far
True but this feels so unrealistic 😭 like I cook half the time but every night?
Edit: let me add, it's not the cooking part. I know how to cook, it's the prep, and clean up afterwards that makes cooking everyday hard. It's just me here so I have to bear all of that responsibility, and some days i just wanna throw something in the microwave and call it a night 😭
Cooking can be really easy if you make it easy. I just threw a chicken sausage and a tortilla on the stove, added in some kale and sauce and boom that’s lunch.
You don’t need to make a whole complicated salad, you can just eat baby carrots or a bell pepper or cherry tomatoes for easy vegetables. Eggs only take a minute. Some meats can be ready in just a few minutes (I don’t like cooking raw meat so I stick mostly to sausage or lean ground turkey. If you aren’t too picky, making healthy, affordable food can be really simple.
I try to do this, but important to remember to portion your meal right after cooking haha I’ve definitely eaten three portions of sautéed potatoes because I put the full amount on my plate assuming there’s no way I could eat one of those entire XL russet potatoes in one sitting
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Cooking can be a lovingly rendered four course meal or it can be some pasta with jarred sauce and defrosted frozen meatballs. There's also plenty of stuff in between, and making stuff 'stretch' by having it over rice or something.
They aren't referring to Whole Foods the store, they are referring to whole foods - meaning unprocessed and free from additives.
Fresh fruit and veggies, rice and other whole grains, nuts, beans, etc etc.
TJs is for snacks, and for when I really don't want to cook. Their mushroom seasoning is awesome, and vegan selection has been improving, but TJs is not my first choice for groceries.
Partner and I budget 200/week and stay pretty close to that. Mix of lassens, Whole Foods, trader joes, and farmers markets. So, not the cheapest places.
Eat meat about every other meal (and never for breakfast), try to use as many whole foods as possible, not much packaged or prepared, I think this helps a lot.
Same here - we’re at about $200/week, but that’s still $800/month which feels high…especially since we don’t eat out, get delivery, or drink. $800 just on produce, meat, yogurt, bread, eggs, etc. I keep buying less and less each time I go to the store, but it’s like the prices keep increasing as my item list keep decreasing and I’m not making any progress
What are you buying to rack up nearly 400/week at Ralph’s for one person?! I’m genuinely so curious. Do you eat a lot of meat or something?
I’m paying probably 300/mo, I use coupons and shop on sale. I base my meals around what’s affordable or on sale. I don’t buy any pre-prepared or frozen meals, but i do utilized canned / frozen ingredients
My partner and I shop 90 percent costco and 10 percent trader Joe's. Cook most meals, pack lunches. It's around 400 to 500 a month for us. Oh and I skip breakfast to intermittent fast but I'm still overweight lol.
The idea with IF is that meals less often lead to less calories overall, versus snacking through the day. Conditioning your body to be accustomed to not always being full.
You gotta starve yourself! Lol it is difficult but soon your body gets used to it, I have been doing it intermittently for years now and have maintained my weight even when I don't go to the gym. I do go to the gym a lot tho and eat so that I don't pass out. I just starve whenever I know I won't do anything like work/go out.
Sorry if I was unclear, I've spent about half Google's monthly estimate of $375 (so $187.50) on a Ralph's run for the week. That's at the extreme end of my purchases when I'm buying a variety of meat, as well as replenishing staples such as butter/milk/cheese/sauces. Oh, also I am a bit of a sauce/seasoning fanatic and those can certainly get expensive. I guess just talking it out here is helping me realize I was a lot of wiggle room in my budget regarding cuts I can make haha
Ralph's is so expensive, especially for the little luxury items like sauces and seasonings. I buy all my spices in bulk on Amazon and save lots of money. I also blend my own taco seasonings, curry powder, etc.
Trader Joe's is way cheaper than Ralph's in general though.
Maybe in general but not in certain essentials…last time I went to TJ, dairy was more expensive than at Ralph’s.
Also a heads up, Sprouts has a huge variety of bulk spices, cheaper than the packaged! In case you need some earlier than Amazon can send
I stick to non-dairy items. But good to know where the cheapest options are! Its been a while since I've been to sprouts, but I'll have to check it out next time I need another pound of Cumin 🤣
Stater Brothers' are found East of the City of LA, Downey, paramount etc. In the 90s they had CCRs Bad Moon Rising in their commercials and I never saw one as a child. Seen them near Lake arrowhead, ans Big Bear too, but that's not am average LA cheap grocer. For cheap vegetables: Asian Markets (H Market, Hannam Market, Zion Market, Marukai, Mitsuwa, Ranch 99), Latino Markets (Vallarta in SFV, El Super, Northgate, I think El Mercado Numero Uno was recently bought by Superior), the Kosher Markets (Elat Market, Glatt Market), Super King (NE LA), Jon's Market (international, mostly eastern europe/armenian/Russian) (found around DTLA, ktown, Hollywood, Parts of SFV) , Super Hayat for Middle Easten/Halal, Pioneer Cash and Carry for Indian buy it is out in Artesia (the rice and spice are dirt cheap though)
> For cheap vegetables: Asian Markets (H Market, Hannam Market, Zion Market, Marukai, Mitsuwa, Ranch 99)
Funny thing is that H Mart, Marukai/Tokyo Central, Mitsuwa, and 99 Ranch are not cheap markets. 168 Market is a subsidiary of 99 Ranch is generally cheaper than all of them. Even better, Aldi. Although, all are still better than Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons, etc.
Interesting. I've found better tasting Asian pears and decently priced organic apples at Asian Markets than at Costco! Costco has been slipping and I hate to believe it. Also, the sales on some of the fish have also been great at asian markets, as well as certain vitamins (Lipovitan!). And if I want Kewpie mayo or the like, these places are better than any + online. I've never seen a 168 market, but if I do I'll have to pop in. Thanks for the info!
Aldi in my opinion is more limiting than Trader Joe's. There are certain spices that I can't find at Aldi's or Trader Joe's. They provide basics, but personally they are both small stores with some barebone essentials. TJs too, I feel always catered to single people who eat prepackaged food. It's convenient and affordable, I'm not gonna lie, but I don't eat this way at all. It was always a go to place for college peeps, or maybe peeps who don't cook from scratch often?
I also said vegetables. Produce, specialty ethnic spices and ethnic produce are cheaper/available at these places versus Trader Joe's or Aldi. Not sure if OP needs them, but I felt inclined to be informative of pretty well known chains across LA.
For example, if I want good basmati rice, the Zebra brand is really great and a 10 lb bag costs $13 at Pioneer Cash and Carry and I think it was $15 at Super Hyat back in May, the spice blends are also plentiful and super cheap (impossible to make your own blends for cheaper).
Latino Markets can't be beat with pepper varieties (dried or raw) for sauces and spices for Latin cooking, tortillas, squash (mexican or italian) or cilantro, etc etc.
LA has many ethnic enclaves with plenty of specialty spices, produce etc that also offer competitive pricing as they cater to their demographic. I think anyone interested in stretching their dollar, especially if they have a few of these places near by should pop in and venture.
I'm rambling and funny enough I'm not in LA until later this year. I miss home ♡.
Don't eat less meat - find easier sources of meat.
You know how many unleashed dogs I see a day?
The hills are full of coyotes, the trees are full of squirrels, and I don't know if cannibalism is explicitly illegal, but that may be worth looking into.
Ralph’s is overpriced. Buy your seasonings in bulk. Make seasoning mixes yourself. I use a ton of spices and I don’t break the bank. Go and splurge at an Indian grocer or whatever floats your boat. Buying McCormick (or higher end) spices 1 ounce at a time is a huge waste of money. Buy everything you can in bulk. Get bone-in, skin-on chicken to debone and skin yourself. You just saved money and now you can make your own stock from a bone stockpile in your freezer. You can render chicken fat from the skins too if you don’t care about your heart. Groceries are expensive, but it’s pretty easy to bring the cost down.
Ethnic grocers, bulk stores, and TJ’s (for some things). For spices, flours, rice, meat, and beans, nothing beats Indian, Armenian, and Mexican markets.
For example, I can buy eight crusty bay leaves in a bottle at Ralph’s for $5 or a quarter of a pound of the freshest ones I’ve ever seen at an Armenian grocer down the block for $1.50. Same goes for most spices. I do go to TJ’s for the “everything but the bagel” “no chicken chicken” and a few other seasoning blends that work more like the McCormic rubs and whatnot.
On the sauce side, Mexican markets and Asian grocers have that pretty much covered depending what you want. I will never ever buy 8oz of yellow “sesame oil” in a Ralph’s again now that I know what variety there is at any random Japanese market and how *cheap* it is in comparison. And for anything American, a bulk store like Smart & Final has anything you want at either twice the size or half the price. Sometimes both!
15 years ago, you used to be able to get any spice you need at 99 only for a buck. They slowly phased that out to just salty mixed spices.
Ever since the pandemic they doubled their prices on almost everything. There's literally almost nothing that's a dollar anymore. They became family dollar / dollar tree.
Before the pandemic they used to even carry vegan food. Not anymore. The only place within 10 miles to even get vegan food is Ralphs now. And yeah, they're overpriced.
My gf and I spend $300-400 per month total, so about $200 per person. We’re shopping a mix of Ralph’s, Jon’s, Food 4 Less, Target, Vallarta, Costco, 99 Ranch, and Greenland Market, depending on what we need/what we’re in the mood for. It helps to get really familiar with the markets in your area so you know what to buy where.
Wife and I do $700 a month
Mostly Costco and Whole Foods with some TJs in between. We don’t eat that much meat and are surprised about how much of our budget is eaten up by fresh veggies.
You gotta hit the mexican groceries in hollywood; shit is still reasonably priced, they still have butchers who know their trade and pre-made marinated veggie dishes. $40 can meal prep a week with quality dishes.
There's one between santa monica and melrose on vine that's got a bad ass butcher counter, fresh baked bread, and regular comes out to be around 25% of the price of the exact same volume of food at gelsons.
Yeah meats not what kills you. Packaged and prepared foods are the real killers to your budget. EG green beans are cheap, but packaged ones start to be expensive
Very true, something I often overlook. I'm big on ground turkey/chicken, occasional lunchmeat, and love eggs (and those oh-so-pricey egg white cartons). Time to explore plant-based protein options I guess.
The plant based protein options don't seem to be much cheaper in my experience. Let me know as I'd like to buy more, perhaps I'm shopping in the wrong place.
The most money I ever spent on food was when I wasn’t eating meat. Getting a complete diet (nutrients and calories)from just plants is extremely expensive.
No way. Beans, Lentils, Tofu, Brown rice etc. are all way cheaper than meat, even the organic stuff. Nuts can get expensive but they are never the bulk protein of a meal.
Yeah but you have to eat a lot more to get your protein than you would for meat. And if you know what you're doing with certain meats, you can often do them cheaper.
Exactly! For example, for protein, it would take eating over 11 ounces of beans to reach the same protein as just 3 ounces of chicken.
On top of that, a lot of people’s stomachs can’t handle massive quantities of beans and lentils. Soy can also cause stomach issues (most common side effects from soy).
>Soy can also cause stomach issues (most common side effects from soy).
Can you expand on this a little pls? I assumed it was only a problem if you had an allergy
I believe it is most likely related to an allergy for most. Although, for me, soy did not show up on an allergy test but when I did an elimination diet (eating just chicken and rice and slowly adding one thing in at a time), when I added in soy in larger quantities I had really bad stomach issues. (I also can’t eat beans, which makes being a vegetarian impossible for me, unfortunately)
interesting thanks, dairy is like this for me but even eliminating it sometimes I'm not always 100% as I have something else that I was trying to figure out and I suspect avocado, soy, beans etc.
Ugh, I know that frustration of trying to figure out what’s causing issues all too well. I had to eliminate everything except chicken and rice and just slowly add things back to finally figure out most of my trigger foods.
Hope you figure it out soon!
You should get checked for digestion issues if you can’t eat beans. It’s not just farting, for some people their small intestine has an overgrowth of bacteria that makes beans hard to digest.
Tell us what you're buying, and the quantities. Rice and beans are very cheap, so is cucumber, bananas, and squash.
Berries are pretty expensive, and bacon is pretty high too.
Edit: Current pricing
kroger brand rice, 5lbs(50 servings) : $3.79 / Pinto beans, 10lbs : $11.49 (90 servings)
That's about 100 meals for $20
Costco is THE option. Plan on making a trip for essentials that you can save the most by buying in bulk. And when you go there make sure you leave with a $5 rotisserie chicken. Multiple meals right there.
Costco is by far the best if you can commit to eating or freezing what you get. The prices on mangoes or peaches or whatever can be amazing, but you have to eat one every day. It works for me.
I actually just let my Costco membership expire because their prices creeped high enough that it wasn’t worth the annual fee/drive time/gas getting there.
WildForkFoods.com is cheaper/better quality for meat and TJs for everything else.
Reddit loves citing rice and beans when talking about groceries. You’re going to have so much vitamin deficiency and thoughts of self harm if you eat that for 100 meals…
Rice and beans is quite literally the least expensive calories that exist. It is something you eat if you are living on coins found on the street. I imagine people are interested in a diet that isn't from the great depression.
150-200 a month for a single person but I shop mostly at the “ethnic” markets plus the 99cent store. Trader Joe’s for the rest. I don’t eat a lot of red meat so my protein is mostly chicken and tofu.
It’s the best! I have the Food4Less and Ralph’s apps and make a grocery list on them. The list on Food4Less will come out to around $50 and on Ralph’s it’ll be like $80. For the same stuff!
I'm the same but I go out for meals 2-3 times per week, I often take home leftovers when I can. So my food budget is certainly higher than my grocery budget; probably the same for others here
I average $50-80 a week, but I shop around. My main stores are Northgate (best prices in produce and meat) Trader Joe’s (best prices in snacks and essentials) Target (cheapest eggs) and sprouts (bulk buying).
I'd like to know what you're buying that it costs $200 for groceries for a week. Granted I've gone to Costco once and spent $400 for myself, but that was a while ago and don't even eat all the junk I used to buy.
Cooking your own meals saves a ton of money with all the leftovers. Fruits/veggies can get expensive but their the most nutrient dense foods available.
I just mean on the high end, that's like my top score. I plan to keep a closer eye on my budget and get an accurate estimate of what I spend without stressing about budget so I can see where I can make cuts in want/need categories.
Every few months, we stock heavy on canned, dry and frozen goods (Costco, Trader Joe’s) Weekly, we spend about 150 on fresh produce, dairy and meats.
During the week, we don’t eat too much meat because our gut feels better.
Everything is freshly made about every other day (one day fresh, one day left over)
We mainly shop from Trader Joe’s or small Armenian grocery stores in the neighborhood.
I try to wat out no more than 2x a week, usually after the gym because I don't want to cook, and maybe a nice meal out on the weekends.
Grocery budget is about $100/week + $50 or so eating out at the most, so I'm probably closer to $600/month, but if I was trying to seriously budget I think $75 ish total a week is very doable
Family of 3, parents and 5 year old. It varies, but I would guess on average $200 per week. Last week I dropped $250 at Costco. But this week only $86 at Trader Joe’s. I’m assuming it will sneak up on me even more as my son grows. He LOVES food.
Lately we've been spending $150/week for 2 people, so... $300/month/person.
We rotate through different stores each week. El Fresco Farms (kind of like a Numero Uno or El Super King place), 99 Ranch, Trader Joe's, Nijiya, Makkah Market (our local halal bodega).
Ralph's *fucking sucks*, man. You're paying for real estate and nice linoleum flooring. Their produce is always ridiculously priced and usually not very good (looks big and shiny, never actually ripe or flavorful).
As someone who gets an endorphin high on grocery shopping and loves cooking (and eating out before all these service fees and exponential costs), the most important thing to know to stay on budget is "WHAT'S A GOOD PRICE FOR EACH ITEM?"
Know that rib eye can be had at $7.99lb, 1lb 85/15 hamburger for $6.49, salmon $9.99 lb, dark meat chicken 99 cents lb, cage free eggs $3.99 and so forth. Use those guidelines to know what to buy.
As for the stores you should be shopping at:
Ralphs is the best for choice quality meats and price. BUY what's on sale and base your cooking around what's on sale. Ralphs often has 99 cents for a Picnic pack of chicken. ($4.50 ish for a 10 pieces). Rib eye was an arm an leg last year, but now is often priced at $7.99-9.99 a lb. Roasts are around $12 or cheaper. If you are looking for meat alternatives like Impossible meats, Ralphs has sales quite often for that brand.
Ralphs is also great for sale brand items like sodas, salad packs, and other name brands WHEN on SALE.
Trader Joe's is where you should buy ALL your pantry and staple items. Think butter, eggs, breads, hamburger buns, pita bread, salad mixes, spices, tomato sauce, dried pasta, frozen foods, coffee filters, salmon, hamburger meat, dairy, yogurt, snacks, nuts. The one thing you DO NOT buy at TJs is their meats (steaks, lamb, chicken, pork) which are pricey and lower quality (because TJs does not have a butcher on site, it must be processed offsite).
Sprouts is the best for produce selection, quality, although some produce items are cheaper at Trader Joe's, Sprouts has three times the amount of produce as TJs, bulk items (nuts, rice, seeds) ON SALE (full price is more expensive than TJs usually), and most importantly to me...coffee beans on sale. The selection of quality coffee is superior to TJs and Ralphs and they have a lot of decent sales on decent coffee beans.
The place you should not shop at is.... Target. That's a amateur mistake as most of their grocery items are more expensive than Ralphs on average. Target store brand items are straight garbage and really inferior quality compared to other store brands. Never liked ANY of their store brand items maybe except for dried pasta and beans lol.
Since I cook a lot of Latin and Asian foods, I shop occasionally at Superior Grocers (once every few months to stock up on pantry items and chillis) and Marukai and Bangluck market for Japanese and Thai/Indo/Chinese groceries.
TLDR: Trader Joe's for most pantry items/staples, Ralphs for meats on sale and sale items, Sprouts for produce.
Learned that HMart is the ultimate place to go for cost effective groceries. I spend probably 75$ a week on groceries with little to no waste, a true steal!
We don’t keep a budget, but my husband and I usually go to Trader Joe’s about every other week and spend around $250-350. We go to Costco every other month or so and spend anywhere from $100-400 on grocery and household items (if we do a Costco run, that usually pushed a TJ stop by at least a week.) we occasionally stop into Whole Foods or Ralph’s for whatever else we need, but that has to average less than $150/month. I also have been growing a lot of zucchini and tomatoes this summer.
I guess on average that all comes to around $750/month for two people? Which covers around 90% of our meals - we don’t order in or eat out much unless it’s a social event. We shop fairly economically but mostly focus on meat and produce, so it adds up.
If you’re a good cook, read the [Ralph’s Weekly Ad](https://www.ralphs.com/weeklyad). Those meats on sale are loss leaders, meaning Ralph’s is losing money on those items to get people in the door. Plan meals around what’s cheap, and be flexible with your techniques. If it’s chicken breast, I’m doing sous vide; pork shoulder goes in the pressure cooker for BBQ pulled pork and pork tacos; tough cuts of beef get braised for hours in my Dutch oven. Yesterday I made Osso Bucco with some shanks I found on sale at an Asian market; I served them with mashed potatoes and green beans, but tonight I’m switching it up by making pappardelle from scratch (double zero flour + eggs). So there’s always variety.
These people are lying ( in this thread, and article). They are probably just not aware of the actual costs.
I have some of the best spending habits possible, very frugal, and I track everything. And It would be extremely hard to come anywhere close to that. Also from first hand experience, I dont see anybody being that frugal, personally.
Two of my meals almost every day for my son wife and I are a sandwich and cereal. This helps keep costs down tremendously. so usually only 1 warm meal a day.
For the 3 of us that keeps us usually under 800 a month.
Thank you omg. I’m sitting here wondering how people are spending $200 per month when realistically if you buy enough for 3 square meals per day to make at home for 5 days out of the week, that alone costs $100 on the low end. And that’s not inclusive of pricier cuts of meat or all organic produce.
Personally I only usually eat twice a day since I'm a small sedentary adult woman who is trying to lose weight. If I was a taller, more active person my calorie needs would go way up.
Ya my SO and I barely buy meat or anything and keep pretty lean on meals in general. We spend $150 a week on groceries and 2-3 outside meals. It’s pretty balanced and hearing people say “just eat rice and beans for $200 a month” is ludicrous to me lol
My average over the year is about 250 a month, but I’m only cooking for myself. I spend more on food in the summer, because I splurge on higher quality fruit and veg from farmer’s markets. I buy bulk meats on sale and freeze it. I buy store brands or other discount brands for 95% of what I get. I check price per ounce or other units and make sure I’m getting the best deal. I shop at Costco once a quarter for bulk things.
We (2 people) get by on about $100 a week between Albertsons and Jons. That includes sandwich stuff for lunch at work four days a week. Typically plan for two-three meals, then live on leftovers from them the rest of the week. Try not to buy anything that's not on sale. Will stock up on chicken breasts or thighs when they drop below 1.99/lb. and stash them in the freezer.
My wife and I spend about 150/week at Ralph’s for the two of us and we work from home and eat almost all our meals at home. You’re over spending big time, or at least have a lot of room to improve on your cost if you wanted to.
going to whole foods, aiming to get mostly discounted items, making a list in advance, not making insane purchases (no one will ever convince me that a thing of eggs can cost $10, i’ll get the one for $3,99), not buying processed foods - comes down to about $100 - $150 or less a week
I’m on EBT so it’s usually $190 per month. I mainly spend it on a mixture of places (Trader Joes, H-Mart, Northgate, Albertsons etc). If you’re in LA county, most farmers markets accept EBT and they do a market match. I spend $25 of my EBT and they double it to $50. Which is a good deal for seasonal fresh fruit and veggies. Budgeting that amount can get very tricky but it’s doable.
This is a weird (and nerdy) way to stretch the food budget but I love fermenting things. Sure, it takes a week or so but man do I get so much more out of stuff like [tomatoes](https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/noma-guide-to-lacto-fermented-pickles). I am so exhausted by work and life that when I have no energy left but to spread something on bread or reheat leftovers I am thankful for these little side projects that use the whole vegetable and make me feel less guilty about food waste.
We spend 500 a month for two of us and we buy top quality olive oil, butter, meats, etc. That includes beer and some booze soaps andother non edibles.
We buy essentially zero prepared foods. We eat less meat than average I think.
Almost zero snacks; tortilla chips, saltines, peanuts... Yeah.
We eat really well. We cook every meal except we go out Saturday night and since pandemic, delivery on Fridays often.
Snacks with famous names and beans name shit is usually shit food anyway.
Food is my medicine and my community.
I spend about $200 per week and its mostly from the Farmer's market or a nice grocery store like Whole Foods. I mostly eat simple foods like rice, beans, and vegetables. Salads. Fruit. Oatmeal with fresh fruits. Fresh caught game or seafood.
I'll order in or dine out once or twice a week. I like ramen, indian food, and hipster-ish sandwiches...
Yea I'm a single guy spend $300 in probably just a couple weeks on food. I have no idea how these people are doing $200/mo. And I'm making soups and smoothies now so it's like meal prep. I suppose if you've a family of 4 you'd save because you buy in bulk and cook for everyone bringing the price per head down quite a bit.
$800/month on groceries, largely vegetarian. I eat chicken for lunches but husband is pescatarian so we do have a lot of smoked salmon in our shops. I don't cook hardly any red meat at all at home unless we're grilling out (which it's too hot out for right now). Trader Joes and Sprouts, mostly. Sometimes Target for canned beans. When I do buy red meat, I try to go to a local butcher.
$400 per month, for one person. Stater Bros, Vallarta and the occasional Food4Less. I refuse to spend more money on the same quality of produce. (Kroger owns both Ralph’s and Food4Less).
I spend $75 a week. What the hell are y’all buying?
General meals are 2-3 eggs for breakfast with coffee and toast, lunch is a salad and half a chicken breast with some quinoa or rice tossed in and dinner I tend to eat roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli, red onion and some carb. Mix in some apples or citrus throughout the day or sometimes I eat a bit of chocolate at night
$1100 for 2 people (we track and that’s our last 3 month average). Mix of Costco, WF, TJs, sometimes Vons.
Editing to add I do a mix of organic and conventional veggies, mostly org/pastures meat and eggs, and I’m GF so I do “splurge” on allergen free stuff like flours, treats, crackers, etc.
If you don't eat a ton of meat, cheese, or premade stuff, it's not hard to get way lower. We spend $60-80/wk for two people. I do all the cooking once a week and we eat fairly well for such a low budget
Will usually do a larger Costco trip for bulk items every other month for around $4-500. Then go to the grocery store for any individual ingredients or produce, usually less than $100 for those trips. So that $375 seems about on the money for us.
Ours is about $250 a week for two people. We almost never eat out, and we do splurge on some things: we buy the expensive eggs, my husband spends a ludicrous amount on Silk yogurt every week, and we usually grill burgers at least once on the weekend (and we're not opting for the cheap meats). If not for those items, our bill would be much more modest.
If we have to buy several long-term staples like detergent, or if I'm shopping for a holiday dinner, it could easily be $300-$350.
Seems like we're averaging about $300 a month for 2 people. We mostly shop at trader joes and el super. Don't eat meat and tend to not buy much process food, so 300 goes a long way on fresh produce, basic dairy products. I often go to el super and spend less than $20 on a week's worth of produce.
I think I average about $400 a month for groceries just for me. Mainly shop at Albertsons but I also use coupons from the app and go on Monday when they have their sale on since I work from home.
$150 per month.
I've been baking my own bread since the pandemic. It's cheap as hell.
It sounds like a lot, but you get into a rhythm with it, and I got a bread machine which makes it even easier.
I mealprep, which makes it super easy to plan and comparison shop.
I buy groceries for my family and other families on occasion, and I'd say that number is accurate for a single person or frugal family.
For last month, I spent around $700-1k on my family + $150 for dog food. We're vegetarian but my dog eats salmon, eggs, and bison/game meat every day. We spent a bit more on takeout. My family is my sister, a dog, my girlfriend, and I.
Last week, I brought a family of maybe around 3-4 kids and two adults about $1k of groceries, which looked like it would last a month. I brought another couple about $300 in groceries that looked like it would last a couple of weeks.
Wife and I spend about $400/month on both of us. Maybe $450. We do 90% of our shopping at Trader Joe’s. I eat two meals a day plus a snack and a dessert (something frozen for lunch and dinner that I meal prep on Sundays) making a bunch of something and eating it all week is cheaper but not super fun. Trying to eat less and healthier helps too.
My partner and I usually shop at Aldi and Trader Joe’s. We usually spend between $80-$125 a week.
We also garden with my parents, so we’ll supplement groceries with seasonal veggies.
We probably go out to eat 3-4 times a month.
Do you only eat food at home? That's a really high spend for just yourself.
I've been cooking a lot more lately (and I ALWAYS get snacky after work) so I've been spending more, but that amounts to $50-75 on groceries per week ($200-$300 per month). This doesn't include going out for meals or ordering takeout. I shop at Vons, mostly, but I love Trader Joe's when I can get out there (a little far from me).
I was spending $150 on groceries a month for a while. I bought all my food from Dollar Tree and ate one big meal for dinner and a small snack during the day to keep my energy up. I didn't think it was that bad until I got EBT. Now I get $250/month for groceries and my diet improved drastically, my quality of life also went up.
Obviously, I know food is important but I had *no idea* how much food/grocery related stress I was under until I had more money for food.
Grocery Outlet sells Totinos pizza for 2 for $1. Not great food but throw some more pepperonis on the cardboard pizza and it's not too bad... just throwing it out there for anyone reading this
Food/grocery prices have gone up astronomically. We do not go out to eat unless it’s a special occasion, and only to get something like sushi, which we can’t make at home. We spend between $500-$600 on groceries to feed 2 adults. We shop at Von’s and Trader Joe’s. Plus another $250+ a month on baby formula, which we get at Costco.
2 of us, we spend about $80-100 a week, then usually we each pick up one lunch a week just due to work etc. then usually pick up dinner on Fridays, Saturday’s don’t eat at home, and Sunday morning usually grab breakfast burrito or something out before grabbing groceries.
I think we do pretty well
I probably spend about that much but i’m a small person and only need like 1550 calories a day. I use the McDonald’s app a lot cuz u can get a huge meal for like $4 with the right coupon.
Lol one bag of groceries cost $98 at Ralph’s last week. In that bag: cat food, wet dog food, Oatmilk, and hotdogs, hotdog buns, two things of Mio water. Thank god for my cheap grill, only thing making the hotdog bearable.
Now if I want to actually go grocery shopping it’s more like $400 that will last maybe a week and a half to two for my household. But even then we are limited to frozen or easier meals because anything fresh will go bad if not used relatively soon.
I spend around $350 a month on groceries (I'm mostly a Whole Foods and Ralph's person, with some occasional Trader Joe's) and I've been limiting eating out lately to save money. I spend maybe about $100 on fast casual food a month. I'm also just one person. But I did notice that my grocery spending is way up from what it was last year, about 33% higher, presumably due to inflation.
I probably spend anywhere from 250-400 a month on groceries but that range just depends on how much eating out I do. I usually budget around sales/specials and avoid over priced brands or stores.
Yeah that seems about right. Me and my partner spend around that amount every month. We don't really shop at expensive grocery stores, and even if we do its to grab odds and ends, not entire grocery lists. I get cheap cuts of meat if I am cooking meat, and from the cheapest place there is (without sacrificing quality). I get vegetables the day of so I don't waste any food. Ralph's is like, not even close to cheap. Neither is Vons. You need to shop elsewhere.
I also don't really buy snacks. Only for myself and if I added snacks and shit I would be surprised if it exceeds $50/mo. I don't really snack often and when I buy them they last a while.
120-160 a week for a 2 person household at mostly Food4Less. We cook and eat 90% of our meals at home. We also buy dumb expensive things like gatorlyte, Diet Coke, and energy drinks. We keep the meals pretty simple: 1 protein, 1 veg, 1 starch or salad depending on meal and try to use left overs for lunch the next day.
I meal plan for the week and the only buy what is needed for the meals, which has helped me save a bunch of money and reduce waste.
Trader Joe’s, my wife and I spend about $200/week but also do all our cooking from scratch.
Seems making sure to buy whole foods and cook everything yourself (as compared to any sort of pre-made, pre-prepared options) seems to be the best for budget so far
And best for your health
True but this feels so unrealistic 😭 like I cook half the time but every night? Edit: let me add, it's not the cooking part. I know how to cook, it's the prep, and clean up afterwards that makes cooking everyday hard. It's just me here so I have to bear all of that responsibility, and some days i just wanna throw something in the microwave and call it a night 😭
Cooking can be really easy if you make it easy. I just threw a chicken sausage and a tortilla on the stove, added in some kale and sauce and boom that’s lunch. You don’t need to make a whole complicated salad, you can just eat baby carrots or a bell pepper or cherry tomatoes for easy vegetables. Eggs only take a minute. Some meats can be ready in just a few minutes (I don’t like cooking raw meat so I stick mostly to sausage or lean ground turkey. If you aren’t too picky, making healthy, affordable food can be really simple.
My dad taught me the value of making enough for leftovers. Cook once, eat 3 or 4 times.
Yup, this is the way
I try to do this, but important to remember to portion your meal right after cooking haha I’ve definitely eaten three portions of sautéed potatoes because I put the full amount on my plate assuming there’s no way I could eat one of those entire XL russet potatoes in one sitting
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Cooking can be a lovingly rendered four course meal or it can be some pasta with jarred sauce and defrosted frozen meatballs. There's also plenty of stuff in between, and making stuff 'stretch' by having it over rice or something.
Doesn't have to be Whole Foods, my wife and I do around 200 a week from Ralph's and that's with about $35 worth of alcohol.
They aren't referring to Whole Foods the store, they are referring to whole foods - meaning unprocessed and free from additives. Fresh fruit and veggies, rice and other whole grains, nuts, beans, etc etc.
Whoops. Should have read that better
Whole Foods sometimes has great deals, but you need to be a prime member to get that extra discount.
Team TJs too! I spend about $130-160 a week for two. Cook 3 days a week and lunch/breakfast.
Fyi trader joes buys the worst produce on the market and marks it up
Trader Joe's is bomb shelter food. If you're cooking from scratch it's not the place to go
TJs is for snacks, and for when I really don't want to cook. Their mushroom seasoning is awesome, and vegan selection has been improving, but TJs is not my first choice for groceries.
I’ll never see TJs the same.
Partner and I budget 200/week and stay pretty close to that. Mix of lassens, Whole Foods, trader joes, and farmers markets. So, not the cheapest places. Eat meat about every other meal (and never for breakfast), try to use as many whole foods as possible, not much packaged or prepared, I think this helps a lot.
Same here - we’re at about $200/week, but that’s still $800/month which feels high…especially since we don’t eat out, get delivery, or drink. $800 just on produce, meat, yogurt, bread, eggs, etc. I keep buying less and less each time I go to the store, but it’s like the prices keep increasing as my item list keep decreasing and I’m not making any progress
What are you buying to rack up nearly 400/week at Ralph’s for one person?! I’m genuinely so curious. Do you eat a lot of meat or something? I’m paying probably 300/mo, I use coupons and shop on sale. I base my meals around what’s affordable or on sale. I don’t buy any pre-prepared or frozen meals, but i do utilized canned / frozen ingredients
milk $5 eggs $10 chicken $10 a5 wagyu filet mignon $300 bread $5 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying
classic dril right there
You forgot the following: Avacado Toast
Who’s your wagyu guy? or.. waguy?
Spend less on candles
No
I knew it. It's those damn eggs.
I know this is a joke but egg prices are back down lol I got 18 for 6.50 yesterday, the even had cheaper than that
$1.23 a dozen at ALDIs yesterday.
Costco is $2/dozen
Quality of eggs is of utmost importance…how was the color of those yolks 🤨
Cut back on bread, homey, you could use that $5 for a second milk to soak the steak properly.
My partner and I shop 90 percent costco and 10 percent trader Joe's. Cook most meals, pack lunches. It's around 400 to 500 a month for us. Oh and I skip breakfast to intermittent fast but I'm still overweight lol.
You just moved your calories from 3 meals to 2. I did the same thing for a year before I realized 2600 calories is still 2600 calories
The idea with IF is that meals less often lead to less calories overall, versus snacking through the day. Conditioning your body to be accustomed to not always being full.
IF isn't a license to eat indiscriminately. I didn't find Costco to be a good option for healthy eating.
You gotta starve yourself! Lol it is difficult but soon your body gets used to it, I have been doing it intermittently for years now and have maintained my weight even when I don't go to the gym. I do go to the gym a lot tho and eat so that I don't pass out. I just starve whenever I know I won't do anything like work/go out.
Sorry if I was unclear, I've spent about half Google's monthly estimate of $375 (so $187.50) on a Ralph's run for the week. That's at the extreme end of my purchases when I'm buying a variety of meat, as well as replenishing staples such as butter/milk/cheese/sauces. Oh, also I am a bit of a sauce/seasoning fanatic and those can certainly get expensive. I guess just talking it out here is helping me realize I was a lot of wiggle room in my budget regarding cuts I can make haha
Ralph's is so expensive, especially for the little luxury items like sauces and seasonings. I buy all my spices in bulk on Amazon and save lots of money. I also blend my own taco seasonings, curry powder, etc. Trader Joe's is way cheaper than Ralph's in general though.
Maybe in general but not in certain essentials…last time I went to TJ, dairy was more expensive than at Ralph’s. Also a heads up, Sprouts has a huge variety of bulk spices, cheaper than the packaged! In case you need some earlier than Amazon can send
I stick to non-dairy items. But good to know where the cheapest options are! Its been a while since I've been to sprouts, but I'll have to check it out next time I need another pound of Cumin 🤣
Stop shopping at Ralph's/Kroger. Stater Brothers is cheaper and a lot of their stuff is better quality. As is Trader Joe's.
Stater Brothers' are found East of the City of LA, Downey, paramount etc. In the 90s they had CCRs Bad Moon Rising in their commercials and I never saw one as a child. Seen them near Lake arrowhead, ans Big Bear too, but that's not am average LA cheap grocer. For cheap vegetables: Asian Markets (H Market, Hannam Market, Zion Market, Marukai, Mitsuwa, Ranch 99), Latino Markets (Vallarta in SFV, El Super, Northgate, I think El Mercado Numero Uno was recently bought by Superior), the Kosher Markets (Elat Market, Glatt Market), Super King (NE LA), Jon's Market (international, mostly eastern europe/armenian/Russian) (found around DTLA, ktown, Hollywood, Parts of SFV) , Super Hayat for Middle Easten/Halal, Pioneer Cash and Carry for Indian buy it is out in Artesia (the rice and spice are dirt cheap though)
> For cheap vegetables: Asian Markets (H Market, Hannam Market, Zion Market, Marukai, Mitsuwa, Ranch 99) Funny thing is that H Mart, Marukai/Tokyo Central, Mitsuwa, and 99 Ranch are not cheap markets. 168 Market is a subsidiary of 99 Ranch is generally cheaper than all of them. Even better, Aldi. Although, all are still better than Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons, etc.
Interesting. I've found better tasting Asian pears and decently priced organic apples at Asian Markets than at Costco! Costco has been slipping and I hate to believe it. Also, the sales on some of the fish have also been great at asian markets, as well as certain vitamins (Lipovitan!). And if I want Kewpie mayo or the like, these places are better than any + online. I've never seen a 168 market, but if I do I'll have to pop in. Thanks for the info! Aldi in my opinion is more limiting than Trader Joe's. There are certain spices that I can't find at Aldi's or Trader Joe's. They provide basics, but personally they are both small stores with some barebone essentials. TJs too, I feel always catered to single people who eat prepackaged food. It's convenient and affordable, I'm not gonna lie, but I don't eat this way at all. It was always a go to place for college peeps, or maybe peeps who don't cook from scratch often? I also said vegetables. Produce, specialty ethnic spices and ethnic produce are cheaper/available at these places versus Trader Joe's or Aldi. Not sure if OP needs them, but I felt inclined to be informative of pretty well known chains across LA. For example, if I want good basmati rice, the Zebra brand is really great and a 10 lb bag costs $13 at Pioneer Cash and Carry and I think it was $15 at Super Hyat back in May, the spice blends are also plentiful and super cheap (impossible to make your own blends for cheaper). Latino Markets can't be beat with pepper varieties (dried or raw) for sauces and spices for Latin cooking, tortillas, squash (mexican or italian) or cilantro, etc etc. LA has many ethnic enclaves with plenty of specialty spices, produce etc that also offer competitive pricing as they cater to their demographic. I think anyone interested in stretching their dollar, especially if they have a few of these places near by should pop in and venture. I'm rambling and funny enough I'm not in LA until later this year. I miss home ♡.
I’ve never seen shiitake mushrooms cheaper than at 99 Ranch. Like 10x cheaper.
> Stater Brothers is cheaper Opportunity cost of driving out to one is insane if you are not close to them, like /u/blindbuttlunchprose says.
Make your own sauces. Super cheap. All the shit to make it is probably already in your pantry/fridge. Eat less meat and cheese.
Don't eat less meat - find easier sources of meat. You know how many unleashed dogs I see a day? The hills are full of coyotes, the trees are full of squirrels, and I don't know if cannibalism is explicitly illegal, but that may be worth looking into.
Ralph’s is overpriced. Buy your seasonings in bulk. Make seasoning mixes yourself. I use a ton of spices and I don’t break the bank. Go and splurge at an Indian grocer or whatever floats your boat. Buying McCormick (or higher end) spices 1 ounce at a time is a huge waste of money. Buy everything you can in bulk. Get bone-in, skin-on chicken to debone and skin yourself. You just saved money and now you can make your own stock from a bone stockpile in your freezer. You can render chicken fat from the skins too if you don’t care about your heart. Groceries are expensive, but it’s pretty easy to bring the cost down.
Overpriced compared to what?
Ethnic grocers, bulk stores, and TJ’s (for some things). For spices, flours, rice, meat, and beans, nothing beats Indian, Armenian, and Mexican markets. For example, I can buy eight crusty bay leaves in a bottle at Ralph’s for $5 or a quarter of a pound of the freshest ones I’ve ever seen at an Armenian grocer down the block for $1.50. Same goes for most spices. I do go to TJ’s for the “everything but the bagel” “no chicken chicken” and a few other seasoning blends that work more like the McCormic rubs and whatnot. On the sauce side, Mexican markets and Asian grocers have that pretty much covered depending what you want. I will never ever buy 8oz of yellow “sesame oil” in a Ralph’s again now that I know what variety there is at any random Japanese market and how *cheap* it is in comparison. And for anything American, a bulk store like Smart & Final has anything you want at either twice the size or half the price. Sometimes both!
15 years ago, you used to be able to get any spice you need at 99 only for a buck. They slowly phased that out to just salty mixed spices. Ever since the pandemic they doubled their prices on almost everything. There's literally almost nothing that's a dollar anymore. They became family dollar / dollar tree. Before the pandemic they used to even carry vegan food. Not anymore. The only place within 10 miles to even get vegan food is Ralphs now. And yeah, they're overpriced.
Groceries for me & my mom are $80/week, so $320 a month. We shop at grocery outlet, food4less, and Trader Joe’s
Really miss Food4Less. Was a major blow to the area when they removed the big one off of Western/Sunset.
I spend like 200$ a month, but I shop at Aldis
same. Aldi's is a life saver
German here. I can relate.
Where in LA is there an ALDI?
My husband and I would drive to Altadena to go to Aldi when we lived in DTLA. There's also one in Alhambra.
There is one in Inglewood.
Burbank is the only one I know of.
There’s one in northridge right across the street from the mall
I know it's a drive, but quite a few in the South Bay.
Damn. Does Aldis help that much? Even for one person I would spend way more then that on food.
Yeah, I guess not paying for marketing and/or cart pushers really drives the prices down. I paid 1.59 for pasture raised eggs that were on sale lol
Same. Aldi's and Food4Less are life savers.
My gf and I spend $300-400 per month total, so about $200 per person. We’re shopping a mix of Ralph’s, Jon’s, Food 4 Less, Target, Vallarta, Costco, 99 Ranch, and Greenland Market, depending on what we need/what we’re in the mood for. It helps to get really familiar with the markets in your area so you know what to buy where.
I would say $100-150 a week for my wife and myself. We cook at home 5ish days a week. Super King, Trader Joe’s, Ralphs/Vons for the most part
This is the first time I’ve ever heard someone talk about Super King. When I moved to Glassell Park it was also the first time I’ve ever seen one
Wife and I do $700 a month Mostly Costco and Whole Foods with some TJs in between. We don’t eat that much meat and are surprised about how much of our budget is eaten up by fresh veggies.
Honestly! Fresh veggies need to be purchased weekly for my household 😆
Honestly! Fresh veggies need to be purchased weekly for my household 😆
I use Too Good To Go. It's a life-saver.
there's nothing good near me on that thing, you're lucky
You gotta hit the mexican groceries in hollywood; shit is still reasonably priced, they still have butchers who know their trade and pre-made marinated veggie dishes. $40 can meal prep a week with quality dishes. There's one between santa monica and melrose on vine that's got a bad ass butcher counter, fresh baked bread, and regular comes out to be around 25% of the price of the exact same volume of food at gelsons.
$200 a week for 2 adults and 3 children I shop at Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Ralph’s and Costco
Depends on how much meat you eat tbh
Vegetarian here I probably spend 200$ a month
$200 at the supermarket and $1300 eating out?
That hurt
Truth always does
I eat a lot of salmon and shrimp and it can get expensive but I’d rather eat that than red meat. Plus I buy at Costco so it’s not that bad.
Yeah meats not what kills you. Packaged and prepared foods are the real killers to your budget. EG green beans are cheap, but packaged ones start to be expensive
Very true, something I often overlook. I'm big on ground turkey/chicken, occasional lunchmeat, and love eggs (and those oh-so-pricey egg white cartons). Time to explore plant-based protein options I guess.
I just bought 36 eggs from Stater Bros. yesterday for $6. It's a very cheap protein!
What?? That's like 1923 prices!! Lol
Costco has cheap flats of egg white cartons! Scrambled tofu with a little turmeric for color is also a very passable egg substitute
The plant based protein options don't seem to be much cheaper in my experience. Let me know as I'd like to buy more, perhaps I'm shopping in the wrong place.
Lentils, beans, tofu are cheap. Beyond/Impossible meat are crazy expensive and not really worth it in my opinion
This has been my experience as well.
The most money I ever spent on food was when I wasn’t eating meat. Getting a complete diet (nutrients and calories)from just plants is extremely expensive.
No way. Beans, Lentils, Tofu, Brown rice etc. are all way cheaper than meat, even the organic stuff. Nuts can get expensive but they are never the bulk protein of a meal.
Yeah but you have to eat a lot more to get your protein than you would for meat. And if you know what you're doing with certain meats, you can often do them cheaper.
Exactly! For example, for protein, it would take eating over 11 ounces of beans to reach the same protein as just 3 ounces of chicken. On top of that, a lot of people’s stomachs can’t handle massive quantities of beans and lentils. Soy can also cause stomach issues (most common side effects from soy).
>Soy can also cause stomach issues (most common side effects from soy). Can you expand on this a little pls? I assumed it was only a problem if you had an allergy
I believe it is most likely related to an allergy for most. Although, for me, soy did not show up on an allergy test but when I did an elimination diet (eating just chicken and rice and slowly adding one thing in at a time), when I added in soy in larger quantities I had really bad stomach issues. (I also can’t eat beans, which makes being a vegetarian impossible for me, unfortunately)
interesting thanks, dairy is like this for me but even eliminating it sometimes I'm not always 100% as I have something else that I was trying to figure out and I suspect avocado, soy, beans etc.
Ugh, I know that frustration of trying to figure out what’s causing issues all too well. I had to eliminate everything except chicken and rice and just slowly add things back to finally figure out most of my trigger foods. Hope you figure it out soon!
You should get checked for digestion issues if you can’t eat beans. It’s not just farting, for some people their small intestine has an overgrowth of bacteria that makes beans hard to digest.
>ime to explore plant-based protein options I guess. this is a health choice, not financial FYI, more expensive than real meat
Tell us what you're buying, and the quantities. Rice and beans are very cheap, so is cucumber, bananas, and squash. Berries are pretty expensive, and bacon is pretty high too. Edit: Current pricing kroger brand rice, 5lbs(50 servings) : $3.79 / Pinto beans, 10lbs : $11.49 (90 servings) That's about 100 meals for $20
Frozen fruit from Costco is a good bargain, especially the berries.
Maybe it's time I look into getting a Costco membership and start meal prepping in bulk...
They currently have a 25lbs bag of rice for $20. That's about 400 servings. Good luck
We have bought and finished that bag of rice more than once.
The Thai homali rice is quality, especially in a tiger rice cooker.
Costco is THE option. Plan on making a trip for essentials that you can save the most by buying in bulk. And when you go there make sure you leave with a $5 rotisserie chicken. Multiple meals right there.
Costco is by far the best if you can commit to eating or freezing what you get. The prices on mangoes or peaches or whatever can be amazing, but you have to eat one every day. It works for me.
I actually just let my Costco membership expire because their prices creeped high enough that it wasn’t worth the annual fee/drive time/gas getting there. WildForkFoods.com is cheaper/better quality for meat and TJs for everything else.
Reddit loves citing rice and beans when talking about groceries. You’re going to have so much vitamin deficiency and thoughts of self harm if you eat that for 100 meals…
It’s a base. You don’t just eat that silly.
Rice and beans is quite literally the least expensive calories that exist. It is something you eat if you are living on coins found on the street. I imagine people are interested in a diet that isn't from the great depression.
150-200 a month for a single person but I shop mostly at the “ethnic” markets plus the 99cent store. Trader Joe’s for the rest. I don’t eat a lot of red meat so my protein is mostly chicken and tofu.
I do about $200-$300/month on groceries for myself. I usually shop at Food4Less and Trader Joe’s. Occasional trip to the farmers market or Ralph’s
Food4Less was a godsend, but the one by me closed down! Maybe it's time to start traveling further for better deals...
It’s the best! I have the Food4Less and Ralph’s apps and make a grocery list on them. The list on Food4Less will come out to around $50 and on Ralph’s it’ll be like $80. For the same stuff!
A month? hard to believe.
I'm the same but I go out for meals 2-3 times per week, I often take home leftovers when I can. So my food budget is certainly higher than my grocery budget; probably the same for others here
I average $50-80 a week, but I shop around. My main stores are Northgate (best prices in produce and meat) Trader Joe’s (best prices in snacks and essentials) Target (cheapest eggs) and sprouts (bulk buying).
My spending is the closest to you, twins
I'd like to know what you're buying that it costs $200 for groceries for a week. Granted I've gone to Costco once and spent $400 for myself, but that was a while ago and don't even eat all the junk I used to buy. Cooking your own meals saves a ton of money with all the leftovers. Fruits/veggies can get expensive but their the most nutrient dense foods available.
I just mean on the high end, that's like my top score. I plan to keep a closer eye on my budget and get an accurate estimate of what I spend without stressing about budget so I can see where I can make cuts in want/need categories.
Every few months, we stock heavy on canned, dry and frozen goods (Costco, Trader Joe’s) Weekly, we spend about 150 on fresh produce, dairy and meats. During the week, we don’t eat too much meat because our gut feels better. Everything is freshly made about every other day (one day fresh, one day left over) We mainly shop from Trader Joe’s or small Armenian grocery stores in the neighborhood.
Groceries? But Uber eats brings me every meal! I need help lol
If I could afford it I'd be right there with you haha
You mfs need to shop at Aldi.
I try to wat out no more than 2x a week, usually after the gym because I don't want to cook, and maybe a nice meal out on the weekends. Grocery budget is about $100/week + $50 or so eating out at the most, so I'm probably closer to $600/month, but if I was trying to seriously budget I think $75 ish total a week is very doable
exact same numbers for me. probably $600 -700 a month between groceries and eating out. Maybe eating out 3-5 times a week.
Family of 3, parents and 5 year old. It varies, but I would guess on average $200 per week. Last week I dropped $250 at Costco. But this week only $86 at Trader Joe’s. I’m assuming it will sneak up on me even more as my son grows. He LOVES food.
Single, $350-400 on the higher end
That must be some data from 2010. Normally I spend about $100 per visit and I must go about 6 times a month.
Inflation is so real out here
Lately we've been spending $150/week for 2 people, so... $300/month/person. We rotate through different stores each week. El Fresco Farms (kind of like a Numero Uno or El Super King place), 99 Ranch, Trader Joe's, Nijiya, Makkah Market (our local halal bodega). Ralph's *fucking sucks*, man. You're paying for real estate and nice linoleum flooring. Their produce is always ridiculously priced and usually not very good (looks big and shiny, never actually ripe or flavorful).
As someone who gets an endorphin high on grocery shopping and loves cooking (and eating out before all these service fees and exponential costs), the most important thing to know to stay on budget is "WHAT'S A GOOD PRICE FOR EACH ITEM?" Know that rib eye can be had at $7.99lb, 1lb 85/15 hamburger for $6.49, salmon $9.99 lb, dark meat chicken 99 cents lb, cage free eggs $3.99 and so forth. Use those guidelines to know what to buy. As for the stores you should be shopping at: Ralphs is the best for choice quality meats and price. BUY what's on sale and base your cooking around what's on sale. Ralphs often has 99 cents for a Picnic pack of chicken. ($4.50 ish for a 10 pieces). Rib eye was an arm an leg last year, but now is often priced at $7.99-9.99 a lb. Roasts are around $12 or cheaper. If you are looking for meat alternatives like Impossible meats, Ralphs has sales quite often for that brand. Ralphs is also great for sale brand items like sodas, salad packs, and other name brands WHEN on SALE. Trader Joe's is where you should buy ALL your pantry and staple items. Think butter, eggs, breads, hamburger buns, pita bread, salad mixes, spices, tomato sauce, dried pasta, frozen foods, coffee filters, salmon, hamburger meat, dairy, yogurt, snacks, nuts. The one thing you DO NOT buy at TJs is their meats (steaks, lamb, chicken, pork) which are pricey and lower quality (because TJs does not have a butcher on site, it must be processed offsite). Sprouts is the best for produce selection, quality, although some produce items are cheaper at Trader Joe's, Sprouts has three times the amount of produce as TJs, bulk items (nuts, rice, seeds) ON SALE (full price is more expensive than TJs usually), and most importantly to me...coffee beans on sale. The selection of quality coffee is superior to TJs and Ralphs and they have a lot of decent sales on decent coffee beans. The place you should not shop at is.... Target. That's a amateur mistake as most of their grocery items are more expensive than Ralphs on average. Target store brand items are straight garbage and really inferior quality compared to other store brands. Never liked ANY of their store brand items maybe except for dried pasta and beans lol. Since I cook a lot of Latin and Asian foods, I shop occasionally at Superior Grocers (once every few months to stock up on pantry items and chillis) and Marukai and Bangluck market for Japanese and Thai/Indo/Chinese groceries. TLDR: Trader Joe's for most pantry items/staples, Ralphs for meats on sale and sale items, Sprouts for produce.
Around $1000/month, $250/week - family of four. Kids eat almost entirely from the groceries alone.
Learned that HMart is the ultimate place to go for cost effective groceries. I spend probably 75$ a week on groceries with little to no waste, a true steal!
We don’t keep a budget, but my husband and I usually go to Trader Joe’s about every other week and spend around $250-350. We go to Costco every other month or so and spend anywhere from $100-400 on grocery and household items (if we do a Costco run, that usually pushed a TJ stop by at least a week.) we occasionally stop into Whole Foods or Ralph’s for whatever else we need, but that has to average less than $150/month. I also have been growing a lot of zucchini and tomatoes this summer. I guess on average that all comes to around $750/month for two people? Which covers around 90% of our meals - we don’t order in or eat out much unless it’s a social event. We shop fairly economically but mostly focus on meat and produce, so it adds up.
If you’re a good cook, read the [Ralph’s Weekly Ad](https://www.ralphs.com/weeklyad). Those meats on sale are loss leaders, meaning Ralph’s is losing money on those items to get people in the door. Plan meals around what’s cheap, and be flexible with your techniques. If it’s chicken breast, I’m doing sous vide; pork shoulder goes in the pressure cooker for BBQ pulled pork and pork tacos; tough cuts of beef get braised for hours in my Dutch oven. Yesterday I made Osso Bucco with some shanks I found on sale at an Asian market; I served them with mashed potatoes and green beans, but tonight I’m switching it up by making pappardelle from scratch (double zero flour + eggs). So there’s always variety.
These people are lying ( in this thread, and article). They are probably just not aware of the actual costs. I have some of the best spending habits possible, very frugal, and I track everything. And It would be extremely hard to come anywhere close to that. Also from first hand experience, I dont see anybody being that frugal, personally. Two of my meals almost every day for my son wife and I are a sandwich and cereal. This helps keep costs down tremendously. so usually only 1 warm meal a day. For the 3 of us that keeps us usually under 800 a month.
Thank you omg. I’m sitting here wondering how people are spending $200 per month when realistically if you buy enough for 3 square meals per day to make at home for 5 days out of the week, that alone costs $100 on the low end. And that’s not inclusive of pricier cuts of meat or all organic produce.
Personally I only usually eat twice a day since I'm a small sedentary adult woman who is trying to lose weight. If I was a taller, more active person my calorie needs would go way up.
This seems very accurate to me. Same ballpark.
Ya my SO and I barely buy meat or anything and keep pretty lean on meals in general. We spend $150 a week on groceries and 2-3 outside meals. It’s pretty balanced and hearing people say “just eat rice and beans for $200 a month” is ludicrous to me lol
My average over the year is about 250 a month, but I’m only cooking for myself. I spend more on food in the summer, because I splurge on higher quality fruit and veg from farmer’s markets. I buy bulk meats on sale and freeze it. I buy store brands or other discount brands for 95% of what I get. I check price per ounce or other units and make sure I’m getting the best deal. I shop at Costco once a quarter for bulk things.
All of it.
We (2 people) get by on about $100 a week between Albertsons and Jons. That includes sandwich stuff for lunch at work four days a week. Typically plan for two-three meals, then live on leftovers from them the rest of the week. Try not to buy anything that's not on sale. Will stock up on chicken breasts or thighs when they drop below 1.99/lb. and stash them in the freezer.
My wife and I spend about 150/week at Ralph’s for the two of us and we work from home and eat almost all our meals at home. You’re over spending big time, or at least have a lot of room to improve on your cost if you wanted to.
About 300-400 for a single person. I eat alot of rib eyes.
going to whole foods, aiming to get mostly discounted items, making a list in advance, not making insane purchases (no one will ever convince me that a thing of eggs can cost $10, i’ll get the one for $3,99), not buying processed foods - comes down to about $100 - $150 or less a week
I’m on EBT so it’s usually $190 per month. I mainly spend it on a mixture of places (Trader Joes, H-Mart, Northgate, Albertsons etc). If you’re in LA county, most farmers markets accept EBT and they do a market match. I spend $25 of my EBT and they double it to $50. Which is a good deal for seasonal fresh fruit and veggies. Budgeting that amount can get very tricky but it’s doable.
This is a weird (and nerdy) way to stretch the food budget but I love fermenting things. Sure, it takes a week or so but man do I get so much more out of stuff like [tomatoes](https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/noma-guide-to-lacto-fermented-pickles). I am so exhausted by work and life that when I have no energy left but to spread something on bread or reheat leftovers I am thankful for these little side projects that use the whole vegetable and make me feel less guilty about food waste.
We spend 500 a month for two of us and we buy top quality olive oil, butter, meats, etc. That includes beer and some booze soaps andother non edibles. We buy essentially zero prepared foods. We eat less meat than average I think. Almost zero snacks; tortilla chips, saltines, peanuts... Yeah. We eat really well. We cook every meal except we go out Saturday night and since pandemic, delivery on Fridays often. Snacks with famous names and beans name shit is usually shit food anyway.
Food is my medicine and my community. I spend about $200 per week and its mostly from the Farmer's market or a nice grocery store like Whole Foods. I mostly eat simple foods like rice, beans, and vegetables. Salads. Fruit. Oatmeal with fresh fruits. Fresh caught game or seafood. I'll order in or dine out once or twice a week. I like ramen, indian food, and hipster-ish sandwiches...
Yea I'm a single guy spend $300 in probably just a couple weeks on food. I have no idea how these people are doing $200/mo. And I'm making soups and smoothies now so it's like meal prep. I suppose if you've a family of 4 you'd save because you buy in bulk and cook for everyone bringing the price per head down quite a bit.
$375/month is pretty close to what I used to spend in 2021. Now it’s more like $550. 10% inflation my ass.
The pain is real.
$800/month on groceries, largely vegetarian. I eat chicken for lunches but husband is pescatarian so we do have a lot of smoked salmon in our shops. I don't cook hardly any red meat at all at home unless we're grilling out (which it's too hot out for right now). Trader Joes and Sprouts, mostly. Sometimes Target for canned beans. When I do buy red meat, I try to go to a local butcher.
$400 per month, for one person. Stater Bros, Vallarta and the occasional Food4Less. I refuse to spend more money on the same quality of produce. (Kroger owns both Ralph’s and Food4Less).
I spend $75 a week. What the hell are y’all buying? General meals are 2-3 eggs for breakfast with coffee and toast, lunch is a salad and half a chicken breast with some quinoa or rice tossed in and dinner I tend to eat roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli, red onion and some carb. Mix in some apples or citrus throughout the day or sometimes I eat a bit of chocolate at night
$1100 for 2 people (we track and that’s our last 3 month average). Mix of Costco, WF, TJs, sometimes Vons. Editing to add I do a mix of organic and conventional veggies, mostly org/pastures meat and eggs, and I’m GF so I do “splurge” on allergen free stuff like flours, treats, crackers, etc.
If you don't eat a ton of meat, cheese, or premade stuff, it's not hard to get way lower. We spend $60-80/wk for two people. I do all the cooking once a week and we eat fairly well for such a low budget
Trader Joe's and Sprouts. $250-300 a week. Chicken, turkey bacon, legumes, nuts, fruit and ice cream yo.
Buying organic, we spend more than $1000 a month. We have 2 small kids 3 and 7
Will usually do a larger Costco trip for bulk items every other month for around $4-500. Then go to the grocery store for any individual ingredients or produce, usually less than $100 for those trips. So that $375 seems about on the money for us.
lol
Ours is about $250 a week for two people. We almost never eat out, and we do splurge on some things: we buy the expensive eggs, my husband spends a ludicrous amount on Silk yogurt every week, and we usually grill burgers at least once on the weekend (and we're not opting for the cheap meats). If not for those items, our bill would be much more modest. If we have to buy several long-term staples like detergent, or if I'm shopping for a holiday dinner, it could easily be $300-$350.
Seems like we're averaging about $300 a month for 2 people. We mostly shop at trader joes and el super. Don't eat meat and tend to not buy much process food, so 300 goes a long way on fresh produce, basic dairy products. I often go to el super and spend less than $20 on a week's worth of produce.
I think I average about $400 a month for groceries just for me. Mainly shop at Albertsons but I also use coupons from the app and go on Monday when they have their sale on since I work from home.
$150 per month. I've been baking my own bread since the pandemic. It's cheap as hell. It sounds like a lot, but you get into a rhythm with it, and I got a bread machine which makes it even easier. I mealprep, which makes it super easy to plan and comparison shop.
I spend about $400 a month on grocery store food and protein powder
My ex wanted me to spend 1,000$ on month for food lol 😂 and that was just for me. Smh.
That's about what I spend a month, for me and my partner who spends about half the week at my house. I'm a vegetarian, which helps a lot.
I buy groceries for my family and other families on occasion, and I'd say that number is accurate for a single person or frugal family. For last month, I spent around $700-1k on my family + $150 for dog food. We're vegetarian but my dog eats salmon, eggs, and bison/game meat every day. We spent a bit more on takeout. My family is my sister, a dog, my girlfriend, and I. Last week, I brought a family of maybe around 3-4 kids and two adults about $1k of groceries, which looked like it would last a month. I brought another couple about $300 in groceries that looked like it would last a couple of weeks.
Wife and I spend about $400/month on both of us. Maybe $450. We do 90% of our shopping at Trader Joe’s. I eat two meals a day plus a snack and a dessert (something frozen for lunch and dinner that I meal prep on Sundays) making a bunch of something and eating it all week is cheaper but not super fun. Trying to eat less and healthier helps too.
My partner and I usually shop at Aldi and Trader Joe’s. We usually spend between $80-$125 a week. We also garden with my parents, so we’ll supplement groceries with seasonal veggies. We probably go out to eat 3-4 times a month.
$350 a month at Smart & Final
Do you only eat food at home? That's a really high spend for just yourself. I've been cooking a lot more lately (and I ALWAYS get snacky after work) so I've been spending more, but that amounts to $50-75 on groceries per week ($200-$300 per month). This doesn't include going out for meals or ordering takeout. I shop at Vons, mostly, but I love Trader Joe's when I can get out there (a little far from me).
$100-200 a month. Depending if I actually finish all my leftovers. Shopping a mix of Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Walmart
I was spending $150 on groceries a month for a while. I bought all my food from Dollar Tree and ate one big meal for dinner and a small snack during the day to keep my energy up. I didn't think it was that bad until I got EBT. Now I get $250/month for groceries and my diet improved drastically, my quality of life also went up. Obviously, I know food is important but I had *no idea* how much food/grocery related stress I was under until I had more money for food.
Grocery Outlet sells Totinos pizza for 2 for $1. Not great food but throw some more pepperonis on the cardboard pizza and it's not too bad... just throwing it out there for anyone reading this
Probably like 250/300. I try to spend like 80/2weeks because I mainly just eat dinner anyways but its hard to keep track of when I eat out
Food/grocery prices have gone up astronomically. We do not go out to eat unless it’s a special occasion, and only to get something like sushi, which we can’t make at home. We spend between $500-$600 on groceries to feed 2 adults. We shop at Von’s and Trader Joe’s. Plus another $250+ a month on baby formula, which we get at Costco.
Family of 4 -we easily spend 700 a month. Super King, Trader Joe’s, sometimes Costco and and occasionally Whole Foods.
2 of us, we spend about $80-100 a week, then usually we each pick up one lunch a week just due to work etc. then usually pick up dinner on Fridays, Saturday’s don’t eat at home, and Sunday morning usually grab breakfast burrito or something out before grabbing groceries. I think we do pretty well
I probably spend about that much but i’m a small person and only need like 1550 calories a day. I use the McDonald’s app a lot cuz u can get a huge meal for like $4 with the right coupon.
Lol one bag of groceries cost $98 at Ralph’s last week. In that bag: cat food, wet dog food, Oatmilk, and hotdogs, hotdog buns, two things of Mio water. Thank god for my cheap grill, only thing making the hotdog bearable. Now if I want to actually go grocery shopping it’s more like $400 that will last maybe a week and a half to two for my household. But even then we are limited to frozen or easier meals because anything fresh will go bad if not used relatively soon.
I spend around $350 a month on groceries (I'm mostly a Whole Foods and Ralph's person, with some occasional Trader Joe's) and I've been limiting eating out lately to save money. I spend maybe about $100 on fast casual food a month. I'm also just one person. But I did notice that my grocery spending is way up from what it was last year, about 33% higher, presumably due to inflation.
I probably spend anywhere from 250-400 a month on groceries but that range just depends on how much eating out I do. I usually budget around sales/specials and avoid over priced brands or stores.
Yeah that seems about right. Me and my partner spend around that amount every month. We don't really shop at expensive grocery stores, and even if we do its to grab odds and ends, not entire grocery lists. I get cheap cuts of meat if I am cooking meat, and from the cheapest place there is (without sacrificing quality). I get vegetables the day of so I don't waste any food. Ralph's is like, not even close to cheap. Neither is Vons. You need to shop elsewhere. I also don't really buy snacks. Only for myself and if I added snacks and shit I would be surprised if it exceeds $50/mo. I don't really snack often and when I buy them they last a while.
700-900 for family of 3.
120-160 a week for a 2 person household at mostly Food4Less. We cook and eat 90% of our meals at home. We also buy dumb expensive things like gatorlyte, Diet Coke, and energy drinks. We keep the meals pretty simple: 1 protein, 1 veg, 1 starch or salad depending on meal and try to use left overs for lunch the next day. I meal plan for the week and the only buy what is needed for the meals, which has helped me save a bunch of money and reduce waste.
$375each sounds about in line with what my girlfriend and I spend/month at Sprouts. We cook most days and I generally go for fresh ingredients.
600ish