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We average $500/month on groceries and $400/month on eating out. Family of 3. We cook about 80-90% of all meals. We eat like kings. All kinds of meat, all kinds of veggies, different types of cuisines. So, even $800/month on just groceries for two people sounds a lot for Atlanta. We're in a similar sized city so don't know how we can spend 300 more on top of our current spend. Unless I'm buying lobster and crabs and steaks for most meals.
This isn’t crazy. 2 adults + a toddler here in Boston suburbs. We do one grocery trip a week that usually runs us ~$125, then we’ll order in a couple times each week which tacks on another $100 or so.
Total spend in Jan for all groceries, takeout, fast food, coffee, etc. was around $1,150.
Almost all of our dinners we make also turn into leftovers for lunch a day or two later (for us and the little one)
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Woah… i spend 250 a month just for myself . I scan NON organic bar codes for my organic fruit… lol
The funny thing is the user said they spend 250 per person. OP said 400 per person on the low end. Which makes sense if they’re buying all organic and healthy. An extra 150 per month isn’t that insane
Turn vegan and save tons of money, reduce animal abuse, improve the environment, get healthier
Do you have any counterpoints to anything I said…?
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Join Costco and get your organic here.. we also spend about $200/trip weekly. This includes more than just food like baby diapers and household items, but definitely helps with the budget to buy in bulk.
Use the Amex Blue Preferred card for groceries - 6% cash back.
Same here $1000 a month for us two.
NYC for two people -
- $800/m for a meal prep service
- $800/m for weekend dine out and drinks
- $200/m for UberEats weekday lunch
Total $900 per month per person approximately.
JC2 if this is the lifestyle you can afford as in all your other expenses and investments are taken care from they go for it. If you can’t pay your bills or invest because of this habit then it’s a problem. To each their own. Based on the persons priorities. For me that too expensive and I don’t socialize as much, so I save a bit more than that per month.
That sounds like a lot. In a higher COL city, cook 2-3 times a week (only eat out 1-2x a week) so making lot of leftover sized meals, and SO and I spend about $300-500/month (higher end when we go to Costco every 3 months) on groceries. We use Costco for our bulk protein buys. That said, we’re not buying organic so maybe it’d be more if we did?
Damn after looking at the rest of the responses, I’m just curious: do you guys shop for recipes or just go in blind? Are you shopping at high end stores like erewhon, whole foods, etc.? Just surprised that we are spending so much less per month for 2 people in a coastal HCOL city.
We spend $700 on groceries and $500-$700 on restaurants.
When we lived in NYC we spent more than double that on food
My SO and I spend a decent amount of our monthly budget on food as well and it’s also just us. About $200 per grocery trip and 3-4 trips a month. About $100-$200 on takeout a week on average. We live downtown in a MCOL city. Honestly inflation is the biggest killer I think. Things cost 3x what they used to, it’s insane 🤯
I live in metro Atl as well and spend around $150 a week (about $600 a month) total for 2 people. We eat 85% of our meals at home (all breakfasts, almost all lunches, and 4ish dinners), and I like to cook. I don’t make extravagant meals though, but more simple classics (soups, sandwiches, pastas, casseroles, enchiladas, tacos). We do not eat a lot of meat though, and meat is expensive. I do buy all organic veggies and fruit. We shop at Publix.
700 on groceries and 700 on eating out. 2 young kids also. Probably could get it lower but not all that much
I think there are a lot of variables that affect answers like whether people are including non-food grocery items in their totals, which add up, and whether some people who spend less on groceries make up for it by buying coffee or lunch out every day. If you are cooking most meals and buying high quality food, I can understand spending that much.
I live in SF, so VHCOL and spend about $400/month on groceries for myself. I eat 5-6 large meals per day because I’m trying to build muscle, so if I had to eat like a regular person I could probably get by on $250-300 per month.
Organic produce is significantly more expensive than regular and in my opinion doesn’t have any extra benefits. Do your own research, but that’s an easy lever to pull to cut costs.
Also, there is a lot of gaming in what is actually "organic". The USDA has done a very good job of making things clear as mud.
If you live in HCOL, I cannot understand how you can spend less than 1k for 2 individuals per month., esp. in the current market. We buy groceries, occasionally eat out or get delivery - its always close to 1.5k. Not everything is organic, but we try to when we can. I usually also eat just 1 meal a day, the rest being cereal or protein bars.
Budgeting? Meal planning? I make my shopping list according to the recipes I cook each month (which is about 8-12) and then restock essentials when needed. We don’t buy organic, but we shop Ralphs, Trader Joes, and at Japanese/Korean markets. OP also mentioned just groceries but yes, when you look at overall eating habits, it would be hard to spend under $1k. Even though we’re spending only $300-500 for groceries, we spend about $600-700 eating out (which then puts us around/a little over $1000).
Also if you’re mostly just eating cereal and protein bars, how is your grocery budget NOT under $1k??
I live in NY. In January, I spent around $400 for groceries for my girlfriend and I. Where do you do your shopping? Might be time for a new grocer...
I live in Dallas and spending at least $1500 for family of 3. Not sure how you guys are able to spend so less.. Any tips or tricks?
I’m in Dallas too. I find Target is very expensive. I will on occasion for some stuff but I mainly go to Tom Thumb/Kroger. Even Fiesta growing up always had lower prices for produce. I don’t eat out much, only for social stuff so I cook at home.
This turned into a great thread—thanks for all of the responses! I’m the proud new owner of a Costco membership haha. Hope to have some savings to report back in a few months 🙏
We spend around $600.. but we are lazy and busy and eat a lot of the same stuff over and over again. We buy organic but we don’t make extravagant meals or anything like that.
Texas.
I don’t think it’s a lot. I probably have gotten my grocery costs down to around 150 per week (just for me). I buy a lot of high quality meats. I cook restaurant style meals for myself so justify spending by saying hey I’m not paying $50 for just a safe in a restaurant