How much do you spend a month on food?

[sevenbravo]

I am not normally a budgeting type person, but I am trying to get a better handle on how much I spend each month. Last month my family (wife, 3 kids ages 6,8,11) spent just over $1,100 on groceries. My wife and I are 95% raw and the kids are probably closer to 70%. We buy organic when it is available and we get a basket of veggies every week from a CSA. The only free food we recieved last month was from our small garden and from our neighbors. Eleven hundred dollars seemed like a lot, but then I broke it down to $2.37 per person, per meal. Which seems pretty good considering we don't eat anything out of a box. Everything we eat is a whole food. (the only non-raw things in the house are sprouted wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice)

So I am curious, do you all know how much you are spending?

[Conscious Midwife]

Household of seven
Me, hubby and kiddos ages 2, 3, 12, 14, 18

@$1000 monthly including food in restaurants.

ME 100% Raw
Hubby and teens 50% - 75% RAW
2 and 3 year old high raw

farmers market 1-2 times per month
wild oats 1-2 times per month
need to incorporate more organic

Chinese accounts for approximately $100 monthly. Hubby usually eats buffet at lunch, one to two times per week, and The family has take out every other week.

[vgloveforlife]

Househould of 2 and I spend about $300.00 give or take in a month. I go to the farmers market 2X a week and the rest of the week I go to a discount grocery store and I will ocassionally go to the regular grocery store. About 80% of the food is organic.

I could never imagine spending over $1,000 but my family is smaller obviously.

[rawbeliever]

wow, vgloveforlife, that's pretty good. I'm spending twice that much for food that's only about 30% organic. I wish I could get down to $150 per month/person. maybe i should haunt a few farmer's markets...

[Biff]

We spend about $1,200 a month on food - and it is just me, my wife, and our 20 month old daughter. We do buy 95% organic including lots of avocados and nuts, which makes our grocery bill nuts!

[Green Life]

We spend about $400.00 per month. That has to go for food for me (99% raw) my husband (99% cooked) and my two burlesque teenage sons (50-50).

That does not include our restruant fares which I won't even begin to mention.

It is so expensive to eat well, really it is.


Cheers!
Green Life

[juliebove]

I spend a lot, but it's hard for me to break it down to just food because I buy other things at the health food and grocery store besides just food. My husband is not raw and most of the food money goes for him. He eats a lot of ice cream, chips, meat, etc. And he eats enough food for two people at least! Daughter is not raw and also has a lot of food allergies so I have to buy a lot of special things for her that cost more than regular food does. I'm high raw, mostly organic. And then there's the cat who is on a senior diet.

Most weeks I get a box of organic fruits and vegetables from the health foods store. I do have a small garden so there were several weeks this summer when I did not get a shipment because it was duplicating what I was fresh in my garden. What I grow doesn't cost me a lot. Much is grown from seed and I use Earthboxes. I can reuse the same dirt from year to year, only having to replace the top 2" of dirt. I probably spent $30-40 this year on seeds, plants and dirt. I didn't really keep track of that.

My organic produce box costs me between $30-50 each week depending on what I get in it. I usually get the small box plus a few additional items so it's usually around $30. But if I get coffee, eggs or a lot of extra produce, it's more.

I usually have one grocery store trip that's around $200. Another trip that's around $100 and still another that's about $40 to $60. But this isn't just food. I might also buy magazines, sundries, cleaning supplies, cat litter, school supplies, etc.

I spend another $60 or so per week at the health food store, but that includes supplements, books, cards, crystals, etc.

During the school year, my daughter and I dined out about 2-3 times a week. A meal for the two of us can run anywhere from $10 to $30 depending on where we go and what we eat. Husband sometimes has to dine out at more expensive affairs such as the one tonight that cost $40.

And then there's the special food for my daughter that I can't get in the regular stores. Stuff like xanthan gum, powdered vanilla, soy and dairy free chocolate, and other baking supplies. That's probably about $30-$40 a month.

I guess the cat costs the least amount of money. She gets one pouch of food per day at less than $1.00, plus a little dry food and treats.

[faith4u]

I am not normally a budgeting type person, but I am trying to get a better handle on how much I spend each month. Last month my family (wife, 3 kids ages 6,8,11) spent just over $1,100 on groceries. My wife and I are 95% raw and the kids are probably closer to 70%. We buy organic when it is available and we get a basket of veggies every week from a CSA. The only free food we recieved last month was from our small garden and from our neighbors. Eleven hundred dollars seemed like a lot, but then I broke it down to $2.37 per person, per meal. Which seems pretty good considering we don't eat anything out of a box. Everything we eat is a whole food. (the only non-raw things in the house are sprouted wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice)

So I am curious, do you all know how much you are spending?

Yep, that is about what we are spending too. We have four children. Prices have gone up a lot on all foods.

[eachpeachpearplum]

I asked this question when I first started as i felt I never had enough money. . .to then find out most spent less than me so I crawed away with my tail between my legs.

We were concerned why we seem to spend sooo much compared to SAD others and that was just it. PB&J, Pasta, Potatoes, Bread, Hot Dogs, chips etc. These items are CHEAP and last a long time.

So, we do budget and I get $324 x 4 per month and all but maybe $20 go to food & toiletries which are very basic stuff like TP & soap, I wear no make up. I do most of my fruit shopping at Costco and the rest is between PCC (like Whole Foods) & Fred Meyer. We do not eat out.

We consist of myself my husband and kids 2 & 6. I am 100% my husband is healthy SAD and my kids are high raw.

I have included a picture of yesterdays shop. This is mostly Costco ($125) stuff & a bit of Fred Meyer ($55). I shop on T & TH so I will do most of my veg shopping next; as the pics shows that is mostly my fruit purchase. The one item missing is their FZN bags of fruit.

[Conscious Midwife]

I think our expenses is HIGh no matter what precentage of raw anyone in my family is doing. Reason beingis because whenever I get into a dietary kick everyone in the house wants to consume "my stuff" plus their suff. For instance I use to eat a lot of garden burgers, which you know are expensive frozen vegetarian foods. Well hubby can eat three in one sitting when normally he would only consume one large turkey burger from the grill.

Also my kiddos are all big on fruit. So with our household size it is nothing or us to consume 2 bunches of bannanas, a crate of strawberries ( 2pints) a couple of pounds of grapes and 1/2 a bag of apples in a day.

I also love nuts which is my greatest individual food item expense per serving, I guess.

[dreamrawalwz]

$300-$400 a month on just me I try to do all organic and when I do it's closer to $400. My parents spend maybe $80 a month...not sure how they do that haha. We also belong to a CSA farm and a little garden that we own in our backyard.

[Dimond]

Way too much on just me, which is why I'm cutting back.

[RawFoodieMom]

EPPP, nice pic, such beautiful fruit! I noticed somebody snagged one of the nectarines before you took the photo, LOL.