Grocery Budgets
Recently, I have been involved in some discussions on a couple of Usenet groups about the cost of groceries. The more in-depth discussion was populated by folks who do most of their cooking from scratch (including myself), and I know most people do not (at least , judging by what I see people put in their grocery carts whenever I go shopping).
What do you guys spend? Is most of it raw, to-be-cooked-and-prepped stuff, or "convenience" products? This inquiring mind would like to know.
Here at Chez Binet, a family of two adults and one preschooler, I spend about $250 US a month for groceries and paper products. We rarely eat out.
The USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion has a number of documents on the subject, two of which are here and here (PDF files); the data coming from their 'Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals'. Maybe I'm a geek, but I think this stuff is fascinating.
posted by Saerah at 1/23/2006 04:04:00 PM
2 Comments:
Wow, you spend a lot less than we do (although I buy diapers, cleaning products, etc. at the grocery store too). We have a farmer's market that runs locally from April to November, and when that's open, we spend a lot less at the grocery store. In the winter, it's more, although we tend to eat heavier meals in the winter, too (more meats, fewer salads).
I do most of my shopping at a discount grocer called Aldi. For the rest I follow sales, and plan my meals accordingly. I like lists and plans and that sort of thing, though. Sometimes I plan my meal out for a month; an example is here. Farmer's markets are great, though, and if you can plan right,you can make sure you use up what you buy! While more expensive than what might be on sale at the local grocer, local produce is usually higher quality, and a better value for the dollar.
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