How much do you spend a week on food

Wow, that's a heck of a price hike on eggs. if that was to hold across your total bill you will be pretty soon paying over $500 per week. That's frightening. You don't get a pay raise to offset those costs either. Thank you.

exactly and the more prices go up the more job cuts there are and that why so many people in the US are recieving food stamps becuase they just can't afford to buy food to keep their family alive

That $4.00 is about the same that we are paying for eggs here in the UK. And that's just for battery eggs, free range or organic are more.

This wasn't me, it was the middle one. She's supposed to be playing Mr Tumble with her son but she got lost.

Hello, just popped back as me. I was just going to add that until recently, we only had a small "Tesco" and a tiny "Iceland" so there wasn't much choice unless you could get somewhere else. Now we've got an "Aldi" and a "Home Bargains" so we are beginning to get more choice. I don't know about the quality of some of the things though. I definitely won't be buying fruit from Aldi, it looks terrible. I would be concerned about the freshness of it. Also, the matter of organic and free range foods. They are slowly filtering through but some of them are still too expensive for a lot of people. I know you will disagree with this but I just couldn't justify spending more on something because of where or how it's produced if it means we have to have less than we need. Less than we WANT is a different matter of course. I would definitely get more organic stuff if it was financially viable. I've had to go shopping with only £5 at times so I certainly wouldn't be thinking of anything other than the price at those times. Hopefully, with the intriduction of new stores in our area, it will be easier to make ethical choices without breaking the budget.

Pumpkin stop hiding behind your mother's skirts. I am impressed - by the way I have given you a lecture on foodstuffs on your boiled egg discussion. £100 a month! Really? £25 a week. I thought that £80 was on the low side. You should be running courses on budgeting if you can get away with a bill so low. I am serious. Wow. I take your point about incomes, but I reckon that your food bill should not come to more than 25% of your income. Less really. I don't now what our weekly income is, but it's not a £1000 and it's more than £100. Let's say £500. £80 seems about right. I am stunned.. Would you be willing to break that £100 down for me? PM me if you like. Nannacroc, you trained your girl well, that's all I can say.

Yes I think that is quite an amount to spend. Thank you.

A container garden on the patio can help if things get really tight. Organic veggies come almost free from your own dirt, and don't take that much care. Cuba's been doing that for years to survive the United States' embargo.

Food does seem to be getting more expensive. We are all in for a belt tightening time I think. Many thanks.

Wow Mo thats one big boy! Jake is about 5'2 and about 125. Of course I am 5' and his dad is only 5'10. You putting miracle grow in their kibble mummy mo?

Yep Angel the kids are tall - they always have been! We always knew Niall was going to be really tall as he has huge hands and feet! Niamh is 4'11" and she won't be 7 until August! Everyone asks if I keep them in growbags overnight but I don't - my brothers and their families are tall as well - one of my nephews gets called titch cos he is only 5'9" lol. My partner and my ex are both only 5'10" so it doesn't come from them! You enjoy your burgers and your processed cheese p1ke - a little of what you fancy does you good you know!!! I could never think of you as a hypocrite - you are an absolute darling and we love you for it! xxx

Do we really spend only £80? Yes, I think so. That's about the average and we are all rather too healthy. I could do with losing a pound or forty! I aim for 5 a day and usually manage it or more. We eat meat or fish once a day, usually at night. I rarely buy rubbish although, hangs head in shame, my wife makes superb homemade burgers - very slimming - and I just love a slice of processed cheese on them. The Kraft things. I am such a hypocrite, because I always turn my nose up at processed dairy. So sorry - I don't eat 100% organic dairy. But please may I keep my cheese slice? Please?

That seems a sensible approach to budgeting. Thank you.

That is one of my biggest issues, cereal costing more than $5 a box. Unless it is a jumbo size box of cereal I will not buy it unless it is on sale under $5.00. Heck, I think under $4.00 is my price cap. Because we go through a lot of cereal and different kinds, I have to buy it when it is on sale or in the jumbo size.

Grocery bills are increasing rapidly I am afraid all over the western world. I know what you mean by cereals and milk. We only had Rice Crispies at home today You would have thought that I had offered to feed her rat poison. But those things are about $5 a box here.

That's about what we spend with the same size family. We don't have the grandchildren yet, but we do have our daughter's friends when she is here from university. There's one here now! I think that the amount sounds about right, but I don't really know. It will always depend on what you want to eat I suppose. But we are pretty strict about sourcing meat and dairy. Thanks Angel.

Give or take a few dollars that's about what we spend on food too. I should have asked what people can buy for that amount. But most people with families of 3/4 are spending that amount. One of my earlier respondents - she's great I think that you'd like her - Pumpkinjam, says that she gets by on $200 a month. So I am going to see whether we can or not. I am going to see if we can live for a week on $50.

Absolutely Ruby, yes. We are very wasteful with food really. We buy more than we need of stuff that we don't need and not enough of stuff that we do. If you follow that somewhat convoluted theory.

Ive jst read that comment...and i think yes its quite possible ..more than possible. I think there are ways and means of a much less costly existence! Would you agree in me saying..its a case of thinking what you dont need as opposed to thinking what you do need???

Well let me break it down per person: 540/8= $67.50 per person per month 67.50/4 weeks=$16.88 per week per person 16.88/7 days=$2.41 per day per person 2.41/3 meals a day= 80 cents a meal for each person I think I did that right. When you look at it that way, not a lot of money for each person per meal. I know that there our other countries that don't even get that much in a week to feed a large family. I get to buy many fresh fruits or veggies and I don't leave room for junk food either. We do a lot of pasta and rice. I have been adding more beans also for protein when we start getting short on meat.

Thank you for that. I find it a tad worrying that people in your country are now so concerned about food prices that you feel ale to make comments about replacing meat with beans. Possibly you will be healthier as a result, but the reason for doing it is frightening in the so called first world.

That's quite a price for milk I think. $540 seems about an average monthly cost for food across the western world. There are some fluctuations. But food costs are rising. Not good news. Many thanks.

One year I decided, on the advice of an Italian friend, to raise nothing but tomatoes so that by the Autumn (Fall for you guys) we would be in the passata business big time. I planted well over 200 tomato plants and waited. After a while the shoots appeared and never were such little plants so well looked after. Then it rained. Then the sun came out. We had three month of this. The plants got blight and we had no passata. Of all those plants I managed to save 5. I have never grown a tomato since. Boo Hoo.

Makes me hungry too. I think that food should be the very best that you can afford. Sometimes buying more expansively can actually save you money in what you can do with the leftovers etc. Know what you mean about daughters! It's a total fallacy that boys eat more than girls. My daughter (only 2 more day left before she goes back) and her friend managed to polish off, pasta, pizza, sandwiches and all the fruit bowl yesterday. This week's shopping expedition is coming a little earlier!

That's impressive. I reckon on spending £100 with non food and £80 food only. I think that schools should teach a course in how to budget. Perhaps you could be the course tutor!

When can you move in?

I rule our household income with an iron fist!! Since the beginning of this year I have given everything a budget!! If its not in my budget we do not have it!!

LOL... well you can but try Piky!!!!!....if all else fails go to the yellow pages for the telephone number for the nearest soup kitchen!!!!!

Sound about average to me, for someone without children. Of course eating out bumps the cost up enormously. When we go out to an "ordinary" restaurant or pub I should think that we spend about £20 a head. Go somewhere special and you can triple that with booze. Actually, go the Ivy and double it without the booze! We don't go there often. LOL. My dad has got diabetes and if he is careful, he can eat a staggering amount of stuff that one might not think was on the permitted list.

Euro is a bit expensive now, 10 Euros are about $15!:-) You are right, there's not much variety here but I do like a good meal if I find someone to eat with. Otherwise, I may even resort to one time a day with just enough to get going, not because of any other thing but it's not just interesting alone, for me.

That doesn't sound like a lot of money for groceries each week Kamran. §10 is about $12. You won't go hungry, but there is not much variety there. Take good care of yourself.

Yes it must be. Yu have to eat, but you ned money too, and at those prices. Other Chinese people that have responded say thet their food is free. But I think that they work in factories, so it must be part of their salary. Thank you.

I know i didnt want to make the roman noodles, we have popcorn but i didnt want that, dry ceral isnt good to me, so i went with the last of the hotsauce and the bottom of the bag chips, grrr...., I'll have to have roman noodles for lunch

Sounds to me like you need a food allowance. LOL. Chips and hot sauce for breakfast - YUK. But if there is nothing else.....

That sounds a reasonable amount for two of you. I hope that things work out with the truck and everything. Thank you.

Thanks, I hope things work out with the truck too, because it's drive shaft broke, and it's going to cost us about $300. Ahhh, it's driving me nuts, and I don't even drive! lol.

Proportionally then you spend much the same as we do in the West. Thank you.