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It's hard to say on a daily basis, but I spend maybe $60 a week on food for my boyfriend and I. That includes his diet sodas, so it's not really an accurate tally of "food", but anyway... averaged out, that's about $4.29 per person per day.
We eat a lot of cheap food - pasta, chicken, soups - I do ALL of the cooking, we almost never use prepackaged convenience foods, and we never ever eat out. But he does drink a lot of soda, which is expensive, and I eat a lot of salads and fruit, which aren't the cheapest foods usually, so we even spend a little more than we really *have* to.
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Its kind of hard for me to say as we do a LOT of shopping at Costco and buy most everything in bulk! We only go to the regular grocery stores a couple of times a month. Sorry, not too much help here! 
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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$60 a week!
For me and my boyfriend, we usually spend around $80-$100 a week. (So that's like $6 or $7 a day each.) And that's with virtually no prepackaged foods, buying lots in bulk, no-name brands, and eating hardly any meat between us.
Any other tips, oh amazingly frugal one? 
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Hard to say. I spend between $40 and about $75 on groceries for two of us each week. It depends what's on the list. This week, for example, we didn't need any meat, so it was lower. It's higher on the weeks when we're out of meat, my husband "needs" pop, and I need stuff to take to work for lunch.
I don't think I spend any more than I did before IBS. Sure, I'm buying soy milk every week now at $2.69 a half gallon, but I used to spend some of that on the fresh produce that I can't have much of now.
I also used to buy baby carrots, but now I just get a 5lb every couple weeks. It costs less than a 1lb. bag of baby carrots and doesn't get slimy!
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Okay, lets see. It costs us on average $183 a week for 2 people + 1 dog. That includes ALL staples, as well as food, dog food, cosmetics, drugs, etc. We shop once a week, and ONLY once a week. So, if you calculate our dog as a quarter of a person, that would be $81.33 each for one week, or $11.62 per day.
Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Well, actually, I'm eventually going to have to re-calculate it because I've noticed our grocery bill has dropped drastically since we started Weight Watchers two and a half weeks ago. Yeah, I went on the diet, and hubby lost the weight! Typical. 
Bev
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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I takes living in New England to really know the meaning of FRUGAL. Right, Casey?
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Carol
nós somos o que nós somos e o descanso é merda
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I spend about 50 to 100 dollars a week depending on wether or not we need meat products or dog food. There are 2 adults, a 6 year old, and an 8 year old, and two dogs in my home. We eat ALOT of chicken and pasta! We used to spend 200 dollars a week when I was eating red meat and alot of fresh produce. I also buy the generic brand and shop the sales.
Christie
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Christie
~Hoping and Praying for Sleep!~
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We Mainers are cheap! I mean, THRIFTY! Haha.
Honestly, I think some of why our grocery bill is so low is because food is cheaper here. When my father was up here visiting, he went shopping with me, and he kept yelling things like, "Oranges are 4 for $1 here! They're 89 cents each in NJ!" and "You pay less than $1 for a dozen eggs! Holy cow!" etc etc.
But here's a few other things I do:
1. I never, ever, EVER buy bread. I go to our local bakery distribution center and pick up "expired" bread for FREE. You have to really look at it, to make sure you're not grabbing something moldy, but the last time I was there, I picked up an ENTIRE TRASH BAG of bread that was dated 3 or 4 days ahead (meaning, it was Dec. 31st and the bread was dated Jan. 4), for absolutely nothing, and stocked up the freezer.
2. I only buy meat/poultry items when they're on sale, and when they are, I stock up. I plan meals around what's cheap, not the other way around.
3. I don't buy name brands unless they're cheaper than the store brands.
4. I never buy packaged or prepared foods - canned soups, frozen dinners, stuff like that. It's just too expensive. I'm a do-it-yourself-er... if I can do it myself, I probably do. Like, instead of buying granola, I make my own. It's healthier and incredibly cheap.
5. I don't buy "special" foods. The only special item I ever buy is soy milk. Special-diet foods - like vegetarian "meats" - are expensive, and I just never buy them. If I want to eat vegetarian meals, I make recipes that use legumes (so cheap!) or just eat pasta and sauce or stirfries.
That's all I can think of. The funny thing is that I think $60 a week is HORRIBLE and way more than 2 people should be spending, so this thread is kind of a reality check. LOL! Once upon a time, I survived on my own on $10 a week for food. No freaking joke. It wasn't the healthiest diet in the world, but you'd be surprised how much you can eat on that little when you absolutely have to.
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I spent about $600.00 a month between Wal-Mart and Sam's club. This is for a family of four, 2 dogs and 1 cat. This includes clothing...toilet paper...and so forth. So if we take the animals out of the equation all together as our expenses their are minimal, we are looking at $5.00 per person, per day. But that is for EVERYTHING.
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Have a blessed day!...Rachel
stable and sooooooo thankful!
I have IBS but it doesn't have me!
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Food isn't something I budget. I mean, I don't spend beyond my means, but I've never really thought about being food thrifty. My partner and I spend probably about $80 - $120 week between the two of us. We rarely eat out and don't spend a lot of money on non-necessities, so I don't feel guilty about going to the grocery store every couple of days. I'm just thankful I can enjoy eating again! 
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Hey! HEY! HEYYYY!
#238877 - 01/16/06 10:28 AM
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Bevvy
Reged: 11/04/03
Posts: 5918
Loc: Northwest Washington State
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Quote:
We Mainers are cheap!
It's true that the cost of living is cheaper in certain areas than others. Texans can live a LOT cheaper than Californians and Washingtonians. And yes, I recall food being much cheaper in Maine than in California.
However, I confess I'm guilty of buying what I want, not what's on special. Casey, you're a real inspiration. I'd like to think I could do what you do, but there's no way. Before going to the grocery store for the week's groceries, I make up my menu for the week, then prepare my grocery list, and that's what I stick to, regardless of what it's selling for in the store. Oy. See how I am? No wonder my weekly expenses are so high!
Casey, you are wrong about one thing: $60 a week is PHENOMENAL! Even considering the cost-of-living-issue, it's extremely low. And, even on Weight Watchers, I'm positive our bill isn't that low, and never will be. You should congratulate yourself on being a very clever, intelligent young lady! Hubby is damn lucky.
Bevvy
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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I spend anywhere from 20.00-40.00 dollars a week on food, depending on if I need chicken/groundturkey/shrimp etc.
The weeks where I do need them, are closer to 40.00.
I could get it even cheaper if I didn't drink so much sparkling water, seltzer, but I love the stuff, and it replaces a coca cola addiction just a tad bit.
I do however, only cook for one, but most of my recipes involve fresh veggies, shrimp, chicken, and/or pasta.
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Once upon a time, I could spend only $25 a week on food. I have no idea what I was eating, but I sure couldn't do that now, even if I was still single.
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LOL!!! Bev...
#238901 - 01/16/06 11:24 AM
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atomic rose
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 7013
Loc: Maine (IBS-A stable since July '05!)
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Bevvy dear, I didn't mean "cheap" as a bad thing! Actually, "thrifty" doesn't know regions, anyway, of course - my mother raised me to be a bargain-hunter. She gets ALL the credit here! But it's mostly out of necessity. We can barely even afford the $60/week we spend now!
You know what's funny, Bev? I NEVER stick to my list! Hah! So *you're* the inspiration in that regard! I'm a terrible impulse buyer. Sometimes that works out well, if I get to the store and see that something else is on sale. Other times, not so good, if I walk through the produce section and see that EVERYTHING looks fantastic and I have to have one of each! 
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I don't know what I spent when I bought my own food. I did usually buy store or generic brands. I did have to have Kelloggs frosted flakes and Green Giant niblets. I just didn't like the store brands. I would buy meat on sale (buy 1 pkg. get one free) and freeze the pieces individually. I did splurge once in a while on something I really liked (seafood), but I like chicken so ate a lot of that.
Now that other people take care of that I just eat what's put in front of me. Supposedly the State figures that they should feed us for $2.00 a day. So why am I so fat? 
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Carol
nós somos o que nós somos e o descanso é merda
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We buy alot of our stuff at BJ's in bulk ie: toilet paper, butter, chicken, papertowels, cleaning supplies, veggies almost everything. The perdue chicken is so cheap there, for 8 pieces it is like $10 and there are 3 of us so I just seperate it and put them in the frezzer in bags of 3! It averages out to be about $75 a week we spend. We only go to the grocery store for lunch meat, bread, milk and OJ since my son drinks it non-stop and bananas. Good luck I hope this helps. Buying in bulk can save you LOTS of money and ours even has coupons:)
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I think it gave us all a reason to think about this...thank YOU!
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Have a blessed day!...Rachel
stable and sooooooo thankful!
I have IBS but it doesn't have me!
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Re: Not much
#239326 - 01/18/06 04:00 AM
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jrs
Reged: 03/31/03
Posts: 317
Loc: Aberystwyth, Wales
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Right now, I'm spending about £60-£70/month on food - when I was in the states, I think I was averaging about $150/month, but I was not a 'student' so indulged from time to time (Trader Joes, etc.).
So if you're breaking it down per day, it's just over £2/day here, and about $5/day back in the States - however, like other people have mentioned as well, I do all my own cooking, and rely on sales at stores to stock up on stuff, etc.
- Vincent
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