Food Costs (Full Version)

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kisshou -> Food Costs (5/27/2006 8:09:50 PM)

If you had to feed ten people per day for a month how much would it cost?

Please break this down as much as possible (breakfast,lunches, dinners) does it include napkins , cleaning supplies etc?

I am hoping alot of people will reply because I want to learn how differently everyone budgets and if for some people it is steak and wine every night while for others it is ramen noodles.

I want the food to be healthy and nutritous.

For anyone who helps me out by replying here, a sincere thank you in advance



pahunkboy -> RE: Food Costs (5/27/2006 9:13:25 PM)

My mocha lattes are probaly $60 a month.



Chaingang -> RE: Food Costs (5/27/2006 9:20:59 PM)

Way too many variables and difficult to answer in detail without spending a lot of time on it. I'd ballpark $5-7 a person per day if you know where to shop cheaply in bulk - say like Costco. That's going to be $1500-2100. You can have lots of healthy things like salad fixings, fruit, eggs, bagels, pasta, salmon, and meats of all kinds fairly cheaply somewhere like that esp. staying away from the prepared foods, sugary cereals, and frozen junk. For example, I think you can get 6 dozen eggs there for around $5 or so. Bagels are something like $3 for a dozen. 6 heads of Romaine lettuce are about $3. I think the last time I was there they had Asian pears for $3 for 6 - a good deal. Similar bargains on red bell peppers and artichokes and so forth.

Napkins and cleaning supplies are negligible. I'd certainly use cloth napkins and ceramic/porcelain dinnerware and metal tableware. I always buy a service for 12 that I use as daily stuff because it's nice to have lots of spares as you load the dishwasher over a few days time so no problem for 10 guests. My problem would be where to put them because while I have both a table space in the kitchen and in the dining room - I use the dining room as a library instead, so no huge table. I could probably make do with a rented utility table nicely covered with a table cloth and some chairs.

Just some pointers, I take it you have homework to do and wanted some help...



BitaTruble -> RE: Food Costs (5/27/2006 9:28:21 PM)

Really hard to answer that one. Are they all adults or are there children? My ex and I had a group home with our kids and 6 teenage boys and our food budget ran about $1200 a month.. that was back in 79-80 though and we all ate very healthy. More kids mean more milk, adults probably want better cuts of meat and fish while kids are happy with corn dogs and hamburgers.

Celeste



Lordandmaster -> RE: Food Costs (5/27/2006 9:32:22 PM)

I couldn't break this down by meal, but my guess would be in the same ballpark as everyone else's--somewhere around $1,200-1,500 a month to feed ten people, not counting meals outside the home.

Food costs are going up, by the way, because shipping costs are going up, and most food in the U.S. is shipped over a thousand miles before it arrives on the dinner table.



MsSonnetMarwood -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 5:28:26 AM)

When I lived alone, I would spend an average of about $50 a week on groceries, including cleaning supplies, etc.  That included being fairly frugal, using coupons, shopping sales; but also including a lot of quality foods including fresh veg and fruit.  When I did the low carb thing and basically focused on lots of fresh veg and meats, it went up to about $60 to $70 a week.

You can save some money by buying bulk, shopping sales, and keeping meals simple. 




kisshou -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 10:43:14 AM)

Thank you all who replied and I apologize I didn't realize it was so difficult. I just thought everyone would take what they spent on themselves for food each week then mulitply it by ten.

I wanted a bunch of different people to answer because I wanted to compare what I would budget for food against what other people spent.

I appreciate pahunkboys answer because 60 dollars just for coffe each month, that is something he is obviously used to and expects to have. I have never drunk coffee and could never imagine spending so much a month on it. wow

I should have worded the question: How much do you spend on food for yourself each day..

I hope you all will answer again and others to, I just want to see if I live differently than everyone else.




pahunkboy -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 11:00:50 AM)

Kissyou- thank you for the kind words. Your post topic was fine. Please keep posting!

On some things- I am tightwad of the century. This leaves room to be a drunken sailor on pleasure I choose to spend on.

I shop at aldis. http://www.aldifoods.com/  I shop at the dollar store.
At Aldis- start in produce. Next hit dairy. Anything after that may or may not be up to quality standards. If you forget to bring your own bag- grab a box from the shelves.

Next- locate- a bulk store near you. Last time a bought 2 lbs poppys seed, 1lb sesemi seed, dill, celery seed, coconut- etc. CHEAP. How many times in the past I bought specghitti sauce with olives. then wonder which guest got the olive in it.

95% of my stuff is 2nd hand. I do garage sales- flea markets- scratch and dent sales. I dumpster dive.

If I told you my income you would laugh.

If you have time to cook- you can sacve money.

Always consider if you are paying for packaging.

I am the tightwad of the century!

Before I retired, I spent alot on fast food, tv dinners.

I saved $400 on the eye glasses in my pic here. I am serious.

Keep posting. We like you!

Turbo



MsVoyeringmama -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 11:35:35 AM)

quote:

  95% of my stuff is 2nd hand. I do garage sales- flea markets- scratch and dent sales. I dumpster dive.
If I told you my income you would laugh.
If you have time to cook- you can sacve money.
Always consider if you are paying for packaging.
I am the tightwad of the century! 
I am serious.
  << ummm a man after my own heart, but I bet my frugalness is better then yours -lolol wanna compare :)

hmmm- after reading this- im gonna reply this way- show you what nutritous meals I make for 3 adults/1 teen. most to make cost about $7-10 for the whole meal

"Bacon rice-a roni"
1lb bacon cooked to crunchy form/-can substitute w/ bacon bits - 1 jar
2packets "lipton/herb and butter side dishes"
1 cup (your brand rice-- to stretch it)
1 can corn
~~~~~~~~~~
cook bacon to crunchy- let it sit after to dry
cook rice a roni to pkg directions and adding 2 1/2 cup extra water  for stretched rice- as well as a little extra margerine-- and your season salts
3 mins. be4 rice cooked -crumple the bacon-add the corn- mix - and serve-
this is a filling hearty, all in 1 meal - make a simple salad to serve along (if wish)
//////////////////////////////////////
(I usually use ham and turkey) MEAT SALAD-
most all super markets sell meat ends for lots less.
I make a reg. salad "let,tom,cuke,carrots,celery-- optional peppers, raddishes - cheese's
and cube cut the meat ends- (would be like chef salad-but meat smaller- so more meat in each mouthfull) add small chinese crunchy noodles and roasted sunflower seeds for more crunch, top with your favorite dressing.
///////////////////////////////////
if you want more recp's let me know.



BitaTruble -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 12:09:28 PM)

Ah, ok..well, I make three meals a day from scratch for two people, so probably spend a bit less than if I made pre-packaged stuff. I go shopping once a month for most things then do fill-ins for fresh veggies and fruits etc... plus I do dishes by hand rather than use my dishwasher, so that probably cuts down on the budget as well.

Last grocery bill was $160 for the month.. month before that was $168. Add in about $10 a week for fill-in stuff.  Paper products, cleaning.. around $50.00 a month.. ::doing my math here:: so, I guess around $30.00 per week per person.. make it $35.00 to be safe .. because there are also expenses that aren't monthly. $30.00 every 3 months on water filters, things like that... averages out. I never have to buy breads or pastas or sweet stuff because I make it all from scratch and it's a lot cheaper doing it that way.

Hope that helps.

Celeste

edited to add: I forgot about alcohol! I use wine in the vast majority of meat and chicken dishes, so make that $40 a week. ;)



Lordandmaster -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 4:04:37 PM)

Well, that doesn't really work.  Cooking for ten people is cheaper than cooking for one person ten times.

quote:

ORIGINAL: kisshou

I just thought everyone would take what they spent on themselves for food each week then mulitply it by ten.



NeedToUseYou -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 4:19:01 PM)

I eat terribly, LOL, and don't cook except if you consider microwave cooking.
So, don't know if I'd help in this surver. but here average. Generally only eat two times a day.
3 sodas=3.50(is this food?)
1 Fast food meal=6.50
1 Pop in the microwave meal=4.00
Some other random food average probably=1.00

15.00/day  * 30 days=450.00/month

hehe, yeah terrible, I don't cook though, simply hate it.






kisshou -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 4:19:50 PM)

I wish I l ived next door to bitatruble for the homemade pasta :)

Thank you both for the frugal posts MsVoyeringmama and pahunkboy

Master L&M it is more that sometimes I feel so out of step with everyone else.  I have this one brother who would never even wear clothes from Wal-mart much less anything from a thrift store.  People in my family think I am such a weirdo and I think they are nutty because they spend so much money on take out food or magazines. My sister spends more on shampooh and stuff than bita does for groceries.

So for me the grocery comparison was more to see if my values are somehow really skewed compared to a sampling of other people.

I could never justify spending 30-40 dollars a month on magazines when I could read them free at the library , or read olders ones that people give me. I could take that money and buy a cow that would give a poor family milk for a long time.

That is the kind of thing I value but my family thinks that makes me impractical and weird and stuff.



Littlepita -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 4:29:11 PM)

I did take our food budget and multiplied by 10 and came up with $1800 month.



MistressDiane -> RE: Food Costs (5/28/2006 4:45:16 PM)

There's 2 of us, most every day I cook breakfast, something for lunch and dinner and I cook most everything from scratch as well that includes biscuits, pancakes, sweets and breads (bread not so often once a month maybe twice) plus we garden which means we freeze and can. That cuts down on in a big way. The regular grocery shopping and incidentals, cleaning supplies, trash bags etc. I do monthly, with the exception of milk, bread, eggs which is usually a weekly or biweekly thing. I budget 200.00 a month for the groceries and 100 for incidentals. I usually don't spend the full 100 on the incidentals cause I have everything  stocked up pretty much.



pahunkboy -> RE: Food Costs (5/29/2006 4:29:27 AM)

Kissyou, thank you for the kind words. http://www.freecycle.org/  find a freecycle branch near you. People can post what they have to give away- or they want. Local is best. I gave my old clunker car away on that site. I could have got $500 for it, but I did not want the hastle.

Informally- I always have a bag of things to go up to jb. She sorts- sends on to dave-who sends on to tim who sends remainder to thrift store. I never demand an exchange- but goodies come my way via this same method.

In America we have so much junk- clutter-things we are distracted, disorganized, almost chained to it. Over 10 year- 10 major ports will need to be built to handle imports- if more  stuff. I go out and buy a widget- I already own 1 or 2, but cant find it. I cant find the important stuff cause of all the clutter. 

Also- people move- whatever % every season- it is too expensive to store stuff in those storage places. So they dump it.

Happiness and inner peace cant be found in a shopping mall.  Less debt is liberating....and many use credit to buy groceries. Many are a paycheck away from financial problems.

Work with what you have.

Be happy.

I have a brother who lives in a perfect world-- you know where the living room is a roped off museum. He can keep it.

*smiles*

Look into freecycle....

Turbo



pahunkboy -> RE: Food Costs (6/1/2006 10:19:48 AM)

May I ask- why you ask?

Are you feeding 10 people?

If so- what kind of eatrers are they? Some are happy with hotdogs- others want meat and potatos.

Once you get the rythem of it- it will flow better. Stores run the same sales every 6 weeks or so. I always catch chicken breasts when on sale. If I dont see them, I ask.

One day-I was at the group home- on the menu was a fancy casseloe- something far out. I asked the guys. Hey what sounds good for dinner? They wanted hot dogs.

My co-worker rolled his eyes the next day. But the guys wanted hot dogs. LOL.

If I ever get back to Calif- I gotta pop into a trader joe- I hear it all the time.

I love to hit the farm stands here. It keeps the cash local- and is so good. When a regular the farmer will throw you special deals...
He knows you come back.

Keep us posted.

*smiles*



zumala -> RE: Food Costs (6/1/2006 10:28:48 AM)

We're on a tight budget and I try to keep it as healthy as possible... but sometimes mac&cheese is cheaper.  I think for two people we spend about $300 a month.  I make a lot of black beans (canned) and brown rice.  We eat a lot of cheese.  Spaghetti.  Mac&cheese.  Boneless ribs are a decent substitute for steak.  Salmon when I can get it.  The occasional frozen pizza. Frozen veggies and fruits.  Oatmeal, cereal, bread.  We also have two cats, and their food and litter can up the bill.
 
zuma



DomMeinCT -> RE: Food Costs (6/1/2006 10:36:24 AM)

quote:

Kissyou, thank you for the kind words. http://www.freecycle.org/  find a freecycle branch near you. People can post what they have to give away- or they want. Local is best. I gave my old clunker car away on that site. I could have got $500 for it, but I did not want the hastle.


I can second the Freecycle.org recommendation.  I belong to two of the communities in my area and am able to free myself of Too Much Stuff and post requests for things that others have hanging around taking up space.

And back to the food question....2 adults/3 kids (and a bunch of dogs/cats) = $140 per week.  I'm also a heavy coupon user, and buy almost nothing packaged if it isn't on sale and/or I have a coupon.  On a good week with coupons I can save $30-$50, and I keep a pantry stocked with often-used items bought on sale.



MsVoyeringmama -> RE: Food Costs (6/2/2006 2:05:11 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomMeinCT

I can second the Freecycle.org   recommendation.  I belong to two of the communities in my area and am able to free myself of Too Much Stuff and post requests for things that others have hanging around taking up space.
>> for those in CT/area's, my son and I also have a recycle group/not so much limited like Freecycle.org - with so many rules as to what and when and how often you can post..
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnfieldCTRecycle4Free/ 




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