Where does the biggest portion of your grocery budget go? Meat? Dairy? Produce? Prepared foods?

I live alone, so I have only myself to satisify, and my diet is abysmal! I spend way too much money on frozen, microwaveable food, and junk like ice cream. I am not a big meat eater.I have nothing against people that eat meat, but I seem to have lost my “taste” for red meat. What really hurts my wallet at the grocery is the price of fruit! The prices of things that families with children have to buy – milk, fruit, etc. are outrageous! At Easter, I went to NY to visit my adult son. For an Easter gift, I bought him $150 worth of groceries. It ALL went into ONE wheelie cart – a gallon of milk was $7.00!! I was shocked – how do families do it?

We spend mostly on fruit and main dinner items. I guess I should throw wine into the mix….

I find planning my weekly menu helps keep costs down. It sounds geeky but once the menu is done for the week you can make a shopping list of all ingredients needed. That way you don’t end up spending extra once you get to the supermarket. When planning the menu, we divide it up and allocate everyone a turn at cooking (we are a household of five). This keeps the ideas fresh and it is a pleasure when your turn to cook comes up, rather than a chore as you are cooked for on other days. We grow our own veg, and fresh produce is expensive in the shops but I’m not sure if growing your own works out any cheaper. There’s the time invested in the growing too, obviously. It is great to eat seasonal fruit and veg though. Given that we don’t but much fresh produce, meat eats up most of our budget, and yes, booze :)

I think we eat a lot of fruit and dairy. Not too much processed or packaged stuff. We shop at places where we can good prices for stuff to, which helps.

Prepared foods definitely. I am not allowed to cook, and until my wife is finished with the program she is in, she really has no time. I’m always commenting on how much we spend on food; it really is ridiculous.

I just have to say…I meant to type too.

I don’t buy prepared foods at all. We buy fresh produce, dairy, meat. I love cheese and admit to splurging on good parmesan, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and sharp cheddar. I love Whole Foods, but I wish there was a WF 12-step group!

Also, I am highly deprived, because there are no Trader Joe’s in my state. It is a wonderful resource for pricey items like ovlive oil, cheese, olives, almond butter, nuts, etc.

The largest protion of my budget goes to produce. I eat mostly salads for lunch and and stir frys for dinner during the week, fresh fruit is a big purchase. I came home yesterday with 3 bags full of fruits, veggies, catfood and a 1/2 gallon of milk.

Marina I totally understand the Whole Foods addiction. You need a Trader Joes to kick that habit. :)

Meat and produce for my husband and I.

Considering how much he eats, I don’t think we spend too much. We do clear out the entire kitchen by the end of the week, though.

We spend about $100 per week on groceries and other things like cleaning supplies and pet stuff. Give or take.

When I have time to cook (I work full tiem and go to school full time) it’s usually just for the two of us.

We eat mostly produce. Buying locally grown produce can cost a bit more. We cut out meat and poultry about 8 months agao so that part of our budget has gone way down.

Produce is the big expense but we eat alot of that.