S/o organic thread

[laurack]

How much do you spend per week on groceries (and where do you live)? I would do a poll but I think that wouldn't be as helpful as people live in such different COL areas.

I'm sure there was a post on this before, but maybe now that people have started buying more organic stuff for the baby, it might be a good fresh discussion..?

Anyway I don't know for me exactly, I need to write it down more as I tend to just go every few days and spend between $50 and $100 it seems. I'd say probably at least $150/week though on average and it's just the two of us and the baby. (Boston area, so high COL)

I tend to buy what's on sale and stick to more basic veggies/less diversity due to cost. Like sometimes I see a weird exotic fruit or vegetable I wouldn't mind trying but I don't because it's way more expensive than brocolli or apples. However, buying natural meat and organic items really makes things expensive.

[dixeedeluxe]

About $150/week. I don't coupon or shop sales. I meal plan and shop from there.

[carawestt]

About $80/week. We go to a Costco type grocery store and buy a lot in bulk. The food is also priced really well so we get a lot for our money.

[devonpow]

Way too much. I just came back from Whole Foods where I dropped $76 on totally random things....we tend to do multiple, small grocery trips each week as opposed to a big trip every week or two. We buy a lot of organic, free range, etc. plus a lot of prepared things (like pre chopped veggies, etc) so it adds up. Plus DH is the worst impulse buyer on earth, and buys 10,000 random condiments/sauces/spices each trip that we almost never then use.

[musiclover]

About $125-150 a week
It pains me, and I hardly even buy meat.

[monkeybabe]

I'm not sure, too much, though. We get all of our meat at a more expensive, local store and I do most of the rest of our shopping at Fred Meyer (Kroger), which is significantly cheaper. We don't have much space in our kitchen, so I mostly buy for a few days at a time, so I shop multiple times a week.

[rjamz]

Between $100-200, depending on if we're having meat. Generally, kosher meat and kosher cheese are much more expensive than non-kosher, so I try to limit how much meat we buy (not how much cheese, can't do that). Organic kosher meat and chicken are even more outrageous and pretty hard to find anyway.

[claralou]

We spend a lot. Our food budget has always been high, specifically because we've always bought organic, sustainable, and locally sourced when possible. Usually about $200/week in several trips (vs one big trip). Baby has actually saved us $$ - we eat out VERY infrequently at this point.

[Deleted]

Around $500-600 a month. We live in Kansas. We buy a lot of organic, free range stuff so that adds up. We also don't buy boxed stuff like hamburger helper and what not, which I think makes things cost more overall. We do not have any "discount" places to shop like Costco here either.

[TrudyCampbell]

Jan 9, 2013 11:54:17 GMT -5 devonpow said:

Way too much. I just came back from Whole Foods where I dropped $76 on totally random things....we tend to do multiple, small grocery trips each week as opposed to a big trip every week or two. We buy a lot of organic, free range, etc. plus a lot of prepared things (like pre chopped veggies, etc) so it adds up. Plus DH is the worst impulse buyer on earth, and buys 10,000 random condiments/sauces/spices each trip that we almost never then use.

Same with us. I'm not sure of the total bc we do many small trips, but it's alot.

[rjamz]

Jan 9, 2013 12:05:31 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

Jan 9, 2013 11:54:17 GMT -5 devonpow said:

Way too much. I just came back from Whole Foods where I dropped $76 on totally random things....we tend to do multiple, small grocery trips each week as opposed to a big trip every week or two. We buy a lot of organic, free range, etc. plus a lot of prepared things (like pre chopped veggies, etc) so it adds up. Plus DH is the worst impulse buyer on earth, and buys 10,000 random condiments/sauces/spices each trip that we almost never then use.

Same with us. I'm not sure of the total bc we do many small trips, but it's alot.

We also do a lot of small trips bc it gives us an activity on really cold days when the park is just not an option (it's by the river and the wind is INTENSE some days). I'm estimating how much we spend. It's probably more, I just don't want to think about it.

[laurack]

I also go to whole foods often, there is one by my office/train. Yesterday I went and bought a small 2lb pork roast for a dinner we're having friends over for, and some veg/salad stuff, and yogurt, crackers and fruit for the baby. This came to $57. I'm going to have to go to the store again in like.. 2 days.

[bebeetmoi]

Around $200 a week. I also do small trips throughout the week, almost every day I'm at the market. We buy certain things at Costco (crushed tomatoes for sauce, frozen veggies, snacks for my step-sons lunch box, salmon and talapia which I portion out and freeze), but not a lot. I should be better about meal planning, but between my step-sons pickiness and DH not being home a few nights a week, it gets tricky.

[kdrake8]

Jan 9, 2013 11:49:42 GMT -5 dixeedeluxe said:

About $150/week. I don't coupon or shop sales. I meal plan and shop from there.

This. We budget $150/ week. That includes a $25 BRU gift card every week so that we can buy her wipes, food, etc when needed without budgeting that in. I currently have a few hundred in BRU gift cards so it works out.

I used to be super good about coupons but ever since having M I don't have the time to find or organize them. But I hope to get back to this in the future.

[charlielove]

In California, and I spend close to $100 a week on groceries, and buy no meat. We also do 1-2 Costco trips a month and spend around $150 each trip.

[Deleted]

avg $150/week Minneapolis

[mikehoncho]

I aim for 60-80 per week. Some times it's closer to 100 but that is only when we are buying alcohol or if we are going somewhere for dinner and need to bring something special. Before I started meal planning we were closer to 125-150/ week

[erniebufflo]

Our grocery budget is $380/month. Right now this doesn't include much baby food, as formula is in our baby budget (we love Mint.com). I buy most stuff at Kroger this time of year, with some from Farmer's Market and the local grocery, plus a little Whole Foods. We are mostly veg, mostly organic, no processed foods. We live in Arkansas.

[erniebufflo]

My grocery budget doesn't include booze or restaurants, FTR. Eating out is almost $200/month, booze is $80-$100/month.

[fusion]

I don't budget, but off the top of my head probably $125/ week at the grocery store (including booze and non-foods), $200/ month at costco, $100/month from amazon subscribe and save foods, and probably $50-$100/week on eating out. We live in a MCOL area.

[livinreality]

$80-$100/ week including groceries, non groceries, bulk/warehouse, $30/wk eating out... We don't buy many organics other than than the dirty dozen and often we just go without because the organic is out of budget.