One of the goals on my 101 Things list was to record my food expenditures for a month. (There are still a few days remaining in January, but I won’t be going to the grocery store before then so this should be a realistic total.)
Grand total spent on food in January: $209.99.
All of this food was purchased from supermarkets – no restaurants or fast food. I take my own snacks and dinner to work (using my Bento). This total would have been higher in years past, when I used to eat out more often than I do now. I also haven’t been cooking a lot of stuff from scratch, so the total might have been higher if I were buying a wider variety of ingredients. (Or maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference, since that means I probably would have bought less prepared-foods.)
I wonder what the average single person spends on food in a month? I think my total pretty low, but I bet I could do better.
Food Purchased:
Misc: flax oil; lemon juice; organic canned tomatoes; unsweetened applesauce; protein powder; vegan sugar; Silk-brand soygurt; wasabi-coated dried edamame
Prepared foods: frozen Tabatchnick soups (barley-mushroom; vegetable; split pea); Progresso soup (Garden Vegetable); Boca burgers; spinach pies; whole-wheat organic pita pockets; beans: black, cannelloni, kidney
Meat alternatives: extra-firm tofu; chicken-style seitan; turkey-style deli veggie slices; dried TVP flakes
Breakfast items: old-fashioned oats; Kashi GoLean cereal
Veggies: frozen brussels sprouts; frozen broccoli; frozen spinach; cucumber
Fruits: dried dates; dried cranberries; bananas; apples; canned pineapple; canned pumpkin
Semi-prepared: falafel mix; tabouli salad mix
Liquids: soy milk; wine; gourmet coffee; diet soda
Things I already had: condiments, spices, and various baking ingredients
[Tags: 101 Things, 101in1001]
7 Comments
Cool. I should do the same. I wonder how much I spend? Between Will and I, I would guess about $300 a month. But maybe more?
When I lived on my own in Oregon, I kept good track of food expenditures. In that time, I spent about $120-160 a month on food. The high end was when I was stocking up (spices, flour, etc), and the cost lowers as time goes on and I accumulate a stock of my basic ingredients.
Here in A2 . . . I spend about $120 or so a month buying stuff for making food, snacks, etc. I spend another $50 or 60 a month going out, and I spend about $30 or so a month on food for sharing when I go to a friend’s house. One of my goals for next year is reducing my food expenditures.
that’s all you ate for a whole month?! that doesn’t seem like much food to me. just off the top of my head i bet i could double your list of groceries purchased in january.
i have no idea whether $200 is a lot for a single person. i know i spend a LOT of money on groceries (we do nearly all our shopping at health food stores, if that gives you any indication) and buying my lunch out. i don’t mind spending the money on groceries, but i’m always trying to spend less on buying my lunch.
canned pumpkin ? like mashed up ,or in chunks .do thay sell chunks of pumpkin ? ?.my motto is any thing with pumpkin in it is a good thing .pumpkin is my faverit food but i never thought about eating a canned pumpkin .
oh and be carful with how much tofu you eat I was reading an article at school saying that to women that rely on tofu as there main meat substitute triple there chances of breast cancer. I wish I could remember the researcher names or witch paper I read it in but there were a lot of distractions going on at the time
I would say $200 is very low, especially for the DC area. Not eating out and not eating meat are huge money savers though!
I have no idea what we spend on food, but I know it’s a lot more! It’s one of our goals to figure it out though. Baby steps I guess…
Wow, $200 sounds impressive to me, too. I would like to try to record how much I spend for my husband and me. I’m scared it would be a lot more.