Re: Groceries
 

I have a seperate budget for cleaning supplies and such, I don't count that in my grocery budget.

I only buy that stuff when on sale and stock up, so I have months worth at a time generally so can skip buying it when not on sale.

There are certain things I refuse to buy at normal prices, soap, cleaning stuff, toilet paper, deodorant and the like.

I also refuse to pay the inflated prices on razors at stores, absolute rip off.

Re: Groceries
 

I hope Mrs N2O is in on the hobby too, it does sound a bit austere. How do you even remember the prices from years back?

Re: Groceries
 

Apparently you can feed a family of four in Africa for $5.00 a month, I don't know about you lot but I think we're getting ripped off on our groceries over here. :thumbdown:

Re: Groceries
 

Just looked at our spending. We are averaging about $1200 per month on groceries (food and cleaning stuff) ($300 a week). This is for a family of four including two teenage boys. We are in SW Ontario and use Superstore, Metro, Walmart and Foodland.

It is really expensive to buy meat and I am trying to make each bit go further but my OH cooks it like its going out of fashion. I always find that I have to buy ground beef or pork because it is the cheapest meat around unless something is on offer. I will buy chicken at Walmart because it is almost half the price of Foodland, but I feel sort of guilty because it must be pumped full of water or hormones or something to be that cheap.

Re: Groceries
 

crikey, that number just boggles my mind

Then to add to that as applicable, is rent or mortgage, utilities, electronic gadget monthly fees, travel/transit expenses, insurance, maintenance & upkeep items, clothing & whatever else money you have left to spend on.

Re: Groceries
 

Okay, so I just went through my credit card from the past month to get an idea about our monthly spend on groceries.

At grocery stores (Metro, Longos, Fortinos, etc) I spent $380. A bit of that would have been stuff for stock (e.g., I know my Fortinos trips include usually 24 bagels which then lasts 2 months, but I stock up when I'm there as it's a bit out of the way), and one shop was because I knew some stuff was on sale like 12-packs of pop an tinned beans and whatnot. So I'd guess probably $300 of that shop was on food that was actually consumed and not put into stock.

In addition, another probably $100 was purchased at Costco for the stuff I buy there... SOme stuff gets eaten like normal groceries, like milk, eggs, yogurt, etc.

So I'd guess that our monthly grocery bill is about $400-450 or so.

Re: Groceries
 

I'm thinking your monthly eating out bill is not peanuts.

Re: Groceries
 

two adults?

added after I posted:shard beat me to the question

I know this wasn't part of the original question for what folks spend on grocery food items - was there any added cost involved eating out or takeaway that could have been eliminated or reduced that may have increased your grocery bill?

Re: Groceries
 

No, I should have included that usually we both end up buying lunch at work, so you can tack on a reasonable amount for that.

We also went out for dinner 3 times last month... well, twice together, once I was out with a friend without Mr Schnooks.

All other breakfasts and dinners would have been at home.

Re: Groceries
 

$150-$200/mth for the two of you a reasonable number?

Re: Groceries
 

Call it $200, yeah.

So our total bill is in the $550-600 range when you include lunches.

Re: Groceries
 

:eek::eek::eek::eek:



On a side note, why doesn't Canada have food programs like the US does?

The US is pretty generous overall when it comes to food stamps for poor, disabled, poor families with kids etc.

I'd imagine if my sister and her kids lived here, they wouldn't eat much, no clue how people with kids can manage to feed their kids.

Do schools in Canada have hot lunches for students?

Re: Groceries
 

We spent according to debit records, 23 dollars in the last 30 days on fast food/eating out.

I venture since most are Tim's, it is the wife getting a bagel and coffee before work on the weekends.

I take food to work to eat, but overall I barely eat during my 8 hours shifts. They are overnight shifts, and frankly I am not hungry in the middle of the night.

I eat 1 larger meal a day, and then pick at food the rest of the day, some carrots here, some bread there.

My wife is the 3 square meals a day person in the house.

Re: Groceries
 

Okay, so I found a recent Costco bill in my purse.

Most of this is stock stuff, but I'd be interested in some price comparisons.

1lb unsalted butter - $3.69
6 large cans of salmon - $9.59
1kg jar of pickles - $4.99
1kg bag of sugar - $1.59
1kg bag salad topper (pine nuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries) - $9.59
4L milk - $4.49 (we get the PurFiltr milk as it lasts longer and we like it more)
1kg havarti cheese - $13.99
big block of 2yr Balderson cheddar (can't remember the weight) - $14.99
6 months worth of parmesan, 1.25kg or so - $23.08
11oz box of baby spinach, organic - $3.99
24 Omega3 eggs - $5.99
3 loaves Dempsters 12-grain bread - $6.89
15 pots (140g ea) greek yogurt - 11.99
2.5kg lean ground beef - $19.43

Re: Groceries
 

Are other kinds of milk cheaper? We pay 4.79-4.99 for 4 liters, but I don't think there is anything fancy about it, just typical milk in a jug.

Organic milk is about 8 dollars and some change normally.

Can get 30 normal eggs for about 5.99 here, but anything else is more, 5 to 7 for 12 of the omega eggs or free range eggs. Normal 12 eggs run about 3 bucks.