Pulaski

I agree. There's just three of us, including a nine year old, and I would guess our monthly grocery bill, including incidental household consumables like cleaning supplies, batteries, tissues, etc. would be in the $600-$700 range.

Note for Mr Ken: many of our vegetables are organic, but we ain't payin' $6-$8/gal for organic milk!

Rete

Only two adults in our household but we have been adopted by two people in the neighborhood who mooch off of us for cigarettes, soda, meat and potatoes so our grocery bill is about $500 a month. But if we had to, we could get away with only buying perishables for a month and live with the meats and poultry in the freezer. Let's hope the electricity doesn't fail

kodokan

Yes, ours includes general supermarket stuff as well as food, but I split out big things like clothes or homeware items (I use a budget tracking app for everything). $750-800 a month was my 'eek, we need to cut back!' job loss amount last year; the usual amount is around $1000, but that's when we're being leisurely about booze, Nespresso coffee pods, fancy baking ingredients, and having a couple of squares of nice chocolate after dinner.

tuxedocat

breakfast .35
1 egg .20
1 piece of toast .15
or
2 servings of cereal .30

lunch .80
1/4 lb of carrots .25
granola bar .25
peanut butter & jelly .30 ?

snack .50
1/2 can of fruit .50 - .70
apple .50
fruit in season ?

dinner is at least $1
4 oz of chicken .40
or
1/4 can of beans .30

serving of potato, pasta, or rice .20 - .40
serving of veg .25+

plus oil or butter, salad dressing, soy or bbq sauce, OJ or citrus fruits, milk

Unless you are canning your own produce OR you have a chest freezer and are able to hit the meat dept when stuff is drastically marked down, it would be very difficult to do it consistently with 2016 prices. This is for adults or children add a teen in the mix and double everything.

Rete

When was the last time you only ate 4 oz. of chicken for dinner?

tuxedocat

Rete I agree I'm saying it would be difficult to do it consistently even with no frills buying generic at 2016 price.

scrubbedexpat091

We do about $150 to $200/month for groceries for 2 adults excluding things like toilet paper/cleaning etc, that probably runs about $20 a month on average.

We don't eat all that well though, ideally a couple would need $150/week to eat well balanced meals, 3 times a day plus some snacks.

Rete

Gotcha! We would all be healthy or skeletal if we ate that way.

mrken30

I forgot about the stuff we buy in bulk.

We have chickens , so the eggs do not come out of the grocery budget. We buy bread at the outlet store. We don't drink much coffee or alcohol. I drink tea at work, we mostly drink water.

We cook 90% of our meals from scratch and freeze them. Spices and similar items are also only bought once or twice a year.

We buy in bulk when the price is good, so for instance we have 6 months supply of toilet rolls and washing detergent. Plus we only buy a sack of rice every other month. I was guessing at the cost because I don't keep track that well, but I was surprised how much other people spend.

We are family of 2 plus 2 kids under 5

I'm sure $5 per day per adult is enough for food for a day.
For $10 a day we could eat out every day and have food left over. A $7 thai meal will make two meals.

Slice of toast, 10c , egg free for break fast,
Cereal we buy in bulk 1lb cost around $2 and last about a week, 25c, plus 50c for milk.
breakfast is about a dollar.

2 pack of paneer for $10 makes anough curry for about 10 days.Plus veg and spices.
Rice $15 bag lasts us about a month

We have meat about 3 times a week

kodokan

$5 per adult for food sounds very reasonable; I could easily do that for hubby and I by stripping out wine and fancy coffee.

But I find it's the teens who push the price up in our house, as it's important to me that they have proper food and not the cardboard junk they'd otherwise lazily fill up on. The school bus picks up at 6.45am so breakfast is mostly a granola bar to eat later; they come in around $1 a piece because I get the nutritious ones that are mostly stuck-together nuts, rather than the cheap slabs-of-flour-and-sugar ones.

They take lunches to school, and again, I want to pack more than just a peanut butter jelly sandwich: they have fruit, veggies, protein like chunks of chicken or cheese or salami, crackers, decent yogurts, trail mix to snack on, etc. I'd estimate $3 for an average lunch.

When they come home from school, they don't '4pm light snack' as such, they eat another meal: a sandwich, waffles, cheese/ crackers/ fruit... another $1 or so here.

And then dinner, which varies from cheap like soup or jacket potatoes at maybe $1-1.50 per person, to more of a $3-4 per person for beef-based dishes. We eat a lot of chicken, and I stretch with lentils and more veggies wherever possible. We used to live in Switzerland where it cost $25 for a single chicken or $20 for a pound of minced beef, so I got good at recipes where at least half of the 'meat' in chili, curries, spag bol, etc, is actually pulses.

Teens are crazy expensive to feed, at least to feed well. My almost 17 year old isn't even very sporty but still eats absolutely endlessly (yet is whip thin); I expect athletic ones are doing upwards of 3500 calories a day. He is on a 5 meals a day regime, usually drifting back into the kitchen again for a supper at 9-10pm. But they're also idle (or as they would have it, 'busy') and simply won't make an actual meal with cheap ingredients that need actual cooking. So my fridge usually looks like a supermarket deli counter with ready-chopped veggies, meats, salads, etc, so he makes up a quick but healthy plate rather than eating a giant pile of slices of plain bread.

Carey924

I used to live in Fredericksburg on a $65,000 salary. I lived in a one bedroom apartment right next to the train station and walking distances to all the shops in the historic downtown. Because of its location and amenities (pool, clubhouse, gym) it was on the more expensive side for a one bedroom place ($1275/month). There are many other cheaper options nearby if you don't need a central location or lots of amenities. I currently live in a similar community in Stafford which is about 10 miles away and a little bit cheaper.

My train fare was covered by my employer but gas is also under $2.00/gallon here at the moment. Fredericksburg is home to Central Park, one of the largest shopping complexes in the country. With Walmart, Target, Wegmans and several other grocery chains it's very easy to find stores that fit within any budget.

Although I'm only a single person household when I first moved in I was paying off some debt from a period of unemployment so had quite a lot of money going on credit card and car payments in addition to my rent and living costs. I was still able to save a little each month and live comfortably on that salary as long as I wasn't spending money on excessive shopping or going out to dinner every night.

ottotheboar

If your husband is with the navy he may be at the Dahlgren facility to the east of Fredericksburg. That being the case I would stay east of I95 as the traffic can be very congested in the general area as the express lanes do not start till closer to DC.

Nutmegger

Are you planning a trip to check out the area first hand? That might make the whole thing moot if you feel the region wouldn't work for you. Better to learn now, rather than when the process has been set in motion.

VeryVeritas

Two adults can live happily on a 65K salary in Fredericksburg (or not, if you are addicted to gambling or home shopping networks). You don't have to drive to survive, but will want to choose a pedestrian or public/uber transportation friendly location. Fredericksburg is a nice town, has some historic charm. Lots of sunny days. Has a train to NYC and doubtless elsewhere which would allow you and your husband to explore other parts of the eastern seaboard and you have beautiful mountains, some of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, not far to the west. Sales tax is very low--a combined state and local rate of around 5%--and food is only taxed at around 1.5%, most services not taxed at all. This information is old, but don't think there has been a dramatic change. If you eschew packaged food and know how to cook you can eat like royalty for a reasonable sum. There are farmers markets, and a lot of staple items in US food chains are extremely reasonable in price, organic or not. Gas and utilities are likely less expensive. It is certainly possible to buy a used car for a reasonable price. I could go on, but basically, if you are looking for an adventure or even a new life, this is not a bad foot hold and if you don't like it, you will be keeping your home.

I would, however, try to negotiate a few things with the employer. I assume they will pay to ship household goods and the fur kids (the latter is not at all difficult as long as they have a health cert and are rabies vaccinated and chipped--they can fly with you as checked luggage for a small fee on your final trip or you can ship them as live cargo which requires a "trusted shipper" and can be expensive but not horrible if they fly on the same bill of lading). Perhaps ask the employer to pay for a trip home every year for x period and also get a moving allowance for incidentals--you will need new electronics (TV, lamps, microwaves, etc.), some furnishing and decorating of your new abode. I don't think US tax code has changed in this regard, but I would also be certain that the employer is going to pay to offset the taxes on the cost of your move--this will be taxed as income and could push you into a higher tax bracket, so it is fair to expect that the employer will do a gross up and cover the additional taxes.

I will warn you that the US is not as dog friendly on the whole as the UK. But that varies by region as well.