If you click on the June 2012 link, it tells you how much the average food budget for 1 person, 2 people, etc., is based on thrifty, low cost, moderate, liberal plans. It is also grouped by age. So for me, my weekly cost should be $36.70 low to $68.00 liberal.
~Ha! Their thrifty plan is over 2X what I actually spend. I could buy all organic and eat out a few times a month with an allowance as high as the thrifty plan.~
we eat very little meat
we get food from the commodities program
We have a source of free day-old bread, or we make our own
We eat very little convenience type food, junk food, rarely drink milk or soda, and get vegs and eggs from neighbors
Hmmm...I was thinking it was actually kind of low. I'm surprised y'all think it's high or within reason. I think I spend more, but it's hard to tell since I buy all my household items, etc., at the same time. Plus, I buy for my dog, so that adds to it. I was thinking that since 09/01 is just a few days away, I would test it for a month - keeping track of just my food. Then again, since I have such a large stock at present, it would be hard to say. As it stands now, I could eat for 2-3 months without buying anything except staples - bread, milk, eggs - and some fresh fruits/veggies.
That's why I like Quicken. I can go to WalMart (or Target) and buy everything I need then when I log the purchase I "split" the transaction categories. That way when I look at my budget categories, food is separate from non-food items and pet food.
I'd say their thrifty plan is about what we spend, on average. And we don't buy much for HBAs at the grocery store, or pet supplies. We do buy things like suet balls in the winter though. But we buy a lot of fresh produce which bumps up the cost. And dairy.
We don't have a weekly budget for groceries, since there are so many variables. So we'd have to figure our weekly bills by averaging several months or a year.
Remember that this is a national average, so it's going to be higher than in some areas and lower than others.
That said, I do wonder where they get their numbers, as I would have a hard time spending some of these amounts even if we ate in restaurants all month.
We're averaging just under the monthly thrifty plan for a family of 4.(thrifty plan $627.90/us $600) I used the older children's number but I didn't see a way to calculate up for teenagers even though they have individual amounts. This is the figure that has been making me crazy for months.
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