Your monthly food budget? Any input

niemela23

niemela23

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('Your monthly food budget? Any input would be super!' should've been the above title... Sorry about that, it didn't look like it was going to fit in the text bar while typing.)

Here's a good one:

About how much roughly (while not over or under-spending) do you spend on (condiments, garnishes, etc. included) the food you buy for either yourself, or yourself and your household, PER MONTH?

I realize that the amount will differ depending on the amount of people being fed, our personal diets and appetites, our locations, and the price of certain ingredients. As well, considering that we are an online community of 'foodies' from all over the globe, I'll have to keep in mind conversion rates for our Canadian dollars... but nonetheless, I'd like to hear everyone's answers. I've a bit of a food/frugality-related writing project in mind, but before I set the rocket to 'launch', any feedback would be great.

No better place to ask, right? :) Thanks for reading, fellow CookingBites members!
 
About £75 /95 euro/107 US dollars/140 Canadian dollars/66 Filipino pesos (tried to do Japanese yen but it ran into thousands!) per week for 4 adults. I know you asked per month but it was easier to work out per week! That doesn't include alcohol! I can do it cheaper if I wish but I love cooking and regard it as my main hobby so I indulge in quite a few 'luxury' ingredients. I think food prices in Canada are generally higher than in the UK. @niemela23, at least for certain items.
 
Ahh, it can be a hard estimate sometimes! I'd say for us it's probably close to 50,000 yen which is probably converted to about $450 US a month - that's for 2 adults and a toddler. Some things, like certain produce items and some meats are rather expensive here, so that puts a big old dent into it...plus I guess we just like to cook and try different recipes, so we're often buying different ingredients!
 
morning glory said:
About £75 /95 euro/107 US dollars/140 Canadian dollars/66 Filipino pesos (tried to do Japanese yenm but it ran into thousands!) per week for 4 adults. I know you asked per month but it was easier to work out per week! That doesn't include alcohol! I can do it cheaper if I wish but I love cooking and regard it as my main hobby so I indulge in quite a few 'luxury' ingredients. I think food prices in Canada are generally higher than in the UK. @niemela23, at least for certain items.
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Where is the Bajan/Barbadian conversion? I have not shopped for much in a very long time. My husband does the shopping but it could be like $1000 BDS/ $500US plus in a month just guessing. He likes to buy in bulk (I don't always like it) and he also shops around. The odd time when I go him, I think he gets scared. I have a way of picking up things I might have seen mentioned here. I am really guessing and also thinking that figure could go up significantly if I added shrimp and other expensive things.
 
winterybella said:
Where is the Bajan/Barbadian conversion? I have not shopped for much in a very long time. My husband does the shopping but it could be like $1000 BDS/ $500US plus in a month just guessing. He likes to buy in bulk (I don't always like it) and he also shops around. The odd time when I go him, I think he gets scared. I have a way of picking up things I might have seen mentioned here. I am really guessing and also thinking that figure could go up significantly if I added shrimp and other expensive things.
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I'm sorry @winterybella, in my ignorance I assumed you used US dollars in Barbados. I stand corrected! I'm surprised that shrimp is expensive there. I always assumed that being an island there would be plenty of cheap seafood and fish... how much do you pay for shrimp in Barbados (prawns in UK)? Here they vary in price depending on whether they are frozen, cooked or raw. The cheapest are the little cooked and shelled prawns. The most expensive the large uncooked shell-on prawns.
 
I spend about 400 to 500 US a month for a family of 3. but we mostly eat at home also. Rarely go out at all, even lunches are taken from home.
 
morning glory said:
I'm sorry @winterybella, in my ignorance I assumed you used US dollars in Barbados. I stand corrected! I'm surprised that shrimp is expensive there. I always assumed that being an island there would be plenty of cheap seafood and fish... how much do you pay for shrimp in Barbados (prawns in UK)? Here they vary in price depending on whether they are frozen, cooked or raw. The cheapest are the little cooked and shelled prawns. The most expensive the large uncooked shell-on prawns.
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I would have to check but expensive. My husband had a 'friend' that used to supply us at 'no charge' but that 'friend' has since become scarce and so has the shrimp. I am not a big fan so I don't push for it. The prices fluctuate with fish here. Around this time of year it should be cheap to by things like flying fish, blue marlin, dolphin and those kinds of fish you can get in our fish markets. Most imported fish like shrimp, salmon and the like are very expensive. About the currency, I was only teasing. US is popular around here. It's the currency that's readily accepted at the rate of 2BDS to 1US
 
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winterybella said:
I would have to check but expensive. My husband had a 'friend' that used to supply us at 'no charge' but that 'friend' has since become scarce and so has the shrimp. I am not a big fan so I don't push for it. The prices fluctuate with fish here. Around this time of year it should be cheap to by things like flying fish, blue marlin, dolphin and those kinds of fish you can get in our fish markets. Most imported fish like shrimp, salmon and the like are very expensive.
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Oh, I see. So shrimp aren't in the sea around there? I should know that! But alarm bells went off when you said dolphin. Isn't that supposed to be a protected mammal (dolphin isn't a fish)? I will look it up ...
 
morning glory said:
Oh, I see. So shrimp aren't in the sea around there? I should know that! But alarm bells went off when you said dolphin. Isn't that supposed to be a protected mammal (dolphin isn't a fish)? I will look it up ...
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Well thanks for the education. I just asked my son and he didn't have to think twice. I came along not giving it a thought. Whenever I thought about fish it would be 'dolphin', flying fish, marlin, tuna, bill fish, king fish or something like that. Dolphin being a mammal is news to me honestly.
 
You're right, morning glory!

Well, currently, I could probaby get away with spending around 20 (Canadian) dollars a month, because my pantry and freezer (& even my fridge to an extent) are pretty well stocked. But, I'd have to say I usually spend anywhere from about 70 to 180 dollars per month, and 180 would be while buying special 'fun' or 'special' treats or ingredients, or while purchasing unusually expensive ingredients for something like a new recipe or two. I live with others, but I only buy groceries for myself.
 
niemela23 said:
You're right, morning glory!

Well, currently, I could probaby get away with spending around 20 (Canadian) dollars a month, because my pantry and freezer (& even my fridge to an extent) are pretty well stocked. But, I'd have to say I usually spend anywhere from about 70 to 180 dollars per month, and 180 would be while buying special 'fun' or 'special' treats or ingredients, or while purchasing unusually expensive ingredients for something like a new recipe or two. I live with others, but I only buy groceries for myself.
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That is a really low expenditure! Even at 180 dollars that is only £90 a month. Not too bad!
 
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