<p>Really? I don’t know how much we spend, but I’d bet it is more than that for 3 people. And I cook everything from scratch. I almost always use dried beans and legumes, not canned. I used to bake all of our bread, but now I have to buy low carb types. I save trimmings from everything and make brown, chicken, and fish stocks (I get really cheap fish frames from the fishmonger). And I only buy cheap meats. I buy lots of boneless chicken breasts when they are $1.99 lb. I buy whole loins of boneless pork when they are $1.80 lb, cut them up into chops, roasts, and stir fry, make sausage out of the trimmings, and freeze all of it. I buy other meats just about only when the sale price is around $2.50 lb.</p>
<p>I think that most of our food money goes on fresh vegetables, actually.</p>
<p>^^ For us, it’s dairy that takes the money - milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. We cook from scratch, too. Even then, I can’t imagine making my own sausage!</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing Consolation. Back when I was a SAHM and $$ was tight, I could work my magic with ground beef, pasta & tougher cuts of meat in the crock pot for about $80-$100/week. But now that I’m working full time, I’m avoiding gluten and DH & D1 are avoiding carbs, it’s really hard to do. I just made a fruit run to Costco last night and spent $45. That will all be gone by Sunday. </p>
<p>D1 is able to cook in her dorm as there’s a full kitchen on her floor, but she’s buying certain foods for convenience (i.e. raw trimmed chicken breast strips vs. whole chicken or chicken breasts with bones) because she doesn’t really have the prep space. That adds $ but it’s still cheaper & healthier than eating out. </p>
<p>The $300 is the same cost per month as the meal plan is so it’s not costing us any more.</p>
<p>Ordinary lives: Dairy is high for us too; minimum of 4 gallons of milk per week and the cheese and greek yogurt intake is big as well.</p>
<p>Son budgeted $150 for the month (full kitchen in his apt) for food/kitchen supplies. But in the last 9 months he went from initial $125for the first month (staples) to now just around $75 per month. I did add him to my Sam’s club membership and he does shop at Trader Joe’s, weekly sales with coupons, and the farmers market. And his school hosts lunches sometimes (physician/student seminars, get-togethers) so it is supplemented somewhat. Occasionally he comes home for the weekend and also gets fed here, my little contribution since he pays for everything else.</p>
<p>I think my son pretty much lived on Rotisserie chicken, cereal and bananas. I think he pocketed most of the $50/week. How his money worked out was we would deposit enough to cover his portion of the rent, food money and utilities and he would make it last the month. </p>
<p>My daughter, OTOH, is a vegetarian who likes to cook, a bargain hunter and fairly organized. She and her roommates often did shopping trips to Costco and Trader Joe’s.
I doubt she had any money left over at the end of the month, but she never asked us for more.</p>
<p>Learning how to budget and take care of yourself are huge lessons. I wouldn’t want my kids to go hungry, but really $50 a week should be plenty for a single person.</p>
<p>D1 is living in campus-owned apartment next year. We will probably get her a 75 or 90 meal plan, so she can get dinner 5-6 nights/week on campus and not worry about cooking. (apartment has fridge, no stove - they need to bring microwave). We plan to stock her up on cereals & other breakfast foods.</p>
<p>ordinarylives, making your own sausage is actually very easy, especially if you leave it in bulk or patty form. And you can flavor it to your own liking.</p>
<p>I think the amount a student spends on food, toiletries, etc. also depends on where they go to school. D lives in Washington, DC without a car. Grocery stores are few and far between. There is a Whole Foods within walking distance but that is rather pricey. Also - D can easily spend $20 - $30 month on personal care products (shampoo, conditioner, frizz control, face cleanser, tampons, etc.). Occasionaly, she and roommates will have groceries delivered, especially if it is heavy stuff. So, for her, I don’t think $300 is out of line.</p>
<p>I guess I always think of how I managed when I was my kids age. I lived in whatever budget I had. I learned that if I had $10 then I couldn’t buy steak, I would buy rice and beans. Instead of buying a small container of shampoo, I would send them off with a Costco size amount. Isn’t the whole purpose of giving them a budget so they have to do a little self-limiting? Of course, what’s right for one family won’t be the same for every family but for us, living on a small budget made sense since that’s what they had to do once they finished school. My daughter, now 27 and a recent grad school graduate, lives on an even smaller budget then she did in college but does so happily.</p>
<p>Considering that my D’s apartment rent is $2700 a month (split between 4 roommates) - I consider $300 a month for food quite the bargain! And it’s still less than we were paying for her to live in the dorm and have a meal plan!</p>
<p>$2700 a month? is she living on the US, Russian, or Japanese part of the International Space Station ???</p>
<p>We’re spending around $500 for a family of 4 for food, so I’m guessing $150/month as well, with actual food a lot less thanks to the airlift mentioned earlier. The big expense is Starbucks coffee and Red Bull (architecture student staples)…</p>
???</p>