I try to keep it under 200 USD. Single person so it’s a bit easier. Buy meat and non perishable food in bulk when I can. Things like milk get bought sooner.
Currently it’s about 160€ per month. One person in Germany. Potatoes and air fryers are a godsend
Potatoes and air fryers are a godsend
I could live off french fries and chicken wings for the rest of my life and convince myself it’s healthy because I cook them without fat.
Air fryers are the heckin’ best. I don’t even notice a huge difference in how my tater tots taste.
$320USD/mo. for healthy, organic food for one person. It could be less, maybe 75% of that. I’ve been considering making changes, but I like what I like.
I’m going grocery shopping today, in a couple of hours, as it happens. I shop once per week.
It’s about the cheese - for example Boar’s Head is $12/lb (baby swiss) to $14/lb (imported Swiss or Grueyere) and that’s worth eating ramen to subsidize. :) We can’t be eating any of that basic cheese oh no no no…
I can’t believe that anyone would be buying Boar’s Head products after reading about their systemically filthy processing plants https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/09/repeat-creepy-meat-problems-at-boars-head-plants-draw-congressional-scrutiny/
BH cheeses != meats. They don’t own the cheese factories, they partner with established cheesemakers in a partner network.[1] (no comment on meats, I don’t eat them)
[1] one of them was in the news recently for a recall so it’s not all roses in the cheese world either :(
$40 (CAD) / Day
A bit expensive, but I’m both autistic and rather picky. I’m paying for my mental health there, not just food
Generally I’ll spend $15 on breakfast, $3 on a waterbottle at work, $20 for lunch, and sometimes I’ll buy those discounted meals made with offcuts and leftovers from Sobey’s. Around $10 - $15.
On my days off I eat whatever I have available in my pantry when I remember to eat.
You said you didn’t want to carry around a water bottle, what about a cup/mug, there’s surely a waterfountain at your workplace and saving 3$ a day is like ≈90$ a month (though if you spend a thou a month on food, 90 might not be significant ;) )
Eh, I haven’t tried it in a while. I’ll leave a waterbottle at work and try it out tomorrow. Your right that it will save some, and the tap water here isn’t that bad.
Somehow I got it in my head that I have to carry it back and forth all the time. Not sure how that came to be.
How’s that cuppa going ?
Tried it out the last couple days. Works great. The tap water here is apparently almost as good as my preferred bottled water brand. Looks like I’m saving $3 a day, thanks
:D
Well, habits work in misterious ways, sometimes you’ll desperately be trying to get one into your life and fail whatever you try, and sometimes you get savagely jumped by one and can’t get rid of it
why don’t you prepare more of your food? it allows you maximum control and saves tons of money. plus, it’s a lot easier than it might first appear.
I pay extra so I don’t have to do that. Carrying a waterbottle and a lunchbox was a significant contributor to my negative mental health as a teenager, and my life is way more pleasant without them.
In a similar vein, eating food that I don’t want to eat is very stressful for me, and I generally can’t know what I want to eat more than a couple of hours in advance. So eating food I prepared myself is usually rather disappointing.
Third, food waste. I never eat the same meal more than once a week if I can help it. That means that, when I buy a tomato, I end up only using a single slice and letting the rest rot in the fridge because there really aren’t all that many things I like that have tomatoes. The same goes for most ingredients. If I don’t use it within 4 hours, I may as well toss it, cause im never going to eat it.
I’ve tested out various ways of eating, and eating out often is cheaper compared to constantly re-buying ingredients for meals I’m not going to eat.
You should be very grateful that you have the resources to accommodate your tastes when most other people would just have to deal with it.
I am, definitely.
Single person and I do almost all of my own cooking. I average $500 - $600 a month.
This isn’t that far away from mine for two people: ~$600-$700 per month in a HCOL area and doing most of the cooking myself as well. I have found that sizing up a recipe for more people is only a marginal increase in cost. So, cooking for two is not just double that of cooking for one, but less.
Oh yeah. I made a YT video recently about money-saving tips, and one of the things I do is look at restaurants that have family-sized meals that they offer to-go. This works really well for pasta and rice, but I can get six meals for the cost of a few dollars each, package up five of them, and then I have five really yummy lunches for my in office days when I go in.
Jeez, are groceries really that expensive in the US? For me in germany I can get groceries for 2-3 month with this money.
They are. Luckily I cook nearly all of my own meals, or the bills would be way, way worse.
My grocery bill is well more than double what it was before 2020. Both ruling parties here refuse to address the corporate greed in any meaningful way, so each individual has to make the best choices they can for themselves.
They are very high yes, partly because they have climbed 25~50% in recent years. I cook most of our food for 3.5 people, shopping at the least expensive store in the area, making a wide range of things but mostly mid to lower cost ingredients. Eat out about once a week, never high priced places. Typically spend around 800/mo.
Two adults, one small child: About $400 on just groceries in a high CoL area.
Eating out is expensive, maybe another $400 a month.
Can you estimate how much it’d be without eating out?
Like… $450-500? It’s a pretty big difference.
I spend about $200/month just for myself. I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Take lunch with me to work everyday. I eat very very plain food (ie rice and chicken every day). With grocery prices up, I cut out a lot from my diet to keep around $200/month. No beef, no fresh fish, no fruits, no yogurt/kefir.
Meat: chicken, turkey, tuna fish, eggs and egg whites Veggies: kale, collard green, frozen veggies, tomatoes Carbs: rice, pasta, sweet potato, canned beans, peanut butter, granola bars, cereal Fruit: I admit I bought a bag of apples recently Dairy: milk, mozzarella cheese
I go to the gym regularly and drink 1-2 protein shakes per day.
Kind of embarrassing that I live on such a restricted boring diet, but at least I cook for myself, stay within budget, and stay away from processed foods/ snacks.
Don’t be embarrassed.
People like you and lifestyles like yours are what stop businesses from charging even more money.
Good for you ! But the fact that buying a bag of apples is a “frivolous”(that’s not the word but you get what i mean) thing is simply outrageous -_-
Food alone? Varies, but around 1000-2000 EUR equivalent. Sometimes more, such as during holidays.
Family of 6, Norway.
I’ll tag on you comment as it’s the same country:
About 10-12k NOK (so about 1000€) for a family of four.
Could probably reduce, but it’s important for us that the kids have access to healthy food that they like.
Take-out not included, which we do once or twice a month. Probably around 100-120 € there.
Tobacco for me is probably another 200 €. I should probably quit snusing…I visited Trondheim a few months ago with my girlfriend and the alcohol prices made us want to cry. We bought the cheapest bottle of red wine we could find and I think it was $16.
We spend around $400/month on groceries in the US. We eat mostly vegan and most of our meals are made from scratch. And a really good bottle of wine can be purchased for as low as $8 here if you know where to look.
Less than $100 just to feed myself.
I haven’t eaten at a restaurant in years and most of my meals are cooked by me using the cheapest ingredients I can tolerate.
$500/mo. Single person, SE USA. I eat 2 meals per day and a snack. Cook all of it except for one treat meal per week.
I should add, that price might be a tad high, as my grocery bill includes things for the household like laundry detergent.
I’m paid bi-weekly with $1,200 USD going toward groceries from each paycheck
Granted we’re a very large family though inflation these past few years hasn’t helped
We live in central NC, USA
No aldi near you?
There is, though we usually do better buying in bulk elsewhere
Left to my own devices it’d be about $100/month.
Rice, beans, pasta, peanut butter, oatmeal, and then whatever fruit and vegetables are cheap.
With the social life included, there’s more expenses. Did dinner out last week for $60 (a nice local Thai place). Ordered a pizza with a friend who was feeling down and watched Star Trek together for like $30.
Other non-rice meals with my partner can also be more expensive. We air-fried up some potatoes and vegan “meat” last night and it was good.
There’s an app called “too good to go” that lets you get cheap food near the end of day. It’s stuff the restaurant or grocery was going to have to throw out. Sometimes you get like four slices of pizza for $4, or a platter of Korean food for $6. Seems good and not enshittified yet.
I’m in NYC, for context.
I live in Denver and Too Good To Go just has donuts, donuts, donuts. Actually there are a handful of restaurants on it, but the app doesn’t accommodate dietary restrictions at all which is why I’ve never tried to get actual food through it. But yeah, dirt cheap piles of donuts anytime I want them.
Would you share some of the dishes you’re doing? Spending less on groceries would be nice.
It helps that I’m not a picky or demanding eater. I make a cup of rice in my rice cooker, get some canned beans, and throw in a random assortment of spices and/or condiments. Not afraid to try some weird combinations.
Where is your protein? Peanut butter and beans are mediocre to okay for protein.
Edit: numbers dont lie
Protein per 100 kcals , v egetarian Sources, food, Protein::
Seitan (wheat protein) 20–24 g Tempeh 17–19 g Tofu (firm) 11–13 g Lentils (cooked) 8–9 g Black beans / chickpeas (cooked) 6–7 g Edamame 10–11 g Greek yogurt, nonfat 15–17 g Cottage cheese, low-fat 12–14 g Quinoa (cooked) 3–4 g Peanuts / peanut butter 3–4 g Almonds 3–4 g
TF would you have them eating for protein? Hummus? Gruel? Peanut butter and beans are some of the best proteins on earth pound for pound. I say this as a meat eater.
Tf is that you wrong, here numbers:
Protein per 100 kcals of Food & Protein-
White fish / tuna 23–34 g Protein powder 13–20 g Chicken breast 14–15 g 90/10 ground beef 8–9 g Peanut butter 3–4 g
(Edit) Vegetarian options here: Protein per 100 kcals , v egetarian Sources, food, Protein-
Seitan (wheat protein) 20–24 g Tempeh 17–19 g Tofu (firm) 11–13 g Lentils (cooked) 8–9 g Black beans / chickpeas (cooked) 6–7 g Edamame 10–11 g Greek yogurt, nonfat 15–17 g Cottage cheese, low-fat 12–14 g Quinoa (cooked) 3–4 g Peanuts / peanut butter 3–4 g Almonds 3–4 g
I think plant proteins are lacking in something. I’m sympathetic to vegitarianism, but their brains shrink like 7% or something after a number of years it’s been reported.
I’m gonna need to see some sources on that one. I seriously doubt that any credible studies have shown anything of the sort.
I’ll save the nonsense response you would’ve gotten from the person who says “something like 7%” without a source.
The credible studies say that simply cutting meat can cause some deficiencies like iron and b12 that you have to be mindful of. If not, there are negative reproductions on things like cognitive ability.
People who can’t fathom vegetarianism read that and think “vegetarians brains shrink” instead of “vegetarians know this and adjust their diet to maximize the missing stuff (or take supplements)”
Thanks. I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, but I know a lot of them and that didn’t sound right at all.
It was reported in the newspapers maybe 15 years back. Believe the study, or no, I don’t give a fuck.
Someone else already clarified what you are misremembering. You are spreading misinformation.
It’s not misinformation that is was reported, I didn’t say anything about it’s veracity.
I’ve been feeling okay on the beans, peanut butter, and sometimes peas.
If you have cheap vegetarian options I’m open to recommendations
Lentils are a complete protein, along with quinoa (one can be allergic to the coating on raw quinoa, wash thoroughly and test your compatibility carefully. I’m allergic.). Pea protein is great, my fave fake meat is pea protein based rather than soy. Rice balances out beans (black beans if possible) to make a complete protein, it’s no accident that combo is standard in many latino dishes. Obviously tofu, it’s just more work to prepare especially if it’s only 1 or 2 ppl.
Slow cookers are great, most veggie dishes are ~4 hrs since no need for meat safety, you can make a billion things and Tupperware it for 6-8 meals. Celery works great as a natural salt, stands the heat and gives a dish some character (mince it). Half a jalapeno minced up brings nice fire to veggie dishes, goes well with chopped green onions which is also friendly to many dishes.
Got you.
Protein per 100 kcals , v egetarian Sources, food, Protein-
Seitan (wheat protein) 20–24 g Tempeh 17–19 g Tofu (firm) 11–13 g Lentils (cooked) 8–9 g Black beans / chickpeas (cooked) 6–7 g Edamame 10–11 g Greek yogurt, nonfat 15–17 g Cottage cheese, low-fat 12–14 g Quinoa (cooked) 3–4 g Peanuts / peanut butter 3–4 g Almonds 3–4 g
I aim for less than $500. In Canada, so…
It’s a lot of pork, beans, rice, frozen veggies, unsweetened Coconut not-milk. I buy some store brand junk food too I’ll admit. The sausage and cheese addiction inflates costs too. Fresh fruit usually I just get banana, kiwi, and watermelon sometimes if it’s on sale. I buy some frozen fruit but it’s much less than veggie. I don’t need the calories.
It’s insane that in Canada it takes me $400-$600 a month for 1 person to eat basic, but non-processed food. 2 meals a day, basic breakfast of eggs and a meat with maybe cheese, and a dinner of a protein and veg and maybe rice. I cook everything from scratch including bread and use everything, like bones for broth, etc. It’s getting impossible for low income Canadians to even hope to eat relatively healthy, but at least the shareholders get bonuses every year…
I help my roomie out who is on AISH he’s autistic enough to qualify but before he moved in it was a lot of bulk barn dry pasta, rice, beans and then no name brand pasta sauce cans supplemented with food bank :( I only charge him $450 for rent so he can eat better now.
Yeah it’s not good.
70€ (83$) food, 30€ (35$) drink. (Caffeine addiction)
I eat less than 1kg* per day, try to only buy food so it’s overall 2€ per kg of a meal, so it’s 62€ per month, with a monthly treat that’s 70.
Edit: Thinking about it, less than 1kg of food per day was perhaps too low, considering that realistically wouldn’t even be half of my recommended energy intake. Maybe the extremely high soda intake I used to have was just to balance that out? Anyway, since I switched to other drinks a month ago I probably eat way more.
It’s very impressive that your food in average is 4€/kg. Do you eat meat?
Not regularly. It’s a twice a month thing at best.
Probably around 500 bucks but I get a good amount of stuff for my girl too. In the US
