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I know there are lots of variables, but what should it cost for a single person to eat for a month (in the U.S.) if they cook for themselves at home and never eat out?

skado 9 Mar 28
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1

If you eat organic it is much more expensive but worth it. I do not eat a lot, I buy bulk if something I use all the time is on sale and I can either freeze it or it will get so I never really get a good bead on what I spend per month.
I am not extravagant and I am grateful for being able to afford what I want and how I want to eat.

1

Probably depends on choices of main dishes,casseroles for some can last for days, as pots of soups. Two small meals may be better than one huge once a day meal. 'd also look for manager mark downs on meats,also,nothing has gone bad, but they want to turn over the stock at times quickly.

1

In UK I did the £25 ($40) a week challenge for a family of 5. It was pushing it and I made a lot of bread but worth it. I cook from scratch anyway. I probably spend about £10-£15 a day now. There is only 3 (sometimes 4) here now. Cooking, baking and being organised is the key.

1

I spend a fortune. Butcher Box for meat 129-149/ month. This week I spent 139 on fresh produce and baking supplies. I eat paleo, so everything costs more.

1

I probably spend $30-50 per week. I don't buy meat and I don't buy processed food. With fresh foods I only buy what I know I can consume... it absolutely kills me to throw away food. I eat leftovers and also prepare large batches that I breakdown into several meals. I do occasionally go out to eat but I'm armed with coupons. 🙂 Here in Vegas there are food banks everywhere. I have used them but not in the last 4 years. I'm picky about what I buy and even though it's free, if I'm not going to personally use it, I won't take it. Many people in my low-income senior apartments depend on them and go to a few throughout the month to keep their pantries stocked.

There are cost cutting things you can do, several have already been mentioned - a garden, making your own bread, batch cooking, food banks, etc.

2

I live alone in Australia, some would say " Way out in the back blocks," my pension after bills, etc, are taken out comes to around $500 in hand, out of which I spend between $180 and $250 per fortnight at the Supermarket for groceries that will last me for the fortnight, not including bread, etc, which I need to buy at least twice per week.
I buy meat in bulk when I can as do I with vegetable, I grow my own vegetables as often as possible, I cook at least ONE good and nourishing, satisfying meal per day, make my own salads in the warmer weather and soups in the colder weather, the soups I make in bulk and freeze so I always have them available.
I have a few free ranging chickens for eggs, though in the hotter weather they cease laying.
My only major vice is that I am a smoker of roll your own cigarettes ( tobacco of course).
So, I think I'm doing fairly well in regards to cooking, etc, for myself.

You could cut way down on the trips for bread if you bake your own.

As long as you are meeting your body's need for nutrition and not becoming anemic or sick, I'd think you are doing quite well.

@sewchick57 I often bake Aussie Damper, a kind of bread once made by Australian Swagmen, I use different things like flat beer, etc, instead of water for extra flavor when mixing the dough.
But damper, although it can be baked in an ordinary oven, tastes best when baked the traditional way, i.e. either in the coals of a camp-fire or on a flat stone or steel hot-plate sheet. Sadly, open fires are banned in Australia during summer bushfire season so I have to resort to ordinary bread simply because I much prefer my damper baked the traditional way.

@Triphid Ooo, that sounds like a really good bread!

@sewchick57 It is and very tasty I might add.
Recipe for simple Damper;
1-2 cups of either Self-raising or Plain Flour,
a pinch of salt,
water, flat beer, fruit juice minus the fleshy bits to mix the flour to a dough,
knead the dough in a bowl or flat dish/pan,
you can wrap the dough in Aluminium Foil IF you don't want the ashes to stick to the crust during baking or can merely bake it in an oven using a normal cake baking dish/pan.
Get a decent camp-fire going that will leave plenty of hot coals, dig a small dent into the coals, place in the dough and cover it over, leave to bake.
Once it is browned on the outside, remove it, brush off the ashes, cut it into slices or simply tear of chunks, add butter, lashing of, or, an Aussie favorite, Golden Syrup then sit back and enjoy with a cup of coffee or, another Aussie favorite, Billy Tea.

2

I probably spend $60 to maybe $80 a month. But I'll make a big batch of something, eat it once and package the leftovers in single meal size. I'm getting low on leftover choices and it's going to be cold and crappy so I'll make ham and beans this weekend.

1

Live in SW Mo. and my wife and I spend about $100 a week for the two of us. I take my lunch, fix my breakfast and she cooks an evening meal. We don't eat a lot of meat. Which must help keep the cost down. Meals, breakfast me scrambled egg whites from dairy section instant oatmeal she has a banana. Lunch I have salad, banana, small V8, chocolate pudding, not sure what she eats at lunch sandwich protein bar. For dinner it's like taco & bean chips or lasagna or shrimp scampi or frozen fish sweet potato & spinach. I usually get trail mix to snack on. We're small people, so we don't eat that much.

1

The local Meals on Wheels program offers a plan for $53 a week consisting of one hot meal per weekday and two frozen meals for the weekend. And it's nutritious and heart-healthy. If that's any indication I'd imagine one could feed oneself in fair style readily for $100 a week. And if you can do your own cooking, you could do for two people for less than twice that surely.

1

Right now, whether I cook for 1, 2, or 3 is up for grabs. For myself, however, a couple $20-25 trips for ingredients per week about covers it. I like to prepare large dishes: soups, or one dish meals, that I freeze back in single portions for nights when microwaving something is more my speed. Got to have control of those ingredients, ya know... (no processed stuff, thank you).

Zster Level 8 Mar 28, 2019
2

Two huge variables in the US: Aggresive capitalism and “food deserts.” Unfortunately, one can often save money by eating cheap, unhealthy crap which is readily available and full of salt and sugar. In too many places, fresh, healthy food is more expensive and hard to find, if not absent.

2

Depends on if they have a garden and how many possums they eat.

Depends also on whether they want to barely stay alive or if they want to be plump.

I think I could stay healthy on $80/month if I had to, and that would be strictly store food.

3

I try to keep it under $50 a week. I have cut down on purchasing meat in the last 2 years...trying to be more plant-based really helped my food budget and my health.

2

I don't have a clue. I spend, maybe, 20 a week at the grocery. But I eat very little and cook even less. No need to 😟 Thirty? And I'm vegetarian and only go to the grocery maybe twice a month.

4

Depends on where you live and what you eat. Do you have access to a big warehouse?
I'm a vegetarian so my proteins are cheaper.
Normally around $250 a month. Oh and I have a garden in the backyard.

3

well if the menu just has oatmeal and rice with the occasional potato or carrot. $60. bologna sandwiches would probably put you over a hundred.

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