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.
this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
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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.
Probably about $600 a month for 2 adults, fancy eating a couple times a month and fast food maybe 4 times a month.
About 400€ sometimes for special occassions i go obove it but not much. Highest is about 500€ i spend on food in a month and that was due to a BBQ party.
100€ each week is my set limit for groceries For me and my partner
i cook farts and it costs $8
185 euro a month
Includes any form of eating out and mostly organic groceries.
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.
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$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.
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$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 - $15.
On my days off I eat whatever I have available in my pantry when I remember to eat.
why don't you prepare more of your food? it allows you maximum control and saves tons of money. plus, it's a lot easier than it might first appear.
I pay extra so I don't have to do that. Carrying a waterbottle and a lunchbox was a significant contributor to my negative mental health as a teenager, and my life is way more pleasant without them.
In a similar vein, eating food that I don't want to eat is very stressful for me, and I generally can't know what I want to eat more than a couple of hours in advance. So eating food I prepared myself is usually rather disappointing.
Third, food waste. I never eat the same meal more than once a week if I can help it. That means that, when I buy a tomato, I end up only using a single slice and letting the rest rot in the fridge because there really aren't all that many things I like that have tomatoes. The same goes for most ingredients. If I don't use it within 4 hours, I may as well toss it, cause im never going to eat it.
I've tested out various ways of eating, and eating out often is cheaper compared to constantly re-buying ingredients for meals I'm not going to eat.
You should be very grateful that you have the resources to accommodate your tastes when most other people would just have to deal with it.
I am, definitely.
You said you didn't want to carry around a water bottle, what about a cup/mug, there's surely a waterfountain at your workplace and saving 3$ 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
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.
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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.
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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.....
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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.
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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.
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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
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Single person, I probably could get by on $150 a month, but I eat out frequently, so I spend about $300 a month. This is in San Diego.
Probably around 500 bucks but I get a good amount of stuff for my girl too. In the US
About 40 to 50 a week, so about 220 ish for one person
I could shrink it down to 20 a week if I just eat chicken, rice, and bok choy, but I've been trying to challenge myself to meal prep a different meal every week
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… $450-500? It’s a pretty big difference.
5 person household, all adults now, mostly physically active. Probably 4k a month all-in.
That includes some booze, not much eating out and is paid by all of us so average 800 / month per person, but not evenly spread, kids are more frugal and do meal prep for lunches and husband and I spend more, and feed all of us once a day at least. Not much junk food, buy ingredients not premade things and I do have a garden.
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70€ (83$) 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.
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currently i dont have to worry so its up to ~300€ (including takeouts)
But its probably more like 150€-200€ (including takeouts)
in case i worry i can probably get to 60€-80€ by mainly eating noodles or something (no takeouts)
That said: i share my finances so this is mainly just guessing how much i need
Also i get free food at work currently and dont have an expensive taste
January was $1262 in AUD. I eat a fairly meat based diet with ribs, pork belly, eggs, butter, and good coffee. I would consider it reasonable for myself, my partner, and my cat. That also includes other household things like cling wrap, dish liquid, and so on, so actual food cost is probably more like $1000-1100. In USD that is $697-767, so well under $200 per week. Also my meat is top grade Australian beef, widely considered some of the best in the world, and the butter is grass fed cow butter. I work 20-25 hours per week and can support my partner and myself on my pay and my partner's disability payment.
I get $298/month to spend on food and I am usually out of money a week before the end of the month.
Just below 900 euro per month
In Denmark
Household of 4
We have estimated about 6000 dkk per month or 200 dkk per day
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