Tracking household grocery expenses - what do you spend?

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Interesting! I wonder if this will have a ripple effect with other grocery stores.

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Potatoes were on sale this week (not much else), so they will be playing a major role in dinner planning. I do see some type of potato casserole in the near future.

I just try to be flexible when it comes to putting a hot meal on the table.

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Bravo to you!

A lot of the year we get a CSA (farm) share, so we get the vegetables we get. Then I figure out how to use what we have. There’s a learning curve for sure.

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That sounds great!!

I’m fairly flexible with vegetables, I’ll pretty much grab anything that’s on clearance and incorporate into dinner. With one exception… Brussels Sprouts (nope, just can’t do Brussels sprouts)

I hated them as a kid and hate them as an adult.

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I posted “my way” recipe for scallop potatoes and ham on Feb WMP. Here’s link.

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Thanks… looks great!!

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I got up early this morning and went to this one grocery store to take advantage of a digital coupon on boneless skinless chicken thighs.
There was one large VALUE PACK left in the case, so I grabbed it. Apparently, only one clerk showed up for work this morning and everyone was routed throw the “self check out” kiosk area.
When I scanned my thighs, they rang up wrong… so I called over the clerk, and showed her my digital coupon printout. They were supposed to ring up at $1.49/pound. The clerk wasn’t sure how to fix the problem, so she sold the whole pack to me for $1.49.
I got six HUGE beautiful boneless skinless chicken thighs for $1.49, this will make two meals for three people… That equates to 25 cents a serving… YEAH!!

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Good for you! 4 skin-on, bone-in regular priced chicken thighs cost me $5.49 Cdn ($~$4 USD) yesterday! :rofl: Still cheaper than one McChicken Sandwich, though, so I’m still ahead!

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It’s karma for your recent good neighborly actions.

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Thanks…

Speaking of my neighbor, all is going well and she is slowly getting better (with each day). Today, I got some potatoes, as they were on sale. ($1.00 for 5 pound bag/4 bag limit) So there will be a potato, carrot and onion casserole on the menu for next week… along with plenty of baked & mashed potatoes (as side dishes).

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I’ve known a few of these hoppers. In the long run, they usually turn out to be flakes. Expensive flakes!

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I just got home from an 8 day hospital stay and received a rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes and a pan of baked ziti to warm up. It really is nice to have some food ready and waiting when you’re not up to preparing things yourself. And who doesn’t like potatoes?

ETA: Maybe karma will forget you got the 4 bag limit and gift you another 4 bags :smile:

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Glad to hear that you are home after all that. Wishing you a speedy recovery. And more good meals to come!

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Thanks @tomatotomato Fortunately I had no dietary restrictions in the hospital, so every visitor brought me some form of chocolate :yum:

A friend is going to visit tomorrow and bring me McD’s fries. It’s probably been close to a decade since I’ve had them, but for some reason I was craving them in the hospital–probably the power of advertising as I never watch commercials at home.

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Newest calculation - $142 / week, $3.37 per person per meal.

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I find I’m stocking up on some things each week, so it’s not like we’re eating $450 of food each week. Probably half is going into the pantry to keep for weeks or months, and in the case of condiments, some last for years.

The only items we are buying and consuming within the week that they’re purchased are most meats and poultry, some fresh fruits and vegetables. I stock up on yogurt, cheese, milk and eggs only when we’re low, which could be every 10 days or every 2 weeks some months.

I don’t think I could work out exactly how much each meal is costing, since around a third to half the ingredients would have been on hand for weeks or months. The closest I could do is figure out how much I’m spending on fresh meat and fish each week that is finished within 3 days of cooking!

Last Sunday, I bought 8 skin-on boneless chicken thighs ($30ish) , 2 English cut beef short ribs ($40), 2.2 lbs boneless lamb stew meat ($55), and 2 lb/4 bone-in pork rib chops ($20), and 1.2 lbs salmon ($28). $173/ 5 days of dinners for 3 people, plus leftovers for 5- 10 lunches. Around 1 lb of lamb was put in the freezer.

I’m going to say our dinners with meat or poultry usually cost $7-$15 a person, depending on the protein type. The side dishes or starches might cost $2-$5 at each meal, per person

I end up roasting around $20 worth of winter squash, eggplant, parsnips and sweet potatoes each week. I spend around $25 on tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and other vegetables each week.

Wed night, I made a tuna souffle that was made of eggs, tuna and milk purchased the previous 2 weeks.

Saturday night is usually a $25-$30 steak split 2 or 3 ways.

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Mine is a very rough calculation - not at all precise. I add up the total of all I spent on groceries and paper goods for the span (usually about 12 weeks), divide by the number of weeks to get average spend per week. Then divide that by 42 (7 days x 3 meals x 2 people) to give average cost per person per meal. I figure that the groceries used up from a prior span are offset by ones I bought this span that are still in the pantry or freezer. I don’t bother to subtract meals eaten out from that “42” meals in a week number. When we’ve been on vacation for 5 or more days with all meals eaten out, that week just doesn’t get counted in the average spend-per-week calculation.

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If I take everything we spent on groceries (including alcohol and pet supplies) for the first quarter of the year, and divide by 13 weeks, I come up with $232 per week for the two of us (plus cat). We typically don’t eat out, so this is for all our food, drink, and household cleaning requirements.

In hindsight and considering we eat very well, not as bad as I thought. OTOH, about twice as much as we spent 10 years ago. I attribute about half the increase to inflation, and the other half to greater attention to quality and convenience (despite the reduced appetite which comes with aging).

Asterik: gardening supplies, which result in a large part of our produce each year, are not included. Gardening (despite all the hype) is not necessarily a money-saver. :scream_cat:

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