STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

shopgirl82 · Chanel

How Much Do You Spend On Food A Day?

bumblebee · Coach

are you counting/averaging in the amount you spend on groceries per week, too? that would raise mine. i eat lunch out every single day, and i work in a very expensive place. my lunch usually costs $10-15 on average per day, and most of the time i try to eat breakfast at home. i would say that i eat dinner at home maybe 50% of the time.

nicoley · Coach

This is a great post... ive been wondering the same thing...

I usually spend 4 dollars a day on a latte, and 6 dollars on a lunch or dinner... so on average it would be about 10 dollars

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

$100 a day??? Is that just for her or is that for a family or something? $100 a day on fast food?? I can't grasp that.

We rarely eat at home because we are lazy and my husband has no health concerns

I usually buy breakfast but bring a lunch and he buys breakfast and lunch (but at the building caf so it's cheap). Most of the time we go out for dinner together, but usually it's at a fast food or chain restaurant, so we rarely spend more than $25. I would say we probably spend $35-$50/day between both of us, depending on the day (of course it's more or less on some days).

member · Hermes

nicoley013 wrote:

This is a great post... ive been wondering the same thing... I usually spend 4 dollars a day on a latte, and 6 dollars on a lunch or dinner... so on average it would be about 10 dollars

I do the exact same. On an average day, I spend about $4 on a latte and around $5/6 on lunch - sometimes a little more/less. Most days my BF and I try to eat healthy and eat dinner at home. Every now and then we go out or order food, so that would up my amount on those days.

$100?? On one person? I think that's insane!

bex · Chanel

ooo. i don't know.

i probably spend more than the norm b/c i eat out all week. on average, i probably spend around $20-30 a day on food.

we only buy basics at the store depending on how much we are physically home. at home we have breakfast foods. if we do decide to "cook" dinner- we go to the grocery store that day and purchase items just for that dinner. we try to make enough to give one of us lunch or dinner for another day. problem is- we usually buy these items at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) and our "at home" dinner usually ends up running around $40! eek!

mostly on the weekends we go out to dinner... i get SO tired of eating out...

I'm going to guess between $30-40 on average per day.

and i CAN NOT believe someone buys $100 worth of FAST FOOD per day...

Kel · Coach

I am thinking about this and I can't see spending that much money on food a day. I eat oatmeal every morning which is $1.50 for a weeks worth. Lunch I eat out which is normally $5-$7. I try to find lunch specials. And then dinner I cook. Each dinner doesn't exceed $10.

rocky · Coach

I spend about $20 a day, I eat lunch out everyday, usually a latte for breakfast, and I eat dinner at home maybe 2-3 times per week. I want to cook more, but my commute sucks and I get home around 7pm...I am too lazy to go get groceries and cook by then.

Metric · Gucci

I hardly spend any money. I eat breakfast at home, we do a staff meal at work and cook for dinner. And I pack the bf his lunch. We usually go out maybe once a week. So really not very much a day.

Ally S · Kate Spade

Most days I spend $0.

I eat breakfast at home, bring lunch cause it is pricey in town to eat and I am trying to watch what I am eating, then typically eat eat dinner in.

I do buy lunch out at least once a week and we eat dinner out maybe once or twice weekly.

shopgirl82 · Chanel

bumblebee wrote:

are you counting/averaging in the amount you spend on groceries per week, too? that would raise mine. i eat lunch out every single day, and i work in a very expensive place. my lunch usually costs $10-15 on average per day, and most of the time i try to eat breakfast at home. i would say that i eat dinner at home maybe 50% of the time.

kinda. i mean we spend probably $100-$150 a week on groceries, but i definitely don't eat $100-$150 a week of food (i always tell myself to eat the canned soup that we have, remember to thaw the stuff in the freezer, etc...). i guess i was wondering if you added up the cost per your meals (from home or out) what would they cost a day.

for example today:

b-oatmeal, craisins, coffee from home w/creamer about $1.50 (max)

s-banana w/peanut butter $.50

l-e. muffin w/laughing cow and honey, can of soup (the soup was on sale for $1) $2.00

s-h.m. smoothie $1.50

d-salad, baked potato $1.50

s-s.f. jello pudding $.33

i'll round it up to $8.00.

ETA: sorry, huge mistake on my part, she has a husband and two small kids, but STILL!

-- Edited by shopgirl82 at 20:28, 2006-02-21

NCshopper · Hermes

That lady on Oprah was insane!!! I saw that episode and was horrified at her spending habits! I mean, I can shop and all, but good god, she financed EVERYTHING! Yikes! And $100 a day on fast food??? Those kids are going to have heart attacks before they're out of their teens!

Anyway, rant over. DH and I definitely spend less than $10 a day each on food. We both eat breakfast at home (cereal and oj for me, eggs for him), bring our lunches (sandwiches and yogurt) and we eat dinner at home all but like twice a month. We both really enjoy cooking and being in the kitchen so cooking isn't a chore and I actually think its more enjoyable than eating out.

blink · Coach

I watched that Oprah too, I can't wait to see Jean Chatzky get her in line. The lady who spent so much on dining out every day? I just could not believe her cabinets were empty.

I do dine out, but not daily. When I did dine out daily, when I worked, it was around $4-5 a day at my office's downstairs deli.

That story on Oprah reminds me of a couple I know, who are both attorneys (who trust me, also have plenty of leisure time to prepare meals at home if they want to) with two kids, and I am pretty sure they aren't in debt trouble, but they have a huge brand new 1/2 million dollar home and a beautiful kitchen, with new appliances and these expensive sparkling copper pots hanging from the rack....but they never use their kitchen because they do not cook! They told us they dine out or eat frozen meals, like pizzas. No wonder their kitchen was so immaculate, it never gets used for cooking, what a waste of money! All for the "look."

erin · Chanel

me personally: nothing. since i am at home, i cook my breakfast, lunch and dinner. for my husband, i usually make him breakfast, and sometimes lunch and dinner. it depends how late he is working. he probably spends 10-15 per day.

on groceries, i spend about 75$-100$ per week.

lynnie · Chanel

wow- i feel so cheap now. I try to spend no more than $200 a month on food- so that averages about $7 a day. If i buy a $7 lunch, i eat stuff at home thats pretty cheap for the other meals. I thought $200 a month was so expensive! I was trying to get it down from there

ILoveChoo · Hermes

thats nuts!

I spend probably $60 on average for the two of us in groceries each week. I bring my lunch with me to work (although more because I want healthier options than what's available near work...) and we eat out maybe once a week. So what's that? If you figue we spend $40 when we go out, it's $14 a day for two people to eat, so $7 each?

needsfashionadvice · Kate Spade

I spend about $125 on groceries each week for me and hubby so divided by 7 days and 2 people, that's about $9 a day for me.

We don't eat out much at all, maybe once a week on the weekend.

-- Edited by needsfashionadvice at 09:53, 2006-02-22

shopgirl82 · Chanel

lynnie wrote:

wow- i feel so cheap now. I try to spend no more than $200 a month on food- so that averages about $7 a day. If i buy a $7 lunch, i eat stuff at home thats pretty cheap for the other meals. I thought $200 a month was so expensive! I was trying to get it down from there

i think that if it was just me, and i didn't feel like i have to cook a meal (trust me, i don't mind it, i just feel like when i make something healthy, and that looks yummy, i would feel bad eating it while he was eating something unhealthy and gross), i would probably spend about $40 a week at the grocery store. i think the $100-$150 is because we buy a lot of wine at the grocery store, and my bf still drinks diet sodas.

even in h.s. i would not eat out because i knew that i could eat for free at home. i guess i would rather spend money on other things and it makes me feel not so guilty when i "splurge" on sushi or other restaurants.

lilyann · Dooney & Bourke

100.00 at grocery store a week.

15.00 a day between my husband and I on coffee, drinks, snacks- bring our lunch to work.

50.00 week on eating out; Average about 25.00 a day with all these factors included.

Drew · Gucci

A Whole Foods opened up several months ago and since I started shopping there our food bill has gone through the roof. I typically spend between $45 - $95 a day there, going 4-5 days a week. Granted, I buy organic foods, so I bet that has a lot to do with it. A bottle of olive oil costs $20, and a pound of chicken costs $10. I bought one orange the other day and that alone was over $1. When I made tomato sauce the other week I spent a whopping $33 on ten tomatos. All that adds up quickly. We have been discussing the high cost recently and I think we may stop shopping there, at least for a little while. Oh, and I cook too. This is not for prepared foods in most cases. I think eating out would be cheaper!

*feeling like a fool right about now*