How much $$$ does a typical Frum family spend on groceries per week?

Home Forums Money & Finance How much $$$ does a typical Frum family spend on groceries per week?

Viewing 21 posts - 51 through 71 (of 71 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #1797418
    klugeryid
    Participant

    Glat mart has bags of bones they used to give away for free but now charge either 1 or two dollars. I don’t remember.

    Again to all those commenting about lack of variety, or what their recipe Calls for.
    I was responding to someone who said it’s not possible to do it. I’m showing that it is possible. When someone has no money they don’t eat chicken during the week. They make soup with less vegetables than “your recipe ” calls for.

    I said I spend much more I’m just saying it’s possible even kosher and In Brooklyn to feed a family of EIGHT people including adults where the food is always fresh and everyone is full and it’s less than 200$ a week.
    No it doesn’t include sushi
    Or many other delectable things that many of us are b “h able to indulge in

    #1797416
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    Meir G: I’d be very excited about the “1/2 off sushi”…..its one thing to purchase a discounted chunk of carp near its pull date to be ground up for gefilte fish but you must have great emunah to feed the family tekka maki on the cheap.

    #1797427
    Joseph
    Participant

    Many groceries, supermarkets and bakery shops give away their leftovers that they will no longer sell to neighborhood distribution points where anyone can take what they need at no cost.

    #1797431
    a mamin
    Participant

    Kluger yid! I’m not sure you’re in reality? No one buys near for chulent for $5!! Your prices are no where near reality! Neither are your menus!
    As far as the op- I’m in Brooklyn a family of approx 5- depends on who I’m cooking for – way over $500 weekly just food- vegetables , fruit and poultry included. My Shabbos order can be $400 just on groceries ! Ess gezinteheit!

    #1797435
    klugeryid
    Participant

    A mamin
    I DIDN’T SAY I DO IT I SAID IT CAN BE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    WAS THERE A RECENT GEZAYRAH PASSED TO ASSUR READING COMPREHENSION THAT I MISSED??????

    WHY DO SO MANY POSTERS KEEP TELLING ME
    “NOBODY DOES THAT ”
    YOUR MISSING MEAT OR VEGETABLES
    …..
    I AM JUST SHOWING IT CAN BE DONE.
    DON’T YOU GET IT!????.
    IT’S NOT SO COMPLICATED

    #1797438
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    I hear your indignation loud and clear
    Unfortunately indignation Is not a rational position. It just means you are passionate that you are correct.
    That’s beautiful.
    But it’s not going to convince me. I’m fact it’s not even giving me anything to think about to see if maybe In fact I am incorrect.
    It’s more like a signal that it’s a difficult position to defend
    In the words of Ronald Reagan
    “weak point – scream “

    #1797451
    klugeryid
    Participant

    Syag ,
    that’s actually great what you did here. Cute too.
    Only difference is , here I’m just repeating what I posted multiple times, on this thread, it’s a logical point, that keeps being missed in people’s responses to me.
    It’s not saying I’m right I’M RIGHT!!!
    I am saying hello!!! This is what I keep saying over and over.
    And yes it’s frustration with stupidity of responses.
    Still in all your catch was A+ (a+)

    #1797462
    Ctrl Alt Del
    Participant

    For our family of 5, we drop about $250 on basics per week. Shabbos adds about $75 give or take $20.

    #1797547

    As happens many times in the CR, the original question gets derailed based on the responses. The OP asked about what a typical frum family spends on groceries. The OP did not define groceries but some took this to mean food only without any non-food but necessary items. Also we dont have a reference to “typical”. Most members of my household are adults (both medioraisa and under secular law). KG has shown a way (although I do not agree with some of his choices) that it is possible if you severely limit your food purchases (no meat, chicken or fish most of the week) obvious small portion sizes then the food bill alone can be around 160-175. However, most people I know do noyt limit the word groceries to food items only.

    #1797624
    🍫Syag Lchochma
    Participant

    😊

    #1797614
    klugeryid
    Participant

    I don’t follow them either 😁

    #1797702
    BlueLotus
    Participant

    It depends of family size, location and how much they can manage to get from government, food stamps, food programs and so on …. also if they follow humbrot, or have food allergies, or specific Special diets …. the range is quite crazy.

    #1797726
    Joseph
    Participant

    There’s a ton of information online describing how to manage healthily on a $3 per day, per person food budget. Some use a somewhat smaller or slightly larger budget. As these are written for the secular world it obviously doesn’t account for kosher pricing or Shabbos but it may still be useful as a guide.

    The main staples used are eggs, dry rice, dry beans, on-sale fresh produce, whole chickens, ground turkey, pasta and tomato sauce, and bulk spices.

    It assumes you have a slow cooker, rice cooker, and reusable containers (for leftovers.)

    It is recommended that you buy on sale, use coupons, shop different stores with lower prices and use leftovers.

    #1798655
    flatbusher
    Participant

    A lot depends on what your family eats and how much. My family of 4 spends less but then again we are not big eaters and stay away from high priced items until they go on sale. Some people don’t care about price and just buy what they want and some families have growing kids with big appetites.

    #1798699
    lkwdstrong
    Participant

    My big order on Wednesday (includes shabbos and basics) is around $250 and then supper every night with whatever else I just may need is about $50/night… that’s for 7 people…

    #1800725
    follick2
    Participant

    It is possible to survive on a food-stamp size budget and keep Kosher. I know because there have been times in the past I have had no choice but to do so. It’s not a lot of fun and it’s not the healthiest, but you can survive and avoid starvation. You go heavy on eggs and tuna, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, beans and cheap canned vegetables. Use very tiny amounts of chicken and ground meat (like a quarter pound of ground meat to feed 8 people) to flavor the carbs. There have been plenty of Shabbosim when I used less than $5 worth of meat in a cholent that was mostly potatoes. It’s not what you want to do, but some Yidden don’t really have any other choice.

    Today, B”H my grocery budget is higher.

    #1800773
    klugeryid
    Participant

    Follick2
    Thank you.
    That was what my post was trying to show. That it is possible.
    Glad for you that you have more now. May you always be on the giving side

    #1800848
    Gadolhadorah
    Participant

    While a bit off topic but perhaps we need to recognize the incredible work and mesiras nefesh of those who suppor the Masbiahs and several other kosher food pantries in the NYC metro area (and their counterparts in other cities ) who deal with the real world consequences of what we sometime jokingly debate here in the CR or treat as a theoretical construct…the economic challenges of feeding a frum family with a nutritious diet. As we sometimes indulge in debates over the pros/cons of certain restaurants, vintages of kosher wine or merits of niche hashgoachos. there are those for whom basic survival is not hyperbole.

    #1800954
    EmunaLivesWithin
    Participant

    i have 3 boys and we are a family of 5 total. We spend roughly $375-$400 a week including shabbos

    #1801188
    Avram in MD
    Participant

    klugeryid,

    “Let’s talk numbers of possibility”

    The OP asked for what the average frum family paid for groceries per week, not what amount is theoretically possible to spend to avoid malnutrition. I’m also not sure that your menu would meet even that goal if followed for more than a month or two. And I think some of your estimates on how much food is needed are a bit low.

    Family of six children – I’m assuming two parents as well, so 8 mouths to feed.
    Two Dozen eggs $2 – This would theoretically work for breakfast, but I hope everyone likes eggs, or at least does not have an egg sensitivity. A breakfast of nothing but scrambled eggs wouldn’t work for most families. Any alternatives add to the cost.
    Bottle milk $2.40 – Everyone’s limited to 8oz per day, not a drop more. And no milk at all on the weekends?
    Cream cheese $4 – Everyone gets a 1 micron thick schmear on their sandwich? I think two containers is needed here, so make this $8, unless doing cholov stam. And lunch is nothing but a cream cheese sandwich? I guess you can have the glass of milk with it? Yes you’ll mention extras below that can be sides. We’ll get there.
    Two boxes macaroni (constantly on sale at shop rite) $1.76 You don’t have any sides with the mac and cheese, so the family of 8 will need more food for supper than this. So either more mac and cheese or another reliance on the extras below.
    Total $10.16 and you’ve fed your family amply. Times five days $50.80 for the week – Breakfast was sufficient for those who like or can eat eggs, but a cream cheese sandwich and glass of milk for lunch and a small serving of mac and cheese per mouth for supper is not “ample.” And yes, the extras below will try to mitigate this, but we’ll see how well that works.
    You can add whatever you want to this basic.
    Brick of cheese $14 – this is a lowball, especially if having mac and cheese multiple times in a week. 2-3 bricks per week is a more realistic estimate. Tomato sauce is a cheaper topping on pasta, but then you lose a protein.
    Bottle ketchup $3
    Three orange juice $9 – Everyone’s limited to 3.4oz of orange juice a day over 7 days?
    2 Family packs of chicken bottoms $24 – Ok, so we eat supper on Sunday, with maybe some leftovers on Monday for one or two people in the family sick of cream cheese sandwiches.
    Package of hot dogs $10 – Ok, so we eat lunch on Sunday. But lunch being one bare hotdog per person doesn’t seem “ample”, even if taken with ketchup.
    Fruits and vegetables $50 – This is where you kind of gave up on the breakdown and ended up lowballing considerably. A cream cheese sandwich for lunch on weekdays and a single un-bunned ketchup-covered hotdog on Sunday followed by a 6 hour wait until supper isn’t really ample or healthy, so let’s add an apple as a side. Apples typically run around $1.20/lb, and a single apple weighs about a third of a pound. So an apple per person per day over a week runs you around $22.40. That doesn’t leave much for other produce, sides, or snacks (potatoes, carrots, greens, peas/corn, maybe you’d put rice and beans here, other fruit) that’s critical to making this diet nutritious and sustainable.

    #1802056
    justsmile613
    Participant

    Avram in MD – Good post!

Viewing 21 posts - 51 through 71 (of 71 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.