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See the original image at articles.moneycentral.msn.com —

Can a family eat on $100 a week?

articles.moneycentral.msn.com — As a test, MSN Money puts a household's food budget on a strict diet. The experiment has its downsides (no more rice, please!) but shows how to take a bite out of grocery bills.

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  • livefree12, on 09/06/2008, -13/+48I don't think so. vegetables and fruits are so expensive now, especially organic products. I'm way way over $100 per week
    • cowsgonemadd3, on 09/07/2008, -3/+13We live on like 130 every 2 weeks...And we at fine. Shop dented can food stores and save tons of money. If you shop at Bilo I can see how you spend so much.
      • kelmaster1, on 09/07/2008, -1/+3True, go to the defect places. It's just looks but the food is fine, usually like a 1/4 of the price too! Costco works good too.
      • gobbleplex, on 09/07/2008, -2/+16Part of this article is that the family was *not* allowed to shop at 'dented can food stores' or cheap chinatown markets where they sell meat and produce at 1/3 the price of wholesale.
      • Mithivh, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5@gobbleplex
        I'm pretty sure he was just trying to help livefree12 out, not the family in the article.
      • Soave, on 09/07/2008, -1/+2Microsoft went down three points!
    • digigeek, on 09/07/2008, -2/+21Why would you buy organic produce in a grocery?! Just go to your nearest farmer's market or garden co-op and get your veg. Or buy the normal produce. You can't expect not to get ripped off if you insist on buying what the marketing folks tell you is best for you.
      • kelmaster1, on 09/07/2008, -2/+10Organic ***** is ridiculously expensive.
      • gobbleplex, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6Not everyone lives near a farmer's market, and even if they did the farmers markets in some places are more expensive than the grocery stores.
      • BrokenCircle, on 09/07/2008, -3/+1Goobleplex: You live in the United States, your county/parish is required by law to provide a farmer's market and according to the USDA there is a farmer's market with in about 15 miles of populated area.
      • luseton, on 09/07/2008, -0/+4I have a family of 4 and we live of close to $100 per week ($400 per month) and we live off pretty well. Here is why.

        1. No Fast Food.
        2. Cook. Learn how to cook. Some vegetables are expensive but some are really cheap.
        3. Fruits are great but they are expensive. You can get the same nutrients from vegetables which are a lot cheapers.
        4. Don't buy frozen food. They are expensive and have a lot of preservatives.
        5. Eat lunch and dinner with either rice or potatos. They fill you up well and keeps you going until the next meal.
        6. Every location has their signature food. Northwest = Salmon, Texas = Beef, Idaho = Potatos. Use them and learn how to cook them differently as these foods are really cheap. I buy pink salmon for $4 - $5 one whole fish and last for 2 meals (family of 4). Well, sockeye is definitely better than pink but any salmon is better than nothing.

        This article has missed some important basic point. If you want to save money, learn how to cook. Simple meals. You don't have to be Bobby Flay or Rachel Ray. By cooking, you save money, and have better control of your diet and health.
    • xptweakerntn, on 09/07/2008, -3/+35Two Words:
      Ramen Noodles
      • gm33, on 09/07/2008, -4/+20One word for you:
        Obesity
      • loquax, on 09/07/2008, -0/+14On element for you--Sodium.
        Seriously, the big problem with eating on the cheap is that when you calculate dollar per calorie (which most people actually look at when they shop for something to "fill them up") things like potato chips, frozen foods, and lots of junk food rise to the top. It seems to me that the real struggle is getting food that won't harm you in the long run of eating them daily. Additionally, if you already have a condition (like hypertension) you simply cannot eat on $100 a week without killing yourself.
      • catfish182, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6gm33 is dead on with it.
        For a while my family lived on 95 bucks a week. it wasnt by choice but by the fact that we would not be able to pay our bills otherwise. that lasted for about 4 years and it was not fun. we offset by growing our own veggies but still it sucked.
        weight gain was out of control during that time. It we were active but the food was just that crappy.

        we are up to 150 a week now. much better quality of food. still grow our own veggies though. still active though also.
      • remccain, on 09/07/2008, -3/+3and if you sacrifice the Internet, you could add another $20-30 a month to your grocery list.
      • Truth3, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2What about all the sodium? Your blood pressure will sky rocket, that would be a bad decision.
      • jmhyer51, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3@remccain

        Shush with you blasphemies.
    • Katana, on 09/07/2008, -3/+8"No low-priced ethnic markets or bag-your-own-groceries warehouse stores."
      Americans don't have to bag their own shopping?
      It's not that difficult, have to do it every time i go and do a food shop.
      • OMGWTFROFLMAOx2, on 09/07/2008, -0/+7In my city we used to, but it went out of business. EVERYONE in my college would shop there because it was so ridiculously cheap. I don't know of any bag your own grocery stores anymore.
      • keyforce, on 09/07/2008, -0/+7There are self-checkout lanes many places, but generally there are baggers who can also help you out to your car if necessary.

        It's not as if we as a society refuse to bag our groceries.
      • cjacks9, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1There is Aldi and Save-a-Lot here in Chicago. Buy bags from them, or bring your own, and bag your groceries yourself after purchase.
    • Tomchei, on 09/07/2008, -1/+9Yes you can.
      Average of $87 a week for us, family of four. Buy a mixed of canned vegies and fresh.
      Fresh fruit isn't that expensive, just don't horde. I manage to eat fresh fruit every day.
      I don't buy enriched wheat or HFCS products either.
      The only meats bought are Turkey, Chicken, and Pork (on sale).
      That includes Ice cream on sale (budget of less than $3)
    • KyleGoetz, on 09/07/2008, -2/+9I had to live on $100/month as a single guy in college. That means a family of four can DEFINITELY eat for $400/mo or $100/wk. Of course, they'd save more buying in bulk. I couldn't buy in bulk because the food would go bad.
      • cyclopropene, on 09/07/2008, -2/+11Except you can't consider a packet of ramen and a half a case of Keystone Light Saturday night's "dinner" for a toddler.
    • VonBargenJL, on 09/07/2008, -1/+2my food costs are on $60/wk currently. but then again, i work in a restaurant(taking out some meals id have to buy) but conversely i buy from a gourmet grocery store...
    • nullenigma, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6I only eat food covered in gold leaf, so I understand your pain :C
    • CrazyZ, on 09/07/2008, -1/+4We are a family of 3 and we eat on about $120.00 a week. We eat lots of quality foods, no fast food etc. and we live fine.
    • samurailynn, on 09/07/2008, -1/+1I feed a family of four on about $100 per week. Two are teenagers, so they probably eat more than a baby and a four year old also. We do have times where we spend a little more, but we also have times where we spend less. If we cut soda and juice out of our diets, we could probably get by on $90 or less per week.
    • mitikomon, on 09/07/2008, -0/+7It's fantastic that fast food and processed food is more cheap in US rather than the organic food. in here making a pizza at home is at least 1/3 price of the fast foods prices. and I mean making it from original material not frozen pizza in stores.
      some advice from somebody which last an eight year war at his childhood: you must learn the art of keeping food fresh. e.g never add sauce to salad at first. let every body does it him/herself. bring the sauce in a separate dish. in this case you can store the salad main vegetable and greens in refrigerator again in a closed bowl.
      pack main greens(not chopped) in a wet handkerchief and then in a nylon. do not wash cucumber or else they would rot soon.
      one of my friend who lived in Washington said that most of the American never keep their leftover.it's a sin here. the first thing I learn was to respect food. we never put bad remaining bread with other garbage. and for your info meat price in iran is the same as USA: chicken 4.5$/Kg meat: 10$/kg
      try to learn it. first step: try to avoid mixing foods together as much as possible. if you're European just ask your grandparent how they survive during world war II with food shortage.
      its good for your wallet and wasting food is not acceptable morally.
    • sts28, on 09/08/2008, -0/+0Given that my wife and I spend $50 / week consistently on groceries without trying too hard, I'd bet we could do $100/week on groceries with two kids who eat as much as or less than we do. And we eat almost exclusively fresh produce.
  • ufee, on 09/06/2008, -15/+5Not anymore. You would need to spend at least 250 a week, unless you're living off ramen or something, and even that won't remain cheap for long.
    • JakeW, on 09/07/2008, -0/+9No, that will always remain cheap.
    • Blandyman, on 09/07/2008, -0/+9Don't you dare say Ramen will ever raise in price, you insensitive bastard.

      Ramen is the ultimate food. Always tastes great and always so cheap it's almost free.
  • AmyVernon, on 09/06/2008, -1/+72I have to admit, that after reading what she was serving for breakfast, lunch and dinner and how it was so difficult, I have to wonder what on earth she was feeding her family before. We've always had rice at least three or four times a week; dunno why it was so rough for them.
    • vbullinger, on 09/07/2008, -4/+12They're not Asian.

      /feigned racism
      • jack12345678910, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2i know you were only joking but truth is, EVERYONE except north americans and europeans eat rice everyday.
    • gobbleplex, on 09/07/2008, -0/+9Probably a lot of instant dinners and restaurant food.
    • corripio, on 09/07/2008, -1/+5I agree completely...most of what she made sounds exactly like what I eat now. I don't go for those pre-made, frozen dinners that you just dump into a pan and heat. I eat rice or pasta with almost every dinner.

      breakfast: Cereal and fruit or occasionally eggs and toast.
      lunch: leftovers, peanut butter and jelly, or canned tuna.
      snack: nuts and dried fruit, pretzels, carrots, celery with peanut butter, etc.
      dinner: some dish based around rice, pasta, or potatoes. I buy very little pre-made stuff and cook things like: rice and beans, chili, stir fried veggies, homemade tomato sauce with pasta, vegetable soup, bean burritos, and maybe once a week I'll cook up some sort of meat (usually salmon or chicken).

      I guess that seems really bland and difficult if you are used to eating out, buying frozen dinners, or having filet mignon every night.
    • ajde, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5I know, what is this lady cooking normally? I buy organic and pretty nutritious (Trader Joe's, WinCo, and the local farmer's market... a cheap, yet effective combination), and for three people cooking at least 2 meals a day, I spend probably $50 a week. It's like, OMG, real food. What do I do with this stuff again? How do I eat it? Not everything needs to come 75% pre-made.
  • valleyvideo, on 09/06/2008, -22/+11Actually this is McCain's response to Obama's plan to have us inflate our tires. Just cut back to eating off $100 a week and don't worry about fuel efficiency.
    • Porbeagle, on 09/07/2008, -0/+20Well you know, if we can only eat $100 worth of food a week, we might lose weight. That itself could help gas mileage.
  • tian2992, on 09/06/2008, -3/+27Wow, I eat on less than that… (3 persons, 350Q/week (~60 USD))
    (Note that I live in Guatemala, and almost everything is grown locally)
    • arjie, on 09/07/2008, -3/+7Well yeah, similar numbers here in India. Especially now that I live alone.
      • prophetpimp, on 09/07/2008, -0/+7spend around 200$ per month for a family of 4 out here in Bombay
      • arjie, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Fancy that, I live in Bombay too. Rents here are exorbitant for someone who's used to Madras' rates.

        I like rice, I love it. Ah rice. Yum.
    • phiebs, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5We are 3 people in Thailand and we eat on about 70USD a week... Rice isn't so bad!
      arjie: You are living alone... that's probably why it's so cheap for you?!
      • keyforce, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5If they're eating the same minute rice day in and day out, I can sort of see it getting old.

        There's so many more varieties of rice that can be used cheaply as well, if not as quickly.


    • lukemann, on 09/07/2008, -2/+6
      Ummm did it ever occur to you people that food is more expensive in the US.....
    • kelmaster1, on 09/07/2008, -1/+2You enjoy up the ass prices for grains, dairy and beef? I know there's a lot of foods down there that are horribly expensive, they do have great fruits down there though.
  • bananasluggy, on 09/06/2008, -7/+115I resented my parents so much while growing up because they banned all fast food, cookies, candies, sodas, chips... pretty much everything that came in a crinkly bag was banned (mostly because we couldn't afford it). If I wanted it, I had to buy it with my own paltry allowance ($2 a week.) It's amazing what will become undesirable when it's your money you're shelling out... dad always cooked dinner too, so the question of "What's for dinner" was usually answered by, "Chef's Surprise." Mom would make my birthday cake and that was always nice. :D (And no, she didn't use a package.)

    Now that I'm older and don't have a taste for fast foods...I can very easily see my feet and I'm grateful. I had a short stint in high school where I raided the soda machines on a daily basis, but it was a phase. The stuff tastes weird to me now (except Coke with sugar in it, that's tasty... hard to get though.)

    My mom's side of the family was rife with obesity and her reasoning for banning pretty much anything a kid would want was, "If you know you're at risk for something, you make sure you don't do things that will lead to it... you don't just sit on your butt and whine while stuffing your face." (...tough love. Go fig.)

    I do like burgers and fries... just not ones that look like they've been thrown up and then sat on. ;) Which is, let's be honest, 99% of what's out there in Fast Food World.

    Our food budget was quite sane too... (albeit because we were poor.) Though to this day, spaghetti reminds me of the end of the month. I thought us really lucky when my dad would get a little can of watery mushrooms to put in the $1 sauce... ahh I was an easily pleased child.
    • obliviousfool, on 09/06/2008, -5/+26I have a friend who has a large family, and they do everything all organic and try to keep a somewhat Ayurvedic diet. The funny thing is watching these young kids fight over the last bit of tofu, or the last olive, or the last slice of fresh pear, or the last helping of spinach something-or-other. It warms the heart, it really does.
    • cowsgonemadd3, on 09/07/2008, -1/+4We still eat this stuff. BUT its not daily nor is it in large amounts.
      I went shopping quickly the other day with my parents and I looked at the fat peoples buggies.

      They had like 10 Soda drinks(2 liters), 10 bags of chips, donuts,candies and some other stuff that people usually eat. My point is the fat people are eating all the wrong foods in all too much amounts.

      To me Soda really is not that good and I dont usually drink it while thirsty. Its water for me 95% of the time.

      I will drink gatorade over soda any day. Its got like half the sugar in it!
      • ajde, on 09/07/2008, -2/+3It's extremely rude to look in other peoples' carts. It's really no more of your business than if you were to peek in someone's briefcase or check out their pin number at the ATM. They do know you're doing it, too, and it hurts them. They're people like you or me. They make bad choices (I've dealt with a number of obese relatives) but consider that there's usually a reason behind it, say for example (like that of my relatives) ***** genetics, an abusive childhood (filling the void, just with the wrong thing), and sometimes poverty (because who can afford organic unless they have money?). So, yeah, many of them eat way too much, but you really can't know what a person's deal is unless you know their medical conditions, life story, and eating/exercise habits, and again, none of that is your business. So stop judging other people based on their grocery carts.
    • dstz, on 09/07/2008, -3/+2"Now that I'm older and don't have a taste for fast foods (...) I do like burgers and fries"

      So you do like fast food, just not McDonalds and alt. Like most people that know how to 'cook meat' really.
      • keyforce, on 09/07/2008, -1/+5I generally think of fast food as a drive through.

        And a fast food burger should be a crime against beef.
      • macdaddydwj, on 09/07/2008, -2/+1Get off my Sirloin Burger from Jack in the Box beeaahh!
      • MisteryMeat, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3A real burger made at home or at a decent restaurant is hardly fast. On the rare occasion where I have little choice but to eat fast food it feels like putting garbage in my mouth. At least at home you can chose quality ingredients, doesn't get any better than that.
    • ajde, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3I've had to work backwards. My mom always cooked extremely unhealthily and never paid any attention to nutrition, and now I'm the one talking to her about eating and cooking right. Obesity runs in my family too and while I nipped that in the bud as a conscious adult, she just kinda... let it happen. I wish she hadn't given me all that stuff, because it's way harder to forget about white and learn to love wheat and to incorporate fruits and veggies into everything than it is to be raised on the healthy stuff, and never develop a taste for junk food anyway.
    • jack12345678910, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1me too dude, i ate a lot of fastfood growing up, im 22 now. and fast food is probably the most disgusting ***** there is. my favorite comment is by robert downey jr where he thanks burger king. he said that the moment he realized he had hit rock bottom was when he was eating a whopper and he looked down at it and it was ***** disgusting. that is how he quit drugs and revived his career.
      • auricomnet, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1That's the best thing any celebrity ever said.
  • Spankus, on 09/07/2008, -11/+9Money saving tips for single moms:

    http://filthyrichmond.blogspot.com/2008/08/top-mon ...

    /it's satire, numbnuts

    • sadhesati, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5I totally don't want to laugh at that, but I do.
  • chrgrose, on 09/07/2008, -1/+23My mum spends probably 400 a month for 4 people and she is a rabid coupon clipper. On the other hand, when I lived on my own my first year of college I regularly got by on less than $20 a week. I pretty much lived on Easy Mac, Cereal, and Instant Soup.
    • Tex, on 09/07/2008, -1/+8If you call that sort of malnutrition "living," sure.
  • evilWEED, on 09/07/2008, -13/+5according to 2 german academics, a single person can live with 33€ (47US$) a week.
    this includes food, communication, hobbys, entertainment, transportation, clothes and personal hygiene. but it excludes rental for a home.

    this is why 20% of the germans want the wall back. because now we have retards from eastern germany, telling western germans what is enough for them to live :P

    (note that german taxpayers are forced to pay a lot of taxes for social security. and this is what we should get back? lol!)
  • xinxu36, on 09/07/2008, -0/+14When I was growing up we were barely getting by. We ate a lot of rice and cabbage. I like a lot of food now that other people find disgusting, because it was eat it or nothing else. And also I like my rice with every single meal. But then again I am Asian.
  • evilWEED, on 09/07/2008, -20/+4according to 2 german academics, a single person can live with 33€ (47US$) a week.
    this includes food, communication, hobbys, entertainment, transportation, clothes and personal hygiene. but it excludes rental for a home.

    this is why 20% of the germans want the wall back. because now we have retards from eastern germany, telling western germans what is enough for them to live :P

    note that german taxpayers are forced to pay a lot of taxes for social security. and this is what those 2 fags think we should get back, once we are unemployed.
    also western german taxpayers are forced to pay a lot of money for eastern germans. to improve their infrastructure and pay for their pensions.
    and that's how they say thank you....
  • modelchick8806, on 09/07/2008, -7/+10Yes! Are you kidding me. How fat do you have to be? My mom wasn't much of a cooker, but I would say she probably spent about $200 on groceries a month, and that's including cleaning supplies. What are you people buying?
    • Gutterpunk, on 09/07/2008, -2/+18Your mother? When? 10, 15 years ago? Did you step in a grocery yourself in the last 3 years?

      It cost more than 100$/week if you plan to not feed your kids those cleaning supplies.
    • kelmaster1, on 09/07/2008, -4/+2You have no idea what she spent. There's no way in hell that you and you're mother eat decently for $50 a week, unless you eat a lot of rice, chicken, potatoes, corn, ramen, ect, even then that's hard to do.
  • rameznabel, on 09/07/2008, -3/+5in US i don't know but in egypt this 100$ is more than enough for 4 person

    this family food expenditures around the world

    http://digg.com/food_drink/Amazing_comparison_Food ...

    from :
    http://www.rustylime.com/show_article.php?id=1497
    • holzp, on 09/07/2008, -2/+3In other news: different stuff costs differ in different places.
    • crossmr, on 09/07/2008, -0/+4Holy ***** are you telling me food prices vary from country to country? Stop the presses!!!
  • riptor666, on 09/07/2008, -3/+6You can eat yourself perhaps decently on $100 a week but you need to give your family a balanced diet, you can't live off cheap soups, noodles and kraft dinner. For a family I'd say 150+ 3-4 person family a week to allow for meat, vegetables and milk daily.
    • secrity, on 09/07/2008, -3/+3Not everybody eats meat and/or milk.
      • Sethbacca, on 09/07/2008, -2/+7I'm pretty sure that vegetarians are in the minority, and that this article is about the average family.
      • kelmaster1, on 09/07/2008, -4/+4That's too bad, I feel sorry for those people
      • bobbi21, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2Just eat less meat and you'll be fine. (or poor quality meat :P spam ftw)
    • kelmaster1, on 09/07/2008, -1/+11If you're a resident of Montana, you can get $5 doe tags. Whitetail and Mule Doe's in Montana are NOT in short supply to say the least so I get 2 or 3 in October and that covers my meat (heh) situation until the next summer usually. I figure I pay about $15 for tags that gets me about $1000 of fresh venison. Hunting is a great way to get cheap food!

    • s0nicfreak, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1a WEEK? Christ, I spend $50 per person a month.
  • mikephimikephi, on 09/07/2008, -0/+23Im pretty sure someone who can only afford to spend $100 per week on groceries is not going to be able to enlist the help of nutritionists and dietitians.
  • WinMacLin, on 09/07/2008, -8/+19Short answer: Yes.
    Long Answer: Yes, but you wont like what your eating.
    • toxictonic, on 09/07/2008, -3/+21You're.
      • BlatheringIdiot, on 09/07/2008, -1/+4welcome.
      • kokuei, on 09/07/2008, -1/+1That's not a proper sentence.
      • WinMacLin, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2Seriously, I can't make a single comment on this site without some jackass like toxictonic making a grammar correction. How about you go get a job proof reading instead of doing it for free on the internet, Mr big shot.
      • kayala, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1WinMacLin, I'm intrigued. Why don't you direct me to the mythical city where there are tons of job openings for proofreaders?
  • zerobriers, on 09/07/2008, -0/+16Oatmeal is cheap. Branded oats, Cheerios, etc, are expensive because you pay for branding.
  • MaxMWood, on 09/07/2008, -0/+7How about one woman living on £1 a day?
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052710/Ho ...
  • breakaway, on 09/07/2008, -3/+18I spend about $70 on BK every week
    • Aturaten, on 09/07/2008, -2/+13You ***** fatass.
    • sadhesati, on 09/07/2008, -0/+8I hope you exercise a lot...

      I just wish I *had* a BK I could go to. They closed a bunch of them around where I live.
      • Divals, on 09/09/2008, -0/+1There's one on the South Side, I think around 16th St. Hey fellow Pittsburgher!
    • SixOrSoPapers, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1I think it's time to DQ something different.
  • 5919695, on 09/07/2008, -4/+1good!!!
  • Poobah6, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6$100 a week would be a real boost for this lady...

    $70 Low Cost Menu for 4 to 6 - http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/70dollarmenu.htm

    $45 Emergency Menu for 4 to 6 - http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

    Angel Food Menus - http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/angelfood/
    • lowmagnet, on 09/07/2008, -1/+1That hillbilly shopping list could be lighter. A lot of money is spent on dairy and 'protein' stuff that's not necessarily good for anyone. The dry milk strike me as frugal since most of milk is water after all. I've never used the stuff.. I wonder how long it stays in suspension? That would be great for cooking in a household that doesn't drink it.
      • Fenrirwulf, on 09/07/2008, -0/+0The dry milk is fine for cooking, once you mix it it doesn't separate any earlier than milk from the grocery store would. It's nice for using it to make your own convnnience foods like hot cocoa and instant pudding mixes. The chocolate pudding recipe on the hillbilly housewife site is awesome. Haven't tried the Wendy's Frost copycat recipe yet.
      • donkayoteSA, on 09/07/2008, -0/+0My dad grew up with it used in cereal and cooking, so eh. ymmv
  • zadadka, on 09/07/2008, -0/+14One line from the article stuck out like a sore thumb : "...tasty, but required a lot more preparation than I was used to".

    Sadly, in today's "little free time" society, few have either the time or the inclination to go for other than the "expedient" sources of tasty/nourishment trade-off in meals.
    • dazparkour, on 09/07/2008, -1/+4I get paid per hour - I *SHOULD* factor that into cooking times. If I can get a meal for $1 that takes 3 hours to cook and I get paid $15 an hour to work, I'm not saving anything. I'm wasting time.

      I could have bought a $5, one hour meal and worked two more hours - that's a REAL saving of $24.

      Part of trying to save money is also working out where you could be getting more money, the real opportunity cost of scrimping at it's extremes is wasted time.
      • lowmagnet, on 09/07/2008, -0/+8People who calculate the $/hr they're paid to do work are just excusing themselves from doing any work in the kitchen. I've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen lately. I made some stew the other day that took $25 in ingredients, 20 minutes of prep time, and one hour of cooking time. The cost in goods was $25, but the recipe yielded 6 24-oz containers of stew that I froze for later consumption. Each container could be 2-3 meals. Screw my hourly wage equivalent. I'd have to work more to get that money, and so would you, so the time isn't equivalent.
      • dazparkour, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1If the calculation you use does not compare the two adequately, then you need a new equation, It's more than possible for a meal to cost more in terms of time.

        You have an example where you probably managed to save money making it as opposed to buying it. That's fine for your example but not for all example.
      • dood, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3That makes sense, if and only if you can simply work more hours. Most people don't have the ability to flip a switch and make more money.
      • dazparkour, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Your circumstances may vary - but to those it is available, it should be considered. My last job was with slave driving bastards, but there was always overtime. +1.
  • DiogenesJr, on 09/07/2008, -0/+39I think it's shocking that everyone thinks this is shocking! This is my budget for two adults and two children and it works just fine. We could easily afford to spend more, but why? Once you cut out the crap, buy store brands, and start planning a menu before you head to the store, it's fairly easy to get within a few dollars of the 100 a week mark.

    My wife and I used to spend nearly $600 a month on groceries. I took a hard look at what we were buying and realized we were buying a whole lot of nothing. Creating a menu and sticking to it is the key. Once you know what you're going to eat, it's easy. For example, one night a week we eat fish or various types. At Walmart we get enough fish, vegetables and potatoes to feed the entire family for around $10 dollars. There are numerous meals like this one out there that feed plenty of people, leave leftovers, and cost very little.

    I used to be really bothered by high food prices because that's what was expected of me. Then I realized that food prices aren't the problem. People not exercising sound financial sense was the problem. I know I wasn't. If you make $28,000 a year, have a couple of kids, a car payment, rent / mortgage, and a couple of credit cards, you're going to have issues with affording anything at all, let alone food. And I think this is where the problem lies.
    • KelliShaver, on 09/07/2008, -0/+13Ah, someone who makes sense! Our monthly grocery budget for our family of 3 is $300. We eat healthy and there's always enough. We don't buy a lot of pre-packaged crap, buy a lot of store brand items (they taste the same), take advantage of sales, and generally just pay attention. It's pretty easy to do. I know a family of six that eat just fine off $150 a week. To me, $100/wk for a family of 3 doesn't seem extreme at all.
      • Sethbacca, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2True that, I find that my household of 3, we're buying lots of store brands lately. The only thing that I'm not allowed to skimp on is the cereals (for some reason store brands get soggy quicker), and the mac and cheese boxes. Beyond that i'd say we're at about 80% store brands in our cart.
      • Fenrirwulf, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2It isn't that hard. We look at the grocery store sales papers each week and then design a menu around what we have on hand and what we have on sale. We bake our own bread for 25c a loaf, in the breadmaker when time is running low, by hand otherwise. We buy whole sirloins when they are on sale (usually 1.89-2.00 per pound) and cut it into roasts and grind on own hamburger. Ground sirloin costs $3-4 from the grocery store and there is no telling how much filler they had added in to it. We get our own ground sirloin with as much or as little fat as we want in it for just over $2 and all it takes is a little work and a $99 meat grinder. We also buy whole pork loins for $1.89 and cut them into roasts, chops, and grind some into sausage. Pork chops in the store are about $3 with bone, we get boneless chops once again for less than $2. So it takes a little more work to make everything from scratch so when we cook, we cook large batches on the weekend and freeze single servings for use during the week.
        As for cereal, we make our own granola for a couple cents per serving. It is great with milk for breakfast, added into yogurt later (which we make out of skim milk), or just right out of the bag for a snack.
        We used to eat dinner out 4-5 times a week and get fast food each workday for lunch. We were spending about $300 per week, now we spend less than $100.
  • dazparkour, on 09/07/2008, -2/+7I keep seeing "Healthful" - which although is recognised by my dictionary and Google, should probably be dropped for Healthy.
    • montek, on 09/07/2008, -0/+4While it's true that healthy could be used, healthful is just as correct.
    • dxgg, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Maybe so, but it's damn hard to enunciate it. That transition from "th" to the "f" is a killer!
    • dazparkour, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Montek - thanks for repeating me. That's pretty much what I meant by is recognised by my dictionary - that is, I looked it up, it's there.

      dxgg - It's truly awful isn't it! That's probably how it dropped out of popular usage.
  • skyz, on 09/07/2008, -5/+3for just me single slim vegan it is 200 a month (no junk food i'm not into junk food at all) and then about 100 for personal stuff and paper towels cleaning stuff and quarters for the laundry.......i had more disposable income when i was in college....i feel for people with kids things are rough and i don't think there is any legitimate cause.....things don't need to be this way imho it is exploitation that has been pushed to the limit....it is a national disgrace if not a global one....
  • Battlecry, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6I don't know if cost of living or where you live makes much of a difference, but my wife and I can feed our family on $100 a week pretty easily.
  • yunus, on 09/07/2008, -2/+153 meals a day X 7 days = 21 meals.
    1 meal = 2 packets of Ramen.
    21X2 = 42 packs of Ramen per week.
    42 x .10 = $4.20 per week per person
    It's good enough for college kids.
    • dazparkour, on 09/07/2008, -0/+11Way to bring back rickets.

      I do miss college and noodles however.
      • yunus, on 09/07/2008, -1/+2Ramen + Flinstones chewable vitamins then.
      • avianchaosx, on 09/07/2008, -2/+1the vitamins that are water-soluble won't stay in your system. supplements are exactly that, they can't replace having equally proportioned meals a day. also the reason why drinking a glass of orange juice doesn't really help you in terms of vitamin c, since you just excrete the excess immediately.
      • bobbi21, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3uh... then how in the world do you get your water soluble vitamins? absorb it directly through the skin? of course they won't stay in your system long that's why you need to eat vit c pretty much every day but why you can get a B12 shot once every few decades (assuming you're a vegan and eat no B12).

        Water soluble vitamins can't be STORED in your body but that doesnt' mean it all passes out of your body immediately. 70% of your body is water and most of the stuff in your body is water soluble as well. All it means is that you have to replace it on a fairly regular basis. While supplements don't absorb as well as food they still do.
      • avianchaosx, on 09/07/2008, -0/+0the point is still that vitamin supplements still aren't a substitute for actual food. b-12 might be fine, but that's only a fraction of your nutritional needs.

        and i'm not sure where you heard that you can get a b-12 shot once every few decades, since the vegan society recommends that vegans "either consistently eat foods fortified with B-12 or take a daily or weekly B-12 supplement" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12#Sources .
      • spaceddaisy, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1B12 shot a decade? I wish! I'm not vegan/vegetarian, but my body doesn't work quite as it should and doesn't 'get' B12 from food, so I need a shot every three months.
      • bobbi21, on 09/12/2008, -0/+1 avianchaosx:
        If you're saying they can't substitute for actual food why can B12 supplements do it? You can make the point that its better to eat health foods than take vitamins but that has nothing to do with anything you said. Nothing to do with absorption of water soluble vitamins. Nothing to do with vit c in orange juice.

        "Vegans who previously ate animal-based foods may have vitamin B12 stores that will not be depleted for 20 to 30 years or more. " www.ivu.org/faq/vitaminb12.html

        "In fact, there's evidence that vegans who previously ate animal-based food may have vitamin B-12 stores that will not be depleted for 20 to 30 years or more" www.vegsource.com/attwood/vitB-12.htm

        The body, amazingly, may use stores of B-12 for up to 5 years
        www.askahealer.com/vitamin-B-12-deficiency.htm

        I'm not saying B12 shots are the best way to get B12. I'm saying it's a possibility to prove the point that your body can store tons of fat soluble vitamins. Your body can store a whole lot of B12 (couple years worth) and vegans still get a minimal amount of B12 from their food assuming they aren't taking supplements and such, and CAN live for decades without a shot. It's not recommended to risk running out of B12 but it's doable. Sorry for the misunderstanding (probably shouldn't have said no good source of B12 instead of no B12)

        @spaceddaisy - Like I said above you, vegans still get a small amount of B12 from their diet so they can last for a while on their stores of B12. Again it's not preferred to get injections that infrequent since you want to be safe and not be running on 0% B12 before you get another shot. If you have a physiological problem you'd of course need more frequent dosings. sorry for the confusion.
    • alclone, on 09/07/2008, -8/+1Ramen causes rickets?
    • skellener, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Good enough for college kids is still a temporary situation. You may be able to do it while you are young for awhile. Keep it up and you'll die fat and chock full of sodium.
    • Tex, on 09/07/2008, -1/+3I don't know when you were last in college, but Ramen is up to 15-20 cents a packet now.
    • kokuei, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Yeah but they only do that because they have to spend $400 a week on alcohol. Be honest. Haha
  • innocentsinner, on 09/07/2008, -1/+9I love bell peppers, but they rarely go on sale anymore here in Washington unless they're the dinky crop. Seriously, $2-$2.50 for one pepper?
    • govsucks, on 09/07/2008, -1/+8Grow your own. We grow 20 or so tomato plants every spring and we have great home grown tomatoes til the fall. Even if you live in a apartment you can set up a small hydro or aeroponic system and grow tomatoes and peppers year round.

      I would love to see a world that each individual can produce their own veggies in their home or on their property making themselves sustainable and further freeing themselves from the collective.
      • Patrickdnj, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2Same here. It's amazing how much we saved, and how many more vegetables and fruit we added to our diet by starting our own garden. We got tomatoes, watermelon, strawberries, bell peppers, hot peppers, carrots, and cucumbers.

        A lot more satisfying if you grow it yourself. :)
  • Aturaten, on 09/07/2008, -6/+0This is what happens when you destroy all your farmland to make room for McMansions, malls and factory farms. In Canada right now food prices are bad but Jesus ***** how the hell do you people even survive? Your meat is cheap and tastes like ***** but to buy a week's supply of vegetables and fruits is nearly 60 dollars alone for 4 people.
    • KSUdesigner, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Food prices today have nothing to do with destroying farmland. There is plenty of farmland in the United States, in fact there is more farmland than there is urban land.
  • Bunglish, on 09/07/2008, -2/+2I'm a single muscular meatatarian, it's a serious commitment (no junk food, don't snack much). I spend around 200 a month on food.
    • Typhoon2009, on 09/07/2008, -1/+3lol, meatatarian
      enjoy your scurvy
      • kokuei, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3He didn't say he was a Meatan. He can still drink vegetable and fruit juice. Hehe
  • fani, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2Most people either live to eat or eat to live.
    Hence its no wonder that you find opinions on either side of the spectrum.
    However, what's important is balance in this matter - my personal motto is "want not, waste not"
  • rumblestrut, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2My family of three lives on $120 a week. We lived on $100 a week (or less) for the last five years though. Only recently did we up the weekly amount because of the increase in food prices. It's all pretty healthy stuff too.
  • smotpoker1, on 09/07/2008, -3/+2She's lying about the meats.She could bought enogh to feed them but maybe three times meat at any setting.and since when did 1 can of tuna feed 4?
    • crossmr, on 09/07/2008, -0/+5When you eat proper portion sizes.. you're not supposed to eat a 3 pound steak with every meal and a side of quarter pound hamburgers..
      • bobbi21, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1hmm 3 pound steak a meal with quarter pounders.. I know I'm gonna have some competition in those 72 oz steak meals at lone star.
    • Inox555, on 09/14/2008, -0/+0smotpoker1 is correct regarding a single can of tuna not being enough food to feed four people. One regular sized can's net weight is 6 ounces (170 grams) and is only "about 2.5 servings."
  • Exzhaton, on 09/07/2008, -2/+19Uh yo rice is delicious and ***** you if you don't agree.
    • Typhoon2009, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2Has to be the right type though. I think there's a kind called calrose rice which if I'm not mistaken is the fluffy, slightly sticky kind they serve in Chinese restaurants. Mmmmmm.
    • drgirlfriend, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Oh no, I agree with you, sir.
      Thankfully, I won't be ***** today. :)
  • HairyTroll666, on 09/07/2008, -4/+26The article's woman shopper sounds like a 'stay-at-home' mom.

    Honestly, I think 99% of today's USA "stay-at-home' moms are spoiled rotten. They have grown up without any real need to scrimp or save money, cut corners, plan a meal schedule, or other tasks that mom's in the 1950s or 1960s had to do on a daily basis. (I am not just picking on women here, most American men are worse and have even less household skills deeming it "woman's work".)

    Most Americans have no idea the difficulty of washing clothes by hand or dealing with farm tasks like handling livestock or self-butchering a chicken. They would be completely lost and not have the tools or skills necessary to do these tasks if without electricity (Do you have a cloths wringer and cloths pins at home?)

    Give the article's woman a budget of $100 dollars a week for food (ignoring household supplies even) and she can't make it a week without a bean burrito or soft-serve ice cream.

    Its no wonder when Hurricane Katrina blew through Louisiana everyone freaked out and looted and many people died. Without the quick instant access to fast-food, pre-packaged meals, electricity, and utility services... Most Americans either become thieves or just shrivel up and die.
    • dvdchris, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3I agree. It's amazing how easy we actually have it these days. 'Hard times' for many mean having to cut back on non-essentials like buying video games or cutting out the cable/satellite bill. Boo-hoo.
      We have machines that wash our dishes, wash and dry our clothes, and vacuum our carpets. Today we don't have to hand wash dishes, hand wash or hang up clothes, or take our rugs outside and beat them clean.
      Imagine if there were a national disaster like we really have never seen before and we had to go back to some of these old ways. I think the majority of people nowadays would shrivel up and die.
    • Patrickdnj, on 09/07/2008, -0/+4JUST America? How about you try every other modern country in the world!!!! You think Americans just eat fast food? Try Canada. Or Mexico. Or France. Or the ***** UK.
      While I do agree that stay at home moms tend to be a bit more lazier, but, that is what is expected of when we have appliances and machines to do all the things you have said.



      Jesus christ, it's like America bashing is a sport here on digg........
  • govsucks, on 09/07/2008, -0/+8My family of 3 eats great for 100-120 per week and has for quite some time. We eat healthy, lots of salads and fruits. You can easily feed a family of 3 on 100 per week and sacrifice very little, well unless you buy your kids all kind of crap they don't need to eat anyway.
  • vbullinger, on 09/07/2008, -1/+3As a bachelor, my meal budget was less than a dollar a meal, or less than $21/week. I basically lived like a pauper. No, I didn't eat nothing but Ramen. Then my meal budget could've been halved, easy. I like a good breakfast, so I have to have a large bowl of cereal and slather it in milk. I still do this. It was my most expensive meal. I'd have a weak sandwich (like one piece of meat and a little bit of greens and/or one slice of cheese was the most exotic I'd do) and _something_ else for lunch - usually whatever I'd find in the clearance area of the local Cub - and then something like a can of vegetables or fruit for dinner.

    Now that I'm married, we cook a little more, but we're still frugal. I like to eat cereal or oatmeal for lunch at work, too. I still peruse the clearance bins :)

    Carrying this budge out to a family of four means that you'd have to live just like I was, foodwise, to feed your family. That's tough. Harder than you'd imagine. Kudos!
  • firebirdx01, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6How about $100 a month-

    http://gizmodo.com/5046069/dealzmodo-ultimate-neve ...
    • nevaseez, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1I couldnt even imagine how your ***** would look after eating that garbage
  • gkiltz, on 09/07/2008, -7/+2You CAN, but you'll be living on Mac and Cheese, Grits, wieners, and maybe once a week or so, some dark-meat chicken. And barely 800 calories a day of that!
  • JakeyG14, on 09/07/2008, -5/+2Not healthily.
  • kishosingh, on 09/07/2008, -3/+1It is not for a single country but also in all the country vegetable, fruits and all the eatable things prices has gone into high prices. It is not affordable in $100.
  • MrTulip, on 09/07/2008, -1/+1if you really have to, you can live relatively healthy with granola, protein powder, vitamin pills, assorted nuts, vegetable oil, rice and tap water (at least where i live), maybe the occasional piece of vegetable, for like 60-70$/month^^.
    just don't come near any fast food stand or you'll get to know what craving really is..
  • winmywii, on 09/07/2008, -1/+3It costs me $100 a week to feed myself, and I don't eat out much. I eat a lot of steak, chicken and salads, which is where most of the money goes. Rice, oatmeal, and a couple dozen eggs are week are pretty cheap.
  • SammyJr, on 09/07/2008, -1/+4My mom used to feed my entire family of 5 on less than $100/week back in the 80s and early 90s. She didn't clip coupons and shopped at the "expensive" grocery store that had better quality meat. We ate well and I didn't even know what Ramen was until I got to college.

    How times have changed. My wife and I don't eat half as well as I did as a kid and even with 2 small kids who don't eat much, are still over $100/week.
    • Fenrirwulf, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1My mom fed our family of four on $100 every two weeks back in the 80s. We had 3 large home cooked meal, all meat and potatoes. No one ever went hungry, including the dog, and we are all nice big southern eaters.
    • JackHarkness, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1You do realize the price of money changes over time(I cant think of a good analogy) due to inflation. Do you remember hearing old folks talk about how they could buy a bottle of soft drink for a dime? That $100 is now worth $390 (100 * (1.07^20) = 386.968446) assuming on average 7% inflation. That's not even taking into account the CPI (which says that different items may be relatively more expensive compared to other basic items and the average wage). So unless you're spending nearly $400 a week on food you aren't going to be eating like you did back in the 80's
  • RichUser, on 09/07/2008, -8/+2What the heck. My family of 3 spends $900-$1,000 a week on food. And were all slim and atheltic. $100/week is crazy.
    • jessenoob, on 09/07/2008, -1/+7Your username is correct.
    • mikebb79, on 09/07/2008, -0/+8Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches, what do you guys eat, frickin filet mignon for breakfast,lunch, dinner AND a midnight snack?
    • 1legend, on 09/07/2008, -0/+2lol
  • jessenoob, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Of course they can.... I live in a little redneck town where my dad only makes 14k a year.$100 a week is always plenty for us. And we are a family of 4.
  • LeepII, on 09/07/2008, -0/+9The writer of this article doesn't live in the real world. She talks about canned salmon like she's never had it before, also the way she refers to the produce she normally buys shows she normally shops with an unlimited budge, definitely not living like most Americans. I spend about 125 a week for a family of 5.

  • Albo23, on 09/07/2008, -0/+10I have a five person family. I spend about and around $50 per week. We still eat good and somewhat healthy. :) No pop, chips, or any of that BS.
    • kiffar, on 09/07/2008, -1/+4But..I love chips. :(
      • jabela, on 09/07/2008, -0/+1Chips ain't expensive if you make them yourself... After all they're only potatoes...
    • penguingeek, on 09/07/2008, -0/+3Good show. We're a family of 6 and we have a $75/week budget for groceries. Usually we don't even meet the $150 allocated for our grocery trips (for 2 weeks worth). I use a calculator while shopping so we know where we're at budget-wise. We do use coupons. I buy generic (unless the brand name is on a good sale that beats its value). I don't buy box/prepared meals (Hamburger Helper, etc) except for the generic Mac & Cheese (I'm no Alton Brown). We buy ingredients for meals. Meat is probably the most expensive thing on the list, next to produce, but the only meat I buy is chicken thighs, pork ribs, and ground turkey.
      • Albo23, on 09/09/2008, -0/+1Exactly. Generic is great. Eh I buy Hamburger Helper every know and then though. :p
  • mikebb79, on 09/07/2008, -3/+6Yes. Spam and Top Ramen. No need for the article.
  • Spamiclese, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6Sounds like her kid keeps f-ing up her plans. First with the ice cream and then with the calculations at the store :-./.
    • wattersm, on 09/07/2008, -0/+6Yeah, way to reward whining there. Tell the kids to STFU and no ice cream.
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