Tuesday, September 2, 2008

How Much Should You Spend on Food According to the Government?

Here is an interesting cost estimate as of July 2008 of what the government believes you should spend on food. The Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans each represent a nutritious diet at a different cost. The Thrifty Food Plan is the basis for food stamp allotments. None of the plans include other non-food items like toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc. For the liberal plan, my family of five would spend $287.40 per week. Wow. The things I could buy...Okay back to reality. The thrifty plan for my family of five would be 149.30 per week. If you added what I pay for my children's school hot lunches and throw in occasional take-out, I could probably hit the thrifty plan. I would consider our diet to be nutritious and balanced most of the time. My goal is to keep our food budget (including non-food items) between 400 to 500 per month. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I go over. What do you think of the government's numbers?

3 comments:

Melissa said...

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Prudy said...

Wow-that's a lot of cash for non food items. If I spent that much each week, it would be in a few restaurants.

Bookwoman said...

The thrifty plan for my family would be 109.60 (3 of us incl. a 17 yr old boy). I do spend about $100 a week at the grocery store, but that includes paper products, cleaning, toiletries (but not makeup) and food for 2 dogs and a cat. I think we actually spend around $65 for just the food.

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