this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
26 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

37175 readers
1372 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 26 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 minutes ago

I pretty much only eat cereal for breakfast, a small frozen meal and fruit cup for lunch, and only rarely eat dinner so I think I spend around $100 a month on food.

[–] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 minutes ago

Around $200 CAD on groceries, and maybe $50 CAD on takeout (the local pizza place has a combo that feeds me for about 3 days). No more than $300.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 1 points 9 minutes ago* (last edited 8 minutes ago)

Left to my own devices it'd be about $100/month.

Rice, beans, pasta, peanut butter, oatmeal, and then whatever fruit and vegetables are cheap.

With the social life included, there's more expenses. Did dinner out last week for $60 (a nice local Thai place). Ordered a pizza with a friend who was feeling down and watched Star Trek together for like $30.

Other non-rice meals with my partner can also be more expensive. We air-fried up some potatoes and vegan "meat" last night and it was good.

There's an app called "too good to go" that lets you get cheap food near the end of day. It's stuff the restaurant or grocery was going to have to throw out. Sometimes you get like four slices of pizza for $4, or a platter of Korean food for $6. Seems good and not enshittified yet.

I'm in NYC, for context.

[–] scytale@piefed.zip 1 points 20 minutes ago

$300-$350 for 2 people.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 2 points 34 minutes ago

Single person and I do almost all of my own cooking. I average $500 - $600 a month.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 1 points 42 minutes ago (1 children)

5 person household, all adults now, mostly physically active. Probably 4k a month all-in.

That includes some booze, not much eating out and is paid by all of us so average 800 / month per person, but not evenly spread, kids are more frugal and do meal prep for lunches and husband and I spend more, and feed all of us once a day at least. Not much junk food, buy ingredients not premade things and I do have a garden.

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 2 points 16 minutes ago

Woah. That's over double my total monthly living expenses.

[–] disregardable@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 hour ago

usually about $550/month including coffee and soda. I'm one person. I have tried to set a budget but I am really not good at it. I also don't really believe in the idea of eating less healthy to save money. It seems short-sighted.

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Wife and I try to keep it under $250/week, so $1000/month.

Probably around $200-250 depending on the month. I spend $20-40 per grocery run, and shop twice a week most weeks. It was higher when I first moved because I was buying the bulk staples that I just keep stocked (rice, vanilla, salt, etc, gave all of it to my old room mate when we moved), but it's gone down since. I think I spent about $400 the first month, $300 the second, and it's probably gonna go down again in the next couple months.

I used to spend $80/mo, but that's when eggs were $1.29 for 18, spam was $2 a can, and milk was $1.50/gallon.

sigh That wasn't even "Back in my day" that was like 6 years ago. Fuck these prices.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

$320USD/mo. for healthy, organic food for one person. It could be less, maybe 75% of that. I've been considering making changes, but I like what I like.

I'm going grocery shopping today, in a couple of hours, as it happens. I shop once per week.

[–] straycatstrut@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

It's about the cheese - for example Boar's Head is $12/lb (baby swiss) to $14/lb (imported Swiss or Grueyere) and that's worth eating ramen to subsidize. :) We can't be eating any of that basic cheese oh no no no...

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I can’t believe that anyone would be buying Boar's Head products after reading about their systemically filthy processing plants https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/09/repeat-creepy-meat-problems-at-boars-head-plants-draw-congressional-scrutiny/

BH cheeses != meats. They don't own the cheese factories, they partner with established cheesemakers in a partner network.[1] (no comment on meats, I don't eat them)

[1] one of them was in the news recently for a recall so it's not all roses in the cheese world either :(

[–] Pirasp@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Currently it's about 160€ per month. One person in Germany. Potatoes and air fryers are a godsend

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 5 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Potatoes and air fryers are a godsend

I could live off french fries and chicken wings for the rest of my life and convince myself it's healthy because I cook them without fat.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 2 points 32 minutes ago

Air fryers are the heckin' best. I don't even notice a huge difference in how my tater tots taste.

[–] fyrilsol@kbin.melroy.org 2 points 1 hour ago

$35 ~ $75. I shop reasonably for one person and that person is me. I don't understand why people spend so big when they're the only ones living at home.

[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

currently i dont have to worry so its up to ~300€ (including takeouts)
But its probably more like 150€-200€ (including takeouts)
in case i worry i can probably get to 60€-80€ by mainly eating noodles or something (no takeouts)

That said: i share my finances so this is mainly just guessing how much i need
Also i get free food at work currently and dont have an expensive taste

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 1 points 2 hours ago

Around £100.

The small print: That includes delivery charges and all other household and hygiene supplies that can be bought at a UK supermarket.

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 3 points 3 hours ago

I've now averaged 276€($327)/month as a single. Before it was 624€($740)/month. Northern Europe.

[–] Hapankaali@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

About €350 per month for two people. This is in Germany, where food is relatively affordable compared to other high-income European countries.

[–] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Maybe 700-800 quid for 4 people.

[–] osanna@thebrainbin.org 1 points 3 hours ago

I spend about $70 a week, which is $280 a month.

[–] gon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 hours ago

Some 80€ for one person. Often less!

[–] SpikesOtherDog@ani.social 1 points 3 hours ago

We are at about $800 monthly for 5 and snacks for the 5 babies that my wife watches. I'm not including eating out because that's about $300 for Friday date nights with the wife, special treats, and occasional eating out on the road.

Cooking and packing these days extra meals would only change the grocery bill by about $30-50..