<p>Hi, my daughter will be attending FSU this spring as a freshman. We have opted to forgo the meal plan and have her shop at Publix on Ocala instead. Curious to know what a typical grocery bill might be for her. She tends to prefer salads and the like over red meat.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hi-
If your daughter cooks, doesn’t eat out often, eats healthy and stocks up on bulk items, a figure of about $350 per month is average within my range of friends.</p>
<p>I spend typically $40-50 a week, so around $200 a month, give or take. I don’t really buy any meat at Publix, since it is all very overpriced, imo.</p>
<p>^^^^^
Dude-
PLEASE explain to me how you can live on only $200 of food each month…
Do you eat cardboard???</p>
<p>About $200/month is enough for groceries for one student. An FSU student preparing most of his own meals doesn’t need to buy food in bulk or spend $350/month for groceries unless he is a big pig.</p>
<p>It is not practical for a college student sharing an apartment with 3 or 4 roommates to buy food in bulk–simple rule of physics–there won’t be enough room in typical small refrigerator/freezer or in limited kitchen cabinet space to store it. Too, a giant box of something like cereal will end up getting stale before it is finished, or if you buy a 20 lb. bag of potatoes they will spoil–bulk ends up costing more.</p>
<p>$200/month needed for groceries I think would be typical for an average FSU student.</p>
<p>Maybe another way to estimate how much money is necessary for a month of groceries would be budgeting about $1 for each lb. the student weighs!</p>
<p>My daughter spends about $60-75/week at Publix. She doesn’t have a meal plan and has an apartment on campus. That may seem a little high, but she buys a lot of fresh produce. Don’t forget that they are also spending for supplies (women) along with smaller containers of some items (milk, etc.) which is opposite of buying in bulk (as suggested by another poster). Include medicines like ibuprofen, cough syrup (during peak sick times). I think Tallalassie was out of line calling someone a pig if they spent $300.</p>
<p>And, even at $300/month, it’s cheaper by over $600/semester than the 2 meals/day plan we had last year.</p>
<p>I understand different people are going to purchase different foods, but I still think $350/month for groceries for one FSU student is bordering on gluttony. To eat his own!</p>
<p>Tallalassie—
To each his own-
When I suggested $ 350 a month for food, this amount included all eating done throughout the month such as drinking soda or junk food between classes, going out to eat with friends, beer etc…. All which is food and I’d imagine just part of the overall food budget.
Also, a side note-
My personal best on a full level roadway marathon is 3 hours, 2 minutes. I haven’t seen many chunky people run faster than that !</p>
<p>Also after a typical 50 mile road race on my bike that I can knock out at around 2 hours, barring wind and traffic, I can still consume over 2500 calories of pure junk food heaven and still have problems keeping-up my weight.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon for young guys! What are your best 5K and 10K times? Are you going to run xc in college?</p>
<p>I just got back from break and dropped $140 at Publix. I bought a lot of fruits and veggies, which contributed to the high cost, as well as some BOGO items that I can save for later. Your daughter eats lots of salad so keep that in mind. Publix typically has BOGO deals on bags of prepared lettuce/other greens, which is nice–they’re probably enough base for 3-4 salads each bag. Once you add in other veggies though, it can get expensive! She’ll be going at least once a week to stock up on more. Publix also does some deals on frozen veggies once in a while too! They have BOGO frozen Green Giant veggies this week, so I got some of those as well. </p>
<p>I would say $350 a month is about right, for eating HEALTHY (fresh, not packaged items). I know I wouldn’t be able to survive on $200 a month unless I was eating ramen, frozen pizzas, and mac n cheese all month, but I refuse to do that.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind: Publix is a bit more expensive than Walmart (aside from the BOGO deals of course). Also, my meal plan when I was a freshie was $1800 a semester (3.5 months) which equates to about $500 a month…CRAZY! And the food was meh</p>
<p>Even with BOGO offers, Publix is generally more expensive than Walmart.</p>
<p>Tuesday! Cat food casserole night.</p>
<p>[cat</a> food casserole with rice](<a href=“http://www.mommysavers.com/c/t/78771/cat-food-casserole-with-rice]cat”>http://www.mommysavers.com/c/t/78771/cat-food-casserole-with-rice)</p>
<p>Ok, I was checking attached USDA estimate of average food costs nationwide, and it matches up with my personal $200/mo. food cost estimate for one thrifty eating person. I probably average two meals prepared at my apartment each day and usually I eat one meal or some snacks out each day. I’m not counting in my costs things purchased at grocery store like paper goods, soap, cigs, booze, cosmetics, aspirin, etc. …just food and also drinks like bottled water and some soda. On the attached USDA chart, a 20 yr old girl at thrift level needs $161/mo. + 20% added for just being one person in my household = $193/month for food for a person eating ALL their meals at home. $200/month is plenty for me! If you’re are eating high on the hog with prime cuts of meat at each meal at the liberal level on attached USDA–you could spend $350/month. I don’t eat at the liberal/deluxe level.</p>
<p>I do about half my grocery purchases at the Ocala Rd. Publix location, and half at the W. Tennessee Ave. Wal-Mart. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJun2012.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJun2012.pdf</a></p>
<p>^^^
Okay, thanks for the clarification, but items such as paper goods, soaps, etc… are part of the monthly food bill that needs to be taken into consideration when preparing one’s monthly food expense. My estimate of $ 350 is actually on the low side as during my second year living off campus, my TOTAL food bill including all incidentals totaled in excess of $ 700 each month. Granted I went out a lot, but I did have a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Those items are included in my $50/week.</p>
<p>If you know how to shop, you can easily eat well on $200/month. I’ve done it now for 2 1/2 years.</p>
<p>I spend less than $150 a month on food because I don’t buy junk food. When I buy meat I buy enough, seperate it in smaller packs and freeze it.
My paper towels, toilet paper, tampons are bought in bulk at Costco. Before I moved here I stocked up on toothpaste, toothbrushes when they were on clearance or BOGO. For things I need here and there I use the Shopkick app so I get gift cards for free and use that when I run out of milk or eggs quicker than expected.</p>
<p>Edit: I calculated how much I spend a month. It’s about $80-$120/month.</p>