How much do you spend on groceries each week?

[Peter Dunn]

This week 60 Days to Change is focusing on controlling your spending. A major component to this is your ability to control your spending at the grocery store. How do you with this? Are you under control, or are you wasting food and money?

[Stephanie Shields]

I've started making weekly meal plans. I check to see what is in the freezer and pantry then make a list of exactly what I need. I Add some fresh fruit and other carefully chosen snacks to the cart and I'm set. I started doing this to better manage life with our new baby, but I find that we also are spending quite a bit less.

Another thing that helps a habitual hoarder like me is telling yourself that you'll be back to the store in 7 days, so only buy what you need for that week. If you find shelf staples on sale it's okay to stock up as long as you're checking the pantry for ingredients when making meal plans and grocery lists.

[Stephen James]

I think my wife and I spend something like $40-60 at Whole Foods and $20-40 at Trader Joe's per week. When we need basic staples such as a bottle of grapeseed oil, it's closer to the upper end. I'm sure that we could spend less, but that would mean eating animals with growth hormone/antibiotics and insecticide sprayed apples and tomatoes.

The easiest way to cut down is not eating out and eating meat gravy on rice. I love gravy over basmati rice. My wife has made me a rice snob and now I despise minute rice.

[Amy Lowe]

When trying to save as much money as we can- we do a weekly meal plan based on what is on sale at the stores that week. I only buy things that are on sale- unless it is diapers etc- some things you can not wait to go on sale. I clip coupons (but not too many because I would probably forget them anyway). I shop every two weeks and spend $125-$150. We save a lot of money by cooking at home and making most everything from scratch. I do not do premade meals- not only are they 2-3X more to buy than they are to make on your own, but they are loaded with extra sodium and preservatives- Yuck!

[Theresa Browning]

My husband is a fabulous cook so we spend more than I ever could have dreamed. His philosophy is: If we do nothing else, we will at least eat well! We rarely eat out and we're good at re-purposing leftovers for other meals. The tough thing is eating the yummy fruit and veges before they spoil. (Why is healthy food so much more expensive than artifical.) It kills me to throw food out so I've started to try to compost. The only thing worse than throwing food out is spending money on DIRT for my gardening habit. I'm looking for a good place on the west side or downtown to buy fresh fish. We have a terrible time finding good quality fish. It often tastes like bleach when I buy it from a supermarket, which makes me suspicious of the handling practices.

[Theresa Browning]

Thanks for the tip. We find it hit or miss with the Meijer's stores on the west side. I wonder what day of the week they get fish in. Maybe that's the difference. Ick. Just grossed myself out with that idea.

[Michael R.]

WOW! That's a lot of money. What are you guys eating every night, lobster and filet mignon? Where do you shop, Wild Oats?

[Kenan Farrell]

I spend about $5-10/day. Once the Farmer's Market opens for the summer, I hope to spend all of that on locally grown food. Big salads, here I come.

[Kris Davidson]

My husband and I have organic vegetables, fruit and grocery items delivered to our home for $35 a week. Although it only covers a portion of what we need to get through the week, the food is local, affordable and supports our Indiana producers.

Farm Fresh Delivery is the name. You can sign up online, cancel any time and choose the fruits and veggies you'd like online. Such a great site.

[Stephen James]

My wife and I looked into Farm Fresh Delivery, but the two of us don't spend $35/week on produce as it is. I'm sure when we have kids we will look into something like it or a co-op.

[Kris Davidson]

I can certainly understand that, Stephen. We both agreed that once a week was too much food for two of us to really consume. BUT, they give you the option of every other week, which is what we do.

We also opted for $25 in produce and getting other items like milk, eggs and meat. Your order simply has to total $35 to be delivered.

Just a thought! It's a good amount for the two of us :)

[Emily Meaux Lovison]

My fiance and I spend about $60-$75 per week on food at the grocery store. We pack our lunches at home and only eat dinner out about once per week.