Comments about ‘Americans spend $151 on food weekly. How do you compare?’

I always find it a bit irritating when there is a monetary number mentioned for a "family", yet there is no number of people per family stated in the research study. Is this for a family of 4? 10? I find it a bit glaring that there is not a total number of people mentioned. For all I know, this is for a family of one that spends $151 per week on their food bill.

I am with washcomom on this one...I guess the value of this article is to get a sense of where we stand historically. The invitation to compare our own situation with the study's findings leave us no basis for comparison.

Also...What constitutes groceries? I lump all our personal items, cleaning supplies, eating out expenditures, and school supplies all in my grocery budget.

I wonder how much each family spends per month for communications. I'm amazed at all the expensive cell phone plans that families carry nowadays, while they complain about the cost of more important things like food.

That is how much we spent for 4 people. The cell plan is at the minimun, 4 lines for 4 adults. I dont buy as much as I used to. I just buy produce, meat, milk, no treats, no candies, only generic, no brands and have a garden that helps me on saving in produce. I think everybody do pretty much the same.

The sticker price for food is high and going higher - one example, Costco's small bag of walnuts - not too long ago it was 5+$'s now it is 16+$'s. The price of food has caused families to carefully consider and select essential needs. Therefore, there is less rather than more take home groceries. As for eating out - hardly affordable.