# What percentage of your salary goes to food?



## Chaska Ñawi

In the thread on French stereotypes, GenJen54 made this statement:  "I once saw a statistic (don't have time to research it now), that the French (middle and higher classes) spend up to 1/3 of their annual income on "gastronomie." Anytime I would visit a friend's home for a meal, even a small weekday supper, there was no lack of nice wine or splendid cheese.
The meal itself might have been simple (omlette or pasta), but it was served with panache."

I've given up trying to figure out what percentage of our income we spend on food, because we produce a lot of our own food and it gets complicated.  I suspect that our food would be cheaper if we didn't raise poultry and have a garden... but it wouldn't taste nearly as good.  Anyway, I THINK we spend around five percent, but it could be as high as ten.

I haven't thrown in a poll (sorry!), but I'd really like to hear what other forer@s are putting toward their food bill.  I'd also be curious as to whether that money goes to pre-prepared food, GenJen's aforementioned "gastronomie", or whether all food is expensive (which seems to be the case in Argentina these days).


----------



## Vespasian

I can't come up with any numbers but we spend a lot of money on food. Including a lot of gastronomy and a bit of pre-pared food (if everyone is too lazy to cook). And of course restaurant visits if that counts.

I once heard that the average Italian spends four times more money on ingredients than the average German does. I guess that the French, Italians, Spanish and the Portuguese lead this list.


----------



## Zakalwe

I'm not someone that spends a lot of money in food and i use to buy the cheapest products.
I usually spend 20 euros a week when buying food at the supermarket.
Then i spend around 5 euros each week day for the lunch and the mid-morning snack. I have the luck to have the university next to my work so my lunch only cost me 3,50 euros.
At first sight, it doesn't seem a lot.
In conclusion i spend around 45 euros a week, that is around 180 euros a month.
I make 950 euros per month, so i spend 19% of my salary in food !

So when you think people spend only 5% of their salary in food, well it doesn't work for me, and i can tell you that i take care about what i buy (no gastronomy and no prepared food).


----------



## hald

If I record correctly, the part of your income that goes to food also depends on the amount you earn. Here's an example (in french, sorry) :http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATSOS05108&tab_id=80
Columns list the annual income. What you can see is that families with the lowest income spend 20% of their salary in food, whereas families with the highest income only spend 14% of it in food. By the way, restaurants are not included here.


----------



## Benjy

i spend all my money on food. i reckon about 80-90%.


----------



## Hakro

I can't say any percentage; I never count the money I spend on food because I'm sure that I can't become bankrupt by eating more or better, and I can't get rich by saving from food money.


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

Zakalwe said:
			
		

> So when you think people spend only 5% of their salary in food, well it doesn't work for me, and i can tell you that i take care about what i buy (no gastronomy and no prepared food).



You are probably right - I've never had the courage to sit down and work out the feed bills for the poultry versus the value of their meat and eggs!  (On the other hand, I don't just raise them for food - I raise them for entertainment.  Also, I always have an incubator in my classroom in the spring so that we can hatch chicks or ducklings or whatever.)

It depends partly on whether you're farming or not.  Those of our neighbours who farm probably do spend about 5% of their income on food, unless they're just putting in cash crops.  Most other families I know around here, however, both urban and rural, buy a lot of pre-packaged foods to put in the microwave (especially if both parents are working).  This easily shoots your food bill up to around 20% of your income.  With hockey parents it's even higher, because they use the fast-food option (ie, MacDonalds) on practice and game days.


----------



## diegodbs

In Spain, in 2003 it was 18-19% of the family income.


----------



## blancalaw

I never really calculated it but I estimate I spend 10% on food, between grocery shopping and eating out.  This is for my husband and I.  If we had kids, we would probably spend double that amount.  Of course I included the entire grocery bill, including household items such as soap and shampoo.
It is true the more you make the less of a percentage you would spend on food, unless you eat at fancy restaurants all the time.


----------



## mnzrob

Until just now, I always thought that about 60% of my income went towards food, but I just calculated it, and it's only about 14%. Where the hell is all my money going?

Rob


----------



## clipper

diegodbs said:
			
		

> In Spain, in 2003 it was 18-19% of the family income.


 
I think things have changed a bit since 2003. Having done some calculations (I actually calculated all of my households outgoings and what was left I deemed to be spent on food) I only have about 12% to spend.

Considering that a mortgage is likely to cost 50% of your income, utilities bills another 10%, and running a vehicle another 12%, I can´t believe that many spanish families have close to 20% left for food.


----------



## nichec

Ha, now I feel guilty because I figure that I spend around 25% of my income on the food. No, I'm not fat at all, I'm actually too thin for my friends and family's standard, I don't eat any kind of junk food or snacks or sweets, and everytime I dine out, it seems that I never have to pay 
Most of the money goes to fruits because I can't live without fruits, and God, it's so much more expensive to eat healthily than just grab something in chain fast food restaurant...It's no fair


----------



## tvdxer

I'm guessing our family of 5+1 (we have another living with us at the time) spends about a tenth of our income on groceries.  We make most of our food ourselves, although we do buy some pre-packaged stuff, mostly just snacks, or for lunch when we don't have leftovers (e.g. different pre-made microwaveable soups, etc.).  We have very fresh "local food" from our garden in the fall, the much of which we can into preserves (or give away).

As for eating out, we don't go out for dinner too often, maybe 1-2 times a month, and I personally almost never eat fast food.  I sometimes fit the bill when I go to get a hummus sandwich at the bakery/cafe' or Indian take-out / buffet / dinner, so I would estimate I spend maybe $35 of my own income on food each month.


----------



## nanel

The 8% in my case.

It depends a lot on the family, it's quite different when you are 2 with 2 salaries, than when you are 5 with 1 salary. In my case we are 2 with 2 salaries.


----------



## swift_precision

I would say a good 80%.  Hey, I'm a growing boy and I need the nutrients to help me exercise each day. jeje


----------



## Bilma

My budget is about 20% for my husband and me. I have asignated that but we do not eat all in one month.


----------



## Athaulf

Chaska Ñawi said:


> I haven't thrown in a poll (sorry!), but I'd really like to hear what other forer@s are putting toward their food bill.



In my case, that strongly depends on whether you count the booze under "food."  (Here in Canada, it's exorbitantly expensive even in quite moderate quantities.)


----------



## kurumin

5% of salary. here in Brasil, the food is very cheap 
the only expensive things are electronic products, like tvs and cameras


----------



## emma42

I am on an extremely low income (for Britain), and I can easily spend 50% of my money on food if I want to have treats such as exotic fruits and organic food.  However, due to ferocious competition between the supermarkets here ("loss-leaders", such as incredibly cheap pasta, beans etc),  it is possible to eat healthily and spend far less than 50%.  It's true that the percentage spent is correlated to income level.


----------



## jess oh seven

I try to keep my kitchen stocked with staples like pasta, rice/quinoa, frozen meat/fish, flour, etc and most weeks I just need to buy a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables... I work in a fruit&veg shop so I buy from there and get a 20% discount . I never buy pre-prepared food (well, perhaps the occasional frozen pizza if i'm feeling lazy...) and make everything from scratch.

I'd say on average I spend about 7% of my weekly income on food... I don't earn very much or spend very much, but I eat well and healthily


----------



## maxiogee

I have no idea.
At all.

I don't analyse the family expenditure. We buy what we need. We dine out occasionally. I don't examine our supermarket expenditure to break it down by category.

I can't even think of why I might want to. It costs us €X to live each year. What does it matter what percentage of that is food - or heat, or light etc. It's all 'the cost of living'.


----------



## invictaspirit

I tried to work my percentage out and failed. Like maxiogee, we eat pretty much what we like, and dine out pretty often. My wife is a good cook and I try my best...we are interested in food. I strongly doubt we get anywhere near a third of our combined salaries. It's probably between 10 and 15%.

I'm a lazy cook and would buy a lot more pre-prepared stuff if I was single, or eat out a lot more.  My wife is fussy about getting fresh things and good quality products.


----------



## Thomsen

I would say 5-10%, with at least an equal amount devoted to eating out.  Heck I spent 1% of my monthly salary on dinner last night!


----------



## emma42

I wonder if anyone will beat Benjy's 80-90%?!

It would be very interesting to compare percentages based on income-level, but I would not dream of asking anyone to share this information.  I wouldn't want to.


----------



## Etcetera

I've never tried to estimate how much money we spend on food, but it's a considerable sum. 
We usually try to buy good, fresh products and a lot of fruits. There are always two or three sorts of cheese in our refrigerator. As for pre-prepared food, we buy it from time to time, though not very often.


----------



## DickHavana

Benjy said:


> i spend all my money on food. i reckon about 80-90%.



¡Cielo santo!

I don't know it exactly but I suppose that the media in my family (my wife, my son and me) is around 180 - 200 euros month. Minimum salary in Spain is around 540 euros month and I suppose that in Navarre (North of Spain) a basic salary for an employee is around 800-900 euros month (net, discounting taxes). Seniority, overtime and another questions increase the salary.

In Spain, home mortgages (all the people here buy its home) and expensive prices make  that in a usual family, both husband and wife needs to work.

Sorry my "pichinglis"


----------



## mytwolangs

In our family, we try to buy inexpensive products. We do not go to restaurants a lot. 
Regardless of what our income is on any given month, we spend about $65 a week on food, for 3 people. This does not include other groceries like cleaning supplies and other non-food groceries. This DOES include eating out once a week.

Our household income is about $500 to $600 a week so maybe about 10-15% 
Food in America is sometimes a fortune, or other times cheap, depending on what one buys and where.


----------



## Lugubert

On average, I spend €170 on food, hygiene articles, and some clothing. Rent is to the tunes of €550. My pension is roughly €1200, i.e. food @ some 15%. Don't tell our IRS, but I make some more on the side, to pay for books (lots of them) and travelling.


----------



## GEmatt

Based on some quick finger math, I'd say around 11%. But I know that figure would probably treble if I stopped drinking and smoking.*

Nine times out of ten, I prepare food myself, and eat out maybe once or twice a month on average, or more, if I'm professionally obliged to "dine out", or am just too tired to put on the apron. Things like pasta and rice are as pre-processed as it gets. It's otherwise fairly fresh produce.

Speaking of French stereotypes, I'm reminded of a recent news article discussing obesity, and wondering how, with all the _foie gras_ and _fromage_, French women "manage to stay so petite." The flippant answer, supplied further down the article, suggested that most Frenchwomen's diets actually consist mainly of black coffee and cigarettes.


*Don't do this at home, kids! Or anywhere.


----------



## eastlife

I just realised that I spend around 30% or even more of my income on food, and this does not include dating girls in a fancy restaurant. I think fruits and drinks occupy a big percentage of my daily diet. And also Chinese people like having dinner with family, friends, classmates, or colleagues in restaurant as a kind of social gathering.


----------

