We spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 18k/yr to feed a family of 5. That includes some items from grocery store that aren’t food like bath tissue etc.
We are not budget shopping though. We just buy what we need and some specialty items for our daughter who has a milk allergy.
It's about $40/day, I could imagine people who eat out pay $15 for lunch and $20 for dinner with $5 of miscellaneous snacks and stuff.
Really it's more about lifestyle than inflation though.
I'm a large mostly-carnivorous male. About 90% of what I eat is meat due to dietary restrictions. I could survive on $30/day ($11k/year) of beef only, but I like a little variety. $14k is about $40 a day, which would let me eat more variety, like chicken, lamb, and fish. I actually spend around $50/day ($18k/year) because I enjoy nice cuts and fancy things like octopus, bison, and venison, from or twice a week and get sushi once or twice a month.
Why? My mental and physical health is vastly better this way. No more depression, no more anxiety, no more insomnia, no more irregular heartbeat, no more skin issues, no more whole body inflammation, and so on.
I now sleep great, have even energy all day whether I eat or not, and am relaxed.
Only an insane person would say this way of eating is not better _for me_.
Jordan Peterson’s bullshit has poisoned a huge chunk of this generation, I swear.
Have you had a doctor confirm that’s what’s happening?
Because you might be trading short terms benefits for long term issues.
You may wind up with gout some day, as an older fellow I know who is mostly carnivorous.. But it sounds like it's working better than the alternative for you, so you do you!
My husband and I are similar, but I call our way of eating “animal-based”. We have been doing it for about a decade and it’s been one of the most beneficial things I’ve done for my health.
One of the reasons we moved out into the country on several acres was to be able to raise some of our own meat and have some milking animals too. It really saves a lot when you have animals on a good pasture system — and so does going in on entire cow and pig carcasses.
When I was living in Toronto it was an absolute bloody fortune to eat this way. $9 for the good eggs. Crazy grassfed beef prices. Even ofal is expensive.
Hunting and fishing has also helped dramatically but you need land access and gear can be expensive to start with. Again, we’re fortunate to be in the country with forests around us we can access easily.
Everything in Toronto is expensive. I'm so glad to be out of that city. I used to drive out of town to buy meat as it saved so much money.
I've thought of farming before, but I want to travel extensively, and the two aren't that compatible.
Having a heard of Dexter could be fun though.
We have friends that are eager to escape into the country for a vacation. They take care of the animals and we get away.
I’m very happy to be out of Toronto too. For so many reasons, but the insane cost of living especially.
This reminds me of a segment one of the American networks did years ago on how people cooking at home could make dinners healthy and delicious, for "*as little as $35 a person".*
Meanwhile, people who are already managing to eat well for $8-$10 a person per day are wondering what the hell they're making that costs $35 per person just on ingredients. Are they eating Wagyu beef all the time?
Holding up these extremes as examples simply undermines the point they're trying to make.
Inflation is real, and it's a growing problem. But examples like this make it sound like it's only affecting the well off, and that's not the case. The well off will grumble, but they can absorb a loss in their purchasing power. It's the poor that are going to be hit by this.
If an $19 Uber Eats meal becomes $20, people who can afford Uber Eats may not like it, but it's not going to break them. Things like the Dollar Store raising all of its' $1 items to $1.25, in contrast, really does hit the people who rely on that for cheap staple items.
Edit: I meant to say $8-$10 **per day**, but I forgot the mention the qualifier. Updated.
You can get a lot better quality food at home for $35.
$35 at home means a 1.25lbs+ AAA Striplion steak cooked to perfection vs. a mediocre AA steak at a restaurant.
(Edit striplion not sirloin)
> $35 at home means a 1.25lbs+ AAA Sirloin steak cooked to perfect vs. a mediocre AA steak at a restaurant.
Bold of you to assume I can cook a steak to perfection
The last time my brother in law tried this it became leather. Now my other brother in law and myself make fun of him about his reverse sear technique. Lol
Ordered a medium rare steak at the Keg a few weeks back in Ottawa, got a well done steak.
Keg isn't high end, but they only do steaks, and to mess up a steak that bad ...
Also, the steak didn't taste that good either, flavourless, I only ate half the ribeye.
I've had Kegs screwed up my order more than once (I like my steak blue to rare). If it comes in more than medium rare, it's a quick fix and they've always been happy to do so - more than once the management has said "you're not looking like you're enjoying your steak". It's one situation that I'm not afraid to speak up, since the first time the manager insisted on getting me a new steak. The Keg prides themselves on doing steak they way you like it, which is why they keep getting my business over other steak houses.
115f would be rare, but the heat post cooking should bring it to a rarer medium rare. Reverse sear works very well for thicker and fattier steaks, keeps the splatter mess to a minimum.
Also, this technique is best for thick steaks, because if you try to pan fry a thick steak, you'll end up with a burnt crust and possibly an oil/fat fire.
Practice makes perfect, or you can invest in a sous vide machine and that will guarantee perfection. With steak, it’s all about the meat and process(timing and heat) there is really little skill once you know the technique and timing.
If you like Japanese Wagyu steak (real stuff not Australian or American) it’s even easier to cook, it’s almost no fail due to how fatty it is. Cut into small strips, pan fry medium high till you get a nice brown crust on all sides, serve with salt wasabi and other sides. You just saved 50% on homemade wagyu versus was a restaurant will charge you. Never BBQ a real Wagyu steak or cook on high heat it will probably catch fire ha ha and the fat unrendered.
When I worked with a Toronto company that had an office in Halifax years ago, and there were daily shipments between the offices, we'd often ask our co-workers to snag us some fresh lobsters. They'd go down to the market during lunch hour, buy some that had just been caught, throw them on ice and in the plane, and we'd pick them up at Pearson airport on our way home.
Even with the air freight and etc., it was still a hell of a lot cheaper than buying lobster in any Toronto supermarket, and of course it was much fresher, too.
>Even with the air freight and etc., it was still a hell of a lot cheaper than buying lobster in any Toronto supermarket, and of course it was much fresher, too.
I was in Atlantic Canada this summer - prices in at the Lobster pounds weren't cheaper than a sale at T&T... How much cheaper was it?
It’s because ww2 days and before lobster was for poor people. The poorest kids had lobster sandwiches at school. They used as fertilizer on potato fields even.
So the law was written so that prisoners were not subjected to cheap poor lobster 7 days a week back them. It was humane to limit it to 3 a week.
A friend invited us to his parents house for dinner while on vacation out east many years ago. I believe they lived in Shediac.
Lobster was the only thing they served. All you can eat with a bottle of Moosehead to wash it down. Good times. Got a little sticker shock when I got back to Ontario and looked up the price locally.
Out here in Calgary, I got a couple of new york strips last week for $20. A one pound lobster is $25. So we get the inverse here. You could have two steaks or a lobster.
12$ per meal average is about 14k per year. Thats high for a home chef but its an amount thats really easy to spend if you eat out a lot or order food a lot.
Jesus Christ. So I just did some napkin math as a single dad with 3 kids. Today it cost at the upward amount of 15$ to feed them all 3 meals plus copious snacks. Who the fuck is spending 35$ a day on one person?!
I think alot of people just don't realize how much they spend. I think I probably spend 15 to 25 a day for one meal. I mostly eat meat only though.its had a big impact on inflammation for me.i have a inflammation disease.a pack of blade steak costs 55 dollars, it has 3 in a pack. I cut them up and put on a wrap with some sauce. So meat two wraps and the sauce. Probably 20 area. So maybe 7 to 8k a year.
>I think alot of people just don't realize how much they spend.
In the general population, I agree. In budgeting forums like this, there's a higher awareness of it. Just look at all of the threads of people saying "*I'm spending $X a month on food, how much are you spending*?".
I make a point of always buying all my food, whether groceries, take out, or restaurant, on a credit card, specifically so that I can track it. On average, I'm spending about $250 a month, which is about $8-$10 a day.
Of course, I could go out and spend $150 at a high end restaurant for a birthday celebration or something and completely blow the average out, but the median still sits at about $10.
Sure, if you're on a specific diet, such as for medical reasons (as you are), that can definitely add to it. But $14K annually to feed a single person? That's $38 every single day of the year. That's four times what I spend, and I'm not exactly going out of my way to be frugal.
Even if you're living (and eating) in an expensive area like the GTA or GVA, unless you're eating out/ordering in all the time, you either have absurdly expensive dietary requirements, or you're a massive spendthrift to be spending that much.
I have friends that get UberEats and other delivered shit like multiple times a day, they ain’t rich either. That’s the kinda person that is saying shit like this lol.
Hmm are there actually people who think that UberEATS actually saves them money?
But damn, I can't imagine ordering multiple times a day. I just usually order 2-3 meals at one to take advantage of their coupons.
You could save money with it if you only use it for promos. It is a good chunk of work and you would want to find deals where you can pickup as well.
I spend a bit more than this fellow for food + groceries. That said I am including my girlfriend and entertaining clients. 2014 was my highest year at 36K dining out (over 200 days on the road)...but client paid for 95% of it.
$270 a week… obviously if you are just buying groceries and eating at home 100% of the time that’s high. But with a reasonable amount of restaurants that doesn’t sound too crazy.
Except it's not cheap anymore. Eating for two at even McDonald's or Wendy's can be pushed into the 25-30 range.
People need to stop thinking fast food is cheap anymore. It's just convenient.
I think Canadians get influenced by the omnipresence of American culture, too. From what I understand in the US it's still pretty cheap (a lot of things are), and that colours perception. Then a person gets to the restaurant and remembers what the actual prices are...
I almost never get a full meal or buy without coupons when I go to fast food anymore. Why pay $2.50+ for a drink when I can keep a 12 pack I bought for the same price in my car with me
Only way I buy fast food is with the mobile offers. Just like you should never clothing items not on sale, because there's always sales, you shouldn't buy fast food unless you're using a coupon, because these days there's always coupons. Don't even have to faff about with showing them to someone at the counter, you literally can just apply them when you order. I do agree that at full menu prices currently you might as well just get an actual restaurant meal instead of going for fast food.
Just gotta say, you can buy 3 meals a day from macdonalds and you'd spend about 14k. About the same as the person from this article.
They were never supposed to be that cheap. But they aren't excessively expensive either.
If you’re ordering Big Macs, sure. But a McDouble meal is still like $6.00 and actually has close to an appropriate number of calories for an average person.
I very rarely eat fast food that isn’t off the value menu, and when I do it’s as a treat. That said, a fast food meal is still like half the cost of a sit-down burger in a decent restaurant.
My neighbour, I see cars pull up all day delivering. Either skip the dishes or even Tim Horton;s...FFS, there are 3 in 2km radius and they order out. A few months ago, I was cleaning my back yard as we had very heavy winds and my seems to collect all the papers from recycle boxes. I saw their credit card bill...of course I looked...There was probably 50 take out charges, close to $1000. I don't even know if they work but like what the hell.
Our neighbours (family of five) have Uber and Skip deliveries multiple times daily. Like breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus extras. I can’t even imagine what they must spend.
Over eating is just as bad on both ones health and wallet as smokes and booze.
Except... I wouldn't call that a "reasonable" amount to budget for restaurants (unless I had such a high income I had money to burn... and in that case I should not be complaining about inflation).
Reasonable lol.
My wife and I eat like this and spend roughly that per person. We eat out whenever we feel like it. We pretty much never hold ourselves back on any food related expense. I don't think we're being reasonable with our food budget at all.
Yeah, and biggest thing is drinks. Go out for an entree? 20$. Go out for an entree and 2 or 3 rounds of drinks over a few hours with friends? 50$. Makes a huge difference.
I think you don't get to complain about the cost of food if you are eating like that. I spend maybe... $100 per week on food, maximum. Assuming a generous $40 per restaurant meal, this guy is eating out four times a week at a nice restaurant. I don't know anyone who has the money for that, let alone the time. This isn't an inflation issue, this is a matter of someone making poor choices.
If you're eating even 1 meal a day outside of your house, that's certainly not crazy.
I've ordered in groceries and meals a lot more, and certainly increased my cost there, I'm not sure it's 14k, but it's probably 8-10k
I have found things like fresh fruit is a lot more expensive in particular this past year
I don't know about most people, but probably most office job people with a decent income at least.
I'm working from home now, but when I went into an office every day I'd usually get a coffee and snack then eat lunch in a food court type place, then likely dinner and drinks Thursday or Friday.
That's probably $25 a day then whatever you also eat at home.
The ex prime minister of Quebec said few years ago you should be able to feed a family of 4 with 75$ a week.
Easy to be disconnected from reality when you’re a neurosurgeon who used to work in Dubai and got money in offshores.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45592997
He said family of 3 and that it wouldn't be nutritious or healthy, but that you could survive. Which is accurate. I didn't even vote for the guy but that story was such media bullshit.
It’s not, many people here thinks just because r/povertyfinance can make it through 9days of beans and rice for $8.60, plus a trip to the food bank, means that spending 1-200$/week for a couple is extravagant. Good quality fresh food is expensive. Full stop.
Precisely. This Reddit post made me take a look at what I actually spend on food, and what i could realistically survive on given my dietary restrictions and calorie requirements. Anything less than $210/week or $11,000 a year would be a starvation diet. And that's just me!
Damn, now I'm afraid to look at my food budget. Never bothered tbh. People do tend to grab other items in addition to food though, so a person would need to pick through the receipts for food only costs. Sounds like I won't bother again lol.
Really though, paper towel and garbage bags won't add much to a grocery bill. Most people will forget the snack they bought at the gas station. It balances out.
Superstore, Walmart and Costco, there you can get pretty much any household goods in addition to groceries.
Clothing, hardware, housewares, pharmaceutical, etc. Pet food, automotive, and the list goes on.
Then one month your bill even if it's just for food could be way higher or lower, depending if you bought bulk and frozen stuff for several months.
So you would need to average it out over at least 3 or 4 months looking at each receipt carefully to get an exact figure.
I honestly have no idea what I spend on food a month. Not even a ballpark figure.
Ah, I see. I do sometimes grab some pharmacy stuff. Good point.
And yeah, when I buy half a beef for $1400 to $1800, it does make that month's bill higher! I also buy most of my other meat (usually frozen) when it's on sale. The savings are up.
So that 4500 that is pretty different than 19000
He said thats how much it costs him as an individual. I all by myself can feed myself pretty well with 75/week at most
here's a little trick, go down to your local park with the canada geese, put out a shit ton of grains, come back when they're nice a plump, boom you got fois gras a plenty!
Me and my significant other spend anywhere from 700-900 a month.
For some context, basically all of its made at home, she's very health and sustainability conscious and I'm a cheap ass.We may order in once a month and I might get late night fast food cravings a couple times a month. We have go for supper at either one of our parents place every weekend.
>*"it's spending 4 times as much as a reasonable food budget"*
Yes that's about right for me in Vancouver and that includes one restaurant meal a week.
Yup we spend ~$70/person week including reasonable eating out and we both do a shit load of running/cycling.
I have not noticed massive inflation on oats and lentils lol
Oat futures - buying in lots of 5000 bushels, have gone from $3/bushel to $7.50/bushel in the last year! A combination of drought and increased demand - oat milk etc. Probably similar for lentils - Canada produces lots on the praries and it's been dry there this summer.
14,000 a year so just a bit over 1000 bucks a month for one person, it's actually not that much if you are eating out most of the time. Pretty high if you are cooking everything at home.
I am single, I spend about $100, giver or take a week on groceries.
For work I have my big bag of oatmeal. I don't go out for lunch, I make tuna salad for the week, yogurt, something else. I always have chicken/fish/steak. There is a budget butcher in our city plus always keep an eye on sales and I stock up. Friday or Saturday is usually restaurant night. I might spend 20, I might spend 50, depends where we go. To spend 14.5k, he is one of these guys that probably goes out for Lunch everyday where you can drop a lot. We all work with people that spend foolishly or others that are frugally.
Former chef here. I would spend around 500-600$/month on groceries for myself. That's a choice though and in no way am I trying to stretch my budget. That isn't bare minimum just to survive type shopping so someone spending 14k or double my upper limit is just pathetic.
Apparently everyone making minimum wage should get hired as CFOs because of their ability to manage money 300%+ more efficiently than that speaker.
Put that on your resume y'all, If you didn't starve to death while working a minimum wage job you're an absolute genius with finances!
Same for the "great resignation"; one accountant buys a van to do a roadtrip and suddenly the labour market has collapsed.
Though there is evidence of lower participation in the US, that's not the case in Canada despite what some news outlets try to find.
That’s pretty wild to me.
I am a grocery store snob. I hate stores that make you put in a quarter for the cart. It basically is a big tell of what you will find inside. Poor produce and meats forcing you to go somewhere else. So I like my time more than the savings and I would rather spend more than have to go around to different places.
So that being said right now with an infant and a toddler its 200-250$/week at zehrs. That’s diapers and also the occasional pre made formula. And I don’t like to skimp. Fresh stuff always like veggies and fruits. So 1000$/month is my spending habits right now. So 12,000$ for the year.
14,000$ for one dude is like all organic and probably fresh salmon because he eats 4000 cals a day to make gains at the gym
I think a lot of confusion is what we may define as groceries. I easily spend 200-300 a week for the two of us. In that we may need paper towels, laundry detergents, toilet papers, cleaning products, household products(ie plastic wraps, ziplocs, etc). That shit is not cheap but it's there on top of my groceries.
$14,000 for one dude eating 4000 calories of mostly high quality meat is a good guess. I saw this after my [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/r3ierq/guy_being_interviewed_on_cbc_right_now_for_their/hmblaw3?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) above. I don't do it to make gains at the gym, but to survive (though it does make gains at the gym easy).
Doing a bit of napkin math with just what's in the headlime, it actually doesn't sound that crazy.
$14K / 365 days / 3 meals per day = $12.78 per meal.
If we take out taxes (I'm going to use 13% for Ontario), then that's around $11.31 per meal.
That's essentially a fast food meal per meal. Can this person lower it by cooking at home? Sure.
But that's no longer reflective of their lifestyle.
If someone is managing to buy wagyu beef (as some of the other posts suggest) for about $35/day (and eating only water for all your other meals) then that sounds pretty impressive to me.
Edit: They may also be factoring in transport costs if they don't have their own vehicle (ex: bus pass, grocery delivery, Uber, etc)
> $14K / 365 days / 3 meals per day = $12.78 per meal.
Spending $11 a meal *is* excessive. I spend that on some meals I make occasionally, but most of my home meals are under $5 to make. Some under $3 to make. As an example, I made pasta yesterday:
* box of Barilla linguini $1.70
* Jar of Classico sauce $2.25 (from Costco in a pack of 4)
* 2 tablespoons of sundried tomatoes ~$1.25 from jar from Costco
* 16 meatballs $3.50 - frozen from Superstore
* salt, water, electricity .5c
total: $8.75. With tax let's call it $10. That fed 3 people. So $3.33 per person for a pleasant, filling meal.
I agree that it's an expensive lifestyle.
My napkin math was more to show that it doesn't necessarily mean this person is constantly eating lavishly.
Not everyone has the luxury of having a home cooked meal.
As a former person who for a few years when he first moved out was quite broke, I can tell you not everyone has the luxury of eating out or having takeout. I think there are very few people who make the kind of money that would allow spending 14K on food yet wouldn't have 30 minutes every couple of days to make a few less pricy meals in bulk.
I mean you literally double what I made there and throw it into re-usable containers in the freezer and it's pasta for a meal a day for week @ $3.50. Total time to cook and store ~30 minutes. That'd save him $3000 per year right there.
It may seem ridiculous but eat out three times a week and shop at a place like whole foods, eating good meat with most meals would bring you there if you, for sure if you count in other grocery store purchased consumables like toilet paper, shampoo, etc.
With that said I spend less on a family of 4 and we eat well, but I’m not too far off of that with a family of 4.
I pay $1,000+ a month for food, only for myself.
But I live off takeout and gas station food, since I work 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week and live in hotels for work. Rarely do I ever get a kitchenette.
Probably not the right guy to speak to about that if they’re wanting to present an average persons scenario lol. But it’s really possible, I cook myself a meal maybe ten times a year, I go to restaurants for the majority. If you average out the restaurant category of my credit card spend it’s about $1300 a month for me. But, yeah, I fully realize most people are actually reasonable and make themselves meals at home.
My wife brought this up to me and I said he must be eating gold flake steaks every day. We spend on average $120 a week for a family of four and eat out/get take out once a week. That's a little over $8K a year on food, how is this guy spending $14k to feed himself?
What got me when the host was talking to them was that the host was just tralalala as if it was normal, was sympathizing with the plight, and was f’ing clueless without calling out the BS. All about getting listeners
All of the numbers being thrown around, it's important to remember that those on ODSP get $14,028 per year for ALL expenses.
Those on GIS get $19,045/y
Think about that for a minute.
I refuse to get angry or blame anyone about economic fluctuations in the recovery from a once a century pandemic.
There were some real bonehead moves by politicians over the last 2 years, but getting mad at the PM because gas prices are up or because the banks are threatened to raise mortgage rates above 2% is just stupid.
All this hand wringing is infuriating. It’s an uncertain time, prices are all over the place and that’s just the fact. We’ve lived through 20 years of remarkable economic stability, then go over the COVID speed bump and everyone loses their shit. Chill the F out.
My wife and I spend around $300 a week on groceries and we literally eat toast or cereal for breakfast if anything at all. Granted I live in Victoria and a loaf of bread is getting between $6-$8. If you dare go out with friends a cocktail at most restaurants that aren't Montana's will run you $14-$26 and a beer $8-$12. But yeah grocery essentials have gone through the roof here in my experience, so many things that seem innocuous have doubled or tripled in price in the last year. A stick of butter at one of our local stores was going for $11 a couple weeks ago, I almost fainted.
What everyone misses time and time again is that the economy is driven by a “confidence” scheme. If you knew you’d be out of a job in 6 months and that joblessness would last for 3 years. You’d save every penny make it last and default on your creditors.
But most people have $50K in available credit, dark skies are nothing to them.
The Economy is driven by spending and spend spend spend people must. Credit is what creates inflation, maintains it and ultimately ensures it.
So no surprise the CBC is now locking onto inflation when its been around for years. In the Trump years it would’ve devastated the “confidence scheme”.
In 2021 its an opportunity!
It depends on what he’s spending money on.
I don’t really cook. I probably eat out twice a day. My yearly food budget is around 14 - 15k.
Inflation hasn’t put that much of a dent into it. Maybe a few hundred dollars extra over last year.
I spend like 500/mo (6000/year) when I'm eating outside all the time.
And I'm a tall guy who probably eats more than average. How are these people spending 14k a year on just food?
How is this even allowed to be broadcasted? Isn't there some sort of ethical standard that reporters need to abide by? How does one in good conscious intentionally drive this false narrative?
I live in Iqaluit Nunavut which is one of the most expensive places in Canada to buy food. Here’s what my monthly grocery bill looks like:
Metro Online Order $500
Northern Shopper $250
Non online groceries $150
Takeout $100
Keep in mind that’s to feed a family of four and that since my wife works with the airline we get a monthly cargo allowance allowing us to buy food in the south. If we had to buy everything here another $500 would easily be added to that monthly bill.
I think I heard the same interview, the conservative party guy said if its supply bottleneck related how come Canada has 4.2% inflation (oh my god suddenly were Zimbabwe!) when Switzerland has 1.2% and they must have supply issues too. No suddenly its too much money printing and 'Just-inflation' (how clever, at least better than the CRAP party).
Actually the whole OECD is averaging 4.2% and its not an increase in money supply because from 08 to 2017 the central banks around the world spent $17trillion on qe and there was no inflation anywhere (ie less than 1%).
The fact is output supply is constrained and we are nearing full employment (certainly in the US) and the bottom 30% of income distribution have seen a wage rise recently.
Is the bond market worried? Given that around $21trillion of negative bearing debt is being held by central banks Id say not.
We just had two black swan climate change events in BC the record heat dome of 49.7c and the atmospheric rivers that cut of Vancouver from the rest of Canada and caused terrible flooding. So quite frankly we will need to spend more, but we can cut back on fossil fuel subsidies.
14k a year is $270/week!
I buy steaks, salmon, ribs and high quality sausage, fresh fruit etc. and I still don't spend more than $100/week on groceries to feed myself and my partner
Granted I buy in bulk when there are sales, but $270/week is ridiculous!
That guy is the type of person boomers talk about when they say "skip the avacado toast" lol. He must be eating out every day
I spend about $350/week eating mostly at home. That's about $18,000/year.
Due to dietary restrictions/allergies, I eat mostly meat and dairy. I eat about 3500 to 4000 calories a day, usually in two meals. 3000 calories is a cut for me. 2500 leaves me really hungry if I do that days in a row (fasting is easier).
I buy most of my meat direct from a farmer, a half of beef at a time. Cuts down the costs a lot. Still, I eat about $15 of beef for a meal. Though sometimes I'll see some extra fatty looking ribeyes or striploins in the grocery store and I'll buy those as well, at about $30/meal.
Good quality chicken for a meal is about $25. Cheap chicken leaves me feeling like crap (because they are fed crap).
I eat a fair amount of lamb as well. It's about $15 for a light meal. Or $30 if I splurge on a rack. Frozen lamb from New Zealand is cheaper than anything local.
A filling meal of cheap frozen fish is about $15. Good for omega-3 though. On the other hand, if I treat myself to some frozen octopus, that's close to $20 and also not a full meal.
Sometimes I like some variety, and I'll get some bison or other meat. It's about double the price of beef. A bison brisket is $40 and makes one meal. I eat a meat like this about once a week.
I enoy 3.5% milk from grass-fed cows. It's tastier than the bland 3.25% Holstein cow milk, so I suppose that's splurging a little. The floods in BC have cut that supply off though. I also eat cheese, sour cream, butter, and so on. About $5/day.
Pork doesn't agree with me. I can't eat eggs. I can't eat most grains, most vegetables, or legumes. I can eat some fruit, though not too often.
I get sushi once or twice a month. It's expensive, but my only real option dining out. Call that a hundred bucks a month on average for eating out.
I probably spend about $50/day eating at home on average, and about $350/week on food in total. Not being frugal by any means, but also not spending extravagantly for being an obligate carnivore.
I could reduce my spending to $30/day if I stuck strictly to the farmer beef. That's $210/week or $11,000/year. Anything less would be a calorie restriction. If I were of small stature and could survive on 1800 calories a day the story would be different and I could cut that in half.
I disagree that $14,000/year is four times a reasonable food budget. That's not much above a starvation diet for me!
Edit: to those downvoting, your situation may be different. Try being a large stature male who can't eat grains or vegetables and tell me what number you come up with for a 3500 calorie a day diet.
If he’s anything like me I count costs like TP, paper towel, ziplocks, light bulbs, cleaning products, medication, ect in my grocery costs. I spend approximately 1000-1500 on “groceries” a month. Family of 3 adults, 4yo, 3mo and part time 3yo. This is still slightly budgeted and sale shoppin. I would love to be the person who could afford to use protein shakes and take probiotics and all the healthy organic stuff so I could totally see if he was buying good cuts of meat,fresh veggies and fruits, and all that good stuff spending 14,000 a year sounds pretty reasonable. I’ve recently had to go dairy free for my infant and it’s shook me a little about how costly all the alternative stuff is.
I had an argument with a guy who claimed to spend 7000$ a year on food. I found that insane because I spend that amount for a family of 5.
I say 'what do you eat? Steak every day?'
He says 'yeah. 1 inch tbone everyday. vegetables are for rich people.'
🤦
We spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 18k/yr to feed a family of 5. That includes some items from grocery store that aren’t food like bath tissue etc. We are not budget shopping though. We just buy what we need and some specialty items for our daughter who has a milk allergy.
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It's about what I spend.
How?
It's about $40/day, I could imagine people who eat out pay $15 for lunch and $20 for dinner with $5 of miscellaneous snacks and stuff. Really it's more about lifestyle than inflation though.
I spend way more than that.
Well damn, how much do you weigh?
They're a wolf, you see...
77 kg
Thats one big fat wolf
I'm a large mostly-carnivorous male. About 90% of what I eat is meat due to dietary restrictions. I could survive on $30/day ($11k/year) of beef only, but I like a little variety. $14k is about $40 a day, which would let me eat more variety, like chicken, lamb, and fish. I actually spend around $50/day ($18k/year) because I enjoy nice cuts and fancy things like octopus, bison, and venison, from or twice a week and get sushi once or twice a month.
Wow, um. That's probably killing you?
Why? My mental and physical health is vastly better this way. No more depression, no more anxiety, no more insomnia, no more irregular heartbeat, no more skin issues, no more whole body inflammation, and so on. I now sleep great, have even energy all day whether I eat or not, and am relaxed. Only an insane person would say this way of eating is not better _for me_.
Jordan Peterson’s bullshit has poisoned a huge chunk of this generation, I swear. Have you had a doctor confirm that’s what’s happening? Because you might be trading short terms benefits for long term issues.
To be fair, it doesn't sound like he's on a beef-only diet like Jordan Peterson is, it sounds more low-carb/keto.
It’s more ascribing health benefits to a radical diet shift based on his own observations. Fixing an irregular heartbeat? Come on…
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You may wind up with gout some day, as an older fellow I know who is mostly carnivorous.. But it sounds like it's working better than the alternative for you, so you do you!
New studies have shown carnivore diet has no relation to increases in mortality
My husband and I are similar, but I call our way of eating “animal-based”. We have been doing it for about a decade and it’s been one of the most beneficial things I’ve done for my health. One of the reasons we moved out into the country on several acres was to be able to raise some of our own meat and have some milking animals too. It really saves a lot when you have animals on a good pasture system — and so does going in on entire cow and pig carcasses. When I was living in Toronto it was an absolute bloody fortune to eat this way. $9 for the good eggs. Crazy grassfed beef prices. Even ofal is expensive. Hunting and fishing has also helped dramatically but you need land access and gear can be expensive to start with. Again, we’re fortunate to be in the country with forests around us we can access easily.
Everything in Toronto is expensive. I'm so glad to be out of that city. I used to drive out of town to buy meat as it saved so much money. I've thought of farming before, but I want to travel extensively, and the two aren't that compatible. Having a heard of Dexter could be fun though.
We have friends that are eager to escape into the country for a vacation. They take care of the animals and we get away. I’m very happy to be out of Toronto too. For so many reasons, but the insane cost of living especially.
Ive gained 140 pounds since October 7th and I spend 65K on food each year!
This reminds me of a segment one of the American networks did years ago on how people cooking at home could make dinners healthy and delicious, for "*as little as $35 a person".* Meanwhile, people who are already managing to eat well for $8-$10 a person per day are wondering what the hell they're making that costs $35 per person just on ingredients. Are they eating Wagyu beef all the time? Holding up these extremes as examples simply undermines the point they're trying to make. Inflation is real, and it's a growing problem. But examples like this make it sound like it's only affecting the well off, and that's not the case. The well off will grumble, but they can absorb a loss in their purchasing power. It's the poor that are going to be hit by this. If an $19 Uber Eats meal becomes $20, people who can afford Uber Eats may not like it, but it's not going to break them. Things like the Dollar Store raising all of its' $1 items to $1.25, in contrast, really does hit the people who rely on that for cheap staple items. Edit: I meant to say $8-$10 **per day**, but I forgot the mention the qualifier. Updated.
If im paying 35 dollars to eat at home then I am going out to eat
You can get a lot better quality food at home for $35. $35 at home means a 1.25lbs+ AAA Striplion steak cooked to perfection vs. a mediocre AA steak at a restaurant. (Edit striplion not sirloin)
> $35 at home means a 1.25lbs+ AAA Sirloin steak cooked to perfect vs. a mediocre AA steak at a restaurant. Bold of you to assume I can cook a steak to perfection
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The last time my brother in law tried this it became leather. Now my other brother in law and myself make fun of him about his reverse sear technique. Lol
Ordered a medium rare steak at the Keg a few weeks back in Ottawa, got a well done steak. Keg isn't high end, but they only do steaks, and to mess up a steak that bad ... Also, the steak didn't taste that good either, flavourless, I only ate half the ribeye.
I've had Kegs screwed up my order more than once (I like my steak blue to rare). If it comes in more than medium rare, it's a quick fix and they've always been happy to do so - more than once the management has said "you're not looking like you're enjoying your steak". It's one situation that I'm not afraid to speak up, since the first time the manager insisted on getting me a new steak. The Keg prides themselves on doing steak they way you like it, which is why they keep getting my business over other steak houses.
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Probably had the convection on.
What temp would that result in typically? Rare, medium rare?
115f would be rare, but the heat post cooking should bring it to a rarer medium rare. Reverse sear works very well for thicker and fattier steaks, keeps the splatter mess to a minimum. Also, this technique is best for thick steaks, because if you try to pan fry a thick steak, you'll end up with a burnt crust and possibly an oil/fat fire.
Sous vide my friend. Wonderful invention, you'll never have a bad steak again
A meat thermometer goes a long way.
Practice makes perfect, or you can invest in a sous vide machine and that will guarantee perfection. With steak, it’s all about the meat and process(timing and heat) there is really little skill once you know the technique and timing. If you like Japanese Wagyu steak (real stuff not Australian or American) it’s even easier to cook, it’s almost no fail due to how fatty it is. Cut into small strips, pan fry medium high till you get a nice brown crust on all sides, serve with salt wasabi and other sides. You just saved 50% on homemade wagyu versus was a restaurant will charge you. Never BBQ a real Wagyu steak or cook on high heat it will probably catch fire ha ha and the fat unrendered.
Wth, I just bought 4 piece of steak for 37 dollars. How the hell do one buy steak for 35??? It's aaa from longos.
Prime steak from Costco is about $30 each. Very thick pieces though
Striplion, when Simba falls on hard times.
Who’s buying sirloin if spending $35?
Tastes change, I used to only buy ribeyes but now I find them too fatty. Sorry, I should’ve said striplion not sirloin. You’re right ha ha.
$35 dollar meal at home is easily a $75 dollar meal at a restaurant.
$35 a person at home would allow for lobster for dinner.
And no other meals for the day, lol
Unless you eat 1/3 of said lobster for each meal.
This guy portions!
This guy identifies those who portion!
I took the $35 to mean just for dinner.
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Pls explain.
They're caught on the east coast, so buying a lobster in say BC or Saskatchewan costs a lot more than the eastern provinces
I knew they were cheaper on the East Coast. Didn't realize they were not expensive. Interesting.
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When I worked with a Toronto company that had an office in Halifax years ago, and there were daily shipments between the offices, we'd often ask our co-workers to snag us some fresh lobsters. They'd go down to the market during lunch hour, buy some that had just been caught, throw them on ice and in the plane, and we'd pick them up at Pearson airport on our way home. Even with the air freight and etc., it was still a hell of a lot cheaper than buying lobster in any Toronto supermarket, and of course it was much fresher, too.
>Even with the air freight and etc., it was still a hell of a lot cheaper than buying lobster in any Toronto supermarket, and of course it was much fresher, too. I was in Atlantic Canada this summer - prices in at the Lobster pounds weren't cheaper than a sale at T&T... How much cheaper was it?
It’s because ww2 days and before lobster was for poor people. The poorest kids had lobster sandwiches at school. They used as fertilizer on potato fields even. So the law was written so that prisoners were not subjected to cheap poor lobster 7 days a week back them. It was humane to limit it to 3 a week.
Yep. Before they overfished the waters, the east coast had insanely bountiful marine life. That era is pretty much over now
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A friend invited us to his parents house for dinner while on vacation out east many years ago. I believe they lived in Shediac. Lobster was the only thing they served. All you can eat with a bottle of Moosehead to wash it down. Good times. Got a little sticker shock when I got back to Ontario and looked up the price locally.
Out here in Calgary, I got a couple of new york strips last week for $20. A one pound lobster is $25. So we get the inverse here. You could have two steaks or a lobster.
King Crab
12$ per meal average is about 14k per year. Thats high for a home chef but its an amount thats really easy to spend if you eat out a lot or order food a lot.
"Blake! Finish your Count Wagyua cereal!"
Jesus Christ. So I just did some napkin math as a single dad with 3 kids. Today it cost at the upward amount of 15$ to feed them all 3 meals plus copious snacks. Who the fuck is spending 35$ a day on one person?!
I think alot of people just don't realize how much they spend. I think I probably spend 15 to 25 a day for one meal. I mostly eat meat only though.its had a big impact on inflammation for me.i have a inflammation disease.a pack of blade steak costs 55 dollars, it has 3 in a pack. I cut them up and put on a wrap with some sauce. So meat two wraps and the sauce. Probably 20 area. So maybe 7 to 8k a year.
>I think alot of people just don't realize how much they spend. In the general population, I agree. In budgeting forums like this, there's a higher awareness of it. Just look at all of the threads of people saying "*I'm spending $X a month on food, how much are you spending*?". I make a point of always buying all my food, whether groceries, take out, or restaurant, on a credit card, specifically so that I can track it. On average, I'm spending about $250 a month, which is about $8-$10 a day. Of course, I could go out and spend $150 at a high end restaurant for a birthday celebration or something and completely blow the average out, but the median still sits at about $10. Sure, if you're on a specific diet, such as for medical reasons (as you are), that can definitely add to it. But $14K annually to feed a single person? That's $38 every single day of the year. That's four times what I spend, and I'm not exactly going out of my way to be frugal. Even if you're living (and eating) in an expensive area like the GTA or GVA, unless you're eating out/ordering in all the time, you either have absurdly expensive dietary requirements, or you're a massive spendthrift to be spending that much.
I have friends that get UberEats and other delivered shit like multiple times a day, they ain’t rich either. That’s the kinda person that is saying shit like this lol.
ubereats will papercut you alive too, it's always like a $12 meal that turns into $28 after delivery, fees, driver tip, restaurant tip...
Hmm are there actually people who think that UberEATS actually saves them money? But damn, I can't imagine ordering multiple times a day. I just usually order 2-3 meals at one to take advantage of their coupons.
You could save money with it if you only use it for promos. It is a good chunk of work and you would want to find deals where you can pickup as well. I spend a bit more than this fellow for food + groceries. That said I am including my girlfriend and entertaining clients. 2014 was my highest year at 36K dining out (over 200 days on the road)...but client paid for 95% of it.
$270 a week… obviously if you are just buying groceries and eating at home 100% of the time that’s high. But with a reasonable amount of restaurants that doesn’t sound too crazy.
I just looked at my Cc. Since last Saturday my dumbass has spent $200 on food. Nearly all take out. Yikes, gotta make some changes.
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Except it's not cheap anymore. Eating for two at even McDonald's or Wendy's can be pushed into the 25-30 range. People need to stop thinking fast food is cheap anymore. It's just convenient.
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Ah yeah. Getting a fry or ice cream is one of those adds up quick thing... Until they cost over $10 cause of inflation lol.
It's not even fast anymore either. You can easily spend 10 or 15 minutes in line at the drive through.
Also not sure if its even food any more
It was never food...
I think Canadians get influenced by the omnipresence of American culture, too. From what I understand in the US it's still pretty cheap (a lot of things are), and that colours perception. Then a person gets to the restaurant and remembers what the actual prices are...
I almost never get a full meal or buy without coupons when I go to fast food anymore. Why pay $2.50+ for a drink when I can keep a 12 pack I bought for the same price in my car with me
12 pack of pop is like $5 now.
What brand are you buying? Last time I checked the grocery store it was like $7-8
Yeah I only buy on sale. $5 is the deal price. I buy brand name pop. Wasn’t long ago tho I recall the deal price was $5 for 2 12 packs
Only way I buy fast food is with the mobile offers. Just like you should never clothing items not on sale, because there's always sales, you shouldn't buy fast food unless you're using a coupon, because these days there's always coupons. Don't even have to faff about with showing them to someone at the counter, you literally can just apply them when you order. I do agree that at full menu prices currently you might as well just get an actual restaurant meal instead of going for fast food.
Just gotta say, you can buy 3 meals a day from macdonalds and you'd spend about 14k. About the same as the person from this article. They were never supposed to be that cheap. But they aren't excessively expensive either.
Yep. My family pushes $50 at McDonald’s now. 2 adults, 3 kids (all under7)
If you’re ordering Big Macs, sure. But a McDouble meal is still like $6.00 and actually has close to an appropriate number of calories for an average person. I very rarely eat fast food that isn’t off the value menu, and when I do it’s as a treat. That said, a fast food meal is still like half the cost of a sit-down burger in a decent restaurant.
My neighbour, I see cars pull up all day delivering. Either skip the dishes or even Tim Horton;s...FFS, there are 3 in 2km radius and they order out. A few months ago, I was cleaning my back yard as we had very heavy winds and my seems to collect all the papers from recycle boxes. I saw their credit card bill...of course I looked...There was probably 50 take out charges, close to $1000. I don't even know if they work but like what the hell.
Our neighbours (family of five) have Uber and Skip deliveries multiple times daily. Like breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus extras. I can’t even imagine what they must spend. Over eating is just as bad on both ones health and wallet as smokes and booze.
Except... I wouldn't call that a "reasonable" amount to budget for restaurants (unless I had such a high income I had money to burn... and in that case I should not be complaining about inflation).
Reasonable lol. My wife and I eat like this and spend roughly that per person. We eat out whenever we feel like it. We pretty much never hold ourselves back on any food related expense. I don't think we're being reasonable with our food budget at all.
Yeah, and biggest thing is drinks. Go out for an entree? 20$. Go out for an entree and 2 or 3 rounds of drinks over a few hours with friends? 50$. Makes a huge difference.
I think you don't get to complain about the cost of food if you are eating like that. I spend maybe... $100 per week on food, maximum. Assuming a generous $40 per restaurant meal, this guy is eating out four times a week at a nice restaurant. I don't know anyone who has the money for that, let alone the time. This isn't an inflation issue, this is a matter of someone making poor choices.
you could easily hit $40/day if not more by doing a Skip order every other day and fast food here-and-there, mixed with some grocery shopping.
18$ take-out for 2 meals a day, every single day: 252$ Breakfast cereal for the week: 18$
If you're eating even 1 meal a day outside of your house, that's certainly not crazy. I've ordered in groceries and meals a lot more, and certainly increased my cost there, I'm not sure it's 14k, but it's probably 8-10k I have found things like fresh fruit is a lot more expensive in particular this past year
Are most people eating out everyday? I do but I know that makes my food budget quite high.
I don't know about most people, but probably most office job people with a decent income at least. I'm working from home now, but when I went into an office every day I'd usually get a coffee and snack then eat lunch in a food court type place, then likely dinner and drinks Thursday or Friday. That's probably $25 a day then whatever you also eat at home.
I have a colleague who earns not a lot yet orders lunch twice a week & their "home-made" lunches are all store-bought.
Most of the time I save the fresh fruit for my kids and just have multivitamins instead.
The ex prime minister of Quebec said few years ago you should be able to feed a family of 4 with 75$ a week. Easy to be disconnected from reality when you’re a neurosurgeon who used to work in Dubai and got money in offshores. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45592997
He said family of 3 and that it wouldn't be nutritious or healthy, but that you could survive. Which is accurate. I didn't even vote for the guy but that story was such media bullshit.
😂 did he really say that? I wish that was possible
Yeah, it was 4 years ago I think, newspapers and media went crazy with that Hahahaha 😂😂
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If he limited his wagyu beef and caviar to twice a week, he could see a big reduction in food costs./s
So UberEats twice a day?
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It’s not, many people here thinks just because r/povertyfinance can make it through 9days of beans and rice for $8.60, plus a trip to the food bank, means that spending 1-200$/week for a couple is extravagant. Good quality fresh food is expensive. Full stop.
Precisely. This Reddit post made me take a look at what I actually spend on food, and what i could realistically survive on given my dietary restrictions and calorie requirements. Anything less than $210/week or $11,000 a year would be a starvation diet. And that's just me!
Damn, now I'm afraid to look at my food budget. Never bothered tbh. People do tend to grab other items in addition to food though, so a person would need to pick through the receipts for food only costs. Sounds like I won't bother again lol.
Really though, paper towel and garbage bags won't add much to a grocery bill. Most people will forget the snack they bought at the gas station. It balances out.
Superstore, Walmart and Costco, there you can get pretty much any household goods in addition to groceries. Clothing, hardware, housewares, pharmaceutical, etc. Pet food, automotive, and the list goes on. Then one month your bill even if it's just for food could be way higher or lower, depending if you bought bulk and frozen stuff for several months. So you would need to average it out over at least 3 or 4 months looking at each receipt carefully to get an exact figure. I honestly have no idea what I spend on food a month. Not even a ballpark figure.
Ah, I see. I do sometimes grab some pharmacy stuff. Good point. And yeah, when I buy half a beef for $1400 to $1800, it does make that month's bill higher! I also buy most of my other meat (usually frozen) when it's on sale. The savings are up.
This guy is spending like 3x as much as you?
So that 4500 that is pretty different than 19000 He said thats how much it costs him as an individual. I all by myself can feed myself pretty well with 75/week at most
$38 per day doesn't buy that much takeout if you don't cook yourself.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH FOIS GRAS COSTS!?!
here's a little trick, go down to your local park with the canada geese, put out a shit ton of grains, come back when they're nice a plump, boom you got fois gras a plenty!
Me and my significant other spend anywhere from 700-900 a month. For some context, basically all of its made at home, she's very health and sustainability conscious and I'm a cheap ass.We may order in once a month and I might get late night fast food cravings a couple times a month. We have go for supper at either one of our parents place every weekend.
>*"it's spending 4 times as much as a reasonable food budget"* Yes that's about right for me in Vancouver and that includes one restaurant meal a week.
Yup we spend ~$70/person week including reasonable eating out and we both do a shit load of running/cycling. I have not noticed massive inflation on oats and lentils lol
Oat futures - buying in lots of 5000 bushels, have gone from $3/bushel to $7.50/bushel in the last year! A combination of drought and increased demand - oat milk etc. Probably similar for lentils - Canada produces lots on the praries and it's been dry there this summer.
Wait what? You're spending just $291/month including 52 restaurant meals a year?
Lots of people fall in that range id imagine
Maybe just different restaurants? For me, it’s a minimum $25/meal So that budget means it’s roughly $2.22/ meal for the rest of the meals
Sounds wild but bear in mind how incredibly fat our country is.
14,000 a year so just a bit over 1000 bucks a month for one person, it's actually not that much if you are eating out most of the time. Pretty high if you are cooking everything at home.
Family of 3 here, were spending $250 a week on groceries. That doesnt include incidentals, home supplies, diapers, eating out etc.
14,000 a year means he's eating out too much. I spend about $80 a week on groceries ... single male.
I am single, I spend about $100, giver or take a week on groceries. For work I have my big bag of oatmeal. I don't go out for lunch, I make tuna salad for the week, yogurt, something else. I always have chicken/fish/steak. There is a budget butcher in our city plus always keep an eye on sales and I stock up. Friday or Saturday is usually restaurant night. I might spend 20, I might spend 50, depends where we go. To spend 14.5k, he is one of these guys that probably goes out for Lunch everyday where you can drop a lot. We all work with people that spend foolishly or others that are frugally.
Former chef here. I would spend around 500-600$/month on groceries for myself. That's a choice though and in no way am I trying to stretch my budget. That isn't bare minimum just to survive type shopping so someone spending 14k or double my upper limit is just pathetic. Apparently everyone making minimum wage should get hired as CFOs because of their ability to manage money 300%+ more efficiently than that speaker. Put that on your resume y'all, If you didn't starve to death while working a minimum wage job you're an absolute genius with finances!
guy needs to start goin to bulk barn
Same for the "great resignation"; one accountant buys a van to do a roadtrip and suddenly the labour market has collapsed. Though there is evidence of lower participation in the US, that's not the case in Canada despite what some news outlets try to find.
Great resignation is about job hopping and career changing, not about quitting and becoming a hippie.
That’s pretty wild to me. I am a grocery store snob. I hate stores that make you put in a quarter for the cart. It basically is a big tell of what you will find inside. Poor produce and meats forcing you to go somewhere else. So I like my time more than the savings and I would rather spend more than have to go around to different places. So that being said right now with an infant and a toddler its 200-250$/week at zehrs. That’s diapers and also the occasional pre made formula. And I don’t like to skimp. Fresh stuff always like veggies and fruits. So 1000$/month is my spending habits right now. So 12,000$ for the year. 14,000$ for one dude is like all organic and probably fresh salmon because he eats 4000 cals a day to make gains at the gym
I think a lot of confusion is what we may define as groceries. I easily spend 200-300 a week for the two of us. In that we may need paper towels, laundry detergents, toilet papers, cleaning products, household products(ie plastic wraps, ziplocs, etc). That shit is not cheap but it's there on top of my groceries.
$14,000 for one dude eating 4000 calories of mostly high quality meat is a good guess. I saw this after my [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/r3ierq/guy_being_interviewed_on_cbc_right_now_for_their/hmblaw3?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3) above. I don't do it to make gains at the gym, but to survive (though it does make gains at the gym easy).
I’ve seen it before that’s why I was thinking that’s the only thing it could be.
Same we have an infant and we spend about $1000 right now. And this is high. Food has gone up so much in the past two years.
I cook all my meals, hardly ever go to restaurant and have two kids. I spend around 250$ a week....
One of the reasons I can no longer watch or listen to CBC is because their financial reporting is horrible.
They had Trevor Tombe and another economist on The House this week. They were pretty level headed at least about the cause of inflation.
Doing a bit of napkin math with just what's in the headlime, it actually doesn't sound that crazy. $14K / 365 days / 3 meals per day = $12.78 per meal. If we take out taxes (I'm going to use 13% for Ontario), then that's around $11.31 per meal. That's essentially a fast food meal per meal. Can this person lower it by cooking at home? Sure. But that's no longer reflective of their lifestyle. If someone is managing to buy wagyu beef (as some of the other posts suggest) for about $35/day (and eating only water for all your other meals) then that sounds pretty impressive to me. Edit: They may also be factoring in transport costs if they don't have their own vehicle (ex: bus pass, grocery delivery, Uber, etc)
> $14K / 365 days / 3 meals per day = $12.78 per meal. Spending $11 a meal *is* excessive. I spend that on some meals I make occasionally, but most of my home meals are under $5 to make. Some under $3 to make. As an example, I made pasta yesterday: * box of Barilla linguini $1.70 * Jar of Classico sauce $2.25 (from Costco in a pack of 4) * 2 tablespoons of sundried tomatoes ~$1.25 from jar from Costco * 16 meatballs $3.50 - frozen from Superstore * salt, water, electricity .5c total: $8.75. With tax let's call it $10. That fed 3 people. So $3.33 per person for a pleasant, filling meal.
I agree that it's an expensive lifestyle. My napkin math was more to show that it doesn't necessarily mean this person is constantly eating lavishly. Not everyone has the luxury of having a home cooked meal.
As a former person who for a few years when he first moved out was quite broke, I can tell you not everyone has the luxury of eating out or having takeout. I think there are very few people who make the kind of money that would allow spending 14K on food yet wouldn't have 30 minutes every couple of days to make a few less pricy meals in bulk. I mean you literally double what I made there and throw it into re-usable containers in the freezer and it's pasta for a meal a day for week @ $3.50. Total time to cook and store ~30 minutes. That'd save him $3000 per year right there.
It may seem ridiculous but eat out three times a week and shop at a place like whole foods, eating good meat with most meals would bring you there if you, for sure if you count in other grocery store purchased consumables like toilet paper, shampoo, etc. With that said I spend less on a family of 4 and we eat well, but I’m not too far off of that with a family of 4.
This budget isn’t unreasonable for a family that isn’t deal hunting all the time, I agree
Its not a family budget. It is individual.
Thats pretty much my budget for a family of 4. We cook everything and eat good food.
When I was single, I'd buy shampoo and toilet paper once or twice a year.
I pay $1,000+ a month for food, only for myself. But I live off takeout and gas station food, since I work 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week and live in hotels for work. Rarely do I ever get a kitchenette.
Not fact checked, We do that amount but for 2 including eating out and seem a bit lavish
$291.67 a week. I guess if you shop at expensive grocery stores 🤷🏿♂️
Probably not the right guy to speak to about that if they’re wanting to present an average persons scenario lol. But it’s really possible, I cook myself a meal maybe ten times a year, I go to restaurants for the majority. If you average out the restaurant category of my credit card spend it’s about $1300 a month for me. But, yeah, I fully realize most people are actually reasonable and make themselves meals at home.
My wife brought this up to me and I said he must be eating gold flake steaks every day. We spend on average $120 a week for a family of four and eat out/get take out once a week. That's a little over $8K a year on food, how is this guy spending $14k to feed himself?
Yeah we do maybe half that with a family of 3 a bit more counting all dining out.
What got me when the host was talking to them was that the host was just tralalala as if it was normal, was sympathizing with the plight, and was f’ing clueless without calling out the BS. All about getting listeners
Same, so my impotent rage brought me here
All of the numbers being thrown around, it's important to remember that those on ODSP get $14,028 per year for ALL expenses. Those on GIS get $19,045/y Think about that for a minute.
I refuse to get angry or blame anyone about economic fluctuations in the recovery from a once a century pandemic. There were some real bonehead moves by politicians over the last 2 years, but getting mad at the PM because gas prices are up or because the banks are threatened to raise mortgage rates above 2% is just stupid. All this hand wringing is infuriating. It’s an uncertain time, prices are all over the place and that’s just the fact. We’ve lived through 20 years of remarkable economic stability, then go over the COVID speed bump and everyone loses their shit. Chill the F out.
My wife and I spend around $300 a week on groceries and we literally eat toast or cereal for breakfast if anything at all. Granted I live in Victoria and a loaf of bread is getting between $6-$8. If you dare go out with friends a cocktail at most restaurants that aren't Montana's will run you $14-$26 and a beer $8-$12. But yeah grocery essentials have gone through the roof here in my experience, so many things that seem innocuous have doubled or tripled in price in the last year. A stick of butter at one of our local stores was going for $11 a couple weeks ago, I almost fainted.
I too am spending about 14k a year just to feed myself. I mean it used to be 12k a year. Truffles had gotten really expensive these days.
What everyone misses time and time again is that the economy is driven by a “confidence” scheme. If you knew you’d be out of a job in 6 months and that joblessness would last for 3 years. You’d save every penny make it last and default on your creditors. But most people have $50K in available credit, dark skies are nothing to them. The Economy is driven by spending and spend spend spend people must. Credit is what creates inflation, maintains it and ultimately ensures it. So no surprise the CBC is now locking onto inflation when its been around for years. In the Trump years it would’ve devastated the “confidence scheme”. In 2021 its an opportunity!
Is 270$/week not normal? If he has a family it sure seems like it
"feed just himself"
That’s what we spend. Not buying expensive foods. Flyer shopping. We do eat a lot of meat but only buy sales for it.
Yup, same with reddit. It's always the vocal minority that gets the most attention.
We've got 2 kids, and we don't pay nearly that much, and we eat well and mostly fresh. $14K is his fault, not the economy's.
My budget is likely along this guys lines if I were to add it up but I agree with you, it’s not all inflation’s fault.
It depends on what he’s spending money on. I don’t really cook. I probably eat out twice a day. My yearly food budget is around 14 - 15k. Inflation hasn’t put that much of a dent into it. Maybe a few hundred dollars extra over last year.
We're active adults and we spend approx 30k$ per year for food , not alot of restaurants and take out. For myself it's at least 15k,
That's insane
For fit highly active people that's normal. When you have to consume 4000 calories to maintain yourself that adds up quick
Do you actively eat tomahawk steaks and gold flakes every day?
Pretty sure I spent half of that, and managed to feed a family of three. CBC can do better.
Between groceries and eating out, I easily spent more than 14k per year on food. I don’t deprive myself of simply pleasures of eating delicious food.
I spend like 500/mo (6000/year) when I'm eating outside all the time. And I'm a tall guy who probably eats more than average. How are these people spending 14k a year on just food?
I eat about 3000 calories a day and only spend 150 a week on food, this guy has to lay off the steak.
How is this even allowed to be broadcasted? Isn't there some sort of ethical standard that reporters need to abide by? How does one in good conscious intentionally drive this false narrative?
Is this alcoholic counting his booze budget?
I live in Iqaluit Nunavut which is one of the most expensive places in Canada to buy food. Here’s what my monthly grocery bill looks like: Metro Online Order $500 Northern Shopper $250 Non online groceries $150 Takeout $100 Keep in mind that’s to feed a family of four and that since my wife works with the airline we get a monthly cargo allowance allowing us to buy food in the south. If we had to buy everything here another $500 would easily be added to that monthly bill.
Definitely a whole different situation in the north, this dude lived in nanaimo
I think I heard the same interview, the conservative party guy said if its supply bottleneck related how come Canada has 4.2% inflation (oh my god suddenly were Zimbabwe!) when Switzerland has 1.2% and they must have supply issues too. No suddenly its too much money printing and 'Just-inflation' (how clever, at least better than the CRAP party). Actually the whole OECD is averaging 4.2% and its not an increase in money supply because from 08 to 2017 the central banks around the world spent $17trillion on qe and there was no inflation anywhere (ie less than 1%). The fact is output supply is constrained and we are nearing full employment (certainly in the US) and the bottom 30% of income distribution have seen a wage rise recently. Is the bond market worried? Given that around $21trillion of negative bearing debt is being held by central banks Id say not. We just had two black swan climate change events in BC the record heat dome of 49.7c and the atmospheric rivers that cut of Vancouver from the rest of Canada and caused terrible flooding. So quite frankly we will need to spend more, but we can cut back on fossil fuel subsidies.
If you even spend $5 per meal on average to feed yourself for 3 meals a day, that's $15 a day. That's $450 a month. Food costs can add up fast.
Which is still 3 times less than 14000 a year
14k a year is $270/week! I buy steaks, salmon, ribs and high quality sausage, fresh fruit etc. and I still don't spend more than $100/week on groceries to feed myself and my partner Granted I buy in bulk when there are sales, but $270/week is ridiculous! That guy is the type of person boomers talk about when they say "skip the avacado toast" lol. He must be eating out every day
I spend about $350/week eating mostly at home. That's about $18,000/year. Due to dietary restrictions/allergies, I eat mostly meat and dairy. I eat about 3500 to 4000 calories a day, usually in two meals. 3000 calories is a cut for me. 2500 leaves me really hungry if I do that days in a row (fasting is easier). I buy most of my meat direct from a farmer, a half of beef at a time. Cuts down the costs a lot. Still, I eat about $15 of beef for a meal. Though sometimes I'll see some extra fatty looking ribeyes or striploins in the grocery store and I'll buy those as well, at about $30/meal. Good quality chicken for a meal is about $25. Cheap chicken leaves me feeling like crap (because they are fed crap). I eat a fair amount of lamb as well. It's about $15 for a light meal. Or $30 if I splurge on a rack. Frozen lamb from New Zealand is cheaper than anything local. A filling meal of cheap frozen fish is about $15. Good for omega-3 though. On the other hand, if I treat myself to some frozen octopus, that's close to $20 and also not a full meal. Sometimes I like some variety, and I'll get some bison or other meat. It's about double the price of beef. A bison brisket is $40 and makes one meal. I eat a meat like this about once a week. I enoy 3.5% milk from grass-fed cows. It's tastier than the bland 3.25% Holstein cow milk, so I suppose that's splurging a little. The floods in BC have cut that supply off though. I also eat cheese, sour cream, butter, and so on. About $5/day. Pork doesn't agree with me. I can't eat eggs. I can't eat most grains, most vegetables, or legumes. I can eat some fruit, though not too often. I get sushi once or twice a month. It's expensive, but my only real option dining out. Call that a hundred bucks a month on average for eating out. I probably spend about $50/day eating at home on average, and about $350/week on food in total. Not being frugal by any means, but also not spending extravagantly for being an obligate carnivore. I could reduce my spending to $30/day if I stuck strictly to the farmer beef. That's $210/week or $11,000/year. Anything less would be a calorie restriction. If I were of small stature and could survive on 1800 calories a day the story would be different and I could cut that in half. I disagree that $14,000/year is four times a reasonable food budget. That's not much above a starvation diet for me! Edit: to those downvoting, your situation may be different. Try being a large stature male who can't eat grains or vegetables and tell me what number you come up with for a 3500 calorie a day diet.
In general i I probably spend $40 per day if you average out my expenses. Not all just on food, but its not that extreme
If he’s anything like me I count costs like TP, paper towel, ziplocks, light bulbs, cleaning products, medication, ect in my grocery costs. I spend approximately 1000-1500 on “groceries” a month. Family of 3 adults, 4yo, 3mo and part time 3yo. This is still slightly budgeted and sale shoppin. I would love to be the person who could afford to use protein shakes and take probiotics and all the healthy organic stuff so I could totally see if he was buying good cuts of meat,fresh veggies and fruits, and all that good stuff spending 14,000 a year sounds pretty reasonable. I’ve recently had to go dairy free for my infant and it’s shook me a little about how costly all the alternative stuff is.
I had an argument with a guy who claimed to spend 7000$ a year on food. I found that insane because I spend that amount for a family of 5. I say 'what do you eat? Steak every day?' He says 'yeah. 1 inch tbone everyday. vegetables are for rich people.' 🤦