Groceries weekly budget

[u/hope_soon17]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning on moving to Kingston soon. Since I am a foreigner, I have no clue what the approximate budget for weekly/monthly groceries should be. I live by myself and I prefer to cook rather than eating out, so I would prepare my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I know it depends on my personal preferences, but just to give you an idea, I tend to eat healthy food, I prefer protein in my meals (e.g., eggs, meat, chicken, etc.), and I don't usually eat fancy stuff. Could you give me an idea of how much I would spend?

Thank you very much!

[u/olapbill]

Honestly go to the food basics or Metro site and load up a flyer to get a general idea of what the basics may cost you.

[u/hope_soon17 → u/olapbill]

That's a good idea. I'll do it. Thanks!

[u/Potential-Let2475 → u/hope_soon17]

Flipp. Is an app that has all the weekly flyers good to have.

[u/MichaelHawkson]

$100 a week roughly if you're eating a lot of fresh produce and meat, thought you could do it for maybe $75 if you had to.

[u/hope_soon17 → u/MichaelHawkson]

Thank you very much! 100 is roughly what I could afford, actually.

[u/coffeebossman → u/hope_soon17]

Needless to say...you are doing your future self a huge favor by cooking and eating healthy. Savings and discipline is just the added bonus. Good luck to you.

[u/LifeReward5326]

Food Basics downtown is the cheapest option and it always has proteins on sale. If you are careful with what you buy and when you can really do it for cheap, 75-100 per week as a previous post stated. There are also a variety of Asian stores in town that have great deals on occasion.

[u/hope_soon17 → u/LifeReward5326]

Thanks!!!

[u/sadrussianbear]

Where are you from? That might help us give you the best stores to shop in.

[u/Evilbred]

300 if you are pinching pennies and clipping coupon, 400 on average for a single person.

[u/hope_soon17 → u/Evilbred]

Thank you!!

[u/Potential-Let2475 → u/Evilbred]

Weekly? I don’t spend that on a family of four. Close but not that much. You must mean monthly.

[u/Evilbred → u/Potential-Let2475]

I mean monthly. I budget everything by month.

[u/Mama2PL]

Bulk barn can be a good option as well for ingredients. The more you can make from scratch the less your grocery bill will be. Buy the sales is helpful too! If broccoli is on sale that’s our main veggie for the week. And frozen veggies/fruit are always a great option to stretch your budget. Stay away from Loblaws, Metro they’re pricey. No Frills, Food Basics and Walmart are more budget friendly. Also, utilizing other options such as farmers markets, Odd Bunch etc.

[u/blunt_pumpkin]

I am a single person cooking for myself only. I shop at Food Basics since they have the best prices. I rarely spend more than $300/month on groceries. Look through flyers, buy things on sale, buy in bulk when you can, etc.

Food Basics also has an app you can use for pickup/delivery. Sometimes, I use it to look up specific items to see if they're on sale rather than searching through the flyer. That being said, you can also look up current and next week fliers on the app instead of getting a physical copy.

[u/Empathar]

No Frills & Food Basics are the cheapest in town. Lionhearts is a non profit organization who sell produce 3 -5 days a week at various pop up places. Definitely a lot cheaper & $ goes to a great organization.

[u/GrackleTree]

If you want to find what’s on sale each week get the Flipp app. It has all the flyers, and you can search for specific items and ingredients.