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I calculated my 2014 expenses for food. We are a family of 5 (2 adults, 2 boys ages 10 and 8 and a baby). My mother in law stays with us for a few weeks each year and we also pay for her meals. We also have some extended family over for meals or take them out to eat throughout the year.
We spent about $1,100/month on food (groceries plus out to eat at restaurants) in 2014. We spend about $900/month on groceries for food and about $200/month at restaurants. We go out to eat 1-2 times a week. My wife and I go to lunch maybe once a week without the kids which is good for our marriage. I lost over 200 pounds so now I try to eat healthier. I have noticed that my food budget has actually gone up since I eat healthier. I now eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables which cost more than junk food. I also exercise at least two hours a day and eat a lot of lean protein such as fresh boneless chicken breasts. Eating healthier also cuts down on current and future medical expenses. You can eat healthy foods on a budget but I like to vary my fresh produce for variety which can cost more. I generally prefer the produce at the local grocery store over the local Walmart. The Walmart produce is lower quality in my opinion. We also added to our food storage in 2014. We now have about a year's worth of food storage.
I made $112k gross income in 2014 in a city with lower cost of living. Our food budget was about 12% of our total expenses to put that in perspective. When I was in college as a single person 20 years ago, I used to spend about $40/week. When my wife and I were first married about 13 years ago, we spent about $100/week on groceries. Now that my income has gone up, we have increased our food budget and that is reflected in our lifestyle. We could definitely cut back on our food budget if we needed to and eat more beans and rice.
i'm still in college, but my food budget is around $55/month. I get a ton of free meals though (around 5 a week). Luckily, where I'll work after graduation provides free lunch! I coupon shop a lot and buy things on sale.
my eat out/entertainment budget around $30/month (really mostly just eat out budget).
so really it's $85/month.
i need to cut it down to $50/month.
Last edited by stellastar2345; 02-22-2015 at 06:47 PM..
You're eating on less than three dollars a day, and you want to cut it back further? Even SNAP allots $4.50 per day per person, which would amount to a monthly food budget of about $135 for a single person.
Last edited by randomparent; 02-23-2015 at 01:12 PM..
I have my budget set at $300/month (groceries, cat food/products, and toiletries) and $250 for anything eaten out (restaurant) or fast food in nature (coffee, 7-11 stuff, etc.) That's for both of us (and our cats, obviously) in a high COL area---NYC.
We do go over here or there, especially if it's a month where we go on vacation or a month with multiple birthdays but we can stick to it when we want to. When I was unemployed for awhile, our entire monthly budget for everything listed above was $300 for the both of us.
We live in a tiny place so COSTCO isn't really an option since we have no where to store stuff. Aldi just starting opening up stores in the area but their prices on meat seem way too high, IMO. The most important thing is really to learn how much things cost in your area and figure out what's a good price/sales price and stock up accordingly. I wish I had more freezer space, TBH.
You're eating on less than three dollars a day, and you want to cut it back further? Even SNAP allots $4.50 per day per person, which would amount to a monthly food budget of about $135 for a single person.
i'm a girl, so I eat less. Plus like I said, I usually manage to get one free meal a day thanks to college activities.
Breakfast is a really cheap meal if you just eat unflavored oatmeal or cereal. Plus, there has been so many times Publix has had a buy one get one free deal on cereal, and then I have a $0.50 cent off 2 boxes of the same cereal (doubles to $1). I usually stock up when that happens. That's a super cheap meal.
I want to cut down on my eating out (I really shouldn't be eating out at all!). I could also start buying off brand things rather than the named brand items.
i'm a girl, so I eat less. Plus like I said, I usually manage to get one free meal a day thanks to college activities.
Breakfast is a really cheap meal if you just eat unflavored oatmeal or cereal. Plus, there has been so many times Publix has had a buy one get one free deal on cereal, and then I have a $0.50 cent off 2 boxes of the same cereal (doubles to $1). I usually stock up when that happens. That's a super cheap meal.
I want to cut down on my eating out (I really shouldn't be eating out at all!). I could also start buying off brand things rather than the named brand items.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not sure why you'd want to do so unless that's really all you had to spend. I think $85 per month is a shoe-string budget for food.
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Even SNAP allots $4.50 per day per person, which would amount to a monthly food budget of about $135 for a single person.
