Buying groceries

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by ScottStielow

Budget 40% for food, and work at spending less than that.

Whatttttt?? EEEEK! Can you be serious? Most budgeting guides specify spending less than that much for HOUSING, and that's the largest expense category in normal budgets! Good rental managers expect applicants to have incomes at least 3X the rent, and mortgage lending is based on similar criteria. So spending more on food than you would on rent or mortgage just sounds insane!

There are a number of good budget guides available on the internet, and they seem to agree that a normal American food budget runs 9 - 12% of income. Several say to budget 14% and work to stay within it, then bank what you don't spend.

[hawaiian by heart]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Whatttttt?? EEEEK! Can you be serious? Most budgeting guides specify spending less than that much for HOUSING, and that's the largest expense category in normal budgets! Good rental managers expect applicants to have incomes at least 3X the rent, and mortgage lending is based on similar criteria. So spending more on food than you would on rent or mortgage just sounds insane!

There are a number of good budget guides available on the internet, and they seem to agree that a normal American food budget runs 9 - 12% of income. Several say to budget 14% and work to stay within it, then bank what you don't spend.

Please lets try to remember that CDF Hawaii is not a gameshow or a trivial pursuit website where 100% correctness is needed. Sometimes expressing an opinion is good. But otherwise yes there are good budgets online. Aloha

[WaikikiBoy]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Whatttttt?? EEEEK! Can you be serious? Most budgeting guides specify spending less than that much for HOUSING, and that's the largest expense category in normal budgets! Good rental managers expect applicants to have incomes at least 3X the rent, and mortgage lending is based on similar criteria. So spending more on food than you would on rent or mortgage just sounds insane!

There are a number of good budget guides available on the internet, and they seem to agree that a normal American food budget runs 9 - 12% of income. Several say to budget 14% and work to stay within it, then bank what you don't spend.

I'm guessing the intention was "40% more" than you're already paying and work down from there.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hawaiian by heart

Please lets try to remember that CDF Hawaii is not a gameshow or a trivial pursuit website where 100% correctness is needed.

Sure - you could be lazy and a slacker. You could give people a bunch of bad information. That won't help anybody, but it is the easy way out.

Kind of like talking about 1980's Hawaii and acting like it is applicable in 2015.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by WaikikiBoy

I'm guessing the intention was "40% more" than you're already paying and work down from there.

I think you may be right, although it was not clear. If you are currently spending 12% of your income on food, and you up it by 40% that would be budgeting 16.8% of income for food, which at least is plausible.

Let's say your income was a below average $50,000, then: 12% of that would be about $499 a month, or $16.66 a day for food; and 16% would amount to $666 a month or $22.22/day, a hefty increase over the 12% figure. But 40% would amount to $1,666 a month, or $55.55 per day, which clearly wouldn't be normal, unless you were on vacation and eating all your meals in restaurants.

And Ohmigard, let's all hope our OP can manage to spend a lot less, since just paying the rent on Oahu is challenge enough for most people.

[hawaiian by heart]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Sure - you could be lazy and a slacker. You could give people a bunch of bad information. That won't help anybody, but it is the easy way out.

Kind of like talking about 1980's Hawaii and acting like it is applicable in 2015.

Or kinda like you applying mainland thinking or its point of view to everything in Hawaii that is not mainland huh? Even more lazy. Worst yet these mainland ideals are what got us our social problems today. Talk about slacking.

Somethings change, somethings remain the same thru time like aloha, ohana and aina.