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Old 12-05-2011, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Somewhere out there.
10,490 posts, read 6,104,328 times
Reputation: 6523

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jade408 View Post
That sounds pretty tight.

Sample Monthly Budget --
Rent $1800 (you will sacrifice space/location for this budget)
Car payment: $350
Insurance $200 (car insurance will likely be more than you are paying today)
Gas: $200
Food: $400
Phone/Cable/Internet/Cell Phone: $200
Household Sundries: $200
Health Insurance: $200
Electricity: $80 (I have electric heat, stove and I live in a studio apartment. My winter electricity bill is $70, summer/spring is $25)

Total: $3630
Take home pay at $75k: $3950
Leaving you with $320 for fun, saving, vacations, unexpected expenses......

If I had a family of 4, I'd want a household income of $120K, and I'd still realize I'd need to budget carefully.
Hi there,
I've been looking carefully at budgeting myself, as I'm trying to work out whether we can afford a particular mortgage here. Jade's estimate of 400 per month for food stuck me as very low for a family of four. I know I spend way more than that though I do have a family of 5, but we don't eat out, I make my kids and husband packed lunches everyday and almost always cook from scratch (apart from the odd shop bought frozen pizza). I also like to think we are not wasteful and will use up leftovers as well. I rarely spend money on the take out coffee every seems to need to have here. I am vegetarian so I do spend a lot on fresh fruit and veg but this also means I don't buy meat which is expensive as well.

I found this useful website quoted in a few blogs and I think it gives an accurate representation of average monthly spends for food for a family of 4.

USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food Cost of Food at Home

It quotes the following:
Thrifty: $623.80
Low cost $812.70
Moderate $1014.30
Liberal $1231.20

I think you could easily double the $400 food bill to $800 a month.
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Old 12-05-2011, 08:56 PM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,609,808 times
Reputation: 9975
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kentmum View Post
Hi there,
I've been looking carefully at budgeting myself, as I'm trying to work out whether we can afford a particular mortgage here. Jade's estimate of 400 per month for food stuck me as very low for a family of four. I know I spend way more than that though I do have a family of 5, but we don't eat out, I make my kids and husband packed lunches everyday and almost always cook from scratch (apart from the odd shop bought frozen pizza). I also like to think we are not wasteful and will use up leftovers as well. I rarely spend money on the take out coffee every seems to need to have here. I am vegetarian so I do spend a lot on fresh fruit and veg but this also means I don't buy meat which is expensive as well.

I found this useful website quoted in a few blogs and I think it gives an accurate representation of average monthly spends for food for a family of 4.

USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food Cost of Food at Home

It quotes the following:
Thrifty: $623.80
Low cost $812.70
Moderate $1014.30
Liberal $1231.20

I think you could easily double the $400 food bill to $800 a month.
My experience was that food was cheap in San Francisco. Shopping at the Mom and Pop, produce stores, butchers, etc etc is actually cheaper than the Super Markets and even the Military Commissaries. That doesn't even mention the great choice of take out that was actually cheaper than preparing it yourself. Stopping on Clement Street to pick up dinner was a regular
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Old 12-05-2011, 09:01 PM
 
Location: San Leandro
4,576 posts, read 9,131,332 times
Reputation: 3248
Food, cheap in SF? When? 1964?
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Old 12-05-2011, 09:37 PM
 
Location: The Bay
6,914 posts, read 14,683,790 times
Reputation: 3119
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorCal Dude View Post
Food, cheap in SF? When? 1964?

Actually I'd have to agree with Boompa... there's hundreds of dirt-cheap vietnamese, diners, mexican, chinese, etc. neighborhood restaurants in the city. Do they tend to be the kind of places that make headlines in the paper? No, but they're there though.
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Old 12-05-2011, 11:33 PM
 
Location: Somewhere out there.
10,490 posts, read 6,104,328 times
Reputation: 6523
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boompa View Post
My experience was that food was cheap in San Francisco. Shopping at the Mom and Pop, produce stores, butchers, etc etc is actually cheaper than the Super Markets and even the Military Commissaries. That doesn't even mention the great choice of take out that was actually cheaper than preparing it yourself. Stopping on Clement Street to pick up dinner was a regular
I'd be really surprised to find anywhere you can get take out which is cheaper than making it yourself. The business has to pay its rent, buy the ingredients, put it together then pay someone to serve it to you. How on earth would they make any profit?
I'm prepared to be proven wrong though! Suggestions welcomed.
Whenever we have been to a restaurant it has never cost much less than $50 for the family, then there is the tip. Take out not much better unless the food is crap. I can put together a meal for a lot less than that, and OP is on a tight budget. Besides, take out food on the whole, tends to be not very healthy or suitable for kids.
One thing I have found about living here though is the staple ingredients tend to be very fresh so do last longer.
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Old 12-06-2011, 02:28 AM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,034,643 times
Reputation: 2957
Food is definitely expensive in the Bay Area, compared with the rest of the US, whether you're eating out or going to a grocery store. There are a lot of super-cheap Asian and Latino grocery stores in places like the Mission but if you're out in the burbs you might not have access to them. There's cheap restaurants here and there but nothing like places you can find in the South where it's like $3 for a big (and crappy) meal.
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Old 12-06-2011, 08:42 AM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,609,808 times
Reputation: 9975
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorCal Dude View Post
Food, cheap in SF? When? 1964?
Four years ago, almost all of the Super Markets near us had closed down, especially Albertsons, becuase they couldn't compete. It was actually cheaper for us to stop on Clement or Geary and pick up take out than shop and prepare it ourselves
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Old 12-06-2011, 08:45 AM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,609,808 times
Reputation: 9975
Quote:
Originally Posted by mayorhaggar View Post
Food is definitely expensive in the Bay Area, compared with the rest of the US, whether you're eating out or going to a grocery store. There are a lot of super-cheap Asian and Latino grocery stores in places like the Mission but if you're out in the burbs you might not have access to them. There's cheap restaurants here and there but nothing like places you can find in the South where it's like $3 for a big (and crappy) meal.
You hhaven't tried other places, I used to hit Toshi's Sushi for lunch and once a month or so I'd do Ying Kee Noodle, on 9th. For the same price in AZ you can't get lousy fast food
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Old 12-06-2011, 10:13 AM
 
Location: A bit further north than before
1,651 posts, read 3,685,485 times
Reputation: 1465
Sure, a sit-down meal can be expensive but there are plenty of noodle shops, burritos bars, taquerias, etc that can fill you up for under $10.
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Old 12-06-2011, 05:08 PM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,609,808 times
Reputation: 9975
Quote:
Originally Posted by gone down south View Post
Sure, a sit-down meal can be expensive but there are plenty of noodle shops, burritos bars, taquerias, etc that can fill you up for under $10.
Benihana in Japantown had a nice lunch for $7, so do many of the other places some of which I mentioned above. Of ourse food is expensive if you are eating dinner out with drinks but everyday living isn't that. A real treat for me was the Philly Cheesesteak place on Divisadero, soul food for the Philly in me
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