How much should I be spending on food each month? (plus suggestions)

Cheap stuff I ate while single and marathon training (ran a 3:40 marathon eating this stuff):

Sandwiches: PBJ, Mayo/cheese, roast beef, turkey
Grapes (wait till they go one sale)
Bananas - as mentioned dirt cheap and IMO nature's perfect food
Jello
fat free granola bars
reduced fat cheez its
green gaint microwavable broccli and cheese
Hamburger helper - cheap fills you up
Ramen
Reduced fat oreos/chips ahoy
Spaghetti - cheap, cheap, cheap
Mac/cheese
Sherbert - fat free helps with the sweet tooth and cheap
Frozen waffles
eggs
turkey bacon
Reduced salt campbells soup
Reduced fat chey boyardee ravioli (green label can)
ranch style beans
Honeycomb cereal - cheap and better nutrition then most sweet cereals

All I can think of. Enjoy living cheap for now once you get married and you have to buy all of the special foods (soy milk, green tea) and special needs crap for your wife ($10 f**king dollars for bodywash!!) All your money worries will be over as you will have none to worry about!

 

You guys aren't really helping the guy too much.

1. (already been stated) learn how to cook, and take your lunch to work. Don't try to be too extravagant. 'Cooking' doesn't mean making a 10 step dish every meal. Get some chicken, bake it (or cook it somehow), and then get one of those packages of rice/noodle dinners. Mix in a couple of chicken breasts, and you have a couple meal's worth of food. Cost to you- $3ish.
2. Shop cheap- Wal-Mart or HEB Pantry
3. Buy a Sunday Paper and look at the ads. If there's a really good deal, buy in bulk. I buy at least $30 worth of chicken breasts when it hits less than $2 a pound.
4. Clip coupons on stuff you like. Don't buy things just because you have coupons.
5. (already stated) routine. Break the habit of eating out.

Groceries for my little family- my wife, my 20-month-old son and myself, including diapers, is $80-100 a week, and we rarely go out to eat, and I always eat lunch at home, whatever my wife whips up for me.

Good luck!

 

OldManBernie,

Try PB and honey - it was a staple for me all throughout my schoolyears.

$3K a month in eating out - wow, I have seen some crazy stuff on this BBS but that has to be around the top.

ClutchCityReturns,

I budget $400 a month in groceries for me, my wife, and daughter. This doesn't include eating out which we might do once to twice a week. So, it is probably closer to $600 a month if you factor that in.

When I was single, I used to get $20 every Monday out of the ATM machine and eat at Taco Bell, Whitt's Barbecue, and Arby's for lunch. Never had a problem with running out of money doing that.

 

I like fruits, but they're not really filling when it's dinner time. Often times, it just makes me more hungry.

I like the cooler idea, maybe I can just have my dinner at the office before I leave for class.

Regardless, I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot of Clif bars.

 

I disagree. It's pretty close to Rachel Ray and corporate per diems. What is steep is sustaining it for every day of the month.

 

I work at Piper Jaffray. She at Holiday Inn. Like heypartner said, its $100/day for the two of us which is not unreasonable because we eat out at restaurants for every meal.

I feel that we could have so much more money saved if we just cut down our food spending. We set a goal budget of 1k a month but its impossible to stick to unless we learn how to cook.

 

That's what I mean. There is nothing special about dropping $100 in a day (or a meal in some cases) eating out for two, but every day? Wow

CHI-learn to cook. that's a mortgage right there, bro

 

I've tried PB and honey. It's pretty tasty, but it makes a bit of a mess when it's transported, and my hands always end up sticky after eating it. I'll need to remember to keep it away from the textbooks when I'm eating that I guess.

 

Well, it depends on how many times a day you want to eat...It is definitely cheaper to buy groceries than eat out...Problem is, you want to get out of the house every once in a while...Plus for lunch, sandwiches get old...

I cook at least once a week and the leftovers last me 2 - 3 days...I work out at lunch and go home and eat a sandwhich...every once in while, I'll go to subway for the $2.69 special...For dinner, you can live off of soup, but can get a rotiesserie (msp?) chicken from sam's (steriod injected chicken) and that lasts at least 2 - 3 days...

Maybe budget $50 every two weeks for groceries...

Edit: I do eat out for lunch 3 times a week at about $10 a pop...On the weekends, I eat out at least once...Then there's the bars...

 

Does that rotisserie chicken last the whole week? How long does it take to go bad?

 

if you don't have a good amount of income, you shouldn't be eating out every day. Buy your groceries and prepare lunch. You can probably eat fairly decently for <$150 a month. As long as you don't splurge on comfort foods alot.

 

It's not impossible. You don't even have to learn how to cook. You two are just lazy. It ain't hard to throw a chicken breast/hamburger patty on a George Foreman Grill, boil/drain spaghetti (and put sauce in the microwave), make Hamburger Helper, make a salad (hell, they come in those pre-mixed packages now), put a frozen pizza in the oven, boil some rice, cook some beans (mix the rice and beans, throw in shredded cheese and salsa if you want something extra), make a ham and cheese sandwich (put butter on bread and throw on skillet if you want it hot), make a peanut butter jelly sandwich, crack open an egg and let it sit in a skillet for a minute or two, put cereal in a bowl and pour milk over it, put oatmeal in a bowl and pour milk over it (then microwave it), put some frozen biscuits in the oven for about 15 minutes then put jelly on it (or no jelly)...I could go on forever about stuff you could eat w/o learning how to "cook."

 

Forget learning to cook, if you can make a salad or a sandwich, you can easily have a meal at no more than $2 each. What you need is the dedication and a routine to actually save that money.

 

It's good for a week. Sometimes the size of the chicken varies, so it's good for 4-6 lunches. If on Friday I'm out of chicken, I'll substitute with a can of tuna.

 

unless you make 7 figures a year, spending $100/day on food is just ridiculous. i think it's worth the time and money you save to learn how to do some cooking. it's not like you have to be an iron chef.

 

Ok, just to let y'all know. I usually pay $100-150/month on groceries, and they last for a month.

Burritos, corn dogs, luncheon meat, spaghetti, some frozen pizzas, sloppy joes, hot dogs, etc. It's pretty damn easy. (and actually, it'll last two months, but that's because I eat out a lot.)

 

LOL ... freshly cooked rotisserie chickens cost only $5 each at Costco. If your home is not far away from Costco, by the time you get to your dining table, the chicken will still be hot.

Here is the thing. If you can be satisfied with eating rotisserie chicken, say, once in a while, you do not really sound like a high-maintenance guy as I originally thought, when it comes to food.

Since you and your GF have been spending like $3K each month on food by going out virtually every meal, and you want to save some $'s, how does saving $1K a month sound to you?

I bet you can easily find a decent part-time family cook who can cook two meals a day for both you and your GF, on a $2k monthly budget that covers both labor and food costs. Neither you or your GF needs to spend any time in the kitchen, other than heating up the food, occasionally.

 

Groceries - $50 a week, and I'm a freaking gourmet. My advice is shop sales, and only buy what you know you will consume.

 

Try using Rice-Aroni for a side. One package makes a lot too.

If you don't mind you could also squeeze in some fast food (normal food, breakfast, or like a salad) every now and then If you are trying to save money.

 

You (and your girlfriend each) spend $50 a day eating out? Do you have steak and lobster every day or something?