How much is the normal budget for one person?

**winner** · 11-22-2008, 01:15 AM

Hi all,
With my husband away and looks like he is going to be away for a few more month I am spending less. I am curious how much is the normal budget for one person only? What items in a stockpile a single person should have. $25 per week per person, but how much on bying things on sale, toiletries, etc?
This week I went back to work, at work I get free lunches. So far I spent $4.60 on 2 bags of assorted peppers which I sliced and diced and froze for futures stir-fry,and other cooking. Bananas and a bag of apples,so I have an apple a day.
I did buy for my stockpile 6 tins of condenced milk, 4 doz. of eggs, 2 pack of maragarine it was on sale $2.98 for 1.36 kg. (before used to be $6.49) cereal 3.98 and bleach. My total is almost $39.00. So am I $14.00 over of my $25.00 weekly budget?
That where is my confusion is, how much money to have aside for bying things on sale.

**Cricketlegs** · 11-22-2008, 09:56 AM

You need to add up all the bills house, car, credit,insurances. Everything you get a paper bill for and subtract that from your income.

Then take what is left and put together your budget for things like gas in the car, groceries,SAVINGS and the like. Things you HAVE to pay but you set the limits on.

Anything left then money for slush purchases.

If you are on person buying 4 dozen eggs then you should consider that 4 dozen eggs is a months worth and divide the cost of the eggs by 4 to get a weekly amount. You are not going to buy 4 dozen eggs a week so don't treat it as so.

Hope this helps.

**winner** · 11-22-2008, 10:56 AM

Hi there,
Thank you for your comments. I probably sound like a dammy, but I wanted your ideas. I know all the math, like my major bills, mortgage etc. The eggs I bought is mostly for Christmas baking. What my confusion is that $25.00. I like the idea to have this amount in my wallet for a week and stick to it, but what if I see something on sale and want to buy to re-fill my stockpile how much you guys put aside per week. One lady said $10.00 per week is enough.

**peanut** · 11-22-2008, 11:47 AM

I have a budget for two weeks because the stores cycle their sales every two weeks it seems here. I am feeding two people, and we normally budget a LOT ($320cdn) for groceries each month. However lately I've noticed most of that has been spent on dining out. So I've cut our grocery budget back to about $240/mth., which is equivalent to $200US/mth. That's $60/week for us.

I have $120/payday (2 weeks) for groceries. Yes, I stockpile with that, but I have a list of favorite recipes, a master ingredient list, and a master grocery shopping list. Whenever we open a new thing, the replacement goes on the grocery list. Meaning it is bought before the other is used. That way we keep one step ahead.

If I find a good bargain on something, I will buy enough for a 3 month supply (or however much I can store) and that's it. Right now we have a smaller freezer, so we are limited in how much we can freeze. I don't mind buying green peppers cheaper, but if I don't have room in the freezer for them, I don't buy them. They aren't a deal if the rest of them have to go bad in the fridge!

When I first started this approach, I just bought enough for a one month supply of everything. Then as I became more accustomed to the sales, and realized everything kind of cycled every 3-6 months, I started buying for 3 months supply. Now I'm noticing the 6 month sales more - January and June. I'm planning on buying a lot of stuff on sale then for my stockpile.

Hope that helps.

Jean

**Contrary Housewife** · 11-22-2008, 11:53 AM

I don't have a set dollar amount for stockpile purchases because it can vary so much. One week veal cutlets might be $1.99 a lb and I will buy 8 packs and the next week there might be nothing so I don't spend anything. And in March and April I buy 10-12 corned beefs, which can be $50 or more on top of whatever else I find.

How much I buy also depends on how often it goes on sale. I can always get some cut of cheap chicken, so I don't buy so much when it is cheap. There will always be more next week or next month. Kielbasa and hot dogs go on sale regularly too, so might only buy 2 packages. But when veal or lamb gets marked down I buy a lot because it rarely happens and I know I won't see a good price on it again for many months.

And don't do what a friend of mine did, which was fill her freezer with the first sale on chicken thighs. She ended up not having room for anything else when it went on special, and she has started hating chicken thighs because that's all she has to work with.

**Cricketlegs** · 11-23-2008, 11:02 AM

I spend well over $150 a month on my stockpile at this time as I am currently putting up a years worth of food. I could easily add $100 more when I see great sales.

**winner** · 11-23-2008, 11:51 AM

Thank you for your comment. It makes sense, I guess I will add another $15-20 to my $25.00 weekly food allowance to have for the items on sale and stick with that. If there is nothing that week I want to buy, then I will carry leftover money designated for the stockpile one to the next week and so on.