how much should i budget for feeding two adults?

[bloodylipstick]

my fiancee and i seem to spend too much on food, and although in the last several months we've cut down, i still think we're spending too much. we are slowly cutting out fast food and i am cooking far more often than i used to. we've actually cut our expenses in half so far! i want to know how low can/should i strive to get my budget for groceries and dining? we'd still like the flexibility to eat out a few times a month...not a few times a WEEK like we HAD been doing! i'm getting better at using coupons and finding things on sale that i have coupons for, and i hope to get better at it with time. i just want to know good base points for my budgeting goals. thanks.

[Judi Dial]

Back in the old days, food was 25% of your take home pay, on average. These days, it's 5-10% according to the USDA. Why not see if you're spending near 10% and if not, try that for a 1st goal.

If you ARE spending 10%, then see what you can do to bring it down?

There are 2 adults here too. We eat expensively, because we prefer it. We spend that 10% on groceries.

There are lots of people here who spend less than I do or spend what I do to feed more than 2 people. However, that said, I give food away regularly. The dollar amount has to suit your circumstances, not someone else's!

IHTH!

Judi

[bloodylipstick]

thanks for the advice! we were spending WAY over 10 percent of our take home pay. since we've cut back, we are a lot closer, but still have a little way to go. new goal set!

[mombottoo]

I was spending well over $600 per month on 3 adults...now I aim for $300...I'd like to get it to $50 per week on average. What you spend depends on what you like to eat...luckily with sales I can still buy good cuts of meat...won't give there. I think $300 is reasonable for 2 people, but that's just me.

[Grainlady]

Making some small changes may be all it takes to help you find the right amount for your budget. This is what has worked for us.

I budget $50/week (cash) for 2 adults. This amount of money is for food only. Non-food items are purchased with my weekly "allowance", and occasional eating out is purchased with hubby's "allowance". Hubby takes a sack lunch with him to work.

So far this year I've spent $631.32 out of $800 from the food budget. As the unused money accumulates I purchase items I buy once or twice a year - large purchases of grains/seeds/beans, a years supply of Morning Moo's (a whey-based milk substitute we use instead of milk from the store), agave nectar when I find a bargain price (I use it instead of sugar), etc....

I've developed a large stockpile of food on this budget and my primary food purchases I would put in the category of "ingredients" rather than highly-processed food items. I have three layers of food in storage - all purchased within the $50/week budget over the years:

1. 72-hour emergency foods - mainly it's foods in individual servings or small portions that require no heating or refrigeration. Foods from all the food groups that would get us through an emergency that would include a power outage.

2. Pantry foods used for everyday meal preparation.

3. Long-term foods - includes hundreds of pounds of grains/seeds/beans, powdered dairy products, coconut oil, sweeteners, freeze-dried foods in #10 cans (fruits/veg./meats), nuts, powdered whole eggs/egg whites/egg yolks, powdered butter, powdered peanut butter.....

Cook from scratch....
-I make all breads and baked goods using freshly-milled flour and we stick to whole foods as much as possible. Since we use so many whole foods, I'd say I spend very little time in the kitchen preparing meals. Whole foods are the original "FAST food".

-I also make my own "convenience" foods, which includes multi-grain baking mix (used instead of Bisquick), multi-grain pancake mix, pudding mixes, soup mixes from dehydrated veggies and bean flour I mill at home...

-I dehydrated a lot of fruits and vegetables. You'd be surprised how much food you can get FREE. I dehydrate seemingly "tons" of free apples and we use them for all kinds of desserts as well as snack food. A friend gave us a bunch of home-grown sweet potatoes and I dehydrated them and made sweet potato powder that reconstitutes with hot water into mashed sweet potatoes. We also have a small herb and vegetable garden that helps the food budget. I dehydrate small zucchini from the garden and we use them instead of potato chips.

Grow something...

-Even if it's leaf lettuce and spinach in some flower pots, or making your own sprouts from beans and seeds (a garden-in-a-jar), or a pot of herbs.

In the summer when we eat out of the garden, I spend very little at the grocery store. I usually use that unspent money to purchase grass-fed beef from a friend each fall to put in the freezer.

Meat...

-The budget killer for most families, so I try to keep meat purchases to $2 a pound - or no more than 1/5 of my food budget, which would be $10 a week for meat. I go to the store early in the morning and nab those close-out bargains in the meat department. Our grocery store deli sells their sliced deli meats 1/2-price after 7 p.m., so that's when I purchase deli meats.

-We also enjoy several meatless meals each week, using meat alternatives like beans, eggs, and cheese. Who knew a homemade bean burgers on a homemade burger bun would go over so well? Inexpensive to make and I keep a stack of them (as well as burger buns) in the freezer.

--Avoid wasted food - it's your most expensive!!!

--Develop menus as a guideline and make good use of leftovers:

Monday: Big Meal (large cut of meat that gets used for other meals) and all the trimmings.

Tuesday: Leftovers (may or may not take on the same "look" as the day before.

Wednesday: Stir-fry

Thursday: International (usually something Italian or Mexican)

Friday: Vegetarian

Saturday: Soup and/or Sandwich

Sunday: Homemade pizza or dinner salad in hot weather

--Avoid overeating and learn what a serving size is. We follow the old Basic-4 as a daily guide for food consumption because it's about the right amount of calories for us. If you are an active person or do heavy labor, try the New Food Pyramid as a guideline: www.mypyramid.gov

Basic-4 Food Guide
(total servings per day)
Bread & Cereal - 4 servings
Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings
Meat or Meat Alternative - 2 servings
Dairy - 2 servings

--Develop a food storage plan by buying ahead and stockpiling food (ALL within a budgeted amount of food dollars). Once you have 3-months in storage, you'll find you mainly purchase fresh foods as needed, and focus on buying loss-leaders/bargains/clearance foods. That will give you a lot more food for your $$$$$ because you can plan your meals from your stockpile and replace those items when they are on sale again.

--Check those unit prices. Avoid single-serving sizes. As an example of both those items...

Spam-
-single size (3-oz.) - 88-cents = $4.70/pound
-7-oz. can - $1.62 = $3.71/pound
-12-oz. can - $2.32 = $3.10/pound

So from that example you can see SPAM is not a meat bargain at ANY size. Although I do keep it in my 72-hour emergency food supply.

Purchase frozen concentrated 100% orange juice for much less per serving than the ready-to-serve in the refrigerator case and an even more savings over single-servings of juice.

Large sizes are not ALWAYS the best bargain. You must check the unit price.

[spyzvixxen]

Living with a carnivore, the biggest helper has been shopping when I know the meat markdowns are usually out and setting a $ limit. Also shopping at a farmers market vs the produce aisle at the grocery has helped tremendously on that cost.

[Shelli_wnj]

We spend on average $75 a week for a family of 4. Thats less than we used to, but more than we should :-) That does include anything you can get at WalMart, so all grocery, drugstore, cleaning, seasonal and clothing is included in that.

[bloodylipstick]

thank you all for the tips!! i know that with practice, i'll be able to get our total food expenses way down. mombottoo, i'm VERY ashamed to say it, but after using quicken online free for the last few months, i've noticed that we were spending up to 300 on dining out ALONE...and that was ON TOP OF groceries. i feel very ashamed, but proud that this month we've cut down eating out to $100 and i'd honestly like to cut that in half or even by 2/3. one thing that i refuse to budge on (like you with good cuts of meat) is turkey. i MUST use the leanest ground turkey that i can find, and that is usually the most expensive part of the meal.

grain lady, you have given me some serious insight! i'm just starting to stock pile when i have coupons, but i'm sure that i'll have a good supply that continues to grow slowly over the next few months. my next mission is to find a deep freeze, since i realize that buying things on sale and stocking up may mean that i have lots of one thing...oh... and i should start buying FRESH fruit & veggies on sale and freeze them myself (one day i'll start growing my own, hopefully). i'll also keep my eye out for an inexpensive (or better yet, FREE) food dehydrator! you've given me confidence that i, too can make less money go further! i haven't tried making my own breads yet, but that will come soon enough i'm sure!

spyzvixxen, i never even thought of buying produce at a farmer's market (it shows that i've never been to one, doesn't it?) but i'm going to try to find out when they go on in my area so that i can get some bargains!! and as for meat markdowns, since i'm in a fairly new area, i'm still getting familiar with when this happens. i just need to be more perceptive. my mom knows the markdown days and sale cycles of her local store and can get SO much for next to nothing sometimes!!

[Contrary Housewife]

I spend about $80 a week on the two of us, and that's probably more than most people do. My girlfriend spends about $50 for her and her husband. If you look up my blog you can see the kind of food I buy for that price and the menus I make from it.

[dcompton]

You mention that you are in a new area and don't know the sales cycles yet. The basic cost of food may also be different from where you were before; cost of living varies a great deal from area to area. I'm in Louisiana, and I know that I when I visit DC and go in the grocery store, I am in serious sticker shock by the time I check out. However do they manage to feed themselves up there? You can pretty much always reduce a food budget, but only you can determine the level below which you won't go, like with the ground turkey.

[kmsinsa]

Based on your location, your best deals will be at HEB. La Fiesta runs some specials too if you're ok with generics. Check the meat markets as well for their sales.

(Although currently in Kuwait, I'm from San Antonio and I was able to spend ~150 a month for my daughter and I).

[phoeny_moonstar]

Well, SO and I spend about 125-150$ a month on food. That breaks down to 37.50$ per week or so. But also it is going down because I am trying to buy more fresh foods, less processed foods, and am trying to cook/bake more at home which is making my grocery bill cheaper and cheaper.

[Judi Dial]

If you intend to freeze your own fruit/veggies, then you need to pay attention to what's in season to do it most cheaply.

See

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesgu...lingredientmap

which will give you the peak seasons for food in your state.

PYO and farmstands are frequently cheaper than supermarkets and usually the food is better too. Your state agricultural co-op frequently has a directory of these you can find. Check your state's department of agriculture site.

Finally, there's (somewhere I'll see if I can find it, again) a USDA study that talks about what food costs in various forms: the most extreme example I can think of is peas.

Buying whole/fresh peas to freeze is NOT a cost savings unless you can get them really cheap. There is more of a price spread between frozen peas and fresh/whole peas than any other vegetable acc. to that study. So, unless you grow your own OR cn get them incredibly cheaply, freezing peas is probably not a cost-saving!

I'll see if I can find the study. I noted all the data I found in my house notebook and haven't looked for it since....

Judi