How to prepare/estimate a food budget?

[scoots]

Circumstances are reaching a point that I need to draw up and monitor a food/market budget for my household, which consists of myself (a 60 year old man) and my 80-something year-old father.

I am asking members of this forum if they have any insights.

I should state first, that although this subject *can* be researched on the internet, 80% of what I find is not helpful, mostly sites that read more like money-challenges like "how to eat like a king on $3 a day."

I have been cooking and shopping for myself my entire life and I'm very familiar with "First steps" in domestic economy (Shop the perimeter, the day-old bread racks, etc), but I am looking for a reasonable dollar figure for two elderly men per week/month.

Thanks in advance for your thoughtful consideration -

Bill (Scoots)

 

[yogitunes]

I find most times....$40.00 to $60.00 per person, per week.....each additional person add 50% to that budget....

I dont just count food only...there is personal/toiletries, detergents/cleaners, household items all part of my shopping bill...

even for 2 people, Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner, @20.00 a day rounds out to be $600.00 a month....but in somewhat reality, can be done for $400.00 or less...

oddly enough, it seemed more costly to buy/cook for one versus 2+ people....

every one is going to have variables into how/what they buy, cook, leftovers, shop sales, buy in bulk.....basically save where you can and stretch that budget...

your mileage may vary...

 

[tomturbomatic]

Questions for you to get answers for you

Is all of your eating going to be food that you prepare at home? Next, you need to price the ingredients that you buy regularly, keep a list of them and watch when they go on sale. I have a super market near me that has a coupon on weekends where you get $10.00 off on grocery orders of $50.00 or more. I can tell you that two cannot eat as cheaply as one because when you prepare meals for one and count on having leftovers for another meal or two, you won't have them if you are serving two so if you are planning on preparing meals for more than one serving, you have to prepare double the amount. Do you have a freezer? Do you like to cook? Can you store items that you can buy in bulk?

 

[ea56]

$600.00 per month

is also about what I we spend per month for groceries for two Martin. Like you I count all the other items we buy at the store weekly besides food, like paper products, cleaning products, toiletries and OTC medicines and vitamins.

I make a weekly menu plan and buy accordingly taking into consideration what items we already have on hand. I always have an extra on hand for anything that we use regularly. I also buy the larger packages of boneless chicken breasts and pork chops and freeze them in two portion sizes in plastic freezer bags.

We both eat only cereal every morning for breakfast and since we are both of an age when we don’t need to consume large amounts we have a 1/2 sandwich and an apple or orange for lunch everyday. Dinners are our main meal and we always have a fresh green salad with our entree. If I make a casserole or anything else that has more than two servings we eat it for the next one to three dinners depending upon how many servings are left over. We don’t throw anything away!

I bake all of our bread, rolls, hamburger and hot dog buns and desserts and make my own salad dressings too. I realize that most people won’t go this far in planning and economization, but I enjoy doing it so it doesn’t seem like a chore.

Most importantly, I rotate the menus so there is always variety and we don’t get bored. I have prepared our daily dinners at least 350 out of 365 days per year for the last 40+ years. It seems like second nature to me. We have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and use butter cheese and other dairy products in moderation.

And we always eat at the table off of real dishes (Corelle), with real flatware and cloth napkins. We NEVER use paper plates of plastic utensils, but we do use paper napkins for breakfast and lunch.

The most important thing about shopping and not overspending is to MAKE LIST, and STICK TO IT! I keep a running list in the kitchen on top of the microwave and anything that we run out of goes on the list. Since the beginning of this year when the pandemic really started to ramp up and it was suggested that old coots like me stay out of the stores I’ve been ordering our groceries online at Target for delivery. Surprisingly, even with a 20% tip I’m not spending much more than if I went the store myself.

Eddie

 

[mrboilwash]

For a good start it might be helpful to collect all grocery receipts, restaurant bills if there are any, drug store receipts and so on for at least a few weeks to get an idea where you stand with your expenses.
If you know exactly how much you`ve spent on certain items it`s much easier to adjust your shopping accordingly.
I hope you`re not at a point where you have to sacrifice healthy fresh food with junk food only.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, my approach is to shop the ads for bargains, freeze whatever I can't use right away, and to make stuff from scratch whenever possible. Beef too expensive? Get chicken, eggs, etc. The point is to get sufficient protein, and most Americans apparently get too much protein anyway. If you have a yard, growing your own fruits and veggies can help a lot and is probably better than store-bought anyway. I make about two cups (dry) of brown rice at a time in a pressure cooker. Lasts about a week or more. Any chicken or meat bones get bagged and frozen, and then turned into broth in the pressure cooker, which can be used to make soup or as a base for the brown rice to cook in.

And if push comes to shove, most communities have food banks and other services for the honestly destitute.

YMMV

 

[jamiel]

You may have access to an RD (registered dietitian) through your health plan (particularly if you have diabetes or another similar disease). They can connect you to some resources to plan meals. The USDA has some good materials out there; finally contact your county extension service (from your land grant university) who have home economist resources available.

 

[vacerator]

Meal prep can help!

My husband is a former registerd dietitian. Our healthy weight is in check.
One example; I buy 5 to 6 pounds of organic chicken breasts a week. It cost's us $7.70 per pound. Expensive, but we each eat 4 ounces for lunch, and 5 ounces for dinner, 3 to 4 days per week. We get it at a goormet market, but you can get it for a dollar less at most supermarkets. Avoid the salt broth/water injected chicken. It just comes out when you cook it. You're not saving money with it. Some Amish chicken also has it.
In addition to, I have a 1/4 of cheese with it, one slice, or an egg.
Protein powder can also be economical and nutritious. A scoop serving or 30 grams of
either Cassein or Whey powder has 110 to 120 caloroes, and 24 to 26 grams of protein.
60 grams pe day + or- is how much an average adult needs.
On very active days, say when we work-out, I have a scoop of each in 8 oz. of unsweetened almond milk and some water. Two scoops of cassein doesn't dissolve well in a large shaker cup. Casein will keep you full a bit longer. Some afternoons my snack is a second single serving shake. We buy ON Nutrition brand Chocolate and Vanilla,from Amazon or them direct if cheaper. Elite dymatize is also good, and they make a cinnamon bun flavor. We are going to try a new one which has a different formulation because cassein gives me a lot of gas. I will post when it arrives with the result and brand.
I snack on nuts, apricots, dates, prunes, and craisins. Just a few each per day.
I eat everything. The occasional PBJ on a low carb tortilla in the evening. On weekends, we cheat. A dinner, if not two out at a restaurant. We have our share of teats. Chips, cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream too.
Salt is the fluid retention enemy. Don't panic if you eat out and weigh 2 pounds more the next morning. It will be gone in a day or two. I drink at least a gallon of water per day, not including coffee, or in my shakes.
Control fats, salt and sugars by cooking more healthy at home.
Fruits have carbs, but carbs. are not bad! Too much are. Brwon rice has less and better carbs. than white. Portion control is crucial. Follow the serving sizes for pasta's also. Carbs and sugars will make you hungry much sooner than fats.
Green vegetables are free calories. A half bell pepper with that chicken breast for lunch, or raw or cooked brocccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, sour kraut, green beans, or salad greens. I have a fresh yam once or twice a week. Yes, I eat baked and mashed potatoes too. Iceberg lettuce is mainly water.
After 6 p.m. try not to eat. If you can tolerate sorbitol, those sugar free Werther's candies are good. Also lemon drops, and butter scotch, but I havn't seen it since lsat year. If you can't tolerate the sorbitol, have one of the sweetened candies.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Sorbitol, like manitol is a sugar alcohol. It is non-caloric because the body cannot metabolize it. Alcohol is a very thirsty molecule. It pulls a lot of water with it as it leaves the body so it can give you the runs if consumed in large quantities.

 

[qsd-dan]

Do you have space for a garden? Tastier and healthier than anything that comes from the grocery store. Gardening is a fantastic stress reducer with the satisfaction of bearing your own fruits. Save the seeds and replant the following year. (Warning: This won't work with most GMO seeds).

 

[oliger]

Heres how my budget is done:
I go to the store once a week. Breakfast and lunch are usually fairly similar on any given day, so I check up on those items to determine if more will be needed this week. Dinner is usually the most expensive meal, so it gets thought out and planned to the penny.
The weekly ad for Kroger is pulled out, and 7 dinners are planned. Meat is the most expensive part, and the sale prices of meats usually determines what will be eaten in a given week. Chicken is usually the cheapest and there are many ways to fix it. Packs of frozen vegetables can usually be had for $1 each, and a half bag is usually used at one meal. I also eat a lot of beans. I like them, and they just happen to also be cheap. A bag of dried beans is 89 cents, and lasts for quite a few meals. After the 7 meals are planned, a list is made. Then I check the refrigerator, and cabinets. Anything I already have is crossed off. Anything for breakfast and lunch is now added.
I then go to Krogers website. They have the price of everything, this makes budgeting easy. I take my first list and make out a new one with prices and items arranged by how I walk through the store so nothing is forgotten. This eliminates backtracking.
A lot of money can also be saved by stocking up if there is a big markdown on something. At least once or twice a week I can also save the cost of a meal by having leftovers. I've become an expert at making leftovers as good as new. Sometimes they can also be made into soup.

 

[ea56]

Re: Reply#10

Jon, thats pretty much how I do it too, except I don’t the prices on my list, I have a good memory and know what most things cost anyway. But I think this is a good idea if your budget is tight, then you’ll know you can afford what you plan on shopping for. I think you are a very good planner!

Eddie

 

[mattl]

Much of your food budget depends on food costs where you live.  For me, $200-225/mo is more than generous, often less.  I eat only 2 meals a day, a late brunch and a dinner, switched to an 18 hour fast years ago and have done well with it.  I shop mostly at Krogers and Aldi. When stuff is on sale I stock up.  I use a lot of eggs and they last so when Kroger has 18 count eggs for $.99 I buy 3, 4 or even 5 if I'm doing some baking.  Make 80% of my own bread and buy 25 or 50 Lbs of flour at Gordons of Sams and it lasts many many months.  Krogers is very good to me with coupons, last trip my total was $68 but after the preferred customer coupons including free stuff I paid $42, this happens often.  

 

I rarely make a list, I have an app called Out of Milk on my phone and make notes of odds and ends but never plan a menu, just looks for deals.  Around here you can get a 10Lb pack of Chicken leg quarters for between $5.99 and $7.99, lately I've been splitting them and get a good number of meals out of them.  When I splurge I might pick up a boneless personal rib eye steak for $12 or so and split it into 4 pieces, 4oz of steak is plenty for me.  I always eat a starch, mostly potatoes, and large vegetable side and a very large salad for dinner.  I use fresh produce when available, but frozen stuff is fine during the winter. Again Kroger helps, their brand frozen vegetables are $1 a bag and I always get a $.50 off 2 coupon every month.  I generally have a glass of wine with dinner, usually red, and pick out wine at Aldi's for $2.99 bottle.

 

I certainly do not feel deprived at about $200/mo and feel I eat well and stay healthy. I keep my weight in check, currently at my target of 13% body fat, and I do not crave stuff - no chips and such.  If I want a sweet I bake something.  But I'll reiterate a lot depends of food costs in your area.

 

[vacerator]

New Whey protein ingredient:

The new whey protein powder contains ultra filtered whey isolate. Sort of like ultra filtered milk has less sugar and is lactose free.

 

[appnut]

Mike, aside from some plain greek yogurt, when I make my cold start yogurt in my instant pot, the milk I use is ultra filtered due to the added protein and less sugar.

 

[henene4]

I luckily don't have to budget

But one has to first understand their spending before seeing where to save and how to.

I am terrible with having money.
If I use my debit card for everything, I have an almost empty bank account at the end of the month.

So I have a credit card and a prepaid credit card.
That prepaid credit card gives me 3% as a cash back on anything.
I charge that via my credit card that gives me another 0.5% cashback.

I keep a watch on my credit card and basically live on a bill.
If that bill gets to high I naturally slow spending.
I only check my second card right before I have to use it to check the balance is enough for what I have to spend right now and only top up as needed.

I as a single person get away with about 250€ a month during normal months.
That is a lot of frozen stuff, eating out more and such.
I don't have much motivation to cook for me alone after uni and work.

During the months I have off my groceries can get as low as 160-180€.
The more I cook at home, the cheaper I get as it just is cheaper than ready meals and eating out.

I could spend less if I scratched buying all my drinks from the store.
Cold tea is very easy to vary and even if you go fancy on it way cheaper than sodas and such.
I have 2 pitchers, each 1.5l. I can fill them in the evening with tea, put them in the fridge before going to the bed and have enough to drink for a day for a few pennies.
That could cut another 20€ off that total.

Having a selection of two dozen easy meals you can make every day is a nice way to make shopping easy and cheap.
Then for true variety shop by offers and such.
For example, I like to drink some fruit juice with dinner. If something is on offer, I get it. If nothing is available I fancy, I can go a week without.

A lot of snack stuff - like chips, chocolate etc. - I like to buy on offer and then in bulk.

So my base shopping cart for a week is usually about 40€.
That is drinks, breakfast, usual meals, some veg and fruit.
Then I calculate about 20€ a week for extras - my juice, some snacks, maybe some meat.
If I then spend 80€ a week, I just spend less next week because I have most of the stuff already at home, frozen or such.

One thing that sounds cliché though, but makeing a shopping list and eating before going to the store actually helps in my experience.

A lot of people my age struggle with liquidity.

I am not scared to get large purchases on credit as long as the interest is reasonable.

If I have to or want to buy something big, it is just cheaper to pay 2% interest on it over 10 months or so than to eat into my savings, then be surprised by a car repair and having to go into debt on my credit card and paying 15% interest for 3 months.

That also allows for more budgeting headroom.

Reducing you grocery bill from one month to the next is way harder than people think.

Just knowing you will be spending 100€ each month outside of everything makes that much easier.

That amount then either goes towards saving.
If you have to get something large, you just finance it as cheaply as possible so it fits in that headroom with a little to spare.

So to summarize:

Spend a month or two checking and collecting.
See where you spend.
See what you want in terms of meals.
Collect that all.

Then trial and error.
Add up all your household incomes.
Deduct all your fixed expenses.
Budget a certain headroom.
See what you are left with.

Take that, divide it by 4.
Then write a grocery list for a week's worth of shopping.
Make a sanity check if that somehow fits together.

Then eat, and head to the store.
After shopping, check if you actually stayed within budget.

Next week, add up all your miscellaneous expenses and see how that fits in.
Then start the process with a new shopping list again.

Over and over.
Usually, after a month or two of that, people have that down to the point you no longer have to add up everything exactly to the penny.
You get into a rhythm and your budget won't change much.

 

[henene4]

To clear up my point

A food budget is a good basis for a good financial situation, but usually not the point where you make or break it.

It's important your typical day to day fixed costs are at a point where in most situations, you wouldn't have to adapt them much.
Cause you will have to eat, shower and entertain yourself, even if you end up unemployed suddenly.

I could foot my groceries, my bills and my upkeep even if I suddenly only got unemployment benefits.
Heck, I was out of work for 6 months of this year.
It was tight, but it worked.

Getting your food budget to a point that is reasonable is important.
But I actually know very few grown adults I consider somewhat sane and reasonable that don't fulfill that requirement without much trying.

It's usually more of a holistic issue if money is a problem.

It's more about the points you are willing to make sacrifices.

That however is a very personal thing.

I for example don't really want to live alone anyway.
So sub-leasing my flat isn't really an issue for me.

Do I love my current flat mates?
Not particularly.
But I know that throwing them out and looking for new ones would reduce my budget drastically.
I could but I choose not to.

In return, when everything is normal, I can afford appliances worth more than most people would consider sane.
Or I can just skip working with no long term impact - be that because I can't work or for what ever I reason I would decide not to.

I am fine with taking longer for university and thus reducing my long term financial total by a few percent in return for having a certain baseline right from the start.
Many my age wouldn't choose uni plus a 20h job but are happy to live in "lower standards" in return for getting done with it quicker.

Such more Base-Line decisions make a much greater impact on my bottom line than getting the slower internet connection or the cheaper chips would.