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With the potential exception of personal care products, food budgets<\/strong> are where most good financial intentions go to die.<\/p>\n I have a few theories about why this is:<\/p>\n Like money, our relationship with food is emotional<\/em>. We eat when we\u2019re hungry, bored, tired, cranky, happy, sad \u2013 it\u2019s as much an activity as a means of sustaining life, for a lot of us.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n It\u2019s social<\/em> \u2013 a lot of our restaurant spending doesn\u2019t happen because we\u2019re taking ourselves out to dinner. Usually, we\u2019re out at a restaurant because we\u2019re meeting friends or coworkers and the $30 bill is par for the course.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n It\u2019s highly personal to your literal size<\/em>. I\u2019m 5\u20191\u201d and approx. 110 pounds, so generally speaking, I\u2019m a fairly small human. I eat a lot less than my 6\u2019, 170-pound male counterpart, and guess what? Less food costs less money. Go figure. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n Food typically doesn\u2019t cost all that much all at once, but it\u2019s a frequently purchased, medium-cost <\/em>item. In other words, it\u2019s a lot easier to spend $15 every day for a week than to drop $105 all at once, but most of us wouldn\u2019t flinch at spending $15 on lunch every day (though we would<\/em> think twice about spending $105 all at once, once per week). <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n All that to say, this is an area of our budgets that we typically set when we\u2019re well-fed, inspired, and ready to take on the month. <\/p>\n *Flash-forward to the following Wednesday night: You\u2019ve just worked for three days, your boss is pissing you off, you have a headache, and there\u2019s nothing in your fridge.<\/em><\/p>\n In that moment, do you care that you decided on Sunday when you set your budget that you were only going to eat out on the weekends? No. You\u2019re rationalizing the Uber Eats delivery and \u2013 well, YES, you want the crab rangoon for $5 more \u2013 that\u2019s that. <\/p>\n As a former \u201cspend $700 per month on dining out\u201d offender, I can speak with firsthand experience about the transition from bleeding money at Fuzzy\u2019s Tacos 4x\/week to spending less than $300 on groceries and dining out total<\/em>. <\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the easiest areas to trim, candidly, because it\u2019s often far more out<\/em> of control than we even realize, and changing our habits is far more in <\/em>our immediate control than some of our other large spending categories. <\/p>\n I realize food can be a touchy subject for some people (I don\u2019t know the exact statistic, but there\u2019s probably a 50\/50 shot that any given reader of this post has a not-so-great relationship with their eating). <\/p>\n Please know that this post is intended to focus on strategies for spending less on food, but that you should always prioritize your health above all else \u2013 in other words, if you need to buy special food to maintain a healthy relationship with your eating habits, please don\u2019t stress yourself out about spending. Health comes first. <\/p>\n There are a few principles I rely on when it comes to maintaining a successful food budget \u2013 but keep in mind, I\u2019m no five-star chef, and I still <\/em>think this is an area of opportunity for me, too. <\/p>\n That said, this post isn\u2019t going to have any gimmicks in it. No \u201chacks,\u201d no weird shit (\u201cEat two meals a day instead of three!\u201d), and no insanely unrealistic changes \u2013 just small tweaks that, in my opinion, can actually create pretty impactful results. <\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to tell you the shit you already know (\u201cBuy store-brand! Don\u2019t shop while you\u2019re hungry!\u201d), but I will give you some real-world, specific examples of how I keep my food budget super low without subsisting on pre-packaged cartons of sad brown rice and meekly seasoned hunks of chicken breast.<\/p>\n At $2\/meal, that\u2019s $6\/day (on average).<\/p>\n $6 per day x 31 days in a month = $186. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re like, \u201c$2\/meal? What the f***? How is that even possible?\u201d <\/p>\n We\u2019ll explore that below \u2013 but that\u2019s really a guideline for groceries, since your takeout meals will blow that up. Chipotle is the only exception \u2013 I split my burrito bowls over two meals, which really makes the cost $3.50\/meal, a steal for takeout. I\u2019m convinced Chipotle is basically equivalent to buying groceries, if you can make it last for two meals. <\/p>\n Principle #1: Avoid meals that require a lot of weirdly specific ingredients.<\/p>\n That dragonfruit chicken with minced organic mint leaf? Maybe skip it. <\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying you can never cook crazy shit, but where I think a lot of grocery budgets get out of control is trying to accommodate a bunch of different meals that really have no relationship to one another \u2013 buying ingredients that work for one meal in the whole month is going to (low key) make it cheaper to buy that meal as takeout than to buy all the ingredients and make it once.<\/p>\n And I don\u2019t know about you, but 99% of the time, when I make something really bizarre, I\u2019m not making it three more times that month. Usually, the fancy ingredients just sit there and either go bad or get tossed over time because they\u2019re not very useful for anything else. <\/p>\n Just because you\u2019re cooking at home doesn\u2019t automatically make it good for your budget.<\/strong> If you have to download a PDF in order to collect all the ingredients, it\u2019s probably going to set you back more than you\u2019re hoping to spend. <\/p>\n Principle #2: You definitely don\u2019t have to meal prep (I don\u2019t), but being cool with eating more or less the same shit for breakfast and lunch every day will cut your food costs dramatically.<\/p>\n For example, my breakfasts are standard. I have two major go-to options (and one is rather random).<\/p>\n Quick breakfast: <\/em>A bagel with cream cheese. Simple. I get a six-pack of bagels for $2.99 and a tub of cream cheese for about the same, and that lasts me the week. Call it $6 for 6 breakfasts, or $1\/meal.<\/p>\n Fancier breakfast:<\/em> I\u2019ll get eggs involved. I\u2019ll either scramble eggs with (already cooked) rice in a frying pan and pour in some stir fry sauce (trust me \u2013 it\u2019s like eating fried rice for breakfast) or scramble eggs with shredded cheese and use it to top the bagel. Eggs are $2 for a dozen, so they go a long way. Shredded cheese \u2013 for a big bag of store brand \u2013 is probably $5, but it lasts for a month. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re like, \u201cWell that doesn\u2019t sound very healthy!\u201d Yeah, you\u2019re right. It\u2019s not. But I\u2019m not trying to be a health freak \u2013 I\u2019m trying to cook filling food that provides carbs in the morning so I can kickstart my day. This ain\u2019t called Calorie Counting with Katie, right? (But even if it were \u2013 I maintain that eating healthy does not have to be expensive. Buying exclusively fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is truly pretty inexpensive; more inexpensive than buying processed foods.)<\/p>\n I apply a similar strategy for lunches: <\/p>\n Quick lunch: <\/em>A bowl of arugula, crumbled goat cheese, candied almonds, and a quarter or half of an apple sliced. I mix olive oil with honey for the dressing. Call that $11 upfront, but you can squeeze 7 lunches out of it (so $1.60\/meal). <\/p>\n Boujee lunch: <\/em>Sometimes I\u2019ll do a caprese salad vibe; slices of baguette ($1.99 for the whole thing), a few chunks of mozzarella, sliced roasted red pepper, and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I\u2019d price this about the same as the above, and call it roughly $1.60\/meal if you can stretch it for 5 lunches.<\/p>\n Do you see what I mean? Simple combinations of ingredients. Of course, the aforementioned 6\u2019 male counterpart would laugh in my face if I told him to eat caprese salad for lunch with nothing else, but I\u2019m not a 170-pound man. That\u2019s plenty of food to fill me up without making me tired for afternoon meetings (which, yes, is a byproduct of eating a big lunch that\u2019s heavy on the meat). <\/p>\n Principle #3: Plan to fail by buying some ready-to-eat, pre-made stuff.<\/p>\n Usually, I\u2019m just over it by dinner time.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the sad truth \u2013 if I don\u2019t have something easy on hand, I\u2019ll be more tempted to go buy takeout during the week.<\/p>\n I recommend planning for this by purchasing some easy items. My favorites are:<\/p>\n Frozen pizzas and flatbreads (seriously \u2013 Trader Joe\u2019s and Kroger both have so many options that are actually pretty good, like \u201cprosciutto, arugula, and fig flatbread\u201d or \u201cgoat cheese and veggie crumble\u201d \u2013 I\u2019m not talking sloppy-ass pepperoni Diggiorno) for $3-$5 each<\/p>\n The bonus here is that \u2013 if you\u2019re eating for one \u2013 you probably won\u2019t eat the whole thing, and can eat the other half for lunch the next day (so split that upfront cost in half for your meal average)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n Soup dumplings or pork dumplings from Trader Joe\u2019s (I believe it\u2019s about $3.99 for a box of soup dumplings, or much cheaper for the bag of pork dumplings that you fry in a pan)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Orange chicken from Trader Joe\u2019s <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n The other great, easy go-to is pasta. Sometimes a bowl of penne with marinara and parmesan hits the spot, and that\u2019s well under the $2\/meal average since the box of pasta and jar of sauce last such a long time. <\/p>\n Another option is going back to the comfort food favorites \u2013 I make quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches pretty frequently, so I have cheese, tortillas, and bread on hand. That\u2019s another thing I\u2019ve noticed about myself at dinner time \u2013 while I may be down to play it cool at breakfast and lunch, by dinner, I\u2019m usually craving some bullshit. By having easy comfort food on hand (my go-to is a grilled cheese dipped in marinara sauce, or a quesadilla dipped in sour cream), you\u2019re way less likely to go pick up guilty takeout. <\/p>\n Plus, while that doesn\u2019t sound<\/em> very healthy, the truth is, eating at home will always be better for you than going out to eat. The portions are smaller, you control how much butter the food is cooked in, and you\u2019re just less likely to binge. Unless your takeout of choice is some 1% upper class bullshit from Sweetgreen, you\u2019re probably going to be better off making your own food \u2013 even if it\u2019s considered \u201cunhealthy\u201d in the traditional sense. <\/p>\n Principle #4: Live it up on the weekends by grocery-shopping specifically for fun stuff.<\/p>\n I like to eat \u201cfun\u201d food on the weekends since I don\u2019t really go to restaurants: I\u2019ll buy cinnamon rolls or croissants for breakfasts instead of my usual. Mini corn dogs! Tater tots! The works. I love Trader Joe\u2019s for that reason; I usually buy staples at Kroger (because it\u2019s cheap) and then go to TJ\u2019s for the fun stuff. Even then, it\u2019s cheaper than eating out, but it still feels like a treat. <\/p>\n I usually do that fun weekend grocery shopping on Friday nights after work to kick off the weekend \u2013 it\u2019s a bit of a ritual, and it makes it far less tempting to go out on the weekends and overspend on food when I know I\u2019ve got a few fun items that I\u2019m excited about at home. <\/p>\n Principle #5: This might be the biggest one \u2013 get over the idea that the only way to socialize is to go out to eat. <\/p>\n You may need to be the friend in your friend group that breaks this trend for the rest of you, but I promise, on some level, everyone will probably be relieved. If you\u2019re anything like my friend group when I first graduated, none of you make enough money to have any business spending the way you are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at every hot spot in town. <\/p>\n Because here\u2019s the truth: Going out to eat is the least creative way to spend time together, and it\u2019s way more special when it\u2019s rare. And if you need<\/em> restaurants and bars to feel comfortable with your friends, you probably need better friends. (I know. I\u2019m an asshole, but it needs to be said.)<\/p>\n You can be the world\u2019s savviest grocery shopper, but if your friends go out to eat 5x\/week and you feel compelled to tag along every single time, you\u2019re setting yourself up for failure.<\/p>\n I try to stick to the \u201cone restaurant experience per week\u201d rule, because that works for me. If this is something that matters more to you, great \u2013 but realize you\u2019ll have to trim somewhere else to make up for it. Money is about prioritizing, and I think what the majority of people will find when they actually cut back on eating out is that they don\u2019t actually miss it that much. <\/em><\/p>\n Aside from being expensive, most restaurant experiences are underwhelming. Unless you\u2019re truly into food \u2013 like, run a food Instagram account and consider food a hobby \u2013 you probably aren\u2019t going to feel that big of a lifestyle impact by reining it in. I have a few family members that are truly into food<\/em> \u2013 like, went to culinary school, worked in restaurants, or travel specifically to go to cool restaurants. Food is a hobby for them. It\u2019s not a way to waste time or fill space with friends. <\/p>\n Knowing which category you fall into can help clarify how much of your monthly income this category should receive. I was in the, \u201cI\u2019m just being lazy and uncreative, and my friends want to go to mimosa brunch so I\u2019m going to go,\u201d camp, not the, \u201cI\u2019m an artisan pastry chef and $18 baguettes are my calling,\u201d camp. Be honest with yourself, then spend accordingly.<\/p>\n Principle #6: Meat and alcohol are probably your priciest purchases. Plan accordingly.<\/p>\n I truthfully don\u2019t really care about meat, so I don\u2019t buy it. It\u2019s expensive, I don\u2019t like cooking it, and that\u2019s enough of a reason for me to ignore it at the grocery store. I\u2019m not a vegetarian; I\u2019ll eat it in the pre-made food I buy if it\u2019s topping a pizza or inside of a dumpling, but I\u2019m not buying steaks or chicken breast to prepare. <\/p>\n Remember? I don\u2019t meal prep. I think it\u2019s depressing. <\/p>\n Some people LOVE making their six to-go containers of rice, vegetables, and chicken every Sunday. I did that one time and ended up throwing out half of it. It doesn\u2019t work for me because it\u2019s too regimented (and I realize that\u2019s hilariously ridiculous coming from the girl who sells spreadsheets online), but it\u2019s true! I like food to be fun, so I don\u2019t like meal prepping. All that to say \u2013 meat doesn\u2019t really take up space in my grocery budget.<\/p>\n Alcohol, on the other hand, is not something I\u2019m willing to sacrifice. I drink beer or wine every night with dinner, and usually have at least one glass \u2013 sometimes two. I never have more than two in one sitting (even on the weekends), but it\u2019s a consistent staple in my day. <\/p>\n I\u2019d say I probably spend $15 to $20 on alcohol per week (whether that\u2019s a bottle or two of wine, or a six-pack or two of craft beer). I tend to stick to the $7-$9 range on bottles of wine and $10-$12 range for the \u201cmake your own six-pack\u201d section of Kroger\u2019s beer aisle. <\/p>\n If you like something, plan for it. Having a fruited sour to accompany my article-writing nights at 8 p.m. after working all day make it feel like a hobby, so I pay for it. It\u2019s all about nailing down what you value and spending accordingly. <\/p>\n Some people truly can\u2019t go through a grocery store without picking up impulse purchases in every single aisle. Go in for pasta, come out with three bags of chips, a pack of artisan kombucha, two boxes of ros\u00e9 you\u2019re buying for the branding, and a bar of dark chocolate with an endangered animal on the package.<\/p>\n Ordering your groceries ahead of time not only helps you clearly price-compare, but it avoids impulse purchases altogether. Drive up, pop the trunk, and let them load your car. Pay the extra $5. You\u2019ll save money in the long run. <\/p>\n And for the love of God, don\u2019t do your grocery shopping at Target. That\u2019s a budget tragedy waiting to happen. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the potential exception of personal care products, food budgets are where most good financial intentions go to die. I have a few theories about why this is: Like money, our relationship with food is emotional. We eat when we\u2019re hungry, bored, tired, cranky, happy, sad \u2013 it\u2019s as much an activity as a means of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178814,"featured_media":2465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"si-template-single-post-everyday-spending-and-budgeting.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spending-and-saving","tag-everyday-spending-and-budgeting"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
One quick disclaimer<\/h4>\n
That said, let\u2019s dive in<\/h4>\n
My food goal: An average of $2\/meal per person<\/h4>\n
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And if all else fails, pay the fee to buy your groceries online and have them put in your trunk<\/h4>\n