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@Callandra wrote:
@grillandwinemaster wrote:I do have to figure out a way to reduce my eating out for lunch expenses. A few replied that they rarely eat out...
Hmmm... Maybe I will start a new thread seeking advice on this subject??
Pack your lunch! I'm a huge advocate, lol. I never have time in the morning so my best advice is pack it the night before and try to make it something you really want to eat (your favorite foods) and throw in a little treat. I've never been one for takeout that much but I find bringing lunch saves a lot of money. Depending on where you live/work, lunch can add up! My last job was in a downtown area so it was minimum $10 for lunch (not including a drink, I'm talking about just a sandwich or salad with chips). I can pack my lunch for much less!!
To answer the original topic, I probably spend $50-60 a week on food groceries (more if you're counting other household non-food items). It's only me and my husband but we go through laundry detergent like nobody's business. *scratches head*
I Would totally pack a lunch. Where my OCD kicks in Is that I'm a self employed contractor and I never have access to a fridge or microwave. I wonder if anybody makes a 12V microwave? I could make a brand new truck payment on the money I spend on eating out every week! 😦
@Creditplz wrote:
For me and the DW it's about $800 a month, mainly because whenever we go to Costco.. We have no self control this includes everything like shampoo, soap, meat, bread, etc..
If I we're in your shoes, I would cancel Costco. For a family of two the savings of buying in bulk are negligible. 😊
Just my thought, different strokes for different folks.
@grillandwinemaster wrote:
@Callandra wrote:
@grillandwinemaster wrote:I do have to figure out a way to reduce my eating out for lunch expenses. A few replied that they rarely eat out...
Hmmm... Maybe I will start a new thread seeking advice on this subject??
Pack your lunch! I'm a huge advocate, lol. I never have time in the morning so my best advice is pack it the night before and try to make it something you really want to eat (your favorite foods) and throw in a little treat. I've never been one for takeout that much but I find bringing lunch saves a lot of money. Depending on where you live/work, lunch can add up! My last job was in a downtown area so it was minimum $10 for lunch (not including a drink, I'm talking about just a sandwich or salad with chips). I can pack my lunch for much less!!
To answer the original topic, I probably spend $50-60 a week on food groceries (more if you're counting other household non-food items). It's only me and my husband but we go through laundry detergent like nobody's business. *scratches head*
I Would totally pack a lunch. Where my OCD kicks in Is that I'm a self employed contractor and I never have access to a fridge or microwave. I wonder if anybody makes a 12V microwave? I could make a brand new truck payment on the money I spend on eating out every week! 😦
I'd check Amazon! Do you have a cooler / mini cooler? You could fill it with ice and you could keep a salad or sandwich or something in it.
@Creditplz wrote:
Grillandwinemaster... I've tried Cutting it out of our grocery shopping but if I don't go she goes alone and well that can't be good
Gotcha!
That can bee rough! Lol😂
grillandwinemaster - Back then, there was no such thing as eating out, or soda, or convenience foods. I literally would make a double batch of split pea soup, throw in 1/4-1/2 a kalbasa, and freeze a serving size. A serving size back then was a small yogurt container. I think back then it was 4 oz. Might have been 5 or 6 oz. I would make lasagna (meatless) and do the same thing. Yep, lasagna in yogurt containers. Same with pasta with fresh tomatoes diced up. Sometimes, I could get canned fruit on sale. Sometimes, I could get fresh beans or fresh fruit on sale. I'd make baked beans from scratch. I'd take a hot dog (dog if they had been on sale) and cut them up really, really, really tiny and put them in the beans. Meatless chili. A special treat would be chicken soup. And plums from the tree in the yard. Kids were well fed. I was hungry most of the time.
*sigh* I miss those days...not of being hungry, but of being so disciplined with the food budget and eating so healthy.
Although now I make almost everything at home, the food prices are so high. I am slowly getting back to those days. I have to be gluten free, soy free, and peanut/legume/bean free now due to allergies.
Of my food expeditures now, like I said before it's about $790 a month for two people who travel every week. I track the travel food separately than the personal, I want to eat out food. About $300-500 if mandatory eat out expenses, even though I try to reduce it. But if boss says dinner meeting at xyz restaurant, bring your spouse, separate tickets, I gots to go. We pay up front for our food, then get reimbursed. Business expense.
For August, there have been six trips. I bought extra groceries so I could cook our meals ahead of time. For the most part, I have been successful and I have a nice stash of food going into next month. (On this trip, I have spent $12 on eating out by choice and $10 on work reimbursed food and it's day three. So not too bad.)
I've spent a total of $919 (there goes my monthly average!) in August.
$432 on groceries
$134 on eating out by choice
$353 on reimbursed meals for work travel
The goal is to reduce the eating out by choice to less than $50 a month. I'd like to reduce the eating out for work too....but that' s a bit harder, but I am trying (thus the two bags of groceries/precooked meals for this trip that I brought.)
I think if it was just me, I'd be spending $300 or less a month on food. But it's not. And the man likes his organic coffee...his free range meats...and his sweets. Not saying it's a bad thing...I'm just saying, he's got some expensive requirements as he ages! And he eat likes 2-3x more food now than he did before most days...he doens't go to bed hungry anymore. Neither do I.
I'm glad that I am blessed that I can have choices regarding food. SO many people don't have that much money to make many food choices.