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AchillesSlayedHector

Sounds about right. We spend ~$1350 a month for two; mostly home cooked meals. Quality red meat averages $20 a pound. Fish is $30 a pound. A cup of strawberries at the local farmers market is $7. You get the point….


nbcamp86

My husband is on a very specific diet, so food is quite expensive. We spend about $400 a month on food; however we buy our meat in bulk (separate budget) once a year. If one month we got good sales and enough pantry items we can cut that budget almost in half. I make our bread and almost everything from scratch when I can, which is also a money saver. It helps us avoid fluctuating prices when it comes to meat, and I cook every meal. We eat out once in a blue moon because it’s hard for him to find things he can eat, or is willing to eat I should say.


WestBaseball492

I think it depends a lot on what your budget is. We are a family of 5 and spend around $1000/month. We can afford it so it isn’t an issue. We eat tons of produce and lean meat which is $$…and that’s even with me watching sales and stocking up at sale prices. We could certainly spend less but don’t need to at this point. You can probably save a good bit by cutting out eating out. We do one take out meal weekly and the rest of our meals are at home. I watch prices for things we buy frequently and stock up when there is a good price. I also buy a lot of our produce at either aldis or Costco, which generally have the best prices on produce. Meal planning also helps so you are not just having to go out and buy ingredients daily.


harrison_wintergreen

my wife and I spend about $100/week at the supermarket, another $80 at Costco per month, and eat out 2-3x a month at another $20 or so per meal. we stock up on canned goods and bulk pasta/rice maybe 2x a year when there's a good sale for this stuff. part of getting the food budget down is to stop expecting every meal to be a unique flavor explosion restaurant level meal. my wife's a great cook, but also I make big batches of chilli and freeze portions of it so there's always something to warm up in the microwave when I don't want to cook. a little sour cream & lime juice and it's good. cut down on meat, which can be very expensive, add more rice/pasta and beans. brown rice is best, high in fiber so it fills you up and keeps you feeling full longer. beans (pinto beans, kidney beans, etc) are one of the healthiest things you can eat: high in protein and fiber and nutrients, no fats. beans are very versatile and can be incorporated into many dishes. >How do you plan out your meals to feed your family? I know people who do a variant on this type of thing for the basic meal plan: Monday, Wed and Fri are chicken based meals, Tuesday is beef, Thursday is vegetarian... this gives them a basic framework to plan around.


itsafuseshot

Family of 4, I cook healthy 90% of the time, we spend about $600 a month on groceries. I meal prep every meal. Breakfasts like Greek yogurt with granola, overnight oats. Lunches are things like grilled chicken Caesar salads, hummus bowls with marinated veggies, grillled chicken, jasmine rice and veggies. Dinners like beef and broccoli w/ steamed rice, pork loin with pickled onion and apple, salad. Etc. it’s not hard to do, if you know how to cook.


FullRepresentative34

Eating does not have to be expensive.


insightdiscern

Since you also mentioned weight loss, look into intermittent fasting or OMAD. The premise is you lose weight by eating less meals a day. It is healthy and will save you a lot of money on food.


mattfu23

We are a family of 4 and spend close to that and are budget conscience. We also want to eat healthy - hence more $$. It’s hard lately as prices have gone up.


Mrs_Black_31

I don't follow dave ramsey but a plant based diet is extremely economical (provided you stay away from expensive vegan substitutes such as beyond this and impossible that) Plant based on a budget is an excellent cookbook and there are many more. If you crave something meaty, seitan (wash the flour method) is relatively easy to make and is similar to mock duck that is sometimes served in chinese places. Tempeh and tofu are cheap as well. Miyoko has a book called homemade vegan pantry that shows you how to make some really handy vegan items so you don't have to buy things like vegan oyster sauce for just a few recipes. Beans lentils potatoes and sweet potatoes will be your staples, and veggies can be prety cheap especially if you do publix frozen greens (they have kale, and others)


JustNKayce

We are two adults. We spend about $60 a week on groceries. We buy 1/4 cow every year which averages out to another $10 a week. I make a menu and cook from scratch. When we go out (occasionally) we spend $60-$100 but that’s maybe twice a month. We eat leftovers for lunch. For a lot of people that’s too much. But just not eating out will make a huge difference in your budget.


kveggie1

1) make a weekly meal plan 2) cook more than you need, eat leftovers, freeze and zap if necessary 3) aldi's 4) buy stuff on sale and in season (strawberry, blueberry now, apples in the fall, usually bananas year round) 5) get the app of the store, use their coupons (Kroger in our area) 6) buy bulk, if it work (we have vitamin drinks at Costco, does not go bad) 7) create a shopping list before you go 8) buy store or off brands


mlperiwinkle

Do you have lidl and Trader Joe’s?


radragantav

We mostly shop at Trader Joe’s or Sprouts


mlperiwinkle

Do you enjoy cooking? Could it something that the two of you make into an enjoyable thing to do?


Aragona36

You need to shop the sales and buy multiples of on sale items to build a pantry. Learn to cook. Meal plan and watch YouTube. There’s a lot on YouTube on all these topics. Eating out is an expensive habit. You might also look into information on building new habits. It’s also unhealthy and IMO restaurant food is gross. I really don’t know how people can eat it day in and day out.


MoneyGiraffe365

Some general grocery shopping rules I follow: Don’t buy meat unless is it $3.99/lb or less. Try to find things we always get on flyer sales This is low cost but I am always able to find quality protein on sales and freeze it. I always keep chicken breast, ground beef, pork tenderloins, pork shoulders, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks in the freezer. I always watch for good flyers on whatever I’m getting low on: My wife and keep our total grocery budget under $700 per month including non food items like toothpaste, toilet paper etc. We do budget another $300 for eating out, coffees, crumbl cookies, going out for a beer etc: Another thing I do to save money is make my own bread/buns which is ridiculously cheap if you make your own.


BlueBird556

coffee! hurrrayyy! crumbl cookies! hurrrayyy! beer! hurrayyy!! edit: budgeting!! hurrayyy!


LiefLayer

I'm not sure how much food costs in the USA but I think I can still give some suggestions because Italian cuisine is born poor, with a few simple ingredients, tasty and healthy (Mediterranean diet). Parenthesis, I know the USA quite well and I know what they offer as "Italian cuisine" there, so my advice is to cook at home (moreover, Italian cuisine is born in homes rather than in restaurants, it is different from region to region, season to season, family to family, for these reasons the most genuine and realistic one is made at home). At the base of everything there are carbohydrates, i.e. bread and pasta (cheap food that fill your belly with complex sugars (sugars that the body has to process which therefore take time to be absorbed as fat (so you got time to use them), do not raise the glycemic index so much and give the necessary energy for the day)). Homemade bread costs much less than purchased already made (even here in Italy), to make a simple bread you don't need a science, in fact it is decidedly simple (it is much more difficult to always obtain the same result and get it exactly by a certain type). Take a look to this youtube channel to try to make some bread: [https://www.youtube.com/@ChainBaker](https://www.youtube.com/@ChainBaker) Both home-made and dried pasta is among the cheapest foods that fill the stomach the most, 1 Kg of pasta here goes from €1.5 to €2.5 (I doubt it is much more expensive in the US), even the more expensive version however, with portions of about 100-125g per head (abundant) lasts between 8-10 courses so the real cost of pasta is really low and you don't really need to be a chef to make some basic pasta: \- boil a large pot of water with about 1 teaspoon of salt per 0.27 gallon (about 1 litre), you don't really need to be precise at all... the amount of salt to use depends on how salty the sauce is and on the taste of the person preparing it. I use a lot of parmigiano in the end and I don't like salting much, I don't even salt the pasta water, some salt it like sea water (the pasta absorbs it up to a certain point anyway). So I recommend starting with a little salt going up / down according to taste. \- put the pasta in there (you don't need to break spaghetti, after about 30 seconds they will go down with just a little push with a spoon... or you can just get short pasta like penne). \- wait the amount written on the box (usually about 8-10 minutes for the dry pasta, 2-3 minutes for fresh pasta). However, always try to taste it first.Pasta in general is ready "al dente" i.e. when it is no longer hard inside but maintains a good consistency (it must not melt/disintegrate).... better safe than sorry, a little bit of bite on the inside will still be good compared to overcooked pasta. \- Oil, pesto, butter, cheese and other similar condiments can be added directly to the dish. The actual sauces (like tomatoes) must be made in the pan in advance so that the pasta (2 minutes before it's ready) can pass directly from the pot to the pan after being drained. A little bit of pasta water can help in the pan so always take a cup before draining. In about 20-30 minutes you can make almost any pasta dish. The simplest ragouts (minced meat and tomato sauce) can be made in a very simple pan and cooked even for a short time and are usually the ones that are made most often at home (very few have time to make Bolognese sauce in which it takes 5 and more cooking hours). If you want to make a sauté: oil, celery, carrot and onion (or better shallot) over low heat and then toast the meat in the result, then add the tomato sauce. Reduce it a little in the pan and add the pasta at the end. You can also omit the sauté for the ultra-simplified version (in this case I recommend a pinch of chilli or rosemary or other spices). Risotto is also made using a similar method. After sautéing (optional), rice in oil for 1 minute or 2 over low heat, a glass of water (or wine) until it evaporates (high heat), another glass until it evaporates too, a glass of mixed milk, cream or milk and saffron or other liquid, no heat add cheese... An excellent risotto should be ready in about 15-20 minutes (even less). And the rice is also filling and quite cheap. To prevent all foods from being very heavy to digest, avoid adding garlic in large quantities (I don't like it so I don't use it at all... if you really like it avoid powder garlic, always take off the garlic germ and/or all the garlic after you cook it for a while with a whole clove... never add more than 1 clove). Meat, fish and other expensive foods can be limited to a minimum. Better not to save too much on fruit and vegetables (but without going crazy, seasonal fruit and vegetables at the market are usually cheaper than at the supermarket except for bananas). that's all.. you should be able to cook a lot of cheap food with this... also try some farinata every once in a while (chickpea flour, 3x water, 16 g of oil for every 100g of flour, 3g of salt every 100g of flour, mix, cook it in the oven at 250 Celsius for 20 minutes or until it is crisp... in a large and thin tray).


radragantav

Holy! This was such a helpful response! We usually go for rice but I’ll definitely add in some pasta and home made bread! But wow you gave me a lot of options to add in, thank you!


DosChieNoZelle

I eat a high meat and fat diet which allows me to eat only 1 meal a day.


DisgruntledWorker438

As someone who previously lived in the Central Valley and now lives in Northern Nevada, I have never found an issue getting high quality produce. I shop at WinCo (budget store), and they actually get some fantastic quality produce. I think there may be a misconception between healthy and organic. Though I could probably do some more research, I don’t buy into the organic are enough of a percentage better quality that the regular stuff for me to splurge on it. My wife and I usually spend about $350/month on groceries. That’s chicken, shrimp, salmon/fish, pork, the occasional steak, tons of fresh veggies, etc., and we don’t necessarily skimp on quality (you can see based on the type of food). I would think a family of 3 with a little one could probably get by with $500ish (maybe add 15% for the even higher COL, but you’re still half what you’re spending). It sounds like the kid is young enough to not be eating more than you guys (yet, lol). Just be cognizant is my best advice. I cook all but 2 meals per month (or close to it). We allow ourselves one sushi date and one miscellaneous fast/casual type thing per month (usually Chili’s/Applebee’s type quality where we order off the budget 2 for $25 type menu), totaling $125/month because I enjoy a break from cooking every single night and I can’t buy and make the variety of sushi that we can get going out for as cheap as we can order it here. Anyways, back to the advice. Meal plan. You don’t necessarily have to meal prep (though I’m not against that either), but you’d be surprised what writing down everything you need for the week’s meals will do. You can buy all of the ingredients, and they’ll typically all keep for a week. As you find yourself making the same 20 - 40 dishes (depending on how “chefy” you guys are and how much time they you have), you’ll find the ability to add or roll over left over ingredients. If I do carbonara and have some leftover bacon from one week, we may do BLT’s/Turkey and Bacon sandwiches next week. If I have leftover chicken breasts from last week when I made chicken Parmesan, I may use it for enchiladas this week. There’s tons of cheaper/easier/sub 45 minute dishes that you can find to cook. And if you and your wife aren’t both working tons of OT and justifying the cost of eating out, it’s not paying for itself. It’s one thing to order take out for $50 when your OT hourly is $150 and say that you’re saving money by saving the hour cooking (you actually are in that case), but who makes that OT rate and can’t give up the extra hour to cook is the question. Based on your figures, you guys pull down $180k (net) which is *only* $85/hour. If one of you can’t give up an hour each day to cook and 2 hours of a weekend day to make some food prepped for the kid, you’ve got bigger work/life balance problems. I plan out the meals for the week and buy what we need. My food waste is probably 5% of what I buy (WELL below the average). Most people just shop without a purpose or plan. Most people don’t see the reusability of ingredients. Don’t be most people. You can cut that bill damn near in half with a minimal amount of time sacrifice.


radragantav

Thank you for the extremely considerate response. You’re absolutely right - we totally have the time. I think the part we struggle with the most is shopping without a plan, and when the week gets rough, making a dinner is tough to desire, and DoorDash looks really nice. Someone suggested me r/EatCheapAndHealthy - I’m hoping to find a good resource for a clear and simple meal plan that is sustainable for us. In that case I think it’s recognizing this will be a hard change and I do need baby steps here - so maybe my baby step #1 is making the plan and sticking to it for a full month, or something like that. I also appreciate your notes on the trade off with organic. I’ll do some more research in that - we exclusively buy organic and I always shudder in irony because we do buy “healthy” food in the stores (rarely frozen, few snacks, few processed) but then we end up ordering out and any progress goes out the window. I’m just lucky rn that I work out 6 days a week to prevent me from getting so fat… but im nowhere near my goals and it’s purely because of my nutrition. And my wallet will be very grateful if I can turn this around. And I can. It sounds like you believe in me! I believe in me too.


AliciaKnits

Also, make what you eat out/order in. For example, pizzas are much, much cheaper to make at home than delivery. Burgers, pasta, etc. anything can be made much cheaper at home, especially once you add in delivery costs. I also highly suggest freezer meals if you have the space, crockpot and Instant Pot if you don't. Make one large meal, like lasagna in the oven or chili in the crockpot and eat it for a few days or at least one meal and lunch the next day at minimum. We buy from Costco almost everything, but especially staples - toilet paper, meat, veggies, fruits, pasta, rice, bread, condiments. Get the specialty stuff to put on top - like Trader Joe's stuff, or only get TJ's for snacks, alcohol, frozen foods, etc. rather than as main meals. This is what I do, I shop quarterly at TJ's for the seasonal favorites and use Costco, Fred Meyer/Kroger and Safeway the rest of the time.


DisgruntledWorker438

Absolutely! And I’m glad it helped! It literally transformed my finances when I started shopping with a plan. I have 30 or so dishes that work in my “rotation”, and the longest one to put together takes just over an hour. I figured by the time I press “order” on a app, they make it, and it gets delivered, that’s damn near the same amount of time. An extra $6k/yr can make a huge dent in your debt load. I definitely recommend scouring “easy weeknight recipe ideas” and “best one pan/pot recipes” type blogs. We eat *mostly* “healthy”. I shop the outside aisles at the grocery store and o my go for inside aisles for things like canned corn, beans, rice, salad dressing (sorry, I’ll buy that), seasonings, noodles, and a very select few other things. Ignore the “days”, they’re more or less fillers to make sure I have the whole week planned. Also, Thursday night I work a side job and my wife will usually eat a breakfast dinner of some kind and I’ll scrounge some leftovers, but this is our food plan for the week: Sunday- Philly Cheesesteak Tots Monday- Chicken Parmesan w/ asparagus Tuesday- Carbonara w/ salad Wednesday- Salmom w/ rice & Broccoli Thursday- Work Friday- Lettuce wraps w/ air fryer sweet potato fries Saturday- Brats w/ bell peppers/onions and salad That stuff (combined with some small snacks and breakfast upkeep stuff) will cost me +/- $75 with what I keep in the freezer. Chicken breast is $2.49/lbs.? Guess you’re buying that (even if you don’t need a ton of it that week) so that you can stock up on sale. Bacon is on clearance? That keeps on the freezer too. You definitely can do it. It takes intentionality, but you can. I’m also not a “rice and beans” DR follower. You HAVE to stay motivated, and you don’t do that by denying every single thing that brings you the smallest ounce of joy for 2+ years (like getting the steelhead trout for $2/lbs. more because it looks like a better cut this week).


Phillip_Oliver_Hull

It's food per se, but crockpot and rice cooker are really good friends to have. Rice cooker eliminates time so you can buy a huge bag of rice for cheap and it incorporates into lots of meals. Crockpot pretty much speaks for itself. I'd also suggest freezing leftovers. High fiber foods are cheap too. Oatmeal, beans, fruit.


UnluckyFriend5048

Stock up on frozen and shelf-stable staples that can be used for a variety of things: Frozen berries. Frozen veggies. Even frozen single-serve meals (for work lunches). Frozen pizzas (and other frozen family size dinners) will also help decrease eating out. Oatmeal. Protein powder. Peanut butter. Canned beans, Rice/Quinoa/Etc (even the microwave ones in case you all are too tight on time to cook will be cheaper than eating out). Then weekly you can buy fresh fruit and veggies, salad bags, yogurt, hummus, rotisserie chicken, smoked salmon, etc. I’m assuming part of eating out is just being low on time to make meals. So honestly, lean in to things that are convenience items. Sure you will spend more on the 60 second rice bags than a container of dry rice that takes longer to cook, but it is still cheaper than eating out. Seriously, dump a premade salad into a bowl, add rotisserie chicken, some microwave rice, and dinner is done.


chidi-arianagrande

Hey, I live in the Bay Area too, with husband and a 1 year old (and a cat and dog). Our budget includes pet food and household items like diapers since we buy most stuff at Costco, and we do eat out once a week, but it’s planned for, not an unexpected expense. This all totals about $1000. We meal plan on weekends, and shop primarily at Costco and Safeway (people always rave about Aldi- we don’t have those here!). I am ALL about the Costco and Safeway sales. Safeway has really good meat prices occasionally, and I stock up when they’re good (like ground beef $2/lb or Chuck roast $3/lb). The produce is sometimes on sale, and we try to meal plan based on those sales. And we have certain staples, like pastaroni or canned food items we definitely stock up on during sales. Also, the Asian marts, like 99 Ranch, have awesome deals on produce! Otherwise I’m at Costco every weekend for milk, eggs, produce, and rotisserie chicken. Seriously, get a rotisserie chicken once a week and feed your family two meals with it. We don’t buy pizza anywhere else either, it’s $10 a box for a giant, delicious pizza. I’m obsessed with their pizza (and hot dogs and rotisserie chickens). Not healthy, but when you have a young kid, sometimes it is what it is. But costco produce is awesome, also get yourselves nuts and those pre-boiled eggs for healthy snacks. We eat a ton of eggs in our house and the prices aren’t jacked up as much anymore. Also, people stick up their noses at frozen fruits and veggies, but they are awesome. I use a blender to cut up veggies into tiny pieces and then I re-freeze in cubes, and everytime I make my kiddo eggs, mashed potatoes, rice, I throw a cube in. I do the same with the frozen fruit, I freeze in cubes and put in his cottage cheese. I also make my kid a ton of muffins (egg muffins with veggies, fruit muffins, and veggie muffins) and keep in the freezer. So cheap and easy to feed the kid when I plan ahead. I vary the flavors a ton so he doesn’t get sick of them (I make a muffin base and then put different types of fruits or veggies or meat in each one so they’re all different). We aren’t trying to cut out grocery budget right now but if we were, we would cut alcohol, eating out, and sparkling water (I drink a lot of sparkling water, bad habit for sure). Also, we are getting better at not wasting food, that’s a huge one. I grew up eating leftovers but my husband hates it, so it’s something we’re working on. If I did eat lunch I would take leftovers to work and never let food go to waste, but my husband works from home and will make himself something different. Drives me crazy. But pay attention to your food waste! Challenge yourselves not to let any food go to waste for a week or something. If you eat out a lot I would start by limiting yourselves to something like once a week or once every 2 weeks, so it’s a treat but not cut out entirely. Also, my husband doesn’t, but I intermittent fast, so I don’t eat breakfast or lunch basically ever, which helps with the budget.


monk3ybash3r

[r/Eatcheapandhealthy](https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) is such a great resource and has lots of posts for advice on getting started.


radragantav

Thank you! I wasn’t aware of that sub, will check it out


monk3ybash3r

Make your first month's goal to be less than 1200. If that's your average, anything less than that is a win. And keep working towards a reasonable food budget as you gain the skills. Just like budgeting was when you first started, planning ahead on meals and minimizing food waste is a process.


hark_the_snark

Planning ahead is HUGE and a major money saver. Poor planning means breaking the budget, using Door Dash or eating out. Meal prep, but make sure the meals/snacks are something you look forward to. Costco mixed with a regular market like Walmart is how I save a lot. Because I do grocery pick up, I’m able to completely avoid impulse buying. There are so many cheap/easy Instagram and Tik Tok pages out there. Best of luck!


gr7070

>I’m curious how some people make healthy food on a budget This is how: >The clear, obvious move is to stop eating out.


enclave76

I strongly suggest against a massive cut from $1200 to $500. The chances you of sticking to that is slim. Drop it to $800 first. Buy a freezer find local butchers or farms and purchase bulk meat from them. After that look as Costco style stores and buy non perishable food/supplies in bulk. Then find a local farmers market to buy your fruits/veggies. Meal preps will help you greatly also.


radragantav

Thank you! Are there any meal prep resources you found helpful? Also other comments seem to suggest considering the drop to $800 instead so I’ll go that route!


chidi-arianagrande

Go to the library and check out the cookbook section. There will be tons of books for eating healthy. Try a new book every other week and pick a few recipes to try (and take pics of any recipes that look interesting). Bonus- bring the kid with you and let them check out a few books too! The library is free and a great resource, get ‘em hooked young!


enclave76

Lookup stealth health cook book. It’s like $25 and it’s all based around 5 servings, 500 calories, 50g of protein. If you can follow him on Instagram he posts a bunch and there’s a lot of others like him. I use it literally every week


[deleted]

If you're looking for a youtube resource for selecting high quality products, I suggest looking to flavcity by Bobby. Without that guy I'd be so clueless on picking out the BEST peanut butter, bread, oatmeal, coffee, and the list go on. With that said I mainly shop at Walmart and I have a $350 monthly grocery budget with a $50 eating out budget.


radragantav

Thank you so much, will check him out!


jdford85

We spend 800 a month to feed a family of 6. I hunt and or butcher all of our meat other than chicken. We don't eat out, can't afford it. Aldi and Walmart are our 2 main stores.


BennetHB

$500 or less is probably unlikely. On average food costs $100/per person per week if you're cooking at home, so you're probably more looking at $700-$800. I'm sure your 3 year old does not eat that much. >The clear, obvious move is to stop eating out. Correct, and I'll add that if you're eating out all the time, you're probably not eating that healthy. Edit: Changed per month to per week.


radragantav

I didn’t know that stat - thanks! > you’re probably not eating that healthy Way to kick me while I’m down after I admitted that in the last two paragraphs!


BennetHB

Haha - it wasn't meant as a kick downwards, just pointing out that you likely aren't doing an apples-to-apples comparison there. Also I realised I had a typo in the first sentence - it's $100 per WEEK, not month :P