Food & Drink

[floridabio]

I'm curious of how much you all think should be allocated from a monthly budget to pay for food.  

 

This does not include money going out for food and drinks, but solely concerns buying groceries for breakfast/lunch/dinner for the majority of the week for 1 person.  I currently live with my parents and am not integrally involved in the grocery-buying process.  

 

Can anyone comment from personal experience? 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2013 by floridabio

[peternewman89]

It depends quite a bit based on where you'll be living and what price are like there.  You also have to take into account your cooking ability and willingness to stick to a budget and a schedule (so no going out 3 times in a week when you budgeted for one).  I currently live in the Boston area, where costs are quite high.  I'm working, not in school just yet, but salary is right around what my stipend will be.  Currently I budget right around $300 a month for groceries and going out.  I live with my girlfriend, who budgets about the same.  When I was on my own, costs were a bit higher.  I'm also a bit of a foodie though, with one meal a week of a more expensive nature (for cooking at home, so maybe $12 for that night).  We also go out about twice a week, once on each of us.  

 

My budget in Nashville, where I'm moving, will be somewhat lower, more in the $250 range I think, though that will be adjusted as I go through the first few months and buy food.  My main piece of advice, though, is to budget more than you think you'll need.  It's much better to adjust downwards than upwards, and anything left over can be put to savings or paying off debt.

[juilletmercredi]

It depends on the city you live in and how much you plan to cook from home vs. eat out.

 

In my household, with just my husband and I, we cook at home anywhere from 2-5 nights per week and like to have a few snacks on hand but not too many.  We drive into northern NJ to grocery shop because the grocery stores in NYC where we live have ridiculous prices; originally we intended to go once every two weeks but we really only go once per month.  We probably spend around $300 a month on groceries, all told.

 

When I lived with a roommate but didn't share food beyond milk and a few other staples, I spent around $200 a month on groceries.  You can spend less if you live in a lower cost-of-living area and prepare more food from scratch (when I lived with a roommate, I think I cooked maybe 2-3 nights per week, and sometimes I ate microwavable meals that cost more money than cooking from scratch).

[iowaguy]

I live solo and eat very healthy - lots of fruits & veggies, fish, shoping at the farmers market, etc.  Mostly cook at home.  I budget $450 per month for food (average of $5 per meal per day).  Healthy body = healthy mind.

Edited April 1, 2013 by iowaguy

[rising_star]

I live alone. I spend probably $200/month on groceries and then another $75-100 on eating and drinking out normally. I save money by avoiding coffee shops (I don't drink coffee anyway), never eating breakfast or lunch outside of my house, and cooking for myself whenever possible. I go to my department's happy hour almost every week, plus play a pub quiz once a week, which accounts for most of my eating and drinking out spending. I try to go to places I like when they are having sales/coupons/specials/discounts. Like a restaurant near me has started doing a Monday night special where you can get a burger and a pint for $8, so I'll go there with a couple of friends.

[TakeruK]

I found that sometimes the "cost of living" rating that the Internet has provided for a city doesn't necessarily help you scale your groceries cost! For example, I'm living in a city with a much higher rated cost of living but my groceries are noticeably cheaper here than my previous city, where the cost of living was lower! I think this is because the majority of your budget will probably be rent, instead of food, so having a really high rent will inflate cost of living more than the smaller variations in price of food.

 

My wife and I budget $500 per month for food, drinks, groceries/supplies (e.g. toothpaste, toiletries, razors, etc.) In reality, we probably spend more like $300-$350 per month, but then once in awhile, we have access to a car and make a Costco run and stock up on stuff in bulk for cheap. So it probably does average out to something like $400-$450 per month. We aren't vegetarians but we don't eat a lot of meat, which reduces our costs a lot! We also make extensive use of a freezer -- we might buy a 2-3 lb package of chicken breast, divide up into portions and freeze. Even smaller things like a loaf of bread is hard for us to finish in one week so we immediately freeze half of it.   Like iowaguy, we also think healthy body = healthy mind, so we try to eat well / homemade stuff, instead of cheaper alternatives like frozen pizzas etc. (although we have some convenience food around for really long days -- it's still better to make something like that than to go out for fast food, for example).

 

We also budget $150 per month for entertainment (going out to eat / movies etc.) We don't usually go out for drinks unless there's some special occassion -- it's so much cheaper to make them at home! But it looks like we are consistently going over the $150 mark by a bit each month. So maybe $200/month is more realistic! We try to make our budget stretch by signing up for loyalty cards when possible, and using Groupon!

[msocean]

Some of you must have some pretty awesome stipends!  After rent and utilities, I will have about $300 left for everything else, unless I want to dip into savings every month.  I'm planning to use monetary gifts from UG graduation to fund the initial pantry stocking and getting started with other household purchases.  I too, eat very little meat.  But as an undergrad I get by with about $125-150 per month for all of my groceries.  We do not live in a high cost of living area, but neither is it the cheapest place.  I watch what and where I buy, read the grocery flyer ads before shopping, limit eating out, and never waste food (freezing stuff has worked well for me too).

 

When I treat myself to a meal out with friends it is usually a local pho/noodle place where you get a bathtub of soup very cheap or we split meals amongst those attending.

[ArtHistoryandMuseum]

 I watch what and where I buy, read the grocery flyer ads before shopping, limit eating out, and never waste food (freezing stuff has worked well for me too).

 

Yes! yes! yes!

 

Being dedicated to planning ahead and buying only what you'll eat and really use, is important for everyone, and *especially* for those on a budget.

 

I'm not saying you shouldn't have some canned clam chowder (hey - I'm a New Englander   ) or bag of nuts on stock, but my goal as a person of one to eat everything that I am able and to zero out perishables every week.

 

Now it takes time to know exactly how much to buy each time you grocery shop. However, if you are observant and honest with yourself, over time you'll figure it out. Good luck! 

[random17]

Like others said, it various a lot depending on where you're living. Per person, my wife and I spent about $125 per month on groceries in Boston, a little under $200 per month in London, UK, and currently between $200 and $250 per month in Toronto. Toronto doesn't include alcohol and London doesn't include cat food and litter, but other than that we pretty much bought the same things in all three cities.

[sweetpearl16]

I also pay around $250 for food each month. I make extensive use of my freezer. If meat, cheese, or bread I like goes on sale, I buy it and freeze it. Hurricane Irene, which hit at the beginning of the first year of my MA program, turned out to be very helpful for me. I ended up reading what the government said about how long food can last and what can be frozen. I think that knowledge has definitely helped me be a little less wasteful. I cook for myself almost every night. I'm not someone who tends to go out a lot. When I do, I tend to only eat half of my food. Then I bring home the leftovers and either eat them the next day or freeze them for later. Since I buy groceries/cook for my self, I spent a little bit of money to buy some of those containers that helped slow down food spoilage. It really helps preserve some of the fruit and vegetables I get. Speaking of which, I make a habit of buying fruits and vegetables that are in season. It means at certain times of the year I have to give up some foods that I love such as strawberries, but I can't justify paying for the extra amount. I stock up some. If non-perishable goods that I use frequently, such as pasta, go on a good sale I purchase a bunch of them for later use. It is a lot of money down at one time, but in the long run I save money. I also coupon and I match coupons to sales. I still haven't figured out why some people are so against coupons; they have really saved me a lot of money. There have even been a few times where I have gotten toothpaste and pasta for free. 

Edited April 21, 2013 by sweetpearl16

[TeaGirl]

I lived in a cheaper city but and paid around $200-250 for groceries and eating out. I mostly cooked at home and only ate out once or twice per week. I was even eating organic and eating meat everyday. I imagine where I'm going is a little more expensive and I may go into the $300 plus range because I too have become something of a foodie. It'll be a nice challenge to eat well and keep a budget at the same time