OK, last week I asked “Who do you love?” What investment advice or general money advice has really hit home with you, who do you recommend without hesitation?
I was happily surprised at the number of responses this post generated. I heard some names I have never heard before, probably because they are always off the shelf at the library when I peruse the finance section.
Mrs. Bookworm was the first to mention The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. (Bonus points for using the correct book title attribution method. But what else would I expect from someone calling herself a bookworm?) This is the title we give as a wedding or graduation present to all our friends/relatives/acquaintances, etc. We really like this book. I didn’t mention it in the original post because I wanted to see if anyone else mentioned it. Didn’t want to salt the mine… It was also mentioned by Mrs. PoP, JC at Passive Income Pursuit, Canadian Budget Binder, and CJB from Relatively-Speakin. All these great finance minds can’t be wrong!
I got two votes in a row for Smart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach. (Thanks, Savvy Financial Latina and Jen Spends!) I haven’t heard of this one, but it is now on my library reserve list. As is I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi, which also garnered several mentions.
Dave Ramsey was mentioned a few times, and he has some pretty good advice. We listen to his radio show sometimes. He can be tough to digest on first listen/read, but his advice is sound. Eliminate your debt by any legal means. You will be happier.
Rounding out the most-mentioned was Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I have read this title, and at first I was confused by the two-dads thing, but was able to make sense of it. Good information here, as well.
Since we are talking about favorite money books, I wanted to tell you about a new find for me. I don’t remember if I read about it in a blog or some article, but I was directed in some way to Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America’s Cheapest Family, by Steve and Annette Economides (their real last name). I really love this book, because it seems that no matter what I do, I end up spending a ton of money on groceries. <Mr. 1500 interjects: Please, PLEASE, PLEASE someone tell Mrs. 1500 that leftovers are OK and will not kill you.> I am not a foodie by any means, I don’t eat organic except at Costco where it ISN’T 500% more, and while we do waste too much food (any food wasted is too much in my opinion) we don’t waste excessive amounts of food so I don’t know where the money all goes.
I learned many shopping techniques from this book that I have incorporated into my shopping plan. (They offer up 17 different ideas to help you save money.) I think the best one was shop less often. I like grocery shopping, and I love to cook so it isn’t a big deal for me to go to the store every day. It IS a big deal to go every day if you are an impulse shopper, which I totally am. Their suggestion is to cut down the number of trips to the grocery store. If you go more than once a week, stop. Limit yourself to one grocery shopping trip per week. If you only go once a week already, cut back to once every two weeks.
So all this brings me to this week’s question, What is your grocery budget? How much do you spend on groceries? Make sure you tell me if this is weekly, monthly or yearly, and for how many you are shopping. It is certainly impressive that you only spend $50, but it is less so if that is per week, per person than a monthly cost for 4. (And if you can do that for 4 people, you HAVE to tell me what you are eating. It doesn’t count if you only eat beans and rice every day.)
<Mr. 1500 interjects again: In my super poor college days, my food budget was about $10/week. It was pretty terrible eating pasta over and over and over again and I acknowledge that this diet is suboptimal, but Mrs. 1500 and I need to find a happy medium.>
So what is your grocery budget?
I totally got shouted down about this about three weeks ago. I tried to explain why we should only go once a week to my girlfriend but alas, she won the argument for that day. It’ll take a little while to fix this but I think I can make it work.
Anyway, at the moment we spend between $200 and $250 a month on groceries. It’s not bad and we eat pretty well. Still, there is the occasional splurge which just kills me on the inside! Someday I’ll get it right.
At least you know. We have a house on the market, and will hopefully move soon, so I have not been stockpiling in anticipation of the move. Along that same line, I have not been doing any freezer planning, because Murphy’s Law would dictate that as soon as I did, we would sell the house. Wait, maybe I SHOULD do that…
Two Adults and an 18 month old
$125-$200
We spend $200 when there are major sales and I stock up on staples like pasta and other stuff that keeps. I also only purchase meat on sale and freeze what I don’t use. I find that Safeway/Lucky is cheaper than Costco when there are sales, but Costco is cheaper when things are not on sale. I also shop at the farmers market during the last hour of the market. Many vendors start to take their produce, bag up a few pounds of produce like broccoli/carrots/beets etc. and offer it up for $1 a bag. Or they start offering the fruit as a discount so that they don’t have to transport it back.
When I shop at the local grocery stores, I look to the ad’s and only purchase what is on sale. I always have some chicken/ground turkey/shrimp/ground pork/bacon/hot links in the freezer. So for me the thing that will determine what we eat in the next week is generally the produce that is on sale. When bell peppers are on sale, I will take out the ground turkey to make sloppy joes, shrimp and links to make jambalya, and other recipes that require bell peppers. I have an array of recipes I use together that group ingredients so that I don’t waste food.
Even though we only have two adults eating, I make 4-6 portions and we have it either for lunch or dinner the next night. I end up only cooking about 3-5 nights a week depending on what is left over.
I also only buy whole chicken’s when they are on sale and never chicken parts. I usually purchase 6 at one time, cut out the breasts, drumsticks, thighs, wings and then vacuum seal them in bunches of six. I then take the bones to make about 2-3 gallons of chicken stock. I take the chicken stock and I freeze them in one cup increments, then I transfer the blocks into ziplock baggies to keep in the freezer. I take the livers and save them up to the point where I have enough to make chicken liver pate.
I do a ton of other stuff such as bake my own bread, and make my own dough for pizza (which you guys already know about…). I make ice cream from scratch, yogurt…
I do all this and have a full time job… however, I am a foodie and this is my passion so…
Thanks so much. I am a stay at home mom, and I don’t do ANY of that! I like your plans, and as soon as we sell our house and move, I plan on doing way more things like this. I have started saving stuff for chicken stock, though.
Now I feel slightly shameful. 2 Adults and we regularly spend $400+ for groceries. I’d like to get that down, but with a husband who seems to perpetually be trying to gain weight, food that I buy that’s meant to last a while disappears in no time. There is some waste. Somehow the veggies that I buy don’t disappear nearly as quickly as the almonds or an entire package of chicken burgers that gets devoured for lunch. But there’s not too much waste.
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I would really like to get down to zero waste. Once we move, I should be able to do much better. Our current refrigerator is great for hiding things that rot quickly.
In the past, our groceries have cost $400+ per month for two adults in Japan, but we also spent a lot on take-out/delivery and dining out, so that amount didn’t cover as many meals as you would expect. Some reasons why our spending was so high:
1) Food is more expensive in Tokyo compared to the U.S. Most of the things we buy are imported into Japan.
2) Many of our trips were to convenience stores that were just one block from our house. If we make the trip to a bigger supermarket several blocks further down the road, the items are much cheaper.
3) A lot of the items were snacks and beverages. There were also some impulse purchases.
4) We weren’t eating the leftovers. They would just go bad in the fridge, so we ended up throwing most of them away.
5) My husband loves to cook very complicated dishes from scratch, using lots of fresh ingredients. For instance, he made bouillabaisse earlier in the year that had fresh lobster, fish, clams, and shrimps. It was heavenly but the price was also hefty for a home-cooked meal (we didn’t finish the leftovers).
At the start of May, we modified our budget to limit groceries to $300 and at the same time cut down on dining out and take-out. We’ll see if we can make our new budget work!
While I do not shun leftovers as Mr. 1500 has implied, I prefer to cook fresh meals because I like to cook. It is nice to hear others don’t finish theirs, either.
I had a friend in Japan, groceries there are astonishing! I think your figure for groceries is impressive, taking into account it is Japan.
We are around $350-$400 a month for two adults and a baby who is starting his human vacuum cleaner stage. I tend to go once a week to restock my vegetable/fruit supply.
Isn’t it amazing how much a small child can consume? But watch out, as soon as you get used to the amount of food they eat, they will suddenly decide to put themselves on a diet, and eat next to nothing.
I remember our now 6-year-old was eating pizza for dinner, and wanted a second piece. Mr. 1500 turned to me and said “Can she have 2 pieces? That is how much WE eat.” I replied, “She only had 5 strawberries and a carrot for lunch. She is probably hungry.” Her choice, not mine. I wanted her to eat more for lunch…
My wife and I average probably close to $450 per month for the 2 of us. It’s a shame really, but we are essentially living separate lives since I work out of town and unfortunately while gone I spend a lot more on convenience foods rather than cooking myself. So we average about $225 per person per month. I know this will come down when we can start having synergies again with cooking for 2 rather than 1 most of the time. I love to cook and when I’m home I find myself taking way too many trips to the grocery store. I’m hoping to cut meat a bit more out of my diet because it’s just so expensive.
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We average about $200-300 per month for a family of two. We aim to go grocery shopping once a week, but we usually do a larger shopping trip once a month to stock up on our bulk items. That way, the weekly trip is quicker and we just pick up things like fresh fruits and veggies and milk.
Blog post coming soon about this 😉
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We average less than $100 per month for the both of us right now. We buy almost everything on sale and have a stockpile of deer meat.
Since revising our budget to pay down debt, we spend between $350-$450 a month for Rick and I and our 4 kids. My goal though, is $300 a month. I wrote a post on how we accomplish this a few days ago. And yes, leftovers are ok 🙂
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I love that book! I got to the grocery store/SAMs twice a month. I do a major shop at the beginning of the month and the second mini shop a couple of weeks later for fruits/veggies. I spend about $500/month for 2 adults aNd 2 elementary aged kids. I do buy hormone antibiotic free meat and cheese. The monthly menu plan has been awesome for me. I know what days we need quick meals and on the weekends I can do something more time consuming. My daughter and I also both take our lunches from home everyday.
I do make my own bread, pizza dough, tortillas, and baked goods from scratch so I think that helps. I also work full time outside the home.
We spend $50 a week for two adults. I meal plan and stick to a grocery list, and cook about five times per week. We take leftovers for lunches, and only eat meat once or twice a week, which cuts down on costs.
I have a few posts on my blog about saving money on groceries too:
http://allieseverydayadventures.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-50-grocery-game.html
http://allieseverydayadventures.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-grocery-game-part-2.html
And Mrs. 1500, leftovers are okay! We instate a three-day rule on leftovers. If it hasn’t been eaten within 3 days of first being cooked, it goes in the trash so there’s never any risk of food poisoning. And if it lasts that long anyway, it’s probably not going to be eaten.
I am actually running an inforgraphic next week on grocery spending and it made my heart glad to see that we’re spending below what is considered “cheap” ($611/month) for a family of four. For 2 adults and three kids our budget is $475/month which also is spent on household items like toilet paper and laundry soap. We also allocate $100 for any eating out we may do. We almost never spend the entire amount and hold over the extra. The extra grocery money goes towards the next month or for really good sales and the eating out money usually goes towards something entertainment/vacation related that we may be saving for. As an aside, leftovers are great, we eat them all the time…but if you don’t like them I know it can be a difficult choice to start.
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I have no idea how much I spend. I have been wasting money on take out and junk food so I haven’t figured out what an actual food budget might be.
This is the biggest problem in my budget (other than my lowish income) and I need to work on it.
Snowing in my part of Canada this morning and I am really ready for summer.
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We live in Colorado, and it has only been a week or so since our last snow, too. Good riddance to winter this year. Hello warm!
This was something I’ve really had to work on over the past 2 years. I used to average around $300/mo, and now I average around $150/mo just for me. That being said, I eat a LOT, although that’s not a great excuse…
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Well, groceries do cost SOMETHING. $150 per month for one person who eats a lot is pretty good. A gallon of milk isn’t less expensive just because there is only one person drinking it.
We shop (and cook) in spurts, so while our “normal” monthly grocery budget (including toiletries, paper goods, cat food/litter) is $250, every 6 months, we have a budget of $800. I basically go nuts on the meat at Costco and then we spend a whole week cooking/prepping for the next 5-6 months. That averages out to about $350/mth just for groceries. We have a $150-200/mth budget for eating out in addition to the groceries.
It’s just two adults and one toddler (who wastes more food than I would like, but *shrug*) – we’re also a meat-eating household, so we have at least 4oz of meat per adult per meal, so we could really cut it down in that area if we wanted.
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$100 per week, family of 5 (one teen, two adults, two grade school boys). But I also spend $100 per month on school lunch/milk accounts so technically $125/week.
I run a once a week, cash only grocery shopping program at my house. If we’re out of milk on Thursday, we deal with it until Friday when I renew my cash envelope for milk (and go grocery shopping.) My teen and husband hunt deer, pheasant, antelope, goose, duck and fish year-round which makes up most of our meat in the freezer. We have chickens for eggs and meat and grow a large garden in the summer to maximize the food in the house!
Eating leftovers is a great way to relax from cooking one night and not turning on the stove to waste $$$ and time cooking. Our grocery budget was the worst part of our budget. That is why I created “The Grocery Game Challenge” which is posted every Tuesday on my blog since early in 2012. We have many fans from around the world who struggle with their grocery budget and post their budget and shops each week and have significantly lowered their budget or are able to stick to their budget. Others are still working on it but posting in The Grocery Game Challenge has helped. Our budget for 2 adults is $235 a month and a $20 stockpile budget and if it doesn’t get used it goes to saving. Our grocery budget also includes health and beauty and laundry. I have many blog posts with tips and ideas on the blog and can talk anyone’s ear off so I’ll end it here.
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I average around $275 a month. That includes meals out. I planted a garden this year so the costs should be substantially lower by the end of the summer. I eat a lot of fresh fruits/veggies. I purchase more expensive cuts of meat, but eat less of it because I am willing to pay more for good quality.
My grocery budget is around $250 a month. I usually spend $125 every two weeks. It is just me and the two little ones so it’s easy to keep this under control. We also don’t eat a lot of variety either. We do just fine with the $250
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2 Adults
My boyfriend and I had budgeted $400 per month for food and after a year of tracking our spending the average amount we spent turned out to be just over $500. Shortly we will sit down and go over the average numbers for this and other categories and re-adjust the amounts we allocate to each one. We have a separate category for restaurants which currently is at $60 a month, and I don’t think this category will increase as we don’t really eat out that often as it is too expensive.
One person.
Around $200 – $250 a month depending on how much I eat out. Typically it’s closer to $200 which accounts for bringing a lunch to work everyday and cooking dinners for myself all but two or three nights a month.
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$400 per month for two adults and a 4-year-old, three meals per day. That’s up from the $300 I used to spend–since I’m pregnant I haven’t been on top of things with couponing and sales like I used to be. But, since we’ll have a baby in the house soon, we’ll probably keep the budget at $400 rather than lowering it back to what it used to be.
To me, it’s important not to skimp too much on the food budget, unless we’re in a really dire situation. Nice homemade meals are one of the few luxuries we enjoy, and our health is important. There was a time when I got all kinds of processed crap for really cheap with coupons, but I never felt worse physically. I’m really happy when my cart is full of fresh produce and healthier packaged items, even if it costs a bit more. Meal planning every week helps keep the cost in check, and we use everything we buy.
We average about $350/month for 2 adults (and a dog!). One of our main goals for this year has been to try and get our grocery budget down to around $200/month. We’ve slowly been making progress, but aren’t quite there yet…
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J and I spend about $200-250 a month on groceries for 2 people. We also spend about $100 on eating out which equals around $300-350 a month for food. Not too bad, but lots of room for improvement…
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2 adults + 1 kid = $700 per month of organic, plant based whole foods (vegan). Every thing is made from scratch, nothing is wasted and we don’t eat out, drink coffee or alcohol. I am an endurance athlete so I eat a bit more than average. I do not feel guilty about eating good food. I will spend less in health care later in life so it will all average out.
Absolutely, Rose. Statistically, you will be much healthier and have fewer health problems by eating a diet rich in plant based foods and low on chemicals.
Have you considered gardening to try and lower your food costs? Even small containers can provide an enormous amount of food, and by growing it yourself, you know exactly what is on it. We had a lovely garden, grew TONS of tomatoes (had a horrid infestation of those disgusting tomato worms) and it was fun to go into the garden with the girls and pick the tomatoes. Toasted bread, tomato, fresh basil and mozzarella. Yum!
Thanks for reading!
Yes, I would love to have a green thumb. We live in a condo so its not really ideal. I have tried to grow some stuff on the balcony but I don’t know if it is the direction we are facing (not enough sun) or if its me, but I kill everything. I also live in Vancouver BC were everything is really expensive. I’m always amazing at how people can get their budget to under $500 a month for food. We really try to not waste a thing. I wonder what the meals look like on this type of budget. How much veggies vs. pasta and grains.
Right around $300 per month for two adults. Depending on if there are sales and I stock up on some things or not–then it can be more or less.
When I was paying off debt or I should say when I was really really poor it was at $150. That was harsh and I could only get sale and cheap stuff. Now I splurge some and buy name brand potato chips and Cheetos lol.
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I spend $160/month for a vegetarian diet, mostly organic goods. I figure since I’m not spending on meat I can spend extra on quality ingredients such as organic eggs. I’m similar to Rose above in that I make most everything from scratch and I’m also an endurance athlete (so I eat a ton).
$200 per week. Family of 5, including one teenager. I also spend $20 per week approx on the school lunch and milk program. We eat everything from organic to fast food.
We don’t have a grocery budget (i.e, a set limit), but we seem to spend a bit over $300 on the two of us in the DC area. The bigger problem is that we spend $175 a month eating out. Keeping track over the last year has made a huge difference. We used to spend around $350 a month on groceries and $200 a month on eating out. We’d like to keep the groceries under $300 and the eating out down to $125.
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