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Electric 100 per month.
Internet 100 per month.
H/O insurance 80 per month.
Property tax 40 per month.
Food for me and the critters 500 per month.
Gasoline 20 dollars per month.
Car insurance 80 dollars per month.
Entertainment (Netflix, Spotify & Audible) 32 dollars per month.
Vet bills 30 dollars per month.
Food expenses seem rather low for a lot of people responding. I eat two meals a day cooked at home and am still spending close to 400 dollars for one guy per month. (This is all household items including soaps, TP, laundry detergent, OTC medications, Toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo ect..) When I see a family spending what I do I question the estimate.
Food expenses seem rather low for a lot of people responding. I eat two meals a day cooked at home and am still spending close to 400 dollars for one guy per month. (This is all household items including soaps, TP, laundry detergent, OTC medications, Toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo ect..) When I see a family spending what I do I question the estimate.
Family of 4 with 2 younger kids. We've averaged right at $460/month through April of this year. We just are focused on buying store brands mostly and often shop at places like Aldi. We also don't really eat out much either. We spend about $100/month eating out.
Food expenses seem rather low for a lot of people responding. I eat two meals a day cooked at home and am still spending close to 400 dollars for one guy per month. (This is all household items including soaps, TP, laundry detergent, OTC medications, Toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo ect..) When I see a family spending what I do I question the estimate.
I’ve always thought, no clue what these people eat but I’ll just trust them and shrug, like I enjoy saving money but for me $600 for the two of us is the best we’ve ever done basically in 8 years. That was barely eating out at all, like 3-4 times in a month only during happy hour and only at family style restaurants where we could pay $25 or so for two people.
I don’t cook, my wife does sometimes, but it never seems that cheap either. I mean if you’re buying fresh ingredients and you’re doing it right, for two people, there’s not much savings. Not unless you’re going to eat the same thing for 5 days in a row maybe?
For me when there’s no cooking involved I thought I do pretty awesome, but some people really make it cheap! I’m at say $2 for breakfast which is cereal and almond milk. Just a rough estimate there, maybe it’s $1.75? A protein bar later is about $1.20, I buy in 12 packs and it’s still $15 with tax almost. Any frozen dinner is going to be about $3.50 to $4. Pretty darn cheap for what it is. The protein shake later in the day is $4 (each scoop, 2, is about $1, plus frozen fruit and milk). Maybe a few other snacks throughout the day add up to $3-4. An energy drink is $2. That’s what about $17? I don’t even see how it’s possible to do much better than $15 (take away the energy drink). But honestly that’s not enough food for me every single day, I need more at least some days.
I aim for around 2,750 to 3,000 calories per day. And I still think $600/month for two people for food is cheap, that’s $20/day total. I don’t get how it could be much lower.
I’ve always thought, no clue what these people eat but I’ll just trust them and shrug, like I enjoy saving money but for me $600 for the two of us is the best we’ve ever done basically in 8 years. That was barely eating out at all, like 3-4 times in a month only during happy hour and only at family style restaurants where we could pay $25 or so for two people.
I don’t cook, my wife does sometimes, but it never seems that cheap either. I mean if you’re buying fresh ingredients and you’re doing it right, for two people, there’s not much savings. Not unless you’re going to eat the same thing for 5 days in a row maybe?
For me when there’s no cooking involved I thought I do pretty awesome, but some people really make it cheap! I’m at say $2 for breakfast which is cereal and almond milk. Just a rough estimate there, maybe it’s $1.75? A protein bar later is about $1.20, I buy in 12 packs and it’s still $15 with tax almost. Any frozen dinner is going to be about $3.50 to $4. Pretty darn cheap for what it is. The protein shake later in the day is $4 (each scoop, 2, is about $1, plus frozen fruit and milk). Maybe a few other snacks throughout the day add up to $3-4. An energy drink is $2. That’s what about $17? I don’t even see how it’s possible to do much better than $15 (take away the energy drink). But honestly that’s not enough food for me every single day, I need more at least some days.
I aim for around 2,750 to 3,000 calories per day. And I still think $600/month for two people for food is cheap, that’s $20/day total. I don’t get how it could be much lower.
This is not counting eating out. An example for me is that I fast through breakfast. 17/7 IF. Have leftovers of some sort for lunch, then a side of some sort. most often 1.5 servings of chips, cheez-its, or light popcorn and some fruit. Then I have a protein shake and something small for snack like a slice of peanut butter toast or some more fruit. Then we cook something on the grill or in the instant pot for dinner. Typically chicken breast, lean beef, shredded pork, etc. My wife largely does the same, sometimes she'll have an egg and a piece of toast for breakfast. Kids eat at daycare during the week and have what we have for dinner.
Also, keep in mind food is cheaper in some places compared to others. I pay $1.99/lb for chicken breast, less than $4/lb for lean ground beef and then we occasionally splurge (2-3x a month on ribeye or strip steaks), but I typically like to find the yellow sticker deals to save me $~2/lb. I also often find deals where packs of 12 brats are like $6 so I'll buy 3-4 packs of those and freeze them.
My grocery bill is creeping up. The sales have dried up, half the store is empty, and my strategy is to not linger and comparison shop. All adds up to spending more per item, on average.
I’m spending about $500/mo on groceries. That includes toiletries, cleaners, etc And beer. I like the craft stuff, and there haven’t been many sales. I’d probably be around $300 if it were strictly non-alcoholic food items.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,726 posts, read 58,079,686 times
Reputation: 46195
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrkool
What this poster isn't disclosing is that they live in So. America somewhere (Equador, I think)
Yup. Wise to move out of USA if you want to live affordably with a nice view of the ocean, and walking distance away.
Our (2) health care alone in USA has ranged from $3.13 / month (ACA) to $2800/ month when we lost ACA (again)...
(pre age 65, been 'retired for 15+ yrs)
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