I agree. When I see someone saying they spend 5.00 per meal times three meals a day. I mean if you can afford it that's fine, it's just not how I normally eat or spend.
Yesterday for breakfast I ate some Golden Grahams, probably cost me fifty cents. Sometimes it's more than that, but probably rarely ever 5.00.
Even if you buy premium deli meats and cheeses, on a per serving basis it's still not incredibly expensive.
Also, without question breakfast is the cheapest meal of the day, your scale should at least slide up from meal to meal, 3.00 per person for breakfast, 4.00 lunch, 5.00 dinner, or whatever.
If you're spending the same amount per person per meal for all three meals you're doing something wrong.
Now the OP didn't say that but someone else did.
I must be totaly buying groceries wrong...
Nah I think you're buying them right, and if you can afford it and you enjoy what you eat that's fine.
Maybe left overs are killing you.
I don't know. Let's use chili as an example since you used it. When I eat chili I use a jar from HEB, it runs about 5.00, I also get a pound of ground beef 2.00, a can of Bush's beans (regular pinto beans) and a can of diced tomatoes, both less than seventy five cents each. Now right there per person you're talking about 1.70 and that easily feeds five with left overs. Now I usually make cornbread or serve it on white corn tortilla chips (Tos os) but that doesn't make it much more expensive per person, especially since there are chips left over that I can use at some other time.
If you made the same meal, and only fed three people and didn't keep left overs you'd be spending more per person, but even still it's not more than 4.00 per person.
Maybe you are doing something wrong, which Central Market do you go to?
LOL.
I spend a TON of money at the grocery store and there are only myself and my son. We are not big eaters but we eat at home, and I pack him a lunch for school everyday. I also include in that cost detergent, cleaning products, paper products, and any kind of toiletries...
Using the cash method is what works best for me.
I also would encourage not buying new clothes or shoes... except for your child.
I list my groceries and sundries separately.
I use a spreadsheet covering everything I spend money on (utilities, body corporate payments, phone and internet, food, LPG, insurances, etc), excluding alcohol, although I'm adding that this year (and these days I don't drink much anyway). Last year I lived on $13K, the year before $12.5K.
As for your food shopping, sounds like you eat a uva lot of meat, which is expensive. Try mixing some vegetables in there - better for you, much cheaper. Also, try to avoid pre-processed food, or sauces in a bottle or anything like that - learn to cook from scratch. That way your food is a lot cheaper, tastier and better for you. Try keeping the reciept and look at what you bought, then work out what you can get rid of and subs ute with fresh food.
I can make a number of healthy, tasty, nutritious meals that I get 6 servings out of for under $15.
Made chili tonight, or the wife did really. With corn bread.
We have plenty for lunch tomorrow, and even dinner again if we wanted to. I guess when it washes out, it is much cheaper.
we usually center a meal around a meat dish...not necessarily steak, but chicken, fish, pork, beef...one of those...rarely do we have a meal without at least 1 meat portion.
So how much did it cost you to make chili?
Hrmm...lb of hamburger, packet of mix stuff, couple cans of tomato sauce, and corn bread mix.
probably under 10 bucks...
I eat leftover chili over a nice big baked potato.
Obviously if your budget includes sundries you need to list them separately, doesn't make sense to me otherwise.
Otherwise your numbers come out to an average of 33.00 per meal, so what's for dinner tomorrow, prawns, steak, and caviar? Yum!
I'd bet that you easily made twice what you could eat, so if you throw out the other half you're easily doubling the cost of your food.
You can freeze chili for months, and it will taste almost as good as it did the day you made it. You can also use it as a topping for hot dogs, or imagine some Frito pie tomorrow for lunch, all you need is a bag of Fritos and some cheddar cheese, imagine the cost of your lunch tomorrow when you already have the chili.
Some people will also use chili as an enchilada topping. There's a million ideas out there.
Who throws food out? That I do not understand.
Let me also say, I don't eat a lot of leftovers but since meals are split between five people there aren't always a lot of leftovers and when there are I'm not loosing a whole lot of money by tossing them because the cost has already been split five ways, so to speak.
Obviously it would be pretty lame to eat chili tonight, and then eat it again tomorrow night, but if you eat it in a different way, such as Frito pie (Yum!) then it becomes a different story, or if you freeze it and eat it two weeks later, MMM!
I won't eat chili a day after I make it, once the smell of it gets in my house I don't want it for at least a day or two.
Also, it could be worse, you could be Blake.
How many people are you feeding again?
2.5 2 adults and a 2 year old.
There are some things that are cheaper at Whole Foods and Central Market, too, btw. Some of the Whole Foods brand canned vegetables, etc., are just as cheap as the other name brands, but a lot of times they're organic to boot. Also, if you're buying es ( o, expensive), Central Market's bulk es can't be beat. I have easily saved more than $30 in a trip there on several occasions.
I use www.mint.com to manage my finances.
I don't care about an average cost per meal. I care about my total budget for the month that I spend at HEB/Super Target. I do not have the time nor the need to go home and to separate it all into various sub-types. To me, everything I buy there is a necessity- I need food; I need toilet paper; I need to do my laundry and clean my house. The specific need matters little in my budget. I don't overspend and I keep within the total limit. I save time buying it all in one place-- and my time has a value, as well.
I do, unfortunately, but not often.
Whenever I cook, I either make a small amount of something or stick to meals/items that I won't get sick of and/or can freeze (for instance, the rockin' split pea soup I made the other day was divided into small containers and put in the freezer for when I'm in a soup mood), so I very, VERY rarely throw out cooked food or leftovers. I do, however, have to throw out fruits, veggies, or other perishables on occasion. I hate doing it, and try my hardest to shop in a way that won't happen, but I live alone and sometimes get overly ambitious at the grocery store. I'll end up buying way more than I have any chance of eating because it looks good. Either that, or I'll stock up on various items with the best of intentions and then get too busy to cook -- eat dinner out a few nights in a row and next thing you know I've got a fridge full of green beans and broccoli that needs to be tossed.
Next time, try lightly steaming anything steamable and throw it in your freezer. Comes out pretty much like snap-frozen vegetables. Or simply steam on them and use them as snacks until they're gone, especially for things like beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, etc.
You could also think about getting a little compost bin going and using it on your garden if you have one. That way at least it's going back into the soil and not a landfill.
Oh, and to evertyone, if you have space PLANT SOME HERBS! Most of them grow like weeds, and it means you can eat fresh mint/coriander/parsley/thyme/etc. all year around. Fresh herbs are 100x more flavoursome than dried ones.
Yeah, been doing that for a while now when they're running the farmer's markets once a week. Have otherwise almost exclusively been buying veggies and other perishables on my way home after I've already committed to the idea of cooking that night. Like I said, wasting food/money that way is something that I very seldom do, but... meh, happens every now and then.
Had both when I lived in a house, but neither are currently possible in my tiny apartment. Definitely miss the fresh herbs, though.
just get the jack lalane juicer Cucky.
That a toy, or something?
,
good one, i'm sure californians could find many uses for that kind of thing.
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