What should groceries cost

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They have roughly the same nutritional value for a fraction of the cost. Using a variety of fresh and frozen vegetables also does the trick.

The fresh ingredients help pep up the frozen ones. My dad loves ketchup. He eats it on everything, so he and my mom always take note when the ketchup bottle is running low. If you see a sale, buy an extra bottle and put it on the shelf. Make a meal, eat it, then set aside the leftovers in the fridge for one day. Make something else the next night and then return to those leftovers a day later.

This has been a go-to plan for my family and me. Use leftovers on those nights when you would be tempted to pick up food from a restaurant. Place your leftovers eye level in the fridge rather than shoved in the back where you will forget about them. Learn how to portion your meals so that you eat everything in one sitting. It seems silly but think about exactly how much protein you eat at dinner each night. Do you eat a whole chicken breast or just half of one?

Do you need a 6 ounce burger or an 8 ounce one? Figure out how much you typically eat and prepare just that amount. If you still feel hungry, make yourself a small side salad or vegetable or eat a cup of fruit after dinner to tide you over until you eat breakfast the next day.

Food waste is a massive problem in the United States. If an apple is bruised, cut out the bruised part and eat around it. Whole Foods has a spice section where you can measure out exactly the amount you need and not a drop more.

They often offer spices at a fraction of the price at a typical grocery store. So, now I turn to you dear readers. How much do you think I should spend on food per month? How much do you spend on groceries?

Are you okay with that amount? Wasting food is a big one, if you make a meal plan you have to stick to it and not waste food. Ending food waste has dramatically changed our spending habits. We also limit our produce purchases even if that means buying it more frequently. Not only does it save money, but it makes me feel so much better as a consumer.

Now we almost never throw food away! Thanks for the comment. Single Dad, with one teenager at home alternating weeks. These meals are typically cheaper and easier to make! Thank you for your comment. My food spending has gone up dramatically as well, but its because my children are now teenagers! Its fairly amazing the amount of food they can put away.

Whole items disappear from the fridge or pantry- sometimes ingredients I was planning on using for a meal.

Except for stuff like salad. Somehow they never want an afternoon snack of salad…. My nine year old can plow food away. The other night he ate a giant, adult sized hamburger while my husband and I split one. At this rate his teenage years will triple our bills! I lived in a studio with a fridge and no freezer not even a freezer compartment in the fridge. So that did spike up my grocery bills as I could only buy fresh or canned stuff. I managed to keep my monthly budget down to dollars, if I splurge.

What I always do is have a routine. I eat chicken two times a week, fish as well twice a week, vegetarian at least once a week and the other two days vary either vegetarian or meat such as pork or beef.

Fish is expensive, but I always look for the sales of the day I go at the end of the day and look at the fish that has to be used THAT day which comes at a pretty big discount. Chicken is pretty cheap so that is actually fine to buy.

Vegetarian as well. The meat can be pricy but I mostly buy burgers or minced meat for meals. I do find that packages for one person are pricier so I often buy packages meant for two and split it over the the days. Fruit and vegetables I buy per season. When they are in season, the prices drop significantly.

Why did overall spending peak at four people? So, five- or more-person households are actually spending a larger portion of their income on food costs than the four-person group.

Unsurprisingly, city dwellers seem to spend a bit more on food than everyone else. This was likely due to the fact that they were the lowest earners of all the age groups. These groups also spend more dollars on food away from home than any other group. Going to a restaurant is a lot of fun. Making your meals at home generally gives you more bang for your buck. Find some cuts that work for you, such as committing to brown-bagging lunch most days or only eating out on the weekends. Take some time to go over your regular spending and get an idea of how much you spend each week and month at the grocery store.

If you eat out at any restaurants, tally that as well. It might be a good idea to look back over your past spending or take a few weeks or months to track your regular grocery spending. That way, you can get an accurate picture of what your spending habits are, what you tend to spend the biggest chunks of your grocery budget on and what areas you could be cutting back on.

As you go over your spending, think about categories you may be overspending in. Maybe you spend a little too much on junk food. Identify some specific spending or saving goals that will make an impact on your bottom line. Write it down. Going to the grocery store with a list will also help you curb impulse buys, provided you stick to it. As we all know, shopping while hungry is a recipe for disaster. Kids are classic impulse buyers; they see a thing they like and they have to have it.

Meal prepping can be helpful for individuals looking to cut down on food costs. Buying certain foods in larger packages like family-sized packages of chicken and freezing them in individual portions can help you save money while always having a convenient, single-serve meal ready to go.

Here are the USDA weekly grocery spending guidelines for households with one adult female and one adult male:. Feeding two adults while adhering to a budget requires a little bit of collaboration and cooperation. Take the opportunity to look at both of your spending habits.

Do you frequently dine out? Do your work schedules make it difficult to find time to shop and cook? Would it be possible to trade off nights for cooking dinner, or are either of you able to you spend an evening during the weekend meal prepping? The key is to find something that will work with your schedules. Adding kids to the mix can make an already tricky task — keeping your food spending within budget — even trickier.

Kids add a lot of variables into the mix. If you have a picky eater, they could end up wasting a lot of perfectly good food.