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Old 01-29-2013, 05:38 PM   #41
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I wasn't talking about the food. I meant the hour of quite relaxation with my wife over a cup of coffee and an omelette. When you are w*rking and raising two girls you have to plan for those moments and enjoy them to the fullest.

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Old 01-29-2013, 05:43 PM   #42
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Quite a few people are child-free, and only the job stress was what kept them from enjoying a meal, whether at home or dining out.

Even people with children like ourselves tend to be a bit older when we could retire, and that means the children are already grown.

It's constant relaxation in retirement, baby!
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:48 PM   #43
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[QUOTE="NW-Bound;

It's constant relaxation in retirement, baby![/QUOTE]

See now your just rubbing it in.
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:52 PM   #44
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See that we even had children, raised them, and turned them into good tax-paying citizens. Surely, we can sit back now and gloat.
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:56 PM   #45
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See that we even had children, raised them, and turned them into good tax-paying citizens. Surely, we can sit back now and gloat.
You have earned the right. Enjoy.
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Old 01-29-2013, 06:05 PM   #46
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The relaxation is not truly constant, as it does get interrupted by market swoons, and replaced by periods of terror as in 2008-2009. Quite a traumatic experience, really, to many of the posters here.

I still had earned income then. The next downturn will not be taken in the same cavalier manner.
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Old 01-30-2013, 02:59 PM   #47
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I am so pleased: I brought our food budget in this month at $469. For a reference point, January 2005 was $771. In 2005 I wasn't just buying everything--I'd buy store brands, avoid steak and scallops (both of which we do love!). All hail to Aldi!
Wonder how much lower I can go??
Congratulations ! Thats pretty amazing. My average spend for DH and I is around $520 a month. This excludes pet expenses, but does include toiletries and paper products. I work pretty hard at getting to this number by shopping in 2 or 3 stores a week and buying sale items. Generally EVERYTHING I buy is on sale - I very rarely pay retail cost except for store brand items and Aldi products (which, to me, are a "always on sale" price). Getting to $470 would be awesome ... I have a new goal
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Old 01-30-2013, 04:24 PM   #48
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We spent $6,984.89 on Groceries* last year or $582.07 a month average. Of that amount, $2,130.28 was Wine & Liquor for those keeping accurate score (after all, alcohol is a food item when you come right down to it) or $177.50 a month average.

(*The above figures are strictly food items -- items put in the mouth and swallowed at a regular meal -- and does not include any other items, such as vitamins or minerals.)
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Old 01-30-2013, 06:34 PM   #49
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I spent $4500 on groceries last year, which is less than I spent several years back. Partly it comes from finally learning how to cook chicken so it will be edible, partly from not living as close to a decent fish market as before, so I eat a little less fish.

I feel that this is plenty good enough. No sense saving money so Our Uncle can just confiscate more from me one way or another.

My appetite will never damage me financially. My only real economic vulnerability comes from societal socio-economic pressures, and not much can be done by the individual citizen about these.

Ha
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Old 02-03-2013, 02:42 PM   #50
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We (my DW and I) have a budget of 575 / month for groceries (food, paper products, cleaning supplies, and over the counter drugs) which is 13% of our budget, but we averaged 545 / month in 2012 and eating out is in our entertainment budget. They are building an Aldi’s in our town across the road from the Wal-Mart Supercenter, I wonder if they will start a price war? Remember Wal-Mart price matches!
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Old 02-03-2013, 03:06 PM   #51
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... groceries (food, paper products, cleaning supplies, and over the counter drugs)
I am always surprised that these things (quite commonly, in fact) get lumped into a mutual bin. Don't get me wrong (please) because I have no problem with someone doing it this way but I am merely trying to understand the thought process involved. For instance, how do "cleaning supplies" relate to "food"? (And [please] don't tell me that cleaning the toilet is the direct result of what took place at the dining room table.)
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Old 02-03-2013, 03:16 PM   #52
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I am always surprised that these things (quite commonly, in fact) get lumped into a mutual bin. Don't get me wrong (please) because I have no problem with someone doing it this way but I am merely trying to understand the thought process involved. For instance, how do "cleaning supplies" relate to "food"? (And [please] don't tell me that cleaning the toilet is the direct result of what took place at the dining room table.)
For most of us, it's just too much trouble to itemize everything we buy in a supermarket.
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Old 02-03-2013, 03:24 PM   #53
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Unfortunately walmart cant pricematch Aldi. Aldi is 99% in house store brand. Went there yesterday and some great locally grown veggies.
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Old 02-03-2013, 03:29 PM   #54
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For most of us, it's just too much trouble to itemize everything we buy in a supermarket.
I understand that. In fact, that exactly describes their Marketing Scheme. I just don't understand why we fall for it. For example, do we truly believe that we can cut our grocery "budget" by vacuuming the living room carpet less often or using carry-out plastic bags for the trash? I do, however, hope it is that simple.

(Again, I am not picking sides here. I am only searching understanding.)
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Old 02-03-2013, 10:19 PM   #55
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I have made this a short term goal for me and the wife. I recently have probably been spending some where around $500/month for 2. January numbers are in and we spent a total of $410 on food + restaurants. Looking to bring it toward $360 with some focus.
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Old 02-04-2013, 01:00 PM   #56
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The reason we track (food, paper, cleaning, OTCD, Personal Care) together is because when we go to grocery store (usually Wal-Mart) those are the things we buy in that trip. It's just too much trouble to break those items out and track them, and we always use the same reward credit card to pay with and pay it off each month which makes it even easier to track.

We may have to rethink using CC if stores start charging a swipe fee, but thats another thread.
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Old 02-04-2013, 01:06 PM   #57
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The reason we track (food, paper, cleaning, OTCD, Personal Care) together is because when we go to grocery store (usually Wal-Mart) those are the things we buy in that trip.
So your Budget Categories are Merchant Types (or Merchant name)? In other words, to control Groceries, you would plan (or try) to "spend less" at Wal-Mart. Interesting.
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Old 02-04-2013, 03:59 PM   #58
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That is progress!

I once was able to get two people's food down to $300 a month for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all snacks. But that required cooking beans from scratch, bread from scratch and everything else. No eating out and no garden. It was really a PITA.

I have been pricing out my dinners (dinners make up our leftover lunches). I try to see which meals are the cheapest to make per serving! I leave out staples like olive oil, spices, etc.
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Old 02-04-2013, 04:09 PM   #59
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That is progress!

I once was able to get two people's food down to $300 a month for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all snacks. But that required cooking beans from scratch, bread from scratch and everything else. No eating out and no garden. It was really a PITA.

I have been pricing out my dinners (dinners make up our leftover lunches). I try to see which meals are the cheapest to make per serving! I leave out staples like olive oil, spices, etc.
Now we're getting somewhere. This is what I was looking for with this thread -- why I was following it. Let us know the results of your experiment... eh... experience.
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Old 02-04-2013, 04:40 PM   #60
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Now we're getting somewhere. This is what I was looking for with this thread -- why I was following it. Let us know the results of your experiment... eh... experience.
Here's my price per serving info so far. I list the main ingredients, the number of servings it makes (or made in the past), and the cost of each ingredient in the following cells. I sometimes forget to see what an individual zucchini or what two white potatoes costs, so some costs are guesstimated until I can find them on my receipt. I also buy organic chicken/meats or sustainable tuna in case people wondered the high prices for the meats. Anyways, it's just a start.

I was buying my produce from a neighbor during the summer months. He doesn't spray and delivers to my door. As local as I can get without growing it myself. Big fat onions were $1, but of course cheaper in the store.

You can also do a price sheet for commonly bought foods. This helped get me down to the $300/month I mentioned. I work full time and have tons of hobbies, so I don't do that at the moment. It required going to more than one store per visit. I don't have time for that now days.
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