$75/month food budget

[SecondCor521]

To FIRE a person only needs to save enough to pay for their expenses, whether that be $75 per month for food or $75,000 per month for food. I think it is up to the individual to decide at what standard of living makes sense for them.

2Cor521

 

[wildcat]

I think you guys missed the $75 for ONE single month part. No way would I do it every month. Cutting back in that area for the month of Oct would allow to me to take one extra trip that I would not otherwise be able to do. Simple as that.

Johnny -

I consider myself to be above par with others my age, can I stay?

 

[laurence]

<Chuckle>

DW always manages to keep the food bill way down when she has time to plan the menu. Let's take 30 days x 3 meals = 90 meals. The local food 4 less has this for sale:

Quaker Life or Capn Crunch Cereal, 2 for $3, let's say you get two to cover your 30 breakfasts, so $3 spent there.

Let's say 2 gallons of milk (freeze one?) for cereal for $5 (the deal my local store has)

Zacky Farms ground turkey, ten tubes for $10, you can make a lot of healthy turkey burgers with that.

van De Kamp Bread 10 for $10, but you only need 3 loaves for $3

PB & J, add another $5, so that puts you at

$3 for cereal
$5 for milk
$10 for ground turkey
$3 for bread
$5 for Peanut Butter and Jelly

We've spent ~$25 of your $75 budget, keeping $50 for variety/modest meals out. This is what I do when I have a 2 week business trip. Get an extended stay place with fridge and stove and make 2/3 of meals from a menu like this.

 

[JonnyM]

I think you guys missed the $75 for ONE single month part. No way would I do it every month. Cutting back in that area for the month of Oct would allow to me to take one extra trip that I would not otherwise be able to do. Simple as that.

Johnny -

I consider myself to be above par with others my age, can I stay?

Well now you spring the qualifier. I could pretty easily take our food budget to Zero if it was just for one month. Geez, just go out to the bunker and grab some of the canned goods and bottled water next to the automatic weapons.

Of course you can stay, besides once you take that trip you'll be spending "vacation" dollars for your trip food, which have much less value than "home" dollars, and come under a completely different expense category in your budget spreadsheet. Er, ah, Entertainment, yah right, that's the ticket.


JonnyM

 

[CuppaJoe]

Absolutely, eat lunch at your local homeless shelter, they pack you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for later and you have $75 left over.

 

[wildcat]

Well now you spring the qualifier. I could pretty easily take our food budget to Zero if it was just for one month. Geez, just go out to the bunker and grab some of the canned goods and bottled water next to the automatic weapons.

Of course you can stay, besides once you take that trip you'll be spending "vacation" dollars for your trip food, which have much less value than "home" dollars, and come under a completely different expense category in your budget spreadsheet. Er, ah, Entertainment, yah right, that's the ticket.


JonnyM

Dude, what are you talking about?

 

[laurence]

Ever get the impression this conversation would have gone a lot better in person?

Just to follow up, spaghetti and jar sauce for just one month isn't going to kill your health. Get the whole wheat kind. Buy a head of lettuce, onion, carrot once a week for salad and you are good!

 

[Dawg52]

How many think $75 of nutritional food -- not Ramen noodles -- a month could adequately feed a single person household?

I guess I don't see the one month only thing. But for just one month, I could easily get by on $75. As others have said, spaghetti and jar sauce would do the trick. A peanut butter sandwich would be ok too. Not bad for you either.

Good luck with your plan!

 

[Nords]

I think you guys missed the $75 for ONE single month part. No way would I do it every month. Cutting back in that area for the month of Oct would allow to me to take one extra trip that I would not otherwise be able to do. Simple as that.

Is it possible that you're crossing the line from frugality to deprivation?

How much would you get for:
- selling your blood plasma,
- selling "excess" possessions,
- garaging the vehicle for a month and using a bicycle/bus/carpool,
- renting out a room,
- doing handyman jobs around your neighborhood,
- working overtime,
- working a temporary second job?

Of course you could go on a strict Calorie Restriction diet for a month and then write an article for New York magazine... hopefully you don't have to blow the savings on healthcare copayments.

 

[tangomonster]

Food is the main thing that I don't really consider costs when buying and enjoying! That said, I'm a vegetarian who actually likes to eat healthy. We spend $75 to $100 a week on groceries (not including eating out breakfast at Starbucks a couple times a week and a couple lunches or a lunch and a dinner a weeK) and make most food from scratch, such as soups and granola. We also buy a few fun things, such as ice cream and cookies.

And if you read all the healthy stuff we're supposed to eat, like all the different color of foods and some produce being so high, it would seem impossible to eat at $75 a week, let alone a month (like the price of berries, even when they're in season---or pomengranate juice). Speaking of the food colors, I got a chuckle out of what someone posted on another board I frequent:

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my yearly physical.

My blood pressure was high, my cholesterol was high, I'd gained some weight, and I didn't feel so hot.

My doctor said eating right doesn't have to be complicated and it would solve my physical problems. He said just think in colors...Fill your plate with bright colors... greens, yellows, reds, etc.

I went right home and ate an entire bowl of M&M's.

And sure enough, I felt better immediately. I never knew eating right could be so easy

 

[Fred333]

$75 dollars is pretty rough especially for a month. That would be a lot of romaine noodles.

 

[Sarah in SC]

who else now has a vision of romaine lettuce, sliced up into noodles?
T-AL?

 

[Fireup2020]

Clean out the pantry! Odds are there are cans of "stuff" (beans, soup, odd veggies that were supposed to go in something - or were on sale)...in your cupboards. When "entertainment" becomes my budget priority, it is time to get creative with these items. I [-]think[/-] know I have some of these items on hand now 8)

Sarah - I got a chuckle from visions of dried thinly sliced romaine all scrunched in the package too!

 

[tangomonster]

Hey, Sarah, who knows? Romaine noodles may actually be healthier than ramen (would count as another produce serving!).

 

[bright eyed]

i think my teen son eats about $100 a WEEK...

 

[Gumby]

I would scrimp on anything else before I would scrimp on food. We did that when I was a kid and I hated it. In fact, for me, feeling rich has nothing to do with possessions such as houses and cars. Rather, it means that I can go into the grocery store and buy anything I want.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

good food is one of the few things i'd go back to work for. i don't need fancy restaurants, mom never cooked so i've had my fill of that. but i do need my daily supply of fresh pistachio nuts.

i buy the best food and the best toilet paper and i bring both with me on roadtrips. the difference between a $90/night roadside motel and a $200/night hotel: the toilet paper and your own shampoo. and you can buy a lot of pistachios for $110.

also i buy the best when it comes to beds and shoes. for if you are not in one, then you are in the other.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

vs.

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

What the World Eats, Part I - Photo Essays - TIME

Seems like the strategy is to get as much of your food in sacks and as little as possible in boxes, and to have your food take up your entire kitchen area rather than your kitchen table.

Also it seems there is a high correlation between low cost diets and mud/hay flooring. The latter could be an expensive retrofit.

 

[Martha]

Seems like the strategy is to get as much of your food in sacks and as little as possible in boxes, and to have your food take up your entire kitchen area rather than your kitchen table.

Bulk Food, Spices, Nuts, Chocolates & Candy Online.

We now buy things like beans, sugar, etc over the internet in bulk. We have even bought organic figs 45 pounds at a time.

Thankfully we have a good number of kitchen cabinets.

 

[mickeyd]

One can purchase quite a bit of Alpo for $75, so I say that it can be done, but not by me.