Food budget?

This got me thinking. We don't budget any longer but I still track expenses (old habits).

Between 1/1/2021 and today we have spent a total of $19,487 on food (defined as food purchased at grocery store for the purpose of consumption at home). Pretty broad..meat, staples, treats...but it does nof include take-out restaurant orders or eat-in restaurants. We buy the same things and brands all the time.

2021: $3820

2022: $4364 +14.2%

2023: $5806 +33% vs 2022 and +52% vs 2021

2024: $5497 (so far) -5.3% vs 2023, 26% vs 2022, 43.9% vs 2021

Looks like 2024 will finish pretty much the same as 2023, maybe a small increase.
 
less than in 2023, is that not what this post is about?
Look closely:
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When I was a boy, we were forced by poverty to scrimp on food. I vowed to myself that once I was out on my own, I would buy whatever I wanted at the grocery, without knowing or caring how much it cost. And I always have.

However, since retirement, we don't go out to eat nearly as much as we did while were working, when we pretty much ate dinner out every Friday and Saturday because we were exhausted and needed a break. The food is no better at most restaurants than what we can make for ourselves at home, and now we have the time and energy to cook it. The same exact wine at home is also usually 1/3 the price of buying it in a restaurant.
 
I think we would cook more if we were to have heavier dinners. We are normally golfing in the morning and having lunch out immediately makes it so much easier and faster for us. When I do cook, it's a couple of hours event rather than quick slap together meals. When we were working, we would only cook on the weekends as we were so darn tired during the weekdays. In the first couple of years after retirement, I would cook most nights. Now that we are getting older and have developed more sensitive stomachs, dinners are now lighter/simpler and earlier.
 
I do not budget our food spending, but I track it. Our annual food related spending (Groceries, Dining Out, Fast Food) from 2019:


YearTotalPct GroceriesPct Dining OutPct Fast Food
20198,53177914
20208,37681514
20218,20874620
20228,185691912
20238,371671716
2024 (YTD)8,425701713
Note: Groceries is predominately, but not purely food, as it is contains non-food items like paper products. Fast Food category is primarily takeout eaten at home, and candy/snacks bought standalone

We will hit $9,000+ by the end of 2024. However, the increase is probably less due to inflation and more due to one of our sons moving back in with us for about 7 months between rental leases.
 
Here are my yearly figures. I don't have a food budget as such; I have an overall monthly budget with plenty of slack in it and as long as I stay within that I'm good. I rarely buy meat, most of my produce is from Costco and this excludes alcohol but does include non-food items such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies. I rarely by anything processed.

2019: $4,863
2020: $4,990
2021: $5,191
2022: $5,882
2023: $6,170
2024 YTD: $5,243. If I pro-rate it up to year-end it would be $5,679.

No idea why the fluctuations- buying patterns haven't changed that much and neither has number of days away from home or number of restaurant meals.
 
Ours is about the same as yours ^^^^^^^^^^^^ but includes booze & wine. We eat very well and do not skimp at all. We drink about 3 - 4 bottles of decent Red wine a week unless we are dieting. We do not have a food budget and we do not eat out that much, and certainly not fast food.

2019: $5,537.50
2020: $6,228.75
2021: $5,979.90
2022: $6,056.96
2023:$7,709.06
2024:$6,462.78

I have not noticed much food inflation, just that we have been eating a lot better (and healthier)
 
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OP--yes, our food spend/budget has increased the past few years.
We offset it by eating out less and buying lower cost foods, such as beans, fresh in season fruits and veggies, less processed foods.
But that does not sound like an option for you, if you need to limit fiber.
 
It seems to me that restaurant prices have doubled since covid. Lunches that were around $8 are now $16. Was looking forward to paying half for restaurants when my kids left the nest. We are paying about the same for 2 people that we paid for 4 pre-covid. This won't ever get better as we'll never have deflation. Every time I go out I wonder how the average person can afford to eat out regularly.

To offset the costs we sometimes skip alcohol and share a meal. There are also a handful of restaurants that we frequent that haven't raised their prices as much.
 
We do not budget, but I see the Walmart charge every week. It has gone up a lot. I'm shocked at how expensive beef has gotten in comparison to chicken and pork. We eat very little beef these days. We can afford it, but we are fine with chicken for most meals. I assume most things have gone up. Inflation has been pretty high over the last several years.

One does not have to spend a lot to eat well. I prefer single ingredient, nutritious foods. Prepared properly, they can be very tasty.
 
I am the same as others who does not keep track of what is spent... but I do complain about the higher prices..

As an example, Chipolte used to cost me $7... now it is almost $11...

When it was $7 I would get a bowl with a tortilla on the side... it was free... if you bought the burrito you got one... then they started charging 25 cents for it.. now it is 50 cents!!!

NOW, because I notice the increase I do not go there as often... same with other places..
 
It’s interesting about the restaurant price increases. I read about them, but since we didn’t eat out for a few years during Covid I didn’t see them. Grocery prices increased for sure.

In 2023 we started traveling again and finally eating out again or doing takeout, and boy howdy there was a huge jump in restaurant and takeout costs! Some of it was simply being in more touristy/high COL areas compared to home. Those prices went way up.

Dining while traveling is covered in our travel budget which is much more generous.
 
All these numbers are great but a per person basis would be even better.

pwf
Our are for two, other than the exception times I noted with a DS in the picture. But in truth he bought most of his own food so the increase probably was not significant. DW just likes to cook for our kids :).

Our numbers also include groceries/food for others, one way we try to help folks out when they hit times of need. I do not track that separately, but we do that 2-3 times a month on average.
 
A little over $9,000 USD so far this year. Two-person household.
 
I have to admit I have not tracked food spending outside of eating out for years.

We used to have to pinch every penny and bought the cheapest of everything we could find. Once our financial situation improved to where it is now, I refuse to do that any longer.

I honestly do not even look at the prices, I just put in the cart what I want to buy. The only exception might be some cuts of meat, but we recently bought 1/4 of a cow so all our beef needs are taken care of for a while.
This is very similar to what I do! It is so nice not to worry about grocery prices.
 
We eat out about twice a week when not traveling, so assuming the cost is $40 to $60 per meal for both of us. That is about $4k to $6k a year for 100 outings. Not bad for food we enjoy and don’t make at home. No dishes to wash either.
 
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