Mr. BFS and I have instigated the Great Food Fight of 2013 to stay on track since we tend to go a little food crazy. We are aiming to spend $500 or less every month. That sounds really high for 2 people (because it is), but we enjoy eating out with friends and cooking for them at home. So it is what it is. 
Food Expenditures from February 13, 2013 – March 12, 2013
In order to track our spending without logging into our credit card account every day, we keep a running tally on a sheet of paper stuck to our refrigerator. Between the two of us (and by double checking ourselves by logging in to our credit cards), we write down every food expense diligently throughout the month. It’s not the prettiest method ever, but it works great to keep our eyes on the prize.
Let’s see how we did…
We ate out a lot more, but we hit the target overall. Yay!
Eating Out – $312.70
Groceries – $170.43
That comes to $483.13 total.
We continued eating out for some of the nights we board gamed at Steak and Shake and Jason’s Deli, but we ate at home beforehand a couple of times. We also hosted two huge potlucks this past month, so overall, I think we did well. If we can cut ourselves down to $400 a month by mid-year, we can bank the extra to either invest, to pay down the rent house mortgage, or to save for a big vacation for next year.
What We’ve Been Eating
Mr. BFS and I have started adding some healthier options to our diet (like carrots as snacks) but generally were not very healthy this month…
- Turkey dogs
- Ham Sandwiches
- Value Menu Items
- Frozen pizzas
- Bananas
- Soft Tacos at home
- Burgers
- Chick Fil A
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
- Homemade egg sandwiches on English muffins
Overall, at least we stayed under $500. If we cut back on eating out, we would need at least an hour at home in the evenings, and I’m not sure we can do that most of the week. But we can choose healthier menu items when we are out. I also want to cut back to $450 for this coming month.
Did you hit any specific goals lately? How is your food budget coming along?
I think you guys are doing awesome! We sat down again last night and decided that we want to cut back out food budget even more.
I know you are busy in the evenings…have you considered using a crockpot? You can throw everything in it in the morning, and it will be ready to eat at dinnertime. With some judicious planning, you don’t have to even invest an hour in it in the mornings.
I second Georgene’s suggestion and will add this one: You enjoy having your friends over, entertaining and cooking for them – why not have a night every few weeks where you all make either casserloes or easily prepared main courses, then freeze for a quick get-it-in-the-oven dinner? You can do as many or as few as you like… It’s a pretty popular thing at the moment in home kitchens. I’ll admit, I don’t do it because my husband (thank God for him) does about 99% of the cooking. But he has started making his own spaghetti sauce and freezing that in indivdiually portioned food-saver bags for quick use. It might be another social activity for you!
Well done! Sounds like you two are on a great track. Thanks for sharing.
Cool. We haven’t started tracking our expenses yet. We probably spend more on food, because I am on a restricted diet at the moment and my other two roommates are not, lol. Seeing they are 20% underweight and I am 30% overweight; its easy to understand that buying huge amounts of both fresh fruit, veggies, nuts AND meat, milk, and bread (with a few brownies thrown in) might lead to more expenses.
Maybe we will sit down and agree to track these costs, but since hubby still works part time, not sure he will be totally honest, lol. He likes his breakfast tacos, donuts, coffee, and soft drinks. I am just happy he quit bringing them home, because I like them too.
I haven’t set a target for our food budget, but I try to do most of my food prep at home. That’s because I like my own cooking better than what is most easily available, though. Looking at my Mint transactions, last month I spent $460 on our groceries, ordering in, and dining out. That’s actually pretty darn good as I’ve already spent $333 this month and we’re only halfway through it! When I dine out, I tend to do it at higher priced places than I see on your list. A big lunch for two at the local sushi restaurant last month set me back $34, and another lunch for two at Panera this month cost me $20. I’m OK with spending this amount on food because food is one of my pleasures in life.
I was soo good with my food budget in January and February, but so far in March it hit a bump. It was a birthday that cost extra, and a couple of dinners with friends, that kinda blew up the budget, but I made a new one today, and I just have to stick with it now!
Good job on cutting back on your food budget. I’m actually trying to increase my food spending. Most of the foods I like are cheap junk food. I need to start spending more money on food so I can buy healthier stuff but I’m always craving the cheap food.
I want to know how you can get out of Chilis for $4 and Olive Garden for $8. Are you ordering from the kid’s menu? LOL!
Food spending is always a hard one for us! We have done so much better the last few years but this is an area where we always struggle. This month we have been really busy and I haven’t had much time to go to the store….it has helped!