Can't believe $5000 per month for 2.5
We eat out about once a day average and our monthly food bill comes to about $1300. $900 for meals averaging $30 per day, $200 Costco,$200 Commissary and a bit at the local grocery store
1. Do not throw food out. We eat out almost once a day and cook a full meal at home and then eat too many snacks for our other food.
Keeping down eating out costs as follow
1. Use dining coupons. Saves us generally about one third of the meal cost.Even with this we sometimes have left over food.We use restaurant.com and mail coupons on about two of three meals we eat out.
2. We often order just one large salad and one entrée and split each often having some left over. We seldom take leftovers from restaurants unless like a large piece of steak with sometimes an appetizer.
3. We seldom order drinks except water. Drinks and desserts are most of a restaurants profits and the ingredients cost is only about 10 or 15 %. Often deserts are bought by them at Costco We have several restaurants we bring our own wine where the there is no corkage charge. The wine is less than $20 for a bottle normally $80 at the winery and often double that at a restaurant.. Our son manages a restaurant and alerts us to fine wines at bottom prices.
4. We have very good inexpensive deserts at home like a less than a dollar Hagen bar. Or freah friot.
5. High priced items like prime steak or king crab legs that taste as good or better at home we eat at home.
6. Our meals average about $30 or $900 per month. At home our food for the other meal and snacks averages about $400 per month.
Eating at home savings
1.Do not throw food out. I make lots of leftover omelets with leftovers and egg beaters.Also simple soups.
2. Buy items on sale in larger quanities.
3. We shop Costco for about half our grocery bills-mostly prime beef,fish,fruit, and desert items. We often buy Costco items on sale.
Walk around the outside in your grocery store and buy very few processed foods. Healthier and makes you wealthier.
4. We have access to using the military commissary which saves about 40 % on the few processed items we buy.We spend less than $100 a month at the local grocery store mostly for items we ran out of or need for a recipe.
With the amount we spend on groceries about $3700 per month less than your present budget that leaves us $45,000 to add to our overspending account of traveling from 60 to 90 days a year and often bringing our son and family along. We have been retired almost 20 years and spend about $12,000 per month, close to what you plan. Golf I have given up because of trigger finger the last year and we have not spent our budget last year..We have several retirement IRAS but have never taken any money out except for required distributions. After leaving some money to our children and enough for a reasonable state university the rest will go to provide for disabled veterans at the university we attended.
Life has been good to us. We have been fortunate.
Guess many have their own budget and knowingly and often joyfully overspend in one or more categories.
However it appears that most have no budget as I just read an article stating 63% of families would have a real problem if confronted with an unexpected $500 bill such as a car repair. They would need to borrow, use credit or suffer.
