My eating on a budget challenge began today!

[Radiance]

I am pretty frugal in almost anything
I dont have cable, I buy super cheap and very little clothing, etc.
But one area I have not been able to be reasonable, let along frugal is in food.

I dont need to diet, I am on my ideal weight, but I spend a very unreasonable amount of money in food. I live in Broward county, Florida, so not exactly the cheapest, but it is just me and my toddler joins me for 1/2 of the time and I just have to gasp at my food bill each month

Ready for this? $500-$600 a month!!

ok, ok, so a very basic step? NO MORE STARBUCKS! just on silly coffee and a couple of juices or pumpkin bread, that accounts for $200 of that bill.

Second, eating out only twice a month and drink water (this is tough, I love iced tea)

Third, Today I started to actually buy food. And I realize, or recall, saving in food requires planning!

Today:
I Skipped breaskfast, but I went to the grocery store at lunch time and spent $20.20:
1 Gallon almond milk
2 packages of whole grain bagels (they had them 2 for 1)
1 package of whole grain pasta
1 Pasta souce
1 onion
1 garlic
1 package of cheese sticks
1 carton of eggs

This is because I plan to bring pasta tomorrow, funny thing, I bought that for tomorrow and on and I forgot to buy something for today, so I ate some raisin cinnamon whole grain bread I had in the office and a cup of almond milk. Then I was able to grab a free 1/2 chicken sandwich leftover from a meeting.

But I forgot I am picking up my son from school and he will need to eat, we have a long commute so he wont wait until I get home and prepare pasta, so I will have to buy something for the way.
I think I'll stop at the drive through for som rice and beans. (which I know are dirty cheap if I make them myself, but no time.

Lesson learned, so for Wednesday, when I pick him up again, I need to bring something for him. I have chicken nuggets at home....

Wish me luck! and feel free to critique (kindly) my $20.20 grocery purchase
And please share some planning tips if you have any for simgle moms who are organizationally challenged.

Thanks!

[disneysteve]

I think the grocery purchase is fine - all good healthy stuff, no processed crap.

Obviously, spending 1/3 of your food budget at Starbucks is what is nuts. At least you realize that now. $200/month is more than many people here spend on food in total.

If you love iced tea, make a nice big container of iced tea. That's dirt cheap. Not quite as cheap as water, which is free, but pretty close. You only need a few tea bags to make a gallon plus some sweetener if you are so inclined. Pennies per serving. And tea is good for you - lots of antioxidants.

[disneysteve]

As you've discovered, planning is needed to keep the food budget under control. If you don't plan ahead, you find yourself stopping at a restaurant or convenience store to buy food at 4 times the cost of making it yourself. You should even try to plan ahead for your eating out because you can take advantage of coupons and specials for that, too. Maybe a local restaurant has a half-price appetizer night or puts a 20% off coupon in the local paper or you can sign up for Groupon or buy a certificate at Restaurant.com. There are lots of ways to save money when dining out.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Hey, I was drinking iced tea while reading the forums, and your mention of cheese sticks made me go get a piece of mozzarella string cheese. You know, that might be a good thing to put in your bag for your toddler when you pick him up after work. Those plastic wrapped ones are so convenient. Does he need a whole meal on the way home, or just enough to tide him over?

Your purchase today sounds fine to me. I have noticed both almond milk and soy milk showing up in super discount stores like Big Lots / Odd Lots. I even saw WestSoy brand in one of the dollar stores today. Seems like those are always in shelf stable packaging, so it is a potential stock-up item if you find it at a great price.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

potential stock-up item if you find it at a great price.

This raises another issue. My wife and I are NOT good at planning our meals, so then the challenge becomes to keep the house stocked with meal fixings so that when we do want to cook, we have what we need to put together a decent meal. Part of that is buying certain items in advance that are either shelf-stable or can store for a while in the freezer, even if you have no immediate plans to use the item.

For example, our daughter is vegetarian so we do a lot of meatless meals. We don't use tofu nearly as often as we could so a few weeks ago, I bought a block, drained it, sliced it into cubes and froze it. Since then, my daughter has defrosted and used several of those pieces when she was making herself something to eat. It is a healthy protein source for her and had we not planned ahead and prepared it for the freezer, she wouldn't have had it each of those times.

[Gary Barzel]

Originally Posted by Radiance

NO MORE STARBUCKS! just on silly coffee and a couple of juices or pumpkin bread, that accounts for $200 of that bill.

I would buy my own instant coffee as well. Even though you may be saving on Starbucks, buying coffee elsewhere also adds up. Buy a coffee mug and bring along a coffee if you need to.

[MonkeyMama]

I think making your own ice tea is a great compromise. A lot of the times you don't have to give up something - just have to get it a different way.

I am always shocked by how much the average person spends on coffee, juice, soda, etc. I certainly drink juice and soda - but the thing is it doesn't have to be every meal. & it is WAY cheaper to buy that stuff at the grocery store (or make yourself for things like iced tea).

[photo]

Having a flexible meal plan works the best. By that, I mean have a plan for several days but don't feel like a failure if you don't follow it exactly. Just before you go to the grocery store, do an inventory of perishables, so if something doesn't have a lot longer on the shelf, plan a meal with it so that food wastage is minimized or, ideally, eliminated. Aging bananas make great banana bread or can be tossed in the blender with yogurt for a smoothie. Extra vegetables can be thrown into stews. I've learned that I don't always need to follow a recipe exactly. Substituting with what's already in the fridge can make quite a difference in waste. We make most of our meals at home, so for us, it's much, much cheaper to buy in bulk. I will buy a large bag of garlic at Costco for about the same price as I'd buy a handful at the grocery store. If you can buy a bit more in bulk (which isn't always a good idea) and plan your meals around your bulk items, the cost can be significant.

Also, when eggs are nearing their expiration, you can extend their life by hard boiling them, which makes for a high protein, quick breakfast on the run or a great snack.

One other thing is to make a mental note of prices (or, if you don't remember numbers easily, jot them down in a notebook) so that you'll know if an item is overpriced or genuinely a great deal.

[snafu]

It's quick and easy to set-up a shelf stable 'lunch bag' for your toddler that stays in the car, readily available for the long commute home. water + your choice of....dried fruit like apricot, apple, string cheese, graham crackers, animal cookies, age appropriate, home made trail mix, fruit leather, pita chips, whole grain crackers, low fat breakfast bars, small jar peanut butter, plastic spoon [to spread], individual servings unsweetened apple sauce, rice pudding or pudding.

[snafu]

Have you considered doing a once-a-week cooking session? Perhaps roast/buy a rotisserie chicken for Sunday dinner and portion it in zip bags for Pasta with your choice of sauce [alfredo, bechamel, cacciatore, morney vodka]. Rice + chicken and whatever spices and veggies you like. There are over 30 ways to micro, bake, roast, fry, cut, mash potato add chicken portion to enjoy an old fashioned meal like gran made. Chicken pot pie is incredibly easy to make if you're willing to use frozen pastry, tart shell, wonton wrapper or phyllo, or puff pastry.

Chicken stew is a delicious way to use up all the bits left in the fridge or whatever group of frozen vegetables. Add water to chicken bones and inexpensive, instant noodles for soup, particularly simplistic if you have a slo cooker/crockpot.

[expo09]

Wow! That is a lot of money on food. Is that just for you or a whole family? Skipping meals (such as breakfast) though, is not the way to save money on food. Cutting out Starbucks would be a start, and you must be buying things you don't need (or expensive alternatives) if you're spending that much.

[disneysteve]

Radiance, it has been a week. How is the process coming along?

[EpicFinances]

I just an article about food budgeting on my site the other day. It is shocking how important it is to really monitor those expenses and cut them down.

Cheese sticks are normally fairly expensive where I am -- overall looks like you have the idea. Stretch food -- Try to find non ALL carb alternatives.

Checkout the grocery stores clearance bin too :P I found a ton of granola bars the other day for $.29 each (normally $.79)