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Moxie_the_collie t1_j3ndi8t wrote

That is quite the eating/drinking out budget!

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3nfore wrote

Tell me about it lol. It is partially due to us moving to a new city last year and wanting to experience the local fare.

That said though, our goal this year is to cut back 5% on food and allocate that to savings.

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BLAZENIOSZ t1_j3qkpxe wrote

I feel like you could cut back 50% and not notice much of a difference.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3rc046 wrote

I could probably cut back even more than that. But I’ll notice the difference on anything over 10%. It would mean less food, or more trips to budget grocery stores, or conscious decisions to dine out less or avoid nicer restaurants, and sometimes saying no to social gatherings.

While I’m aware we overspend on food and beverage - It doesn’t bother me all that much. I see it as an investment in good memories. We’re rarely eating fast food, instead we’re arranging plans with friends to try new restaurants and bars. Heading into my thirties, I’m also aware that these gatherings will be less and less frequent as we all start making families.

Tomorrow is never certain so personally, I try to balance out how much I’m saving for the future with how much I’m investing in todays experiences (and future memories).

All that to say, I’m going to stick with a 5% reduction goal because I love food, drink, and good company 😅

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urgjotonlkec t1_j3nflqq wrote

Not really TBH. This is two people and food ain't cheap these days.

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DemonicDevice t1_j3nhlrj wrote

More than they spent on groceries

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urgjotonlkec t1_j3nj560 wrote

And? Obviously they eat out a lot. I doubt they would have saved that much only eating at home.

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DemonicDevice t1_j3njvuu wrote

Eating at home is much cheaper

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urgjotonlkec t1_j3nlso4 wrote

It really depends on where you're going out and where you're buying groceries. TBH I really don't find it to be a big benefit. Maybe if you're making everything from scratch or you're one of those FIRE weirdos who always posts about eating nothing but rice and beans.

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litlbool t1_j3nhag2 wrote

Good for you. I like the chart format.

But this is super depressing to me, to be honest. I make about 40k and I guess to be able to afford an average market rate apartment I’m going to need to find a significant other that makes over 100k, or 2-3 other of “me” to be housemates (or polygamists) with.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3njy19 wrote

I hear you because I was in your boat only a few years ago. I had 4 roommates in a decent apartment in a major city and paid less than $10k that year in rent. My lifestyle at the time was a lot simpler so I made $40k work quite well.

Now that I make more than double that, I can tell you one thing - I feel exactly the same, honestly I reminisce on those days quite often. 40k was all I “needed”. What mattered more was being surrounded by good people.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3nd1op wrote

Source: Me

Tools: SankeyMATIC and Adobe Illustrator

Note: “Food” includes booze (as if that makes $2k/month justifiable somehow 😅)

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Fluorescent_Tip t1_j3nnizw wrote

Damn, we probably spent $75 a week on groceries maximum.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3ntwif wrote

Just curious, is that a guess? If I were to guess I would probably think the same but am always surprised to see how things actually build up.

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Fluorescent_Tip t1_j3o4o29 wrote

I do most of the most of the cooking / shopping and I usually spend about $50 each week - I added some to account for booze and miscellaneous stuff. It might help that we don’t buy meat and we shop at Aldi.

I have also accumulated countless bulk spices, dry beans, herb garden and what not that rarely needs to be purchased.

Fresh veggies, fruit and bread isn’t too expensive.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3o5ncj wrote

Gotcha, well done! We do buy a lot of meat and while we try to go to Aldi, it isn’t the most convenient option for us compared to some overpriced grocery stores. I’m thinking if I build Aldi into our routine more, I could cut back a good amount.

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Fluorescent_Tip t1_j3o6056 wrote

We’re fortunate that is only a 5 minute walk away! It’s a great store for basic staples. I’ll never buy a bag of chips anywhere else without feeling cheated.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3oltth wrote

That’s awesome! I agree Aldi is great for staples but IMO needs supplementing. We have a Trader Joe’s next to our Aldi and we like to hit both when we decide to take the drive. A great combo that happens to be owned by the same company!

Think I’ll add to my 2023 goals to get back in the habit of doing that

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No_Principle8258 t1_j3o0p8c wrote

Our family of 6 spends between $75 and $125 a week on groceries and we eat plentifully. Eating out is a massively overrated and overpriced expense.

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pookiedookie232 t1_j3psxd8 wrote

That's like bread, rice, and beans, though.

My family of 7 easily drinks 7 gallons of milk a week, so roughly $25 a week on just one staple. No way y'all are eating fruits, veggies, and meat on ~$100 per week

I'd be interested to see menus and recipes to verify them.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3rfxu5 wrote

Fair point, I wonder where they live though. I’ve only ever lived in east coast cities so Im used to the mark up.

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No_Principle8258 t1_j3uq2pt wrote

HCOL city.

  • Peanut butter $4
  • 5lb bag Sweet Potatoes $6
  • Kale bag $3
  • pasta sauce $2
  • pasta (2lb) $4
  • rice (20lb bag lasts us a month) $38.98/30 days so roughly $8/wk
  • carrot $.89
  • onion $1.09
  • ground chicken $4.99 (1lb)
  • ground turkey $15.49 (3 lb)
  • ground beef $5.99 (1 lb)
  • frozen salmon ~18oz $18 (more fresh, lower price than thawed)
  • whole cantaloupe $4
  • Lactaid (only 1/wk - family has issues with lactose) $8
  • oatmeal lasts a decent while, but also cheap $5
  • occasionally buy nuts to throw in meals, but it’s more expensive than peanut butter snacks. This would add on most of the price.

Sometimes we drive up to fruit farms/vegetable farms and grab a ton of extras for low cost. Think $1/lb avocados, strawberries, etc. really helps us diversify since they can’t get enough people to harvest it all and sell.

Hope that clarifies any confusion. We don’t buy everything every week, and we eat everything, no leftovers. The full list is closer to $100 than $75.

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BorZorKorz t1_j3s1dp0 wrote

I stopped doing these since Covid.. the amount of online shopping and takeout has skyrocketed to what would be a shameful % of my expenditure. if I didn't have school runs, I would have basically not left my house for years!

What pets do you have for those outgoings xD although, I suppose, one single vet visit could generate that xD

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3s9whf wrote

Funny I started these since Covid! Probably out of boredom.

We have two cats, both are insured. One had an overnight ER visit in June. One requires daily meds. We have to get a special food for urinary health too. And we use Rover to watch our cats while we are away - almost monthly.

After typing that out I’m actually pretty happy with $3.9K for the year.

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multi_tasking t1_j3tj0rw wrote

Should break up your 401k savings & actual savings.

Hard to tell what you're actually saving when you include it. Assuming you both are somewhere around 6-8% of gross income to 401k, so you're only saving 3-5% of your checks, which could easily be doubled.

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johnnyB1994 OP t1_j3up9zb wrote

Yea I don’t disagree. Our average retirement savings rate was 8% and discretionary savings was about 3%. It’s our goal this year to add another 5% there, which shouldn’t be hard.

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