In 2019, we averaged $483.75 a month in grocery spending, and another $722 a month in dining out. Our family is two humans and a large dog. For a girl who used to spend a total of $150 a month on food in grad school, that’s a whole lot of lifestyle inflation. On the flip side, my husband was averaging $800 a month feeding himself when we first got together, so by his standards, we’re doing good.
Groceries and dining out are one of the first targets for people looking to reign in spending. Last year, the average meal at home cost us $3.10 a person, but when we ate out, we averaged $16 a meal per person. The markup on food that’s prepared for you is out of this world. Two Cents did an amazing video on this called “How Eating Out Keeps You Poor.” Totally worth a watch.
One of my 2020 goals is to wrap my hands around this issue. The dollars we spent on food last year could’ve had a much higher value.
My first step in January was to set up new YNAB goals to help us understand where the money goes:
You’ll notice, we split our Dining Out Category into five different buckets. I don’t have a problem spending money on Date Night. Usually that’s really high quality time and food. I’m also okay if we spend money on Dining Out with Friends. That also adds a lot of value to my life. Dining Out because we are Too Tired to Cook or On The Go is a little more questionable. Those categories continue to make up a full quarter of our dining out budget!
Groceries came in right on budget in January ($400). I see all these YouTubers who spend less than that to feed a family of four. We don’t eat a ton of prepackaged food, name brands, organic produce, or gourmet ingredients. I also have a freezer, and I enjoy cooking. I’m puzzled about this number, so there’s a lot of room for investigation. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
- The ingredients in my common recipees don’t match what I think I buy from the store. I pulled the ingredients from my most common recipes into a Pivot table, and besides chicken breasts and onions, I was surprised at what came into the top. Misalignment costs money.
- We ate from the pantry for most of February, but still spent over half of our budget. I went to the grocery story 14 different times during the month to get one or two things, and came out with more than I bargained for. I think limiting it to once a week grocery trips is important.
- Conveniece products like garlic paste and 8 oz chicken broth are hella expensive in comparison to their counterparts. I made my own garlic paste and froze it in 1 tsp portions. I was paying $4.49 for 24 tsps of garlic paste ($0.187/tsp). My homemade version was $3.45 for 52 tsps ($0.066/tsp).
While these three lessons are helpful, it definitely isn’t the bottom of the myster yet. Our grocery shopping is complicated by the fact that I’m adjusting my cooking to be largely nightshade-free, when everything used to be based on tomato sauces and peppers.
We’re also over our target weights by between 20 to 40 pounds at any given moment. I love Beth at BudgetBytes’s principle #3: Portion control. She says it best: ” When you eat more food than you need, you are quite literally spending money that you don’t need to spend. ”
As I learn more, I’ll keep you updated!