Realistic food budget for 1 person

kitten992107

I'm in Canada as well

tomatoey

Ok, well I'm actually spending less than I used to, if you can imagine. The difference has been:
- cooking a huge batch of meat twice a week (meatloaf, roast beef, a bunch of burgers, whatever). If you have good tupperware, you don't have to freeze it, it'll keep for 2-3 days. You can freeze some for later, though
- buying veg every couple of days. Realistically, I'm only going to eat two kinds of veg in a day, and there will be some left over from previous days. So buy for only 2 veg per day.

kitten992107

segacs wrote: »

What other people spend isn't all that useful to you to know. It depends on:

• Where you live -- food prices vary wildly based on country, region, urban vs. suburban vs. rural setting, or even neighbourhood.
• Your food preferences -- got expensive tastes? Filet mignon every night, or gourmet cheeses and fancy olive oils, are going to cost more than eating rice and beans every night.
• Your household size -- cooking for one is generally more expensive than cooking for multiple people. Buying in bulk and cooking for a big family is the most cost effective on a per person basis.
• How much work you're willing to do -- you can save money by clipping coupons, going out of your way to buy things at cheaper stores, and buying less convenient non-cut up format food and doing the chopping and portioning yourself. A whole chicken is always more economical than per-packaged boneless chicken breasts, but you have to clean it and cut it up. Are you willing to do that extra little bit?

A long thread full of people saying "I spend $X" is really useless. Instead, look at circulars and flyers at your local grocery chains. Plan out your food and calories for the week, take out your calculator, and add up how much you think it will cost you. Substitute some foods for cheaper foods if you want to save some money. Rinse and repeat. It gets easier with time.

I don't think what other people are saying is useless at all they are just giving there experience and what worked for them, its there opinion witch does actually give me and idea of what I'm looking at, thank you for your thoughts

kitten992107

segacs wrote: »

By the way, since you're going to be moving out on your own soon, you'll want to draw up a budget for everything, not just food. Here's an interactive worksheet that I find is excellent at helping you do that:

gailvazoxlade.com/resources/interactive_budget_worksheet.html

Thank you I appreciate that

kitten992107

atypicalsmith wrote: »

When you make anything, even if it's hamburger helper, put it in a casserole dish, let it chill overnight in the refrigerator, then cut it into portion sizes. Grease a cookie sheet, let the individual portions freeze uncovered, then wrap them with plastic wrap and throw them in a labeled freezer bag. You can do this with nearly everything. Well, cold cereal doesn't qualify, but oatmeal does! I make oatmeal from scratch (not the instant junk) with bananas, blueberries, brown sugar, and some cinnamon and freeze it in portion sizes. Even rice and pasta dishes freeze very well this way. And you'll save a ton of money.

That's really smart thanks

tomatoey

also, get No Name brand cans, for beans/lentils, if you have a superstore or no frills

aimeecardiff

I spend about £20-30 a week - often cook 4 portions and freeze them. I don't eat very much meat, and cook nearly everything from scratch.

A good blog for low cost recipes is 'a girl called jack'

MKEgal

I'm given $180 for the month, and usually don't use it all.

Here's a cookbook put together to help SNAP (food stamp) recipients make the most of the small amount they're given.
Yummy healthy recipes, great photography, a nice departure from the usual bland government output.

For always-good recipes, browse www. tasteofhome.com.

Talkradio

When I lived at home, I was used to cooking in big portions, and had a hard time adjusting to cooking for just two people. My biggest probably was buying wayyyy too much food! I'd wind up wasting good produce because we just couldn't eat it all.

I definitely recommend planning out your menu. I'm pretty loose with it, I'll just decide something like "chicken breasts, rice, veggie that's on sale". Don't buy produce that you don't have a plan for! Sometimes it was cheaper for us to buy a couple of potatoes instead of a 10lb bag, even though the unit price was cheaper in bulk. If you aren't going to commit to using 2lbs of spinach a week, don't buy that much. Frozen vegetables are great. Our favorites are peas, corn, green beans, and broccoli. I always have a few bags on hand so I can throw something together.

I make most of our food from scratch, but I've realized if we don't have quick preparation meals available, I'll get lazy/overly hungry and grab fast food. That's where canned tuna, frozen fish, eggs, bacon, refried beans and tortillas come in handy.

Good luck to you.

Lounmoun

kitten992107 wrote: »

A I will be moving out on my own soon and I always buy too much food and I always feel like healthy food is really expensive to get, does anyone have any advice or recipes they an share?,I will be cooking on Sunday'so for the month so I can have everything portioned and ready to go, thank you in advance for your time.

I'd say $30 to $50 a week for food.
I would plan meals in advance. My method is to write out 28 dinners for the month, divide it into groups of 7 and cross things off as I have them. I have the same things for breakfast and lunches or eat leftovers.
Don't get hung up on labeling foods as strictly healthy or unhealthy that you make things too complicated. A sandwich is not unhealthy. If you are busy a pre-made pizza is fine if it fits in your calories limit.
Use what you buy. Use the most perishable items first. Buy things with a longer shelf life.
Soup is a good dollar stretcher and freezes and reheats well. My family likes minestrone, tomato, fassolatha, and lentil soup.
Buy things whole and cut them up/peel them yourself.
Dry beans, lentils, oatmeal are cheap and filling.
Frozen vegetables can reduce waste as you can just use the amount you need. You can also buy vegetables and fruits when they are cheaper and freeze them.
Buy store brands or generic. Most of the time there isn't much difference except price.
Cut up meat and put it in a stir fry, casserole, soup or stew to make it stretch farther.
If you are freezing meals be sure to label and date them. I forget to do that sometimes and that is why my tomato soup last night turned out to be spaghetti sauce and meatballs.
Invite a friend to cook with you and split the cost and food sometimes if you have other friends who are on their own.

Budgetbytes.com has recipes that my family has enjoyed.

kitten992107

Thanks for the advice.

quote="Lounmoun;31332343"]

kitten992107 wrote: »

A I will be moving out on my own soon and I always buy too much food and I always feel like healthy food is really expensive to get, does anyone have any advice or recipes they an share?,I will be cooking on Sunday'so for the month so I can have everything portioned and ready to go, thank you in advance for your time.

I'd say $30 to $50 a week for food.
I would plan meals in advance. My method is to write out 28 dinners for the month, divide it into groups of 7 and cross things off as I have them. I have the same things for breakfast and lunches or eat leftovers.
Don't get hung up on labeling foods as strictly healthy or unhealthy that you make things too complicated. A sandwich is not unhealthy. If you are busy a pre-made pizza is fine if it fits in your calories limit.
Use what you buy. Use the most perishable items first. Buy things with a longer shelf life.
Soup is a good dollar stretcher and freezes and reheats well. My family likes minestrone, tomato, fassolatha, and lentil soup.
Buy things whole and cut them up/peel them yourself.
Dry beans, lentils, oatmeal are cheap and filling.
Frozen vegetables can reduce waste as you can just use the amount you need. You can also buy vegetables and fruits when they are cheaper and freeze them.
Buy store brands or generic. Most of the time there isn't much difference except price.
Cut up meat and put it in a stir fry, casserole, soup or stew to make it stretch farther.
If you are freezing meals be sure to label and date them. I forget to do that sometimes and that is why my tomato soup last night turned out to be spaghetti sauce and meatballs.
Invite a friend to cook with you and split the cost and food sometimes if you have other friends who are on their own.

Budgetbytes.com has recipes that my family has enjoyed. [/quote]