Me and my husband live in Washington State suburbs, no kids. I’ve become a lot more conscious of how much we spend monthly on groceries and eating out. We were spending almost $1000 a month on food because we ate out a lot, bought lunch at work, Starbucks every day. It was getting ridiculous so now I’m a lot more conscious of our food bill. I meal prep lunches and dinners, we go out every other week sometimes once a week, and Starbucks once or twice a week. We’ve got our food bill down to $600 but I want to get it even lower. I’ve also been more conscious of what I’m eating, so I buy more protein and vegetables and low carb, which is sadly expensive. I switch up our meals slightly weekly with different proteins and veggies but it’s still around $120 a week and I’m not sure how to get it lower while still eating healthy. I’m sure if we cut out eating out entirely that would make a difference, but I also really need a date night once a week. Tips for lowering food bill but still going out and eating healthy?
Ditch the Starbucks 2x a week. The 3rd or 4th time in a month you want to eat out, do takeout instead. Saves on the tip, beverage, appetizer, dessert, and booze. Try leftovers once a week or omelet/pancake night. Add pork to your menu. This can save you another $150. Best of luck!
@Vesper
This is helpful, thank you!
I like r/budgetfood and r/budgetcooking for food ideas. For groceries, shop once a week. Build an inventory of what you use and buy things on special. Use your freezer to store extra meat, milk, butter, etc. Plan your meals and make a list. Also, use leftovers and repurpose them to avoid wasting food. Hope this helps!
@Jesse
Thank you, this is very helpful info. I love keeping tabs on inventory and meal planning. It’s been the best thing for saving money, especially when it’s just the two of us. We don’t really need that much food.
Stop eating out completely if you want to save more. If you’re out of time, get premade meals from the grocery store like rotisserie chicken. For date nights, try activities that don’t involve food. Also, $600 a month is reasonable for two people, so if you can’t cut food costs more, maybe cut other areas of your budget.
@Tate
This is helpful, thank you! The idea of getting premade meals from the grocery store is genius. I also need to find more date nights that don’t revolve around food.