I'm supposed to spend HOW much?
Have a look at THE USDA FOOD PLANS: COST OF FOOD CHART for May. (The latest figures.)
Here are my family's numbers, per month:
Thrifty Plan: $567.80
Low Cost Plan: $739.40
Moderate Plan: $920.00
Liberal Plan: $1121.30 (Oh, come on!)
Considering we only actually spend around $190 - I guess the government must think we're starving to death. And my total includes things like toilet paper and shampoo. So I'm trying to decide what to call my actual costs. Is it the Conservative Plan? (Hee.) The Yes, People Really Live Like This Plan? The Reality Plan?
This chart says "Cost of Food at Home" (emphasis added). I could see where dining out very frequently would run your bill up to over $1100. But eating strictly at home? Yikes!
And just in case you were really wondering, here's where the government thinks your food dollars are going: RECIPES AND TIPS FOR HEALTHY, THRIFTY MEALS.
Here are my family's numbers, per month:
Thrifty Plan: $567.80
Low Cost Plan: $739.40
Moderate Plan: $920.00
Liberal Plan: $1121.30 (Oh, come on!)
Considering we only actually spend around $190 - I guess the government must think we're starving to death. And my total includes things like toilet paper and shampoo. So I'm trying to decide what to call my actual costs. Is it the Conservative Plan? (Hee.) The Yes, People Really Live Like This Plan? The Reality Plan?
This chart says "Cost of Food at Home" (emphasis added). I could see where dining out very frequently would run your bill up to over $1100. But eating strictly at home? Yikes!
And just in case you were really wondering, here's where the government thinks your food dollars are going: RECIPES AND TIPS FOR HEALTHY, THRIFTY MEALS.
Labels: budgeting chatter, general chatter, recipe chatter
Just Me at
10:36 AM
8 Comments:
What an interesting post! Thanks for posting the link to the USDA food plans. When my ex-husband was still living with us, it felt like I was spending a ton of money on food. It turns out that according to this chart we were spending just barely over the thrifty plan! Now with just myself and the two kids, I'm spending half of what they suggest our family would need for the thrifty plan. I still feel I could be a little more thrifty. Okay a LOT more thrifty. I see some places where I'm wasting money that I can change right away. I'm still learning! Thanks for your tips! :)
:) Well, if you're at half the thrifty plan, you're doing pretty good! I know we all have places we could do better and I am so loving the internet for providing us a way to share ideas!
Ah ha! That is hilarious! Here are our numbers:
Thrifty: $693.90
Low cost: $896.90
Moderate: $1102.20
Liberal: $1338.70
Wow! The liberal plan is a modest house payment! We really spend somewhere around $400-500 per month, which I KNOW can be pared WAY down (working on this). If I spend my budgeted $600, we are eating like kings! What a laugh!
I would really love to get our monthly grocery budget (including non-food grocery items like cleaners, deodorants, etc.) down to what it costs to feed a 15yo boy on the liberal plan (something like $304/month).
I did like the book tho, I found it interesting enough to save a copy to read later. Thanks for posting this!
The numbers are way off. For my family of 9 we should be spending $249 a week. We come in for under half of that. It's a fun exercise though.
I'm a thrifty spender, but we're a family of six and we're spending about $500.00 a month. I feel like I should be able to do better, but can never get under that $500.00 mark. Maybe it's that we are a family of six, but four of us are teens or older? I'm a bit discouraged...with the rise in cost of everything...~Yvonne
I think we are doing very well. Our budget right now is $100/month for 2 and the thrifty plan is $324.60/month for 2. So we are eating on less than 1/3 of the lowest plan. We do not live in a low-cost living area either.
I am trying to accomplish this from pretty much total scratch cooking as well as free-almost-free hba/cleaning items (coupons), less meat and then marked-down produce when available. Yes, it takes more time, but it's doable if one doesn't buy a lot of convenience foods. Another plus is I always know the ingredients of my meals (I shop pretty much like you, Jenni - for ingredients).
Jenni, I appreciate the idea of you mentioning mixes - I started to make some myself and it's a big help, thanks.
This is so amazing I just had to link to this post of yours on my blog! Thanks for sharing with us!
Yvonne, {{HUGS}} I know how frustrating it can be! I think the worst thing about "getting older" isn't the appearance of laugh lines - (I'm kinda proud of those, actually.) - but the recognition of the price increases that don't seem to be accompanied by salary increases. This morning in the grocery store, as I was looking at the meat, I suddenly remembered shopping shortly after marrying my husband, and how 1 pound of ground beef was only about 85 cents - regular price, not on sale.
But you should still congratulate yourself on any and all efforts you make, because you are doing what you can to be responsible and care for your family. That's the most important part. Work on it a step at a time and try to focus on the positives. And I'll take my own advice here and quit looking at food items and saying, "I remember when this only cost...!" and just be thankful that I'm able to squeeze out enough pennies to keep the my family fed.
I am encouraged by all the comments here, knowing there are still plenty of families who are making things work on much less money than the government and so-called "experts" tell us we can. And if we keep sharing ideas, we'll all be helping one another. :)
epm - thanks for the mention on your blog. I appreciate it!
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