Reply to Help us cut our food/dining expenses

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I recommend two things:

No eating out at all for a month. That means no drinks out and no coffee out and no meals out.

Buy food mostly at ALDI with one trip a month to COSTCO for meat.

Try to eat as much as you can ffrom your cabinets.

After his monthlong fast, think about what you really miss and which splurges give you the most bang for your buck.

You’lol of course need to pack a lunch and take a walk instead of eating out. You should also consider packing a thermos of coffee.

I know this all seems radical and crazy, but your spending is out of control and it’s time to take extreme frugality action towards moderation on the future.

Long term changes you should probably undertake:

No visits to Whole Foods. Ever. For at least a year. 
Limit coffee out to once or twice a month.

Dinners out: once a month for a date night
OR (not and)
Twice a month for take out.

[/quote]

A family of 3 can do all of their shopping a whole foods for the month and come in under $2K.   This is not an Aldi / Costco problem - it is a eating at restaurant / eating home problem.

Question for the OP:
Why do you need to cut your food/dining expenses?   Does $2K just sound too high?   Are you not funding your retirement / college savings?   You need to more clearly define why you want the change for your family.  [/quote]

Agreed, this is a restaurant issue. We spend $500/month on groceries for a family of four and we do shop mostly at Whole Food and Trader Joe's. But we budget $50 a week for takeout and $150 a month for all other food out (coffee, nice dinner, lunches depending on month). That does mean that if we had dinner out last week, we don't then get drinks this week. Self-discipline is a huge part of it.

When we first did our food budget, we allocated a dollar amount per meal per person--$3 for breakfast, for instance. If I know I want to get breakfast out once a week for $7, I need a meal plan for the rest of the week that will keep the overall average at $3. Same for other meals. That may mean some spaghetti and peanut butter to make the rest work out. Also, meal planning helps a lot, especially for lunches.[/quote]

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