Shoppers should avoid premade foods, in-store impulse traps (usually the flashy stuff at the ends of aisles), and—this last one might bite—meat. I would love to hear from you! I am a work-at-home homeschooling mom, which means it’s not that hard for me to avoid convenience foods and cook more from scratch. Maybe they cook more lavishly when they feed someone other than themselves? Go ahead! Nancy Mann Jackson. Pete the Planner on his blog suggests spending 5% of your monthly take home pay on clothing. Some areas have higher costs of living than others. Marguerite Ward at CNBC recommends that when spending on restaurants, movies, bars, manicures, massage, boutique fitness, or road trips, it is deeply important to keep expenses to 10% of your monthly take-home income. My personal recommendation if you have an somewhat “normal” income, is that 10% of your income is a good figure to shoot for. By the same token if you are making $20,000 a year that will equate to about $160 a month for food. Wow! Spending on food is probably one of the most basic and important expenses you incur every month. How Much Should I Spend On Food A Month? A great tip for figuring out how much you’re willing shell out each month for a car is to set a trial period where you “pay” yourself each month however much you’d pay for a car payment. If you are feeding male teenage football players, you will need more food than I do! Don’t have time to do it or figure out how to do it? When you use cash it will change the way you make purchases. Creditdonkey.com has a useful chart for what to spend on monthly car payments based on your income level, but essentially, they advise that you not spend more than 20% of your income on a car. Of course, factors like income and location come into play. According to the USDA, a single person on the moderate-cost plan spends $262 per month on food. While some people operate on the outdated advice of putting 30 percent of your income towards rent, figuring out what exactly to pay is much more complicated. Plus, you will be buying more of fewer items. Plan to go to the grocery store 1 time per week, and then DO NOT go back, for any reason. Products are usually on a 6-8 week sales rotation. personal finance tips & news. Limit 1 per household. We may receive compensation if you apply or shop through links in our content. However, all information is presented without warranty. But, if you learn some tricks for keeping your grocery bill down, you can save money and lower your monthly budget. To look at it another way, a family of 4 should plan to spend $100 per week on groceries, or a total of $400 per month. You can find these charts at: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm. I’ve worked with many people who have done this and  been stunned by just how much they are really spending on things like eating out. Aside from food, you have to pay for utilities, entertainment, and clothing. The food budget in a typical household can be a huge piece of your financial pie. You want something that will work for you. Suddenly that $450 is approaching $700 and at the end of the month we are $250 short. Dining should have a set budget so you don't splurge. In just 2 years, the average household spends $400 more per year on food. But a good baseline for a couple is to spent $300 per month on food, and then add $100 per month for each additional person in your family. So, how much should you budget for food? To that end, I personally split food into two sub-categories: dining (i.e., eating out) and groceries. †Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which CreditDonkey receives compensation. You don’t buy anything else with that money and you don’t buy groceries unless there is money in the envelope. Plan to eat leftovers at least once a week to help clean out the uneaten food from past evenings, or eat the leftovers for lunches during the week (pack them to work if needed). Now, this does take planning and budgeting and time. When you click on the "Apply Now" button you can review the terms and conditions on the card issuer's website. Also, your costs may vary depending on your type of diet. If you have a groceries envelope, you then use that money for groceries only. By the same token if you are making $20,000 a year that will equate to about $160 a month for food. Food spending has increased dramatically recently. The total spent on groceries for the average household ranges from $314 a month in Atlanta to $516 a month in Seattle. It's all about balance. In a household budget, the grocery bill is one of the most expensive budget categories, if not the biggest expense next to rent or mortgage. If you run out of something, time to get creative! However, if you want a guide, we suggest using the USDA's Cost of Food at Home chart. But there are some tricks to keeping your grocery budget low. Find ways to use the food you already have so that you don’t spend extra money to buy what you let go bad. The thrifty food budget for a family of two under 50 years old is $387.40 per month; the liberal food plan budget is $767.70 for that same two-person family as of August 2019. None of those plans include any food outside the home, like takeout meals. Look way too low? If you do this second method, realize it will take time to get a good stockpile (6-8 weeks, per the rotation schedule). Follow the tips above to save where you can. Creating a plan for what you are going to eat, and what groceries are needed for those meals, will prevent you from aimlessly wandering the aisles of the store and grabbing random food that you hope might result in some sort of edible meal.