I don't have a real food budget. I do have certain goals to meet for 2013 though, so ideally I'd like to keep our budget for all food (dining out, buying groceries, take out) to be less than $600/month for two people.
That doesn't get too far in the Bay area of course. So here are the ideas I have to work on it:
-shop at Trader Joes for their home brand products which I find generally cheaper than regular grocery stores
-continue patronage to Smart and Final for big grocery bulk buys
-use CVS and Walgreens for their coupons and codes for soda, snack foods, and other foods that may go on sale (TJ's and Smart and Final really don't do sales)
Realistically if I can keep our grocery budget to less than $400 a month (for two people) and we spend a little bit more on eating out ($250 or so, which includes lunches for the boy, and dinners out for both of us) it's really quite good.
Our groceries also cover snacks, meals for my lunch that I usually pack. So overall, I think it isn't too terrible. I can try to get it down further though, but the boy won't let me get less meat, and I already cook plenty of veggie based products. I could try to use up all the food I do buy and avoid wasted rotten food. I could also buy more raw ingredients rather than semi processed foods (ie frozen burritos or frozen meatballs) in the hopes that will save money.
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