I’m a single 31 year old female from upstate NY spending $400-$500 a month on groceries and essentials for the house. I also mostly shop in bulk at Sam’s Club and get everything else from Walmart/aldis. I started just buying everything in one trip because it’s beyond stressful to stay in budget 4 separate times a month, and forget about going into the store, without my calculator that’s a nightmare.
Any other single people in here? What are your budgets looking like? Tips or tricks to getting it down?
I can’t tell if I’m overspending or if prices really are that bad
byu/Bootymama_ inFrugal
Posted by Bootymama_
30 Comments
What are you buying? Single male in HCOL area and average $75/month so far this year.
That’s pretty standard for a months worth of food and home consumables without penny pinching levels of budgeting
We spend 1000-1200/month on groceries for two adults and a toddler in a vhcol area. We’re definitely not going without regarding groceries, and could certainly benefit from tightening our belts but it’s the only thing we really spend and it is how we treat ourselves
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Thrifty/comments/1lk6ghu/how_to_reduce_your_grocery_bill/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Thrifty/comments/1lk6ghu/how_to_reduce_your_grocery_bill/)
Probably a state difference but I spend $150-200 a month on groceries. I buy the 20 lb bags of rice and purchase fresh items weekly so the food doesn’t rot. Rice helps a lot because at Walmart it’s like $13 for that 20 lb bag. I normally buy a $1 loaf of bread, cheese, and lunch meat and that’s like a week of lunches for me.
As for essentials, depends on what you label essential. I buy the bulk thing of TP for $20 that lasts me around 4 months. I’d buy a bidet to cut down on that if you want. Dish soap I barely use so like 1 of the refill jugs lasts me nearly a year. Laundry soap lasts awhile as I only do laundry once a week and don’t separate because YOLO for my clothes (most items I’ve had for 5+ years so they’re YOLOing very well). Cleaning supplies varies, I’ve started using stuff like cleaning vinegar for daily wipe downs and keep the stronger chemicals for bathroom and animal messes so that’s cut that expense down drastically. I have bar towels I use instead of paper towels for spills and less nasty cleanups so I go through like 1 roll of paper towels a month (reserved for cat vomit tbh)
My budget is about $175-$200 on groceries per month and around $80 for other house essentials, though of course some months I don’t need a lot of essentials. It’s been a little higher recently because I had to shift my diet for health reasons and so I’m experimenting a bit rather than using my normal staples. I mostly shop at Aldis, but sometimes at Kroger if there’s a good sale.
What do you use as your meal staple(s)? Rice? Potatoes? Do you eat meat, and if so what kind? I try to eat chicken or ground turkey a few times a week, and beef or pork more like once a month. Chicken thighs are cheaper than breasts. Where I am right now eggs have also gone back down to a reasonable price to work as a staple, but I know that’s not the case everywhere.
I’m single and 25.
My budget got significantly better when I started to buy in small trips. I know it doesn’t work for everyone, but I was finding I was wasting a ton of fresh food because it would go bad between grocery trips. And by popping in for a small grocery trip once or twice a week, I can be more pragmatic about what I buy and purchasing things that are on sale at the time to slowly build my pantry.
Another big money saver for me has been to purchase fast convenient food that I actually enjoy. I pay a little bit more per meal for some of the Trader Joe’s frozen meals ($4-5) but I actually eat them, they store well in the freezer, and can save me from a $20 takeout order.
I go to a discount grocery store once a month for big purchases. I avoid big box stores, including Walmart and Costco because it’s just not a reasonable amount for me to go through before it goes bad.
If you buy everything in bulk, do you make the same meals weekly, or do you have a full pantry?
My family of 3 spends $100 a week for food and essentials. We buy some things at Sam’s, namely rotisserie chicken (shredded and frozen), beef jerky, deli meat, and protein shakes. The rest comes from Target.
I’ve found it’s easier to buy for 7-10 days. If our menu changes because schedules shift or cravings hit, we can modify. When we plan a month in advance, we wasted a lot more food.
We also don’t stockpile because unemployment makes money really, really tight. And we don’t buy any empty calories or non-sale fresh produce because it adds up fast.
I spend about $250 a month on groceries and other household items per month. Single guy, living in the southwest so prices are not crazy high like NYC or the bay area, although much higher than they were just 4-5 years ago. Everything comes from Kroger/Safeway or Costco, usually shop sales/deals and use my freezer to load up on deals. Cook mostly at home, and lots of leftovers make for lunch or mini doggie treats.
Biggest trick is to cook in bulk. Soups can hold up for several days, or you can freeze. I pressure cook everything, including dried beans, lentils, chicken, quinoa, etc. Eggs are cheap and a great source of protein. I make my own yogurt too, super easy to make and you can strain if you want greek. I buy lots of nuts and nut butters like cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc. and that probably is a good 15-20% of my monthly grocery spend.
My biggest thing grocery wise is only shopping the sales. I’m lucky though in that I have multiple different markets around me, or, when I’m not in this city, I know which smaller markets have the best deals. So, I’m not tied to only one or two markets. I also keep an eye on CVS coupons and their weekly ads and see if I can stack coupons with sales and “extra bucks” to buy self-care or house stuff for as little as possible. Their coupon program isn’t nearly as good as it used to be so I can’t do this as much as I used to, but I do still get a really good price on something at least once a month. Like, a bottle of shampoo for a buck that normally goes for $6.
$75 a week for a couple who eat the same things every day. Same cheap things like eggs, popcorn, rice, veggies and fruit in season on sale, 2% milk, did I mention eggs?
Did I also mention Aldi? It would be easily double in Safeway.
You have to have decades of checking receipts, knowing prices of everything, only buying what you can afford, buying extra on sale, doing without whatever you happen to be craving.
Nobody has is all figured out until they’re over 50.
My grocery bills have definitely gone up with us buying the same items. It’s frustrating and you’re not alone. We live in HCOL Colorado.
Im an extreme example, only spend maybe $60 per month on groceries but i eat a lot of stuff that would make rambo puke, stuff that doesn’t cost money. And I’m a frugal scavanger and farmer.
I think your spending a bit much, if i was buying everything i would be doing a lot if advance planning so i got the best prices and nothing is wasted, but still be under $200 per month.
Then again all you said is upstate ny, chances are your not in the same part of it as i am, since all of ny except rhe city and long Island is upstate ny. You could be in Rockland county where not even homeless people could eat for $500 a month. Prices high by albany, Schenectady, syracuse, etc.
Hard to say if its too much, given prices can vary significantly over a mere 50 miles.
I hear you! Yes! I gasped for air the first time I shelled out $225 for 2 weeks of groceries for just me! I’m more careful now but it’s still choking me. I don’t buy everything from those places you mentioned. Last night was the first time in a while that I stopped at my neighborhood family-owned market. I had gone in to get milk. They had started their holiday sale pricing early. NOTE: now’s a good time to shop sales to stock up. The best sales are usually before Thanksgiving. Prices go up again around Christmas. I got the milk but also bought extra blocks of butter to freeze and shredded cheese was cheap too.
People are going to think I work for them because I say it so much but a box of Bisquick. Inexpensive way to make easy drop biscuits. If you don’t have any milk in a pinch you can make them with water. Cheaper than bread which is freaking four bucks for a decent loaf where I live. Of course you can make pancakes too, my mom used to make them for dessert too. You can grate or chop one candy bar and top multiple pancakes with it. Eat them warm and melty or chill in the fridge on a plate and then you can stack them.
Cheap popcorn. You can still buy popcorn kernels and pop them yourself. Cheaper than microwave popcorn and you can add cheap toppings like envelopes of powdered ranch dressing. It’s better than ranch Doritos and costs much less and no broken pile of chips at the bottom. You can spice it up with butter and herbs, hot sauce, or go with the same chopped chocolate, or any candy like M&Ms. Cheers.
Edited to add: you can make dumplings with Bisquick too. Great for jazzing up boring but cheap soups, stews, chilli etc….
I’m at about 350 to 400 per month in western Washington for just me. This month I’m at 450 because I needed to get a bunch of toiletries. Cat food is also included.
When I was single in the late ’90’s / early aughts (I know, I know!) in a MCOL area, I earned $50k / year and lived paycheck to paycheck. Take home pay was probably around $3k per month
Monthly expenses: Rent $850, car payment / insurance was another $400-$500 or so, no water bill as I lived in a condo, I never turned on the AC (I live in FL) and just used fans, so that was about $12, no cell phone; land line was another $12 or so, gym membership was about $30.
I was aggressively saving to buy a home, so my weekly budget for eating was $25. I ate a lot of rice and beans, pasta, frozen veg, fruit on sale.
One thing that helped tremendously was batch cooking. I would make something on Sunday night like a huge tureen of lentil soup, or some kind of a pasta bake with frozen veg and then eat that for lunch all week.
I would have a decent breakfast (cereal or a bagel) and then a yogurt or something for dinner.
Did it suck? Yes it did! Did I save money. YES I DID!
Also, if you are female, invest in a menstrual cup, they last for years and it’s a one time expense instead of paying for pads and tampons.
Also, you do not need to wash your hair more than 1x per week! I personally wash 1x per month, but I have extremely dry hair
That seems high to me, but it’s not unreasonable. It’s hard to know what you could change without knowing everything you’re buying. I think a good approach can be thinking unit price in terms of macro-nutrient $/calorie $/protein $/fat $/fiber $/carb (not sugar), that can highlight areas where you’re maybe overspending for your nutritional needs.
Maybe feed a picture of your receipt into ChatGPT and ask for a table doing that price comparison. (I just tried this and it worked pretty well) Copy the table into a spreadsheet program and sort to find where you’re splurging.
Prices are bad. Remembering prices from the sixties from working in a grocery store when we hand stamped everything with the price, current prices seem like they are in a foreign currency.
Last time I added it up, it was about $450 for a month for us two retired people and that was a stocking up month. Our pensions are monthly so we shop and pay bills monthly. We don’t waste money, but do buy what we want. We are mindful of seasonal foods and that keeps our freezers full.
. The house and vehicles are paid off and we have no debts. No medical expenses or work related expenses helps.
You are not overspending. The prices these days are ridiculous. Certain things I just cut out buying but I had to increase our budget for groceries. It’s not like we can’t afford it, I just don’t want to pay it.
I live in nyc as a single person and spend around $200 a month. $400 as a single person sounds insane to me. Time for a ‘semi-no buy’ where you inventory your pantry and buy nothing but but perishables like eggs or milk. Look into baking your own bread, sticking to a grocery shopping list, soaking your dry beans, chopping and peeling your vegetables instead of pre-cut, using store brand, etc. Low cost cookbooks and cooking shows on your tube can help.
Let me help clear things up: Prices are bad. Thank DT
i do not think $400 to $500a MONTH is bad for a single person…i buy higher protein higher dense nutritional value foods and cook at home and doubt I could get my groceries and households below $50 a week.
i also have a food allergy as well as a few health conditions so am not willing to cheap out.
i dont buy supplements except the ones my doctor says i am low in, i,e. vit D, so i get my nutrition from food, not popping a pill…I am good with buying certain foods
if i had 3 or 4 kids, and couldnt afford my present diet, my habits might change
My monthly budget for food and household items is about $400 CAD. Cat food not counted. I am also a single female. I find that I eat less meat/poultry than before and usually buy it on sale.
I pay 450-500 a month, living in Colorado. However, I buy a lot of craving foods and more healthier sometimes organic. I think 200-250 would be ideal for someone frugal.
I’m at about 200 for me, a petite female. But I have fruit trees, herbs and people give me veggies. I’m in an area where there are a lot of farmers and gardeners. I don’t buy stuff like soda and prepared foods and no beef or pork. I mainly buy whole chickens and cans of tuna from Costco (for protein).
I spent 50 to get a yearly walmart+ subscription and its pretty dope. Ill split my grocery between getting everyday values on stuff like produce and dairy from Walmart*. Stuff like doorbusters and fresh meat/seafood arent great there so I’ll go to the supermarket to take advantage of sales.
For instance, I recently got a Walmart grocery delivery which included 3 18-packs of eggs for $2.92/each and and 8 lbs of frozen wings for $20. Ill go to the supermarket to stock up on soda ahead of Halloween (there are sales right before party holidays)
The store brand for pharmacy is dirt cheap. The next day delivery for most other things is the poor man’s prime, but this arrangement where I get grocery with regular retail as a bonus fits my lifestyle so much better than prime which is really the other way around.
Membership is usually 100, but wait for black Friday and theyll have a deal for $50.
*I got this theory that Walmart can push around farmers and dairies (or offer good terms based on volume and guaranteed turnover, either/or), so their prices on this stuff and their private label dairy stuff is always priced low. National brands, not so much. For fresh meat and dairy, I think they cheap out and rely on 3rd parties to process things so as not to pay for facilities and special staff. You kinda pay a premium for that.
So take advantage of the system and optimize.
No this sounds about right if your diet is well balanced
Prices are insane! I wanted to make a recipe that calls for cream, and I was shocked that a pint was $3.59 at the grocery store (not a quick market). Last time I remember buying cream like a year or so ago it was like $1.59.
It’s not an abnormal amount for groceries and household goods right now. If you want more presice advice it might help to breakdown what you are spending on but a few things that stick out to me where you could be overspending would be 1) buying in bulk: always having 37 rolls of paper towels in the house can create a weird mental inventory shift and you might use them more freely than you would, this can happen with soaps, cleaning products, convenience foods, etc. – sometimes just keeping an area of ‘back stock’ out of sight and somewhere where you have to go a little out of the way to get it like a basement or closet in a different room vs in your kitchen can resolve that. and 2) buying in big trips monthly instead of small trips weekly generally makes me spend more money especially due to fresh/perishable foods that go bad before they can be eaten and 3) both buying in bulk and the monthly stocking up mentality can lead to over purchasing stuff that you can’t use before it expires because you don’t really have a good idea of how fast you go through it or if you’ll be consistent in use and there’s a pressure to be over prepared by buying and having everything you could possibly need on hand, instead of being flexible enough to run low or out of something and pick up just what you need or do without for a time and be okay, it kind of reinforces a mindless consumerism mindset instead of shopping for your specific needs of the moment.
Remember that in some ways you’re spending just as much on some household things as a two income four or more person household – cleaning products for example? You’re going to wipe the counters and mop the floor and clean the shower and toilet on *roughly* the same timeframe, like sure probably a little less often but still routinely.