I think it is about not going out to eat.
The next thing you need to evaluate is how much food do you throw away in any given week from leftovers or food that has spoiled?
My wife and I have one child and we spend under $300 per month on our grocery bill. Here are some of the food and drink items that could be adding to your grocery bill:
- Any drinks (beer, wine, juice, milk, apple juice, and gatorade and more).
A girl I date back in high school, her parents always had a supply of Gatorade. I have no idea how much it probably cost them, but I would say there was at least 3 of them drank per day. This results in probably almost $100 on a drink that is not better than water and fills you with empty calories, meaning you consume calories but do not get any nutritional value from it.
- K-Cups, though this is related to drinks I wanted to keep it separate because I wanted to go on a rant.
First off, K-cups are terrible for the environment. The cups are not bio degradeable and you cannot recycle them.
Next the cheapest you can find them is about $0.28 per cup. Even if you bought the most expensive starbucks brand at the store it would still be cheaper and around $0.22. This seems like a small amount, but can add up over the course of a year.
- Wasted Food
I grew up in a family where leftovers was for dinner like three times a week. I never understand families who cook all of this food and if there is any leftover they throw it out!
What about the kids in Africa I always shout? Anyways, to each his own, but I never throw food away.
The next place food is wasted, especially if you buy fresh food. People buy fresh food, but do not really plan their meals. They end up cooking and realize they have an extra pepper, but most people, unless you are weird like me, do not eat peppers plain often.
Wasted food is probably the biggest area people waste food.
- Overeating
The other thing is some people buy more food than their body even needs. It is amazing how fast calories and stuff add up.
Here is an example of my grocery bill on a weekly basis (I live in the Midwest so my prices may be cheaper):
5 lbs of Chicken - fresh: $15.00
2 lbs of fish - fresh but farm raised :( (Salmon, Swordfish, Cod, etc): $15.00
Fruits (Apples, pears, etc and varies exactly but average): $15
Vegetables (Lettuce, parsnips, and more): $20
Bag of Coffee (once per month averaged over four weeks): $5
This results in a bill of about $70 per grocery trip, which normally it is only around $60 but I wanted to estimate on the high end. The fish and chicken are exact though :)
This total bill comes to $280 per month to feed three of us.