Current Events > Buying groceries is the weirdest thing, I haven't used my card in over two days.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Started budgeting food for shits and giggles; previously I used to go to lunch literally every day. $8-10 right there. Then dinner. $10 right there (unless I went somewhere shitty like Taco Bell or whatever else fast food). Ditched my morning cold press from the coffee place and started making do with the office crap. $4/day right there (the place closed so that is kinda what started all this).

Sunday, I went and picked up maybe $75 of groceries (not sure exactly how much, I bought a few other non-food things like paper towels and toothpaste and a few other things that inflated the price somewhat; the total on the receipt was like $100 or so).

I do a light little instant oatmeal packet for breakfast (usually gets me to around noon or so before I start getting hungry), peanut butter and banana or jelly sandwich for lunch, a packet of beef jerky sticks if I need an afternoon filler, and basic stuff like hot dogs and spaghetti for dinner. I can usually make do with that stuff by dressing it up a bit with decent BBQ sauce / spaghetti sauce, as well as cheap fruit and a bag of salad or something.

My credit card's cycle coincidentally ended on the 11th, the Sunday I went and got groceries. There has been zero activity on it since then and I have more than enough food to get me through the week at least.

What if I forget how to use my card?

Either way, previously I was spending about $25/day ($4 coffee, $8-10 lunch, $10+ dinner). Now, I get $75 worth of stuff to last me a week minimum? That's already $50 a week right there. I could maybe cut things even further if I tried (like getting shittier BBQ sauce or off-brand stuff), but still.

tl;dr: Budgeting for food is a joke as to how easy it is and how much you can save.
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i get tired of food plus the grocery store here in town never has anything new. same old crap they have and overpriced.

I have to go out of town for a 3 hour drive to a Walmart store just to get stuff cheaper and stuff that Walmart has for food that you cant find at the grocery store.

I started having a crazy surplus of cash every month when I cut out going out to eat and going to bars.

I spend maybe an average of $50 a week on groceries, and I'm not eating bullshit everyday
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WizardofHoth posted...

i get tired of food plus the grocery store here in town never has anything new. same old crap they have and overpriced.

I have to go out of town for a 3 hour drive to a Walmart store just to get stuff cheaper and stuff that Walmart has for food that you cant find at the grocery store.

Lol. Sounds like me.
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WizardofHoth posted...

i get tired of food plus the grocery store here in town never has anything new. same old crap they have and overpriced.

I have to go out of town for a 3 hour drive to a Walmart store just to get stuff cheaper and stuff that Walmart has for food that you cant find at the grocery store.

It cant possibly be cheaper considering the cost of transport and the time to do so. And if it is it's time to move
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Sunburst posted...

WizardofHoth posted...

i get tired of food plus the grocery store here in town never has anything new. same old crap they have and overpriced.

I have to go out of town for a 3 hour drive to a Walmart store just to get stuff cheaper and stuff that Walmart has for food that you cant find at the grocery store.

Lol. Sounds like me.

Yeah every previous time I've tried to go eat groceries instead of eating out, I end up just getting sick of whatever I end up getting. Living alone is a pain in the ass because hey here's a massive loaf of bread that expires in a week and there's no way you'll use it.

We'll see how this goes. But honestly I might go a full week without spending money. My credit card's bank is going to call me and be like wtf did you die?
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Walmart has more a variety than the small town local grocery store.

Walmart they have flounder fish along with lemon buttered salmon. Grocery store here in this small town I live in they dont have that stuff.

Walmart also has those limited edition yogurts you just cant find at the grocery store either.

and yes a 3 hour drive out of town to the Walmart store is worth it. Gas money's not that bad at 20 bucks anyway

I always tell people that have a hard time "finding money", food and going out are two things that you can immediately cut out that will increase your savings.

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yeah dining out when you are single is a money killer

i stopped buying a coffee shops after one year, when reviewing taxes, i discovered i spent about $2500/year on coffee alone.

now i buy bags in bulk and spent maybe $100/yr
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E32005 posted...

yeah dining out when you are single is a money killer

i stopped buying a coffee shops after one year, when reviewing taxes, i discovered i spent about $2500/year on coffee alone.

now i buy bags in bulk and spent maybe $100/yr

Damn, that's on average like almost $7 per day, assuming you bought every day. If you bought only 5 days a week that's like $9+ per day,

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Agree with the bread thing, it's like 55p for a loaf so no water off my back but always feels a bit weird throwing out 75% of a loaf.
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Lol, how are you just now realizing this TC.

But ya, I cook pretty much all my meals. I'm glad I'm not one to easily get tired of eating the same thing. Makes cooking much simpler.

I will say though, it still ends up costing me ~300-350 a month. Don't know how some do like <$50 a week on groceries.

The staples are cheap, it's the extra stuff on the side that adds up
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I save a lot of money by just not going out to bars anymore.

I'll hit up the craft beer store and get a few 6 packs, then I'll drink it at home while I game

Thursday now. Still haven't used my card since Sunday.
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I sorta cheated today because my coworkers wanted to get two 5 for 5 sliders from arbys, but I had $7 in my venmo balance that I didn't know about, so I sent $4 from there.

Still didn't technically use my card but I did spend money (even though it was money I didn't know I had)
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