Don’t have time to address the details of your post just yet, but regarding food, that was for food and household/toiletry items like paper towels, shampoo, soaps, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc. These costs do not include eating out. We’re a family of five, and I can assure you that our costs actually run higher than this for these categories, as do all of our friends’ costs when we’ve talked about it.
You might want to closely track your expenses for a couple of months to see what you’re spending. If you can manage to spend under $1,000/month for food/toiletry/household items for a family of four, please let us know how you’re doing it. Seriously, this type of cost inflation is killing lots of families. It costs around $5 for a gallon of milk if it’s organic/without hormones![/quote]I don’t keep close eye on exactly what I spend on each item. However, I put everything on 1 credit card and my credit card monthly bill average ~$2k most of the time. I just look at the detail expense over the last couple of months and my grocery have been around $200-250, restaurant have been $100-200, toiletries, I buy in bulk from Costco when they have coupons and stock up in my garage. I go to Costco once a month and I spend around $100-150 there for both toiletries and food. So, on average, my food + household goods range between $400-600. Over the past year, I never spend more than $1k in food + household goods, even the month where I have family coming to visit and I have to feed 10+ people.
How we do it? I have to refer that question to my wife. She’s the COO of the family. She does a great job in buying stuff that’s on sale. Figure out what to cook with those items. Her meals area better than most restaurants out there (except for the 5 stars places). So we don’t go out much. It’s also very helpful with my aunt assisting us (i.e. telling us when and where the sales are). She’s able to feed a family of 6 on an income that’s probably 50-70% of ours AND they’re able to save. If I have to guess, her food + household goods expense is most likely be less than $400/month. Based on the type of food she cooks and how she buys her groceries. She grows most of her veggies, she buys meat when they’re on sale and freeze them.
