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Old 11-16-2012, 08:23 AM   #1
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Monthly food bill

Hi there fellow full timers. We've been living the life for about 2.5 yrs now and loving it. I was just going over my spending and was wondering what other full times spend a month on food.
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Old 11-16-2012, 10:45 AM   #2
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Not being a FT I would think that your food budget would depend on how often you eat out. I have 2 little ones that we take camping and on longer trips. We don't eat out while on the road because we have the MH. Unless you enjoy not cooking in your home on wheels then your food budget will be in relation to eating out. We buy our food based on what menu we put together for the trip and shop for that. So if you buy your groceries than you food should be lower then eating out. Our food budget is around $500 per month for 4.
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Old 11-17-2012, 06:56 AM   #3
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We are pretty new to fulltimers however so far we spend around $350 for food in and $250 for eating out. There is just 2 of us.
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:19 AM   #4
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We travel six months and spend the other six months at our winter home. Our "grocery" expenditures are always the same year round. I lump all expenses at the grocery store, dining out, otc medicines, pet supplies, cleaning supplies, and anything else that can be bought at a large grocery store into one monthly charge on a specific credit card. It is always about $900 per month.
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:37 AM   #5
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We don't keep track but I guess we should. Before escaping that work thing we went south for a month if possible and ate out a lot. Now going for six months we do try to cook at the CG more than go out to save some money. We love to BBQ stuff so the little grill gets a work out. We also drag an electric smoker with us that can make some inexpensive cuts of pork into some nice meals.
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:42 AM   #6
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Grocery's & eating out food only. $134.78 a month. One person
Does not include Paper towels, plates, Pop, Candy,cleaning supplies etc.
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:54 AM   #7
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Year to date ....(Nov. 01) for 2people + 2dogs


Groceries.....$8,697 /10 = $869 p/mo.
Restaurant ...$3,966/10 = $396 p/mo.
Dogs.............$1,455/10= $145 p/mo.

Total..............$14,118/10= $1,411 p/mo.
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:01 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Triker56
Grocery's & eating out food only. $134.78 a month. One person
Does not include Paper towels, plates, Pop, Candy,cleaning supplies etc.
Yep, everything in mine runs right around 155 a month. Working on getting that more in line where it belongs.
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:01 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack1234
Year to date ....(Nov. 01) for 2people + 2dogs

Groceries.....$8,697 /10 = $869 p/mo.
Restaurant ...$3,966/10 = $396 p/mo.
Dogs.............$1,455/10= $145 p/mo.

Total..............$14,118/10= $1,411 p/mo.
I give up, what's the punch line..Are those Cabo prices?
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:05 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Rkh

I give up, what's the punch line..Are those Cabo prices?
And the math makes no sense...
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:10 AM   #11
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Three Adults + Two dogs = about $600.00 per month
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:20 AM   #12
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Having been full-timers for two years we find that eating out is the single largest controllable cost we have. Since we virtually never eat fast food, a lunch is typically $6-10/person plus beverages and tip. Lately, we often have been forgoing ordering soda or ice tea to save an additional $1-3/each. By doing this we can keep lunches around ~$20. By doing this we can afford to eat lunch out 1-2 times a week. When we're touring national parks and similar places, there's often no convenient place worth spending money on for lunch so we pack a lunch and find a picnic table to eat it on.

As for dinners, we rarely go out; prices are higher and we enjoy relaxing in our own home with a glass of wine. We like to cook and would much rather buy, for example, a couple of pounds of fresh shrimp which can be prepared in minutes with some Cajun shrimp boil, than to go to the local "all the fried shrimp you can eat" restaurant as so many of our friends do. We think our food tastes better and, in this example, is far healthier for us. Similarly, last summer we were in Oregon when the Albacore tuna were running. We could buy a pound of tuna loin, caught the day before, for ~$6-7 and it was superb on the grill. In Seattle we ate it at a nice restaurant for $25 each! I just can't find the logic in that.

Plenty of the snowbirds where we are in TX like to go to the all-you-can-eat nights at the local restaurants. We did that once last winter and will never go back. Getting to the restaurant at 5pm to eat dinner in order to get a table and having people standing around waiting for you to finish so they can grab your table just wasn't an enjoyable experience.

Having said all that I would estimate our "eat-in" costs to be $500/mo since our main courses average $8-10/day plus fresh vegetables, salad, fruit and incidentals. But our restaurant meal costs are only ~$200/mo based on 1-2 lunches per week. As I said, we like to cook; this approach won't work for everyone.
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:22 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack1234
Year to date ....(Nov. 01) for 2people + 2dogs

Groceries.....$8,697 /10 = $869 p/mo.
Restaurant ...$3,966/10 = $396 p/mo.
Dogs.............$1,455/10= $145 p/mo.

Total..............$14,118/10= $1,411 p/mo.
Wow. I want some of what you're eating.

I think this is an interesting topic but like many topics here probably no good rule of thumb. Everyone is different - but my experience suggests that other than regional price differences - grocery bills and dining out on the road are roughly the same as "at home". Where the budget gets pushed for living life is entertainment / enjoying where you are.

You spend the time and money to go someplace "special" - you don't want to just sit in the Motorhome and watch TV. So things like out of state fishing licenses and the lure de jour - a day of white water rafting - renting that chair and umbrella next to the bar on the beach (not Cabo) is where you can get pinched.

If you want to sit in a state park and enjoy nature that's one thing. But experiencing what a place has to offer is another. My full time budget model (planning stage) has less for dining out and more for entertainment than my house budget. That's just me - but I've seen most of what home has to offer - and am looking for those new experiences in parts unknown! You can look over the rim of the Grand Canyon for nothing - hop on a burro and go to the bottom - another story. And we all know, the price of admission to destination attractions is anything but a savings plan.
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Old 11-17-2012, 12:35 PM   #14
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A couple of observations...

1) I wonder how many people really know & track their actual grocery & restaurant expenses. We have a budget "app" on our iPhone and absolutely everything is recorded and instantly tabulated. For us there is no guesswork about how much we spend on groceries, restaurant meals, coffee at the gas station, the occasional blizzard at DQ, the water & soft drink from the cart girl on the golf course, etc.

2) We probably could lay-off the "organic" fruits & veggies, the free range hormone free chicken, those over-priced cappuccinos at Starbucks...but life is short & good .... So we're kinda interested in staying around a bit longer than average & enjoying the ride.


3) I do find it interesting that some people find our monthly grocery & restaurant expenses to be over-the-top....however... The monthly average (excluding the dogs) is $1,265 divide by 31 days = $40 / 2 people = $20p/day/person.

Honestly....how many of you are calculating breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks (in & out) and coming-up with a figure less than $20?

Pardon my arrogance, but I have a harder time understanding how you can feed and/or survive on a monthly average of $135 or about $4.50p/day....can someone explain to me how you can eat breakfast, lunch & dinner at around $1.50 per meal!

What happens when you need laundry, hand, bath soap, how about shampoo, paper towels, TP, coffee filters,etc.

4) I'd wager a hormone free thanksgiving turkey dinner with organic cranberries that our $1,250 monthly average for groceries and restaurant meals is actually " below" what many of you are spending....you just don't know it or are afraid to track-it?

Anyway....just some observations and thoughts.
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