Food budget

Getting a lactose intolerant vegetarian girlfriend is one of the best things that ever happened to my food budget. I get 75% of my protein from sources way more affordable than meat now, my shits are super hardy and regular and my skin has almost totally cleared up. Seriously dude, learn to eat vegetarian 4 days a week and you'll notice an improvement.

>>8098247
Increase your dinner budget and make extra.
Sandwiches are cheap if you aren't picky.
Make a big pot of soup on the weekend and reheat throughout the week.
Skip lunch and have fruit/nuts/seeds during the day.
Intermittent fasting (if you can make it work for you, I feel like it's more of a single person kind of thing).

>>8098251
so you're just eating beans and chickpeas for protein or something like that?

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>>8098247
if i'm not lazy and cook all meals instead of eating out, anywhere from about $6 to $12 per day.
today:
>breakfast: ham sandwich with spinach, onion, mustard, olive oil, balsamic. maybe a buck, buck fifty
>lunch: big lunch, rice mixed with some quinoa, 2 chicken thighs, can of refried beans, 1/2 a bell pepper, 1/2 a small onion, 1/2 a carrot. so probably a bit under $3
>dinner: not very hungry, snacked on a banana, half of a kind breakfast bar and a serving, maybe a serving and a half of goldfish crackers. so like... another buck fiddy.

but like, other days i'll have a nice steak or fish paired with fresh pasta and a wine reduction. it just kind of depends on how i feel, not so much the budget, because i'm just cheap by nature. part of having a good budget is being a good cook. when you can go to a supermarket that has good sales and you just buy whatever's on sale that week (bok choy $0.99/lb, whole pork loin $1.69/lb - pic related) rather than having some set meal you want and buying stuff regardless of price.

also, buy ingredients and not meals. they're a lot cheaper.

>>8098300
not the guy you're responding to, but probably broccoli, kale, eggs, cheese, etc. vegetarian is a lot easier than vegan

>>8098247
bulk grains, bulk beans, small amount of bulk nuts/seeds.
Inexpensive fruits, like bananas and pears.
Frozen vegetables.
Cheaper greens, like romaine or spinach.
Dehydrate or juice whatever I don't use during the week, so they're still useful.
A handful of spices, some vinegars, etc.
Blend my own nut butters. Make my own sauces. Grind my own flours. Cook almost all my own food.

Groceries run me about $40 per week per person, but I could probably get that to $30-35 if I really wanted to.

I spend $50-70 a week. I don't think I can get it much lower and still eat meat every day, or at least not any beef.

I buy shelf stable dry goods and long lasting veg in bulk, meat when I get a good deal (and freeze it) and green veg throughout the week, usually on the way home. And I know how to cook. These two facts keep my food costs very, very low.
It's difficult to calculate just how much I spend because of the infrequency of my bulk purchases.

My last shopping trip, yesterday, I bought
• 10lbs of chicken thighs for $3.47
• 9lbs of onions for $2.67
• 2ish lbs of krab for $6.52

The bones and cartilage from the thighs is enough for 2 quarts of strong stock in addition to providing 21 portions of boneless chicken meat, a little over one cup of chicken grease (which is the best shit ever next to duck grease) and a bunch of delicious chicken rinds. All for under $4. If I just eat the meat and don't bother making stock or rendering grease or making chicken rinds, that's still only 19¢ per portion of chicken, which is still a pretty good fucking deal.

On days that I work, my daily budget is $10/day. On days that I'm off, it's $15. I try not to reach that, and sometimes I go over because I allow for some wiggle room for special occasions or just really shitty weeks.

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Just got a job after uni and I've allowed myself a budget of around 400 a month, which leaves room for going out/delivery and a few fast food lunches at work if I haven't gone shopping in a while. I eat fresh fish 2-4 times a week, and it's a lot more enjoyable than my typical budget of about 60-100 bucks every 2 weeks while I was in uni. pic related, tonight's dinner of spicy catfish

>>8098247
if lunch is a social event, like in most workplaces, its difficult. If you have a kitchen just cook larger batches and bring it to work?
My spendings on food average around 400-500€ per month

I try to only buy 2 bottles of wine at lunchtime. It keeps the cost down.