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Feature Articles: Budget
Is the Cost of Food Eating Up Your Budget?Tammy Roberts, MS, RD, LD,
Nutrition and
Health Education Specialist in |
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Do you know how much money you spend on food on a weekly or monthly basis? As you think about it, add in all of the stops you make at the quick stop for drinks and snacks.
According to the U.S. Department of labor, food is the third highest expenditure in American households after housing and transportation. The total household expenditure for food in 2003 was 8 percent for food eaten a home and 5 percent for food eaten away from home.
The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion along with the United States Department of Agriculture have developed four food plans based on the Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid to meet nutritional needs for different budgets. The Thrifty Meal Plan is utilized to figure food stamp allotments. The Low-cost Plan is used by bankruptcy courts to allocate necessary food expenses. The Moderate-cost and Liberal Food Plans are utilized by the Department of Defense to set the basic allowance for the subsistence rate for enlistees.
The Thrifty Meal Plan is the lowest cost plan available. This plan is based on the assumption that all food is prepared and eaten at home. If you are a family of four with two adults and two children ages 6-11 years, your food budget would be $536.90 per month. A family of two adults ages 19-50 would have a budget of $320. That sounds like plenty but let’s look at the budget for one person for a week. An adult female 19-50 years of age would have $31.80 per week to spend on food; the adult male of the same age would have $35.30. For the adult female, that figures out to $4.54 per day or $1.51 per meal. (For more figures, go to www.cnpp.usda.gov.)
When you think about how much you may spend for drinks at the quick stop or a meal at the drive through, it may sound impossible to be spending only $4.54 a day on food. But, with some planning it is very doable. It requires spending a little extra time on the weekends shopping and preparing food for the week. Some things you can do to help save money include using the store ads to help determine your menu, when you cook, make extra and freeze it for a busy day, plan on using your leftovers, carry your snacks with you instead of purchasing pre-packaged foods, carry a water bottle with you so you aren’t tempted to purchase drinks out.
In no time, you’ll be adding dollars to your savings!
Last update: Friday, June 01, 2007
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