Budgeting can be a tedious process if you’re new to it. More so, it’s often very hard to determine whether you’re doing it right or not.

When it comes to food, things are no different. How much budget for food should you allocate? How do you determine that anyway?

In short, you should allocate 10% to 15% of your income towards food. Based on how much the average American spends on it, this should be more than enough. Of course, this recommendation will not necessarily apply to you if you have a very low income or the cost of living in your city is through the roof.

That’s why I will help you answer relevant questions related to the scenario that you think you can spend more or that in which you are unable to spend that much. More so, I will give you some tips on how you can spend less on food so you can save more money.

Sounds good? Let’s get to it right away…

What If I Don’t Want to Allocate that Much Towards Food?

If you have a very good income and or you live in a part of the world where the cost of living is generally low, then it makes sense that you may not have to abide by this rule. You might be able to spend much less on food.

If that’s the case, then you should, by all means, take advantage of that situation and spend less on that aspect. That’s a great opportunity to save more for retirement as well.

Or perhaps you could spend more money to pay off more debt!

What If My Current Budget for Food Exceeds that Threshold?

If you find yourself in a situation where the food budget is a larger percentage of your income than 15%, then that may not necessarily be an issue.

To determine if this is a real problem, you could examine whether you’re not behind on debt payments or not and if you save at least 20% of your income for retirement.

If you haven’t fallen behind any debt payment and you save enough money for retirement, then you could get away with spending more than 15% of your income on food.

If, however, that’s not the case, then you should try and find ways to reduce your spending on food. If you regularly eat out at restaurants, then you could cook more at home, for example.

Speaking of eating out…

Should I Have a Different Budget for Eating Out?

In short, it depends…

Some budgeters differentiate between the two by creating two budgets: “groceries” and “eating out”. But they can get away with it if they save enough for retirement and are nearly debt-free.

As we discussed above, if you’re struggling with saving enough and paying off debt, then you might benefit from having one budget for both groceries and eating out. That’s because you must reduce eating out down to almost zero.

I know this might seem too restrictive, but it’s necessary. If you compile the two budgets into one, you will find ways to eat more at home instead of going out in order to keep your budget. It will basically work as an incentive.

But there are more tricks that you can use to spend less on food…

A Couple of Tips for Spending Less On Food

Now, let’s see what you can do to spend less on food and possibly stay on budget:

  • Buy More Vegetables than Meat
    Generally speaking, those who don’t eat meat tend to spend less than meat-eaters. If you think you can cut down on meat buying, then you might save some more money on food.
  • Prefer Take Outs than Going to A Restaurant or Ordering from Home
    As we already said, reducing your eating out could help you stay on budget. But sometimes, we just can’t cook a meal by ourselves. In such cases, you could simply pick up your food on your own instead of going and sitting in a restaurant or ordering from home.
  • Always Keep Dry Goods at Home that Are Easy to Cook
    When you face the dilemma of eating out versus cooking a meal, a great way to will your way towards the latter option is to always have dry goods at home that are easy to cook. Rice, beans, pasta are fast and easy meals that will help you restrain yourself from justifying eating out (again).
  • Buy In Bulk
    You could also save more money on groceries by going out to buy them only one time every month. Of course, some groceries cannot be bought that rarely. The idea is to limit your grocery shopping sessions as much as possible.
  • Stay Focused
    Last but not least is the most difficult of all: creating a list and buying nothing outside that list. That strategy will only work if you are both disciplined and motivated to stay on budget. But if you are persistent enough, it will get better with time.

Conclusion

As I already said, you should spend around 10% to 15% of your income on food. If you’re a low-income earner, though, you may be justified to spend more.

Also, if you have a high take-home pay and can spend much less than this, more power to you. At the end of the day, this is only a general rule.

Did this article answer your question? And did you find my tips helpful? If so, please share this post with others. You can also ask me anything you want in the comments below.

Thank you for reading…

Disclaimer: This information should not be viewed as financial advice. You should consult a financial advisor or do your own due diligence before you invest. The owner of this website and author of this article are not to be held liable for any undesired result by anyone who uses this information that is provided here in any way.