Food Budget in My Single Years

 

Apropos to absolutely nothing, I find myself reminiscing about my approach to food in the years immediate after college. Here's a post about all my spending habits back then, but let's dig deeper into a subset of one of those expenditure categories and take a closer look at how I fed myself on an entry-level not-for-profit job. You'll forgive if my memory fails on arcane details from almost 30 years ago, but honestly I kind of remember some of those details pretty well so I stand by the numbers below as not totally off.

Breakfast ($1.20 a day x 7 days)

* 2 yogurts w/granola: yogurt cups were 4 for a $1, and granola was probably $3 a box that lasted a couple of weeks = $0.70/day

* 1 banana: a bunch of 4-5 was like a dollar at the produce truck so call that $0.30/day

* OJ: a can of frozen concentrate was probably a dollar and change and could last all week so let's say $0.20/day

Weekday Lunch ($3 a day x 5 days; weekend was leftovers so see below)

* 2 turkey sandwiches: a $1 loaf of bread, $4 of lunch meat, and $3 of deli cheese a week (+ let's throw in some money for condiments) = $1.80/day

* 1 apple, 1 pear: 4-5 of each was like a dollar at the produce truck so call that $0.60/day

* I forget what snack I bought but let's call it a couple of $2 bags of pretzels a week so $0.60/day

 

Dinner ($4 a day x 7 days)

* Ground beef fried rice: $3 of ground beef a week + a $10 bag of rice that probably lasted 3 weeks = $1/day

* Stir fried veggies w/chicken breast: 4 or 5 $1 bags a week (mushrooms, peppers, carrots) plus maybe $4 of chicken a week and some random seasonings so let's say $1.50/day

* Salad: a $1 head of lettuce and a few dollar bags of basic veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots) was usually good for the week (I don't recall having salad every day) so call that $0.70/day

* A canister of $6 lemonade mix that probably lasted a good month so $0.20/day

* I think I probably went through a couple of $2 things of some really cheap Oreo knock-offs so let's call that $0.60/day

I don't remember a whole lot of snacks or dining out, but just to play it safe let's tack on $10 a week for a random box of cookies or cheap night out with friends, which brings out total to a little bit over $60 a week. As a point of comparison, fast forward to the present and according to my rough calculations our family of 5 is at about $12,000 a year or less than $50 a week per person. Amazing to think we spend less per head than I did in my thrifty bachelor days!