I have an excel spreadsheet on my computer desktop named "money" where I record all my expenses. I've always kept something like this but it has been sort of meaningless without a real income. Now, things are different and it's actually possible to learn about my spending habits and change them for the better. Since a huge majority of my expenses are food-related I'll share some of my thoughts on food money here.
Cooking mostly for one means also buying food for one, and that was harder than I thought it would be. It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out how to minimize food waste. But the thing that made the biggest difference (and I know this has been said many times) is to shop with intention. Instead of buying all the food (I think) I need once a week, I buy what I need to cook that night, and that's it. If I have an ingredient leftover, I incorporate it into the next thing I cook.
Some other unrelated thoughts:
- Eating a diet of legumes and grains is awesomely cheap. A pound of dried beans ($1.69) lasts several meals.
- Splurging on good quality, in-season produce is almost always worth it.
- I am extremely lucky to have not one, but two, grocery stores within walking distance. I buy most things at Giant and occasionally wander over to Whole Foods to get grains/legumes/soy milk in bulk. Also, whatever produce they have on sale tends to be a good deal.
- The two basil plants I bought for $2.50 at the Dupont farmers market were some of the best investments I've made. When summer comes around, I think I'll start an indoor herb window box.
- Knowing how to cook makes saving money on food significantly easier.
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