I use Mint to keep track of all expenses. I use a Spreadsheet of my own design to keep track of bills. Hubby and I have a pretty good handle on things. I have helped him become a saver more than a spender, because we have saving goals. However there is one area where we fall short, groceries.
The FDA uses "the Thrifty Plan" to figure that a family of two adults our ages should be spending $496 a month on food in our zip code.
I have a question about the thrifty plan...
What . Are . They . Eating?
Is it just Wisconsin or is food costing like hell everywhere? I also need to factor in the fact that we don't eat dollar a box junk. I steer away from highly processed food with a lot of chemicals. We don't eat pork, which is pretty much the cheapest type of meat. I won't touch fatty beef with a ten foot pole. It needs to be lean. I only eat chicken breast, but not often. Hubby eats legs, which are cheaper. I can't eat a lot of the cheap meal fillers like potatoes and rice because of my health. Coupons are normally for food we don't eat...brand name prepared foods full of chemicals. I shop at Aldi a lot, but I can't buy everything there.
I found this handy budget calculator.
Family Budget Calculator
And I missed posting this before midnight. I guess I will elaborate in the morning. <sigh>
Update---another website said $688, so that's closer.
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