I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve been able to save on my food spending. By simply taking my lunch every day and eating at home more often at night (and shopping at No-Frills), I’ve cut my food spending from ~$21 / day to ~$14 / day. Ideally I’d like to get it down to $8.57 / day (which is supposedly what the average single male spends), but I think future reductions will be harder then reductions so far (law of diminishing returns, picking the low-hanging fruit and all that).
Previously when I had half-heartedly checked No-Frills, they hadn’t seemed THAT cheaper compared to Loblaws. When I checked more in detail (took my receipt from Loblaws and compared prices) it was AMAZING the difference in price. $30 at Loblaws gets you a small back of groceries, $30 at No Frills gets you enough groceries that you can barely carry them home!
My currently thinking is that I’ll start budgeting myself $20 / week for eating out (which leaves $40 / week for groceries) and see how that feels. Definitely less then I’m spending right now, but might be doable (basically one lunch out and one dinner out a week).
Is $40 / week of groceries from No-Frills doable? Am I going to be eating dog food?