A reasonable budget

Hi, Not sure if it's what you'd call a reasonable budget but mine is about £160 a week. This is for food, the house, the dog, school club & any lunch money. Not sure what that works out to in $'s MrsL x

budget twice a month. once you receive your paycheck subtract 10% from that. that should be put in the bank no matter what for your portfolio. set aside 30% for food then divide it by the days you would receive your next paycheck. if it is too small it could either mean that you have to find ways to find cheaper foods and probably was used to spending a lot on food when there is shelter and clothing to put the remaining 60% of your paycheck on. if it is too big then you can always treat friends, family or give to charity.

I don't actually have a budget but I do track most of our expenses just so my husband and I can have a sense of where our money is going. We're visual and so we like to see the numbers. It's just the two of us...and two cats and two dogs...but we normally spend around $125 per week on groceries, pet supplies and household products.

Cooking for one can be expensive. It really doesn't cost much more to cook for 4. If you want to have the most cost effective food budget, cook the larger meal, then freeze the 3 extra meals. Over time, not only will you have a good suppy in the freezer, but if you don't feel like (or have time to) cooking for a day or two...no problem. Also, plan these meals around what is in season and reasonably priced. Before I got married, by doing this my food budget averaged out at about $20-25 dollars per week. Not sure how that translates to pounts.