It is amazing. When you have a plan and your intentional, you actually save money that way, you guys, because if you are last minute and you're trying to pick something up to go at a restaurant, you just end up spending more.

But when you can plan it out and you have all the food that you need, you save money.

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Rachel Crucio podcast. I'm so glad that you're here and I'm so excited for this episode because it's all about food.

That's right. Yes. I interviewed author, home chef and hostess with the most is Abby Turner. And we talked through how hosting doesn't have to be intimidating.

Well, also going over a few easy recipes that won't break the bank. You don't want to miss this. She has so many great ideas. Then I'll go over five meals that are all under $15.

And the best part is you only need five ingredients. This is like every parent's dream. I know you're welcome, everyone. You're welcome.

But first, let's talk about how much we spend on groceries. So take a listen. Okay, here's what's interesting. The average American family of four spends between $600 and $1,300 a month. Isn't that interesting?

But here's why I look at it. You guys, any extra money you can save any extra money you can save is amazing because it helps you win with your money goals that much faster. Now I know with groceries, it can feel impossible.

But trust me, it is possible to lower your grocery budget. Because some months, it's like, oh, well, actually we don't spend that much because we had X, Y, and Z, and other months was like, how do we spend this much money on groceries? What's going on?

I mean, it just like does like this, depending on our life and all of it. And it's hard to predict. That's what I find hard. I'm like, oh my gosh, it's just, it can be so overwhelming. And then I'll be honest too. I even spent a little bit more on groceries a few months in a row because we did like a grocery delivery service.

So they marked up some of the items and did all this, but at the time it was worth it because of our schedule and everything. And then it's just, it's not grocery shopping.

We need it. We got to eat all the things. Listen, it's just tough. It's just a tough part of the budget when it comes to food. So I get it. I get it. But I want to help break down how much you should be spending and maybe where you can start saving some money on this.

Okay, so that is the question. How much should I spend on groceries? Well, if you're on baby steps, one, three, three, which means you're building up your starter emergency fund of $1,000 or you're paying off all your consumer debt or you're building up your fully funded emergency fund of three to six months worth of expenses.

Then I would recommend spending 10 to 15% of your take home pay on groceries. Say that with an asterisk because remember this needs to fit your life. Your budget has to be realistic.

And also your percentages, they may look different than what I just gave you depending on your situation. Okay, so if you're a millionaire and you're living like no one else, you're on baby steps seven and you're just like rocking a roll and making crazy money.

You have no bills. 10% of your budget is probably going to be a lot of money. Yeah, you probably don't want to spend all that on food or maybe where you live makes a big difference. Right. If you live in Kansas versus New York or San Francisco, your grocery bill is going to look different.

If you have 21 kids versus if you're single with no kids, your food budget is going to look different. So you really have to figure out what works with your family.

But here's the key is you have to stick with it. So for the cruise family, we always break out our food category into actually three different categories. You ready? We break up groceries. So no, okay, this is what we're buying at the store. All things restaurants.

It is it's my level language. I love going out to dinner Winston. I went on a date nights and came out of the restaurant category, but I was like, this is what I love. I love being served. I love not having to cook.

I love that the dishes get taken away from me and I get to leave the restaurant. I mean, it is. It's just my level language so much. So I love to see that restaurant category because I take full advantage of it. Yeah, there's $15 left.

Who do you think is getting a spicy chicken sandwich with American cheese, large fry and large sweet tea? This one. I'll use it up every single penny of that restaurant. It's gone because of me. I will. I love it. And then we actually always break out to Costco.

I had to start doing this because for me to enjoy Costco. I love buying a bulk. I love all the special stuff that Costco has. It's like all these stuff that I'm like, this isn't my normal grocery store. I sure. I'll try the street corn. That's absolutely delicious. And I get like eight packs of it. And it's wonderful.

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