My husband and I just celebrated our first month. I moved to VA with him after the wedding. I am job-hunting, so we are living off what he makes in the Navy. we have $797 in rent, about $120 in utilities, $100 in car/apartment insurance (my car is paid thank god for graduation gifts). He has $10,000 of debt he is paying off, I have about $8000 in student loans... and thats just for the one year of college (i'm 19.) Our groceries come out to about $100-150 for two weeks. We shop at the commissary which saves us money. I splurge more on meat, I like to get fresh fish, especially tuna and that adds up. I save money by using powdered milk in recipes. I don't buy boxed macaroni and cheese, I make my own in bulk. It's hard cooking for two, so I cook the same as I did when I still lived with my parents and we freeze the leftovers, and he brings some to work. We don't eat out very much, and then weekends we have a friend who stays the whole weekend so the budget is a little bigger. I also factored the dog/ferret food into the budget. If I wrote out the menus in advance I could save more, but somethings change on a day to day basis. I'm tired of hearing people who spend $700 a month for junk, but at the same time, if you have money to spend, you don't realize how much you've spent till you look back or need it... and anywhere that can get away with driving prices up will. We went to busch gardens last weekend (military so got in free)... and we spent $40 eating there for two people. Our friend with us spent $16 on a turkey sandwich, $3 something on a drink..... My relatives in cali say it's hell to grocery shop cheap.
Our groceries come out to about $100-150 for two weeks. We shop at the commissary which saves us money. I splurge more on meat, I like to get fresh fish, especially tuna and that adds up. I save money by using powdered milk in recipes. I don't buy boxed macaroni and cheese, I make my own in bulk. It's hard cooking for two, so I cook the same as I did when I still lived with my parents and we freeze the leftovers, and he brings some to work. We don't eat out very much, and then weekends we have a friend who stays the whole weekend so the budget is a little bigger. I also factored the dog/ferret food into the budget. If I wrote out the menus in advance I could save more, but somethings change on a day to day basis. I'm tired of hearing people who spend $700 a month for junk, but at the same time, if you have money to spend, you don't realize how much you've spent till you look back or need it... and anywhere that can get away with driving prices up will. We went to busch gardens last weekend (military so got in free)... and we spent $40 eating there for two people. Our friend with us spent $16 on a turkey sandwich, $3 something on a drink.....
My relatives in cali say it's hell to grocery shop cheap.