How much should I spend on food per month?

Split food into two budgets

Groceries and eating out behave completely differently. Groceries are steady and hard to cut much further. Eating out and delivery swing wildly and are where most food overspending hides. Track them as separate categories or you'll never see which is the problem.

Find your real number first

Most people are surprised by eating out, not groceries.

• Track every food spend for one normal month, including coffee, snacks and delivery.
• Add up groceries and eating out separately.
• Work out each as a percentage of your take-home pay.

Set a target that fits

• Tight budget: keep total food nearer 10%, mostly groceries, with eating out as a planned treat.
• Comfortable: 12–15% gives room for regular meals out.
• Above 20% and struggling to save: this is usually the first place to look.

Cutting food costs without eating badly

• Plan three or four dinners a week and shop from a list.
• Set a weekly delivery cap rather than banning it, since bans rarely last.
• Cook double portions and take leftovers for lunch.
• Check how often small purchases happen, not just how big they are.

Tracking it with Balance

Balance suggests a category when you scan or add a spend, and analytics show your food spending by month so you can see if a change worked. You can ask "how much did I spend on food this month?" or "how much did I spend on eating out last month?" and get the figure straight away. Use the calculator below to see how food fits alongside your other costs.