Joing in LAL's March 2021 Food Challenge!  I am single, and generally prep food only for myself (although sometimes I buy food for my mom/sister, for which they reimburse me).  I am still working out what my monthly food budget is....right now, based on Jan/Feb data, it looks like I spend about $360 a month on groceries/household/toiletries.  That includes laundry card refills, any household supplies and drugstore level toiletries (I also have some higher end stuff but that's pulled out into a separate category so it doesn't skew my grocery category too badly). So maybe $300 on groceries alone?  I tend to do most of my grocery shopping at Stop & Shop, but depending on what I need, also make trips to other stores as well as online grocery stores & warehouse club.  I tend to shop multiple times a week.  Doing it this way ensures that I am only buying what I need for the next few days, rather than stocking up on random stuff and making a plan from what I have - that method always leads to me buying stuff I don't need/use.

Some more context.  I work from home.  I meal prep everything I consume between Monday morning and Friday afternoon, eating the same thing every day.  I don't eat a ton at one time because I have a gastric sleeve which limits my stomach capacity, and I am still actively trying to lose weight (down 85 pounds in 3 years, 15 left to go).  Friday/Saturday nights, I either eat a frozen meal, get takeout, or have dinner plans with a friend.  Sundays are my free day, I have dinner at my mom's house.  

So, 3/1's trip to Stop & Shop:

4.49 - Fairlife milk (I go through a lot of milk, between my breakfast protein smoothie and my nighttime oatmeal)

3.89x2 - 2 frozen Healthy Choice meals.  I like to have a couple of frozen dinners on hand for Friday/Saturday nights if I am not getting takeout/don't have dinner plans.

1.44 Red onion for dinner meal prep

3.32 - 2 red peppers for dinner meal prep (this week's dinners are egg white omelettes with sauteed onions & pepper and cheddar, with an English muffin on the side.  I eat this fairly often, and purchased a bulk package of carton egg whites last month.  After what I used this week, I have enough egg whites for 2 more weeks of this meal prep.  I bought the English muffins last week, they were on sale for buy 1 get 2 free.  When this happens, I get 3 packs and stash them in the freezer.  Cheese is purchased from warehouse club when needed, I still have 2 lbs in the fridge lol.)

5.00 - 2lbs of strawberries (I eat 2 lbs of strawberries every 8 days, so I pretty much always buy strawberries lol)

Total - 22.03 (grocery category technically at 42.03 due to laundry card refill on Monday as well)

A typical weekday looks like this for me:  large cup of tea with Splenda, half & half, and fiber supplement...chocolate chia oat protein smoothie...strawberries...string cheese...green smoothie...whatever I've meal prepped for dinners for the week...and DIY instant oatmeal made with milk before bed.  A typical weekend day is the tea, two eggs, toast, strawberries, some kind of protein drink, and dinner is planned but random lol.