🍎☕ Food and "outside the home": a monthly food basket
Just think how much you could save by understanding where your money goes! Do you know how much you spend on food at home and away from home? And where might you be spending more than you think? Check out this awesome clear model of a home basket, a coffee/lunch/dinner calculator, and a "turn on savings" block. I'm thrilled to tell you that all inserts are coded and adapted for mobile devices!
🛒 Home basket: base and customisation for a family
The basis of the budget is regular categories (dairy, vegetables/fruit, cereals/bread, meat/fish, etc.). In the insert below, edit the weekly amounts for 1 adult by category, set the family composition and the share of home cooking — the calculator will calculate the month per household, "per person", as well as the top 3 categories.
Weekly basket for 1 adult (editable DEMO values)
| Category | Sum/week | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Dairy & eggs | Milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs | |
| Meat/fish | Meat, poultry, fish | |
| Vegetables/fruits | Fresh/frozen | |
| Grains/bread | Pasta, cereals, bread | |
| Coffee/tea | Home drinks | |
| Snacks/sweets | Chocolate, cookies, chips | |
| Oils/sauces/spices | Olive oil, sauces, spices | |
| Household items* | *Not food but goes with basket |
| Category | NOK/month (family) | Share |
|---|
☕🥪 Coffee to go and lunches: how much do they cost per month?
Even 2-3 coffees to go and a couple of lunches a week add up to a noticeable increase in your budget. In the block below, set the frequency and price to get the monthly amount "away from home" as well as the total food bill (home + away from home).
💡 Money-saving tips: "turn it on and see the effect"
The easiest steps are to pack your breakfast/lunch at home, use a thermos mug with coffee/refills, buy seasonal vegetables, choose "private brands" and plan your menu. Flip the switches — the calculator will show your monthly savings and your new total bill.
The figures in the inserts are approximate DEMO values for layout and initial assessment. The result depends on your prices, habits and family composition. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice: substitute your current values and check the result before making any decisions.
FAQ
Start with weekly amounts for one adult in basic categories and multiply by 4.33 weeks. Then consider your family composition, children's coefficient, and the proportion of home cooking. Compare the result with last month and adjust the categories that "shoot" higher than the rest.
Even 3 cups a week at an average price add up to a noticeable monthly expense. Enter your frequency and price into the calculator, and you will immediately see the contribution of coffee to your total "outside the home" expenses and be able to decide whether it is profitable to switch to refills or a thermos mug.
Yes, it does. By replacing at least two lunches a week with homemade meals, you can significantly reduce your monthly lunch expenses, especially when combined with menu planning and weekly ingredient shopping. The savings calculator shows the effect in monetary terms.
Use the child coefficient: by default, 0.6 of an adult's "appetite" for food. If the child is a teenager or an active athlete, increase the coefficient to reflect actual consumption. Check to see if you are exceeding the norm for snacks and sweets.
It depends on the basket: less meat/fish, but more vegetables, legumes and dairy products. In the "Vegetarian" profile, the insert recalculates the categories' shares to estimate the budget without manual adjustments. Compare it with "Standard" — the difference is clearly visible.
There is a simple rule: plan 70-80% of your shopping in advance (home purchases, basic products), and keep "out of home" purchases within weekly limits. If you ate out more often in a given week, compensate for this in the next week by eating at home.
First, drinks/soda and impulse snacks: they rarely add to satiety. Next, some of your lunches away from home. For your "home basket," it's painless to switch to private brands, seasonal vegetables, and frozen staples.
