<prompt> Human: Looking at my bank statements, I see that I need to eat out less or just eat at less expensive places. My luxury items include a 70 internet bill and 7.99 for Netflix streaming. I also pay 35 to go to the gym. 440 per month goes to pay off student loans Im about 90k in debt for undergrad and grad school combined; another 350 goes to the mandatory retirement plan I work for the govt. 560 goes to rent. I commute 20 minutes to work each way. 35 goes to phone bill, 50 goes to car insurance, and 170 goes to pay medical bills for an injury I sustained before I got health insurance.Also, I spend on average 760month on food. Is that high compared to most people?Im 29 and have absolutely no savings. Im just starting my third year of work. Am I in horrendous shape?What should a typical budget at my salary look like?Has anyone with a similar income been able to put away money each month? If so, how much?What are some concrete steps I need to take immediately to get my finances better?Thanks so much in advance, rpersonalfinanceedit - Updated my student loan payment amount. Also, turns out, after adding in starbucks and peets, food is now 760 per monthAssistant: um. food. wow. I spend 400 - 500 on food for 4 people. I think that may be your area to cut. Human: 500 per month for 4 people? Please, please, please enlighten.Assistant: well... my husband does most of the cooking. And you have to keep in mind that 4 people might really be 3 because my kids are young, so they each eat about 12 of what an adult would eat. We do the majority of our shopping at Aldis for staples, and we buy stuff on sale from Giant Eagle or Walmart. I always pack a lunch for work. We also do one dinner a week that has no meat. Today is our meal, and my husband emailed me this morning that we were going to have beans rice stuffed in peppers with cheese melted on top. We also tend to eat left-overs for lunch the next day. My husband works from home so that is easy for him - i bring my lunch to work every day. That said, you are living alone, correct? When I lived on my own I used to split one of the huge bags of frozen chicken with my neighbor. Shop the sales - stock up on canned soup when it is 1 instead of 2.50 - the ones with the lids that pop off are perfect for grabbing on days that I dont have time to make a full lunch. Turkey burgers are another relatively inexpensive meal - we buy the fresh ground turkey and it is much cheaper than ground beef. Or salmon burgers we use canned salmon for those. But something like turkey burgers or salmon burgers, you can make a huge batch of and freeze them, and then pull them out individually. We also do this for pancakes and french toast - our 3 year old loves those, and they are pennys to make if you do it from scratch. Edit: Im not sure if you can get down to 150 or 200 because it is easier to save money cookign for 4 than for 1, but you can probably get it down to 350 month, throw in another 100month for restaurants, and still put 150 in your savings account. Human: K, so Ill use 350 as a benchmark for food.  <response>: That should be high enough that you wont go too much into shock with the change. I suggest you pick up some frozen convenience foods for those days that you are too tired and want to just order out. They are more expensive than home cooking but way cheaper than a restaurant. 