noun
food expenses; cost of food
Refers to the money spent on food, often in a household or personal budget context.
今月は食い代がかさんでしまった。
Food expenses have piled up this month.
一人暮らしだと食い代を抑えるのが大変だ。
It's hard to keep food costs down when you live alone.
食費 is the more common and formal term for food expenses. 食い代 is a colloquial, slightly old-fashioned alternative.
Compound of 食い (kui, 'eating', the continuative form of 食う) and 代 (shiro, 'cost' or 'charge'). The reading しろ for 代 is an older, now less common reading.