Each month, I share an update on exactly how much my family spent on groceries, plus what we harvested from the garden, complete with pictures!
Back in October, I lifted my rule on not going to the grocery store more than twice a week. The hope was it would help me score more sales at multiple stores and, ultimately, allow me to reduce my grocery spending even further. The results after two months? Fail!
Even though I allow myself to stop at the store more than twice a week, I haven’t seen a reduction in my grocery expenses. Not at all. In fact, I’ve had more of a tendency to just run there and pick up a few things at a time to get us by for a couple of days.
In November, I started tracking my time grocery shopping (and driving to the store if it wasn’t already on my route). The total was 4 ½ hours. Time spent in December? I have no idea. Another fail on my part.
I haven’t been planning my grocery trips well. I actually think this is the result of the having soooo many additional things on the calendar for November and December. I can give you all the excuses, but I really don’t think you want to hear them! 🙂 And they are just that – excuses.
So, what can I say? New year, new start? That is definitely the plan. I’m starting off January with a No Spend Month. I have committed to only buying milk and fresh fruits/veggies for the entire month. My pantry is overflowing, so this is the perfect opportunity to use up the extra food.
That said, I admit, I did stock up a little toward the end of December. I had a small moment of panic around the holidays and was afraid I may be pushing the family (teenagers) a little too far with the lack of food. I didn’t go overboard on stocking up, though. Believe me, it will still be a huge challenge, particularly after the first week or two.
December Grocery Spending Total
So, what exactly did I spend on groceries in December? December’s groceries came in at a grand total of….$345.25. Whoa Nelly! I was way over my goal of $300 for the month.
Curious how I shop? Check out this post for more details. If you are wondering exactly what I include in my grocery category, I list it out here.
Hy-Vee offers fuel saver rewards on some of the products purchased. This month we earned $0.41/gallon credit for gas up to 20 gallons. Since we use the full 20 gallons at the discounted rate, the amount saved in gas through these grocery purchases is $8.20 for the month. If you figure that into the grocery expenses, it brings my total down to $337.05.
So, here you are, grocery voyeurs – the photos of the actual food purchased, stores I shopped and money spent! Enjoy!
What I bought
Not pictured (oops!!):
Costco – $18.98 (2 Cans of Coffee)
Fareway – $3.79 (bananas, potatoes)
Fareway (2 bags of chips and crackers) – GIFTED to us! A kind stranger gave us this wonderful, unexpected gift on Christmas Eve. This brought tears to my eyes and filled my heart with joy. And believe me, I fully intend to pay it forward!
Ahhh it blows my mind that you can feed your whole family for under $350! We try to stick under $400 and I pretty much fail every single month haha. So even though you were over budget, know that I am still very impressed! (and also, shed a tear or two over your “unexpected gift”/giving 🙂
We had a very narrow budget for Christmas this year (since we’re paying off $600k of debt) but I think if most of us look hard enough, we can find ways to give more from what little we have. Thanks for the reminder!
Awww, thanks Amber! It will be interesting to see how the no spend January goes!
I love the unexpected gift challenge! Giving away the $20 card was a life changing experience. But we don’t necessarily always have to give money, we can spread kindness in so many other ways! 🙂
We are going to give Aldi a try in January. It is about 1/4 mile down from our normal grocery store but we just haven’t done it. We also haven’t kept track of spending on things – ever. I think it will help ease my mind moving into early retirement if I start though. But I think it will be hard to do since I have just never done it before. I think it might be a job for Mr. MSD – since he is retired and I generally do all the banking/bill paying! Happy New Year to you and your family!
You should give Aldi a go, Vicki! You may be pleasantly surprised. It saves us a ton of money. Spend tracking, if you’ve never done it, could be an interesting exercise. I’m sure you guys are just fine, but you may get some useful insight! Happy New Year to you and yours as well! 🙂
My grocery bill was higher than yours, and I only have the one kid, and she isn’t even three – so colour me impressed. I would be too embarassed to ever post pictures of my groceries. Lay out all my myriad sins for the world to see? Ugh. There would, for example, be altogether too many bags of flaming hot cheetos. I love those things. They are like crack cocaine to me.
Thanks, Mrs. BITA! Love spicy cheetos! Yeah, I sometimes hesitate to take the pictures because of the bags of chips and other junk food. But, I can blame it on the teenagers! 🙂
I really need to work on our grocery budget too. With the baby now eating table food (and everything in sight), I’ve still only noticed a slight difference, but my lack of planning leaves much to be desired. Hopefully, both of us will have a better month in January:)
Thanks, Latoya! I completely understand – planning was my biggest issue in November and December. I’ve given myself no choice on cutting back in January with the no spend month under way. Here’s to a great, money saving January! 🙂
You and my wife shop so similarly shopping the deals and hitting up different grocery stores to maximize your food while keeping costs low. I always enjoy seeing how much food you can stretch out of your dollars.
Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a great 2017!!!
Thanks, MSM! I think your wife and I would get along quite well! 🙂 Wishing you and your family the best for 2017!