Back by popular demand, here’s the July update on exactly how much my family spent on groceries, plus what’s been harvested from the garden, complete with pictures!
I was happy to come in under my goal of $300 for the month, especially since we took a week-long camping trip to Colorado and packed along the majority of our food for that trip (frugal traveling!). My total would be quite a bit lower if we hadn’t taken the trip because I bought food I wouldn’t normally buy to make travel easier.
Grocery Expense Inclusions
I’ve had many questions regarding what I do and do not include in my “grocery” expense category, so I’ll cover that here:
Included:
- All food purchased, with the exception of beef
- Kitchen supplies (such as dish soap, foil, etc.)
Not Included:
- Dining out (total is typically well under $100 – it’s $53.38 in July, plus we ate out on vacation once but that is on the vacation budget)
- Beef (we buy ¾ grass fed steer each year for approximately $1000)
- Cleaning supplies (window cleaner, laundry detergent supplies, etc.)
- Personal items (shampoo, lotion, etc.)
- Paper items (paper towels and toilet paper)
- Alcohol (this is a separate line item, not sure if that’s good or bad, but it’s $0 for July since we stocked up in May 😉 )
I also want to note that we eat fairly healthy (some of us more than others – I have teens). In fact, I eat a 95% gluten free and 100% dairy free diet!
That should help you all decide how my total stacks up. Did I miss anything you had questions on?
July Total
Now, what you’ve all been waiting for – July’s groceries came in at a grand total of…$267.13.
How did I do it? Check out this post and this one too for more details.
As I’ve said in previous posts, Hy-Vee offers fuel saver rewards on some of the products purchased. This month we earned $1.22/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 $24.40 for the month. If you figure that into the grocery expenses, it brings my total down to $242.73.
So, here you are, grocery voyeurs – the photos of the actual food purchased, stores I shopped, money spent and food grown! Scroll to the end of the post to see the garden harvest – it’s really starting to roll in. Enjoy!
Not pictured (oops, sorry, there’s a lot of these!):
- Costco – $28.25 (2 Kirkland Coffees, Kirkland Dishwasher Pacs)
- Fareway – $2.96 (bananas)
- Hy Vee – $13.98 (peanut butter, deli smoked turkey, apples for camping trip)
What I bought
What I grew
What a crop you harvested! Curious, how many pounds of meat was the 3/4 cow you bought? Seems like a great deal on a lot of meat.
I can’t say, exactly, how many pounds of meat we get since we pay for the hanging carcass weight + processing. Since hanging weight differs significantly from processed weight (and the locker never gives me processed weight), I don’t know for sure, but I’d say we get around 300 lbs each time (grass fed steers are significantly smaller than their corn-fed counterparts). I usually guesstimate our cost to be just under $5/pound for everything (including steak!). It helps that I’ve been buying from the same small farmer for several years.
Wow, that is really incredible – I think we must spend that much at our house in one week! I’ve never broken out our grocery bill in that much detail, so my number includes anything purchased there, including shampoo, detergent, etc… But the difference is still amazing.
My wife is a vegetarian, so we don’t eat too much meat and usually shop around the edges of the store, if you know what I’m talking about, not too many processed foods. The part that really kills us is all of the organic food we buy which is significantly more expensive than regular.
Your garden haul was also a huge help I’m sure. Congratulations!
Thanks, Jon! I typically shop the perimeter of the store as well, for the most part anyway. Any junk food you see in my pics is a direct result of my teenage son or ease of prep for when we are camping. I don’t buy 100% organic, I’d say more like 25%, yet we do have the garden produce and I am canning more of it than planned.
Our tomatoes just started producing. I can’t wait! So far, we’ve had lots of green beans, carrots, snap peas, peas, zucchini, lettuces, and radishes. Love your garden haul.
Thanks! The tomatoes are so tasty! My tomatoes were really early and are starting to slow down now. I’ve canned more than planned, which is taking a ton of time, but I’ll thank myself later. I’m going to try a freezer recipe for them next week. Enjoy those tomatoes!!!
Ok this was pretty great and all and then I saw the “what I grew” and then I was like **** ********* **** that’s impressive! Definitely was not expecting that as this was the first time I’ve seen one of your grocery updates. So cool!
Awww, thank you! I do think the gardening helped with the grocery bill quite a bit last month, considering I did buy more food than usual for our camping trip.
Wow that is totally awesome to see how much produce you were able to grow. We are growing a lot of veggies as well and it’s amazing how much a small garden can produce.
Love to hear others garden too! It is amazing how many veggies can come out of a small garden! Right now it’s more than we can eat, so I’m canning and giving away the excess.
I LOVE all those photos of your produce! it looks beautiful! Well done on an amazing harvest for July. Your family must be eating a lot of fresh harvested foods because you don’t have a ton of supermarket foods there, certainly not very much for 4 people.
Also loving that you shopped at Aldi – it’s our “go-to” for all our food shopping.
Jasmin
Thanks, Jasmin! Some of us eat more of it than others!
I like Aldi for many things, we just don’t live as close to one as we used to so I don’t get there as often.
Your harvest is so beautiful it makes me blush! What I wouldn’t give for a garden and a monthly food budget like yours!
Awww, thanks Linda! We are fortunate to live in an area with a lower cost of living and our grocery budget reflects that, for sure. Maybe you could try a little container gardening??
You really have a green thumb! All of your gardening sure is paying off Amanda and it is very encouraging. Any idea how much all of that would have saved you in the grocery?
Thanks, Stefan! I really don’t know how much I’m saving, especially since, right now, my grocery bill isn’t reflecting savings since we’re camping so much and I’m buying more groceries for that. That said, I’m picking an average of 15 pounds of produce a day, so even a very conservative estimate of savings would be at least $15/day at this point. Let’s just say we’re eating very well right now!
Wow fantastic crop! I’m not sure if I have the patience or the sense to grow my own garden but it looks like you are doing fantastic in tending to your own garden! It’s also fantastic that you were able to feed your entire family on a budget of $270 a month.. It takes me $320 a month to feed just myself, maybe I should start bringing in my lunch more to my work!
Thanks! I have the patience, but the time is something I’m struggling with more this year. It takes some time to keep the garden, but it is still worth it to me since we get so much good food on the table this time of year. Taking your lunch to work more often would definitely help save on food!
This is really interesting to see prices in another country – I’m sure I would pay a lot less here in the UK for that lot. You’ve done well considering you have so much gluten free! 🙂
Thanks Francesca! It’s great you are able to get better prices in the UK! Yes, my family eats bread and pasta, but I do not. I’ve learned over the years what works and what doesn’t, so I don’t buy many specialty gluten-free products (I use rice flour in baking though).
Awesome harvest! You must have a nice size garden. Ours has been popping now too, so our grocery bill has been really low last couple months. What have you been canning?
Thanks, Mr Crazy Kicks! It’s a decent size garden, though I’ve been hit hard this year with blight and squash bugs. That said, I’ve still been able to can lots of salsa, stewed tomatoes and dill pickles. I’ve been experimenting with freezing tomato confit this week as well.