As promised, here’s the update on exactly how much my family spent on groceries in May, complete with pictures.
Accountability is something I find to be super important in reaching goals and it has proven itself once again. With the incentive of publicly sharing my grocery expenses, I was able to come really close to my goal of $300.
May’s groceries came in at a grand total of…$306.16.
Okay, I did go slightly over, but it’s not a fail. One of the grocery stores offers a discount on gas with the purchase of some items. We earned .96/gallon credit for gas up to 20 gallons. Since we use the full 20 gallons with the discount, the amount saved in gas through these grocery purchases is $19.20. Considering that, I did surpass my goal and came in at $286.96.
How did I do it? Check out this post and this one too for more details.
Time was not on my side this month and a couple of weeks I didn’t plan our meals out ahead of time. Plus, on at least one trip, I bought things simply because I was in a hurry and didn’t want to run to another store. (To my credit, the wind literally blew my list out of my hand one day and I was stuck trying to remember what was needed. This is not good. My daughter compares me to Dory on Finding Nemo, if that gives you any idea how bad the ole memory is).
So, grocery voyeurs, below are the photos of the actual food purchased, stores I shopped, and money spent. Enjoy!
Not pictured (sorry!): Costco – Organic Chia Seed, 5 lb. shredded cheese, 8 pack Progresso soup, bananas, 25 lb. rice = $35.28.
Love HY-Vee, I miss that store since we moved years ago. The savings they offer on gas is pretty incredible!
Congrats on reading your goal!
Thanks! Yes, Hy-Vee is great, as long as you stick to the sales and fuel-saver items. Once we paid only .08 per gallon on a tank of gas!
That is amazing! We are a family of 2 adults and one part time teenager. Last month we spent $323, which is a lot lower than we have spent in previous months. Each month I try to get it just a little bit lower.
$323 isn’t bad at all! I try to get a little lower each month too, but can’t seem to drop much below that $300 mark. I’ll certainly keep trying, though!
$300 for a family of 4 is GREAT! Does everyone bring their lunch to school/work or are any other meals not included? I knew we spent WAY too much on food already but I am going to incorporate some of your tips and tricks and see how low we can go as well!
Thank you! Everyone brings their lunch to work/school except my 15 y.o. son – apparently it’s not cool to take your lunch at his high school!? His lunches cost an additional $45/month during the school year. We eat out an average of twice per month as well. Let me know how it goes on cutting your grocery expenses – I’d love to hear your progress!
That’s terrific. We did not do as well as usual last month although I wonder what it would be if I only included food cost (we had extra grocery costs of medicines/laundry supplies/toiletries last month due to 2 rounds of strep, hives, and a week at the beach). Are you getting that toiletries/cleaning supplies in separate trips or just taking them out of your grocery totals?
Thanks Emily! It does make a difference on how you categorize your spending. I happened not to pick up any toiletries this month at the grocery store. We typically pick up tp and paper towels (which last us forever) at Costco, but they are in my Household expenses category. I don’t buy many cleaning supplies (make my own), but dish soap, vinegar, and baking soda get thrown into the grocery category when they are purchased. I also have a personal category for things like deodorant, bandaids, over the counter meds, etc. This makes me wonder if I have too many categories!
I am obsessed with people’s grocery shopping tally’s and advice. Under $300 would be a dream. We’re a family of 4 trying to get our finances under control and on a good month, we are still probably spending three times that. We live in an expensive place, but there is definitely room for improvement. I wish we had an Aldi – always reading about it!
Thanks for stopping by, Linda! Grocery prices range so much from store to store. Aldi really does help out with staples, plus buying and stocking up on deep sales helps too. I am always striving to improve too, but seem to be stuck at the $300 level.
Nice job! That is quite a bit of food for the cost. We normally spend a bit more than that on a monthly basis but we have been becoming better over the last year. Our garden is starting to grow so I am looking forward to the fresh supply of vegetables all summer!
Thanks, Thias! We have a decent sized garden started this year too. Right now, we are just getting lettuce, but have tons of other veggies planted – fingers crossed on a bumper crop this year.