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!
We are a family of four consisting of two adults and two adult-sized teenagers. Having teenagers in the house makes it incredibly difficult to keep grocery spending down. You may notice the junk food in my grocery pictures. Ugh. I’m trying to find some sort of balance between teen cravings and my budget. Health is an issue too, and the junk food consumption does concern me but, in reality, how much can you control what a 16 year old eats? And do you really want to try? I choose my battles.
A recent conversation with my 16 year old son went something like this: “Everyone else buys stuff [junk food]. Why can’t you just be like everyone else?” I reply “I’m not like everyone else. I don’t like to buy food that has little nutritional value”. He scoffs. I go on, “You have a car, you can go to the store”. He says, “I’m not going to the store. I don’t want to spend my money”. Exactly.
So, while I try to buy healthy food, I do buy “treats” now and then to keep the kids satiated.
September Grocery Spending
So, what exactly did I spend on groceries in September? September’s groceries came in at a grand total of…$304.23. My goal is $300/month, so I went over this month. I had already spent $285 by September 22, so we ate out of the pantry and freezer the rest of the month to keep costs down (with the exception of fresh fruit, veggies and milk).
How did I do it? Check out this post and this one too for more details. If you are wondering exactly what I include in my grocery category, I list it out here.
As I’ve mentioned before, Hy-Vee offers fuel saver rewards on some of the products purchased. This month we earned $1.51/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 $30.20 for the month. If you figure that into the grocery expenses, it brings my total down to $274.03.
We had a dramatic decline in the garden produce in September, though we did harvest several pounds of potatoes. I enjoyed not having to spend as much time in the kitchen preserving tomatoes and cucumbers, but since it’s virtually stopped coming in, I’m starting to miss it. Time to start planning for next year!
So, here you are, grocery voyeurs – the photos of the actual food purchased, stores I shopped, money spent and food grown! Enjoy!
What I bought
- Not pictured (oops!):
$25.85 – Hy Vee: Hamburger buns, ramen noodles, coconut milk, hawaiian rolls, smoked ham, hummus, bananas - $12.34 – Hy Vee: tortillas, tomato juice (2), almond milk, onions
What I grew
How much did you spend on groceries in September? How do you save on food?
That is still a respectable haul from the garden! We have had some freezing nights, and I really need to get out there and pick the 300 ripe cherry tomatoes. I love how hardy they are! Our raspberries are almost finished, but I can still find a few little handfuls. I always have mixed feeling when the growing season is done. Part of me is kind of done and ready for a break. Another part of me will miss the free and extra delicious food!
Yes, the garden is still hanging in there here too. Potatoes and beets are about all I have left to harvest (plus a stray tomato and pepper). Now I am starting to miss the cucumbers. I know come November, I’ll miss the produce…that’s when I’ll start planning for spring. 🙂
I am always impressed in these posts by what you are able to grow yourself.
We just got an Aldi in our area and I went shopping there for the first time. It is amazing! I’ve been doing most of my grocery shopping at Harris Teeter over the last few years and Aldi blows them out of the water price-wise.
Thanks, Matt! Isn’t Aldi the best for saving money!? And I rarely run across anything I don’t like. I just ran across some hormone/antibiotic free meat there this week for a steal!
That’s awesome to see all that produce you grew! Looks so good!
I definitely need to work on my grocery costs. We don’t do a lot of sales shopping and often go to a more high end store that we probably don’t need to go to. Probably gotta hit up that Aldi that’s not too far from us.
Thank, FP! Try out Aldi! Though you may not be able to get everything you want and need (though maybe you can!?), you will definitely save money buying what you can there. They are starting to have a nice selection of organic/gluten free items too.
Looks like you had some more good harvests! We are pulling a lot of winter squash and cabbage now. It’s nice to switch things up and start cooking inside 🙂
The harvests aren’t too bad, but nothing compared to August! Oddly, my winter squash were ripe in August too. And some of the vines were killed early by the squash bugs. I’ve been enjoying changing up the cooking too. We had chili last week for the first time since last winter.
My wife almost exclusively shops at Aldi now. It’s amazing how much food she can get from there with such a small amount of money.
BTW…if my wife saw how much food you pulled from the garden she would make us move from our tiny townhouse into an area with some land.
I wish Aldi was closer to me. I used to shop almost exclusively there as well, but we’ve moved further away, so I only stop by a couple of times a month now. I always try to stock up on milk since they are almost $1/gallon cheaper than any other store.
I love having the garden! I’ve become so accustomed to having the food, I don’t know what I would do without it! She could always do a little patio garden!?
Another amazing home-grown haul! And your stunning pictures as always.
I’m glad to see Aldi featured a few times – we are completely in love with Aldi here in Australia, although we don’t have those other great discount options.
Jasmin
Thanks, Jasmin.
I love Aldi, but the Hy Vee fuel saver does rival their prices on a few items when we cash in on the discount for 20 gallons of gas. That’s the only discount I take advantage of, as I don’t take the time to clip coupons.
Wow, another great month and your still pulling quite a bit of produce from the garden which is great! We need to get out to our Aldi and check it out. There’s one a few miles from our house that we have never been to.
Thanks, Jon! You will be surprised at what Aldi has. It is a no frills store, for sure, but I’ve found the overall quality to be pretty good.
I think you’re doing a great job of balancing junk food vs healthy food. I know in our dream mom world there would be zero junk food, but I don’t think that is realistic for today’s kids unless it’s a choice they make for themselves. Our September was WAY over budget, like $200. But I’m committed to stay on budget for October. 🙂
Thanks, Laurie! That does make me feel better, coming from a mom I know is very health conscious. I’m hoping to really trim the grocery budget in October as well. Here’s to low expenses in October! 🙂
Your harvest is still so beautiful! Boy, $304 for groceries for a month… that is some serious life ninja-ing. I still have so much to learn!
Awww, thanks Linda! Gotta say, I love the term “ninja-ing”! 🙂 Keep in mind, I do live in Iowa, one of the lower cost of living states (though I do live near the only major metro area in the state). I really think that makes a difference. Shopping the loss leaders and at Aldi really helps too.
I am SOOO impressed by your beautiful homegrown haul!
Wish we had Aldi in NZ. I remember going there to shop while in Germany.
Hoping to start planting our garden soon (coming into summer). We also get eggs from our 2 chooks.
Making the effort to go to indie produce shops always saves us big on fruit and veg. Just found another small market shop nearby which is exciting!
Awww, thanks! Oh yes, you are just starting your growing season! I love planting – it’s funny, but it’s my favorite part of gardening. Don’t get me wrong, I love harvest, it just means a ton of work! 🙂
This has truly inspired me! Thank you for such a great post!
Thanks Kumiko!