When I did my new year assessment and goal setting session, I decided I wanted to get a clearer picture of how much I spend on groceries. I have shared a lot of weekly hauls and spending before and it’s been met with a lot of interest. However, it’s never really shown the whole picture. I decided to commit to sharing our grocery spending each month for the year.
As I dive into the first recap, here’s some details on how I’m tracking:
This spending accounts for food and drinks only. If I go to Costco and buy storage bins, I take that amount off of the total before adding it to my tracking spreadsheet. Wine and Zevias count because they are consumable. Toothbrushes and toothpaste do not.
Eating out is not factored in. In general, we eat maybe once a week. January is a little different because we went skiing for a couple days. However, in an effort to keep things simple, I’m only accounting for grocery spending, since we eat the large majority of our meals at home when not traveling.
This isn’t designed with an intention to try and stay within a certain budget or to focus on decreasing spending. You know how the best way to begin a budget is to spend a month or two tracking what you are currently spending to get a clear picture of where you’re starting? This is me doing that for food spending and sharing it.
We don’t subscribe to any particular diet. We do focus on eating whole foods, largely organic, and quality protein. These totals do not include supplements, but I’d estimate we spend an additional $130 a month on pre-workout, protein powder, immunity vitamin packs, and collagen.
Ok… January food spending… let’s go!
- Costco: $83.92
- Food Lion: $209.48
- Harris Teeter: $31.34
- Publix: $438.97
- Whole Foods: $336.89
- Butcher Box: $178.50
- GRAND TOTAL: $1,279.10
I have some thoughts and action items for February:
First, I’d like to do an Aldi trip and restock my pantry staples like rice, beans, tortilla chips, salsa etc. I know some people swear by their produce, but I have not had good luck with it. However, I love many of their organic pantry options and staying stocked on those help keep other costs down.
Costco was surprisingly low this month. That’s a happy surprise, though I feel I could have spent less at Publix if I did a little better planning and bought produce that we eat a lot of, like mandarins, apples, celery, avocados, etc at Costco.
I’ve long been a Whole Foods fan, but it is the furthest store from me and I no longer do their delivery since they implemented the $10 delivery fee. I do love their selection and quality, but unless I’m driving by there, I see it fading out in favor of closer conveniences.
Being that it’s only my first month of tracking, I don’t have a lot to extrapolate from this info, but I do feel empowered just by tracking it and having a better idea of what we are spending! And before anyone tells me to head to Trader Joes… we don’t have one! Well, the closest one is about 40 minutes from my house, so not feasible for frequent shopping 🙂
Do you track your grocery spending? Do you find it helpful?
Laura says
Yes! I faithfully track our grocery spending and try to keep groceries and toiletries to around $750 month for a family of four (2 kids, 10 and 8). I shop primarily at Aldi and Lidl, filling in at Trader Joe’s, Kroger, and Whole Foods, spent $75 on the processing of a deer last fall which we use for ground beef, cube steak, and tenderloin. The kids and I have lunch provided at the school where I teach and they attend, but my husband needs lunch about 5 days per week. We budget $50/month for out to eat, which might be one fast casual meal and one breakfast. We also budget around $25/month on amazon for protein powder and subscribe and save snacks for the kids. Lots of soups, beans/rice, dinner salads, and meat as a topping, not the main dish. I LOVE seeing other people’s shopping/budgeting habits. Thanks for sharing!
Brittany Dixon says
Love the deer processing tip! We are buying a half cow in March for the same lower cost benefits. We did it before a couple years ago and it lasted us so long! Thanks so much for sharing. I also love hearing how other families make it work 🙂
Joanna says
I love these posts and you inspire me to start really jotting down what we spend every month! It’s a loose total in my head. We are very similar – eating in more, types of foods we buy, not doing this to stick to a budget. I also love Publix and Costco and want to start buying pantry staples at Aldi. I’ve not had luck with anything other than pantry stuff there. In a future post would you be able to include a shopping list for Costco/Publix? My Costco total is crazy each month, I buy our meat, produce, snacks, freezer stuff there. Publix for all the rest. I’m just curious and might get an idea of something new to try lol!
Brittany Dixon says
I think that’s why I surprised my Costco total was so low- it’s so easy to pile it up there! I’ll share a post of my favorites, but took give you a peek now, I almost always buy: Pretzel Thins, sour cream, Spendrifts, Caesar salad kit, celery, berries, avocados, tableside guacamole, and their freezer smoothie packs. If you have any favorites I need to try, let me know! 🙂
Joanna says
I buy lots of the same as you. Here are some of my faves for easy dinners:
Just made this for the first time yesterday. So delicious!
http://costcocouple.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Sabatinos-Organic-Basil-and-Cracked-Black-Pepper-Chicken-Sausage-Costco-2-640×480.jpg
So good but usually not available.
https://hooklineandsavor.com/products.html
Fast and delicious with OO, s&p, oregano, lemon juice!
https://www.costco.com/westend-cuisine-grilled-chicken-skewers%2c-mediterranean-style%2c-2-oz%2c-14-count.product.100644683.html
Over noodles!
https://d2lnr5mha7bycj.cloudfront.net/product-image/file/large_a260f7af-ec54-4d2d-81d4-f96b5e5bec46.jpg
Aussie bites, Made in Nature figs, organic animal crackers
Do you follow Dr. Ana Marie Temple? She does these fun videos when out shopping for groceries and has lots of good info/recommendations!
Joanna says
Oops sorry for the double message, for some reason my original reply didn’t show up? I was just resending it and it popped up now. 🤦🏼♀️
Joanna says
Here are some of my favorite easy dinners! Aussie Bites are a great snack. Do you follow Dr. Ana Marie Temple? She does grocery run videos and has great ideas!
I just made this for the first time and so delicious!
http://costcocouple.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Sabatinos-Organic-Basil-and-Cracked-Black-Pepper-Chicken-Sausage-Costco-2-640×480.jpg
Their cod is so good but hard to find.
https://hooklineandsavor.com/products.html
Fast and easy with OO, s&p, oregano and lemon juice.
https://www.costco.com/westend-cuisine-grilled-chicken-skewers%2c-mediterranean-style%2c-2-oz%2c-14-count.product.100644683.html
So good over noodles.
https://d2lnr5mha7bycj.cloudfront.net/product-image/file/large_a260f7af-ec54-4d2d-81d4-f96b5e5bec46.jpg
Kelli says
I should track for February because I swear ours is so expensive and we even bought 1/4 of a cow for our freezer and still spend a ton of money. I do buy farm fresh eggs each week and chicken from the farm which I think is more money. When I go to Costco (about every five weeks) I spend $300-$500. It kills me! I also spend usually $180-$250 at our normal store but Idaho has a steep grocery tax which usually adds about $15-$20 a week to my bill!