Hello and happy Wednesday! Here we are, rounding out November. It was a slightly lower grocery spending month for me, unsurprisingly since we were gone a full week for Thanksgiving. It amazes me that this “slightly lower” total is still so high, but I also feel like I’m starting to get past the sticker shock and realizing this is just what food costs these days. It makes me feel quite old when I find myself saying “I remember when you could get XYZ for only $0.99!”

I do know sticking with my meal plan and aiming for zero food waste helps ease the pain because I do feel I’m being responsible with what I do purchase and bring into the home. My freezer is my best friend and I use Souper Cubes to freeze any leftovers we don’t feel like eating right away. Then I just stick the cube in my mini slow cooker in the morning a few weeks later and have a hot lunch ready to go with minimal effort!

I also have gotten into a habit of quickly donating any items I know we won’t use. For example, I gave away a stack of oatmeal cups my kids weren’t enjoying on my local “buy nothing” group and gave the extra Butcher Box turkey I ended up with to Feed NC. Speaking of Feed NC, the girls are excited that we’ll be doing our annual “give day” with them soon, where the girls gather all their give money from the year and we go buy things from their wish list to deliver. It’s a special day for us and we are grateful to be in the position to give back in a tangible way.

November 2023 Grocery Spending

Ok, onto the numbers! Then mentally prepping for December which will be a big spend month most certainly…