Stick to a grocery budget in 2015 Challenge

[KBecks2]

We have a very full fridge right now so maybe no grocery shopping this week!!

[SuperSaver]

April Goals:
$200 Groceries, $100 Restaurants, $0 Alcohol/Liquor for Hosting

As of this morning $35/$200 for Groceries (I will be going to the Farmer's market Sunday for cheese, fancy bread, eggs, and fresh produce). I live in the city so I had to swing in a Walgreens to get milk this week and found a cheap Indian food mart where naan is like a third the price of Wegmans naan. Victory!

$38/$100 on Restaurants and $0/$0 on Alcohol/Liquor.

At $138/$200 on groceries.
At $125/$100 on restaurants.

I've been sick a lot this past week so my fiance has been getting us takeaway and picking up lots of soups, ginger ales and gingersnaps from Walmart. The Farmer's Market has been wonderful too. Luckily I get free lunch the next 3 days this week, although I'm going out to eat with work friends for dinner Friday night.

[NinetyFour]

I am at $139.43 out of $140 for grocery spending for April.  And I scored a bunch of free food at a work event this past Saturday.  I will also get free food at a work meeting tomorrow.  My only worry is that I may end up buying some kind of snack type of food as I will probably be driving for 4 hours on Thursday.  We shall see.

In the eating out category, I am holding steady at $21.53, and that was to treat a friend to breakfast.  No plans for any other eating out this week.

[Pooperman]

April:

$236/$300.

Yearly:

$1150/$1200

[SF'd]

April's done!

Household Size: 2 (me + DW)
Historical food spending: $1500-2500/month on groceries, restaurants, alcohol.

Goals:
Near-term: $600/month groceries, $400 eating out ($1000 total)
Long-term: $500/month groceries, $250 eating out ($750 total)

Actuals:
Feb. (pre-MMM): $918.00 groceries; $941.46 eating out ($1,860.16 total)
March: $675.24 groceries; $445.19 eating out ($1,120.24 total; $879.76 "saved" vs. average)
April: $845.17 groceries; $294.28 eating out ($1,139.45 total)

Groceries was high this month but included our first ever trip to Costco, which added about $200 worth of mostly non-consumable items we'll be using over the next few months. I'm still thinking my original goals here might be out of reach. $700 groceries/$300 restaurants is probably the right level for now.

Really happy with our progress on eating out, and I'm noticing some behavior change from my wife and me. Eating out is something "special" again, and we've found we can still really enjoy ourselves without breaking the bank. We had about $150 left in our budget for our last meal of the month and decided to only spend ~$60 and save the rest. Progress!

[Pooperman]

April's done!

Household Size: 2 (me + DW)
Historical food spending: $1500-2500/month on groceries, restaurants, alcohol.

Goals:
Near-term: $600/month groceries, $400 eating out ($1000 total)
Long-term: $500/month groceries, $250 eating out ($750 total)

Actuals:
Feb. (pre-MMM): $918.00 groceries; $941.46 eating out ($1,860.16 total)
March: $675.24 groceries; $445.19 eating out ($1,120.24 total; $879.76 "saved" vs. average)
April: $845.17 groceries; $294.28 eating out ($1,139.45 total)

Groceries was high this month but included our first ever trip to Costco, which added about $200 worth of mostly non-consumable items we'll be using over the next few months. I'm still thinking my original goals here might be out of reach. $700 groceries/$300 restaurants is probably the right level for now.

Really happy with our progress on eating out, and I'm noticing some behavior change from my wife and me. Eating out is something "special" again, and we've found we can still really enjoy ourselves without breaking the bank. We had about $150 left in our budget for our last meal of the month and decided to only spend ~$60 and save the rest. Progress!

That's like 2x the rent fiancee and I pay (or ~50% of our income). How do you spend that much? I'm actually curious 'cause I think the worst fiancee and I did was like $600 i groceries and $200 out for a total of $800... which is silly compared to our now ~$300/month.

[SF'd]

April's done!

Household Size: 2 (me + DW)
Historical food spending: $1500-2500/month on groceries, restaurants, alcohol.

Goals:
Near-term: $600/month groceries, $400 eating out ($1000 total)
Long-term: $500/month groceries, $250 eating out ($750 total)

Actuals:
Feb. (pre-MMM): $918.00 groceries; $941.46 eating out ($1,860.16 total)
March: $675.24 groceries; $445.19 eating out ($1,120.24 total; $879.76 "saved" vs. average)
April: $845.17 groceries; $294.28 eating out ($1,139.45 total)

Groceries was high this month but included our first ever trip to Costco, which added about $200 worth of mostly non-consumable items we'll be using over the next few months. I'm still thinking my original goals here might be out of reach. $700 groceries/$300 restaurants is probably the right level for now.

Really happy with our progress on eating out, and I'm noticing some behavior change from my wife and me. Eating out is something "special" again, and we've found we can still really enjoy ourselves without breaking the bank. We had about $150 left in our budget for our last meal of the month and decided to only spend ~$60 and save the rest. Progress!

That's like 2x the rent fiancee and I pay (or ~50% of our income). How do you spend that much? I'm actually curious 'cause I think the worst fiancee and I did was like $600 i groceries and $200 out for a total of $800... which is silly compared to our now ~$300/month.

Yeah, it's a lot isn't it? Honestly I'm not quite sure why our grocery totals are so much different than everyone else on here. I'm trying to get a better feel for that as we go. A few obvious factors as I see it:

• We're captive to what must be the most expensive Safeway in the world (we don't own a car and our next-closest grocery store is somehow even more expensive). Ditto to living in, I think, the second most expensive city in the U.S. Maybe this is a bigger factor than I appreciated - Numbeo says groceries would be ~50% less moving from SF to Dallas. That seems high though. (http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&city1=San+Francisco%2C+CA&country2=United+States&city2=Dallas%2C+TX)
• We eat meat of some sort with every meal except breakfast. Half the time it's ground beef or chicken though, which just isn't that expensive.
• We have relatively high incomes, so some lifestyle inflation is definitely at play (we discovered MMM about 2 months ago).
• We go to the store 1x per week (partly necessary since we're carrying our groceries) and buy all our meals for the week. Lack of car also means lack of buying huge quantities on sale and freezing
• We both eat paleo, so mostly fruits, nuts, veggies, and protein. None of the cheap filler items like beans/rice are an option.
• Eating out was just ... we enjoy good food/wine. This has been the easiest to cut back on (we still have room), but a decent meal out in SF is going to cost you $50-100 unless you go to Chipotle.

Probably a longer response than you expected, but it was helpful to me to write out some reasoning (or maybe some excuses). We're trying to get better. To add some perspective, I'd say we're NOT wasting food. My wife and I are both eating leftovers for lunch every day and our pantry is pretty much empty except for spices, nuts, and what we're cooking that week. We don't throw anything out. We've stopped going to the fancy butcher shop on our corner for meat, etc. Maybe I can upload a receipt at some point and see how things compare.

[wintersun]

April:$625/$750 so far.

That includes no eating out or dry goods, just human food groceries.  Our eating out comes out of our personal spending money.  We spend a great deal on organic veggies and fruit (apples, celery, salad greens,etc.)

Goals: Eat more beans and make own sauces.

[iknowiyam]

Jan Groceries: $342
Restaurants: $45

February grocery bill/goal: $171/$180
Restaurant/goal: $95.93/$150

March grocery bill/goal: $214/$180
Restaurant/goal: $95.91/$150

Family size: 2
April grocery bill/goal: $207/$180
Restaurant/goal: $99.45/$150

Hmm... still not meeting goals... no real excuse. DH wanted some meat, which we haven't bought much this year. We have been VERY BAD about ice cream... I will set a personal goal of oatmeal at least 3 mornings per week. We spend acutally quite a lot on cereal and milk.

Although awesomely, we have not bought any bread since starting the grocery challenge, all home-baked.

[Pooperman]

Jan Groceries: $342
Restaurants: $45

February grocery bill/goal: $171/$180
Restaurant/goal: $95.93/$150

March grocery bill/goal: $214/$180
Restaurant/goal: $95.91/$150

Family size: 2
April grocery bill/goal: $207/$180
Restaurant/goal: $99.45/$150

Hmm... still not meeting goals... no real excuse. DH wanted some meat, which we haven't bought much this year. We have been VERY BAD about ice cream... I will set a personal goal of oatmeal at least 3 mornings per week. We spend acutally quite a lot on cereal and milk.

Although awesomely, we have not bought any bread since starting the grocery challenge, all home-baked.

Oatmeal + brown sugar + milk + cinnamon = yum :D.

[Bracken_Joy]

All things considered, April went better than I expected. I didn't end up tracking % breakdowns. 3 weeks of April (until this one) were 60+ hour weeks for both SO and I.

April:
Groceries- $859/800
Restaurants- $285/200 (<-- this increased because we eliminated the "bar" budget that was $100, so this still went down)

Groceries include home goods and dog food. While we're still overbudget, we're getting closer.
Improving: we did a lot less alcohol this month. More pork, less beef, which is cheaper right now. Changed up my breakfast to a healthier and slightly cheaper option. Brought my lunch for every single one of my 12 hour shifts. Had virtually no food waste- just one small pack of fish we forgot when we had to emergency leave town for a funeral.
Needs improving: we're 4 months out from moving, so we need to go into "eat down" vs "stock up" mode for the freezer and pantry. This will cut costs but takes more planning. This next month will be good weather, so going out to eat so that I can hang out on patios (I have no outdoor access of my own) will be a huge temptation.

[Jeff Kent]

April's done!

Household Size: 2 (me + DW)
Historical food spending: $1500-2500/month on groceries, restaurants, alcohol.

Goals:
Near-term: $600/month groceries, $400 eating out ($1000 total)
Long-term: $500/month groceries, $250 eating out ($750 total)

Actuals:
Feb. (pre-MMM): $918.00 groceries; $941.46 eating out ($1,860.16 total)
March: $675.24 groceries; $445.19 eating out ($1,120.24 total; $879.76 "saved" vs. average)
April: $845.17 groceries; $294.28 eating out ($1,139.45 total)

Groceries was high this month but included our first ever trip to Costco, which added about $200 worth of mostly non-consumable items we'll be using over the next few months. I'm still thinking my original goals here might be out of reach. $700 groceries/$300 restaurants is probably the right level for now.

Really happy with our progress on eating out, and I'm noticing some behavior change from my wife and me. Eating out is something "special" again, and we've found we can still really enjoy ourselves without breaking the bank. We had about $150 left in our budget for our last meal of the month and decided to only spend ~$60 and save the rest. Progress!

I can empathize with this, my foray into MMM was spurned by a random credit card summation for myself and my wife for the first three months of 2015. What really jumped out at me was we spent $4,000 on groceries, eating out and alcohol in that period. I felt a tremendous amount of embarrassment at such profligate spending.

The challenges I face is that we live in a Northern Canadian city so groceries are expense, my wife is a strong believer in organic, grass fed, free range, pastured, chemical free everything and I am a long time strength athlete and eat a large volume of meat, dairy and eggs.

My goal is to cut the budget all the way down to $500 a month for food and groceries for the remainder of the year. I appreciate reading everyone's posts on here to gain inspiration and to learn new tips and tricks.

[GardenFun]

April's grocery report-out:  $585 vs. $600 goal. 

Was hoping to get closer to $525, in order to get the 2015 monthly average to $600.  Considering we had lots of family in town for 1st communion, that original goal may have been too optimistic.   

May's Goal:  $545.  Have to eat down freezer for upcoming beef delivery so this is very doable. 

[happypup]

Groceries: $377 / $350
Alcohol: $50 / $50

I thought we'd squeak right in under the line on groceries after our final shop of the month last weekend, but then on Tuesday I realized it was my turn to bring food for a work event and that kicked us over. That makes it $1395 / $1400 for the year, though, so still on track.

[SuperSaver]

April Goals:
$200 Groceries, $100 Restaurants, $0 Alcohol/Liquor for Hosting

Hahahah yeah did not meet my goals this month. Again.
$287/$200 on groceries (I was way under budget until the 24th but due to the Baltimore rioting my fiance and I stocked up at Walmart, Costco and Aldi's last week so the only reason why we have to leave our safe apartment is for work- a great plan as looting happened on our block and neighborhood this past week)
$201/$100 restaurants. (This number does not include the 5 free work lunches or the fancy lunch at the Cheesecake Factory my dad treated me to. oi vey!)
$0/$0 for Alcohol/Liquor for Hosting. yay!

Overall...$188 over budget, so I am getting better.

[Elliot]

April's done and we barely squeaked in under budget!

[NinetyFour]

I finished April with $139.43 spent on groceries.  57 cents under budget!  Whew!

[getgoing]

Ok, I haven't been participating partially because of whiny-pants reasons, and partially because life got thrown out of whack and was more expensive than usual for a while (death in the family + travel due to death).

Anyway.

This is a reboot for me.

Goal for this month is to reduce spending from $350/month/two adults to $300. I intend to do this by eating a lot of legumes, harvesting greens from the gardens, eating out 0 times, and cooking everything from scratch.

[Liralen]

Joining this challenge b/c sticking to a grocery budget has been a real challenge for us. Last year it ranged from $700-1000 for 2 adults and 1 toddler. This year's goal is $650/month, which includes household goods, soap/shampoo, etc

March: $719.94/$650.00
April: $575.47/$650. Woohoo!
May so far: $313.09...not off to a great start

[GardenFun]

Joining this challenge b/c sticking to a grocery budget has been a real challenge for us. Last year it ranged from $700-1000 for 2 adults and 1 toddler. This year's goal is $650/month, which includes household goods, soap/shampoo, etc

March: $719.94/$650.00
April: $575.47/$650. Woohoo!
May so far: $313.09...not off to a great start

Your May is actually good.  Our monthly spending is front-loaded.  The beginning of the month involves purchasing all those items that were used up near the end of the previous month, along with monthly staples such as flour, detergent, TP/PT, etc.   

[Gyosho]

My modified version of this challenge is:

- Plan one hearty main dish to cook a week. Leftovers go in the freezer. (I live alone so always have leftovers).
- Eat mostly fruits and vegetables.
- Everything (except staples) bought in one month must be used by the end of that month.

It is amazing how inexpensive this is! My grocery bill for May is averaging $35 a week, and that while mostly shopping at Whole Foods (for their fantastic produce).

[kathrynd]

My husband and I spend an average of $50 week for the 2 us.

This includes all toiletries and any restaurant/treat food.

We get a LOT of free food....which helps

Since we were on vacation for 10 days this month, we went over budget a bit this month, but it evens out within the year.
$136.27 food
$159.62 take away and/or restaurant food
=$295.89

[SuperSaver]

May 2015

Alcohol for Hosting $0/$25
Restaurants $150/$100
Groceries $125/$200.

I'm throwing myself a big birthday party and trying to use my normal grocery budget to feed the 8-10 of us for my party on the 31st. The menu is bacon cheeseburgers (with 3 types of cheese and condiments as options), chips, dip, pasta salad, fruit, pineapple upside down cake, soda/liquor/beer/wine. :) I have half of the supplies already. So my last $75 has to buy the fruit, hamburger, buns and 2 more types of cheese. I might also make hotdogs and buns for variety.

[Pooperman]

Through May: $1,439.22/$1,500 ($300/month).

It's pretty much on autopilot now. We've gotten a handle on food and that's awesome. We eat decent stuff (a lot of staples), and even some fancy stuff on occasion. $150/person is a pretty achievable target!

Additionally, this is about what the SNAP benefit amount is ($350/month for two people). It takes a little planning, but it's totally doable.

[GardenFun]

May was $505/$600. 

Monthly average for 2015:  $592/$600.

Biggest wins:
- Monthly average cheese spending went from $40/month to $15/month.
- Using a cut of meat to make two separate meals, supplying sustenance with healthy vegetables, rice or lentils.
- Processed foods (chips, crackers, cereal) purchases reduced $20/month.

As Pooperman stated, these changes are becoming a normal part of our grocery shopping/cooking process. 

[Bracken_Joy]

I know I'm still way over everyone else's spending, but I hit a major goal this month: we actually stayed within budget!!!!! We spent $775/$800 for May. This is the first time since we started this challenge (with our spending frequently above $1k/month) that we got under our mark.

This next month we will probably be way over or way under budget, not sure which yet. We're out of state with family for our wedding for a couple weeks, then I'm staying with a friend once her baby comes. Always hard to predict how travel months work out when you're staying with people.

[4alpacas]

I know I'm still way over everyone else's spending, but I hit a major goal this month: we actually stayed within budget!!!!! We spent $775/$800 for May. This is the first time since we started this challenge (with our spending frequently above $1k/month) that we got under our mark.

Congrats!  The first steps are the hardest.

I've decided to increase our grocery budget.  We've been getting bored with our standard meals, and we've been going out to eat to get something exciting.  Since I'm not a great cook, new recipes are costly.  I screw up recipes, make inedible things, or just burn thing.  We're increasing our grocery budget from $250/month (we average $200 including cleaning supplies, paper products, personal care products, etc) to $350.  I'm excited about the freedom that our expanded budget will allow.  I also realize we need to cut back on eating out in order to make up for the extra $150/month we'll spend on groceries.  We are also cutting back in other areas of the budget as well.

[Britan]

Joining late in the year... but we were kind of accidentally doing pretty well until last month.

Household of two, average spending for Jan-Apr: $250 groceries, $150 dining
Spending in May: $398 groceries, $150 dining

I really don't know what happened there. I guess we had to buy some household things that are 1x/year purchases all at the same time - trash bags, light bulbs, contact solution, etc. so maybe it's that. It was finals time, so there were at least 2 weeks where I let 3+ meals worth of meat go bad because I couldn't bring myself to prepare it after work + studying, so maybe it's that. I also ate a lot of ice cream to get myself through finals, so maybe it's that...

Goals for June:

Quantitative:
Groceries: $200
Dining: $150 - yeah, that's not going anywhere

Qualitative:
(1) Stick to specials on meat. I know I can get chicken for under $1/lb and pork for under $2/lb if I pay attention to when there are sales.
(2) Don't shop for things in the wrong places. My local whole foods is (oddly) the cheapest place for chicken, coffee, and quality fruits, but really pricey for pork and canned tuna.
(3) Actually prepare everything and don't let food (especially meat) go bad in the fridge.

[GardenFun]

I really don't know what happened there. I guess we had to buy some household things that are 1x/year purchases all at the same time - trash bags, light bulbs, contact solution, etc. so maybe it's that. It was finals time, so there were at least 2 weeks where I let 3+ meals worth of meat go bad because I couldn't bring myself to prepare it after work + studying, so maybe it's that. I also ate a lot of ice cream to get myself through finals, so maybe it's that...

Goals for June:
Qualitative:
(3) Actually prepare everything and don't let food (especially meat) go bad in the fridge.

We have those months too where every bulk purchase item needs restocking at the same time.  Jan/Feb was horrible, but March-May balanced it out. 

As for food (specifically meat) going bad, are you concerned with re-freezing it once it is thawed? 

[Liralen]

Joining this challenge b/c sticking to a grocery budget has been a real challenge for us. Last year it ranged from $700-1000 for 2 adults and 1 toddler. This year's goal is $650/month, which includes household goods, soap/shampoo, etc

March: $719.94/$650.00
April: $575.47/$650. Woohoo!
May so far: $313.09...not off to a great start

Your May is actually good.  Our monthly spending is front-loaded.  The beginning of the month involves purchasing all those items that were used up near the end of the previous month, along with monthly staples such as flour, detergent, TP/PT, etc.

May final $694.83/$650.00

The last grocery trip of the month was only $48.78, so looks like we do some front loading too. Now I just have to keep the early part of the month better. On the plus side, we still have meat that will carry over into June.

[SuperSaver]

May 2015

Alcohol for Hosting $0/$25
Restaurants $150/$100
Groceries $125/$200.

Ended May with:
$244/$200 groceries
$184/$100 Restaurants
$62/$25 Alcohol (bought for my birthday party... still have $22 worth unopened I can use in June)

June is a super busy month with a teenage boy staying with us 4 days, 3 parties, 2 fancy dinners out for birthdays and a 3 day trip to our friends. I figure the 6+ days we are not at home we won't need groceries but I hear teenage boys can eat.

$200 Groceries
$150 Restaurants
$40 Alcohol

[iknowiyam]

Jan Groceries: $342
Restaurants: $45

February grocery bill/goal: $171/$180
Restaurant/goal: $95.93/$150

March grocery bill/goal: $214/$180
Restaurant/goal: $95.91/$150

Family size: 2
April grocery bill/goal: $207/$180
Restaurant/goal: $99.45/$150

Family size: 2
May grocery bill/goal: $211/$180
Restaurant/goal: $150.85/$150

At first glance this looks bad, over even on restaurants - a category that has been well under budget every other month so far. However, this is really a win because there is a VACATION hidden in there. Our budget does not even have a vacation allowance right now, probably because it's been so long since we have had one.

So, here is a separate number: $214.53. This is what we spent on our entire vacation. This includes campsite, gas, restaurants, grocery, emergency band-aids/antiseptic (wild times, you know). Hiking, biking, and swimming were all free.  :)

[pancakes]

I ate out every single meal in April. Between a holiday and moving house cooking completely fell by the wayside. May was a tiny bit better but I didn't keep track of anything.

Now it is June we are taking things more seriously again. Will check back in throughout the month to keep myself accountable. The goal is under $1000

[iknowiyam]

Okay, at the halfway mark of 2015 spending/goal: $1381/$1080.  WAH-wuh... well, we weren't playing in January and had guests. I guess that explains at least part of it.

Household: 2
June spent/goal: $235/$180 - I could have held out until 7/1, but running out of fruit in summer is just wrong.
Restaurants June: $133/$160

It has gotten so hot here, and we don't cool the house much. I really haven't been diligent about cooking, so eating more packaged items = cost. Still, we haven't bought any bread - only made fresh this whole year!

[Pooperman]

Through May: $1,439.22/$1,500 ($300/month).

It's pretty much on autopilot now. We've gotten a handle on food and that's awesome. We eat decent stuff (a lot of staples), and even some fancy stuff on occasion. $150/person is a pretty achievable target!

Additionally, this is about what the SNAP benefit amount is ($350/month for two people). It takes a little planning, but it's totally doable.

June: $292.74/$300 or $1,731.96/1,800.00 so far.

[SuperSaver]

June is a super busy month with a teenage boy staying with us 4 days, 3 parties, 2 fancy dinners out for birthdays and a 3 day trip to our friends. I figure the 6+ days we are not at home we won't need groceries but I hear teenage boys can eat.

$200 Groceries
$150 Restaurants
$40 Alcohol

June= Omgosh Fail! Was super spendy and indulgent with multiple sushi outings and parties.
I also did not realize how much teenage boys can eat. When he comes for a weekend in August or September I will be ready!! I think we spent $124 in restaurants and $40+ in groceries just on the few days he was over. The numbers below just hurt:

$280/$200 Groceries
$488/$150 Restaurants
$19/$40 Alcohol


July Goals: Going to try my hardest and get Fiance back on board with monitoring our spending.
$250 Groceries (It's Costco Stock Up Month!!! Get all the chicken and butter!)
$150 Restaurants 
$25 Alcohol

[Britan]

I done messed up June.

Dining
Goal: $150
Spent: $333
You know when you go out to an overpriced restaurant for a friend's birthday, buy one $10 appetizer, and then find out that the 6 bottles of wine, caviar, and filet mignon entrees at the table are going to be split evenly on the bill? Also, this doesn't track random stuff the fiance gets that I don't track.

Groceries:
Goal: $200 (for 2 adults)
Spent: $239
I don't even understand. I shop at the discount grocer and only buy store brand and .59cent/lb chicken thighs. This also doesn't track random stuff the fiance gets, inevitably at Whole Foods, while I am away.

Alcohol
Goal: $50
Spent: $19
At least I met this one, but I'm sure it doesn't include stuff the fiance bought that I don't track.

Plan For July:
* Do not eat out when we travel for a wedding - we will be with family.
* Do not eat out when travelling to the beach with friends. Pack food and/or cook.
* Generally, do not eat out with friends, and bring cash to cover only what we eat.

[riverffashion]

I am late to finding this thread , but I'm in . I read a thread a while back where it was mentioned a gift card for total desired grocery spending is purchased each month  . I will get one for Safeway for $200 and one for grocery outlet for $150 ( don't know actually if g.o. has gift card, if not will get entire $350 card at Safeway ) . my monthly grocery spending has greatly exceeded this amt in the past , is a modest goal for now - will try this, then reduce next month .

[SuperSaver]

I done messed up June.

Dining
Goal: $150
Spent: $333
You know when you go out to an overpriced restaurant for a friend's birthday, buy one $10 appetizer, and then find out that the 6 bottles of wine, caviar, and filet mignon entrees at the table are going to be split evenly on the bill? Also, this doesn't track random stuff the fiance gets that I don't track.

Britain- that sounds awful! Did anyone mention splitting the check evenly at the start? Servers can fairly easily split a bill after ringing it up, especially if it's just one or two items on your tab. & it's totally not rude to discreetly let the server know at the beginning you'd like your check separate (or if you want to discreetly give them your credit card if you want to treat everyone).

[Ascotillion]

Had a baaaaad month. An ankle injury has led to a lot of time spent couchbound at the mercy of delivery food:

Grocery Goal: $280
Grocery Spend: $190.32

Restaurant/Fast Food Goal: $200
Restaurant/Fast Food Total: $394.65

Not terrible, but not great. I'm healing now and I've already started restocking the freezer with meals in case I have another bad stretch. At the very least I'm happy I didn't overspend on groceries just to throw them out when I didn't use them.

[Jakejake]

June total: $94.52 groceries

Not included: My husband goes out weekly with friends and he buys beer for the mancave, which I don't track because I'm not the boss of him. But he packs his lunch daily and bikes to work 3 days a week (75 miles a week) so it's all good. Also, we had one fancy meal out for our 20th anniversary, which probably cost as much as the rest of our food for the entire month. That really puts in perspective for me why I don't eat out more!

Half way through the year we're at $533.02.

[GardenFun]

Had a baaaaad month. An ankle injury has led to a lot of time spent couchbound at the mercy of delivery food:

Sorry to hear about your injury.  Definitely makes meal prep and grocery shopping much harder - but if you ever wanted to try out the mobile carts at the grocery store, here's your chance. 

I'll continue the theme of June sucked:

Groceries:  $635 vs. $600 goal
Out to Eat:  $135 vs. $100 goal

Went on two vacations and considering we consumed more convenience food than anticipated, I am a little shocked the grocery number wasn't higher.   

Garden is poised to start kicking out a respectable number of vegetables so July's goal is to use the money saved in fresh fruit/veggies to stock up on pantry staples. 

[Bracken_Joy]

I'm also on the "June sucked" bandwagon. We knew it would be expensive, with the wedding and the honeymoon though.

Groceries: $919/800
Restaurants: $225/200

I'm still proud of us on restaurants though, we're spending less than 1/3 what we were spending just 6 months ago.

[riverffashion]

June total: $94.52 groceries

Not included: My husband goes out weekly with friends and he buys beer for the mancave, which I don't track because I'm not the boss of him. But he packs his lunch daily and bikes to work 3 days a week (75 miles a week) so it's all good. Also, we had one fancy meal out for our 20th anniversary, which probably cost as much as the rest of our food for the entire month. That really puts in perspective for me why I don't eat out more!

Half way through the year we're at $533.02.

$94.52 is really excellent for one month grocerys for 2 ppl. And $533.02 also for the year, that's less than many spend for one month .

[riverffashion]

I rarely go out to eat, once or maybe twice a month at most . I alternate with the opl I would dine with ( and is always just with one other person so total for month for this between $20-30  ) . I consider this a luxury tjo, so does not factor into food budget .

[Liralen]

For June 2015:

Amt spent on groceries: $730.07. Goal was $650.00. Still over, dangit!

But it really has been an eye-opener trying to see where exactly the money is going - definitely too much candy & junk!

[Britan]

I done messed up June.

Dining
Goal: $150
Spent: $333
You know when you go out to an overpriced restaurant for a friend's birthday, buy one $10 appetizer, and then find out that the 6 bottles of wine, caviar, and filet mignon entrees at the table are going to be split evenly on the bill? Also, this doesn't track random stuff the fiance gets that I don't track.

Britain- that sounds awful! Did anyone mention splitting the check evenly at the start? Servers can fairly easily split a bill after ringing it up, especially if it's just one or two items on your tab. & it's totally not rude to discreetly let the server know at the beginning you'd like your check separate (or if you want to discreetly give them your credit card if you want to treat everyone).
[/quote
Yeah, they're all some of my best friends in every other respect, and this is a once a year sort of an occurrence, so I wasn't about to make a stink over it.

Also I realized that I posted back in June! And I can proudly say that we did NOT let meat go bad in the fridge! We did let a head of cabbage go bad in the fridge though. But that was like $2. In fact, I probably won't need to go to the store for meat for the first week of July, and we are out of town with family for almost a week, which hopefully we won't have to pay much for.

[Britan]

June total: $94.52 groceries

Not included: My husband goes out weekly with friends and he buys beer for the mancave, which I don't track because I'm not the boss of him. But he packs his lunch daily and bikes to work 3 days a week (75 miles a week) so it's all good. Also, we had one fancy meal out for our 20th anniversary, which probably cost as much as the rest of our food for the entire month. That really puts in perspective for me why I don't eat out more!

Half way through the year we're at $533.02.

Where do you shop and what do you buy? *Pulls out notebook and pen* Teach me your ways!

[riverffashion]

I was able to go ahead and purchase a gift card at Safeway and another at grocery outlet totalling $350. For the month of July . I won't count yesterday since I only spent s couple dollars .remembered after that I will be vacationing with family last two weeks of July so likely will spend zero for food . will use any remaining grocery card funds to count towards the month of August ( subtracting from the $350 for next month ) . I will not be doing "rollovers " adding to allowance for  another month ...

[Jakejake]

Where do you shop and what do you buy? *Pulls out notebook and pen* Teach me your ways!

I let the grocery gods determine our meals, I don't plan a month of meals in advance. The first place I stop in a store is the markdown area. When I see deals like $18 off a brisket, I scoop them up and stock the freezer. I also buy most of my produce at smaller ethnic "fruit ranches" where the markdowns are awesome if you aren't dead set on the waxed polished display fruit that regular stores sell. One of them by me regularly sells cases for 2 dollars. The gods might decide we need to eat pears for the next two weeks, or that I need to learn how to use fuzzy melons. Chicken legs around here occasionally go on sale for under 30 cents a pound, I have a chest freezer that's pretty full with them.

And I do the couponing/rebate deal, so for example back in April, shocktop beer was 6.99 for a 6 pack. But there was a $5 rebate in ibotta, and a $5 rebate in shopmium for a $3 profit. But also on the 6pack was a sticker for a mail in rebate off $6 of produce when you bought the beer. So I used that to buy produce that had rebates, like 5lb of grapefruits that had a $2 rebate. Looking back at my spreadsheet, in one of those trips I had a two dollar profit for the 6 pack of beer, a half gallon of milk, 5lbs of grapefruits, a sweet potato, lettuce and tomatoes.