Track and categorize grocery spending all March!

[kkbmustang]

Ok, here is my spending from the farmers market today:

$50.25 for grass fed beef straight from the farmer (steak, fajita meet, beef sticks)
$19.50 free range boneless skinless chicken breasts -- straight from the farmer
$28 for local raw honey (should last a LONG time)--straight from the beekeeper
$85 for fruit and veggies (includes a box of 150 bananas which we freeze for smoothies and banana ice cream)

This is for two adults and two kids that eat more than the adults. The meat should last two weeks, the produce for 7ish days aside from the bananas, and the honey for months.

[tariskat]

I am in too! I've way overspent on food over the past few years - I seem to have an irrational panic of running out of food, combined with a "but I don't want fish and vegetables tonight, I want macaroni cheese!" attitude which has resulted in buying ridiculous amounts of crap.  I have decided to shop weekly, with £25 cash, a menu plan, a shopping list and a calculator and EAT the food I meal plan ffs!  I'll be rich and thin ;)

I love Mac and cheese. I cook one cup of elbow macaroni, cook until it has just one or two minutes left, drain, put in milk and cheddar and let it finish cooking while the milk heats and cheese melts. I also add broccoli (frozen, so i put it in the water and let it boil with the noodles) and have cheesy broccoli mac and cheese,. I think its cheaper than getting the processed boxes, and I actually know what's in it. You can make one bowl of it if that's all you want to eat.

[swick]

Math done:) My apologies for the mashup between metric and imperial, that's how my brain works.

Locally, I can get a 2kg bag of milk powder for $34.90. That is approx 29 cups. A quick search suggests to make 4 liters of milk I would need to use 5 1/3 cups so just about 5 1/2 4 L batches.

I can get fresh milk for 5.59 for 4 L. the equivalent to dried for  30.74 or for each 4L of dried milk it is 6.34....

So I had a feeling dried milk bought locally wouldn't save me too much...but  didn't expect it to actually cost more:(

[N]

updated: for march 8. went to costco today and got some bulk items. unfortunately I still need pasta, milk, and possibly some chicken to get thru this week. maybe some more greens, too. ugh. dont feel like Im doing that well so far this month!

Dairy   42   16.54%
Produce   24   9.45%
Meat   64   25.20%
Canned   65   25.59%
Bread/Dry/Pasta   21   8.27%
Prepared food   38   14.96%
      
Total   254   

[Rural]

Math done:) My apologies for the mashup between metric and imperial, that's how my brain works.

Locally, I can get a 2kg bag of milk powder for $34.90. That is approx 29 cups. A quick search suggests to make 4 liters of milk I would need to use 5 1/3 cups so just about 5 1/2 4 L batches.

I can get fresh milk for 5.59 for 4 L. the equivalent to dried for  30.74 or for each 4L of dried milk it is 6.34....

So I had a feeling dried milk bought locally wouldn't save me too much...but  didn't expect it to actually cost more:(

Ah, well. It was an idea. Dry milk is more expensive here than it used to be, too. I'll have to price it, but then I think I'll run the numbers, too. And perhaps I'll check Amazon while I'm at it.

[Elaine]

March- Total So Far (for 2 adults) $107.

We usually ring in at around $190 per month, so I'm interested to see how we end up doing. I have gone as low as $104 per month in the past, when I have had to, but this feels much more luxurious and still reasonable spending wise. I'm happy with it!

Frozen Seafood ($20) 18.69%
Dry Pantry Goods ($57) 53.27%
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables ($30) 28.03%
Cheese & Eggs ($15) 14.01%

[4alpacas]

Produce                  21.56   25.58%
Grains/Beans/Bread   4.56            5.41%
Meat                          10.09   11.97%
Dairy                  15.36   18.23%
Beverages               2.97           3.52%
Desserts                   5           5.93%
Convenience/Snacks13.96   16.57%
Paper Products   2.94           3.49%
CRV                           0.3           0.36%
Delivery Fees           3           3.56%
Peanut Butter           3.98           4.72%   <---Yes, PB deserves a category in our household!
Tax                           0.55           0.65%
Eggs                           4.28     5.08%
Total                    $84.27   

[Zikoris]

As an update for the two of us, we're up to $101.74 for the month. Our breakdowns right now are at:

Produce - 27%
"Meat"/tofu - 11%
Baking - 9%
Condiments - 9%
Grains - 9%
"Dairy" - 18%
Nuts/seeds - 13%
Canned - 3%
Non-food - 2%

Since the last update, about a week, we bought shortening, cocoa powder, salt, cleaning wipes, tomato sauce, tofu puffs, eggplant, a bag of avocados, broccoli, green onions, a bag of red peppers, a grapefruit, 10kg flour, soy milk, almond yogurt, raspberry jam, non-dairy cream cheese, udon noodles, two cauliflowers, cilantro, and a lime.

Our meals over the last week-ish have been stir fry, vegetable pot pie, yakiudon, burritos, kung pao, and leftovers from those. Breakfasts and snacks have been bananas, hazelnuts, bran muffins, chai muffins, peanut butter and jam with toast, guacamole, and blondies. We've been drinking water, apple juice, grapefruit juice, and soy milk.

My boyfriend had one meal at a restaurant, but it was a company event and he didn't pay for it.

[limeandpepper]

I know it says "all March!" in the thread title, but I'll join in partially, if I may - I started counting from Monday the 3rd of March. I'll do it until at least this upcoming Sunday, for two weeks total. Later next week my boyfriend is visiting from interstate, and then after that we're travelling, so I'd rather just keep it simple.

[NinetyFour]

Here's where I am, after spending a total of $80.29:

26% nuts
18% grains
17% produce
7% soy milk
7% beans
6% bread
6% canned Chili (Amy's)
4% tofu
4% eggs
4% cheese

[Kio]

I am lost when making a spreadsheet that can do functions (add columns, etc) but Im tracking.

So far Ive shopped twice this month (!) and spent 121$

Dairy: 12  10%
Produce: 24  20%
Meat: 22  19%
Canned: 19  16%
Pasta/dry/bread: 17  14%
Prepared food: 22  19%

The prepared food is high, but that was mostly a 1x a month fried cx splurge :) from the deli counter

To add a column, you can do =SUM(A1:A13) or you could add each individually (=A1+A2+.....+A13).

Another handy command is =SUM(A1:A)  That will add up the whole column, so you don't have to worry about changing your formulas if you add additional stuff.

[Elaine]

March Update- I'll do the percentages at the end of the month, but here are my totals so far:

Frozen Seafood ($20)
Dry Pantry Goods ($65.41)
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables ($43)
Cheese & Eggs ($15)
Spices & Herbs ($8.28)

Total: $151.69 (for two adults)

[HappierAtHome]

Total spend so far for March is $312.36 (for two people).

Bakery (bread etc): 6%
Baking supplies: 5%
Beverages (so far, just coffee to use at home): 3%
Dairy (butter, milk, cheese): 15%
Fruit: 3%
Paper and plastic (newspaper, toilet paper): 4%
Personal care (vitamins, floss, sanitary products): 18%
Protein (eggs, meat): 8%
Sauces and flavourings (so far, just honey!): 2%
Snacks: 2%
Treats: 3%
Vegetables: 12%
Dry goods (pasta, rice, flour, cans of baked beans): 6%
Stationery (card for a wedding): 1%
Household and cleaning (dishwasher tabs and rinse aid): 11%

Personal care and household and cleaning are both artifically inflated by massive sales on items in those categories, meaning we stocked up and thus spent a lot under those headings. Should be lower in a 'normal' month. Dishwasher tabs are a major expense, but I've tried several homemade recipes and they haven't worked at all, and our choices for the tabs in the shop are limited because of allergies. Still looking for a solution there.

Protein was artifically deflated as we started the month with a kilo of red meat already in the freezer.

[4alpacas]

Produce   33.58   20.68%
Grains/Beans/Bread   4.56   2.81%
Meat   24.5   15.09%
Dairy   17.83   10.98%
Beverages   4.97   3.06%
Desserts   $5   3.08%
Conveience Foods/Snacks   27.91   17.19%
Paper Products   2.94   1.81%
CRV   0.5   0.31%
Delivery Fees   6   3.69%
Protein   20.82   12.82%
Tax   1.61   0.99%
      0.00%
Personal Care   9.94   6.12%
Household   2.24   1.38%
Total   $162.4   

[highwayskies]

I did this in 99, down to the items, and it was the most habit-changing thing I've ever done.  I could tell you what I spent on Yoo-Hoo that year. 

I like your categories, 4alpacas! 

Will redo this myself, perhaps April, since I'm late to the game!

[4alpacas]

I did this in 99, down to the items, and it was the most habit-changing thing I've ever done.  I could tell you what I spent on Yoo-Hoo that year. 

I like your categories, 4alpacas! 

Will redo this myself, perhaps April, since I'm late to the game!

Thanks!  I got category inspiration from all of the other posters.  I broke the categories down by how I want to eat.  I want to eat more protein from non-meat sources (which is why protein and meat are separate things), more produce (I'm happy to see that it's the highest), and eat less desserts (the $5 was a box of Girl Scout cookies...and they were AMAZING!!!). 

If I did item by item, I think I would go crazy!!!  I'm hoping to work on getting our monthly grocery bill below $300 (including delivery fees, taxes, personal care, household products, paper products, etc.).  The ultimate goal is under $250. 

[Zikoris]

My weekly update! We're up to $154.88 so far (2 people).

Percentages:

Produce: 27%
"Meat"/Tofu: 8%
Baking: 12%
Condiments: 6%
Grains: 4%
"Dairy": 25%
Nuts/seeds: 8%
Canned: 2%
Non-food: 8%

This week we bought toilet paper, baking powder, broccoli, green onions, red cabbage, a tomato, carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes, tofu, shredded non-dairy cheese, onions, zucchini, a green pepper, lasagna noodles, and soy milk.

For snacks and breakfasts we had PBJ toast, hazelnuts, bananas, corn flakes, peanut butter cookies, raspberry muffins,  banana muffins, and raisin bran muffins.

For dinners we had ratatouille, blueberry strawberry pie (it was Pi Day! Give me a break!), lentil stew, lasagna, breakfast for dinner, fried rice, shepherds pie, and thin crust pizza. Lunches were leftovers from the above.

[socaso]

I'm in! We save our receipts each month and I usually just add up the grocery total but I'm going to do the breakdown this month. Our groceries are getting out of control. I used to feed all of us on $400 a month and we just raised it to $500 and we are set to go over this month and it's making me crazy! I used to have such a handle on this. Hopefully doing a breakdown for a couple of months will show me where I'm going wrong.

[kkbmustang]

For dinners we had ratatouille, blueberry strawberry pie (it was Pi Day! Give me a break!), lentil stew, lasagna, breakfast for dinner, fried rice, shepherds pie, and thin crust pizza. Lunches were leftovers from the above.

Zikoris - You're vegan, right? I'm trying to move that direction for myself (I'll let the rest of my family make up their own minds) and would love a good vegan lasagna recipe. Mind sharing?

We went to Costco over spring break and stocked up. Also bought a Vitamix (on sale for $375, less the $199 Costco Amex rebate plus I sold my ice cream maker, Ninja and food processor, so I didn't end up being out of pocket for it), so we spent A LOT. I'll come back this weekend after we've done our grocery run and update with totals.

[Zikoris]

Sure! For sauce, I used leftover ratatouille that I made in the slow cooker a few days earlier (crushed tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic, carrots, thyme, sage, and a bit of pepper and vegetable stock), but regular tomato sauce would work fine as well. The filling was fried up onions, garlic, zucchini, veggie ground round, green pepper, oregano, and paprika (secret Hungarian ingredient!). I use regular lasagna noodles, and Daiya non-dairy cheese (it's made of arrowroot). It took about 25 minutes at 350 to bake. It was really good, the only thing that might have improved it a bit would be adding toasted bread crumbs to the cheese topping.

[Rural]

I crashed and burned with this challenge. Too much going on, didn't get around to recording two receipts, lost them. I think we'll come in under $250 for the month, but I don't know and won't know exactly how it breaks down.

[Cherry Lane]

I am fascinated by this idea!  I've never tracked my food spending any more closely than "grocery" and "dining out".

I pulled out all my grocery receipts for the year-to-date (to get a better idea than just one month).  I also counted up that I've been traveling for about 21 days this year (where I either ate out, mostly on company $ or had food provided when I was visiting friends and family).  Since today is the 21st, the sum of my grocery expenses for the year should be about the same as two months of non-traveling (I did have some small grocery purchases while traveling, but this provides a rough idea).

Leaving out non food items ($11) and sales taxes ($12), I've spent $330 over this period (for one person), so about $165/month).

Here's my breakdown by category:
beverage  7.4%
bread    4.9%
can veg    1.1%
dairy          37.4%
dry goods    2.4%
frz veg      2.3%
meat         6.8%
prepared   24.4%
produce   13.4%

Yep, dairy is my number one food category!  Milk/cheese/yogurt are staples for me.  I do better when I buy large tubs of yogurt and flavor/portion them out myself, but I haven't been doing that lately.  So a daily yogurt at about $0.75 each adds up!

If I sub-categorize dairy, it looks like this (portion of total food)

yogurt     8.0%
cheese   11.6%
milk        16.0%
other       1.7% (three items so far: eggs, sour cream, butter)

Prepared foods is the next largest category, and I really need to work on this one.  I've counted individual yogurts in dairy rather than prepared, so this isn't even a true picture of how lazy I am.  My typical breakfast on the three days per week that I go to the office is:  a can of V8 (beverages), a yogurt (dairy), and a food bar (prepared).  I really need to start making frozen breakfast burritos again instead of food bars.  They taste better and cost less.

Also big in the prepared foods:  hummus, which I need to start making myself, and salsa or pico de gallo, which I do make when I have in-season produce, mostly from the garden.  In winter, I just buy it in tubs.  Two more sub-categories of prepared foods are meals (just heat and eat - I do this about one meal per week) and snacks (chips, trek mix, etc).  Here's the sub-category breakdown of prepared foods:

bar           7.4%
hummus   3.3%
salsa        3.6%
meal           6.6%
snack       3.5%

For a full picture of my food spending, I've also spent $108 on non-travel dining out over this modified two-month period, which covers one super-fancy meal and a few casual meals.

[limeandpepper]

I know it says "all March!" in the thread title, but I'll join in partially, if I may - I started counting from Monday the 3rd of March. I'll do it until at least this upcoming Sunday, for two weeks total. Later next week my boyfriend is visiting from interstate, and then after that we're travelling, so I'd rather just keep it simple.

Alright, I said I'd do 2 weeks but I decided to stretch it to 3 weeks, so that's good! Leaving for a trip in a few days, so I won't be tracking any further, and will post my results now.

3/3/14 – 23/3/14 (3 weeks of Mon-Sun inclusive)

Meat / Tofu / Other Protein: $16.8 (20.5%)
Vegetables: $15.50 (18.9%)
Dairy: $15.3 (18.6%)
Fruits: $12.70 (15.5%)
Sweet and Savoury Snacks: $9.4 (11.5%)
Supplements: $7 (8.5%)
Nuts / Grains / Legumes / Related Products: $3.85 (4.7%)
Household / Non-Edibles: $1.50 (1.8%)

Total: $82.05 for 3 weeks

Actual items bought in the above categories:
Meat / Tofu / Other Protein: lamb sausages, lamb mince, canned tuna, chicken thighs
Vegetables: baby spinach, lettuce, rocket/arugula, eggplant, zucchini, mixed salad greens, bok choy, okra, green beans, potatoes
Dairy: yoghurt, cheddar
Fruits: papaya, bananas, oranges, rockmelon/cantaloupe
Sweet and Savoury Snacks: bacon cheese snacks, hazelnut chocolate, spicy potato chips
Supplements: vitamin D
Nuts / Grains / Legumes / Related Products: puffed corn thins
Household / Non-Edibles: laundry pre-wash stain remover

Notes:
- My spending on food has been unusually low because I've been striving to eat more of the things I already have, especially staples like rice, noodles or pasta.
- Over the 3 weeks, I have also spent $27 on eating out, which is also less than what I normally spend. (Apparently I don't eat out as much when my boyfriend isn't around.) This includes a small seafood stew at a food festival, 3 scoops of fancy gelati at one of my favourite shops, a work lunch takeaway of sashimi on rice, and dumplings.
- My boyfriend flew over a few days ago and has treated me to a couple of meals out, but I've also been feeding him at my apartment out of my own pocket.

[Heart of Tin]

I hope it's alright if I join you all. I've been tracking food spending since March 9. For reference, I only cook for myself, so these numbers are for one person only.  I thought that two weeks of spending would be enough to make my first progress post. Both pre-sales tax and post-sales tax percentages are included since grocery sales tax is quite high in Kansas (and even higher in my county and city). I have discovered that sales tax is .25% points higher in the city where I live than in the city where I work (from a school bond a few years back).

Category              Spending             % of After- Sales Tax      % of Pre-Sales Tax
Produce              $22.35                    51.3%                                    55.8%
Beans                   $1.29                      3.0%                                      3.2%
Grains                     -                            -                                             -
Meat                   $13.69                    31.4%                                    34.2%
Dairy                       -                            -                                              -
Eggs                     $2.75                      6.3%                                      6.9%
Pantry                     -                            -                                             -
Alcohol/Coffee          -                            -                                             -
Prepared                  -                            -                                             -
Sales Tax              $3.49                      8.0%
Total                   $43.57

Meals Cooked: Red Beans with Sausage and Cornbread, Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto, Egg Noodles in Mornay Sauce, Corned Beef and Vegetables, Waldorf Salad

[horsepoor]

I really need to start making frozen breakfast burritos again instead of food bars.  They taste better and cost less.

You can do homemade bars, too.  I've done a couple batches of these Kind bars and they're better than store-bought:

http://www.theyummylife.com/Homemade_KIND_Bars

I need to plug my receipts in and see where we're at.  We'll be getting our rental property spiffed up to sell next weekend, so grocery shopping is probably done for the month.  What I know already, is that we spend quite a bit on meat - it's 75% wild caught/grass fed/free range, so I need to do some thinking about the quality vs. quantity thing (not that I'm going to go for less quality, just need to decide if the proportion of budget is reasonable).

[Kio]

Here is our March breakdown so far:

Drinks                20.05
Sweeteners        16.37
Oil / Butter        13.08
Dairy                        18.04
Canned                  5.05
Produce                53.27
Premade Snacks       9.77
Baking                  9.68
Nuts / Nut Butter   21.33
Pasta / Noodles          1.29
Grains                  1.72
Total                    169.95

This is for my husband and me, and we are vegetarians.  No surprise that Produce is our biggest spending category.

[Cherry Lane]

You can do homemade bars, too.  I've done a couple batches of these Kind bars and they're better than store-bought:

http://www.theyummylife.com/Homemade_KIND_Bars

Fantastic, thanks!  I had KIND bars for the first time last month while visiting friends and they are delicious! More expensive than my usual Luna/Clif, though, so I've only bought a few.  (Any tips on replicating a lemon Luna?)

[MinimalistMoustache]

Already went over my $200 budget for the month by $23! For the first 13 days, I was way under budget. Then had company and all bets were off :-)

I am so glad to be participating in this challenge because the categorizing has revealed where the waste has been in my grocery spending. After reviewing receipts against an Excel spreadsheet created for tracking, I find I still spend way too much on coffee, seltzer and wine.

Currently, I'm on a "no-Internet-at-Home" challenge (typing this from the Library). I am now considering a challenge for April 2014 of not purchasing coffee, tea, seltzer or wine.

Thanks everybody for your input - I'm learning a lot.

[kkbmustang]

Ok, here is my spending from the farmers market today:

$50.25 for grass fed beef straight from the farmer (steak, fajita meet, beef sticks)
$19.50 free range boneless skinless chicken breasts -- straight from the farmer
$28 for local raw honey (should last a LONG time)--straight from the beekeeper
$85 for fruit and veggies (includes a box of 150 bananas which we freeze for smoothies and banana ice cream)

This is for two adults and two kids that eat more than the adults. The meat should last two weeks, the produce for 7ish days aside from the bananas, and the honey for months.

I AM SO MAD AT MYSELF! I accidentally threw away my Costco receipt. Grrrr.... My daughter helped try to recreate it, but still.

Costco on 3/12:
$387

Not counting the Vitamix, household or medicine items as they belong in a different category.
$43 for bottled water, juice boxes, coconut water for kids' and husband's school/office lunches that will last the rest of the school year (end of May)
$344 for rice (12 lbs), olive oil (2 of the ginormous bottles), quinoa (10 lbs), organic sugar (10 lbs), 3 loaves GF bread, GF Flour, GF crackers, cheese, eggs, milk, almond milk, frozen strawberries, watermelon, raspberries, coffee, coffee creamer, yogurt, oats, Nutella and whatever else I forgot.

Farmers Market 3/23:
$145.50

$32.50 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, 2 chicken quarters, 2 dozen eggs
$113 - all produce (case of bananas - 40lbs, flat of mangos, the rest were a wide variety of fruits and veggies)


Total to Date: $715.25

Ouch.

[rocksinmyhead]

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS AND EMBARRASSING.

Category	Total
Baking	$5.78	1%
Beans	$3.54	1%
Beverages	$76.25	16%
Bread	$15.90	3%
Canned vegetables	$6.49	1%
Condiments	$8.98	2%
Cooking oil	$2.99	1%
Dairy	$48.05	10%
Floral	$6.98	1%
Frozen	$19.06	4%
Meat	$97.45	20%
Non-Foods	$45.95	10%
Nuts	$3.49	1%
Produce	$79.64	17%
Rice/pasta	$21.42	4%
Snacks	$21.50	4%
Spices	$4.88	1%
Misc Pantry	$4.55	1%
Dog Stuff	$3.00	1%
Prepared Foods	$2.50	1%
Grand Total	$478.40	100%

and the month isn't even over yet!!! I guarantee we will crack $500. and this is for TWO ADULTS!! I mean we eat a lot (both runners, and pretty high metabolisms) BUT STILL.

also, last week before I entered the last few receipts I commented to my boyfriend on how we were already at almost $400 and "isn't that A LOT?!" and he didn't think it was! maybe after he sees the final month's total he will be appalled? I sure hope so because I definitely can't control this spending without buy-in!

some thoughts before you facepunch me TOO hard:
- yes, I already plan our meals. we have made dramatic improvement wrt only grocery shopping 2-3x per week (usually 2 planned-out ones together, and then he will make one or two random stops after work)... we used to go more like 4-5x.
- no, we don't buy frozen/premade lasagnas-stir fries-what have you... everything that is cooked is cooked basically from scratch. since I got my stand mixer for Christmas, this includes pizza dough and usually bread (just bought a loaf of French bread on Monday for the first time in over a month due to laziness/lack of planning, it was $1.79).
- we don't usually buy organic/grass fed/etc. once or twice a month we splurge on meat for one meal at a local butcher we like to support, and when the summer farmer's market comes back next month I will buy eggs there and they are more expensive (but this month, only cheap eggs :))
- I took advantage of two sales on chicken breasts, so we are STOCKED with more than we'll eat by the end of the month... we also have some salmon that I bought on sale but haven't eaten yet.
- we probably eat 1-2 vegetarian dinners per week (leftovers are then rolled over into lunches)... I would LOVE to improve this to more like 50%. also, it just occurred to me that maybe cooking enough dinner so that both of us can have delicious leftovers for lunch is NOT as economical as I had assumed... maybe finding some kind of cheap, easily repeatable lunch food would be better?? hmmmm.

I will cut myself off here before I try to make this thread all about me, but I think I'm going to do a serious groceries case study/ask for help at the end of the month... because DAMN.

[kkbmustang]

OscarsMom - I thank you because I was feeling shocked by our grocery tab this month.

I had a major moment of weakness yesterday and went to Whole Foods before lunch and after a mammogram. Not a good idea. I bought more than the three items I went in for. Including sushi and a ginormous chocolate bar. Which I ate. All of.

Adding the $77 (!!!) tab for that, our monthly total was pretty bad. $792. For 4 people.

As my college roommate would say, "Fuck a duck."

[Zikoris]

Second to last update - nearing the finish line!

We're at $210.30 (2 people). The actual dollar amount we've spent is only $157 due to various store credit/gift cards we've been using, but we're recording for the challenge as if we were paying the full amount.

Produce - 29%
"Meat"/Tofu - 13%
Baking - 14%
Condiments - 4%
Grains - 5%
"Dairy" - 19%
Nuts - 6%
Canned - 2%
Non-food - 6%
Other - 2%

This week we bought: Lime, cilantro, pears, bananas, butternut squash, cauliflower, green onions, green pepper, radishes, zucchini, oranges, a bag of avocados, broccoli, pita bread, 10 grain hot cereal blend, margarine, cooking oil, apple juice, tofu puffs, hummus, and vegetarian frozen chicken breasts.

Breakfasts and snacks have been hazelnuts, peanut butter cookies, bananas, pears, raisin bran muffins, 10 grain muffins, blondies, Hungarian orange-hazelnut muffins, toasted pita bread with hummus and guacamole, and toast with avocado or pbj.

Dinners have been stir fry, dhal, casserole, tofu fried rice, "chicken" stew, breakfast for dinner, thin crust pizza, and a skillet pasta meal. Lunches were leftovers from that.

[NinetyFour]

I went way over my goal of $160 this month.  Total is $215.41 plus tax.

Here are the percentages:

7% soy milk
21% produce
23% nuts
3% tofu
8% grains (quinoa, kamut, oatmeal)
6% beans
2% bread (as a rule, I do not buy bread)
1% eggs (as a rule, I do not buy eggs)
2% cheese (as a rule, I do not buy cheese)
13% prepared food (mac 'n cheese, chips, and Clif products for traveling and camping; 2 cans Amy's chili because they are good and they were on sale)
6% tea
2% cinnamon
6% coffee

[MinimalistMoustache]

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS THIS IS SO RIDICULOUS AND EMBARRASSING. . . .

[and the month isn't even over yet!!! I guarantee we will crack $500. and this is for TWO ADULTS!!. .  groceries case study/ask for help at the end of the month... because DAMN.

RIMH,

Similar grocery spending for ONLY one adult (and one kitty) brought me to these forums! One month, I was close to equaling a rent payment! So thankful that is no longer my habit.

Soon after I began earnestly reading MMM, my grocery bills were cut in half -- it was painless. Now, I'm in the process of tweaking it more.

[happy]

Although I threw my hat into the ring, I just didn't do it.  I'm still interested in the whole idea though. Realised a week ago it wouldn't be that hard since I'm currently doing YNAB. Will try April.

[Zikoris]

Although I threw my hat into the ring, I just didn't do it.  I'm still interested in the whole idea though. Realised a week ago it wouldn't be that hard since I'm currently doing YNAB. Will try April.
 

I expected it to be a lot harder, but once you get going and have a system it's pretty easy - we have an envelope that receipts get dumped in immediately, and I've been updating our spreadsheet once a week. I actually think the meal planning initiative we've started is a lot more work.

[kkbmustang]

We (meaning my family) sucked wind in March. But, I'm going to try this again in April. This is definitely a line item in our budget that can and should be optimized.

[joyful girl]

Hi all, I just saw this thread because we were away so I've lost half the month. But here's my breakdown so far. Looking forward to doing this for April too! We usually spend about 800-1000 a month so I'd like to cut down. Family of 4,

22% Eggs, poultry, beef, fish - and we don't even buy the organic, grass fed stuff :(
17% Fresh produce
10% Coffee, tea (coffee was on sale so I shopped with my middle finger)
8% Snacks - not the healthy kind (uh oh)
8% Milk, yogurt, cream (two growing kids)
7% Dessert (I made old school tiramisu. Happens a few times a year.)
5% Cheese (bought a big chunk of Parmesan)
5% Orange juice (only because we're sick)
3% Condiments
3% School lunches
3% Baking supplies
3% Nuts
2% Frozen/can produce
2% Cold cereal
1% Grains
1% Bread

[tmac]

I've made my last grocery purchase for the month. I should have gone shopping today (~$200 at the regular market and Costco), but ran out of time, so I'm done now for the month. My normal budget is $500.

This is for a family of 5 (2 adults, 1 teen, 2 kids). There were some sales on household consumables, grooming products, and soda, so I stocked up. Our bread spending was down because I've been baking sandwich bread for the last two weeks. We had a month-end breakdown in meal planning, so our junk spending is up.

Good exercise.

Total                                 $289.01    
Household consumables    $36.60    7%
Produce, Fresh                    $34.98    7%
Sweets/Desserts              $31.88    6%
Grooming                            $29.39    6%
Meat/Eggs                    $27.00    5%
Snacks, Junk                    $21.06    4%
Protein, Plant                    $17.21    3%
Dairy                            $15.95    3%
Condiments                    $12.69    2%
Beverages, Soda            $12.65    2%
Breads & tortillas            $10.34    2%
Baking                            $10.21    2%
Pasta & Sauce                  $7.30    1%
Disposables                    $6.59    1%
Whole Grains                    $4.62    1%
Kitchen tools                    $4.39    1%
Cereal                            $3.29    1%
Spices                            $1.89    0%
Produce, Frozen            $0.97    0%
Beverages, Coffee            $-      0%

[horsepoor]

Hmm, I have a sneaking suspicion  that I'm missing a receipt, and there is some junk food DH purchased that is not accounted for here, but I'm coming in at $335, with the following breakdown:

Meat:38%
Vegetables:  26%
Dairy: 8%
Beverages: 7%
Fruit: 5%
Treats (ice cream): 2%
Staples (flour): 1%
Seasonings: 4%
Nuts: 3%
Misc.: 4%

I think I will do this again in April, as this is not a very typical month.  I am also doing the eat everything in the house challenge, so have not been buying the usual non-perishable stuff.  We eat more towards the paleo/primal side, but obviously not religiously.  We also have chickens, so eat lots of eggs, which aren't accounted for.  It will be interesting to do this again in July or August when there's lots of produce coming out of the garden.

[swick]

Eye opening for sure!

Meat    - 43.65 - 17.87%
Dairy - $78.41 - 32.11% - includes cheese, milk, yogurt
Canned - $2.19 - 0.90%
Grains - $7.99 - 3.27%
Convenience - $49.21 - 20.15% 
Fruit    - $11.56 - 4.73%
Vegetable    - $39.43 - 16.15%
Condiments - $2.59 - 1.06%
Other - $4.79 - 1.96%
Eggs - $8.56 - 3.51%

Total 244.22 for two adults in Northern BC

Thoughts: Our Convenience category is high this includes everything we could make at home - Buns, Bagels, Taco chips as part of meal and and some snack foods. In the case of a lot of the baking on sale, I can't buy the ingredients cheap enough to make them here - but I could make them myself, so they are in the convenience category. On the bright side, there is nothing in this category that wasn't on sale.

Our Dairy is really high. Hubby takes yogurt and homemade granola as part of his lunch every day. We go through an average of 4 L of milk a week. Even basic cheese is expensive here, but we could probably work on using less.

The numbers aren't really representative because we have been working through our freezer and pantry - and buy a lot of our grains and other purchases in bulk. I'm not quite sure how I want to break these down yet. As an example we did spend an extra 207.00 this month on our 2x yearly chicken order. We got our year supply of honey, 6 onth worth of chickens and a crate of eggs - not sure how long those will last yet. At the easiest breakdown, of dividing the total into 6 months it adds an extra 35.00 to this month's grocery bill for a total of just under $280.00.

Last year our grocery budget was $600.00 a month. Current budget is 310.00 so coming in at $280 I am pretty happy with, still see a bunch of fat to trim so this challenge was awesome!

[Zikoris]

It's been an interesting month - I just put up a blog post with my detailed numbers, meal plan, and discussion since we're finished shopping for the month now. We were actually pretty accurate in our predictions - we each wrote predictions on the back of the receipt envelope at the start of the month.

We finished the month at $235.62 "fantasy dollars", 181.04 "reality dollars" due to a few gift cards and store credit.

Produce - 29%
"Meat"/tofu - 14%
Baking - 15%
Condiments - 4%
Grains - 6%
"Dairy" - 17%
Nuts - 8%
Canned - 2%
Non-food - 5%

[KMMK]

Hello, I'm Kestra and I'm a fruitaholic.

I won't be posting my March tracking cause we were on vacation and it wouldn't be very accurate, but I will post my monthly averages once I finish my 6 month tracking project around August. Just amazed at other people's low amounts for fruit. Both my husband and myself eat so much fresh fruit, about half organic and/or as local as possible, which isn't that cheap around here, so our fruit alone will probably be around $100 per month or more. Luckily we can afford it as I do love my fruit. We both eat about 4 pieces of fruit per day. Next summer maybe I'll try our local fruitshare organization (www.fruitshare.ca) again since I have more time and storage space now. I'd love to have land with fruit trees but it's not in the cards at the moment.

[swick]

We eat quite a bit of fruit, but due to location and availability most of it is dried and we have been working through our storage supply. We still have a ton of rhubarb in the freezer and huckleberries (Rhubarb was free and Huckleberries foraged) Dried organic fruit does make up a pretty large portion of our bulk orders as we eat it for snacks, use it in baking, in our instant oatmeal packages and in Tajines.

[oldtoyota]

I am going to do this for April. Anyone else in?

My grocery bill continues to be higher than I'd like.

[swick]

I am going to do this for April. Anyone else in?

My grocery bill continues to be higher than I'd like.

I'll join you - I'd actually love to do this for the rest of the year to get a fully accurate idea of where the grocery $ goes.

[kkbmustang]

I am going to do this for April. Anyone else in?

My grocery bill continues to be higher than I'd like.

I'm in.

[Heart of Tin]

I'm in for the rest of the year as well. I need a larger time frame to capture my grains spending, amongst other categories. Here are my 22-day totals (one person):

Category          Weekly Change                   Total                      Percent
Produce               $  9.43                           $31.78                   40.0%
Beans                  $  6.52                           $  7.81                     9.8%
Grains                       -                                    -                           -
Meat                         -                                $13.69                  17.2%
Dairy                         -                                    -                           -
Eggs                          -                                $  2.75                   3.5%
Pantry                 $  1.99                            $  1.99                    2.7%
Alcohol/Coffee      $14.99                            $14.99                  18.9%
Prepared                   -                                     -                          -
Sales Tax             $  2.91                            $  6.40                    8.1%
Total                    $24.84                            $79.41

Meals Cooked: Chocolate Pave Cake (yes, that's a meal; breakfast usually), Falafel Pita with White Bean Hummus, Lentil Stew with Carrots and Fenugreek, Black Bean Enchiladas with Red Pepper Sauce and Guacamole

[minimalist]

Total expenditure: $122.79

nuts 17.0%
fruits 15.4%
coffee/tea 14.4%
meat 13.4%
oil/butter 9.1%
vegetables 8.5%
beer 7.7%
legumes 4.0%
chocolate 2.4%
grains 1.6%

My expenditure doesn't really match up with my consumption because I purchased bulk vegetables, rice, etc. in previous months and share some food with my roommates.

[ashley]

Weird month for me. I spent $75.27 total.

Produce: 12%
Bulk and dry goods: 54%
Spices/oils/condiments: 13%
Restaurants: 21% (fail!)

I will do better next month.