General Discussion > Throw Down the Gauntlet

Reduce your grocery spend - 2018

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pancakes:
Last year’s thread seemed to go really well for some people (not so much me).

Let’s keep the momentum up in 2018, or perhaps kick it all off again.

Share your goals and tips, get some motivation or ask for help. Whatever stage you are at, if you are looking to reduce your day to day grocery expenses, welcome!

pancakes:
My grocery goals for this year are first to get an idea of how much we are actually spending.

I know Mr Pancakes is buying lunch at work often and we are drinking a lot of wine but some detailed itemised tracking is needed to see just how out of control it has become. Then we will set up some goals to work towards.

HappierAtHome:
I'm in! We spent $878/month on average last year (two adults, one baby on formula and occasional disposable nappies).

My basic strategies: avoid food waste. Shop mostly at Aldi. Include plenty of vegan and vegetarian dinners. Plan ahead! Less convenience food.

Laura33:
I’m in again.  Goal is $600 for groceries and standard household products, and to minimize weeknight takeout (for health reasons as much as anything else), but without a specific $ limit.  So far this month we are off to a good start - groceries + household together is $262 (I didn’t break it out on the receipts).  Part of it is thanks to my giant shop on 12/31, and part of it is because DD got her license and wanted to take over shopping.  Best idea I’ve ever had:  I gave her the list, put $100 on her card, and told her she could use or keep the rest.  She called about 10 times for help figuring out the cheapest options and came home with an $88 bill.  :-)

Takeout is killing me, though, as a new BBQ place opened a block away, and we don’t get good BBQ here.  And they are not cheap ($10 sandwiches, $2-3 for each very small side).  I’ve already dropped $100 there for just two meals for the family, ugh.

zeli2033:
I'm in for this. I just looked at our average monthly spend on food/dining last year and it is, I shit you not, $1,377. FOR TWO PEOPLE.

I thought it must be some mistake in Mint (ah, rationalization). Alas, no - I went through each line item in that category and can attest that it was due to food/dining. The only caveat is that I don't break out our household goods purchased at grocery stores so some of this can be attributed to that. BUT STILL! Not nearly enough to make that number reasonable by any stretch of the imagination.

After getting a bit more serious about mustachianism in the last few months of 2017, the average dropped to $1,118. With the holidays and travel that's moderately more forgiving but with the introduction of meal planning and using our resources wisely, I think this can be better.

Goal for 2018: Average monthly spend for Food/Dining category to be less than $850. This will continue to include household goods. That's still ridiculous for two people but I think it's a reasonable goal to have based on what all we have coming up this year for trips and it will be the first of many small steps into a future toward more reasonable spending.

So far this month, we've spent $459. Meal planning has been a huge saver and making large batches of freezer meals has also been life changing. I have some travel coming up for work but it will be on the company so we just have to get DH through next week and then finish up the month strong. Shouldn't have any issues staying under budget but I've seen us do all sorts of crazy things when under "stress"*...

*"Stress" is my self-diagnosed complainypants speak for laziness, poor planning & letting convenience reign supreme

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