Saturday, January 30, 2016

January Grocery Budget Results - A Tough Month!




I am done grocery shopping for the month so am reporting our January Grocery Results now:

Budget $550 - Actual spend $570.90.

Over by $20.90 which comes off the $550 next months budget so only $529.10 will be spent in the shorter month of February.  Only $2 in coupons were used this month.  It was tough staying anywhere near budget this month, but I did manage a few bargains, primarily on $1.49 day at my family-owned grocery store.  I spent $30 and came home with about $80 worth of groceries that day.  It appears they will be continuing with this sale day once per month usually right at the end of the month so I will have to keep my eyes out for the next one as they only advertise it a few days ahead.  The freezer is still half-full and there are some vegetables in the fridge but I do need to get some more fruit.

When I grocery shop I generally stick to some rules:

1.  Cheese - only buy if $1 or less per 100 grams ($10 per kg or $4.54 a pound) .  It is on sale this coming week so I will be stocking up and freezing some as am on my last block of cheddar.

2.  Meat - only buy when on sale or in bulk.  I buy 4 kg of frozen skinless boneless chicken breast a month for $32.99 at Costco which works out to $3.78 per pound.  If you live in Canada you share my frustration that we are a metric country where grocery stores still advertise in pounds some times to confuse the consumer.  Often we just use one breast in a recipe so this way I get good low fat meat at a decent price. I could live without beef but not chicken, my favorite.  I usually only buy things like chicken legs and steaks when they are on pink sticker - and immediately freeze them for later use.  Ground beef costs a fortune right now - but once in a while it goes on sale then I will stock up.  I buy cheap steaks ( generally not great cuts) when on pink sticker for stew and soup.  Right now that is the only kind of meat that I am out of as I haven't seen any decent sales of late.  We will just eat other things until I find some that falls within the budget.  I buy pork chops in large family packs at a place that has the best chops in town.  I might pay a little more for those but in my mind it is worth it to pay that extra little and save somewhere else in the budget.  I managed to buy two small low salt hams for $5 each (regularly $11.99 each) - we ate one and the other was cut up in bits for breakfasts/pizza toppings and frozen.

3.  Veggies and fruit:  I won't spend more than $1.50 for a cucumber and generally .99 cents a pound for fruit like oranges and apples.  It is currently difficult to buy apples within that restriction but I did spot some on this week for 89 cents a pound so will go buy a bunch.  Some kinds of fruit do not fall under this restriction - the luxury fruits - cherries, berries, mango, grapes.  I usually only buy those when they are on sale.  I won't pay more than .80 cents a pound for bananas.  On other veggies I look at the total cost - what an entire head of cauliflower is for instance.  I was able to buy a head of cauliflower for $2.50 this month but  have seen it as high as $6.99 for non-organic.  Highway robbery and not a price I am willing to pay.We eat very well and have a varied diet.  When I see a sale I stock up but sometimes things stay on the grocery list until they come under my dollar limits.  Tomatoes cost a fortune right now, $2.99 a pound and up.  In the summer I grow them but you can also buy them for .99 cents a pound.  I don't buy very many tomatoes in the winter, using up my summer bounty that is in the freezer for soups and stews.  For salad I try and buy leaves with a long fridge life.  Right now my two favorite are spinach leaves and cabbage, both a great base for salad.  I can buy large containers of spinach at Costco for 3.99 which last 3-4 weeks so in the end a reasonable cost.   If I run short on veggies for our salads it is supplemented with an apple, pear or even orange and looks a bit fancy-smancy at the same time.  I buy bulk salt-free sunflower seeds quite cheaply to sprinkle over the salads as well.  No need to ever buy expensive wilted salad kits.

4.  Buy ingredients, not the finished product.  It is still generally cheaper to buy ingredients to cook from scratch than to buy prepackaged meals, with very few exceptions.  It is healthier too.  Convenience costs and it is always cheaper to buy a potato and cut it up yourself than to buy pre-made fries and hashbrowns.

5.  Try to waste as little as possible.  I made chili this week and after two suppers and one lunch for hubby we were chili-ed out.  I froze one bowl of chili for a future lunch/supper for one of us.  One can only do left-overs so long and now we have an easy lunch or supper for me if hubby is away.

6.  Every Thursday/Friday I comb over all the grocery flyers and make a list of items at each store that are on sale.  If I happen to be anywhere near them I stop and pick up the loss leaders on that list.  I live in a relatively small town so this is accomplished easily - but when I lived in the city I planned my errands with these stores in mind too.

In February I am going to start tracking how much of the budget is spent on food, nonfood and taxes.  We pay between 5-12% tax on non-food or food convenience items depending on what the item is.  That adds up quickly.  I am guessing that at least $200 per month is spent on over the counter medications to keep our non-life threatening diseases at bay.  We self-insure medically and yes, this is still cheaper than costly prescriptions that don't work any better.  Our membership to Costco has helped keep those costs in check this past year and we received a $70 rebate on our Executive membership so the cost is down to $40 this year.  There are some items I can't get there though and am still investigating our cheapest options for buying those.

How was your grocery month?  Did you have a tough time like I did?

26 comments:

  1. I lost all track in January where the spending went, with husband grabbing things, daughter picking up items, quick runs for just eggs, milk, apples, bananas and bread at a Kwik trip on route home that has these items incredibly cheap-their own brand.Also tons of money on household items. February I am cracking down and collecting receipts so we really know the damage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sending others to the grocery store can be budget killers - my husband does some damage to ours from time to time as he never looks at prices which drives me crazy. I track our receipts as they come in - that way I know how much is left in the budget :)

      Delete
  2. Groceries are super expensive these days. My goal was $550, and we spent $652. So, not awesome to start with. I did a full breakdown of where we spent our money, and there were a few surprises. It's helpful to get the exact groups, so you can determine if there are areas you can/are willing to cut back.

    It sounds like you are already pretty organized!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use an excel spreadsheet which takes about a total of 2 minutes for recording every couple of days. Easy peasy but I used to use a notebook - that actually was worse as I would have to add things up.

      Delete
  3. Slightly higher than normal, at $305 CAD for the month for the two of us.

    We find that while in Mexico we can generally get by on less than $300 a month, but we splurged on that huge chunk of filet minon that put us over the top! :-)

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good meat is worth it once in a while though - we do that, spend on an expensive piece then eat cheap meals to compensate.

      Delete
  4. You are doing so well considering the challenges. I know that when we get back to Canada in April we will be in shock at the prices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually saw a note up in Superstore advising that due to exchange rates they were sorry but they could not get their usual low produce prices. Good on them to even think about addressing it.

      Delete
  5. Came in a bit under budget. We had several meatless meals this month but spent a lot more on produce as I was making juice for breakfast and lunch. I managed to stretch some chicken breasts over 3 meals and made a main dish cauliflower/potato/leek casserole. Also a veggie stirfry over brown rice - leftovers were great. I had increased my food budget a little as I thought all the produce I was buying would put me over budget but happily that wasn't the case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That casserole sounded very tasty. I need more casserole recipes!

      Delete
  6. I'm sort of bad, I realized with the food category. I have $100/week for groceries and $100/week for gas so I just try to keep it at $200 for both. Gas isn't as expensive so I have wiggle room now. I also try and pay for our alcohol in that too and anything else that we need. I really should track it.
    Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our alcohol is a whole other category - you would cringe at alcohol prices in Canada.

      Delete
  7. I still have kale and chard in the garden to add to our salads. I buy a few Brussel sprouts and make a kale slaw that we love. My hanging onions and potatoes are holding out in my "root cellar" under the guest room bed. Not much, but it all helps. - Margy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was lucky and bought 20 lbs of potatoes on sale in December, BC grown ones too! I still have 10 lbs left and the garage is cool enough in winter to keep them out there - but summertime I really have to be careful and only keep what I can store in the bottom of the fridge. I am thinking of growing some lettuces this summer to help out on the budget.

      Delete
  8. You are doing really well! I should definitely start to track everything!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Try doing the Pantry Challenge! I haven't spent nothing (which you're technically supposed to do, I guess) -- but less than $70 for the month is pretty good. :)

    http://cindybrick.blogspot.com/2016/01/pantry-challenge-report-week-three-on.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very good but I would have a hard time sticking to it as would want to stock up on things when they were on sale.

      Delete
  10. Prices have gone crazy!! Shopping and eating by the flyers and what's on sale is the only way to do it. It's pretty strange that cauliflower was $6.99 just the other week, I saw them for $1.99 on the weekend - makes no sense.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think a few stores are taking advantage of consumers with extra high prices as everyone kind of expects it these days.

      Delete
  11. That's the hard part! Keeping fresh fruit and veggies on hand. I only have me to shop for and so I have to really watch they don't go bad before I get to them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My Mom has the same issue, she tries to limit what she buys.

      Delete
  12. Hi, I like your approach to having limits. It would be interesting to compare for my UK groceries. I'm trying to cut back and buy when cheap but tomatoes for instance are constantly bought and maybe we shouldn't. I need to rethink my shopping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We just substitute things when we don't have fresh tomatoes. It's not always possible but then we only have them as a treat when they are so expensive.

      Delete
  13. I love your extremely detailed list of tips for grocery shopping here. I've been needing to up my game with frugal, diverse shopping for a while now. I don't have many rules but being vegan reduces the options a bit. I buy ingredients, seasonally, waste NOTHING and generally keep it crazy simple. I'm going to go through your list and apply that to grocery gathering, hmmm :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wasting nothing is a huge thing - we are lucky we work from home so very little is ever wasted. I have been cooking smaller portions too - so we don't have to eat leftovers all the time :)

      Delete