Feeding The Cheungs: How Much I Spend At The Store

Budget smudget. We've been attempting budgets in some form or another for years now, and we've yet to land on The Perfect System. (Pretty sure The Perfect System would involve lots of extra money, probably this is why we haven't found it yet.) I took over The Finances when Jack was born and revamped our entire spreadsheet (multiple fonts were involved) and while we have a budget and I keep track of everything via Mint and my pretty spreadsheet, we ALWAYS go over. At this point in our lives, with one income and grad school, it's just sort of The Way Things Are. 

But we try, because we really want to, and now that I am in charge of The Finances, I am a Food Budget Dictator. The food budget (which is only groceries, not eating out or other items you occasionally pick up at the grocery store, just FOOD) is pretty much the only line item I am able to keep track of each month. By which I mean, I am AWARE of how much I've spent and how much I have left over at any point in the month. I don't always stay within my budget, but at least I know the minute I go over.

Anything remotely out of the ordinary trips me over budget. If we have a party, the food budget is blown. If we have friends for dinner and make an extra grocery trip: budget is blown. If PHILLIP goes shopping: budget is BLOWN. To stay on budget I have to 1) not feed other people besides ourselves and 2) do all the shopping and planning myself. Number one is lame, because I like having people over to my house and you should ALWAYS feed your visitors and that's when I start telling myself that maybe I am not staying within budget, but I am being a good steward of my money by FEEDING THE HUNGRY. As for number two, Phillip knows better than to offer to do my grocery shopping for me. Harrumph.

(At this point you may be wondering why we don't move some money around and increase the grocery budget, or just do away with it all together, but I need it, at the very least, as a guideline. And we don't ALWAYS have friends for dinner. And we don't ALWAYS throw parties. Sometimes the budget is well within reach!)

Basically, I make weekly shopping trips, and I try to spend $100 or less on each of these trips. (Perhaps it's not done to go around telling people what you spend on groceries, but since that is what this post is ABOUT and I have clearly GONE THERE, I might as well go all the way. Right? The end.) The official budget is $450, with that $50 trying to account for extras, but har har har we rarely stick to $450. See above: multiple ways to fail and/or choosing to go over. Sticking to the grocery budget in December is a joke. But January? ROCKED IT.

Staying within budget amounts to four trips to the grocery store a month. Other months I have opportunities, or I make a point, to visit Costco. In theory my weekly trips add up to less because I bought in bulk at Costco for the month, but Costco is the Target of food stores and I almost always go over budget during Costco months. Woe. I really need to stop going there which means Phillip really needs to stop always wanting to hang out in the TV section.

Anyway. After I make up my menu I inspect the fridge and the pantry for missing items. There are TONS of missing items, but I only write down what we need for that week. That includes dinner ingredients, but also whatever the kids and I eat for breakfast and lunch. So we always need milk and yogurt and bread and cheese. (What? Your kids aren't dariy-tarians?)

And then, when I go to the store, I ONLY BUY WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN ON THAT LIST. Well, maybe a handful of extra things (chocolate chips are on sale! Ooh, wine!) but I am actually pretty good at this part. I hardly ever spend more than $100 in one weekly  shopping trip. (It's the extra "Let's invite so and so tonight!" and "Party on Saturday!" trips that do me in.)

Also, since I am The Family Shopper and have been so for nearly three years now, I know what I'm doing. I know what we're going to end up throwing away, I buy store brands unless I know we prefer something else (store brand Cheerios? BLEAH.), and I know how much we'll eat of a particular thing in a given week. I collect coupons from the circular and sometimes the newspaper; they never save me very much but they make me feel nice and pious. I organize my list by section, I prefer not to bring the kids but I can if I must, and I go to the same store every week so I am a MACHINE, people. The sad part is how much I like doing it. The amount of joy I find in increasing my grocery store efficiency is an amount to which no sane person would actually admit.

It's kind of a competition I have with myself. How much I spent that week, how many dinners my husband seemed to really like. Yes, I know, MY WORLD IS SMALL. 

But I still try to figure out how to save more when I go to the grocery store. It's a time consuming process just going to the store, and also rife with Moral Dilemma! Tomorrow: But WHICH grocery store!

Comments

[Raven]

We don't have a set budget but we have reduced our eating out spending so much by my cooking more, which leads to more left overs which leads to the husband not buying his lunch.

I actually buy more at Costco than I do at the regular grocery store now and that saves us a heap of money because I can stock up on bulk meats and portion them as well as things I use a lot like crushed tomatoes or beans.

I am mindful of the price at the grocery store though so I know which one I should purchase at for the best price. (I bought 3 boxes of cereal at HEB-my third store-because it's $2.08 a box there vs almost $3 a box at my regular store and I had a $3 off when you purchase $3 boxes coupon)

I also try to get as many meals out of one item as I can. Say I make pulled pork one day, I can use the left overs in nachos or quesadillas another day.

[A'Dell]

This is pretty much EXACTLY what I do. I only shop at Wal-Mart and I go into that place with a list, once a week, with a set strategy and shopping route.

The way we always blow our budget is on booze. High priced micro brews, jaunty new California Cabs to try - it's the same story every month.

I also blow the budget if we entertain or I try a new recipe that has crazy ingredients.

[Heather]

When I would make a menu and shop that way we stayed within our budget. I got tired of it though and that is when it all fell apart. I should really start a menu again......

[Elsha]

I'm pretty good about staying in budget when I make the effort. Although, when we finally sell our house and move out of my parents? Pretty sure that effort is going to hurt. A LOT. Because right now I grocery shop with my mom, which means my parents are paying for it. Which means, brand name everything? You bet! Expensive individually packaged snacks? Sure! Food that isn't on the list buy we want today? Why not!

We pick up groceries every now and then, but I think the only things we actually have to pay for on a regular basis are diapers and wipes.

[Elsha]

By the way, I am SO with you on the Cheerios thing. Budget or no, I get real Cheerios. They're my favorite.

[Kathleen]

I get laughed at because I organize my list in the order I go through my grocery store. I even have the coupons I"m going to use stacked in the order of my route through the store. I keep a running list tacked up in my kitchen to write down things we are running low on and then get (probably too) excited when those things go on sale so I can stock up on them. I enjoy being the picture of grocery store efficiency. Although I think my husband finds me weird that I get excited to show him my receipt and say, "Look, I saved $23.02!" It makes me feel like I won an award though.

[HereWeGoAJen]

What is wrong with store brand cheerios, by the way? They are awful. I usually can't even tell store brands from regular, but cheerios are completely inedible.

That's about how much we spend too. We blow the budget when we say things like "ooh, ravioli would be good tonight" and then make a special trip to the store.

[Sarah in Ottawa]

I am the CFO at our house, but I have to admit -- budgetting is the one area where we fall flat. We are super savers, but we have never tracked our spending in order to cut areas or rearrange. I think Dave fears this - we each spend so little on individual stuff that he is probably scared that I will get all "No discretionary spending -- EVER!" That's one thing I'd like to get on this year, though, if only to get ME saving in areas. Dave hardly spends anything at all.

That said - I do very well at bargain shopping for groceries and not blowing wads of cash. I heart lists and stick to them as much as possible, shopping only specials at one or two of the local "value" grocery stores that have the best specials that week. And I stock up on the really good sales - my pantry and freezer are crammed! I was raised by an Italian immigrant, after all. She taught me well!

I, too, understand the lure of Costco overspending. I just have to go there with a list and avoid the non-food areas like the plague. Frankly, that's the only way I can get out of there with a bill under $100. Bread, dairy, produce, look for sales in processed foods, get out!

[C @ Kid Things]

I was pretty good about sticking to a budget when I was the one who grocery shopped, or at least was along while grocery shopping. Now, my husband does ALL the shopping while I stay home with the kids. Needless to say, the budget has long been blown to pieces.

[Amanda]

funny... i don't remember writing this post.

[Jess]

Here is my Costco strategy: make a list, and buy only what is on it. And only go every TWO weeks. This part is crucial. We always seem to spend $100 at Costco, so every other week saves us quite a bit. We stock our freezer, we buy stuff that won't go bad, and we supplement with other stuff from the regular grocery store. And so far we've managed to stay on budget while shopping at Costco.

[Elizabeth]

Hey, that's my grocery budget too!
Although your system sounds better than mine. We try to do a BIG grocery shop at the beginning of the month ($160-180), and then supplement with smaller trips (like $30-$40) which I manage by only letting myself use a basket and not a cart.
It's physically impossible for me to shop with a cart and only spend $100. I might have to stalk you and figure out how you do it.

[Becca]

I do the SAME THING. But we have a big pile o'cash for the whole month and shop from that. Parties and things come from the nebulous pool of "misc. money" that is also budgeted every month.

"Dairytarians" cracked me up! I have two dairytarians myself!

[Jen @ The Short Years]

I totally appreciate you "going there" because I always want to know what other people's budgets are like and how mine compares! Our budget is about $150 more than that, but we have one more family member than you, plus the "groceries" part of our budget also includes things like diapers, wipes, laundry soap, etc. So thanks! You've just made me feel that my grocery spending is not that extravagant (which I sometimes think it is, when I see how much money I spend at the grocery store) but perhaps normal for a family our size.

[Ashley]

I have a theory that you and I are the same person, Maggie. Just in different states. Because you have just outlined our system too. Although we are forced to venture to the crappy Sam's Club as the Costco is far, far away... but still.

[Sara@Belle Plaine]

Because I mentioned to my mother ONE TIME that I've been clipping coupons she goes out and gets me this book: http://www.amazon.com/Coupon-Guide-Cutting-Grocery-Bills/dp/1583333681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265225846&sr=8-1. And whoa if the author isn't dead serious about making me into the Grand Poobah of Grocery Shopping. According to her, I am currently operating at minimum efficiency and should really step it up.

[Christiana]

Oh goodness, this is exactly me. Even the same budget. We rarely go over budget during my weekly trip, but when I'm under, I usually forget that I'm going to need milk again later in the week and we spend the extras elsewhere. Used to do a lot of shopping at Sam's club, but I learned that it's better to get the stuff at the grocery store on sale and freeze if needed.

It's much worse when I'm pregnant because I never know ahead of time what I'm going to be in the mood for or not, so I meal plan and then end up trying to convince the husband that I need sushi/pizza/italian food instead.

[Holly]

"The amount of joy I find in increasing my grocery store efficiency is an amount to which no sane person would actually admit."

Maggie, have you been reading my diary?

[Linda]

ooh, love this post. Feel the same way about grocery shopping. Am a machine if I go to my regular store. A well oiled machine. heh.

btw, can you tell I'm catching up on my blog reading since this is probably my 3rd of 4th comment of the night?