My Grocery Budget - Budget $$ Update

I haven't raised my grocery budget in years.  Our grocery budget was $100 a month when the girls were itty bitty, but in 2008 during the recession when gas was nearly $4 a gallon here and grocery prices shot through the roof I begrudgingly upped it to $125 in order to maintain our standard of dining.

I want to shop here more often.
I love the selection and quality of their products.

Now it is time to re-evaluate where we are.  I have two active and growing teenagers.  There are days when it seems they are nonstop eaters, which usually precludes a growth spurt and the need for bigger shoes and longer pants. J

My girls also have friends and they like to come over.  And eat.

Need I say more?

Over the past few months I've thought about this quite a bit and I've decided to go ahead and up the budget by a whopping $25.00!

High quality bulk produce - always super fresh

I know, I know.  You are all thinking "How can she be so extravagant?"  "What on earth is she planning to buy with all that money?!"

Pretty much the same stuff, just more of it.  Mostly more meat and more produce.  The rest will stay the same as we currently seem to doing just fine with our dairy and pantry staples.  I'd like to add more things like nuts and better cuts of meat.  I want to serve fish and shrimp more often than I currently do.  I like a slice of lemon in my ice water so I want to be able to buy lemons on a regular basis.  Things like that.

Since we are currently sitting at the halfway point of this year I figured it was a good time to give it a go.  We'll see how we do and just how much of a difference that $25 makes.  You can check my progress the next time I post my grocery budget update. J