December turned out to be my lowest grocery spending month of the year. Our pantry and freezers have been so well
stocked I was able to shop only a few times to pick up produce and a few dairy
items. I did stop at Albertson's on the
way home one evening to stock up on cream cheese and green beans on sale.
I came in way under budget and I was really happy about it. While I did go over budget for the year, this month certainly did help me to make a dent in our yearend total deficit.
7-Up, cookies & caramels were free! |
I was under budget on the non food items I purchased too as the only thing I bought was a 16# bag of cat food on sale for $10.29 and a bag of litter for $3.19 for a whopping total of 13.48.
Here is the list of food I
bought. The items highlighted in red are
my stock up items:
Lettuce (2)
|
|
1.76
|
|
Mixed vegetables
|
|
3.98
|
|
Tomatoes
|
|
0.54
|
|
Coleslaw mix
|
|
0.98
|
|
Parmesan Romano (2)
|
|
3.96
|
Sale
|
Jumbo shells
|
|
1.38
|
Sale
|
Manicotti
|
|
1.68
|
Sale
|
Salad dressing
|
|
1.58
|
Sale
|
Salad dressing
|
|
1.98
|
Sale
|
Buttermilk
|
|
0.58
|
|
Cream - 1qt
|
|
3.18
|
Sale
|
Garlic bulb
|
|
0.58
|
|
Onion powder
|
|
0.84
|
Bulk
|
Garlic bulb
|
|
2.20
|
Bulk
|
Pumpkin pie spice
|
|
0.52
|
Bulk
|
Oregano
|
|
0.31
|
Bulk
|
Parsley
|
|
0.50
|
Bulk
|
Pickles
|
|
3.48
|
Sale
|
Shortening
|
|
3.51
|
Sale
|
Lettuce (2)
|
|
2.08
|
Markdown
|
Bell pepper - red
|
|
0.99
|
Sale
|
Milk - 1/2 gal (2)
|
|
1.58
|
Sale
|
Salami
|
|
1.00
|
Sale
|
Smoked sausage
|
|
3.89
|
Sale
|
Cream cheese (4)
|
|
3.96
|
Sale
|
Green beans (6)
|
|
2.34
|
Store Coupon
|
Pasta (2)
|
|
1.00
|
Store Coupon
|
7-Up
|
|
FREE
|
Store Coupon
|
Cookies
|
|
FREE
|
Store Coupon
|
Caramels
|
|
FREE
|
Store Coupon
|
Milk - 1 gal
|
|
1.79
|
Sale
|
Lettuce
|
|
0.99
|
|
Spinach
|
|
1.99
|
|
Coleslaw mix
|
|
1.49
|
|
Tomatoes
|
|
0.58
|
|
Bell pepper
|
|
0.99
|
|
Limes (2)
|
|
0.67
|
|
Lettuce
|
|
1.29
|
|
Lettuce
|
|
0.99
|
|
Broccoli
|
|
0.74
|
Sale
|
Sour cream
|
|
1.25
|
Sale
|
Cottage cheese
|
|
1.25
|
Sale
|
Salami
|
|
1.00
|
Sale
|
Bologna
|
|
1.00
|
Sale
|
Tortilla chips
|
|
1.00
|
Sale
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
|
$ 67.40
|
|
$67.40 ÷ 31 days ÷3 people = $.73 per person
per day!
We ate really, really well
this month and got our holiday baking
done, to boot.
Cookies! |
Savvy shopping throughout
the year has allowed me to pretty much stay on budget with just a little bit of
overage. Next year I will be striving to
keep it in line and not go over at all.
Year End Totals:
Food Budget $1650 ($125/month Jan - Jun;
$150/month Jul - Dec)
Total Spent $1748.45 (over $98.45)
Non Food Budget $300 ($25/month)
Total Spent
$304.45 (over $4.45)
As we head into 2017 I am
thrilled that we still have a gob of food in the freezer in our garage, the
pantry is still quite full and we have a lot of odds and ends in our kitchen
freezer. I'll be working on clearing out
the kitchen freezer in the weeks ahead so those things get used up and nothing
goes to waste.
This budget month runs from
December 1 through December 31.
Great.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI love that you keep track of your spending. I need to sit down and figure our food budget for the coming year. Do you think you went over ( a tiny bit) because of rising food costs?
ReplyDeleteI think it was that I stocked up more this year and with the recent snow storm we just had I certainly do not regret that. Tracking each item is the only way I personally can stay on track.
DeleteYou did very well! How nice to be starting out the new year with food in your freezer and pantry! Looking forward to following you along in the new year. Wish you and your daughters a very happy 2017.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I am very excited for 2017!
DeleteHappy New Year
Great job!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lee Ann!
Delete