Tuesday, March 31, 2020

My Thrifty Grocery Budget 2020 - March



I began the month with a plan and I was doing really well with it.  By mid month things in the world had drastically change and grocery shopping became more like reconnaissance missions.  My plan was set aside and I had to adjust and roll with it.  I ended up buying things I never had planned to by, but simply because it was available.  I'm sure I am not alone.  Nonetheless we did pretty well and stayed on budget using up all of this month's budget and all of my surplus leftover from the previous two months.

A small haul from Fred Meyer at the beginning of the month

Honestly, once things started to go sideways in the grocery stores this past month, we probably could have gotten away with no more shopping, however I did think it prudent to not let our stores go too low, just in case.  We chose carefully and we did not do any panic buying and wipe out the shelves on anything.  Just one or two of something seemed like enough.

My free items

My nonfood budget remained intact as well.  I picked up a few sales items and a sixteen pound bag of dry cat food.  I still have $5.20 left in that budget to use later.

Non food items were under budget

Here is the list of food I bought this month:

Under the circumstance we did well

$174.89 ÷ 31 days ÷3 people = $1.88 per person per day.

I found more of this last week so that made me happy

I am relieved with how my grocery shopping worked out this month and I feel encouraged as I head into April with our rather small grocery budget.  From the total $400 budgeted so far this year I had 31¢ left.  I tossed it into my change jar and will start fresh with the $150 I have budgeted for next month.  We are doing pretty well for groceries in 2020 thus far in spite of the current pandemic and all the challenges we are facing.  I hope you are all doing well and are able to get what you need too.


6 comments:

  1. I think this pandemic changed everyone's shopping. I did not panic but I did buy some canned vegetable that I normally do not use. It will help round out our vegetable consumption since I am severely limiting my shopping. I still have to go see my elderly Mom daily and want to limit any outside exposure to the absolute minimum

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    1. It is so strange to walk into the grocery stores and see empty shelves and limited items. I remind myself it is only temporary as we adjust to our new normal. Take care Anne.

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  2. I agree because I thought I was doing well for the month until the craziness hit and then budget and plans went out the window. We went a little crazy with things that we wouldn't normally buy but I wanted to have special things in the house since we weren't doing any going out of take out. It is always good to be prepared. We were over budget but I know that it was for a good reason to stay out of the stores for a long time. Glad to find your blog!!

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    1. I am glad you found us! Grocery shopping just got really tricky, didn't it? My goodness. Stay safe and stay well! :0)

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  3. This food budget is amazing! I've definitely noticed significant saving now that I can no longer dine out and cook all my meals. It's taking some used to and adjustments for me. Just a quick question, if you planned out the meals weeks in advance, what if you don't feel like eating those food on the day that they were planned? Thanks! Anna

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    1. I talk about flexibility a lot with menu planning. I usually only plan for 4 or 5 meals so I have days to use up leftovers or change my mind. :o)

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