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| Old (2017) Grocery Receipt |
I am trying to figure out my budget for 2025, especially my grocery budget, and thought it would be interesting to see how I did with my grocery spending in 2024.
My grocery budget is meant to cover only food for humans. It includes beverages and snacks, but does not include Dancer's food or any household items such as paper towels, cleaning supplies, etc. I have separate budgets for those.
In 2024, for most of the year, January through October, my monthly grocery budget was $100 for food for one person (myself). When my daughter came home for short visits during the year, I didn't increase my basic grocery budget.
Even when my daughter came down for a week long visit in November and stayed the whole month, I had some unspent grocery money carried over from previous months and I didn't think it would be necessary to increase my budget to include groceries for her. But, then, I volunteered to host Thanksgiving and I had to augment my November grocery budget with money that would have otherwise gone into savings.
And when it became apparent that daughter was staying with me for December, too, I increased the December grocery budget to $200 (again, by taking $100 that would have otherwise gone into savings). The December budget was also augmented with money set aside for the almsgiving and December's "Miscellaneous" budget category to pay for the extra treats I indulged in at the Sri Lankan store! It's the one place where I will buy what I want without demurring about the price. A trip to the SL store is cheaper than taking a vacation, I tell myself!
In 2024, I shopped just once or twice a month on some months and in others, I shopped three or even four times. Some months, I stayed under my budget and carried over the extra funds to the next month. Other months, I went over the budget and "borrowed" from the next month's budget (on those months, I had less that $100 to spend on groceries). And in November and December, I augmented the grocery budget with money from elsewhere!
Here's what I spent on groceries over the year:
January: $84.64
February: $82.41
March: $115.49
April: $115.39
May: $70.77
June: $58.65
July: $134.40
August: $78.79
September: $38.61
October: $90.59
November: $258.21 (daughter was home all month, plus, I hosted Thanksgiving; November's budget was augmented with money that would have otherwise gone to savings)
December: $195.02 + $237.56 at the Sri Lankan store (daughter was home all month, plus, I held the almsgiving; December's budget was increased by $100 and further augmented from the almsgiving/prayer gatherings budget and December's "Miscellaneous" budget)
Spending Totals:
$1,322.97 (without what I spent at the SL store)
$1,560.53 (including what I spent at the SL store)
Yearly Grocery Budget = $100 x 12 = $1,200 (plus funds from the almsgiving budget)
I spent $360.53 over what I had budgeted for the year, or, almost a $1 a day extra, although that extra amount was covered by funds elsewhere in the budget, earmarked for special groceries (for the almsgiving) or money that would have gone into savings. An extra $1 a day doesn't sound like a lot, but, it adds up, doesn't it?
I am going to draw a line under that total for the year and start the new year with a new budget for groceries! But, that will be another post! I have already done my first grocery shop of the year. A dozen large eggs have gone up in price to $8.99; $1 more than what I paid last week!
As always, I am grateful for:
- The availability of groceries
- Being able to buy groceries
- Having a little leeway in the budget to shift funds around and free up funds as needed
- Being able to spend a little extra without going into debt to pay for it
- Being frugal for the most part in order to afford the occasional splurges
Do you keep track of your grocery spending during the year? Did you manage to keep to your budget? Did you go over it? If so, were you able to cover the extra spending? Were you bored to tears when reading this post?
