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| September Groceries 9/14/26 |
I put in an order of groceries on Sunday night and they were delivered this Monday morning. I wanted more half and half for my daughter as she mentioned that the previous container, bought last week, was starting to taste a bit off. We also wanted more fruit and I wanted some meal replacement drinks and yogurt as I have another dental appointment coming up (next Monday). The canned tuna was a stock up item and I can always do with another tray of chicken drumsticks and a loaf of bread! I received everything I ordered with one substitution - the name brand yogurt because they didn't have the store brand (the shopper took some photos of the shelves and sent to me).
I didn't order any vegetables because the garden is still producing kale in abundance and lots of moringa pods.
Here's the receipt:
Order Summary
Item Details
14 Items
Order Coupons
-$1.00
Other Fees
$0.20
I spent a total of $42.66 on this grocery order.
My September grocery budget (for food items only) = $250
Spent to date = $56.50 + $42.66 = $99.16
Balance remaining in the September grocery budget = $250 - $99.16 = $150.84
Pondering the Grocery Budget:
When I first started this blog (July 2014), I budgeted $150/month for groceries (food, only) for my daughter and myself or $75 per person, per month. When daughter went away to attend university, I budgeted $75/month for myself and set up a budget of $100 for my daughter as grocery prices in the Bay Area were a little higher. My budget, at the time, included an additional $25/month for eating out/take out.
During the Covid pandemic, I chose to do curbside pick up of my groceries from a slightly more expensive supermarket which offered this service (free of charge with a minimum purchase), instead of shopping in person at the less expensive stores I used to shop at pre-Covid. As a result, I found it difficult to keep to the $75 budget I had set for myself. But, since I was not eating out or getting take out, I added the $25 from my eating out budget to my grocery budget and increased it to $100/mo. and that worked out quite nicely.
Later, when my daughter came to stay with me for an extended period of time during the latter part of the Covid pandemic, I increased the budget to $200/mo. for the two of us and when she went back to the Bay Area, I decreased my budget to $100/mo., again. It was still $100/mo. in October 2024. Then, my daughter came home for another extended stay from November 2024 until end of March 2025 and I increased my grocery budget to $200/mo. for the two of us. But, when she went back to the Bay Area after her trip to Japan in April, I went back to budgeting $100 /mo. for myself. But, prices had gone up and I overspent in April (I used unspent money from my car fuel budget to cover what I overspent on groceries).
Then, in May 2025, I increased the budget to $150/mo. because I was stocking up on coffee for my daughter. Her favorite coffee was on sale for $7.99/12 oz. package and I bought a total of 10 packages during the month, using nearly $80 or over half of my grocery budget for the purpose! I budgeted $150 again in June 2025, too, but, in July 2025, I set the grocery budget at $100, again.
However, in August 2025, my daughter came to live at home, permanently and I increased the food budget to $250/month for the two of us. I'm still keeping to that budget for the most part, adjusting what I buy as prices go up, in order to keep to that budget and carrying over any balance (positive or negative) into the next month. I stayed under budget in January and February, went over by $3.70 in March, stayed under budget in April, went over the budget in May, stayed under budget in June, July, and August! I had $1.30 left in the August grocery budget, but, I didn't carry it over to September and started September with a $250 budget.
With grocery prices likely to increase in the upcoming months, sticking to this budget and still eating a fairly well balanced diet might be a challenge. I am wondering if I will have to increase my grocery budget next year.
In the meantime, I am grateful for:
- Being able to order groceries online
- Having the groceries delivered
- The availability of groceries
- Garden produce
- Eggs from our own chickens
Do you have a monthly (or annual) grocery budget? If so, are you able to keep to your budget even with grocery prices increasing?
My budget is getting messed up and my grocery provider is changing so this is going to alter my online shop and delivery as of October. I am not thrilled and plan to look for alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, e. I hope you are able to find a good alternative.
DeleteYou are doing well to stick to your budget while groceries increase in price these days. I probably don't have to remind you that the leftover of the previous carton of half and half can be used in baking with success!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. Yes, I plan to use the balance of the old half and half to bake, especially since it is cooling off a bit, so, I can use the oven again. The "best by" date on the carton is still several days in the future, so I don't know why it tasted off.
DeleteYou did get some savings! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. I try, as much as possible, to buy only those items that are on sale. Not always feasible, of course, but, I try. :)
DeleteYou're doing really well to stick to the budget with prices the way they are! I'm spending more, but I'm also trying to be really careful about what I am buying and will stock up on our regular items only when they are on sale.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Waiting for a sale to stock up is the way to go. I hope you find lots of good sales in your area. Especially with the holidays approaching.
DeleteI think your budget seems to be working well and I hope you don’t have to increase it anytime soon because of rising prices. We don’t have a specific food budget, but try to be smart with what we purchase.
ReplyDelete