Healthy Food Budget Weekly Total: $100.19
Healthy Food Budget Monthly Total: $397.23
Healthy Food Budget Yearly Total: $4821.97
My healthy budget goal is to eat seasonal (local if possible,) home-cooked meals while sticking to a $400 monthly budget for all food including groceries, dining out, entertaining, vitamins/supplements, and gardening.
There’s two of us eating (mostly) 3 meals per day. My husband occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.
October – Month Twelve, Week Four – Final
This week, I spent $100.19, for a grand monthly total of $397.23. My final yearly total is $4821.97.
Weekly Totals:
Dining Out: $14.66
Groceries: $85.53
Yearly Totals:
Dining Out: $955.09
Entertaining: $163.64
Gardening: $79.71
Groceries: $3522.19
Vitamins/Supplements: $92.99
So this is it! The last week of the last month of my year of conscious food budgeting!
I learned so much SOOO MUCH this year! It’s still an ongoing process, but really, I’m quite proud of how much I accomplished in the last 12 months.
I found that meal planning (on my iPad using the “Notes” app) helped tremendously, as did making a strict shopping list.
I use the Shopper iPhone app to write my lists and track item pricing. I set a goal for each store, and tried very hard to stick to it. There were a few impulse add-ons, but I also put a lot of items back on the store shelves that I didn’t necessarily need that week.
So, how much has changed? Well, last year (Nov 2010 to Oct 2011), I spent over $7,000 for food! $500-$700 per month! This year, I cut my food spending to $4822, and I am thrilled! I’m hoping to keep up my $400 monthly budget for the next year too.
Weekly Spending Details
Alpine Butcher $2.43: (Tues) Italian sausage & free coupon for 1lb ground beef
The Meat House $16.37: (Tues) Used $25 groupon for $10 discount off my order. 2 large Chicken cordon bleu, 1lb ground 92% sirloin, 1lb garlic cheddar sausage
Whole Foods $37.75: (Fri) Shell-on pistachios, (2) peanuts, sucanat sugar, red grapes (sale), organic pears, organic apples, (4) whole chickens (sale .99/lb)
Meat CSA $8.35: Chicken legs (Luckily, products from the Meat CSA are paid in full, so technically no real money is actually spent, but I apply the cost to my budget as we consume it.)
Miscellaneous Grocery $18.13: Apples, bananas, grapefruit, desserts, and DH’s splurge of Cadbury Eggs
Week of Meals
- Sunday: Soup with fresh broth, veggies & leftover chicken
- Monday: Baked eggs & veggies (pepper, scallions, celery) over bulgur grain
- Tuesday: Chicken cordon bleu (made by local grocer)
- Wednesday: Pasta with freezer tomato veg sauce
- Thursday: Leftover frozen pizza with carrot ginger soup
- Friday: Chicken legs, potatoes, and salad
- Saturday: Take out pizza
- Sunday: Fried egg sandwich (went to family birthday lunch earlier)
- Monday: Pasta with frozen tomato veg sauce
- Tuesday: Homemade pasta dumplings (me) and Bread pizza (DH)
- Wednesday: Chicken breast with roasted potatoes, cornbread, and small salad
How it Breaks Down by Store – Yearly %
(Groceries & Entertaining Costs Only)
Whole Foods $1225.31 (33%)
Market Basket $674.82 (18%)
Meat CSA $422.39 (11%)
Trader Joe’s $360.18 (10%)
Wilson Farm $213.88 (6%)
Ocean State Job Lot $149.96 (4%)
Amazon.com $112.69 (3%)
iHerb.com $105.73 (3%)
Local Farm: $84.48 (2%)
Local Egg Farm $79.50 (2%)
Wilmington Farmers Market $51.90 (1%)
All Others: $156.70
Interesting, Whole Foods has a strong lead at 33%, but compared to 64% last year, I’ve really reduced my spending there, buying more from local farms, Market Basket and Trader Joe’s.
Looking Forward
I certainly will continue to keep on my budget. Publicly posting actually helped me keep me accountable, so I don’t want to stop updates, but I might post monthly summaries instead of weekly. We’ll see how it goes.
I’m thankful to everyone that took the time to read my budgeting saga, but truthfully, I really blogged the details for me. It’s been a great year, and I’m really excited to start fresh in November! :)