November Total Food Spending: $395.95
November was the start of a brand new budgeting year, and I’m striving for an annual goal of $4800 – $5000 for food spending. That calculates to about $400 a month, give or take a few dollars over once in awhile.
This year, I decided to remove entertaining from the food budget, but all other conditions are the same: groceries, dining out, gardening, and vitamins/supplements.
November Food Spending: $395.95
I have to confess, on the last day of the month, I spent an additional $50, which would have put me way over-budget. To simplify, I decided to just lump those purchases into December.
Dining Out: $111.88
Groceries: $284.07
My dining out total is a little higher than I’d like, and I don’t know if December will be much better, since the holidays get crazy.
I know it will be a relief not to have to worry about counting my holiday food expense. Last year, I was over in December partly due to Christmas, and it was a nightmare trying to make up for the overage in January.
Here’s where I spent my grocery money:
Amazon $18.31 (Subscribe & Save tuna)
Mann Orchard $37.04 (which includes apples for canned applesauce)
Market Basket $41.65
Meat CSA $43.91 (pork roast was a large expense at $30, but there was enough cooked meat to freeze for future meals)
Seven Acres Farm $13.50 (eggs)
Trader Joes $12.95
Whole Foods $83.47
Wilson Farm $33.24
I canned 2 batches of applesauce this month, adding 10 pints to my canning cupboard. Yum. It will be nice to eat homemade applesauce later in the year, when local apples are long out of season.
My $400 Healthy Budget Details
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. DH occasionally eats take-out lunch at work, & that $ comes out of his personal cash stash.
