2013 Grocery Shopping Totals

Well, it’s the end of one year and the start of another. For that reason, I sat down and analyzed our budget from the previous year into the next. I looked especially closely at our grocery shopping budget.

For 2013, I budgeted $180 a month for our grocery shopping. This amount was intended to include all toiletries as well as cleaning supplies and paper products. This was an increase from $160 a month in 2012. I made this increase because grocery prices continue to increase. This year, I managed to stay under budget 10 months of the year, and went slightly over 2 months. Here are the exact amounts from this year.

January – $184.93

February – $179.22

March – $132.62

April – $158.76

May – $92.35

June – $123.68

July – $90.94

August – $171.17

September – $176.77

October – $175.99

November – $188.47

December – $173.41

I am pleased that I stayed within my budget so closely for the majority of the year. Now the important question is if I will stick with this amount for next year? Yes, I have decided that we will. I will stay with $180 a month although we will now have to include groceries, toiletries and baby products in that amount. It might be tight but I feel up to the challenge. To help us get ready for the upcoming year, I am going to work on stockpiling what I can before the baby is born.

If you do not have a grocery budget set, I highly encourage you to do so. This is one of the easiest ways to cut your budget because you can see immediate results. Look at what you’re spending and see if you can cut $5 off that total every week. Do that for a month, and then trying cutting another $5 for a total of $10. If you do that every month, you will have cut your budget by $60 a week by the end of the year. Now, this may not work for everyone but do what you can. Can you use one more coupon every week? Can you substitute a sale item for a non-sale item? If your budget is as low as you can make it (like mine is), find ways to get creative. For example, I’m working on buying less processed food and more supplies to cook from scratch.

So, are you with me? Do you have a grocery budget? Are you ready to start a new year of saving money on your groceries? Let’s watch the sales and save together!