Challenge: To trim down the grocery bills by at least 33%

According to the US Department of Labor, the average American family of four spends $8,513 per year on groceries. This statistic breaks down to $177 per person a month. My family is not the traditional nuclear family. In addition to me and my husband, we have four children -- three teenagers, a two-year-old, and a mother-in-law. Applying the above figures, our grocery bill for a family of seven should approximate to $1239 per month. And astonishingly, it has regularly fluctuated in the range of $1000- $1300. My goal is to trim this monthly pile of receipts down to $830,(including diapers, wipes, hygiene products, and restaurant bills) if not less. Being able to frugally feed my nutrition-conscious husband and appease the voracious appetites of my teenagers will be my main challenge!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

February Numbers and Good Hood

I am so pleased to have calculated the final tally for the month of grocery shopping in February 2011 to be under $800 -- $761.89.  However, due to many occasions and celebrations during this month, I ended up spending an additional $105.54 on gifts/miscellaneous, plus my Honda Pilot needed $132 worth of maintenance (after a 10% coupon I used).  My oldest son landed his first job at Target, which required a purchase of a $12.99 red polo shirt (which of course went on sale a week later).  My middle son won 2nd place in another spelling bee, which required a wonderful gift from his parents -- a Gamestop gift card, which I charged at the grocery store and should have technically included in my grocery list.  A wrong turn in NH landed us at the Mall of New Hampshire, instead of downtown Nashua. That mall trip translated to $37.27 in snacks -- our favorite Aunt Annie's pretzels (no coupon since I was unprepared), Orange Julius, and Pizzeria Regina and an eighteen dollar purchase at Aeropostle...

Reflecting on the additional expenses, I am disappointed that I overspent.  I should have considered these incidental expenses and really trimmed my grocery bills even more to allot for them.  So perhaps I need to make my goal for March to be less than or equal to $700, to compensate for this month.

On another note, I feel victorious over not succumbing to the call of Ben and Jerry's last night.  On sale at 3/$7, I almost bought one... my hands touched the glass before Pistachio! Pistachio!  Even though I knew Walgreens was selling B&J's for only 2/$5 this week, the call was strong, siren-like.  Alas, I moved the cart two doors down and went for a healthier choice -- Hood Frozen Yogurt, on sale for $1.99.  I had a coupon for $1 off two.  With live and active cultures, their Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor provides 3 g of protein, 10% DV of Calcium and 4% Iron.  Total fat is only 1.5 g per serving.  My craving for sugar satiated, my wallet preserved, I can asseverate that my choice of Hood was good!
Posted by Dilara Channing at 9:35 AM

1 comment:

  1. LolaLu16March 18, 2011 at 7:25 AM

    I enjoy reading your blog – fascinated with how you juggle your multi-tasking daily routine of household chores, chauffeuring kids to their activities and still able to keep track of whats on sale- coupons on hand-taking advantage of specials,sticking to a budget goal to satisfy family needs – it is like an adventure detailing all expenses- you'll make a good feature editor contributor by just doing what you do.

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