Weekly Grocery Spending Snapshot 2017

Weekly Grocery Spending Snapshot 2017

Woh! I blinked and six months went by.  It’s been said time goes by faster with each passing year. I can’t disagree. I’ve only found this to be truer and truer with each moment. I am co-authoring a music sight singing series (totally not related to this blog-I have a variety of interests), and that ate up a lot of my first quarter of the year. I realized somewhere in the middle of spring break that I hadn’t taken a weekly grocery snapshot this year. So I started right away and recorded every nickel and dime of what we spent on groceries for the next 4 weeks. I keep a simple google doc and didn’t leave a store until I had recorded the numbers in my phone.

So why should you record what you are spending on groceries? I think it’s one of the easiest place to save money, especially if you are one who buys a lot of prepackaged food or convenience foods. It helps you get a reign on your entire spending as a whole. It makes you aware of where your money is going.

I am a bit of a stats nerd, so I love knowing what we spend. This is actually the 10th year I have recorded our grocery spending. I started this back in 2007. I know you can do cash envelops and know exactly what you spent, but when you have to write it down, things become even clearer. You see exactly how much and exactly where you spent the money.

My numbers include toiletries and paper goods. It does not include eating out because we don’t eat out often. If you are one that eats out 3 or more times a week, I would include your restaurant receipts with the grocery receipts. If you eat out for most of your meals, good news! You REALLY have a lot of room to save money in the long run.

I’m finally catching up on the blog here, so here is what I spent in 4 weeks this April and where:

Week 1:	Date	Amount	Weekly Total
Trader Joe’s	4/2/2017	$43.71	$159.02
Safeway	4/3/2017	$7.00
Safeway	4/3/2017	$17.26
Costco	4/4/2017	$29.25
Costco	4/4/2017	$46.00
Winco	4/6/2017	$15.80
Week 2:	Date	Amount
Fm	4/10/2017	$16.90	$133.88
Safeway	4/11/2017	$2.98
Safeway	4/11/2017	$20.78
Costco	4/11/2017	$23.47
Costco	4/11/2017	$43.43
Winco	4/14/17	$21.90
Coop	4/15/17	$4.42
Week 3:	Date	Amount
Fred Meyer	4/16/2017	$17.95	$77.71
Costco	4/18/2017	$33.53
Winco	4/19/2017	$26.23
Week 4:	Date	Amount
FM	4/23/2017	$24.65	$105.34
Costco	4/26/2017	$34.46
Winco	4/28/2017	$38.23
Haggen	4/28/2017	$8.00
				Four Week Total	Average Spent on Groceries per Week
				$476.00	$119/week

Here are the numbers for the last 10 years. If you click on the links, they’ll go into more depth.

• Fall 2007: $ 42/week              =$168 for 4 weeks (2 adults, a 2 year old, 1 baby)
• Fall 2008: $55/week               =$220 for 4 weeks (2 adults, a 3 year old, a 1 year old)
• Fall 2009: $67/week               =$268 for 4 weeks (2 adults, a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a baby)
• Fall 2010: $ 74.89/week         =$299.56 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 5, 3 & 1)
• Fall 2011: $84.25/week           =$337 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 6, 4 & 2)
• Fall 2012: $105.88/week        =$423.52 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 7, 5 & 3)
• Fall 2013: $142.65/week         =$570.60 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 8, 6 & 4)
• Fall 2014: $106.08 /week       =$424.30 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 9, 7 & 5)
• Winter 2016:$112.53/week =$450.10 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 10, 8 & 6)
• Spring 2017: $119/week=$476 for 4 weeks (2 adults, 3 kids ages 12, 10 & 7)

The numbers over the years have shown a steady growth as our kids have aged and have required more sustenance. Our 12 year old often eats more than I do, so it’s really like having three adults around. This year doesn’t compare with fall 2013 where we were buying more organics. I don’t think we are buying any less organics now, but I think the prices of organics have gone down.

What is your grocery budget or do you have one? Do you know what you spend monthly or weekly? Wanna track exactly what you are spending? Do you think you have room to improve? I’d love to hear any results you’re willing to share!

Other posts you may enjoy:

• No-Spending Challenge Results #5
• Know Your Target Grocery Prices: Grocery Prices to Meet or Beat
• No-Spending Challenge #3

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