Keeping Track of $$

I've been operating halfway on a fairly strict grocery budget for the last few months, but haven't stuck to it as consistently as I should. Most weeks I'm pretty sure I stay close to budget, but that's up for debate since we often have several grocery purchases per week - generally one big shopping trip and then one or two trips for things I forgot the first time or realized I needed.


So here goes the first week of keeping strict track of exactly what we spend, what we eat, and where we spend it! Our grocery budget is $75/week, by the way, plus $35/week for restaurant eating (though I'd like to start shifting some of that money into the grocery budget where I can stretch it out more).

What I got at Earth Fare:


Produce (all organic except the sweet corn)
Avocado (1) - $2
Broccoli (.93 lb) - $2.50
Sweet corn (2 ears) - $1.32
Lettuce (1 head) - $2.49
Pears (1.5 lb) - $3.74
Sweet Potatoes (1.28 lb) - $2.55


Animal Products
Fresh Mozzarella - $3.79
Chevre - $3.49
Bacon (.54 lb) - $4.31
Eggs -- $4


Other
Powdered Garlic - $3.98
Organic demera sugar (.93 lb) - $1.85


Tax
2.56


Total
$38.58




Other food purchases for the week:


Raw milk (local, 1 gallon) -- $5
Watermelon, corn, shelling beans & peas, tomatoes (roadside stand) -- $6
Puff pastry (Publix) - $4
Amish cheese, butter, (Mennonite store) - $13

Prorated food items:


2 lb ham steak (local) - $6
Barley - $0.50


Grand Total
$73.08, almost $2 under budget




Before I stopped working at Earth Fare, I used my handy dandy employee discount (20%!) to score a bunch of groceries (many of which were already on sale or had coupons) that we'd be able to store - mainly meat (I got chicken quarters for about $1.50/lb!) but also a few frozen pizzas (Earth Fare Natural brand, $4 after sale + discount), frozen sweet potato fries, and a bunch of bulk items - couscous, barley, quinoa, dried beans, and lentils. I spent $300 total on an entire grocery cart of stuff - the most money I had spent on groceries maybe ever.


I decided to prorate our grocery budget dependent on what I was using that has already been paid for, which also includes our locally raised pork. 


Groceries will be staggered a bit this week - although I do have everything purchased to get us through our eating until Sunday, I want to start buying the majority of our groceries at the Greene Street Farmers Market then going to Earth Fare after the market to get whatever else we need. I'll be shifting all my meal planning and most of the grocery shopping to Thursdays instead of Mondays, causing a little overlap this week.