$pent Millennial

This past Thursday I stopped at Target to get a loaf of bread on the way home from work. It had been a long day and a longer week. I was spent. A woman was blocking the entire bread aisle while talking loudly on the phone. I didn’t have the patience. I grabbed the whole wheat bread nearest me. 

When I rang it up at the register I was horrified. It was almost $4. For one loaf of mediocre wheat bread! I was exhausted and am not the type to make a scene to return it for the $1 bread I usually get. So I just ate the cost and mumbled to myself how annoyed I was about bread costing $4. 

When I got home I complained to my boyfriend about it. He said it wan’t a big deal, but I was annoyed (with myself and the obnoxious lady who had to block the entire aisle). It wasn’t even good bread. For $4 I could have gotten artisan sour dough or a hearty rye… But it didn’t matter, it was done. I spent $4 on Sara Lee Whole Wheat bread. And the thing is, it really doesn’t matter. We are fortunate that $4 bread isn’t going to make or break us, and it probably won’t even break our grocery budget for the month. But there is just something about grocery prices that just get to me. And I don’t think I am alone.

Grocery prices seem to be a big topic of discussion lately- and actually for the past few years. People are even arguing that groceries have gotten more expensive than eating out. You can find my rebuttal to that here. But while we are on the topic, people have asked me how I keep my grocery budget so low. 

So, since it is Saturday at 10 am, and I have no clue what I was planning to write for this week or how it is already Saturday again I will share a look into the mundane reality that is my monthly grocery budgeting and shopping process. As always, I’m not telling you how to do it, just sharing what I do.

First, the disclosures: 

1. My grocery budget is subsidized. I split the grocery budget with my boyfriend. The $120 that I spend on groceries is not the only grocery money getting us through the month. 

2. We do not buy fresh produce all month long. 

3. We choose ease and budget over health – much more often than we should. 

4. We each average only about 2 meals a day. I supplement mine with a protein shake for lunch, and he starves until he has peanutbutter bread before dinner. (Again, not recommended- just what we do…Do not try this at home)

5. We don’t have children. 

6. We do not shop ethically. We go to Walmart and probably many other places that people who shop politically and “vote” with their dollar don’t go. I get it. But also, I work in non-profits, volunteer my time, donate financially to my greatest ability and do my darn best. So, have some grace. Or don’t. It’s fine. I get it. I’m gonna stick to my $0.49 store brand boxed mac and cheese. 

7. We do not include our dog’s food or any cleaning/ household products in this budget- that is a different budget. The main reason for not including the dog’s food in the monthly grocery budget is because it is bought in bulk and isn’t bought consistently each month. And, I didn’t want to include it, so… 

The budget: 

Combined, my boyfriend and I budget $390 dollars for groceries for the month- so basically $400. 

He contributes $270, and I contribute $120. It is split this way for 3 reasons: 

1. He earns more than I do 
2. He eats more than I do 
3. I am spoiled. 

The process: 

The Haul: 

At the beginning of the month- usually the first Saturday- I go to all the stores and do a big stock up. I buy the majority of our groceries for the month in this trip. This haul typically comes from my boyfriend’s share of the grocery budget. Usually for the haul I will end up going to Walmart for most of the groceries with stops to the Dollar Tree for things that are a better deal there and then to the more pricy stores like Metro Market for plant-based “meatless” products and other products like produce that are available there, but not at the more affordable places. 

In the initial big haul, I stock up on things like tortillas, cream of mushroom soup, pasta, pasta sauce, Zatarain’s, beans, frozen vegetables, frozen potatoes and frozen plant-based “meatless” products, etc.- all the things that won’t go bad, but are also affordable. This stock up helps fight feelings of food scarcity that could come up as the month goes on and the budget dwindles. I always feel secure that I have pasta, beans and rice I can whip up in a pinch. 

Since we are early in the month and the budget is fresh, this is also usually when we get spoiled with fresh produce, specialty breads and other goodies. 

This big haul usually adds up to about $120-$150. Usually this same weekend I make a separate trip where I buy about $20 of protein shakes for my work lunches when I am in the office. I buy these separately using my own share of the grocery budget since I am the one who drinks them. 

The follow-up trips: 

Once we have our base from the big haul, we pick up groceries here and there as the need (or want) comes up. This past Thursday when I picked up the bread, I also got some plant-based meat(less) balls and a nice loaf of French bread because I wanted spaghetti with meat(less) balls for dinner. As we buy these items, we save the receipt and enter it into our tracking/budget, so we keep track of how much we have left for the month. This allows us to “splurge” on things like plant-based meat(less) balls without worrying, while also being mindful that we are keeping within our budget. 

The challenge: 

By the end of the month, we typically do not have much (if any) money left in the grocery budget. This is when we get creative with the pasta, soup, frozen and canned items we stocked up on at the beginning of the month. It becomes almost like a challenge and makes it that much more exciting when the next month comes and we get to renew the budget. 

I want to acknowledge here that this challenge period can be hard, but we are fortunate that it also isn’t that serious for us. If we needed to get additional food we could. We do really, really well in not going over, but I don’t want to compare this to a situation where people or families cannot get the food they need on the tables. It is easy to make a challenge of it when it is a choice and when there are not dependents to feed, etc.. The process shown here is a process of privilege, and we know this. 

The groceries: 

This video shows what we got at the beginning of February. This haul was $123.

Since then, we have made trips for eggs, cheese, milk, soy milk, espresso, bread and other items as needed or desired -like plant-based meat(less) balls and French bread for spaghetti.

It is the 17th of February, and we have used $293 of our grocery budget. I will probably stop out today to pick up some more tater tots and possibly some additional plant-based meatless. We will see. Whatever I get will be highlighted in my weekly $pending tracking on socials. Follow @spentmillennial for updates. 

The meals: 

You can find recipes for some of the meals we make on the recipes page of this blog. It is a lot of pasta- especially in the winter. Again, these meals and recipes are not health-based. They are likely much higher in carbs, sodium and other bad stuff than is ideal. We don’t count macros, eat keto or follow any kind of dietary suggestions. A dietitian would probably be horrified by our dietary practices. 

At this point in our lives, we seem to be prioritizing budget over health. Maybe this will change once we get a bit more of a financial cushion under us, earn more or if grocery costs ever go back down… who knows. For now, this is where we are at. 

The Conclusion: 

This works for us, for now. It won’t work for everyone (or possibly anyone) else the same way. I just thought I would share since people have asked about it. 

What does grocery budgeting, planning and shopping look like for you?