A Year in Review--Groceries

Over the last month, I have been working at getting a new household budget in place. One of the things that I do in order to make a new yearly household budget is to figure where I have been over the last year. What better time to look at where you have been over the last year than while you are doing your taxes! Anyway, back in October I wrote a post about what 10 months of groceries total for my family, so I thought I would share what my end results were for all 12 months.  

These totals are only for food, not included in the total: take out/dining out, paper products, HBC, household cleaners or soaps. 

Grand total spent on 12 months of food: $6666.37

Monthly average total: $555.53

Average per week(52 weeks): $128.20

Average per day(366 days-leap year): $18.21

Average per meal(3 meals each day) for 7 people: $6.07

Average per person: 87¢ each

Like I said at the writing of 10 month of groceries, I know that I have picky eaters who could care less about eating fruits and veggies, so I know that they probably don't get the daily recommended amount. However, I still have fruits & veggies available for consumption on a daily basis, even if it is mostly apples, grapes, carrots and corn!  I also am learning to be more sneaky with getting fruits and veggies into our meals. 

Putting all the numbers aside, with my figures and shopping methods we have been able to keep up on a freezer and pantry stockpile! We have been able to share meals with others. We are just picky enough in our eating habits that we eat meat at every dinner meal but I keep the meals simple. We also don't do meatless or breakfast meals for dinner! We don't do a lot of processed foods, however, I do keep things like chicken nuggets and frozen fries on hand for quick meals. I make from scratch the majority of our snacks and sweet tooth longings. 

I am sure that I could get the monthly figure of $555.53 to be lower if my area grocery stores doubled coupons or had other incentives or if I could figure out how to do the "drugstore game"and come ahead of the game without having to buy things that my family won't use or need.  Also with all the food price fluctuations recently I don't think I can do without some major changes in our eating habits.  

For this year,  my goals with the grocery budget is:

• monthly average figure to around $525 per month. 
  
• more fruits and veggies in our diet
• keep my pantry stockpile in check(ie hubby says we don't need 25 boxes of cereal!)
• do not buy anything we will not use even if it is a good deal

For more Frugal tips, recipes, resources, head over to Biblical Womanhood's Frugal Friday!