#Shopping meal planner free printable trial#

The spike a few months later? I was sick that month and really needed a good popsicle supply. Oh, and that big spike in the middle? That was my “Oh my gosh there’s a pandemic I need to go buy all the things!!!” shopping month. Over the past 6+ years I’ve spent over $17,000 on groceries. YNAB’s Spending Trends report reveals how much groceries have cost through the years.Ĭan we just stop for a second and look at that total? I mean-wow. (To be fair, YNAB, my budgeting app, tracks this for me-managing this information on my own for this long would put me in a whole different category of budgeting glory.) Being the budget nerd that I am, I have data going back to December of 2016. Do whatever works for you! Grocery Spending History (it’s a lot of money)Īlrighty then, with that out of the way, let’s look at some of my grocery spending history.

(I have three cats and a dog, so I really need to know what they cost me so I can prepare appropriately.) Some people choose to list their household goods like cleaning supplies or paper towels into a separate budget category. But with that being said, implementing a few of these strategies and putting our free price tracker, kitchen inventory, and meal planning printables (see below!) to use can help reduce your food budget, too.Īlso, for clarity’s sake, grocery spending for me includes everything I buy at the grocery store with the exception of pet food, which I track separately. I focus on my average since that’s a real number that I can control. That’s why I don’t spend a lot of time comparing my grocery budget to others. My grocery bill would be higher in some places and lower in others. If I lived in NYC or Seattle or basically anywhere else, prices would most definitely be different. What I share here is what works for me in Maine.

I’m going to share some numbers and strategies, but please keep in mind: Grocery prices vary wildly across the United States and beyond.

#Shopping meal planner free printable trial#

It’s taken a lot of trial and error, but over the last year and a half, I feel like I have finally dialed it in. Groceries have been a sore spot in my budget for years, and as the deadline approaches for meeting one of my personal financial goals, I decided to really focus on this frequently fluctuating expense so that I could funnel my savings towards something that matters more to me right now. Get organized and cut costs with our free price tracker and grocery planner templates. Grocery shopping on a budget is one of budgeting’s greatest challenges-especially as prices continue to rise.