2012 Grocery Budget Year in Review

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The 2012 Grocery Budget year in review- a look at how it all comes together! Our families grocery/household budget is $250 per month (*12= $3,000 per year). This includes all of our groceries for a family of two adults and two teenage guys, plus planning for their friends/ our friends at least twice per week. This also includes all cleaning supplies, personal care items, toilet paper and paper towels as well. . .

As you can see from our weekly menu plans, we break down the grocery aspect of budget to about $50 per week. As you will see below, some weeks are less, some weeks are more. When a week is less, we carry over the balance remaining to apply it to a future week. Do so allows us to stock up the pantry (and or freezer) when things are on sale.

To get a better idea of how this all works, here is a breakdown of our budget for the last year:

2012 Totals

Week #52 spent $48.77
Week #51 spent $41.44
Week #50 spent $39.17
Week #49 spent $55.63– stocked up cereals & butter which will appear in future menu plans
Week #48 spent $43.06
Week #47 spent $86.15– stocked up on frozen turkey, canned goods, pantry supplies (flour/sugar/baking powder,etc)
Week #46 spent $6.81
Week #45 spent $36.54
Week #44 spent $51.91
Week #43 spent $14.88
Week #42 spent $89.11 stocked up on Pork, spare ribs, pork loins, bacon, boston butt
Week #41 spent $39.66
Week #40 spent $18.19
Week #39 spent $37.19
Week #38 Spent $58.16
Week #37 Spent $31.12
Week #36 Spent $47.81
Week #35 Spent $37.64
Week #34 Spent $38.
Week #33 Spent $41.19
Week #32 Spent $38.62
Week #31 Spent $121. (meat & cheese restocking week- Chicken, Pork, ribs)
Week #30 Spent $10.12
Week #29 Spent $49.96
Week #28 Spent $46.13
Week #27 Spent $45.88
Week #26 Spent $49.11
Week #25 Spent $41.88
Week #24 Spent $42.16
Week #23 Spent $42.76
Week #22 Spent $113. Meat Restocking week, steaks, ribs, chops, chicken breast
Week #21 Spent $43.09
Week #20 Spent $45.87
Week #19 Spent $43.18
Week #18 Spent $44.93
Week #17 Spent $49.71
Week #16 Spent $31.65
Week #15 Spent $34.57
Week #14 Spent $49.13
Week #13 Spent $16.33
Week #12 Spent $47.13
Week #11 Spent $36.31
Week #10 Spent $49.52 stock up on steaks
Week #9 Spent $46.13
Week #8 Spent $48.14
Week #7 Spent $47.84
Week #6 Spent $42.12
Week #5 Spent $51.55
Week #4 Spent $48.91
Week #3 Spent $30.23
Week #2 Spent $47.33
Week #1 Spent $0.00No need to stock up, working off a fully stocked pantry/freezer from 2011 (view the menu plans)

Total Spent on Just Groceries $2,273.96
Total Spent on Paper Towels, Toilet paper, Shampoo/Conditioner (ingredients), Laundry Soap Ingredients, Cleaning Supplies, Pet Food, personal care items (feminine products, deodorant, etc) $206.84

Grand Total Spent from the $250m/$3,000 yr Budget: $2, 480.80

Amount left in the 2012 Grocery/Household budget that was allotted but has NOTbeen spent $519.20 (surplus).

Regarding Household Goods/Paper Products/ Personal Care:

We don’t use a lot of paper towels in our home, we do use a few, about 18 -20 rolls per year, instead, we have a tendency to use hand-towels much more frequently, but with laundry soap being dirt cheap (less than $2 per 128 loads) it’s not a big deal to throw a load of laundry in the machine. We also make our own cleaners which are better for the environment, use considerably less waste and work better- oh, and did I mention how much cheaper they are?!

Here are a few of our Favorites:

What to do with the Surplus?

This amount can either be applied to the principal on loans to pay down the loan faster (thereby saving money on interest payments) & getting out of debt
replace worn out kitchen gadgets – like vacuum sealers, bread machine, blenders, etc
add additional gadgets -like ravioli forms, pasta attachments, spice grinders, etc
Carry the balance forward towards 2013’s Grocery Budget- use it to restock the pantry and freezer
Put it in the Savings account to accrue interest
Use it towards a family vacation or a weekend getaway
Purchase Canning Supplies, (jars/lids) Gardening Supplies etc
Really? how difficult is it to plan ways to spend money?!

For more help on the budget and an in depth view of where/how to cut grocery expenses and understand sales cycles to get spending under control, check out our eBook, “The 2012 Family Guide to Groceries under $250 a Month“.

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