2012 Grocery Budget Year in Review

2012 Grocery Budget Year in Review
2012 Grocery Budget Year in Review

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. SEE OUR DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

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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“.

See also:


THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. SEE OUR DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

About GB101 720 Articles
Filled with an insatiable wanderlust to see the world, I've dedicated most of my life to saving money where I can so I can afford to see and do the things I want. I dug our family out of debt by reducing our grocery expense to less than $300 a month. You can too!

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