Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jul 27, 2020 9:03:24 GMT -5
I am embarrassed to say that I honestly do not know how much is spent on groceries in a month. I really never tried to figure it out. I do look at prices, price per ounce and so forth to try to make good buys. Welcome to our world. We will need you to know to the cents and per month. Also, do not include dog food. You may include toilet paper and cleaning supplies, but you must do so consistently and specify that decision. In case in isn’t clear, we are glad you are here.
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bookkeeper
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Post by bookkeeper on Jul 27, 2020 9:04:04 GMT -5
My credit card bill was about $400 higher last month due to meat purchases. I have been buying more pantry items and meat in preparation for a second Covid shut down. Our grocery ad has gone from 4 pages to 2. Stopped by the Walmart yesterday looking for canning supplies, and the grocery shelves were stripped like they are every weekend.
Here in the plains states, we are experiencing the bottom side of the meat price yoyo. When I worked in the beef industry, I noticed retail prices would dip after a price spike. For instance, Father's day is a big steak selling weekend. Fast forward a few weeks, and all those steaks that did not sell on Father's day now need to get out of the cooler---fast. I bought choice sirloin steaks for $3.69/lb. Roast was $3.00/lb. 80% burger was $2.79. Now this probably doesn't happen everywhere, but living out in the sticks there are only so many people to eat this stuff and meat won't keep forever. I usually notice a big dip in beef prices between Thanksgiving and Christmas as people are buying ham and turkey for their big dinner parties. I often buy a prime rib roll during this time to prepare for Christmas or New Year's eve.
We have plenty of food for two people. DH is dismayed that his favorite beers are getting harder to find. The liquor distributors are having some supply problems as well. I hear that aluminum cans are an issue for the beverage industry. Interesting that the price for recycling cans has dropped to half of what it was last year.
Overall our spending is up, but so is our inventory.
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sesfw
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Post by sesfw on Jul 27, 2020 9:17:05 GMT -5
Welcome to our world. We will need you to know to the cents and per month. Also, do not include dog food. You may include toilet paper and cleaning supplies, but you must do so consistently and specify that decision. I second the welcome dippyegg ........... however we expect you to have all this information in your next post (Don't take this seriously, except for the welcome)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2020 9:31:45 GMT -5
If we have to be accurate, $4,668.85 ytd per Quicken. And, no, that doesn't include the cat food
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jul 27, 2020 9:50:10 GMT -5
You guys are so funny (and so YM)! We mostly just keep price-levels we like to pay for things in our heads. If a price for something on the list is significantly more, we don't buy unless we need it right away. My DH tracks what we're spending on stuff a little closer than that, but not to the penny.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Jul 27, 2020 9:51:59 GMT -5
I am embarrassed to say that I honestly do not know how much is spent on groceries in a month. I really never tried to figure it out. I do look at prices, price per ounce and so forth to try to make good buys. I had to cheat. I logged into my credit card, pulled up the spending summary that they provide, and subtracted out my total amazon purchases from the merchandise category. The remainder was groceries. For some reason it categorizes my groceries as merchandise.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Jul 27, 2020 9:58:25 GMT -5
To further confess, I was absolutely shocked by the fact that I have spent $750 per month so far this year on groceries. I have no idea how I have managed to save so much money this year with such a crazy amount of spending going out.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2020 10:27:56 GMT -5
I just roughly added and we spent about $700 this month for DS and I. That includes about $70 for my dog food I stocked up on last week. We joke that the nosy neighbors must think we are packing the basement for the end of the world because we clearly buy more than necessary. Many people here still seem to shop only for a day or two. I shop for a week or two plus put back extras for when the 'rona rages or even when the weather is crappy out. At this point, my limited 1930's house cupboard space is packed. My refrigerator is as well because I bought a ton of vegetables and fruit the other day. And, that's become the "we have enough" stopping point for me. I haven't cared what we buy. The only rule is it has to be eaten at some point and not wasted. Anything in the cupboards I view as money in the bank for the future. I also have to say, I remember I used to say all the time that all I wanted was enough cash to go to the store and buy whatever I wanted without having to keep adding things up as I went along and putting things back. It's SO nice to be able to do so. And, motivating to keep my income up enough to be able to continue to do so.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2020 10:54:58 GMT -5
I just roughly added and we spent about $700 this month for DS and I. That includes about $70 for my dog food I stocked up on last week. We joke that the nosy neighbors must think we are packing the basement for the end of the world because we clearly buy more than necessary. Many people here still seem to shop only for a day or two. I shop for a week or two plus put back extras for when the 'rona rages or even when the weather is crappy out. At this point, my limited 1930's house cupboard space is packed. My refrigerator is as well because I bought a ton of vegetables and fruit the other day. And, that's become the "we have enough" stopping point for me.
I haven't cared what we buy. The only rule is it has to be eaten at some point and not wasted. Anything in the cupboards I view as money in the bank for the future.
I also have to say, I remember I used to say all the time that all I wanted was enough cash to go to the store and buy whatever I wanted without having to keep adding things up as I went along and putting things back. It's SO nice to be able to do so. And, motivating to keep my income up enough to be able to continue to do so. I also buy for a week+, and put some back as well. We've always had a "if you use it, write it down for replacement" policy here and that's super-dooper important now that I only go out once a week or twice at most. No more, "Oh, I want chicken tonight-let's run to the store" here; dinner is usually based on what veggies are aging out on me. And I do feel really good to be able to buy the scallops occasionally without worrying that we'll eat cat food next week.
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stillmovingforward
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Post by stillmovingforward on Jul 27, 2020 10:59:25 GMT -5
I'm going to second that. I also view 'put back' groceries as a savings account 😁
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jul 27, 2020 12:26:13 GMT -5
I spend a freakin' fortune on groceries.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jul 27, 2020 12:41:35 GMT -5
Last March, I built up a decent amount of supplies for the idea that I would not be shopping. I had stocks of dried pasta, rice, canned beans, tomatoes and chicken stock, and other things I use on a regular basis. We have metal shelving in the garage that the overflow (read Costco sized) goes.
I really have not restocked the shelving since then. I need to go out and do inventory of this to see exactly what we have left and what needs to be restocked. I do know we are totally out of some of the things that we can only get in Canada. I think we are going to have a meet up in Peach Arch park with TD’s brother and have a trade off of supplies sometime soon! They order stuff and have it delivered to us, and I’ve picked up a few things TD’s mom has requested that she buys down here.
I think that the one thing that surprised me in March/April was how quickly we went through coffee. When TD was going to work, I made one pot (we have a French press that uses a lot). With him WFH, we went through 2 and sometimes 3 pots.
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oakheart
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Post by oakheart on Jul 27, 2020 13:41:43 GMT -5
We always buy stuff on sale. We keep track of the ads. If it not on sale we usually do not get it. Sometimes we have to go to a few stores. We have two large refrig/freezers.
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dippyegg
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Post by dippyegg on Jul 27, 2020 16:09:41 GMT -5
I could probably figure out monthly "household" expenses that would include toiletries, trash bags and those sorts of things as I rarely purely just grocery shop.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2020 19:02:44 GMT -5
I could probably figure out monthly "household" expenses that would include toiletries, trash bags and those sorts of things as I rarely purely just grocery shop. That's what my estimate included.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jul 27, 2020 22:34:54 GMT -5
Jan - Jul 2019 $5,954.79 Jan - Jul 2020: $8,345.66
As of Thanksgiving, I altered what I consume for food; that has been at least a $300/month increase. However, that does not account for the entire uptick in the comparison between this year and last.
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mamasita99
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Post by mamasita99 on Jul 28, 2020 10:04:01 GMT -5
I have to go through YNAB and get the actual data. I don’t have an issue with my grocery budget, since my biggest problem has been money spent on eating out. So even though my grocery expenses have gone up I know they are nowhere near what my eating out expenses were!
In July, though, my overall food expenses are super high because of extended road trip to my rental property, daughter’s 21st birthday, and more take out because more has opened up. For sure reigning that in, I don’t want to go back to my eating out ways!!!
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jul 28, 2020 12:03:56 GMT -5
My grocery spending has gone up... I include edibles and stuff like Paper towels, TP, paper napkins, health and beauty products in "Grocery". I don't have exact numbers - but I know I'm spending more at the "grocery". I've purchased stuff at prices I never would have bought at in the past. I generally don't eat/buy much "meat" but have bought more in the last month as I have had relatives visiting (grilling - or prepping indoors and sitting outside to eat) and the prices of "meat" has skyrocketed and there are no weekly "specials". I can't believe ground beef 80/20 is featured on sale for 4.99 a pound (in the past this kind of sale would be $2.50 or $2.99) Or that chicken legs are featured as being a sale price at $1.99 a pound (n the not so distant past this would be .49 to .99 a pound depending on the store) The other versions of chicken had prices higher than 1.99 a pound. I am NOT finding any good deals or sales on products I use to "stock up on" when the sale cycle got to the lowest price. There is no "sales cycle" anymore and most 'stock up' stuff (paper towels, TP, some food products) just aren't going on sale. It's either stupid high "retail price" for weeks and then a cents off sale price. There use to be different sale tiers so "stupid high retail price" for a week, and then a sale, and then a lower sale price, and then a still lower sale price, and then maybe the final loss leader sale price. I haven't seen that happen lately. I'm single - two cats. Most of the things I stocked up on back in February and March are running out... so I've been watching for "sales" and not really seeing any. I have lots of shopping options. I do not shop at Costco (Have a Sam's membership - but only go twice a year). I've got mom and pop groceries (which I've started avoiding because they have relaxed their "covid prevention" standards to none. which is weird because business was brisk even with masks and limited numbers of people in the store...and it's not like they've got more product on the shelves to sell... still see limits and empty spaces). I've also got some big chain grocery stores that have empty shelves/floor space. They say they are 'remodeling' but they look like they are going out of business. It's weird out there grocery product wise and price wise. FWIW: I stopped at Wendy's (no specials on anything I wanted to eat - and no "3 for $4 or whatever it is" and got a single combo with cheese and it was $8.95. On the other hand, the local pizza slice place is still at a slice (2 meals) for under $5.00. I don't eat out much.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Jul 28, 2020 13:29:46 GMT -5
I have the kitchen cabinets full, kitchen pantry, basement storeroom, and overflow of paper products in the basement proper. 2 freezers, and 2 fridges, 1 with a large pull out freezer.
Yes, we are ready for the zombie apocalypse. I have kept myself from canning a lot this year as we don't need it. I have plenty of relish, pickles, green tomatoes, now beets, I did can. 12 more quarts of green beans and I'm done. Hope to can carrots, and all kinds of tomato products. Also freeze corn and peaches. Can apples and peaches.
Getting ready for winter.
We will make a meat run before the end of the week. We went in March and May. Need ground beef, I will check but think I have enough steaks and other items. I stocked for the pandemic.
Need to check TP but think I have 2 cases of 60 rolls each.
I will go through bank statements most of my groceries are bought on my debit card and it spells out the store name on the bank statement. I bet its more then I think it is.
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Jul 28, 2020 15:02:05 GMT -5
Prior to CV19 I cooked once, maybe twice a week. Since March 13 I have cooked daily (only did curbside pickup once) and with the strange gaps in the grocery stores I have bought whatever was available not sales, so yes my grocery bill has gone up. My eating out cost has disappeared. I don't know how that balances out. I may come out ahead a little but I don't keep track at that level so who knows.
I think those of us who made the smallest changes in before and after behavior will be best positioned to let us know what the effect of covid is on the cost
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cktc
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Post by cktc on Jul 28, 2020 15:08:28 GMT -5
Our grocery spending is up $500 YTD over last year, but our overall Food spending is down $1800. We ate out too much. We've also quit price shopping and going to multiple stores. We used to hit up Safeway when they had a sale on steak, TJs for wine, coffee and snack foods, Sprouts for produce and bath products, Walmart when we needed diapers or kids clothes. Now we just alternate Kroger and Sam's and order what we can't find on Amazon.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2020 19:53:58 GMT -5
I can't help but wonder how restaurants will fare in the future. I think more than a few people might realize the money they spend eating out and cut back.
I was a kid in the 70s-80s. We had fast food about twice a year and one "fancy" dinner out each year. No one back then ate out multiple times each week. Not to mention no one paid $6 for coffee...
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lynnerself
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Post by lynnerself on Jul 28, 2020 20:10:11 GMT -5
I can't help but wonder how restaurants will fare in the future. I think more than a few people might realize the money they spend eating out and cut back. I was a kid in the 70s-80s. We had fast food about twice a year and one "fancy" dinner out each year. No one back then ate out multiple times each week. Not to mention no one paid $6 for coffee... Or there are a lot of people like us, who can't wait to get back to eating out whenever it's safe again and are sick and tired of cooking at home.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Jul 28, 2020 21:25:19 GMT -5
I can't help but wonder how restaurants will fare in the future. I think more than a few people might realize the money they spend eating out and cut back. I was a kid in the 70s-80s. We had fast food about twice a year and one "fancy" dinner out each year. No one back then ate out multiple times each week. Not to mention no one paid $6 for coffee... Or there are a lot of people like us, who can't wait to get back to eating out whenever it's safe again and are sick and tired of cooking at home. that is my work area... the few restaurants that are open are always fully booked and had to change their hours being open till 12 am - 1 am because people just don't want to go home and eat and willing to eat late.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jul 28, 2020 21:42:57 GMT -5
It's not so much the cooking part. I am sick to death of dishes. We do have a dishwasher but a fair amount of stuff gets hand washed. DH does them a lot but he had dental surgery last Friday.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Jul 28, 2020 23:15:02 GMT -5
Almost $2000 YTD on groceries and around $850 YTD on dining out (which is any and all food not bought at a grocery store or through Imperfect Foods; or restaurant meals example: ice cream bought at Walgreens) There's been a definite uptick in dining out with moving after I closed on the house July 7th.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Jul 29, 2020 3:01:53 GMT -5
OK someone else compared it to last year and I had to check... Interestingly I have spent less so far this year by $1,375.43 That is because up to 7/31 last year we spent $2,186.91 at restaurants and so far this year we only spent $591.33 (between Jan - March). Also the other major cut area is fast food , I basically put all the snacks/drinks/coffee runs my wife and I grab during the day outside the home in that category + actual fast food, last year as of 7/31 we spent $1,188.23 and this year it is about half (the other half I blame partly on my wife working from home since I have not stop working so still grabbing the occasional red bull, coffee, chips, snacks, etc). So conclusion while groceries are way up, considering eating out and fast food we are doing good. So cooking at home is actually cheaper than eating out! WHO KNEW
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 6:50:17 GMT -5
I can't help but wonder how restaurants will fare in the future. I think more than a few people might realize the money they spend eating out and cut back. I was a kid in the 70s-80s. We had fast food about twice a year and one "fancy" dinner out each year. No one back then ate out multiple times each week. Not to mention no one paid $6 for coffee... Yes, things have changed. For awhile we'd go out to a restaurant meal on each kid's birthday, but McDonald's and Burger Chef (yeah, that was a real chain) visits were very rare. I remember that if Mom had to do a lot of errands (there were 5 kids, some too young to leave at home) she'd pack paper bags of sandwiches to eat while we were out. I think fast food grew to be such a big part of people's eating habits because it WAS perceived as fast and everyone had such hectic schedules- get off work, go home, pick up the kids, ferry them to activities..it was easier to stop at a fast food place for dinner and eat in the car. A lot of those activities are gone now, and people are working and learning at home. I never really thought fast food was all that fast and I hate the drive-through line: lots of cars idling their engines and belching out exhaust gases, knowing once they take your money they can make you wait as long as they want for the food, and inevitably finding they messed up something in your order.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 6:57:40 GMT -5
I can't help but wonder how restaurants will fare in the future. I think more than a few people might realize the money they spend eating out and cut back. I was a kid in the 70s-80s. We had fast food about twice a year and one "fancy" dinner out each year. No one back then ate out multiple times each week. Not to mention no one paid $6 for coffee... I think that's just your personal experience and not representative of society as a whole. I remember a completely different 70's and 80's. People around here love to reminisce about all the great restaurants from back then that have since closed down due to people NOT eating out as much anymore and have been replaced by mostly fast food and take out with just a handful of sit down that don't often don't last long in our town. I grew up with going for shrimp or prime rib practically every Friday night with my grandparents, and weekends in the summer we would drive sometimes long distances because there was a chicken Q going on in such and such a town that we had to hit. My mom didn't go or take me out to eat, but she was a single parent, and probably has an eating disorder to boot because she practically never eats now...and very rarely at a restaurant where you'd get "all those excess calories" She did get me McDonalds at least once a week though. I eat out much, much less now than I did back in the 70's...unless you count $2 burgers from the gas station for lunch as eating out.
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skubikky
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Post by skubikky on Jul 29, 2020 7:57:19 GMT -5
We get almost all vegetable and fruit from the farm on our road, our own trees and other local farms(strawberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches). I buy meat from a local farmer as well but don't eat it every week and only have to buy it occasionally.
The rest is done at Wegmans, Tops, Aldi's and Trader Joes(when I can get there as it's 30 miles from home). Prices seem fine. Tops is running regular loss leaders on produce as they've always done.
Prices don't seem too bad but I cherry pick the deals as I've always done and seem to do ok.
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