This post contains affiliate links. I don’t usually set spending/saving goals. However, 2024 is the year that I try to rein in the grocery bill. I’ve tried this previously without much success, but I’ve gotten a bit sloppy with my spending, so I think there is plenty of room for improvement.
Factors that Affect Our Grocery Bill
We have several factors that affect our grocery bill:
- My husband prefers fish, chicken, and tofu for his health
- I’m gluten and dairy free and have a ton of food intolerances
- I feel best when I follow a Paleo diet
- I need to follow a Low Fodmap diet for several months in 2024 to hopefully help eradicate SIBO
- We buy high quality, grass fed, pasture raised meat when available
- We buy organic veggies and fruit for the Dirty Dozen
- We eat all of our meals at home
- Our youngest two children eat all of their meals at home because we homeschool
All of these factors mean our grocery bill is higher than many other people’s who can eat without food intolerances and health issues.
What Our Grocery Bill Was Last Year
Becaue I use YNAB, I can easily look back on our spending from previous years. (It’s a bit horrifying, if I’m honest!)
In 2023, we spent $17,232 on groceries for the year, which is $1436.06 per month!!
- I looked at the USDA Cost of Food for November and discovered that for our family, on the thrifty plan, we shouldn’t spend more than $982 a month.
- On the low cost plan, we shouldn’t spend more than $1,058.
- On the moderate plan, we shouldn’t spend more than $1291.
- On the liberal plan, we shouldn’t spend more than $1578.
For years, our grocery bill ranged between the thrify and low cost plan. Now, we’re in between the moderate and liberal plan. Clearly, we have room for improvement!
What I Want Our Grocery Bill to Be This Year
While I would love to get back to averaging between the thrifty and liberal plans, which would make our groceries about $1,020 a month, I think that might be too drastic of a change. Instead, I’m looking to move our grocery spending to the level between low-cost and moderate, which is $1,175 a month, which is an 18% drop from last year.
How We Plan to Accomplish Our Goal
We are planning to, or have already taken, the following steps to reduce our grocery bill:
- Buying 1/4 side of beef (I got a $150 discount, and the meat will come in four installments, once every three months)
- Joining a CSA
- Growing a bigger garden this year
- Meal prepping during the week
- Doing a better job of shopping for the loss leaders
- Only making a Trader Joe’s/Whole Foods trip once or twice a month
- Learning how to make gluten free sour dough bread
- Making yogurt at home
Every week, when I share our weekly meal plan and prep, I’ll also share how much we spent on groceries so I can keep myself accountable.
Curious minds want to know, how much do you spend on groceries? What is your family size, and do you have any food intolerances, allergies or special diets you must follow?
I’m not sure what we spent on groceries last year. I do know that the amount has gone up to the point that I look at the total and delete things until I feel like it is more aligned to where we need it to be.
We are a family of 5 with the oldest moved out. So two adults, a senior in high school, and 10 year old. Our school offers free breakfast, so they eat there, the 10yo takes a lunch daily, and they both eat dinner at home.
We don’t have any special dietary needs, have chickens for eggs, and bought a half side of beef recently. I find that our weekly grocery bill is still over 200! Three years ago it was 125-150 a week for five of us.
$600 is amazing for the month! It is crazy how much the grocery prices increased last year, but I am starting to see some things (like eggs) thankfully come down. Do you have any grocery spending goals this year, or are you focused on keeping it at $600?