Even though they are kind of a lot of work to write up, I enjoy sharing my Our $200 Grocery Budget: What I Spent & Saved this Week posts with you all.
I don’t do these posts because I think the way we live and grocery shop is so amazing. I do them because I love to help people save money.
These What I Spent & Saved posts allow me to share ideas and tips with you that help me save on our groceries, and then, in turn, can hopefully inspire you and give you ideas on ways that you can save too.
Many people are frustrated because they feel it’s impossible to eat healthy on a budget. Showing exactly what I purchase on a tight budget gives people a chance to see that yes, you really can eat pretty healthy without needing to go broke.
I know many of you enjoy these posts because you have told me you were inspired or that you learned something new that is helping you save. And seriously, when that happens it totally makes my day because I realize that my goal for these posts was accomplished!
But I’ve had a nagging worry ever since I first started doing these What I Spent & Saved posts 5 ½ years ago. Occasionally I’ve addressed it in my spending posts and in my response to people’s comments. And I’ve said it countless times to readers I’ve talked to in real life.
But I feel like it needs to be said here too, in a blog post that hopefully will be seen by most of you.
So what is it that worries me? Simply that these posts will make you feel inadequate or less than because you don’t have a $200 grocery budget, or because you don’t coupon as much as I do, or because you hate grocery shopping. I worry because I know that as women we are so quick to do that, to compare ourselves with someone else, to feel inadequate.
And I really, really don’t want to be an enabler of that.
So I just want to be perfectly clear: I don’t expect everyone else to have a $200/mo. grocery budget. And I believe that you can be frugal and spend more than $200/mo. too!
Here’s why.
Why You Shouldn’t Have a $200/Mo. Grocery Budget
(even though we do!)
1. We all have different strengths
One of my strengths is being able to save money. I’m wired in such a way that I almost can’t keep myself from looking at life through the lens of frugality!
But you know what? There are plenty of other things that I don’t do so well.
I’m not a natural when it comes to decorating. It takes a lot of thought and effort for me to make a room look lovely. And I feel totally overwhelmed if I try to tackle a craft project.
And while I love the idea of preserving memories with beautiful scrapbooks, I’ve finally accepted the fact that it’s just not my thing and I don’t even bother to attempt it.
I don’t have a garden and I’m not an outdoor sort of person who loves creating beautiful flower beds.
Chances are, your strengths are quite different from mine and honestly, I think our diversity is part of what makes the world so interesting!
If being frugal doesn’t come naturally for you, that’s okay. No, it doesn’t give you a free pass to spend your money carelessly, but it does mean that how you spend your money is going to look different than what it does for me.
Or maybe you are frugal by nature, but still spend $450/mo. on groceries. You don’t necessarily need to feel bad about that either because….
2. We all have different needs and preferences
We eat fairly simple meals. I think our meals are tasty and filling and honestly, we enjoy them and don’t feel deprived.
But we pretty much never eat steak (unless we go out to eat!) and meats are often served more as a side than a main dish.
In the winter, we eat a lot of soups not only because we love them, but also because they are frugal. And we don’t have food allergies or eat organic (unless I can get it very inexpensively).
Your family’s needs and preferences are going to look different than ours.
Your husband might like to have large servings of meat at every meal and be pretty opposed to meatless meals. Or maybe he feels like soups shouldn’t even be considered real food. 
You might have a child that is gluten intolerant. Or eating only organic may feel super important to you.
That is okay! Your family is not mine, my family is not yours. There is no cookie cutter grocery budget that will fit everyone’s needs.
3. We all have different demands on our time
Shopping frugally, especially if you use coupons like I do, takes a decent amount of extra time.
Many weeks I spend three hours planning my shopping trip and doing the shopping. It’s not that my life isn’t busy or that I don’t have plenty of other things to do, but for a variety of reasons, my husband and I have decided to continue to make this way of shopping a priority.
For us, at this point, the benefits outweigh the negatives. But there may come a time when we decide otherwise.
You know your life, your schedule. Only you know what you have time for and it may be that even if you would love to coupon and deal shop, you simply can’t right now due to life circumstances.
We all have to know our limits, to decide what is best for us.
The bottom line…
Yes, I think it’s important to shop smart and be mindful of how we spend the money that God has trusted us with.
But I think it’s equally important to remember that it will look different for everyone.
So, if you’ve been feeling bad that you spend more than $200/mo. on your groceries, go ahead and extend yourself some grace.
And remember, it doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t frugal!
However…if you are looking for more ways to lower your grocery budget, you might enjoy getting some inspiration from these posts!
Heather
So true. My hubby and I have a grocery budget of $400/month (though we do include things like laundry and dish stuff, bathroom essentials and our toothpaste, face wash, etc). But we usually do pretty well with the food itself. I am always trying to find ways to save money.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Sounds like you are doing a great job, Heather!
Kristia
I enjoy these posts for money-saving ideas. We will never see $200 a month again until my kids move out of the house–lol!
ThriftyFrugalMom
And by then grocery prices will probably have increased so much it still won’t be possible! Lol! 🙂
Keri
This is so true! I would add that family size and the age of your kids is also important. We were able to spend about $200/mo for the four of us when the kids were toddlers. Now that they are nearly teens, they eat a LOT more so it naturally costs more.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Very good point, Keri! And actually, I meant to include that in my post and forgot. So I’m glad you mentioned it. Our kids are already big eaters and I often wonder how much we are going to need to up our budget once they are teenagers! 🙂
Ashley
If I had a family to feed on the same diet I eat, my budget would SURELY be over $200. I feed just myself on $200/mo. I come in under that sometimes but I find my priority is getting the healthier options of things even if they cost a bit more. Before I really started paying attention to ingredients lists, and buying some stuff organic I was able to stick to $150, but that hardly does it for me now. I love how this post addresses our habit of always comparing ourselves to others…such a bad habit to have! I’m constantly trying to remind myself not to do that.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Yes, it’s so easy to compare ourselves with others and forget that there are so many variable differences that really, it doesn’t even make sense to do it!
Just Plain Marie
I’ve had readers ask me how much we spend per month on groceries and I couldn’t really tell you. Most of our groceries are bought in the fall, with a little topping-up over the winter. But I doubt we spend more than $2400/year for a family of six. (Medically necessary hypo-allergenic baby formula NOT included) I suspect we eat much like you do. We eat venison (free!), our own chickens when we cull them, on-sale meat from the grocery store, produce from the garden. Lots of potatoes, which come in 50 pound bags or from our garden. We buy in bulk, we eat a *lot* of soup, and I do a lot of preserving.
I don’t decorate, scrap book or have flower gardens, either. 🙂 Around here, I let God take care of the flowers and I enjoy a variety of wild flowers in the fields from spring until fall. And I can’t sew.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Marie, that is so inspiring! I love how you grow or raise so much of your own food- cheaper and healthier! And your letting God taking care of the flowers comment made me chuckle. Sounds like my style of landscaping!
Monica
This post blows me away for several reasons. It is exactly the type of how-to post that the world needs more of because we can’t all be painted with the broad brush of do-that-and-not-this-all-of-the-time. It’s graceful, but still encouraging. I’ve come to accept that although I like grocery shopping, and I actually enjoy spending time planning my deals, there are many complicating factors that come into play when it comes to our household budget and $200 is kind of just aspirational at this point in time. However, because of the tips you’ve provided on your blog, I get A LOT more now for what I do spend, and we are rarely “all out” of anything important. I love how much you share about your frugal habits, and recognize it must be hard to put yourself out there like that.
ThriftyFrugalMom
You are kind as usual, Monica. And I like your “complicating factors” wording. Describes it well!