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 like it’s impossible to eat healthy on a budget. By showing exactly what I purchase on a tight budget, it 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 that 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 that 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. In fact, 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 because for as long as I can remember, creating things like that has just felt frustrating.
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 that our meals are tasty and filling and honestly, we enjoy the way 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 as 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 really inexpensively).
Your family’s needs and preferences are going to look different than ours.
Your husband might really 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 really even be considered food.
You might have a child that is gluten intolerant. And 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
I’m not gonna lie. Shopping frugally, especially if you use coupons like I do, take 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, that 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 is going to 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!
Trish
I like your non-snobbery! I found your blog from your post on parents.com and remember some of the comments you mentioned from people who didn’t like your attempts at frugality–I have been snobbed by people in real-life for simply mentioning that I’m trying to save on groceries, by the way. I think it’s crazy how some are so quick to judge and to assume that spending less means depriving our families. By the way, we do a lot of things the way you do–from scratch cooking, staples and we rarely eat meat and processed foods–in my first pregancy it looked like my daughter was too small and people gave me a serious tongue-lashing to the point where we consulted with a dietician–who told us we eat better than 90% of the population (and we live in France). Cheaper can, in fact, be healthier. Anyway it’s nice to see you don’t return the judgmental attitude. Here in France, I’ve noticed read that ‘average’ grocery budgets are more around 400-700 euros, but I think that translates basically to the USDA data (if you consider the euro to be equivalent to the dollar). I don’t think I’ll ever get our budget down to 200 a month, but I find your ideas insporing–lots of other sites when I look over the suggestions for saving money I find myself thinking, “yeah, ok, I already do that.” What I miss here in France is the lack of places like Costco for say, a year’s supply of toilet paper. Also, no cupons here. Just shifty ‘promotions’ which try to get you to buy three of something for the regular price! My current goal is to get our groceries stable at 4-500 a month (including diapers!!) and then maybe to switch over to organics on some items before going lower. Still, I find your budget inspiring. I even mentioned it to my husband and the fact that you don’t eat cheese. . .which can be quite a budget here in France–again for something that is enjoyable, but not really good for you or needed. My husband likes his wine and cheese but saving 2-300 a month also got his attention!
ThriftyFrugalMom
Thanks, Trish for your encouragement! Like you I don’t get why people are so unkind about someone wanting to save money, but there are plenty that are. And I found it interesting that your dietitian told you that you all ate better than 90% of the population. 🙂 Yes, being frugal with your groceries doesn’t have to mean you don’t eat well!
And I think you are doing amazing for not having coupons and many sales! From the little I know, it’s much harder to really save on groceries in the ways that I do if you don’t live in the States (or maybe Canada). But I’m so excited to know that you can still read this blog and be inspired and take away helpful tips and ideas. THAT is the whole reason I blog and it just blesses me to know that you are being blessed.
Jacqui
I LOVE this! We’re a family of four, two of whom are in elementary school and our budget is $480/month (which includes household goods like toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc.) When I see a lot of posts about how people eat so cheaply, especially with bigger families, I definitely compare and feel bad about myself at first.
Then I remember a few things: 1. I live in Southern California. The only thing around here that is cheaper than most of the US is produce and even that isn’t always true. 2. I don’t garden, I have a very black thumb. 3. I don’t cook/bake as often as others for certain items. For example, I have made bread and I can if I want to, but I usually don’t remember I need to make bread until the kids complain we are out and they can’t make pb&j. For me, it’s easier to add it to my grocery list and grab a loaf or two at the store.
Could I bring my grocery budget down? I’m sure I could, especially if I could remember to do stuff like make bread ahead of time! But it’s wonderful to remember that it works for me and as long as we’re fed and happy, I shouldn’t worry about it.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Yes, sometimes it is simply necessary to remember that we need to do what works for us. I know how easy it is to start being hard on yourself though- I find myself doing it in other areas.
Ps. Really, $480 a month is still on the low side for a grocery budget- at least from what I hear other people saying. 🙂
Stephanie
I’m pretty frugal by nature too. I spend as little as I can on everything, because I feel a sense of accomplishment when I save money. Even though it’s usually just two adults that I have to feed, I still probably couldn’t do it on $250/month. Our grocery stores don’t really do coupons, and since I don’t buy processed foods as a general rule, manufacturer’s coupons are usually worthless to me.
As you’ve pointed out here, that doesn’t make me wrong and you right, and neither of us is inferior to the other. We just have different challenges.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Exactly, Stephanie! And I totally get that feeling a sense of accomplishment when saving money. 🙂
Something to consider though is the fact that you might still actually benefit from coupons even if you don’t buy processed foods typically. We don’t buy much processed food either, but I still can do quite well with coupons! There are lots of coupons for cosmetics, household supplies (think toilet paper, hand soap, Kleenex) and cleaning products too. Maybe you still haven’t found it worth it, but I just feel like a lot of people miss out on some big savings because of the misconceptions that coupons are only for processed foods. And I hate seeing people miss out on saving! 😉
Melissa
It’s so hard to compare $$. The cost of living varies so much in different places. Thanks for posting.
Mrs Abella
We have to keep a $200 to $250 a month budget for our family of 5, simply due to financial constraints. I’ve learned how to make the money stretch and still be able to make sure the family doesn’t feel like they’re lacking. It isn’t always easy, but with work, planning, and creativity it can be done. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it does for us. We don’t eat organic, but we eat home grown and fresh as often as possible, make use of whole grains, beans, sales, baked/cooked from scratch, etc. We don’t go hungry, and if anyone in our home is hungry when they leave the table, it’s their own fault. The food isn’t fancy, but there’s plenty of it. 🙂
ThriftyFrugalMom
You said it well! And I especially liked your line: “the food isn’t fancy, but there’s plenty of it”. Sounds familiar. 🙂
Aurie Jenkins
Thank you for this!! We have gluten allergies and dairy allergies in our family and we eat mostly clean because of that. Our grocery budget it high and no matter how much I try to get it down it stays around 400 a month with 4 kids. I used to read the $200 a month posts and think that something was wrong with me, and feel like I was some how failing but then I woke up and reality set in and I realized that, like you said, we are all different and we can’t all possibly follow the same exact pattern and spending. We are frugal in our spending but with so many allergies our regular items still cost more then normal regular items. I am seriously loving this post!! Thanks for sharing.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Wow, from what I know, $400 a month with gluten and dairy allergies is doing really well! And I’m so glad that this post encouraged you….totally made my day, because well, that is why I wrote it in the first place. 🙂 Blessings as you continue to bless and help provide for your family. It sounds like you are doing a great job!