I’m excited for another update in the 2019 Beat Last Year’s Budget! Check out my last update here to see how we have been doing. Each year my wife and I make financial goals for the year ahead. While a large number of these goals are personal, my financial goals often intertwine with my personal ones. My financial goal this year is Spend Less on Groceries!
For example, In 2018, “The year of change”, led to some pretty crazy goals becoming a reality. One of my goals was to make health and fitness a priority in my life. The end result included a transformation and being in the best shape of my life.
This didn’t come without sacrifice and in this case a hefty grocery budget. As you can see while health and fitness were a personal goal, my grocery budget and the money I spent ended up skyrocketing and had a major impact on my financials in 2018.
This all leads me to my 2019 financial goal to Beat Last Year’s Grocery Budget! These past 6 months have been a roller coaster of sorts with my grocery spending, but it’s all beginning to take shape.
Beat Last Year
One of my financial goals in 2019 is to spend less on my grocery bill.
The “Beat Last Year” budget challenge is one of my 2019 financial goals. I wrote this down on my 2019 Financial Goals spreadsheet and everything. This statement makes it extremely difficult to believe this statement is not true.
Beat Last Year Rules
Alright, let’s get straight to the rules. This is straight from the website so let’s follow the rules or at least a version of them.
Here are the rules for anyone who wants to try it:
- Pick a category of your spending you desperately want to improve
- Search your records for how much you spent on it *last year* around this time
- Commit to spending *less* in that category for the next month!
Pick a Category
Rule number one to pick a category is pretty easy, already done. Groceries, which I defined in the first part of the series and very well could lead you to fall asleep while reading, so reader caution.
Track Your Spending
What should revive you from the possibility of falling asleep is the powerful website and app that allows you to track your spending and manage your financial life.
I personally track all of my expenses through Personal Capital. By signing up via this link as an added bonus we will both earn a $20 Amazon gift card if you add at least one valid investment account (brokerage, 401k, IRA, etc) containing a balance of more than $1000 within 30 days of registering.
Commit to Spending Less
Commit to spending less in the next month, but really in the next year. So when I create a financial goal this isn’t a new year’s resolution where I will show up in January and never show up again. I set goals and figure out if they are attainable, adjust accordingly, and stick to it till I reach the goal. This will be no different, that’s just who I have become.
Spend Less on Groceries 2019 Grocery Budget
From shame to super is the motto I will be working with. I talk about this with my clients but I cannot stress this enough, none of this would be possible if I didn’t track my expenses. If you don’t know how much you were spending it’s difficult to change course on what you plan to spend.
Our grocery spending for 2018 was out of hand. We originally started with a $400 grocery budget and slowly increased it to $450. Soon $550 came and went as we were cruising past our grocery budget like we were driving on the autobahn.
This year’s grocery budget for 2019 is taking shape. I set goals and rolled with the punches as I figured out our daily habits and what works best in our new situation.
Let’s dive into the last 6 months and see how we have improved. A special note should be made as the end of August and a large part of September were spent traveling and the need for groceries was greatly diminished.
Grocery Budget Spending by Store
Spend Less on Groceries Costco Update
The numbers here are from April to the end of September, a full 6 months worth of grocery spending. An interesting look as we did not spend any money at Costco in 3 of the 6 months. Some of this is planned as visits should be anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks as we buy in bulk.
As predicted our Costco spend stayed in the $200 to $250 range. The only real anomaly is that we didn’t spend any money at Costco in the month of August and September. As previously stated this is due to the extra travel in the months of August and September.
Overall Costco has been very close to the $200 monthly goal with some room left for improvement.
Spend Less on Groceries Fresco y Mas Update
The original plan was to shift our day to day grocery needs to a low-cost provider like Aldi. This has moved instead to Fresco y Mas.
Fresco y Mas is a grocery store marketed towards the large Hispanic population in South Florida.
Spending at Fresco y Mas has been a little inconsistent at this point. Very similar to our Costco spending we did not spend any money 3 out of the 6 months. Overall we have an average spend of $56.28 which is a little higher than the $40 expected.
Based on the overall spend so far this year I expect this be consistent and in the $40-$50 range for the year.
Spend Less on Groceries Farmer’s Market Update
The farmer’s market has become a bigger part of our grocery budget and routine spending. On average we end up going every 2-3 weeks. I really enjoy heading to the farmer’s market on the weekend as I know one of the owner’s from my local Crossfit gym.
We actually have gone under our the goal so far in the 6 months averaging $46.96 per month. Only for the low month of August and September does this appear to be less than what we expected. Overall I’m very happy with this spend and expect to continue in the months ahead.
Spend Less on Groceries Publix Update
The ultimate thorn in my grocery budget side, Publix. Gone are the days of spending $800+ but it’s a constant battle to avoid Buy One Get One “deals” and simply walk over to my local grocery store.
I am proud to report our current monthly spend at Publix is $182.25 or a little under 30% of our budget. It’s not $50, but this has been a big part of keeping our grocery budget lower than 2018.
My wife and I have been trying different methods to keep spending low at Publix such as only buying 2 items per visit. It’s a work in progress but the spending at Publix seems to be leveling out below $200 which is good.
Miscellaneous Groceries
It’s important to point out some of the miscellaneous grocery spend that I did not include in my goals and expected to spend for groceries. The monthly total each month of $107.54 has an impact on my overall grocery challenge.
Each dollar adds up. The miscellaneous groceries have risen over the past few months as we travel more. The propensity to buy groceries at new local stores and keep my wife’s espresso habit going increases the overall totals.
I’m a little surprised by the $60 increase, but it does make sense as travel has been a large part of our lives over the past 6 months. Over the next 3 months I expect the miscellaneous monthly averages to drop as we will be staying close to home over the holidays.
Beat Last Year’s Grocery Recap
Last year each month we spent a total of $785.69. This year through 9 months we have reduced the spending to $626.50 per month. A total decrease of $159.19, which is fantastic and well on our way to beating last year’s grocery budget.
Our goal of $450 is gone, but staying in the $550 range is a real possibility as traveling to Italy and keeping track of expenses just a little differently in the month of October could keep things relatively low.
The spending goals at each location on a monthly basis along with the actual numbers and difference in spending.
| Location | Goal | Actual | Difference |
| Costco | $200.00 | $263.82 | $63.82 |
| Publix | $100.00 | $175.37 | $75.37 |
| Fresco y Mas | $40.00 | $53.03 | $13.03 |
| Farmers Market | $60.00 | $44.23 | -$15.77 |
| Miscellaneous | $40.00 | $90.05 | $50.05 |
| Total | $440.00 | $626.50 | $186.50 |
The goal is fairly simple. Beat last year’s grocery budget by limiting our exposure to the convenient but largely expensive Publix grocery store.
The good news is I am currently on pace to beat least year’s budget! The big goal I set may have been a touch ambitious for 2019 as my goal of $440 is currently over by close to $200. My efforts are certainly there and I will continue to beat last year’s budget. Overall I’m very happy with our progress.
Eating healthy is one of my core values so this is where I am going to focus our spending. It’s important to remember that if you exceed your budget you will have to make changes in other areas.
Work with a Money Coach
As a money coach, I work with clients to get their grocery spending under control. Here are just a few ways I work to curb this spending.
- Make a meal list for the week
- Match that meal list with a grocery list and take this with you to the store
- Don’t shop hungry and please don’t shop hangry!
- Write down the items purchased that were not on the list and their costs
- Shop with cash only
- Track your spending to see how much you are really spending
It’s amazing to work together with a client and be able to help them to save $100 or $200 in a single month. This has such a domino effect on their financial lives. One might think it’s about saving money but really it’s about getting rid of the anxiety that debt causes. Making extra interest payments each month causes that burden to go away.
If you are interested in making a change in your money habits to build a life without financial stress, check out my Money Coach page. Change your financial life by working with me.