If you’ve been reading along, you know my tricks for spending just $175 a month on organic food and how I plan my meals.  I kept track of all my grocery expenses for six weeks and calculated that I spend an average of $175 a month on groceries.  What, exactly, do I get for that amount?

Here’s what I bought in one month:

$66.00  (Veggie delivery every other week at $33.00 each)

$ 3.94 (Fred Meyer: flour)

$ 9.97 (Fred Meyer: peppers, frozen spinach, tortillas)

$24.30 (Trader Joe’s: beans, olive oil, dried fruit, frozen beans, jam, shells and cheese, peanuts)

$17.59 (Fred Meyer: oil, spices, beans, popcorn, lime, lentils, cilantro)

$ 4.08 (Whole Foods: oats)

$13.40 (Fred Meyer: tea, yeast, eggs)

$6.66 (Fred Meyer: canola oil, onions, pretzels)

$10.10 (New Season’s: milk and eggs)

 

$155.96 TOTAL

(Note: Why did I buy oil three times in a month? Well, I ran out of canola oil and olive oil at the same time. When I went to buy canola oil, they were out, so I bought vegetable oil instead. The next time I went to the store, they had canola oil again, so I stocked up on it. Don’t worry–we don’t usually go through so much oil!)

During this month, I spent less than my average of $175. I tracked for two more weeks to arrive at that average. As you can see, I tend to go shopping frequently and spend just a little at a time. This is because I don’t have a car and walk to the stores. (I wrote about saving money by not buying in bulk here. Joy countered with her bulk-buying tips here.)

I know some people have strict food budgets. I don’t. It was interesting tracking my expenses for six weeks, but it wasn’t a habit I’d like to keep up. How do you budget for your grocery shopping? Any money-saving tips you care to pass along?

This post is a part of We are THAT Family’s Works for Me Wednesday blog carnival.