02-03-09

Reviewing month 1 of our new budget/spending tracking system. It was a good month, but January brought an extra paycheck with how the bi-weekly dates fell, and that always adds to a false sense of "doing good".

According to Real Simple magazine, monthly grocery bills for families add up to:

$250 or less for 12%

$251-$500 for 39%

$501-$750 for 33%

$751-$1000 for 12%

Over $1000 for 4%

My first reaction was that $1,000 is sure a lot.

Our January spending on groceries was $489. Seems good, until you expand to our total Food category (including dining out, school lunches, coffee, and going out to dessert). Our monthly spending jumped to $1,041. 7% under budget, but still a lot.

“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” Fran Lebowitz