As I mentioned in a previous post, my grocery bills have been continually going up. And up. September’s groceries were surprisingly low, but I ate way too many meals at restaurants, something I need to change for this month. I blame it on the fact that the roommate came back from abroad, so we were hitting up all of her favorite places, and then celebrating her birthday week later in the month.
I’m sure some of the increase in spending is coming from the general increase in food prices. But for October, I’m going to take a look at where all the money is going. I’m starting a spreadsheet to log all the groceries I buy, the cost, and some general categories for the items. I’m logging them into general categories (fruits, veggies, dairy, meat, prepared food, treat, etc) and also what meal they’re used for (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack). I’m hoping this helps me figure out where the money’s going and if there are areas in which I should be cutting back, or if this is just going to be how it is.
I don’t think this is something I could keep up long term, but I think it’s a good experiment. Who knows, the sheer act of having to log something might be enough to keep me from buying!
