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I spent $10k on food last year. What’s good way to track grocery spending? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 10 months ago by Aquila@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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So I’m just one dude and 10k a year just on food seems incredibly high. I don’t go out that often, ~$1600 was at restaurants. I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong while shopping at grocery stores and want to track grocery purchases better. The store I typically go to doesn’t have online receipts to use.

I’m wondering what kind of apps are available for tracking grocery expenditures that Lemmings would recommend? It would be nice to be able to go back and check prices/sizes of things too, so what is being shrinkflated/skimpflated

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[–] MrVilliam@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago (15 children)

I'm not sure about tracking your spending, but I can tell you that you're grocery shopping is way too wasteful. That's like $200/week on groceries for one person. Unless you have a very limited diet, you're paying more than double what you should be at the grocery store. For context, when I get groceries for me and my wife, I rarely spend over $50. Get store brands, buy bigger sizes, and shop at cheaper stores like Aldi. Stop buying frozen and processed garbage; buy fresh meat and vegetables and cook big batches and have leftovers. This time of year is great for a big pot of soup/chili!

I think if I were interested in tracking spending like that, I might just build a simple spreadsheet with dates and costs, maybe add variables for the unusual things like stocking up to have guests to feed or whatever. Sorry I can't be more helpful on that front. If you're not experienced with cooking, there are some really good YouTube channels that can teach you some good, versatile recipes that are very budget-friendly.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 1 points 10 months ago (6 children)

$50 for two people for a week? That's about $1.20 per meal and rivals what companies like Aramark spend per inmate/school child per meal. I have a tough time believing this holds true for more than a week unless you're just eating beans and rice.

[–] MrVilliam@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Not fully representative, but it's the closest I've got. I had taken a picture of two receipts to show that buying one bag of groceries from Giant costs as much as most of our week's grocery run. I would typically buy a little more than this, and what I would buy in addition is the pricier things admittedly, but it's usually $35-50 depending on what needs replenishing and what's on sale.

[–] XBannedx@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do you eat meat?

[–] MrVilliam@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Yes, but I buy bigger packs, so I don't always need more. That's why this receipt was so much lower than the $35-50 I was talking about. A big pack of chicken thighs from Aldi is under $10, usually $7ish. But based on that receipt, I was probably doing a sweet potato black bean something or other. Hearty, satisfying vegetarian meals can be as delicious as they are cheap.

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