3 Months of Grocery Shopping: May, June & July 2020

It’s been a couple months (3, to be exact) since I gave you a peak inside our grocery budget. It’s time for me to play catch up with a more detailed grocery post again.

First, I do hope you are following me on Facebook and / or Instagram because that is where I share my shopping trips as they happen. If you like seeing what I am buying on the days that I go shopping, go follow me on social media so you don’t have to wait for these longer monthly updates.

You can like Joyfully Thriving on Facebook here.

You can follow me on Instagram here. 

Second, I apologize that these posts have gotten more spread out! I have promised not to drop them from the blog because I know there is a core group of you that really enjoys the grocery geek side of me. Thank you for that! 🙂 These posts do take me awhile to gather the numbers and pictures, which is why I switched from sharing them weekly to monthly…and then every other month. My goal is to try to get back to monthly – or ever other month – soon. With everyone being home this summer and not traveling, the past three months have still flown by! In the busy-ness, I just didn’t get around to compiling the posts.

This post may contain affiliate links. You can read more in my disclosure policy. 

May Groceries

May found us going over our monthly $400 budget once again, as my husband continued the grocery shopping. Things were slowly becoming a bit more open in Indiana, but we tried to limit our shopping – especially in the beginning. Walmart pick up was a lifesaver then and continues to be part of my shopping habits.

Walmart pick up continues to save me time in the stores and is a great place for me to stock up on low price staples. I don’t buy meat at Walmart but it is where I buy most of my baking and canned goods. As soon as I run out of an item, I simply add it to my Walmart list in the app and it makes it so easy to place an order whenever I am ready. 

If you haven’t tried it yet,you can get $10 off your first $50 Walmart pick up order when you sign up here.

• 5/6 Amazon – Huggies Wipes $14.96
• 5/9 Kroger $63.44
• 5/9 Walmart Pick Up $105.54
• 5/13 Amazon – Venus Refills $14.97
• 5/15 Kroger $65.55
• 5/19 Grabill Bulk Store $22.87
• 5/19 Walmart Pick Up $101.52
• 5/19 Sam’s Club $32.86
• 5/23 Kroger $26.63
• 5/23 Walmart $3
• May Total $451.34

Here’s a look at what we ate in May. You’ll notice that I plan for leftovers once or twice a week. I used to get overly ambitious with meal planning and forgot to plan leftover nights which meant food went to waste. Now, I try to freeze leftovers right away or plan for a leftover night.

June Groceries

In June, I took over our grocery shopping again and it was exciting to do so! Meijer had hamburger on sale before the 4th of July for $1.89/lb so I went several times to stock up on almost 20 pounds of hamburger. We were also shopping in June to spend 4 days at camp with my family. We were responsible for 2 meals (and we all brought desserts, breakfasts and snacks) while we were there, so I adjusted our budget to cover those food costs.

• 6/2 Walmart Pick Up $80
• 6/5 Kroger $86.45
• 6/12 Kroger $50.68
• 6/12 Walmart $50.51
• 6/16 Kroger $50.41
• 6/18 Walmart $49.48
• 6/19 Sam’s Club $81.96
• 6/26 Meijer $13.65
• 6/27 Kroger $54.69
• 6/29 Meijer $48.30
• June Total $566.13 – $100 for Vacation = $466.13

In June, we went to camp with my extended family for a couple days. It was so good to see everyone after so much time spent on our own! Then, Andy’s grandpa and brother and his wife came to town for a couple days, so we spent time at my in-laws. You’ll see that reflected on our menu.

July Groceries

In July, I worked harder at staying close to my budget but there were some good stock up sales at Kroger. I bought 4 large boxes of diapers at Kroger in July, so that set me back $60. I also bought several packages of diapers and 2 large boxes of wipes at Meijer, due to coupons and Mperks. That really raised my budget in July but the good news is that I shouldn’t have to buy diapers for another 2 or 3 months now. I did cash out my Ibotta earnings to cover most of a trip to Sam’s so that was fun to stock up on hummus, guacamole, chocolate chips and deodorant with free money!

• 6/29 Walmart Pick Up $56.10
• 7/1 Meijer $76.03
• 7/7 Kroger $34.11
• 7/11 Kroger $54.22
• 7/17 Kroger $101.88
• 7/17 Sam’s Club $37.90 (Ibotta Earnings cover $34.80) = $3.10
• 7/20 Walmart $48.92
• 7/20 Kroger $8.48
• 7/29 Walmart $27.50
• July Total $410.34

In July, my cooking focused on some of our easy favorites. We got take out a couple times, and also went out for our 11th anniversary, as well as a date night at our school fundraising auction.

2020 Mid Year Grocery Audit

After going over our budget three months in a row, I decided to do a mid-year grocery audit and see what we have really been spending. I’ve never done this before but it has been an unusual shopping year so I decided to really look at things right now, rather than waiting until January comes again.

I currently have a $400 monthly budget and this is what I have spent monthly for the first 7 months of the year.

• January $384.40
• February $392.42 
• March $526.69
• April $362.15
• May $451.34
• June $466.13
• July $410.34
• Monthly Average $427.63

Obviously, we have been going over budget since the virus hit. For that reason, I am going to go ahead and raise our monthly budget from $400 to $425 a month. Here are a couple reasons why.

Grocery Lessons Learned

Our grocery bill increased during the pandemic. Partly, this was due to my husband doing the shopping as he isn’t as used to finding all the deals as I am. Partly, this was also due to stocking up on supplies and limiting our shopping trips a bit more. Also, sales came to a hault during the height of the virus which meant we were paying more because I couldn’t stock up as I usually do. I know I’m not alone in this. It seems like every mom I have talked to has mentioned this grocery increase right now!

Prices are increasing. I am noticing small amounts of increases on groceries, which doesn’t surprise me. I anticipate the prices to rise a bit more before the year is out. When the supply chain was disrupted, that impacted prices and demand much more than I anticipated.

Having a stockpile of meat is worth going over budget. On occasion, it needs to be done! In May, we stocked up on chicken and pork chops and some hamburger at Sam’s Club. That is where we have found the lowest prices on meat when there isn’t a sale. Thankfully, at the end of June, we started seeing meat sales again so I was able to stock up on hamburger for $1.89/lb, pork chops for $0.99/lb and ribs for $1.49/lb. Needless to say, I made several trips to Meijer during those sales to fill our freezer with hamburger again. I cooked and froze half of it in one pound bags, and made packages of hamburger patties for the freezer too. It is a relief to have a freezer full of meat again!

I want and need to continue stockpiling. This pandemic reminded me that it is important to have a stockpile. A good amount of my budget each month is currently going intentionally to stockpiling – diapers, toiletries, meat and other pantry items. I am in the process of figuring out exactly how much I want to have in my stockpile and will share that with you when I know. For that reason, my budget needs to be adjusted.

So, there you have it. 3 months of overages in shopping mean a raised budget. Hopefully, I can keep to this increased number a bit better. How is your grocery shopping going lately? Have you noticed an increase in your spending as well?