Tallying Up My August Grocery Spending

I didn’t think to take a photo of August’s Hy-Vee haul, so here’s the $190.26 I spent on Hy-Vee groceries and toiletries for September.

I’m so glad you all suggested that we keep track of our August grocery spending, and I’m going to be sharing a few more grocery features over the next week or so — but here’s mine, in case you were curious. (Like many of you, I’m curious to see how my spending compares to everyone else’s!)

First, let’s go over what I eat in a day:

• Breakfast: Huel
• Lunch: Huel
• Afternoon snack: fruit, fruit and yogurt, oatmeal and honey, oatmeal and PB2 (lately it’s been oatmeal and PB2 pretty much exclusively)
• Dinner: one of five rotating meals (tofu stir-fry, scrambled eggs and sliced fruit, lentil soup, quinoa stir-fry, chickpea stew) served with cottage cheese (for the protein) and corn tortillas
• Dessert: frozen blueberries

I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind eating the same stuff every day — in fact, I prefer it — and since I’m only cooking for myself, it’s very easy for me to meal plan. Before I do my monthly Hy-Vee order, I count up how many dinners I’ll need and make sure I buy enough tofu, quinoa, etc. to cover those meals (plus a few extra meals just in case). I have a Huel subscription, so that comes automatically, and I toss in some extra apples for snacks and the rare evening when I’m still hungry even after dinner.

I buy some fresh fruits (apples/bananas) and fresh vegetables, but most of my fruit/veg comes frozen. I buy store brand as much as possible; the tortillas are from Mission and PB2 is of course PB2, but pretty much everything else, from quinoa to blueberries, is Hy-Vee’s brand.

I will buy the occasional treat or snack (like the $3 I spent on edible cookie dough earlier this month) but rarely eat at restaurants; when I lived in Seattle I’d occasionally order from Eat24, but Cedar Rapids doesn’t have that, so I haven’t ordered takeout once since I moved.

Happy to answer additional questions about my eating habits in the comments. Let’s move on to the numbers!

On July 25, I paid $139.50 towards my August supply of Huel (I get five bags every five weeks).

On July 28, I ordered $108.22 of groceries to be delivered via Hy-Vee Aisles Online. Only $17.47 of that order was inedible (toothpaste, face wash, Clorox wipes), which means I spent $90.75 on food.

On August 7, I ordered $17.90 worth of toiletries (lipstick, hair spray, a new comb to replace a broken one) from CVS. I could probably leave that off the list since it isn’t food, but I track groceries/toiletries on the same line in Mint, so here it is.

On August 9, I spent $20.99 on two tubs of PB2 from Amazon. I’d decided to try PB2 this past month and went through my first tub (which was part of my Hy-Vee order) in under two weeks. I thought about walking or biking to Hy-Vee to pick up a few more tubs, but ordered through Amazon since it was too hot and muggy out. It would have been cheaper to buy the PB2 at Hy-Vee; I spent an extra dollar per tub for this convenience.

On August 14, I ordered $34.41 worth of tea — 9 boxes, with 20 teabags each — from Celestial Seasonings. I drink about four cups of tea a day, and put in a huge Celestial Seasonings order every few months or so.

On August 26, I spent $15.99 on three more boxes of tea, because I didn’t count the remaining teabags in my cupboard before putting in my Celestial Seasonings order. (I had plenty of herbal tea, but hadn’t ordered enough black tea.) I bought this tea through Amazon instead of Celestial Seasonings so I wouldn’t have to pay for shipping. The boxes that arrived were rotten, and I know that you’re going to tell me that “rotten tea” isn’t a thing, but these boxes were all days away from their “best-by date” and the tea smelled like mold and scented candles. I threw them in the trash.

Total grocery spending for August: $301.64 

Total grocery spending including toiletries: $337.01

This piece is part of The Billfold’s grocery budget series.

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.