This Month's 2024 Extreme Budget Grocery Spending – December & YE Totals!

 

I did it!  I made it through the entire year of 2024 on an extreme grocery budget of only $50 per month and it was amazing!  It was eye opening and challenging, it really tested my creativity as well as my resourcefulness, but most importantly it was fun!  I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge.

 

This month I began with some apples, about a third of a bag of carrots, half an onion, some cream, a little bit of whipping cream leftover from Thanksgiving, a little bit of milk, half a container of sour cream, a 2# block of cheddar (unopened), some grated parmesan, a package of cream cheese, 17 eggs and more condiments then I had hoped to have at this point in my refrigerator plus a box of apples in my garage.  With a deficit rollover amount of $2.97 my starting budget was $47.03.  November was the only month this year that I went over my budget.  Every other month I began with a positive rollover amount, so I had a little bit extra to start with each time.  All things considered, I’m pretty happy about that.

 

I had only a few things on my LTFS list I was low on – apple cider vinegar (I used quite a bit while canning this year) and coconut milk so I restocked that by stopping into the dollar store and picking up three quart size bottles of vinegar ($3.25) and four cans of coconut milk ($5.00).

 

While shopping with a friend at Wal-Mart I picked up a half gallon of heavy whipping cream as it was the best price I’d seen in a while.  This was plenty to see me through the holiday baking and cooking as well as feed my coffee habit and that of another friend of mine when she stops in for a visit.  Looking back over the year quite a bit of my budget was spent on cream just to use in my coffee.  Should I have devoted so much money to that in lieu of having such an extreme budget this year?  Perhaps not, but we all have that one item we don’t wish to live without and this is mine.  Had it become a financial hardship I would’ve adjusted accordingly, but I think this just proves that extreme grocery budgets do not have to mean deprivation.

 

At Fred Meyer I picked up another half gallon of milk on sale for $3.99 and a four pound bag of oranges on sale for $2.99.  I really enjoy having oranges around at Christmastime.  Later in the month I stopped into Winco for some fresh produce to have for holiday meals and that was pretty much it.  I had everything on hand already in the house to prepare this year’s holiday meals so I didn’t need to get much at the stores this month.

 

My last shopping trip of 2025! 😁

My creativity this year included lots of meal planning and savvy shopping – taking advantage of loss leaders and good sales, markdowns and clearance items, digital coupons and FREE offers, rebates, gift cards plus making a list/plan and sticking to it.  I did my best to acquire whatever I needed at the best possible price, even if it meant shopping at multiple stores to get everything on my list.

 

Freebies: 

• 7 bottles of salad dressing (donated) and a jar of mayonnaise (still unopened) – Kroger digital store coupon FREE Offer
• 2 large zucchinis & a grocery bag full of pickling cucumbers from two different co-workers (I ended up canning them)
• A bag of grapes grown in someone’s backyard
• A half pint jar of homemade chili sauce from a co-worker
• A ham (still have leftovers in the freezer), a dozen eggs, three pounds of butter, two packages of cheese, a jar of mayonnaise & a 5# bag of potatoes at Easter from my BFF (I still have quite a bit of that ham left in the freezer)
• 8 peaches + a green bell pepper given to me by a friend, grown in her backyard
• 8 purple plums given to me by gentleman that comes into the senior center
• A pint of pickled green beans from one of the lovely ladies that comes into the senior center
• A head of lettuce, a bunch of Kale and a green bell pepper from the Boise Farmer’s Market free produce event at work.
• Winning Raffle Ticket!!! – 4+ pounds ground beef, 2+ pounds stew meat, 1 sirloin steak, 1 round steak, 1 porterhouse steak, 1 package Korean style ribs (I did not use any of this meat in 2024)

 

Gift Cards I Used: 

• $25 Kroger – earned from scanning receipts for a year on Fetch Rewards
• $20 Kroger – earned from completing a city bus riding challenge
• $10 Kroger – earned from participating in the city bus riding rewards program
• $40 Costco – earned by getting a membership
• $50 Costco – earned by obtaining a Costco Visa credit card

 

I learned A LOT!  One thing I know is that I can more than adequately feed myself healthy and delicious meals for not a lot of money.  I ate very well.  I was not only easily able to buy plenty of fresh and frozen produce and dairy options, but also quite a bit of meat.  I was very aware of making sure I used up what I had and did not allow it to go to waste.  Over time I made my way back to the basics and cooked a lot of things from scratch like I’ve done for ages and it felt good to get back on track with that.  As a result I began to eat a lot healthier and I found I enjoyed my food and the whole process of shopping, cooking, baking and even preparing so much more.

 

I thought I might have to ration some things or really put my skills of stretching things out to the test, but that wasn’t the case.  I even planned that there would be times when I might have to go without something, but other than a week without cheese, that wasn’t really the case.  The only reason I ended up going without cheese that week was because I simply didn’t want to go to the store – pure laziness on my part.  I even had to slow up a bit on my soup meals from time to time because I’d get a backlog of other foods that needed to be eaten or I’d acquire too many leftovers.  What a problem to have!

 

My extremely tight budget did not compromise my ability to prepare meals and have guests over to join me.  In fact, I did a lot more entertaining this year than I did last year.  It did not impact my ability to share or donate food either.  I actually did more of that this year too.  And!  I did a HUGE amount of home canning and preserving as I replaced items I had used and stocked up my LTFS.  This year I filled every one of my canning jars plus bought and filled four more flats of jars for an additional forty eight jars of food to add to my LTFS.  I half expected my deep freezer and LTFS shelves would show signs that I’ve been on a budget challenge this year, but both are FULL to capacity and, compared to last year, I have a bit of a surplus.  I actually came away with far more food than what I started out with.  That part really did surprise me.

 

I had planned to redeem some of my credit card rewards points I’d saved up for more grocery store gift cards, but I didn’t need to.  Looking back, that honestly surprised me too.  The thought also crossed my mind that by the end of the year I’d have a lengthy list of groceries I’d need to resupply myself come January.  Guess what?  I don’t have a shopping list like that at all.  In fact, it looks pretty normal.

 

My nonfood budget of $50 for the entire year was a bit ambitious and although I did go over that amount it wasn’t by much.  By the time all was said and done I was in the hole $12.16, however I had enough money left from my fun and leisure budget to cover that amount so I was good to go.  Spending only $62.16 for the entire year on nonfood items I think was pretty darn good.  Full transparency – in August I did buy four new flats of canning jars which I used my Fun & Leisure budget on.  For me I felt that was a better use of those funds since at the time I wasn’t using them up and to me home canning and preserving is a lot of fun so it just made sense.  Had I not had those funds available I would’ve made due without the extra jars, but I sure am glad I was able to get them.

 

$594.57 for 366 days = $1.62 per day! 😮

I am absolutely thrilled, beyond thrilled in fact, with how well this challenge turned out.  Inflation be damned!  I nailed this!  Stick around.  Soon I’ll be sharing with you my grocery and nonfood budget plans for 2025.  Let me know in the comments what you think.  Did you think originally I’d be able to do this well when I started out?  What do you think now?