This Month's 2026 Grocery Spending – February

 

Often, at this time of year, I find myself still cleaning up leftovers from all of the holiday cooking, baking and entertaining so it is easy to do a pantry challenge, even if I’m not intending to.  This month I was busy clearing out readymade meals I had squirreled away in the freezer in my kitchen before anything languished in there long enough to become frost bitten.

 

This month I shopped only twice, once at Fred Meyer to restock the donation shelf in my LTFS, and picked up a few items on my list and then second to pick up items on my list at Costco.  Super easy!

 

Items for donating

While I was shopping at Costco I took some time to wander through the meat department and take a really good look at the varieties and prices to compare to my Butcher Box subscription. 

My latest Butcher Box delivery

My meat subscription for organic grass fed beef and wild caught salmon comes in much less than if I had purchased those very same items at Costco and most Costco meat is not grass fed or organic.

 

My latest meat delivery fully filled up my freezer.  I was easily able to fill in a few gaps with my other purchases this month too so my fridge and pantry are well stocked too.  A good sale on Crest toothpaste at Costco netted me a year plus supply of toothpaste for $10.99 which I added to the linen closet.

 

I put the donation items in italics

Total spent on groceries this month came in at $83.97, well below my 2025 monthly grocery budget and definitely a lot lower than the USDA Thrifty Budget Plan.  Yes!