January Grocery Budget Report – The Monthly Grocery Haul

on Feb 01, 2019, Updated Jul 18, 2020

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It’s time for the January grocery budget report and a look at our monthly grocery haul. Happy February! Here’s how my family of six did with groceries this month. How’d you do?

January Grocery Budget Report

We survived a brutal winter month in Iowa. We’re just coming off some of the coldest weather in history and my kids were home more days in January than they were in school. When I compiled my receipts the other day, I was shocked at how little I actually spent. Less than I thought we would have!

I can attribute that to three things. First, I bought a TON of groceries at the end of December in anticipation for holiday guests. My sister and her family were here for almost a week. Turns out, my mother also bought a ton of groceries which she contributed to the group and I had a lot left over. Then, my parents left for the winter and gave me more food as well!

So that’s one reason for the decrease in our January grocery budget. Another decrease happened because I finally started baking bread again. When I first began writing these grocery budget reports last year, I thing I said almost every single month was that I would be able to decrease my budget if I actually started baking bread again.

How we decreased our budget this month

Well, guess what. I finally did it! In January not only did we bake a lot of bread, but we also got back to making homemade granola as well. Since I already have all of the ingredients on hand for both bread and granola in my huge pantry, it saved a lot of money. It’s also a lot healthier. And it really doesn’t take that much time. I bake five loaves of bread in under 2 hours. That includes time to grind the flour from wheat berries, bake the bread, and clean up the mess too.

The last reason for the lower grocery budget is that I am trying to eat up meat from our freezer. I buy most of our meat in bulk from local farmers, but I’m at that point where it’s time to order more. That means the less desirable meat cuts are left. I’ve been making stock out of beef soup bones and using up whole chickens and making a lot of stock from their leftover bones as well. From scratch cooking really can help reduce the grocery budget!

Okay – without further ado – here’s what I bought to feed our family of six in January.

The Monthly Grocery Haul, January 2019

1/3/09 HyVee – $29.22

Cayenne pepper – 1.00
Tarragon – 1.00
Organic Whole Chocolate Milk – 2.59 (workout recovery for me)
Organic whipping cream – 4.49
Boneless pork loin – 14.00

1/5/09 BUTCHER BOX – $129

An assortment of grass fed and grass finished and humanely raised beef and pork, plus 2 lbs of absolutely delicious Alaska Sock Eye Salmon. I bought this to see if I want to recommend Butcher Box to all of you! The verdict is still out because I still need to do my comparison shopping, but I do know that Costco Salmon actually costs more than Butcher Box, and the meat we have eaten so far is very delicious. So my initial thoughts are very positive.

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1/7/19 ALDI – $36.45

- - Green onions – .79
  - ABF ham – 3.29
  - ABF ham – 3.29
  - Avocados x 4 = 1.96 (.49 c each)
  - Yellow onions – 1.79
  - Pineapple x 2 – 1.98 (.99 c each)
  - Red onions – 1.89
  - Organic baby spinach – 2.49
  - Red onions – 1.89
  - Sliced mushrooms – 1.69
  - Blood oranges – 4.99
  - Organic broccoli – 2.39
  - Limes – 1.89
  - Grapefruit x 8 – 5.52 (69 c each)
  - Cara Cara oranges – 2.49

1/17/19 ALDI $75.58

- - Banans 1.54
  - Corn tortillas – 1.99
  - Kiwis – 3.89
  - Italian bread – 3.69
  - Everything bagels – 1.49
  - Cinnamon bagels – 1.49
  - Breakfast sausage – 1.89
  - Hash brown patties – 1.89
  - Pretzel sticks – .59
  - Winking Owl wine – 2.94
  - Winking Owl wine – 2.94
  - Mandarins – 1.99
  - Half & Half – 1. 55
  - Organic baby spinach – 2.49
  - Cara Cara oranges – 3.99
  - Pure maple syrup – 5.99
  - Sausage links x 3 – 2.97 (.99 c each)
  - Sliced mushrooms – 1.69
  - Organic baby carrots – 1.49
  - Pineapple – 1.89
  - Mangoes x 4 = 2.76 (.69 c each)
  - Lemons – 2.89
  - Avocados – 2.89 (.89 c each)
  - ABF ham – 3.29
  - AFB ham – 3.29
  - Pineapple – 1.89

1/22/19 Jeff’s Market (local grocery store) $16.56

- - Mandarins – 3.99
  - Yellow onions – 3.99
  - Bananas – 1.53
  - Broccoli – 2.50
  - Half & Half – 1.49
  - Eggs (2 dozen) – 3.06 (1.53 each)

**Jeff’s is my local option when we’re out of something and it’s too late to go to town. I don’t shop there very often.

1/23/19 COSTCO $109.38

- - Organic whole milk – $9.99 (3 – 1/2 gallons)
  - Organic maple syrup – 10.79
  - Organic frozen mangoes – 8.89
  - Tortillas – 3.99
  - Organic half / half – 1.97 (not sure why that’s so cheap?)
  - Clementines – 5.99
  - Bananas – 1.24
  - Grape tomatoes – 5.99
  - Organic tortilla chips – 4.59
  - Avocados – 4.59
  - Uncured bacon – 11.99
  - Mini babybels – 10.89
  - White sharp cheddar cheese – 10.79
  - Organic frozen berry blend – 11.69
  - Bagels – 5.99

1/26/19 Jeff’s Market $10.86

- - Canned black beans x 2 – 1.35 each
  - Light red kidney beans x 2 – .67 each
  - Ground beef – 4.96
  - Bananas – 1.86

**Usually I cook dried beans in my Instant Pot (it’s super easy – here’s how!)! This is how poor planning affects my budget. I have plenty of dried beans in my pantry.

1/27/19 COSTCO $190.67

- - Kind Granola bars – 17.99
  - Organic triscuits – 9.59
  - Organic broccoli – 6.49
  - Organic tortellini – 9.99
  - Wild Caught Alaska Sock Eye Salmon – 32.99
  - Organic tortilla chips – 4.59
  - Bagels – 5.99
  - Organic eggs (2 dozen ) – 5.99
  - Garlic Kielbasa – 13.52
  - Hummus – 5.99
  - Sharp cheddar cheese – 10.79
  - Organic Greek yogurt – 5.59
  - Organic half & half – 5.99
  - Organic ground beef – 19.99
  - Baguette – 4.99
  - Organic carrots – 5.99
  - Organic romaine lettuce – 4.99
  - Grape tomatoes – 6.49
  - Mayan Sweet? I have no idea what this is. LOL – 4.49
  - Giant potatoes (15 lbs) – 7.99

1/29/19 ALDI $63.84

- - Sweet Potatoes – 4.09
  - English muffins – .99
  - Sliced mushrooms – 1.69
  - Hot dogs x 2 – .79 each (for giving our dogs pills – I think we spent more money in vet bills this month than we did on groceries.)
  - Kombucha – 2.89
  - Yellow mustard – .55
  - Pantene conditioner – 3.94
  - Organic baby spinach – 2.49
  - Cilantro – .65
  - Speciality shredded cheese – 2.99
  - Powdered sugar – 1.29
  - Winking Owl Wine x 2 – 2.94 each
  - Cara cara oranges x 2 – 1.49 each
  - Navel oranges – 1.99
  - Cream cheese – .69
  - Flour tortillas – 1.99
  - Bananas – 2.15
  - Green grapes – 2.72
  - Bananas – .73
  - Avocados x 9 – 4.41 (.49 c each)
  - Cantaloupe x 8 – 15.12 (1.89 each) which I DID NOT BUY. I bought 8 grapefruit though which are not on the receipt. So I will take this receipt to ALDI and see what they say! The grapefruit cost a lot less.

Fresh Eggs, $12

I also bought local eggs from a friend since I don’t currently have any chickens. She charges $2 a dozen, and I probably bought 6 dozen from her. I can’t really remember.

My grand total from January was $673.56 which is under my goal of around $800 a month! Not too shabby!! Plus, ALDI owes me about $8, I think, if I can get the cantaloupe charge reversed! I’ll try to remember to let you know in March how that goes for me! Remind me if I forget. How’d you do on groceries in January?