The Last {Counting} Crumbs of 2012

My grocery budget is $300 each month, including food, household items and toiletries.  Each week I crunch the numbers to see where I stand.  Today marks the end of the month (and the year!).  Catch up with weeks one, two and three.

Our Christmas Eve buffet, Christmas morning feast and prime rib Christmas dinner have been the center of attention all week.  Preparing, chopping, cooking, feasting, re-inventing the leftovers (and we’re still in-progress with that last one)…

Rightly so, grocery shopping has been uneventful.

I do admit – there was a 5-minute freak-out period where I realized the overnight cinnamon rolls recipe called for four eggs, and there was only one in the fridge.

Following shortly by a 2-minute freak-out session when Mr. Crumbs asked if we had the cherries for the topping of the vanilla cheesecake.

Lucky for me, he had to run an errand that put him right next to our local grocery store. 

Savemart – $6

This total is a complete guess as the receipt is MIA.  I didn’t ask for it when he walked in the door and he can’t remember the exact total.  The only two items he purchased were a dozen eggs and cherry pie filling, so this guess should be close enough.

Month to Date:  $291.33

Coming in under budget is a mighty nice way to end Counting Crumbs for 2012, don’t you agree?

Since this marks the end of the year, let’s review how the budget has looked these past eight months.

May – $328
June – $304
July – $321
August – $229
September – $365
October – $460
November – $336
December – $291

Monthly Average – $329

Want to hear something funny?  I’ve been considering raising our grocery budget to $330 instead of $300.  The monthly average tells me something I already know – that I’ve been spending that each month all along!

The “raise” just makes it official on paper.  Mr. Crumbs and I have discussed this before and it’s something that our household budget can afford.  We spend the majority of our grocery money on high quality meat and dairy, lots of fresh produce and good-for-you fats.  Since our budget rarely includes splurges (even 100% juice for Italian-sodas and salt & vinegar kettle chips are on the decline!), the increase should allow us to continue to eat real food while maintaining accurate budget numbers.

How are you stretching and counting crumbs?