Grocery Budget
Budget Groceries and Household Items Separately

Budget Groceries and Household Items Separately

So many of you have been told that we should combine our household items and groceries together and have 1 budget. I’m going to prove to you why this is a bad idea in this article: How To Budget Groceries and Household Items. This doesn’t mean that you have to make separate trips, but the budgets should be separated.

2 Budgets, Not 1 For Success

I have heard many bloggers talk about combining these 2 categories into 1 budget, but the problem is when we do so, we feel like our grocery budget just got squeezed! If we are not aware of the household items we are needing during the month, they will creep up on us and wipe out our grocery money.

There has to be a better way for grocery shopping on a budget, a better system for purchasing everything we need to get us through the month without running out of money. I have a solution, and it’s easy!

Monthly Household Inventory

By separating the budgets, you can focus on each one individually. At the end of each month I get a notepad and pencil, walk through my house, and write down all the household items we are running low on, or need to stock-up on for the next month.

The places in my house I go to to take inventory:

  • Pantry
  • Sandwich bags/cling wrap drawer
  • Linen closet
  • Laundry room
  • Under bathroom sinks
  • My make-up drawer (make-up falls under household items)

By walking around the house with a notepad and pencil, or my cell phone, I can easily write down the items we are low on. I like to keep a back-up of most household items. Normally I have 2 bottles of laundry detergent, 2 packages of toilet paper, 2 eyebrow filler pencils, etc. ready for when we need them, and next month I can stock-up on what we used.

Another idea, pull up the TARGET APP and add the items you need to purchase directly to the app and order! Easy peasy!

How To Budget Groceries and Household Items

There is so much freedom with grocery shopping, when we no longer have to worry about purchasing anything other than food!

-Aimee

Freedom To Buy Groceries

There is so much freedom with grocery shopping on a budget, when we no longer have to worry about purchasing anything other than food! On occasion I will miss a household item that we ran out of mid-month, but it’s not a big enough purchase to hurt our grocery budget.

I actually love being able to purchase our household items at the beginning on each month so much, that I started bulk buying certain foods at the beginning on each month too! I absolutely love having enough peanut butter in the pantry to last us all month, along with salsas, maple syrup, and frozen fruit.

Cash Isn’t Necessary In This Category

I’m also not here to tell you that you must use cash to purchase household items. When it comes to my household budget, I never pull cash. Honestly, because of this quarantine that we’ve been in, most of the times I have my household items delivered or I choose to pick-up outside the store.

When it comes to groceries, however, I am a firm believer in CASH. Groceries is a little more difficult to control for some of us, me included! Throughout 2020 I stopped pulling cash for groceries. It was a different circumstance and I blew the budget a few too many times. I have learned my lesson and I stick to cash.

Household Budget

My household budget varies from month to month depending on what we need. By writing down all the items that we need to stock-up on for the next month, I’m able to figure out an exact amount. We typically spend $50-$75 on household items, and sometimes more if I need to buy make-up, skincare, or essential oils.

I do purchase essential oils, make-up, and skincare about 2 times per year. Typically May and November actually, and there’s no rhyme or reason to it. That’s just when I tend to run out and purchase more.

I hope this article helps you think about separating these 2 categories to help you feel like a winner when it comes to your grocery budget. Simple changes like these can impact your way to success. Instead of feeling like all your grocery money is dwindling too quickly, now you will feel more in control of your budget.

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1 thought on “Budget Groceries and Household Items Separately

    • Do you notice if you buy in bulk on groceries it helps with the next month’s budget? I buy cases of canned vegetables, spaghetti sauce etc. And I’ll buy 2-4 boxes of assorted pastas and Mac and cheese. And I’ll buy family packs of meats and divide it up per meal and put in freezer bags. Then the next month I either replace what was used or duplicate my grocery list. During this pandemic our Wal-Mart would run out of canned corn, green beans etc so I’m glad I bought cases before hand to carry us through. And I like the idea of having a grocery budget and a household budget.

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