I'm fine-tuning the budget. As one does when prices go up.
Beyond tracking my grocery budget, which is at or below the "thrifty" level of the USDA food cost thingy.
https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/media/file/CostofFoodSep2022Thrifty.pdf
For one old chick: 51-70 years $51.30/week $222.50/month.
I thought I could do better. I have in the past.
So, I did a couple of things.
In the grocery budget, I made a subheading for spending called "crap" meaning candy, industrial kombucha, sugary treats at the farmers market. Stuff I can live without or make myself.
In October the "crap" category was about 27% of the spending! That's about 50$ last month of my actual spend at the grocery store and farmers market. Without that 50$ of crap, I had plenty of nutrition and calories and variety. If I repurpose even 1/2 that amount into DIY treats or some local meat that will be a better option. Cooking treats at home with the honey/cocoa/etc I have in stock is not "crap", for the record.
We'll see if I manage that this month. The only trip to a grocery store this month I spent 3$ on crap! Granted, it was a good deal for what I got, really high quality dark chocolate, but I did not need it. Damn that discount grocery store.
