Grocery costs: It’s Not-so-simple😥

I just cant “life-hack” my way to spending less on food.

On September 30, I sat down to assign money to my family's October budget.

To my delight I saw that our grocery budget still had $200! Happy Dance!💃🏽

I promptly made a TikTok about the reasons for this success! (😲Buying in bulk! Organizing kitchen! Mindful spending!😲)

But … I had jumped the gun. I hadn't realized that we needed more groceries that day, the last day of September.

That last shopping trip of the month cost $176.🤭

So, the real news is that we were $24 under budget… Not really big news. Although I’ll take it!

Ugh. Life is REALLY EXPENSIVE right now! There's been a lot of talk online about the rising cost of basic groceries over the past few years. Truthfully, you will not likely find much hidden money in cutting back on basic food (Although I still stand by mindful spending to keep the lid on exorbitant grocery bills, and limiting eating out is generally good $ practice).

But more importantly, as a content creator, I need to make sure I don't convey the message that there's something I've worked out that's right under your nose… 👀

Because I know you're doing the best you can in a challenging economy.📈

🪄I wish I could wave a wand and give you the answers to spending less and earning more and saving the gap. But we currently live in a system that unfairly puts the responsibility of keeping costs low on YOU the individual consumer while prices on everything are going up, instead of policies that would keep basic needs at lower costs.

The struggle is real. The fight is real. 

And you are not alone.🫂Relationships are the thing that get us through tough stuff.

Here's the first TikTok, and here's my response TikTok.

P.S. If you’ve ever found yourself shopping to soothe, only to feel that pit of regret, the 7 Day Mindful Spending Challenge could be just what you need. Seven gentle, research-backed prompts to explore why spending feels comforting—and how to shift those habits with kindness.