50% Uncomfortable - changes are needed
Sometimes, our own life principles come back to us, and the impact is brutal. Hello, grocery bill. I have been on a journey to improve money management to be more efficient and purposeful. But I assumed some of my spending habits and experiences were in line with most folks. A quick search on the internet proved my theory wrong – like, way wrong. On average, a household of one spends between $238.46 and $434.33 per month, depending on location, dietary preferences and personal habits. It was clear that my grocery spending was inconsistent with national averages. What did I do? 50% uncomfortable incoming.
I reviewed my budgets for January through September 2024 to learn the average grocery/food spending. That average spending was eye opening to say the least. But that forced me to accept that choices had been made. No one was to blame for the excessive spending but me. That was hard because inherent in that realization was the loss of opportunity to do other things with that extra money. Save, invest, acquire appreciable assets, etc. But none of those were options because resources were used for consumerism. Now you can say, ‘Katrena, don’t we have to eat? How is it consumeristic?’ Yes, we absolutely have to eat. My stomach works no differently than any other person. But spending and eating responsibly is imperative. There are fixed and variable expenses in every monthly budget. Groceries are variable expenses, meaning, the final monthly total is 100% my choice. Unlike a car payment or monthly insurance premium, grocery stores do not require me to purchase a stated amount in groceries.
The other wrinkle in my revelation was my assumption. I assumed everyone was doing what I was doing, therefore I had no other pathway. Simple data collection suggested I could behave differently, but I had to decide to do so.
I chose to do differently. I gave myself a 90-day challenge to reduce my grocery spending. Starting October 1, I am shopping at different grocery stores, meal planning differently, and tracking the differences among the stores. I selected 2 stores for October, 2 different ones for November and others for December. I will track the variances in prices and final receipts. The added challenge is whatever resources I don’t use from that bucket, I will place in my brokerage account for investing. Next week, I will share the results. I think you are going to like it – I certainly did 😊.
Stay tuned for the 70% incremental next week. Instead of reminding you of the 50/70/100 principle, I will just say… until we meet, keep working on the change.