S/O those who budget

[Night Elf]

When you budget for groceries, do you split food from non-food items? I used to do that but I'm wondering if that's necessary. We don't buy frivolous non-food items. I'm thinking about paper towels, toilet paper, bathroom needs, soap, etc.

[Runningmom80]

I separate it.  We have a "grocery" line which is strictly food and drink,  and a "House and personal" which takes care of soaps/cleaning needs for both body and home.

 

ETA:  I actually think most people don't split it.  If you shop at super target or Walmart and it's all on one receipt, I can see that it would be easier to just lump it together.  We don't have that option so ours are more easily separated. Also, I want to know exactly how much I'm spending on groceries because it's always an awful amount and I'm forever trying to get it down. 

Edited January 2, 2018 by Runningmom80

[regentrude]

For "keeping track of where money goes" purposes, separating the categories can be useful; I always liked to see where the biggest expenses were.

But for budgeting, I don't see much of a point; it's not like I can go overboard on frivolous toilet paper purchases. If we need tp, we buy tp. 

[carriede]

I have food, toiletries, and household.

[Scarlett]

I do two tickets when I am trying to figure out where all the money is going.  Household and toiletries can really add up....

 

[Clear Creek]

I don't split it. If I can buy it at a grocery store, then it goes in the grocery category. If it is a home furnishing or home repair or something along those lines, it goes in the household goods category. But since I buy all my food and non-food grocery items at one store, I don't want to have to split the receipt up between two categories on the budget. Too much work, lol.

[regentrude]

See, I tend to see it as....like you said, it's not like I am going overboard on frivolous tp purchases....so I don't feel it's necessary to track it separately.

 

Yes, I meant more like quickly looking over the check to see where did all that money go, and seeing oh yes, big pack TP and laundry detergent are the biggest items, ok, fine.

When money was tight, I liked to know what the biggest items were for each shopping trip; that helped me see whether I had done frivolous spending on another item, if that makes sense.

Edited January 2, 2018 by regentrude

[Night Elf]

Ok, I won't split it up then. Like I said, and someone else too, it's not like I'm spending frivolously on soap and toilet paper.

 

I can think of two areas I know we can reduce and after looking at our Visa for the past two months (we use our Visa to pay for everything we buy), I'm shocked at how much is in those categories.

[Carrie12345]

I don't split them.  I need food, I need toilet paper, and I get them in the same place.  One line.

 

Now, if I happen to be in Target and pick up toilet paper and milk with my "why am I even here" purchases, I don't make a formal budget change, but it's in the back of my head.

[cjzimmer1]

Mine are split because the majority of those items comes from different places.   I don't buy groceries at Walmart because it is the second most expensive place to buy groceries in town (and I have 3-4 other options which are all significantly cheaper) and I don't buy household supplies at the grocery store because they are significantly cheaper at Walmart.  

 

Costco is the only stores where I might buy some of both but since overall their prices are higher than Walmart on household stuff and the grocery store on food items, that they make up the smallest portion $ wise of the places I shop.  So it's not a big deal to break those items apart and I like the detail to see exactly where I spend things.  I find it easier to know where to cut back/monitor if I don't have lots of types of things lumped into one category.

[mommyoffive]

I don't split

[Beth S]

I've ended up using two credit cards for WM purchases.  It's even better than running two receipts. 

This way I know the one receipt is all food.

I usually put the other misc stuff on a debit card, so I can remember & track the weird things I bought while my memory holds up. ;-)

 

Those 24" long Walmart receipts are very difficult to manage!

 

 

[Arcadia]

My husband takes care of buying paper towels, toilet paper, bathroom needs, soap, etc. so he has a budget and he also look out for deals. My DS12 uses lots of toilet paper and my husband can remember price history of toilet paper at Target, Walmart and Safeway which are where we usually get our toilet paper. He usually buy the Scott 1000 because it’s the cheapest available. He tracks laundry detergent prices too as he does the laundry so he picks the detergent.

 

I take care of groceries but I don’t have a budget. I do track so I know how much we spend every month. Most of our grocery is bought at Trader Joe’s so it is very easy to track as we only buy food items there.

[PeachyDoodle]

No. I budget everything we purchase at the grocery store as "groceries." We have experimented with buying paper products, etc. online or at other places, but it hasn't worked well for us. If I started doing that consistently I might give them a separate budget category.

[happypamama]

I don’t split groceries from paper products, cleaning products, pet supplies, or personal care. It’s all “groceries.â€

 

If I go to Walmart and also buy printer paper or dish towels or a gift alongside milk, cat food, and conditioner, I will list those in my budget program under Miscellaneous. The total receipt might say $50, but if $14 is printer paper and dish towels, $36 gets listed as Groceries, and $14 gets listed as Misc. If I’m really on the ball (and if it involves money coming from a different account, like from the kids’ accounts or from savings, since I don’t keep gift money in the regular account), I will separate non-grocery/household and personal necessities and pay for them separately, if I’m not in a hurry and lines aren’t too long.

[HomeAgain]

I don't split it up, but then again, I do.

 

We buy our laundry detergent online - that comes out of the 'misc' budget that covers house needs of the month.

 

TP is factored in to the grocery budget.  So is soap.  Paper towels are bought about 1 roll every 6 months - we use cloth napkins and regular kitchen towels for most things.

[Bootsie]

I don't separate these out; I would find that tedious to do on an ongoing basis.  Plus, I don't think it would do that much to change my spending habits.  I would never say "we spent all of our toilet paper budget this month, so I won't buy any more."  I don't see spending time and energy documenting something that isn't going to make much difference.  I will occasionally track the spending, just to see how much we do spend on those items, just out of curiosity.  I also find that we tend to run out of laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, aluminum foil, etc. at the same time.  So, some months I would spend a lot more than other months; I just can't see that it is worth tracking how much ahead or behind I am in that area.  

[scholastica]

I separate them out. But I like knowing where every penny goes. I even calculate and allocate the sales tax. It’s weird, but I enjoy it. I do use software to record all of it so that makes it easier.