Question

So I buy grocery and household needs (paper towels, diapers, shampoo etc) all together. It is too much trouble to go through the receipts to track my grocery spending separately from the other stuff. At this point I’m tracking it all together as one category, “Grocery/Household” but I’d like to have a better idea of how much I’m spending on each. How do you all do it?  

Answer 1

I go to self checkout and split up my purchases so I don't feel anxious with people behind me.  

Comments

@choriocarcinoma Thx for that tip! Yes, the anxiety keeps me from splitting up my stuff and keeping up the line haha!  

Answer 2

We actually combined it on purpose with our budgeting to cut down on stops. We spend way less money buying household stuff with groceries even if they’re more expensive, because we aren’t making a second trip to Walmart etc

Answer 3

It all gets lumped into groceries. The paper goods and soap, dish soap, detergent all get bought in bulk so I don’t have to buy as often. It evens out.  

Answer 4

I have groceries in their own envelopes and household misc in a separate one. It’s really not that hard for me, after I get in my car I take the receipts (keep them in their envelopes until ready to track) then I write down how much on my envelope tracker before I leave the parking lot. Takes Me 3 seconds.  

Answer 5

And I don’t buy turn on separate days. Same day. Same store. Separate transactions

Answer 6

When checking out I group all grocery items together and all household items together. Once I get home I highlight items in one category to separate the total.  

Answer 7

I do the same

Answer 8

I combine. Too much work to separate.  

Answer 9

I separate, but I also know before going to the store what I'm buying and how much it will be. So I take that amount from each envelope and I'm done.  

Answer 10

I use the Groceries/Household label, but I do use a modified tracker that allows me to separate these expenses if I need to. I tend to use this column more for breaking down my Fun/Leisure expenses since that category includes eating out, hobbies, entertainment, holidays, etc (for me).  

Answer 11

I pay together but budget separately at this point. It’s not exact. Like I buy dog food at Costco, I pay for it with groceries and just take $30 From my pet category. Same for toilet paper, dish soap, laundry soap, etc. in full disclosure I just started doing this because I want to know what I’m spending on this stuff so it isn’t perfect, but I also don’t want to spend time separating it in the checkout line.