One of the things that surprised me since getting married was how much a household of two (and two dogs and a cat) could spend on groceries each month. I honestly did not think that we could spend so much for our basic needs. I mean, a few toiletries, household cleaning materials, food for two, a few ‘luho’ purchases, and pet food shouldn’t cost a lot, right?
In the four months we’ve been married, we overshot our monthly grocery budget every single time. Once, I was surprised at our grocery bill that I grabbed the receipt right after it came out of the receipt printer to check if there were any errors, but no, all purchases were valid. We really did shop for all those items.
Abet and I are trying to bring down our grocery bill (all expenses, actually) so we can save more for our planned trips, and of course, to pad our nest egg for when we have a baby. I’ll need to figure out how to go to our nearest wet market and how to buy produce, meat, and fish there. Also, we have come to realize that cooking for two is not very economical and practical, especially not when there’s a carinderia right across our house that serves good, cheap, and clean food. We’ll buy our viands more often instead of cooking (I’ll still cook brown rice, which we’ve been having since the start of the year). We’ll also have to cut down on our luxury purchases, like the Finetti and deli sausages and raspberry iced tea that we love so much.
I hope Abet and I reduce our grocery expenses, we sure need all the savings we can muster.
*photo from here
