March grocery budget recap - how did we spend our money?

Because I'm kind of a weirdo, and love data, I've been tracking our category of grocery spending since the beginning of the year. Some interesting trends are starting to emerge. . . You can also check out our February grocery recap here, and our January grocery recap here.

Total spent = $538.98. . . oh, that's right! I was UNDER BUDGET! By, wait for it, a little over $10!!! Now, that's a huge success!!

And, in case you were wondering why this adds up to slightly more than 100%, lazy rounding.

• Dairy - 15% of the spending. This included organic eggs, milk, cheddar cheese, feta, gouda, & parmesan cheese. Still eating a lot of cheese around here.
• Fruit - 27% of the spending. Up 8% since last month. As all of the seasonal fruit starts to make its way into the stores, M has been buying more than ever. . . ;-)

• Grains - 13%, super high, due to needing to restock our 25 lb bag of rice

• Meat/fish - 15.5% of the spending. A reduction over last month, and we still splurged & bought filet mignon for Easter dinner.

• Vegetables - 22% of the spending. Exactly the same as last month.

• Snacks - 2%, and this included a few class wide snacks for Nick's project. 

• Pantry - 6%, for cashews & pistachios. Trying to have healthy options for after school for the kiddos.

• Prepared foods - 0% (I'm sure some of our food that we put in other categories would be considered prepared food, but this is how we calculate). No frozen pizzas, already prepared meals, etc.

Things that stand out at me, after three months of data. . . I'm shocked by our dairy spending. I never would have guessed it to be that high, before I started tracking. I need to get on top of the grains, because if I can find a hearty enough bread for panini sandwiches, I can ditch about $25/month of sandwich bread. Or, find a cheaper alternative? Would need to be from a store I already shop at, as I'm not adding another stop on my weekend list.

I'm thrilled that our snacks & prepared food spending is so low! I guess the good news is that we're eating more whole foods, and making our own meals - all of which are good things.

What about you? Do you track, and any interesting things you've noticed about your grocery spend?