My 2026 NON-Grocery Budget Update

Remember how I decided not to have a grocery budget in 2026? Want to hear how it’s going?

Spoiler alert: Best decision I ever made.

Well, that and my decision to follow Jesus. Also, I chose very, very well when I married Matt. But third in line is this year’s decision to not have a grocery budget. I’m not even being dramatic at all.

(She is, in fact, being just a little bit dramatic.)

Remember how I wrote this post as I processed what I should do with the grocery spending line item in our budget? As I wrote all my thoughts, I suddenly realized, I don’t want to keep track any more!!! I don’t want to save all my receipts and do the math and then subtract out the toilet paper, diapers, and dish soap because those go under a different category. I don’t want to tally everything up at the end of the month. I don’t want to feel stress over where the bottom line is and where I’m at each month. I don’t want to think about it, care about it, or work on it any more.

I just want to buy food and feed my family and our people.

And so…I walked right out of Panera after writing that post and making that decision, and I went directly to Costco. I bought food (and toilet paper, diapers, and dish soap), and then I threw the receipt away – after I showed the guy at the door because one must show their receipt at the door if they hope to leave Costco.

It was so freeing!!

And it has felt like freedom ever since.

Am I suddenly spending ridiculously and frivolously now that I’m not keeping track?

Ok, do you even know me at all?

I am still shopping the sales. I am still only buying fresh produce in season when the price is right. I am still grabbing up all the meat markdowns. I am still sticking to my meat price-points. I am still focusing on frugal meals and saving money because I don’t know how not to and I really feel like it’s valuable to use our money as wisely as possible.

But here’s what else I’m doing:

• I’m giving myself freedom to enjoy my shopping time without overthinking
• I’m picking up little treats (like organic coffee mocha on clearance and cans of Poppi on sale) for Matt and me because we work incredibly hard every day and little treats bring us smiles in the midst of kids’ meltdowns
• I’m “ignoring” price tags while picking up a few more-than-normal individually packaged foods to try feeding our very picky autistic kids and for those with ARFID.
• I’m being more generous – to myself and to others. This feels GOOOOOOOOD.
• I’m ordering pizza about once a month instead of never. Hahaha, go me.

Am I spending much more than I used to spend when I kept a solid grocery budget?

Well, I guess I don’t know. Because I’m not keeping track! :) But I would say yes, I’m probably spending $100-200 more than I used to spend per month. It’s not enough to hurt our overall household budget and it’s also very much within reason so that I know I’m still being wise with the money we have.

It’s a huge effort to feed our household – one that I love and am honored to do! But because it’s such a big job, it has become a great blessing to take some pressure off of this effort so that I can enjoy it more and appreciate God’s provision instead of nickel and diming every expenditure.

Fun Fact: I have realized that it takes a solid three hours every single week to shop for our family. I usually need to hit two or three stores (Aldi, Wal-Mart, and Costco) or (Wal-Mart and Sam’s) to get everything we need. It takes another good hour to get everything unloaded from the van and put away once I’m home (with help from Matt and any kid who might be home/available/capable). So, four hours of work to feed our household – every week. That’s just the shopping – not the cooking and cleaning.

This isn’t a complaint; just stating a fact. It’s good work, and I’m here for it! But oh how nice is to make this good hard work just a bit “easier” by tossing the additional task of tracking all the pennies out the window. Phew!

Oh look. I splurged on prepared mashed potatoes because even though I can make ten pounds of them for less than half of what I spent on these ready-to-warm-up potatoes, I had just spent four entire hours buying groceries. No one has time or energy to make mashed potatoes after they have spent four hours buying potatoes.

Question: What are your “big splurges” – the things you might spend a little bit extra on so that you can save time, energy, and mental space during your full days?

Coming Soon: Big Ways I save Big on Groceries

Because after writing about how splurge-y I’ve gotten on ridiculous, expensive extravagance like prepared mashed potatoes and containers of ready-made guacamole, I decided to follow up with ways I’m still very frugal-y and save-y.