FREE NEWSLETTER
I have written before that I could look at your grocery cart and find money to save and invest. Some people thought I was joking, but I’m not. My point isn’t about groceries, it’s really about finding money to save and invest, even small amounts over time. Groceries are just one example. I suppose I am promoting a bit of frugality and financial discipline in very modest ways.
Initially my conclusion about groceries was based on many hours of observation, but now I’ve done a little research with the help of several AI tools.
A USDA study found that for the average grocery shopper, categories like sweetened beverages, prepared desserts, salty snacks, candy, and sugar collectively account for roughly 22–23% of grocery purchases. That’s nearly a quarter of the cart on items most nutritionists would call non-essential.
The average U.S. household spends about $1,080 per month on groceries (probably more now), though the amount varies a lot by household size, location, and eating habits. For a rough per-person estimate, recent sources put it around $346 to $543 per month.
If I saved just 15% of $400 each month for 35 years at 6% interest, I would have about $70,700. Apply that to a family and it becomes $188,900.
Not much of a retirement nest egg for sure, but meaningful for a retiree now struggling to live solely or mostly on Social Security.
Of course, these are pie in the sky numbers, but the point is, for the vast majority of Americans saving is possible.
To me it boils down to the famous quote attributed to Henry Ford. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.”
I totally get your point about finding hidden savings, and I suspect it applies to many, but it’s worth noting how subjective this can be.
Anyone could look into another person’s cart and find something to disagree with—whether it’s a six-pack of beer, a bottle of wine, or an expensive steak. Depending on consumption levels, and the consumer’s personal health, you could even argue some of these choices are unhealthy.
But the larger point is one person’s ‘non-essential’ prepared dessert is another person’s hard-earned reward. Budgeting is rarely one-size-fits-all because what we value is so personal.
Additionally, we never know the financial reality of the person pushing the cart. Many of those carts are being propelled by people for whom money is simply no object, making the exercise of auditing a stranger’s groceries a bit of a moot point.
This is my wife department, so I stay away from it. She only shop at Whole Foods or Central Market. The issue is there are only two people in the household, but she shop for 3 or 4. Personally, I think we waisted to much food.
Your article pointing out the long term savings is absolutely correct. A couple of other points I thought of were , (1) the short term benefit for all of the people that say they love paycheck to paycheck, and (2) it creates a good lifestyle habit that translates to all purchases.
We have three children. One shops at Kroger’s because of their sale prices, one shops at Walmart for their everyday low prices, the other shops at Aldi for their extremely low prices. We shop at all three for all of their reasons and because the three stores are in the same shipping plaza,
I don’t see the junk food spending as a source of investment money. That cash should be used to buy better food — fresh fruit and vegetables, good meat and fish. If there are a lot of empty calories in the cart, that’s stuff that’s being consumed instead of real food.