What I Spent on Sweets This Month (Apr 2019)

Originally published/last updated on myearlyretiremenjourney.com on 28Apr2019.

So, I started formally tracking my expenses Jan 2018. I did it for a year, and it was enlightening to notice the trends. For the most part I update my spreadsheet every three months and have been posting the results. My blog also includes my projected budget for the year which serves as a guidepost primarily. You don’t want your money just blowing in the wind with no purpose, do ya?

What I have noticed with some other personal finance bloggers who do publish their budgets, income/expenses, savings, etc (collectively “Their Numbers”) is that some publish their alcohol spending. Conceivably that has been identified by many as a line item that needs to be monitored and reduced. Some also do fast food, coffee runs, subscriptions etc… general non-essential things that exist in their lives as essential.

I don’t drink alcohol or even coffee for that matter, and I already separate my Eating Out from Groceries. I have always been aware that I have a sickening sweet tooth. I can’t pass up a cookie or fresh baked good. The smell, the smell… it works on me every time. Given that diabetes is prevalent in these Southern States, I know I probably need to start watching my intake of sugary delights.

So, I thought wouldn’t it be fun to track how much I actually spend on sweets in a month. I know the actual dollar amount probably won’t be that high as my monthly grocery budget stays under or around $200/mon. But proportionally, I’m curious how much of that is a) not nutritious b) covered in sugar.

Let the record reflect the following:

Purchase Date	Item	Cost
4/3/2019	Lucky Charms	$2.00
4/3/2019	Fruit Punch (12pk)	$2.19
4/3/2019	Corn Pops	$2.50
4/6/2019	Kettle Corn	$0.50
4/14/2019	Cookie	$1.69
4/21/2019	Fruit Punch	$1.50
4/21/2019	Froot Loops	$1.00
4/23/2019	Cookie Dough	$2.04
4/27/2019	Reese PB Cookie Dough	$2.89
4/27/2019	Pillsbury Brownie Cookie	$2.89
4/27/2019	French Toast Sticks	$1.25
4/27/2019	Cinnamon French Toast Sticks	$1.25
	Total	$21.70
	Total Groceries	$111.50

So twenty bucks in sweets doesn’t seem like a lot on the surface, but given that I spent only around $100 in groceries this month, it’s kind of a lot! If you can’t guess, I really enjoy cookies. They’re so simple and so good. And now I’ve gone from making them from scratch, to using the cookie mix, to now just ready-to-bake!

In summary, 19% of my food spending is pure sugar!

Yikes. Definitely some room for improvement there.

Read More: 7 FIRE-UNFriendly Things I Still Do on My Early Retirement Journey: A Listicle

What about you, what tiny thing do you keep buying, that you could do well not to?