I tracked every grocery receipt for a month and found I was spending 35% more than I thought

My wife and I always assumed we spent around $600/month on food. After scanning every receipt for 4 weeks, it was closer to $940. Some things that surprised us:

– We were eating out 5x/week without realizing it (~$180/week) – Eggs, milk, and olive oil were $1-2 more at one store vs another for basically the same product
– "Quick Target runs" averaged $45 each and happened way more than we thought – Coffee was 12% of our total food spend

The biggest eye-opener was the gap between what we *thought* we spent and what we *actually* spent. Apparently about 40% of people underestimate their food spending (BLS data), and we were right in that bucket.

Now we set a monthly budget and track against it weekly. Cut about $200/month just by being aware mostly by cooking one more night a week and switching stores for a few staple items.

Has anyone else done a deep dive on their food spending? Curious what surprised you.