Welcome in, I’m Meghan Splawn — long time food editor, grocery aficionado and mom of two. Even though I’ve written about meal planning and budget food for near 10 years, I let me own habits get sloppy and accidental spent $32k on food last year. In 2026, I am working to cut that number in half by meal planning and working on the habits that led to overspending. As a supporting subscriber you get access to a growing library of food budgeting resources like a spending tracker and goal setting work sheet. I’m so happy you’re here!
I am not the same person on the other side of April 2026. I don’t mean that hyperbolically either. When I sent out March’s spending report I was skeptical but optimistic that I’d actually meet April’s budget goals, but I hadn’t yet started paying attention to the possibility of food shortages as a result of the war on Iran. I wasn’t yet hyper focused on finally building the garden we’d talked about for years, hastened by my anxieties about those shortages. I had not yet traveled to my childhood home1 in the PNW with my teen daughter for one of two baby showers for the month. Another baby shower in Atlanta came quickly after. Then at the very end of April, my brother in-law passed away unexpectedly.
I share all of that to say: while I briefly let go of my tight focus of cutting my family’s food spending in half, I haven’t lost touch with it or given up on it completely either. Over the next couple of week’s I’ll be playing a little bit of catch up on posts like this one, but also sharing my garden plans, the meals my family eats on repeat each summer and practical tips for saving money on groceries this summer and beyond.
As I dive back in it’s a great time to become a supporting subscriber and get access to all this below the paywall:
A detailed breakdown of where all my food spending dollars went in April
My May food spending budget and goals
April’s High & Lows — including how much I spent stocking up on some “just in case” staples
Favorite recipes and restaurant meals from the month
Access to all the food budgeting tools that are already a part of this series as well as future tools too.
Becoming a paying subscriber also contributes to the dollars I donate to the food community at large each month:
This month I’m donating 11% of my Substack income to a Feeding America to support their summer meal program for kids. As of publishing that’s about $67 but I’d love to add to it before June officially closes. Your subscription supports my work as well as supporting food communities in need each month.
As a reminder, here were my goals for April:
Weekly grocery budget: $800
Bulk grocery budget: $200
Dining out budget: $200
“Special shopping” budget: $400
APRIL’S TOTAL FOOD BUDGET: $1600
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