Local Organic Eaters Tell me about your Budget

[AnnaM]

I was just having an interesting conversation with someone who said that a $400 budget per month for groceries was outrageous no matter how you eat. We have recently began to swap our diet to a REAL food diet (organics, local, animal fats and so on) and we are doing it for about $500-600 per month for a family of 5. I could probably do better but that seems pretty good to me considering the price of local organics. I mean our raw milk, eggs, and cheese cost me $31.50 per week, alone. So if you eat along the same lines, what is your budget? Where do you find the majority of your money going to? Feel free to break it down for me if you are so inclined.

[Jennifer in MI]

We try to do this (as much as possible). I have a family of 6 - two of whom are teen boys who eat a TON!!! We spend around $800/month. So, I think you are doing very well!

 

Ours breaks down like this:

 

1. Milk (we get it from a local dairy. It's not organic, but it is non-homogonized and low-temp pasteurized. They are not organic only because of the cost − their practices are all organic.) We spend around $35/month on that.

 

2. Eggs - We get these from a local family whose father raises chickens. We get around 6 dozen/weekx$3/dozen. So, $72/month.

 

3. Cheese - We just get this at Trader Joe's. They have wonderful organic cheeses. We spend around $25/month on cheeses.

 

4. Veggies. I also usually get these from Trader Joe's. They have local organic produce in the summer and fall. Love that! I also buy frozen veggies enough to have 2 pounds with dinner. I think we probably spend the majority of our money here. Maybe $300/month?

 

5. Meats. We get these at a local place. They get them from the Amish farmers in western MI. AGain, not officially organic, but in practice they are. I go about 4x/year and it averages around $70/month.

 

6. Grains. I get these from a food coop. All nuts, grains, beans, oats, wheat berries, etc. I think I average around $60/month.

 

7. Misc. Maybe $250/month? Not sure. That has to be higher. I don't know. That would include yogurt, peanut butter, jelly, oils, vinegars, spices, frozen fruits, etc.

 

HTH!!!

[NicAnn]

Our budget is under $300. We don't eat entirely organic or local, but the majority is. We are also semi vegans (:glare:) so we have very little meat or milk in our diet. We are also gluten free.

 

The majority or our money goes to produce and quality food for DD (she has allergies and weight gain problems).

 

-3 times a year I go to a local You-Pick farm (summer, spring, fall) and pick about a hundred pounds of produce. I can it or preserve as much as I can. What I can't keep, I give to the food bank.

 

-I shop deals. So as a rule, we don't spend over .99 on produce, and nothing over 1.29 for organic produce. I also find that going to 3 different stores actually saves me money...even counting in gas. I look at the ads and make a master list before I shop.

 

-Grains. I buy in bulk from a health food store. Places like Frontier coop and Azure online can be really good deals, if your store isn't (mine mostly is). I realize this isn't local, but it's difficult to get local grains. :)

 

-When we eat meat, it's never a main course. The meat is cut up into a stew or casserole or something. If a recipe calls for 1 pound of ground meat, I use half and sometimes cut the rest with beans or rice depending on what it is (this works great in meat loaf).

 

-Eggs. We get them from a family in town, who we found through craigslist. We pay about $2.50 a dozen and I buy 2-3 a month.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Where do you live? Because that sounds pretty cheap to me. The cost of organics, and local foods is much higher than that here. I purchased a CSA share for the summer to cut down on produce costs, but buying meat and eggs and organic flour and other things are pretty pricey. We had a Co-op that had been around for many years, but it recently closed.

[CalicoKat]

Sorry if I am introducing a "bunny trail."

 

I'm having trouble figuring out a monthly budget. I buy things in bulk like chicken, grains, beef, 50# bag of oatmeal, etc.

 

Do I need to figure in there the grain costs for the chickens (meat & eggs)?

 

How do you figure your monthly budget when things are more seasonal expenses? Like we buy 24 organic chickens & half cow of beef during the summer months. That month our budget would have been $400 for meat + $300 for groceries.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

[Jennifer in MI]

Sorry if I am introducing a "bunny trail."

 

I'm having trouble figuring out a monthly budget. I buy things in bulk like chicken, grains, beef, 50# bag of oatmeal, etc.

 

Do I need to figure in there the grain costs for the chickens (meat & eggs)?

 

How do you figure your monthly budget when things are more seasonal expenses? Like we buy 24 organic chickens & half cow of beef during the summer months. That month our budget would have been $400 for meat + $300 for groceries.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

 

I split mine up by year. For example, I know that I buy from my coop 2x/year. I know that I spend around $350 each time. $700/year or around $60/month.

 

Meat. How often do you spend $400 on meat? Will that last you six months? If so, you spend around $65/month on meat.

 

I once figured that I had to add around $30/week to whatever I spent at the grocery store for all the bulk expenses and food coop, etc.

[FaithManor]

My budget is very cheap. Family of 6, three boys that eat us out of house and home, and I fix fewer grains than most families. But, there are several things that contribute to paying only $500.00 a month for groceries and sometimes less.

 

A. We family garden...dh/I with my parents. This produces organically grown tomatoes and green beans for canning, broccoli and cauliflower for the freezer, red peppers and celery for the dehydrator.

 

B. We live in the third most fertile farming area of the world and many farmers have gone to organic practices though they do not certify organic due to the expense. Agriculture is huge here and since Meijer stores instituted policies of purchasing as much food as possible from local producers, there is a local outlet for much of what is grown. So, I have several Amish farmers (one in particular) that I buy from and the prices are magnificently low - $2.50 for a dozen ears of corn or $8.00 for a bushel, $8.00 for a half bushel of roma tomatoes (I prefer romas for sauces and my mom doesn't like them, so we don't grow them ourselves), 6 banana peppers (usually very nice size) for $1.00, $.75 for cabbage - large heads, $.75 for small canteloupe, $1.00 for large, two for a dollar buttercup squash, etc. Large candy onions - 3/$1.00. $.75 01.00 for heads of gorgeous cauliflower which I do purchase when I make Zesty California vegetable mix for dh because I can a huge amount of it and I never have enough cauliflower ripe at one time in mom's garden for all of us to share s this is a main vegetable for both families.

 

C. I buy a lot of my other produce - mushrooms, baby red potatoes and fingerlings, leeks, and fruit from a Mennonite Bulk Food grocery store. Many items are 30 -40% less than supermarkets. I get the huge tub of Stoneyfield Smooth and Creamy strawberry yogurt (for when I don't have time to make any myself) for $3.29, a 2 quart tub of sour cream for $5.99, butter for $2.69 a lb. (not organic though), bulk cheeses brick or shredded (not organic - cheddar, extra sharp cheddar, parmesan, asiago, mozzarella) for $3.59 a lb. organic flours - many kinds - $1.19 - 1.69 lb for small bags or even cheaper for a 25 lb bag if I want to buy that much at once - which I don't. Organic basamati, jasmine, and brown rices for $2.99 lb. Dried beans (many varieties and all organic) for $2.19 a lb. and that's for the smaller quantities. They can be purchased in 25 and 50 lb. bags for about $.25 lb. less. I get nitrate free, though not organic, lunchmeats for $3.99 a lb. and canning supplies are generally cheaper there except pint jars. For whatever reason, they are a $1.00 more per dozen than Walmart. I also buy my autumn Honeycrisp apples ($24.00 for a brimming bushel box - depending on size, roughly 80 apples sometimes more depending on which employee is loading them - one young man in particular is Mr. Generous) there and make dried apple chips for snacking in the winter, and several pints of applesauce for the freezer. Michigan peaches tend to be cheap. I canned 32 pints of peaches in grape juice this year.

 

So, in the winter when produce gets high, we tend to eat our of our own freezer and pantry. It's a lot of work, but I can at least it make through the end of May when some of our local greenhouses have hydroponically grown organic (though usually not certified so) lettuces, peas, tomatoes, other salad greens, radishes, etc. available at the farmer's market.

 

I also pick blueberries and bag up several quarts of those along with rhubarb and blackberries growing rather wild here in the backyard, and raspberries from my dad's and freeze them. In the winter, I do a little more with grains than the rest of the year and make turnovers, berry pancakes, and top granola with them plus the occasional holiday pie.

 

Last year we raised a pig and Hambone was mighty tasty and very well loved and cared for. This year we didn't have time...too many days that we wouldn't be here and I was doing a lot of farm sitting so that didn't help. I am going to miss not having our own pork. We paid $40.00 for the piglet and total to raise and butcher at 175 -185 lbs. (didn't want him getting too fat because the point was to have lean meat) was $250.00 and we had 125 lbs. meat in the freezer. $2.00 a lb. for lean, homegrown meat is good. (He was raised on my parents back 5 acres because our property is only a half acre.

 

Now, organic eggs are ridiculously expensive. $3.84 per dozen. When I'm farm sitting, most of the time, the farmers encourage me to take the eggs I collect since they aren't around to use them. That keeps us in eggs from April - September. But, I'm reducing the amount of farm sitting I am doing for next year, so we have six lazy OLD ENOUGH TO PRODUCE BUT NOT DOING SO hens in the backyard who will either start earning their keep or they are headed to the butcher to be very yummy roasting hens.

 

Most of our meats are not organic. But, occasionally, we save enough money to get 1/4 beef from a local organic farmer. Those are yummy days! Otherwise, I buy very little beef, mostly small amounts of lean ground round. We use a lot of chicken because it's cheaper. Organically raised chicken that you didn't grow yourself, is harder to come buy. The Amish farmers do not raise more livestock than they absolutely need for their own families and most of the other organic farmers are crops only people.

 

A couple times per month I buy Salmon at Meijer which is my fall-back store when I need something more unusual because the Mennonite store doesn't have it. Meijer has a terrific organic produce section plus many organics on the shelves and better prices than many supermarkets. I also make shrimp and bay scallop scampi once per month. Not a cheap meal, but we have a child here who has some health, dietary issues and we are always working to keep his omega 3 count higher. I also get my coconut oil from them as well.

 

We also own Mabel. A Holstein/Guernsey mix. She's a massive cow. We picked her up as a young heifer at a livestock auction and since there is no way we have the facilities and land to handle her, she is boarded ($70.00 per month) at local organic dairy farm. We take about 5 gallons per week of milk and I make yogurt and cottage cheese. The farmer keeps the rest and that's a major amount of milk which he can sell with the rest of his herd's milk for profit. That's the only way it is profitable to him to deal with Mabel. Dear friends of ours bought Bessie on the same day, having made the same deal. So our girls are "freshened" opposite of each other and neither family is out of milk at any time. The farmer also keeps their offspring as we'd never want to deal with calves...again making the deal and headache thereof, reasonable for him. I didn't include that $70.00 in my budget above.

 

I could not afford to feed my boys this way if we lived anywhere else. We are sooooo fortunate to be in this place at this time when food prices are rising everywhere because we have access to high quality, locally grown food at reasonable cost.

 

Faith

[Jennifer in MI]

My budget is very cheap. Family of 6, three boys that eat us out of house and home, and I fix fewer grains than most families. But, there are several things that contribute to paying only $500.00 a month for groceries and sometimes less.

 

A. We family garden...dh/I with my parents. This produces organically grown tomatoes and green beans for canning, broccoli and cauliflower for the freezer, red peppers and celery for the dehydrator.

 

B. We live in the third most fertile farming area of the world and many farmers have gone to organic practices though they do not certify organic due to the expense. Agriculture is huge here and since Meijer stores instituted policies of purchasing as much food as possible from local producers, there is a local outlet for much of what is grown. So, I have several Amish farmers (one in particular) that I buy from and the prices are magnificently low - $2.50 for a dozen ears of corn or $8.00 for a bushel, $8.00 for a half bushel of roma tomatoes (I prefer romas for sauces and my mom doesn't like them, so we don't grow them ourselves), 6 banana peppers (usually very nice size) for $1.00, $.75 for cabbage - large heads, $.75 for small canteloupe, $1.00 for large, two for a dollar buttercup squash, etc. Large candy onions - 3/$1.00. $.75 01.00 for heads of gorgeous cauliflower which I do purchase when I make Zesty California vegetable mix for dh because I can a huge amount of it and I never have enough cauliflower ripe at one time in mom's garden for all of us to share s this is a main vegetable for both families.

 

C. I buy a lot of my other produce - mushrooms, baby red potatoes and fingerlings, leeks, and fruit from a Mennonite Bulk Food grocery store. Many items are 30 -40% less than supermarkets. I get the huge tub of Stoneyfield Smooth and Creamy strawberry yogurt (for when I don't have time to make any myself) for $3.29, a 2 quart tub of sour cream for $5.99, butter for $2.69 a lb. (not organic though), bulk cheeses brick or shredded (not organic - cheddar, extra sharp cheddar, parmesan, asiago, mozzarella) for $3.59 a lb. organic flours - many kinds - $1.19 - 1.69 lb for small bags or even cheaper for a 25 lb bag if I want to buy that much at once - which I don't. Organic basamati, jasmine, and brown rices for $2.99 lb. Dried beans (many varieties and all organic) for $2.19 a lb. and that's for the smaller quantities. They can be purchased in 25 and 50 lb. bags for about $.25 lb. less. I get nitrate free, though not organic, lunchmeats for $3.99 a lb. and canning supplies are generally cheaper there except pint jars. For whatever reason, they are a $1.00 more per dozen than Walmart. I also buy my autumn Honeycrisp apples ($24.00 for a brimming bushel box - depending on size, roughly 80 apples sometimes more depending on which employee is loading them - one young man in particular is Mr. Generous) there and make dried apple chips for snacking in the winter, and several pints of applesauce for the freezer. Michigan peaches tend to be cheap. I canned 32 pints of peaches in grape juice this year.

 

So, in the winter when produce gets high, we tend to eat our of our own freezer and pantry. It's a lot of work, but I can at least it make through the end of May when some of our local greenhouses have hydroponically grown organic (though usually not certified so) lettuces, peas, tomatoes, other salad greens, radishes, etc. available at the farmer's market.

 

I also pick blueberries and bag up several quarts of those along with rhubarb and blackberries growing rather wild here in the backyard, and raspberries from my dad's and freeze them. In the winter, I do a little more with grains than the rest of the year and make turnovers, berry pancakes, and top granola with them plus the occasional holiday pie.

 

Last year we raised a pig and Hambone was mighty tasty and very well loved and cared for. This year we didn't have time...too many days that we wouldn't be here and I was doing a lot of farm sitting so that didn't help. I am going to miss not having our own pork. We paid $40.00 for the piglet and total to raise and butcher at 175 -185 lbs. (didn't want him getting too fat because the point was to have lean meat) was $250.00 and we had 125 lbs. meat in the freezer. $2.00 a lb. for lean, homegrown meat is good. (He was raised on my parents back 5 acres because our property is only a half acre.

 

Now, organic eggs are ridiculously expensive. $3.84 per dozen. When I'm farm sitting, most of the time, the farmers encourage me to take the eggs I collect since they aren't around to use them. That keeps us in eggs from April - September. But, I'm reducing the amount of farm sitting I am doing for next year, so we have six lazy OLD ENOUGH TO PRODUCE BUT NOT DOING SO hens in the backyard who will either start earning their keep or they are headed to the butcher to be very yummy roasting hens.

 

Most of our meats are not organic. But, occasionally, we save enough money to get 1/4 beef from a local organic farmer. Those are yummy days! Otherwise, I buy very little beef, mostly small amounts of lean ground round. We use a lot of chicken because it's cheaper. Organically raised chicken that you didn't grow yourself, is harder to come buy. The Amish farmers do not raise more livestock than they absolutely need for their own families and most of the other organic farmers are crops only people.

 

A couple times per month I buy Salmon at Meijer which is my fall-back store when I need something more unusual because the Mennonite store doesn't have it. Meijer has a terrific organic produce section plus many organics on the shelves and better prices than many supermarkets. I also make shrimp and bay scallop scampi once per month. Not a cheap meal, but we have a child here who has some health, dietary issues and we are always working to keep his omega 3 count higher. I also get my coconut oil from them as well.

 

We also own Mabel. A Holstein/Guernsey mix. She's a massive cow. We picked her up as a young heifer at a livestock auction and since there is no way we have the facilities and land to handle her, she is boarded ($70.00 per month) at local organic dairy farm. We take about 5 gallons per week of milk and I make yogurt and cottage cheese. The farmer keeps the rest and that's a major amount of milk which he can sell with the rest of his herd's milk for profit. That's the only way it is profitable to him to deal with Mabel. Dear friends of ours bought Bessie on the same day, having made the same deal. So our girls are "freshened" opposite of each other and neither family is out of milk at any time. The farmer also keeps their offspring as we'd never want to deal with calves...again making the deal and headache thereof, reasonable for him. I didn't include that $70.00 in my budget above.

 

I could not afford to feed my boys this way if we lived anywhere else. We are sooooo fortunate to be in this place at this time when food prices are rising everywhere because we have access to high quality, locally grown food at reasonable cost.

 

Faith

 

Faith - I think I need to come up and visit you!!! That Mennonite store sounds wonderful! I would LOVE that!

[happygrrl]

I think all of you are doing great! We spend more than that here (PNW). Or maybe we just eat a lot. :D My husband is very gluten-intolerant (celiac in his family) so we are a veggie and meat family. Due to allergies we also avoid potatoes, rice, beans and corn- all the cheap stuff, dang it!

 

Cow~ 702 lbs. ~ paid $1600

Pig ~ (not sure as it is being butchered today)

Chicken~ Right now we buy 'natural' because Organic whole is $2.50/lb, which translates to too expensive unless I am using the carcass. I buy natural frozen thighs from Costco for $2.30/ lb I think,

Lamb~ We hope to buy lamb this spring- roughly $5/lb

Fish~ Frozen Salmon from local store, tuna from Costco

 

Milk~ raw $7.50/gal, local

Eggs~ Between $2.50 and $3.50, depending on the farmer

Cheese~ from Trader Joe's, but about to make some from our milk!

Butter~ Kerrygold from Trader Joe's, or Costco organic in a pinch

Yogurt ~ Nancy's (local) or homemade from our milk

 

Veggies~ CSA $800 for a share and a half. Next year we are going to try to garden, but this was a very bad weather year. Local farms stands had only a fraction of their crops make it.

 

Store Veggies~ varies- I try to buy from a local non-chain grocer and on sale and in season, preferably organic but often have to just keep to the 'dirty dozen' list. We have been buying Costco frozen organic as well.

 

Oils~ Coconut from Nutiva (unless Tropical Traditions goes on sale) sourced on line, Olive from Costco (to bake) and local store (for eating).

 

Spices, Nuts and Dried Fruit~ Local store bulk bin, stocking up when on sale.

 

Honey- about to buy local/raw, unsure of price but hopefully not too bad!

Chocolate~ Trader Joe's

Vanilla ~ Homemade (beans sourced online)

Coffee~ Father Michael's coffee is the best ever (fathermichaels.com)

Vinegars, Tabasco Sauce, Wine and Spirits~ Costco and local store

 

And that is all we eat! I have to say I LOVE our limited diet! We don't go to the store often, and when we do it is a quick trip. Every once in a blue moon we buy a treat, like Lara Bars, from Costco, or licorice from Trader Joes.

 

That said, when we are out and about it is very different. I don't hesitate to buy the kids a juice, a locally made pastry, or some other great treat. That way they don't feel deprived, and we don't have to keep sugar or other ingredients in the house to tempt us....er....me. :D

[Blueridge]

...Coffee~ Father Michael's coffee is the best ever (fathermichaels.com)

 

 

What a neat place. I love his coffee descriptions. How do y'all find these wonderful, unique online sellers?? :)

[Mommyof4ks]

Our budget is the same same as yours for our family of 5. I think dairy and meat are our most expensive categories. Fruits and veggies are fairly cheap here even for organic. I could not feed my family on $400 a month even if we bought conventionally grown food unless I bought a lot of rice, beans and noodles. We do eat those things, but not in large quantities. Our budget includes gluten free food for me too, and that is pricey unless I have time to make my own bread.

[Jennifer3141]

I juice for the family so we spend about $300 a week on produce : kale, apples, oranges, etc.

I spend less when I have the stuff in my garden. :)

 

I buy local, organic milk for $4 per half gallon and we go through 4 of those bottles a week, plus one extra that I make into yogurt.

 

Meat - we do local buffalo or chicken. I spend more on meat and eat less of it. I just turned the latest chicken carcass into chicken soup and had enough to freeze 2 extra bowls for later.

 

Bread - we have several local bakeries that deliver to the grocery stores out here so that's covered by them and i try to make sourdough bread at home once a week or so. DH prefers the store bread with the perfect slices. :glare:

 

I get cheese when I pick up the produce but DH and I don't eat it 10 days a month. The kids eat it daily.

[happygrrl]

What a neat place. I love his coffee descriptions. How do y'all find these wonderful, unique online sellers?? :)

 

In that case, my dh met Fr. Michael at a monastery and had some of his coffee. We have been exclusive ever since! It is really good, and since we buy it 5 lbs at a time the cost works out to be much cheaper than what we were getting. We are not idealistic enough to drink bad coffee no matter how good the cause is! :D

 

For finding sources, I count on some friends with similar sensibilities who have waaaay more time than I do!

[AnnaM]

I am in N. Texas

 

Our basic breakdown is like this

 

Raw milk from mennonite farm-$18($6 per gallon)

Pasturized Eggs from farm- $3.50 per dozen

Raw Cheese- This is the first week getting it from the farm but it is $10/lb

 

None of these are certified organic but they are in practice

 

We just came off of a juice fast. That was expensive! Not all of our veggies are organic I must admit. I do my best. Veggies amount to about 3/4 of the rest of our $130 bill per week(average).

 

I bulk buy meat. Sometimes I can do organic grass fed and other times I have to do all natural. This amounts to about $200 every 3-4 weeks. We follow a diet along the lines of Nourshing Traditions so are big believers in eating lots of good animal products.

 

My Dh is a picky eater so I have the benifit of knowing what we will eat each night for dinner because it was just easier to have a set menu. I try to add in my variety for lunch.

[TheAutumnOak]

I was just having an interesting conversation with someone who said that a $400 budget per month for groceries was outrageous no matter how you eat. We have recently began to swap our diet to a REAL food diet (organics, local, animal fats and so on) and we are doing it for about $500-600 per month for a family of 5. I could probably do better but that seems pretty good to me considering the price of local organics. I mean our raw milk, eggs, and cheese cost me $31.50 per week, alone. So if you eat along the same lines, what is your budget? Where do you find the majority of your money going to? Feel free to break it down for me if you are so inclined.

 

We also spend between $500-$600 a month and that is after our cutbacks...We are a family of 5, (1 man, 3 boys) and that is the best we can do...$400 a month is not doable for us, even if I didn't buy organic food like a previous poster has already said...Before making a serious effort to cut back on grocery spending, we spent around $800...

[Jennay]

What a neat place. I love his coffee descriptions. How do y'all find these wonderful, unique online sellers?? :)

 

This site is new to me too. I see lots of potential for Christmas presents here!

[mcconnellboys]

I allot $400 per month, plus another $160 for health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, etc. I don't always spend that much now that my older son is gone, but I often do because I buy sale items that can be stored and keep a full pantry all the time. I could shop sales more agressively if I needed to or had the time, for non-fresh items especially, but I haven't felt the need to do that....

[*lifeoftheparty*]

That person is insane.

 

I have 3 people in my family. It's takes a LOT of thought and restraint to stay within my $800 a month budget. Usually, it's $1000 and if there is lot's of entertaining going on, as high as $1500.

 

I live in the DC area, though, and shop mainly at Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

 

These threads always trip me out b/c I just can't even IMAGINE how some people can get away with spending so little at the grocery store!!

 

I have tried, tried, TRIED to get mine at those numbers.... but I just can't do it w/o buying a bunch of crap, so I gave up. As long as I stay within the $800, I'm happy.

 

ETA: The majority of my budget goes to fresh produce and meat/seafood. Organic Milk, I guess too, we go through 3-4 gallons a week, and pay $5.69 a gallon! UGH.

 

The last trip I bought: Strawberries, Raspberries, Honeycrisp Apples, Grapes, Kiwi, Pears, Bananas, Mangoes, Broccoli, Swiss Chard, 2 bunches Kale, 2 bunches Collard greens, Sweet potatoes, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Garlic, 2 bunches Asparagus, Green beans (frozen), 2 bags Brussels Sprouts, 4 Avocados, Tomatoes, Butternut Squash, Fresh Spinach.... I think that's it for produce.

 

I also got a 2.5 lb. Pot Roast (We only eat Grass-fed), Spinach-Feta stuffed Chicken Thighs, Chicken Breasts, 2 1lb. packs Shrimp (Raw, but peeled & de-veined), and Tilapia.

 

All that, plus whatever extras I bought (not much) will last us about 1.5-2 weeks. If it lasts 2 weeks, it's b/c I was too tired to cook a few nights and we got Chipotle or something....

Edited October 13, 2011 by Gao Meixue

[AnnaM]

That person is insane.

 

I have 3 people in my family. It's takes a LOT of thought and restraint to stay within my $800 a month budget. Usually, it's $1000 and if there is lot's of entertaining going on, as high as $1500.

 

I live in the DC area, though, and shop mainly at Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

 

These threads always trip me out b/c I just can't even IMAGINE how some people can get away with spending so little at the grocery store!!

 

I have tried, tried, TRIED to get mine at those numbers.... but I just can't do it w/o buying a bunch of crap, so I gave up. As long as I stay within the $800, I'm happy.

 

ETA: The majority of my budget goes to fresh produce and meat/seafood. Organic Milk, I guess too, we go through 3-4 gallons a week, and pay $5.69 a gallon! UGH.

 

The last trip I bought: Strawberries, Raspberries, Honeycrisp Apples, Grapes, Kiwi, Pears, Bananas, Mangoes, Broccoli, Swiss Chard, 2 bunches Kale, 2 bunches Collard greens, Sweet potatoes, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Garlic, 2 bunches Asparagus, Green beans (frozen), 2 bags Brussels Sprouts, 4 Avocados, Tomatoes, Butternut Squash, Fresh Spinach.... I think that's it for produce.

 

I also got a 2.5 lb. Pot Roast (We only eat Grass-fed), Spinach-Feta stuffed Chicken Thighs, Chicken Breasts, 2 1lb. packs Shrimp (Raw, but peeled & de-veined), and Tilapia.

 

All that, plus whatever extras I bought (not much) will last us about 1.5-2 weeks. If it lasts 2 weeks, it's b/c I was too tired to cook a few nights and we got Chipotle or something....

 

Wow! Suddenly $500 a month seems like a great deal! I can imagine that cost of food varies greatly. I think I live in a fairly low cost area. I also think that my budget would go up quite a bit if we could afford to eat grass fed all the time (which is what my goal is). Going to try to get a cow share at some point to help with that.

 

I think ours might actually go down some this week because we shopped last week as if my DH was juicing still and are finding that we have a ton of produce still around where it is normally gone.

[LaxMom]

Hmmm..

 

Natural foods buying club: $250 (includes toiletries and cleaning stuff)

Milk: $20 ($4/ gal for raw organic, $3/gal if I get the non organic, the difference being that the non-organic cows don't get certified hay in the barn)

Eggs: $20 ($2.50/doz at the Amish market)

Cheese: varies

Meat: $120 we go to a butcher who uses local sources (boneless/skinless chicken breasts vary $1.19-1.49/lb if you buy 10 lbs, etc.) I also have a friend whose husband is a waterman, so fish is wholesale market price or barter.

 

Produce is trickier, but we combine local farmers (we just bought a 50# bag of yukon gold potatoes for $18, picked 8 bushels of apples - enough applesauce to last a year, plus pies and whatnot for $96), frozen veggies through above buying club, and Trader Joe's/Whole Foods runs on my husband's way home from work.

 

So, yeah, we're probably in the $500-600 range (if you average over the year) for a family of 5.

[Snickerdoodle]

These threads always trip me out b/c I just can't even IMAGINE how some people can get away with spending so little at the grocery store!!

 

Seriously.

[elfgivas]

maybe they think that's high because ten years ago it would have been? i find folks often forget to update their brains when prices rise, and are still thinking about the way it was the last time they really noticed, which for some of us can be a good long while ago....

 

fwiw, i think you're doing really well for what you're eating and who you are feeding.

 

ann

[cjzimmer1]

That person is insane.

 

I have 3 people in my family. It's takes a LOT of thought and restraint to stay within my $800 a month budget. Usually, it's $1000 and if there is lot's of entertaining going on, as high as $1500.

 

I live in the DC area, though, and shop mainly at Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

 

These threads always trip me out b/c I just can't even IMAGINE how some people can get away with spending so little at the grocery store!!

 

I have tried, tried, TRIED to get mine at those numbers.... but I just can't do it w/o buying a bunch of crap, so I gave up. As long as I stay within the $800, I'm happy.

 

ETA: The majority of my budget goes to fresh produce and meat/seafood. Organic Milk, I guess too, we go through 3-4 gallons a week, and pay $5.69 a gallon! UGH.

 

The last trip I bought: Strawberries, Raspberries, Honeycrisp Apples, Grapes, Kiwi, Pears, Bananas, Mangoes, Broccoli, Swiss Chard, 2 bunches Kale, 2 bunches Collard greens, Sweet potatoes, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Garlic, 2 bunches Asparagus, Green beans (frozen), 2 bags Brussels Sprouts, 4 Avocados, Tomatoes, Butternut Squash, Fresh Spinach.... I think that's it for produce.

 

I also got a 2.5 lb. Pot Roast (We only eat Grass-fed), Spinach-Feta stuffed Chicken Thighs, Chicken Breasts, 2 1lb. packs Shrimp (Raw, but peeled & de-veined), and Tilapia.

 

All that, plus whatever extras I bought (not much) will last us about 1.5-2 weeks. If it lasts 2 weeks, it's b/c I was too tired to cook a few nights and we got Chipotle or something....

 

 

Well I have to say if I bought the produce on your list than my bill would be sky high too. Our current budget is $600 a month for 7 people. While I'm all for healthy produce, I also firmly believe in seasonal eating. When I stick with seasonally, I can also get local but your list contains a great deal of items that are neither. I've bolded all the things that wouldn't even be on my list this time of year because they are shipped in from some where else. And for instance while we like apples, I won't buy honeycrsip because they are 3 -4X the cost of a basic yellow delicious.

 

But we aren't eating crap either. Currently produce for us is Spartan apples (purchased by the bushel for $9.00). I've also got Cortlands ripening up for making applesauce (If I let them get soft, the applesauce is sweeter and I don't need to add sugar) that we will use in the winter when everything is out of season. I've got a bushel of peppers in the fridge that we cut up for afternoon snacks and a couple of gallons of dilly beans that are resting in the fridge. I've got about 20 pounds of sweet potatoes and 30 pounds of yellow and red potatoes. There is kale and about 10 pounds of brussel sprouts in the fridge as well. I've got to go pick that last of the tomatoes too. But I don't buy any of that stuff at the grocery store. I would say everything I listed was well under $100 probably closer to $50-60. I buy from the farmer, it's fresh and local. And while I like Trader Joe and Whole Foods I only shop there a few times a year because they are the most expensive places to buy produce.

 

But I understand you are in a city and one that isn't really close to a rural community either (where more farming would occur). Would it be possible to take a day trip a couple of times a year and drive out further and pick up stuff in bulk? I buy broccoli by the bushel and freeze it for winter use. It's half the cost of fresh broccoli in the store but tastes 10x better than the frozen broccoli you can by. I realize this doesn't help with eating raw broccoli but if you are cooking it, than it doesn't matter so much if it was frozen first.

 

Meat, do you have a large freezer? I would think you could easily find 1/4 a cow if you drive out farther. I'm sure the cost would be significantly cheaper than buying a few pounds here and there.

 

While it sounds like you are happy with your $800 budget, at the same time if you really want to lower, if you do some out of the box thinking, and stick with seasonal produce it might still be possible to lower that.

[Jenny in Florida]

That person is insane.

 

I have 3 people in my family. It's takes a LOT of thought and restraint to stay within my $800 a month budget.

 

I was thinking that, too.

 

I don't do all organic or all local, and we eat more junk than I'm really happy admitting. Nonetheless, with a family of four (two teens), I'm really struggling to keep our grocery budget under $500.

 

Today, I went out intending to spend $125 and ended up speding $167. I visited three stores and bought just pretty basic stuff, all groceries except for a bottle on shampoo and a jug of cat litter.

 

It included a few luxuries--house brand frozen french fries and hash brown patties, five packages of shelf-stable Indian food because it was on sale and is a favorite of my daughter's. But mostly it was stuff like:

 

Flour (house brand)

Organic sugar

Soy milk

Orange juice (house brand)

Margarine

Potatoes

Carrots

Bananas

Onions

 

Nothing fancy, and I was more than $40 over budget.

Edited October 14, 2011 by Jenny in Florida

[CalicoKat]

I split mine up by year. For example, I know that I buy from my coop 2x/year. I know that I spend around $350 each time. $700/year or around $60/month.

 

Meat. How often do you spend $400 on meat? Will that last you six months? If so, you spend around $65/month on meat.

 

I once figured that I had to add around $30/week to whatever I spent at the grocery store for all the bulk expenses and food coop, etc.

 

Meat's a yearly expense. But I get the drift of what you're suggesting!

 

Thanks! I'll be able to answer this question next fall. Gotta make me a spreadsheet. :D