Stayseeliz Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm looking for tips. We've always tried to avoid sugar and eat more fruits and veggies but I want to move to pastured meats and organic fruits and veggies, etc. We don't eat a ton of grains but I don't mind the kids having some. I'd love to know what you do to cut costs. There is a local farm in town that offers bulk packages on their pastured meats and I think I'm going to try them out. I'd love other advice! I'm ready to fully commit to this! I am tired of guzzling diet sodas and being tired all the time. I want to feel GOOD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Oh and I'm not trying to be super cheap. I know eating good, real food costs money. I just don't want to go to my local "health food" store and buy things that are crazy prices. I'd specifically love to know about snacks for kids, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I would love to hear about this also. Everytime I go to the store, I get sticker shock. My dh keeps saying, "We need to eat at home, it saves money." Logically I know this is true, but I hyperventilate everytime I walk out of the store with my little basket of food items. We are also trying to eat better, but it is very hard with the prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LG Gone Wild Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm looking for tips. We've always tried to avoid sugar and eat more fruits and veggies but I want to move to pastured meats and organic fruits and veggies, etc. We don't eat a ton of grains but I don't mind the kids having some. I'd love to know what you do to cut costs. There is a local farm in town that offers bulk packages on their pastured meats and I think I'm going to try them out. I'd love other advice! I'm ready to fully commit to this! I am tired of guzzling diet sodas and being tired all the time. I want to feel GOOD! That alone will reap huge rewards. Don't buy cookies, chips, crackers, microwave popcorn, canned whatever, and so forth. It does mean a lot more work but I would start there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I would minimize what you throw out if you have to toss leftovers, etc. frequently. That's an easy way to save if i is an area you struggle with. I'd focus on buying the dirty dozen items organically and save money by not buying the clean 15. You could also look for local farmers at farmer's markets, etc. that use organic practices but haven't gone through the time and expense of becoming certified. We do PYO blueberries and strawberries (organic or unsprayed) and freeze enough to last most of the year. Buy meat in bulk. YOu may even be able to find another family to split a half or whole animal with in order to get a better price per pound. Consider buying certain items from ethnic grocery stores. It is expensive. Oh, and ITA with cutting convenience food items-packaged organic cereal, "organic" but sugar laden snacks, etc. as those are expensive and not really all that healthful anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Prior to going gluten & dairy free I was a frugal coupon shopper. Although it worked great for our wallet, it didn't work great with our bodies. We have been gluten free since December of this year and dairy free since February of this year. I can say that our grocery bill went up immensely (from $500 to $900) in the beginning. This was until I learned to rid of canned & boxed items and make them myself, not because it was cheaper or something I wanted to do but because we had to. The allergies didn't allow us to even eat anything with certain preservatives in it, leaving out certain meats, cereals, and other gf & df snacks. We purchase a lot of our produce from Aldi's as ours has locally grown produce. Also read on organic to see what fruits and veggies really matter to have organic or not. Tough skin fruits & veggies are much safe non-organic vs. the soft skinned veggies & fruits as the sprays can get into the food. We shop Walmart, Aldi's, Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, & online. However not as much Walmart as we did prior to allergies. We usually buy our household and hygiene products there. We went from $500.00 a month eating filler food to now spending $600.00 eating gf, df, & organic! So it's not a huge price increase once you realize what you can substitute for the filler foods for more healthier foods. A big shocker for our family was the amount we eat now per meal. Before my dh would eat a slice of pizza and a small salad with cheese, meat chunks, croutons, veggie shavings, and too much ranch. Now he can eat 1 salad with hard boiled egg, cucumber slices, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, nutrional yeast, homemade gf & df ranch and be full! Yes that is wothout pizza! Because you are feeding your body the right things you don't crave more food as your body is searching for those valuable vitamins to trigger the FULL and satisfied button. We were a bread and cheese loving family! The change was rough in the beginning. Now everyone of us rarely wants bread or cheese. We do have some safe bread in the freezer and safe cheese when the craving is there but it's so rare now! It's because we are getting better foods that the thought of eating a chunk of cheese is nauseating now. It's so odd....hehe. We garden as well as compost to help cut costs and waste. I hope you found some of what I rambled on about useful to you & your family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm going to switch to peanut butter toast or oatmeal for the kids for breakfast. No more cereal. I've noticed that Costco does have a lot of organics at a good price and I do need to learn the dirty dozen and clean fifteen backwards and forwards so I don't waste money there. How should I freeze berries to make them last a long time if we pick them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I would love to hear about this also. Everytime I go to the store, I get sticker shock. My dh keeps saying, "We need to eat at home, it saves money." Logically I know this is true, but I hyperventilate everytime I walk out of the store with my little basket of food items. We are also trying to eat better, but it is very hard with the prices. Sticker shock, yes. I am about to send dh to the grocery with the challenge to bring home enough non-junky food on the amount we have budgeted. I don't think he truly understands how much grocery prices have escalated in just the past year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm going to switch to peanut butter toast or oatmeal for the kids for breakfast. No more cereal. I've noticed that Costco does have a lot of organics at a good price and I do need to learn the dirty dozen and clean fifteen backwards and forwards so I don't waste money there. How should I freeze berries to make them last a long time if we pick them? We just flash freeze and bag in a foodsaver bag. Once I open a bag, I dump the rest into a pyrex container and keep that in the freezer (shorter term). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I have seen the dirty dozen list, but what's on the clean fifteen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Here is a list. We eat almost everything but nectarines on the dirty dozen so I'm focusing on buying those organic or local. http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/ I'd love recipes for snacks, etc. My friend walking me through this has really challenged me not to buy organic "junk" food but buy whole foods instead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I don't buy meat or eggs. We hunt for the red meat portion and people are usually happy to trade for birds and eggs in return for roasts or hamburger. We process our own meat, too. That saves a lot of money and leaves great wiggle room for stocking up on dairy, fruits, and veggies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) This is only tangentially related, but the comment a previous poster made about eating out because of grocery store prices got me thinking. The other day, it was unseasonably warm, all of us were craving fish (fish = summer here lol). I bought two whole wild striped bass. The fish monger chopped the heads and tails off for me, cleaned off the scales etc. The cost was $19.65 or some such number. I did get sticker shock. I grilled them whole outside (coated with olive oil, salt, pepper, and then sprinkled with parsley), and they were great. I tossed some gently boiled bliss potatoes with a bit of oo and s&p, and splurged on organic letuce (all the way) from CA. :confused: So, 19.65 for the fish, $5 for the potatoes, $2.99 for the lettuce. 19.65 5.00 2.99 = $26.24 There is no way our family of 6 could eat such a decent meal in a restuarant for that price. (There were also leftovers for ds's lunch for school the next day). I don't usually spend that much per meal, so it evens out. I try to shop carefully, in bulk etc. We have a garden (peas and lettuce soon!). Even if we went to McD's and ate from the dollar menu, it wouldn't be cheap. If we each got a burger or chicken, fries, and soda, that would be still be over $18 (with tax), and chances are we would be hungry again sooner. It also would not have given us the nutrition we got from what we made at home. Edited March 23, 2012 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 If you live in a state that does Bountiful Baskets and Azure Standard you can save a lot right there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aelwydd Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 We are also moving towards a minimally processed, heavily raw food diet. The way we are doing it is by purchasing fruits and veggies from farmers' markets and farm stands once a week; buying meats from a local butcher that sells free range, organic meats; buying breads from a bakery, that sells fresh bread that uses unbleached flour and no preservatives. This might seem like a whole lot more driving, but it isn't any different from when we went to Kroger's for one sale, Tom Thumb for another, and Target for yet something else. We still buy some foods from these grocers, but we attempt to avoid anything boxed or frozen, FTMP. For us, the price difference is not that big. We honestly find the price of two frozen pizzas (~$12) to be no different from purchasing cheese, sauce, spices, and make our own dough. Yes, initially, it's more, but spices and flour go for a looooong time, so you can make many pizzas before you run out. So, we end up only needing the sauce, cheese, and spices most of the time. And we end up with fresh pizza! Same thing for pies or anything else. We don't eliminate sugar (although we avoid anything with refined sugars and HFCS), we just make our own desserts from scratch, like berry cobblers and sometimes cookies, etc. Again, when you make it yourself, it's cheaper than paying $3.99 for a package of chocolate chip cookies, it's healthier, and it tastes better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 I agree about the eating out! With a family of six it costs us at LEAST $30 to eat anywhere that doesn't have a dollar menu and it's nasty junky food! I am determined to make this work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm going to switch to peanut butter toast or oatmeal for the kids for breakfast. No more cereal. I've noticed that Costco does have a lot of organics at a good price and I do need to learn the dirty dozen and clean fifteen backwards and forwards so I don't waste money there. How should I freeze berries to make them last a long time if we pick them? If you can, use steel-cut oats instead of instant. I know the long cook time is a pain (you can do it in a crock pot the night before if you are rushed), but I found my kids went berserk after eating instant oats. I did a bit of research and found that the instant oats are almost immediately changed into sugars, while the steel-cut are not. It sure made a huge difference in my kids behavior when we switched. As for the berries, I do blueberries by washing, drying thoroughly and flash freezing in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then transferring to a bag or freezer container. That way they don't all clump together. It works for any kind of berry I've ever frozen--blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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