Frugalistas...help me slash my grocery bill in half

[MiniBlondes]

Not to mention that barring financial peril, I have no desire to feed my kids as cheaply as possible. I want to feed them as healthfully as possible. I can spend less than I do but I am attached to lots of fruits and vegetables. Cheap can be expensive in the long term when considering health.

 

I'd just like to say that I'm one of those $400/month gals and my kids eat fresh fruit and veggies 2-3 times a day. Breakfast is usually oatmeal with some brown sugar and fresh cut fruit, lunch is a sandwich of natural peanut butter and wheat bread with a huge bowl of fruit.

 

We shop at Aldi and I can get fruits and veggies there for next to nothing.

[FaithManor]

Teenage boys are like vacuum cleaners and not the sad, piddly, barely sucking kind either. More like your commercial Orecks that could suck up a diaper from across the county! We have three of them and the amount of food they would consume if allowed is STAGGERING!!!!!

 

I only spend about $125.00 a week (not including TP or other personal care and some weeks, of course none of that has to be replaced). But, we offset that with the gardening from the summer. I can 100 pints of green beans, make my own salsa and pasta sauce for the year from my dad's produce, buy corn on the cob by the bushel in season (usually 2 bushels which is around 72-96 ears depending on their size as it's a volume measurement), 24 pints peaches plus a gallon bag of frozen peach slices, two gallon size bags of broccoli frozen, etc. I dehydrate grape tomatoes, celery, sweet peppers, leeks, sweet onions, potatoes, apple slices, strawberries, and some herbs...so all of my stir fry, roast, and soup veggies are stored in jars for the winter. I also make a lot of homemade, unsweetened applesauce which is very popular. Therefore, you also have to take into account that I have quite a few fruits and veggies to offer my family all winter without hitting the produce section of the grocery store for more than bananas, salad greens, and citrus.

 

I get organic farm fresh eggs every week (3 dozen) from a friend in exchange for doing morning chores for her at her farm one day per week.

 

I make homemade granola for snacks and they eat a lot of popcorn. I also make sure they have plenty of protein at breakfast in order to help them make it through the morning without looting and pillaging the kitchen!

 

Canning and dehydrating was not cost effective the first year that I began the operation because I had all of the start-up costs. But, in subsequent years, even if I didn't grow my own, buying in bulk from an Amish or Mennonite produce stand or farmer's market and then preserving that harvest, was still sooooooooooooo much cheaper than the cost of "trucked in from long distances" produce in the winter.

 

Oh, and a couple times per year, chicken goes on sale MEGA cheap. Leg quarters will be $.59 per lb. and boneless skinless breasts $1.59 a lb. all of it comes bagged in 10 lb. bags. I buy large amounts - 30 lbs. of each if my budget will allow it and re-bag to the right serving sizes and freeze or in the case of the breasts, I'll often chunk it, brown it, toss it in pint jars with some herbs, add boiling water, and process in the canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 70 minutes. Best canned, dump and go chicken you'll ever eat. It shreds up very well and I can make a nice stew, chicken and gravy for over mashed potatoes or rice, or chicken tacos out of it. The boys are always disappointed that I only allow 1 jar per meal! Buzzards. :glare:

 

Usually the sale on chicken will last six weeks and so I can spread it over three paychecks so I can get 90 - 120 lbs. of chicken that way.

 

I make my chilli heavy on beans, no meat and I make pasta without meat as well, but when I do that, I allow them to be generous with cheddar cheese on the chilli, or mozzarella and parmesan on the pasta. Without the fat and protein, they become roaming bands of starving wolves long before bedtime!

 

Faith

[laughing lioness]

 

OK, I cannot *imagine* being able to feed my family on 400-500 *a month*. I can't imagine stuff being that cheap.

 

Not being snarky, or pick on you justamouse, but I've heard this so often. The reality is that if you had to do it, you would, regardless of where you lived. Where we live some things are very cheap but fresh produce is not. We have regularly paid $6-$8 for watermelons and my sil never pays over $3 a H2Omelon. While some things here are cheap, others are not- it's that way every where.

 

We went through a period a couple of years ago where we had $400 /mth for food, household (t.p., etc) and dog/cat food for 7. We did it for over a year. It was hard but we did it.

 

If you really want to slash your grocery bill, set the limit of what you want to spend, get cash out and only.spend.that. You will be surprised at your creativity and resourcefulness. It will also highlight what you are willing to live without, and what you won't live without.

 

We eat pretty healthy. We buy fresh, organic, clean when we can. I think good attitudes, health, longevity are directly linked to what we consume. That being said I also know people so wrapped up in food/health that they neglect other things (my parents were a good example of this). My kids are aware of and know about the links between consumation and health- they make wise food choices. But the bottom line is that if you don't have the money, you don't.

Edited August 13, 2012 by laughing lioness

[justamouse]

I think it truly depends on where you live. Food in Utah is relatively cheap. I pay $2.49 for a gallon of name-brand skim milk, for example. Bread is $2.28 per loaf for whole wheat...again, a good brand. I shop at Winco and get GREAT deals, plus I coupon.

 

I also get my produce from a local farm near us all summer long and I can every single thing I get my hands on, plus we have our own garden. I have shelves of jam, salsa, spaghetti sauce, fruit, etc. I freeze peaches, blueberries, zucchini (shredded) and cherries.

 

Plus, I have food storage. I buy in bulk all year long, and rotate it, but at any given moment, I have enough stored to feed my family for a year if I had to.

 

So, very often, half the food items I use in a month are coming from my pantry, freezer, garden or food storage. It takes time to build it up, but once you do....your food bill drops like a rock.

 

I do better at the farmer's market, and I have an explosion of squash in my own garden, but it's like everything went up in much here in the last month that I have NO wiggle room in my budget anymore. :confused:

 

And, really, all I can think about while I'm food shopping, is if 300 a week is getting me so little, what are other people doing? How are they making it?

[jennsmile]

I would recommend Bountiful Baskets for produce if available and Azure Standard for bulk grains and legumes.

[Mom in High Heels]

:iagree:

 

Not to mention that barring financial peril, I have no desire to feed my kids as cheaply as possible. I want to feed them as healthfully as possible. I can spend less than I do but I am attached to lots of fruits and vegetables. Cheap can be expensive in the long term when considering health.

 

 

I'm not trying to be rude or snarky, but I never understood wanting to cut down on how much is spent on groceries. That's one of the areas I absolutely will not cut. I do shop for fruits and veg and meats as Aldi, which is less expensive than other places, but still, I wouldn't try to cut down unless, as the pp said, there were a risk of financial peril. I read an article (I wish I could find it, but I can't) that stated in the 1950's households spent 25% of their income on groceries, but today that had dropped to about 9%. According to the article, they ate better and more nutritious foods in the 1950's, while we loads of processed junk. Granted, life was different 60 years ago, but still, that's a significant drop.

For a family of 1 (Han Solo is a toddler and doesn't eat that much), we spend probably 15% of our income on food per month. I could spend less, but I won't. We eat well and I do buy some junk, but most of our foods are whole foods that are fresh.

If I were looking to cut my budget, I'd find other areas before cutting groceries.

[elfgivas]

silicon valley is simply Really Expensive. (we have a daughter in san jose, and inlaws in palo alto)

 

i think an interesting thing would be to take your $250 a week, and use $210 of it on groceries, leaving $40- for other things that come out of that money. that way, you would have $30- a day. i work well in small batches ;). so then, i would plan what i could eat for $30- for one day. say, breakfast would be $7-. lunch would be $7-, dinner would be $12-, snacks etc would $4-.

 

so for breakfasts:

for us, that would include the cost of coffee, cream, a glass of milk per child, and then the food. you could look at what you are eating now, and see how much that comes out to. it may work :001_smile:. if it doesn't, you could start tweaking it, either choosing different foods, or different brands or???

 

and then i'd do the same for the other meals. then, i'd plan snacks.

 

then, i'd work on portions. this helps with both cost and weight. i would really work to get meat portions down to the recommended 4 ounces a day. initially, i just took what we were eating (say, a chicken breast per person, which was usually 8-10 ounces), and cut each one in two. everyone got served one, but there was a second one available if they wanted it. that got us used to seeing smaller pieces of meat, but still able to eat what we were accustomed to. then i started cooking another veggie, so that there were always two. then i started upping the serving size of the veggies until each veggie was one serving. then, we added in the rule that you could have a second bit of meat after all the veggies and meat were gone. and that was that, because we were full.

 

for a while each year, we measure cereal, we measure milk, etc so that we come to recognize what a serving size really is. then, we deviate from it on purpose, but know what we are doing.

 

and then we planted a garden. because fresh veggies are just better in taste and vitamins, and because the kids liked them better when they'd planted them, watched them grown, and picked them.

 

my mother in law, who lives in the bay area, planted fruit trees, for all the same reasons, and because it was way cheaper.

 

pick your own places towards the coast there are a lot of fun, and cheaper, too.

 

and if after all that, you are still over $210 each week, you'll have to start ditching. ditch sodas, chips, etc.... any snack food you didn't make in your kitchen or that isn't fresh. and then any breakfast you didn't make in your kitchen. and then any lunch you didn't make yourself. etc. my dh challenged me "to find the best wine under $5-". that was fun, and we found a few new favorites that are way more affordable than where we started. it doesn't mean we don't spend more sometimes, but we have good everyday choices that aren't going to break the bank.

 

and in the bay area, where you shop changes the expense a lot. whole foods is good; whole foods is way too expensive. tjs has become our "go to" place.

 

hth,

ann

 

ps. i forgot to add organic CSAs, which we love. you get a basket of fresh produce every week, whatever is in season, and then we plan our meals around the fruit and veggies that we got. right away, that is cheaper, because we aren't buying multiple things all the time.

Edited August 13, 2012 by elfgivas@yahoo.com

[Annie G]

then, i'd work on portions. this helps with both cost and weight. i would really work to get meat portions down to the recommended 4 ounces a day. initially, i just took what we were eating (say, a chicken breast per person, which was usually 8-10 ounces), and cut each one in two. everyone got served one, but there was a second one available if they wanted it. that got us used to seeing smaller pieces of meat, but still able to eat what we were accustomed to. then i started cooking another veggie, so that there were always two. then i started upping the serving size of the veggies until each veggie was one serving. then, we added in the rule that you could have a second bit of meat after all the veggies and meat were gone. and that was that, because we were full.

 

 

 

This method really worked well for us. I cut our chicken in half before I cook it- and I cut it longways so it's the same size and shape but half as thick. It cooks faster that way and it looks like the same amount of meat. I rarely cook more than 2 breasts for the four of us now- and often we have leftovers from that.

 

Another thing we do is use small bowls. We have Fiesta dinnerware and they have lovely small fruit bowls and another bowl that holds a cup. Those are perfect sizes for things you want to limit- like desserts. Cereal bowls are giant- we don't eat cereal now but when we did, we used small bowls.

[Ravin]

We shop at Costco and Walmart, with the occasional small shopping at Albertson's, which is very close.

 

Strategies:

 

1. Watch unit prices. I have set prices I won't go over, such as15cents/oz. For cereal or $3/lb. For cheese. These are based on the best deals to be found in sale ads and bulk prices at Costco.

 

2. Stop shopping at Safeway or any regular grocery store. They're overpriced except for their loss-leaders for the week. Safeway usually only has 1 or 2 sale items in a week that are cheaper than the regular price at Walmart for the same item.

 

3. Shop at Walmart and use their ad-matching policy extensively. I usually gather the best prices from the 5 major grocery stores, Sprouts, and Ranch Market to compare. My walmart has an excellent produce section so I save a bundle with the prices from the market stores on produce especially. Meat we get at Albertson's because they tend to run buy-one get-one sales, or costco because their regular price is decent.

 

4. Do not impulse buy at Costco. Price compare and stick to a list.

 

5. Look for a csa or farmer's market or a program like the 9000club near you for better than the ads savings on produce.

 

6. Don't forget to factor in the cost of gas getting to and from the store. Less frequent trips and going to fewer stores should count as grocery savings.

[krisperry]

I have a budget of $1000(grocery and household) for a family of 8 where the kids are 16-3 and 4 of them are boys. I use coupons religiously. I shop sales only and stock up where I can. I avoid the big box stores since the "deals" are not usually as good as I can do with coupons.

Here are a few things I do:

1. Homemade laundry soap(mixed 4:1 with Tide that I get really cheap when I can)

2. Garden provides lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, peppers in the summer.

3. Never pay over $1.99 for chicken breast and 80/20 ground beef.

4. Shop midweek for reduced meat deals that I can freeze.

5. My go-to meals are tacos, breakfast for dinner, and pasta bar(make 3 variations for toppings)

6. Try to shop at a store that offers other rewards, like gas rewards, so that I can get double for my money.

7. Make homemade cookies

8. In a pinch I can make yogurt, bread

9. Use jello and pudding as treats since they are cheap

10. Freeze when I get a really good deal on berries and any freezable veg/fruit

 

I'm very similar to the above. $1000 for our family of 8 kids ranging from 14-2 with 4 boys and 2 girls. Occasionally we will spend as much as $1200.

 

I'm in rural NC. Price of milk here is just under $4/gallon. Bread is at least $2/loaf

[krisperry]

Big money saver:

 

Shop once a month (you will probably need to have a meal plan in place).

 

Then set aside $25ish per week for milk/fresh foods (halving my budget since you have roughly half the people). Put it in an envelope and you can't go over it.

[starwarsmomma]

Big money saver:

 

Shop once a month (you will probably need to have a meal plan in place).

 

Then set aside $25ish per week for milk/fresh foods (halving my budget since you have roughly half the people). Put it in an envelope and you can't go over it.

 

I used to do that, but I am SOOOO bad about rememberig to actually pull the food from the freezer. You know, DEFROSTING IT! LOL

 

My other MAJOR problem with freezer/once a month cooking is that a huge amount of the foods have to be done in the oven-- In Texas, we don't use oven's much in the summer-- it heats up the house too much.

[Dory]

I said $250 a week but that's with 8 people in the house for half the week. When it's down to just our normal family of 5, I spend about $175. I plan out the weeks meals, with two variations in case we have a bad day, and that's what we eat. If we are eating a meal that we really like, I make a double size of it and freeze half. That way if we are having a bad day, rather than pull out food that is quick, unhealthy, and expensive, I just pull out a meal that I have pre-made and set aside. That's what's worked for me anyway.

 

Oh, and use lentils as much as possible.

[Laura Corin]

There are four of us and I probably spend about USD 175 a week, which is down from closer to USD280 before Husband lost his job.

 

I buy half the amount of fresh veg that I used to, but I buy a lot more frozen (which is nutritionally very similar, sometimes better). I buy a lot less meat/fish. We have meat for supper three or four times a week and eat leftovers for lunch. I only buy meat and fish that is always cheap (mackerel) or on special offer. I buy free-range rather than organic chicken. I stretch the meat in meals, making up the difference with pulses. I try to shop at Aldi or Lidl before going to a standard supermarket to fill in the gaps.

 

Laura

[Parrothead]

Couple questions:

How much do you spend on groceries and what's your family size?

Between $100 and $150 per week for a family of 3.

 

What would be realistic budget be for a family of 5 in your opinion?

Depends on how big the kids are. Teens are going to eat more. Maybe you can drop your budget down to $200 per week but it might be hard.

 

What are ways you use or resources you use that have helped your family save on groceries?

I really have no idea since our spending has been pretty regular over the years. It has gone up, but only because of inflation. 14 years ago I was spending $100-200 less per month. But so was everyone else.

 

What other things do you do to stretch a dollar?

I mostly cook from scratch. I was just thinking today that it is cooling off enough that I can get back to making bread regularly.

 

If you live in a part of the country where the cost of living is high, how do you save on groceries and other necessities?

I buy what I can on sale and stock up.

 

HTH

[BlsdMama]

 

Couple questions:

How much do you spend on groceries and what's your family size?

What would be realistic budget be for a family of 5 in your opinion?

What are ways you use or resources you use that have helped your family save on groceries?

What other things do you do to stretch a dollar?

If you live in a part of the country where the cost of living is high, how do you save on groceries and other necessities?

 

 

We live in the PNW.

How much do we spend? A lot. I dream of keeping my budget @$1,000 per month. I try, usually in vain, to stick to the $1,000-$1,200 range. ;)

 

I have no idea what a family of five should be. I can say that I would think that under $1,000/mo should be easy peasy? But, I buy in bulk and I know that helps us a lot so you can't just divide my budget in half and get to where you ought.

 

What stretches a dollar? Eating in season, preserving, buying meat in bulk, from the farmer if you can, fishing, hunting, having a garden. These are things that always help. Understanding how food works - protein makes kids feel full longer. You think you save by skimping on meat, but they just eat MORE. :) Simple carbs are simply wasted $$. It's not real food. It just has the appearance of food. Eggs. Eggs are money well spent. Dairy is usually money wasted with the exception of yogurt. Alcohol & coffee are expensive, indulgent habits. (Which we do indeed indulge in but this is how to save YOU money, not me. ) Wink.

 

Finally, I would encourage you in that if you are under the conviction to have more children, obey. Your husband could lose his job tomorrow and you wouldn't be able to feed the ones you have or in 5-10 years he could have a job that surpasses your wildest dreams and it's then too late for another child. Pray. Obey. That's all.

[LucyStoner]

I'd just like to say that I'm one of those $400/month gals and my kids eat fresh fruit and veggies 2-3 times a day. Breakfast is usually oatmeal with some brown sugar and fresh cut fruit, lunch is a sandwich of natural peanut butter and wheat bread with a huge bowl of fruit.

 

We shop at Aldi and I can get fruits and veggies there for next to nothing.

 

 

Many people live where there is nothing like Aldi. Food here is much more expensive, though it has recently becme more similar to averages for the lower 48) Cooking all from scratch, with smaller portions of meat, bulk buying when on sale, some home grown food including eggs etc there is no way I could get our food budget down to $400 without replacing many high nutrient foods for starches. Also, we do not buy all organic by any means.

[Jen in PA]

Comparing what I spend to what you spend is like comparing apples to oranges -- food is dirt cheap here. Good food. My grocery budget for a family of 4 (plus teen stepson some weekends) is $400 per month. We eat a ton of produce, grass fed meat, wild caught fish, and I never skimp on good dairy, chocolate, and lots of nuts. About 50% of our food is organic. The only food restriction is that I can't have wheat, but I don't buy any special products because of that. The trick for us is that we started from a well-stocked pantry, and I buy mostly sale items and we cook from scratch. ALDI is my friend, and I have learned which things at Costco are good values vs. just nice to have around. We have figured out which farm stands are truly good deals, eat produce in season, and I am always on the lookout for good prices to stock up for holidays and special events.

[AngelBee]

Taking notes...

[Tarreymere]

Soup season is almost here. Soup and homemade bread three or four nights a week is a real grocery bill saver. Sometimes we have toasted bread topped with chopped tomato and beans with the soup. Anything over homemade pasta is also less expensive and the homemade pasta just tastes better plus you can add in some seasonings to it.

[Mystie]

We spend $350 a month on food and $120-$150 on household items (including diapers). We have 4 kids, with another on the way; my oldest is only 9, but they all have big appetites. They eat twice what many of their friends do; they inherited their dad's high metabolism, I think. The cost of living in our area is pretty low. We don't eat out at all, so that it all the money we spend on all our food, including birthday foods and we have families over for dinner 4-6 or more times a month. My husband takes leftovers as lunch everyday to work, as well. We increased our budget last year about $50-$75 because I was cutting budget corners by cutting vegetables, and we decided that we needed to increase our veggies.

 

I don't coupon and I don't shop all over town getting the deals. I shop at Costco (they have a lot of expensive food, too; figure out what the deals are) and WinCo (discount grocery, no ads, bag-your-own, priced similar to WalMart). Safeway's loss leaders usually are about WinCo's normal prices, so I don't even bother looking through ads. Plus, we eat very little or no processed foods, I am usually just buying produce & ingredients, so coupons rarely apply anyway.

 

A huge place to save is breakfast. What do you usually eat for breakfast? We eat homemade granola every weekday in the summer and oatmeal in the winter. Here's my recipe: Simple Granola.

 

Bread is inexpensive, but homemade bread is still pennies on the dollar.

 

I save money by cooking from scratch and by keeping my list of "what I buy" very short. That way I bypass 80% or more of the grocery store without having to think or be tempted. I've published my system in an eBook called Simplified Dinners, and even just made a video explaining it.

 

http://www.simplifiedpantry.com

 

For this thread I just created a special discount code of $5 off if you use the code frugalista at checkout. There's a gluten- and dairy-free version, too!

[Soror]

Many people live where there is nothing like Aldi. Food here is much more expensive, though it has recently becme more similar to averages for the lower 48) Cooking all from scratch, with smaller portions of meat, bulk buying when on sale, some home grown food including eggs etc there is no way I could get our food budget down to $400 without replacing many high nutrient foods for starches. Also, we do not buy all organic by any means.

 

I know I hear the PNW is super expensive but I also know that I order most all my staples from Azure Standard because they are the cheapest I can find locally. I have to pay 8.5% extra than those people from the PNW because we are so far away. So, in the case of staples like that it is cheaper to be over there. I also know some areas on the coast and other places have access to CSAs which have good organic produce which works out to cheaper than I can buy from Aldi's, as I remember Julie from CA posting her weekly box.

 

There are a lot of variables as to price spent for groceries. Family size and appetites of course. We have to eat gluten free which really jacks up the cost, many others have to follow certain diets due to various other reasons. Some people may have access to some cheap items and other items that are very high. I think the basic strategies will work to reduce anyone's bill, as to whether it compares exactly to anyone elses is another matter.

 

It pays to be vigilant though and keep an eye out and ear open. I know it has taken years to work on securing cheaper sources for various items and then even then that can change as well. I bought a huge bulk of pecans (30lbs) from Azure last year because they were way cheaper than Aldi's or anywhere else. Well, then the cost shot up and I haven't hardly had any around in ages. Just last week I was in a consignment shop and seen some pecans for $3-$4 less per pd than I have seen anywhere else as the owner has her own tree and shells them herself. So, now I can stock up.

 

For many things there are substitutes and I work on using what I can procure for the cheapest ie using vegetables in season. Using cheaper cuts of meat. Pricing out various beans buying in bulk the most I can to get the cheapest price.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I didn't read a lot of the replies. How much you spend is based on where you live and where you shop and if you do warehouses or coupons. You should try to poll only those in your state to get better answers.

 

But as for where you shop and how to save....menu planning is key. If you buy bulk ground beef and have a plan you will save money. I used to buy large bulk ground beef and cook it all in a day for future meals. Some was plain, some was italian seasoned and put in sauce for the freezer, some was mexican flavored and put in the freezer, some was just shaped into hamburger patties. I saved money by buying the larger amount and divvying it up how I needed it.

 

I currently buy organic meat only. So we pay more in meat. I am frugal in how we cook it so the kids don't waste it. I buy at Costco b/c the price stays consistent. And for now they are at or below the store down the road(I check monthly).

 

I do get emails about sales and try to go where the most fruit/veggies are on sale. I buy a lot of bulk at Costco so my grocery visits are primarily fresh foods.

 

I also have our monthly supplies separate from our food budget. I buy at Costco but not everything every month. Toilet paper may be one month but Paper towels the next. I have a budgeted amount and if need be I will buy less at Walmart to stay in budget, knowing at some point I need to get that larger bulk amt at Costco or risk running out. Keeping that out of food helps me spend food money on food.

 

I don't coupon much. I don't buy what's being pushed in coupons. I only save coupons for items I buy. Ds has food allergies so our processed purchases are minimal. If you buy a lot of processed foods from the center aisles of the stores, the couponing thing may be good for you.

 

I will say that $500 a month for my family of four on the east coast is not doable. And I honestly doubt it is in your state either.

[LucyStoner]

I know I hear the PNW is super expensive but I also know that I order most all my staples from Azure Standard because they are the cheapest I can find locally. I have to pay 8.5% extra than those people from the PNW because we are so far away. So, in the case of staples like that it is cheaper to be over there. I also know some areas on the coast and other places have access to CSAs which have good organic produce which works out to cheaper than I can buy from Aldi's, as I remember Julie from CA posting her weekly box.

 

There are a lot of variables as to price spent for groceries. Family size and appetites of course. We have to eat gluten free which really jacks up the cost, many others have to follow certain diets due to various other reasons. Some people may have access to some cheap items and other items that are very high. I think the basic strategies will work to reduce anyone's bill, as to whether it compares exactly to anyone elses is another matter.

 

It pays to be vigilant though and keep an eye out and ear open. I know it has taken years to work on securing cheaper sources for various items and then even then that can change as well. I bought a huge bulk of pecans (30lbs) from Azure last year because they were way cheaper than Aldi's or anywhere else. Well, then the cost shot up and I haven't hardly had any around in ages. Just last week I was in a consignment shop and seen some pecans for $3-$4 less per pd than I have seen anywhere else as the owner has her own tree and shells them herself. So, now I can stock up.

 

For many things there are substitutes and I work on using what I can procure for the cheapest ie using vegetables in season. Using cheaper cuts of meat. Pricing out various beans buying in bulk the most I can to get the cheapest price.

 

 

I totally agree that location and diet make a huge difference.

 

I buy most staples for less than the Azure prices by watching the sales and getting my co-op grocery store to order things for me at just above their cost. Also, Cash and Carry for super bulk- like 25 pounds of Bob's gluten free flour ($26ish) and 50 pounds of Bob's oatmeal ($16? Not at my spreadsheet). The CSA boxes, which we used extensively when I was working and didnt have as much time to stalk sales at farmers markets and produce stands, are typically more than the Grocery Outlet prices (closest thing we have to Aldi's.) I eat gluten and dairy free and we have cut those items lower in everyone else's diets. I am not trying to be contrarian but after years of close tracking and working with others on their grocery budgets, I have my routine down. I know what $100/month (3.33/day) per person feels like food wise. I find consistently, looking at long term averages, that my family in this area needs more like $7-8/day per person to eat very well with mostly organics. Now that I am home, I have trimmed that down to $5ish a day per person but that is with fewer organics.

 

Also I will say that when sitting down with people to write their budgets very few of them really know how much they are spending on groceries. Invariably someone would say $300/month but it would come out that all lunches and 2 dinners a week are not out of that amount or they would not be factoring in all of the little trips- just the big ones. When I see people with 2 car payments totaling $800/month try and feed their 4 kids on pennies, I will admit to feeling irked. I get needing to super economize- I grew up very poor. But perhaps as a consequence of my childhood, food for my family comes first. If not absolutely necessary, I find to foolish to balance the budget on my kids' mouths. That is what makes this a hot button topic for me, lol.

Edited August 13, 2012 by kijipt

[BlsdMama]

A lot of this information could or could not be useful to you...

 

You can't compare someone living in the Midwest to someone on the West Coast. It isn't possible - I've lived both.

 

You can't compare someone who eats a standard diet, even someone who eats fresh fruit and veg each day to someone who tries to have 70% of their diet fresh foods.

 

You can't compare someone who is GF to a family that is not. Try going GF and you'll see how HUNGRY you are.

 

You can't compare someone who eats grass fed beef and buys their cow whole vs. someone who buys it at Whole Foods.

 

I think often these threads are interesting but are in vain as it is apples to oranges.

[starwarsmomma]

A lot of this information could or could not be useful to you...

 

You can't compare someone living in the Midwest to someone on the West Coast. It isn't possible - I've lived both.

 

You can't compare someone who eats a standard diet, even someone who eats fresh fruit and veg each day to someone who tries to have 70% of their diet fresh foods.

 

You can't compare someone who is GF to a family that is not. Try going GF and you'll see how HUNGRY you are.

 

You can't compare someone who eats grass fed beef and buys their cow whole vs. someone who buys it at Whole Foods.

I think often these threads are interesting but are in vain as it is apples to oranges.

 

Totally agree. Although I always love reading these threads, as people often suggest things that are great!

 

That is why I really prefer the threads where people post their most budget-friendly meal/recipes. That way, people can adjust for meat/no meat/gluten/allergies/fresh/frozen/organic or generic... But they're still good, basic recipes.

 

:D

[Soror]

I totally agree that location and diet make a huge difference.

 

I buy most staples for less than the Azure prices by watching the sales and getting my co-op grocery store to order things for me at just above their cost. Also, Cash and Carry for super bulk- like 25 pounds of Bob's gluten free flour ($26ish) and 50 pounds of Bob's oatmeal ($16? Not at my spreadsheet). The CSA boxes, which we used extensively when I was working and didnt have as much time to stalk sales at farmers markets and produce stands, are typically more than the Grocery Outlet prices (closest thing we have to Aldi's.) I eat gluten and dairy free and we have cut those items lower in everyone else's diets. I am not trying to be contrarian but after years of close tracking and working with others on their grocery budgets, I have my routine down. I know what $100/month (3.33/day) per person feels like food wise. I find consistently, looking at long term averages, that my family in this area needs more like $7-8/day per person to eat very well with mostly organics. Now that I am home, I have trimmed that down to $5ish a day per person but that is with fewer organics.

 

Also I will say that when sitting down with people to write their budgets very few of them really know how much they are spending on groceries. Invariably someone would say $300/month but it would come out that all lunches and 2 dinners a week are not out of that amount or they would not be factoring in all of the little trips- just the big ones. When I see people with 2 car payments totaling $800/month try and feed their 4 kids on pennies, I will admit to feeling irked. I get needing to super economize- I grew up very poor. But perhaps as a consequence of my childhood, food for my family comes first. If not absolutely necessary, I find to foolish to balance the budget on my kids' mouths. That is what makes this a hot button topic for me, lol.

 

I'm not keen on trying to keep our balance as low as possible either. We have reduced this year as dh had a cut in hrs and we are working on some financial goals, but are increasing our budget now as hrs have increased. I know there are lots of places I could still cut costs. We could eat much more rice and corn which are the cheapest grains locally (that are also gf) but I don't think that would be optimal. We could do less fresh fruit and veggies. We could do grocery store chicken (my grassfed beef and local pork are cheaper than grocery store prices but not the chicken- I do help butcher on the beef and chicken and buy large amounts to get it cheaper but grocery store chicken is still the cheapest).

 

I have tracked our budget extensively as well. I have every food purchase recorded in duplicate(online and paper) for the year. I'm constantly re-evaluating to see if I can find things cheaper and still get good quality and also how we are doing healthwise. I think for most people there is plenty of room to cut costs without cutting nutrition as the majority of Americans have plenty of crap in their diet.

 

Oh, and we have no local co-op here (our health food store- which mostly sells supplements is literally about 3x as much as I can pay for online) and our farmer's markets are a joke. Prices are WAY higher than just about anywhere else and it usually is not even grown locally. Our local grocery stores are chain stores and can order stuff in bulk but not too much specialty items and on things I've checked the prices Azure was cheaper. I do also use Amazon subscribe for a few items and Trader Joes for a few things (the closest one is 2-2.5 hrs away so when we go up there or a friend does I stock up on things like gf pasta and almond meal).

[LucyStoner]

2x post. Ugh iPhone.

Edited August 13, 2012 by kijipt

[LucyStoner]

Sodor, I assume you are in Central or Eastern WA or OR. I should clarify that I use Azure for some things. If I was working FT, I would use it for more. Huge timesaver. I have some friends who only use it and they eat well for a modest budget. It sounds like we do a lot of the same stuff. When we moved back to Seattle from Eastern WA years ago our food costs jumped way up for the same cheap college kid food (this was prekids, my husband and I were 22.) one thing we started in the last few years is buying meats by the whole (lamb) or 1/2 (beef) right from farms. That helps a lot. Cheaper and it tastes better + I like supporting a local farmer.

[justamouse]

Well, I just got back from Costco because I happened to be by there for a Dr appmt, and that's where I'm now going to shop weekly. It's 15 minutes away-and how spoiled am I thin I think that's far? :tongue_smilie:

 

I almost slashed my bill in half just going there-and I bought the kids a movie (Tales of Earthsea!!!).

[MiniBlondes]

Many people live where there is nothing like Aldi. Food here is much more expensive, though it has recently becme more similar to averages for the lower 48) Cooking all from scratch, with smaller portions of meat, bulk buying when on sale, some home grown food including eggs etc there is no way I could get our food budget down to $400 without replacing many high nutrient foods for starches. Also, we do not buy all organic by any means.

 

I understand. I wasn't trying to say that everyone should/could do that. I hope that I didn't insinuate that, but if I did, I apologize.

 

I was simply defending against the argument that there was no possible way that we could be eating well/healthy for $400 a month. Because HERE we can. I'm sure that not everyone can.

[Jen in PA]

Well, I just got back from Costco because I happened to be by there for a Dr appmt, and that's where I'm now going to shop weekly. It's 15 minutes away-and how spoiled am I thin I think that's far? :tongue_smilie:

 

I almost slashed my bill in half just going there-and I bought the kids a movie (Tales of Earthsea!!!).

 

I was very happy to be near our Costco yesterday when I had to pick DD up from a sleepover.... it's 55 miles away!

[Soror]

Actually I'm in the Midwest. I was commenting that some people say the PNW is the most expensive whereas I use Azure for my bulk goods because it is the cheapest around here and I have to pay 8.5% shipping fee over regular prices due to our distance away. We just don't have options for bulk purchases around here for health food items. There is a Mennonite store but they are more expensive than Azure as well, I even talked to them about buying larger bulk than they keep in stock but it still wasn't a good deal. There are pluses and minuses everywhere though. Buying our meat in bulk is a big savings for us as well and helping to butcher really, really helps as well. Dh also hunts which means meat for under 50c a pd(here's hoping he has good luck this year). We are *slowly* working on producing more of our own food as well but with pregnancy and little ones I find my motivation isn't the best. We are making slow progress though.

[Jen in PA]

 

I was simply defending against the argument that there was no possible way that we could be eating well/healthy for $400 a month. Because HERE we can. I'm sure that not everyone can.

 

Oh, I get this .... I am afraid to tell people what i really spend for fear they will assume we are living on ramen!

[MiniBlondes]

Oh, I get this .... I am afraid to tell people what i really spend for fear they will assume we are living on ramen!

 

Exactly.

[happypamama]

Oh, I get this .... I am afraid to tell people what i really spend for fear they will assume we are living on ramen!

 

I have to admit that I am particularly curious how you do it, because your location says you're only a bit west of me. I know it's probably a bit cheaper to live out there, but I'd be surprised if it's *that* much cheaper, y'know? I *could* get our bill down a lot if we ate more grains (and legumes), and then we might be able to afford more organic/grassfed meat, but without a lot of grains, I'm just finding it impossible to be any cheaper, though I'd love to cut it down. If we don't have grains at dinner, we either need a good two pounds of meat, or we need a lot of cheese/butter/other fat, which is also expensive, or we're not full, no matter how many veggies we add. And two pounds of grassfed meat for one meal is very often prohibitively expensive, since it still isn't the only thing we'd eat at the meal. I really hate having to choose between a LCHF diet that I feel is better for us in general but means much less organic/grassfed stuff or a more organic/grassfed diet but much higher in carbs.

[MissKNG]

During this time of year in my area, fruit and vegetable stands provide those foods very cheap and fresh.

[Susan in TN]

We're trying to cut down as well. It's tough with teenagers and moving toward GF and needing a good deal of (animal) protein in our diet. Some things that we're doing - buy many of our GF staples in bulk from a co-op - large initial expense but cheaper over time - bulk organic oatmeal, honey, popcorn, almond flour.

 

I shop at Aldi - their breads are super cheap and have no HFCS added. We would like to buy 1/2 a side of beef if we'd stop having to spend the money on other things :tongue_smilie:. We have a handful of chickens, but they don't produce anywhere near the number of eggs we eat regularly. The price is going up, but a dozen and a half eggs is still a good bargain for a meal.

 

Some things I'll get at Sam's Club - Fage yogurt is half the price there. Sometimes butter, cheese, and sour cream are really good deals. Sometimes I'll find "manager's special" meats. I'll often buy bathroom tissue there, and bulk paperplates.

 

I'm making more broth and having a soup or chef salad dinner each week.

[Jen in PA]

I have to admit that I am particularly curious how you do it, because your location says you're only a bit west of me. I know it's probably a bit cheaper to live out there, but I'd be surprised if it's *that* much cheaper, y'know? I *could* get our bill down a lot if we ate more grains (and legumes), and then we might be able to afford more organic/grassfed meat, but without a lot of grains, I'm just finding it impossible to be any cheaper, though I'd love to cut it down. If we don't have grains at dinner, we either need a good two pounds of meat, or we need a lot of cheese/butter/other fat, which is also expensive, or we're not full, no matter how many veggies we add. And two pounds of grassfed meat for one meal is very often prohibitively expensive, since it still isn't the only thing we'd eat at the meal. I really hate having to choose between a LCHF diet that I feel is better for us in general but means much less organic/grassfed stuff or a more organic/grassfed diet but much higher in carbs.

 

 

Although we have meat or fish for most dinners (DH's strong preference), we don't have huge quantities most nights. So if I have ground beef, there will be meals where it is a focal point (burgers, meatloaf, etc.), and things like chili and lentil soup will have more legume and veg with just a bit of meat. The only way to really afford grass fed meat without paying a ton is to find a local source. Sometimes we have fish filets, other times it's salmon patties. We eat quite a bit of yogurt, which essentially only costs whatever milk does. I make our baked goods and granola. I grew up eating a hefty main course at each meal, with the side dishes sort of being afterthoughts that you took a scoop of...... I reverse that model, and although I plan around the main course, I have LOTS of sides on the table every night, some of which are starches, plus always a salad, at least one additional veg, and some kind of fruit. I think because there are so many options no one feels as if they are being deprived by only getting one burger or piece of chicken or fish.

[----]

.

[Colleen in SEVA]

I spend more than any of those options. WAY more.

[ereks mom]

Family of 4 (2 parents, 1 young adult male, 1 teen girl) here plus one extra teen for lunch Mon-Thurs and my budget is up to $100 per week.

Edited August 14, 2012 by ereks mom