budgeting and being frugal

[kfeusse]

I know that many of you have limited budgets.  I also know that many of you try to eat healthy foods.  I have to assume that not all of you belong to both categories, but I would think that at least some of you do. 

 

So if you do, what I want to know is this: how do you decide where to be frugal and where to buy the best...or near the best?

 

For example" do you make sure that as many foods that go IN your families bodies (food and drink) are as healthy and maybe organic as possible, but you don't worry so much about your soaps, conditioners, detergents, etc?

 

We live on a limited budget and I find myslef going over budget becasue I spend too muh money on good heatlhy foods,...and other heathly things....I spend a lot of money this month on our Azure order, buying Essential OIls (hoping to stop giving  my kids prescription allergies meds and other cold meds later this winter etc), etc. 

 

So I was just curious how you all make these choices.

[NotSoObvious]

Hmm. We eat less meat and more beans and lentils. We eat first and fun things come later, meaning that my food budget (or lack there of) is way more important than anything else in our lives. I spend a lot of time shopping so I know what good prices are. I try to make my own bread and snacks as often as possible.

 

As far as other stuff goes, I've just tried to limit first, rather than change. For instance, we just stopped buying smelly lotions, nail polish, etc. I do buy Tom's toothpaste and occasionally I'll buy natural shampoo, but that's not really an area I've focused on. Instead of making my own laundry detergent, I just buy Seventh Generation or the biodegradable stuff from Costco.

[Cinder]

When my neighbors decided to change to organic eating they decided to save money by turning off the air conditioning. Though we live in the deep south USA it was possible for them as their house sits on a wooded lot. That wouldn't be an option for us because our lot isn't as nicely situated. Anyway, they did run the a/c very occasionally if it was just too humid for their comfort which ended up being only a handful of days. They also co-oped at a local farm for chicken, eggs, veggies. And they made their own soap/shampoo/laundry detergent which the wife said saved money.

 

 

[laughing lioness]

It's tough. We've changed our diet and our lifestyle in the past year; not that we ate that SAD anyway but it's still been a huge undertaking.

We buy directly from the org. chick farmer -whole chickens and eggs. Dh picks them up on the way home from work. We still buy on sale at the co-op. If flax seed is on sale, we buy several pounds. If couscous is, we eat that all month. If potatoes are we have them for several meals. We glean when possible- we picked tons of apples at a friends orchard a couple of weeks ago. We garden and share with other gardeners.

Bountiful Baskets. Azure Standard.

We buy in bulk as much as possible. We eat the same things over and over.

Essential oils- I did just used Lavendar to ward off a sinus infection. We do spend $ on supplements, oils and homeopathy every month and go to the chiro at least once a month.  If we don't I am struggling with walking and dh is not breathing. OVerall, it's cheaper than surgery and drugs. The good news is that my knee/back is actually getting healed and dh is actually able to function again.

 

I got a (couple of) p.t. job(s). We just couldn't afford everything but a health crisis pushed us to this.

[Scarlett]

Very difficult.  I don't buy organic, but I do try to buy plenty of vegetables...fruit in season, but less.  I try to avoid the junk food like chips and cookies and ice cream, but I have teen boys and it is hard to keep them filled! 

 

I also aim for 1 or 2 nights per week of meatless meals. 

 

I make my own laundry soap, so that helps.  I do buy a nice smelling fabric softener.

 

I buy good conidtioner for my hair...everything else is generally near the bottom pricing wise.  I buy my 10 year old dog a better dog food than Dog Chow for the last year or so because she began developing a sensitive stomach.  But sitll not some fancy expensive food (can't have the dog eating better than us ;)).

 

I still spend almost $200 a week at Wal-Mart.  For a small family!  3 sometimes 4.

 

[LMV]

We actually grow most of our own vegetables.  We have a large garden in the spring/summer/early fall.  I freeze a lot of homegrown produce for the winter.  I also freeze homemade tomato sauce, pesto, etc.  We have also reopened our greenhouse two years ago and will grow greens and tomatoes in there this winter along with starting plants out in the spring to allow for a double season.  We buy most of our dairy products from a local organic creamery and usually get beef/chicken from our CSA.  We pretty much only hit the grocery store for paper/cleaning products, legumes and some grains, sugar, eggs if I need them in between CSA runs, and some organic fruits that can't be obtained locally due to climate.  We've considered coop involvement but the one here in the past was kind of a disaster and I'm a little wary to get back into that. We also bake our own bread, make fresh juice and juice blends, and prepare most things from scratch.  We didn't initially go into this route as a measure of frugality we did it because it was consistent with our family culture/values.  However, honestly, I'm not sure we could get the same quality of food in the grocery store for these items even if we did buy the highest line organic equivalent (especially true with bread, juice, pasta sauces etc).  So, for the quality we want, our option is definitely much cheaper especially at this point.  A lot of this is stuff that has become more economical over time as there was some capital outlay to get things established with garden beds, our greenhouse, and perhaps even a portion of our last few kitchen remodels fits here because we have always looked at improving the functionality of the kitchen along with cosmetic lifts. 

 

Now, if resources are more limited, then there is a point where quality may have to be sacrificed.  I admit that we have been blessed to not have to cross this bridge but I think that we would initially look at reducing other budget categories before sacrificing nutritional quality.  Perhaps that is something for you and your DH to look into.  I will acknowledge that we've never done much with essential oils or a lot of dietary supplements so we don't have that concern/budget category.  

 

[Lady Marmalade]

My DH works seasonally, so we are perpetually in a state of trying to live with a lower budget/ being frugal.  One place I've always worked to keep low is my grocery budget.  It really is an easy place to trim if you scale back to the very basics.  Beans, rice, cheese and milk can go a long way if that's the bulk of your budget.  I became familiar with and enjoyed the generic brands of many food items.

 

But this last year, I've really shifted my focus away from spending as little as possible, and getting my family into a rhythm of whole foods eating.  During the warm months this was easy, as I would take a portion of my budget for the week and make my first stop the farmer's market to buy whatever is beautiful and in season.  Then I would plan the rest of my shopping around those purchases.

 

I switched to the more pricey free-range, organic eggs.  Our milk is exclusively local, as is our cheese. (Dairy state, this is insanely easy to do here.) Now that market season is over, I find myself in the organic produce section more often.  I buy what is on sale and looks good, but if I need something and the organic isn't cutting it, I won't think twice about putting conventional produce in my cart.

 

Meat is the only problem spot for me, and one of our goals next year will be to set money aside for purchasing in bulk from a reliable farmer.   But when I can, I do reach for the more expensive free-range, pastured options.

 

In exchange for increasing my grocery budget to something that I can feel better about, there have been a few trade offs.  Our entertainment budget shrunk considerably- we scaled back our netflix to streaming only, we switched from reliable cable to a sattelite company for huge savings per month, and we go to Gamestop far less than we used to. 

 

But I feel better about what I am feeding my family.  I have many friends who are into the essential oils, and I don't doubt that they work, but my thoughts are that if I can feed my family nourishing, whole foods, those essential oils are un-necessary. 

[bolt.]

I focus on getting the best sources for our most commonly eaten meat, dairy and eggs -- but not all of them. Special meals usually involve more expensive cuts of beef or whole poultry, so I buy conventional. I also can't pay for organic cheese or yogurt. I can't even afford regular cheese prices. I stock up when it is on sale.

 

I have to get high end skin products due to severe allergies, so that's a necessity, not a choice.

 

I don't worry much about fruits and veggies, because if I did, I'd probably buy less overall (to save money) and my current plan involves lots and lots of fruits and veggies. When the price isn't too bad, I'll go organic for the 'dirty dozen' -- particularly apples.

[Lisbeth]

Doing your own organic gardening would help. There are methods for winter gardening, too. Cut back on meat. Can you learn to make your own essential ouls, soap and shampoo? As a Mormon, I group buy local produce with other Mormons for a cheaper price. We do the same with other items. We also get together and can for the winter. I would imagine you could get a group together to do the same?

[Soror]

My strategies:

- cook it from scratch

-simple ingredients- ie you don't need to buy fancy cuts of beef or macadamia nuts etc. (we'll leave good chocolate out of the discussion)

- buy in bulk

- continually look for better and cheaper sources

-make/grow what you can yourself

-shop sales and seasonally and eat what is a good price at the time

-don't eat out- use that money towards better groceries

-plan meals so you don't have waste

-decide your priorities and buy the best quality you can, then go down the list as you can find and afford

 

- The top of my list is good meat and fats. I have helped butcher every year but this one. I have a freezer and buy 1/2 beef, pork, lamb and a years worth of chicken at a time. I look for others to go in on bulk orders when needed. When buying in bulk start w/ a few things and then keep rotating through various items. We used to take turns driving 3.5 hrs to an Azure(food co-op) drop but now we have one that is local. I shop Aldi for most other things. I have grown some in the past(rabbits and vegetables but I just did not have the energy this year- I'm hoping things are better next year but I can only do what I can).

[carriede]

I have a LOT of room for improvement on this... But at the very least, DH and I prioritize free-range/pastured meat and eggs.

[ocelotmom]

Wherever we can, we search out options that are both cheap and healthy. Buying a 1/4 or 1/2 local cow/pig is healthier than standard grocery store meat, and often cheaper per lb. Making coconut milk out of organic shredded coconut is cheaper than even the lowest quality questionably sourced BPA-lined canned coconut milk. Vinegar and baking soda as cleansers work well for a lot of things, and are basically harmless. Growing our own organic garden from seeds is cheaper than buying conventional produce from the store (I can't really say whether our livestock really comes out cheaper, considering the cost of feed and all). My homemade deodorant is cheap, effective, and has no harmful ingredients.

 

After that - when something good quality fits in the budget, we get it. When the grassfed beef that is normally $7/lb is half off, we'll get it, even though we wouldn't usually pay $3.50/lb for meat. But, for the quality, it fits in our budget.

 

After that, we get whole-food ingredients and don't worry about the sourcing, organic status, etc. A conventional chicken is still cheaper and healthier than a box of chicken nuggets. A few eggs for breakfast is cheaper than cereal, especially when you take into account that they'll keep you going longer.

 

We do pay attention to laundry detergent, soap, and so on, both for direct health reasons and because we have a greywater system. But good options aren't necessarily the most expensive (and the most expensive aren't necessarily good), though they may not be the absolute cheapest possible either. 

[Joyofsixreboot]

I prioritize using the " dirty dozen" list. I get meat locally from the farmer. We grow many of our veggies. I cook almost everything from scratch (organic rice dishes vs boxed ones). I often buy frozen or cannedorganic fruits and veg since they tend to be less expensive. Some weeks it's better than others and I still think conventional healthy foods are better than organic " junk". I don't worry too much about make up, etc. I mostly clean with vinegar. No essential oils or anything like that.

[texasmama]

I don't spend a lot on personal care products.  (soaps, deodorant, shampoo)  I do spend more on organic produce, mostly avoiding the dirty dozen produce list, which I find very helpful.  Not all convetional produce is laden with pesticides so I buy conventional when it doesn't matter (bananas, avocados, citrus, etc) and buy mostly organic when it does (lettuce, apples, potatoes). 

 

I also buy whatever Kroger has on clearance in the produce section.  I went on Monday this week and hit some major clearance there!  I got bags of ready to cook organic veggies,organic salad greens  and organic yogurt, all half price or better due to close "sell by" dates.  I got a nice roast (not organic but high quality) for half price in the meat clearance section.  Paired that with my clearance potatoes and some cheap carrots in the crock pot, and my family ate 2-3 meals for under $10 total.  Nothing was wrong with this food.  It was just getting close to the sell by date, so the store needed to move it on out.

 

ETA:  I buy fresh eggs for $3 a dozen from a neighbor and use Bountiful Baskets pretty often for organic produce.

[Mbelle]

It's hard.  DH has crohns and really can't eat much fiber so the beans and rice and other meatless meals are just too hard on him.  We did grow our own chickens for the first time this spring with some friends.  I got 35 chickens and we just ran out, so we need to do some more.  We have hens now for eggs too.  We have gone in with a friend and split a cow from a grass-fed farmer.  It does save money, but you have to have the cash up front and that can be tricky depending what is going on.  We had lots of medical fees this past year, so we were not able to do that.  Costco has the best price around here for organic ground beef (it's not grass-fed though).  We do have a seasonal garden, but we also buy organic veggies from Costco as well. 

Sometimes I just can't do it all and we buy regular on sale poultry or beef.  We try to use mostly natural lotions and body washes/soaps/detergents.  The only exception is shampoo.  The natural stuff made us look like we had dirty hair. 

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

For example" do you make sure that as many foods that go IN your families bodies (food and drink) are as healthy and maybe organic as possible, but you don't worry so much about your soaps, conditioners, detergents, etc?

 

That's exactly the switch I made.  For two years, I went gonzo for all organic, all natural - everything, plus a ton of money on supplements.  No more.  I'm not so worried about toxins seeping into my 1950's countertops.  Bleach works.  Suave shampoo is super cheap in the big sizes and hair is dead already.  OTC Benadryl works for DD, but she rarely needs meds of any kind.

 

i still buy all organic for dairy, organics when possible for most fruits and veg, and sometimes meat, but that's become as much about taste as avoiding hormones.  Some of it comes down to provider -- I love Natural by Nature milk, but Trader Joe's organic gallons are half the price.  Local HFS red leaf lettuce is the bomb, but I'll only buy it if I suspect we'll eat it fast enough that week so it doesn't turn to sludge in the fridge.  There are a few particular mass market brands of green tea I just prefer over the expensive organic stuff.  TJ's frozen fish?  You bet, when I can find that one cheaper package at the bottom of the bin.

 

During a good month (I'm due), make-and-freeze is the rule, which means casserole-y, chili, stew-y type stuff.  Rice and beans will stretch almost anything, and anything can be slapped into a taco.

 

It's an every-shifting middle ground, but if shifting a bit toward organic, when financially feasible, is better than nothing, and even if it's only piece of mind, well, that too has a price that can be worth it or not, and I reserve the right to vacillate without notice.

[kewb]

Our budget is so tight it squeaks these days.

 

I prioritize food over the other stuff.  I cook most things from scratch.  I look for sales. Stock up on things when I can and feed the freezer. 

I clean with baking soda and vinegar 98% of the time. 

[Carol in Cal.]

We cooked from scratch, and bought in bulk.  There were some investments involved with doing that, for instance we had to get 5 gallon buckets and those special lids for them, but were then able to buy 25 lb sacks of dry goods and store them for use for a long time.  I used dry beans for cooking also.

 

But mostly I would look at every discretionary thing we spent money on and try to come up with a cheaper alternative.  So, for instance, I researched thrift stores and found the cheapest ones.  We shopped garage sales.  We planted fruit trees.  We gave things away, and people gave us stuff (not a trade, but more of an attitude.) 

 

I tried to handmake gifts.  One year I hunted through thrift stores for creamers for months, and made hair rinse.  Each family member got a quart of homemade organic hair rinse and a cream to warm it in that year for Christmas.  When we had bake sales at church, my contribution would be bread--a gift of time rather than money, really, and very popular too. 

 

Also, we spent money on things that seemed really worth it--after all, this is what being frugal is FOR. 

 

 

[kbutton]

I shop at a variety of stores, stocking up on the things that are the best price there (not every week). I rack up points at these stores when I can and use them where they give the best mileage. One store, for example, has yogurt that is slightly more expensive (a few cents per cup), but they give massive points for the yogurt. I can redeem the points to get a gallon of milk for $.49 (we don't bother with organic milk, though I would like to do raw through a herdshare). I can still use coupons for all of this also. This same store had locally grown corn (I believe non-GMO, etc.) for some amazing price with points (like 3 ears for $.03, or something like that). I froze about 60 ears.

 

We prioritize the organic fruits and veggies based on seasonal prices, availability, etc. Kroger often has organic produce at nearly the same price as conventional. I am disappointed every time I buy conventional apples (unless fresh from a local orchard), and the price is not that different. I also get produce at Aldi.

 

We buy eggs and meat from a local farmer. We get half a beef cow each year. It's slightly more per pound than we would pay if we consistently bought conventional meat on sale, but we also get steaks and all kinds of good yummies for that price, not just ground beef and round steak.

 

We garden and can/freeze if it goes well. I get most toiletries at Trader Joe's. I have oily hair, but the tea tree oil shampoo works really well, and a bottle lasts several months. Conditioner lasts much, much longer. I don't do makeup. When I buy "real" soap and natural shampoos, we have less dry skin (even in winter) and use less lotion (which we often get in our Christmas stockings). As far as laundry detergent, I get the natural stuff, and we use tiny amounts. This may sound gross, but we used to cloth diaper, and we learned that most people use too much detergent, and it traps odors, builds up on clothes, etc. We use unscented stuff, and now our laundry smells neutral. If it's not clean, it's obvious from the smell, and we re-wash (rare and usually because it sat too long in the washer!). I use one large box of detergent for the better part of the year (family of four, two are boys). We also don't wash it if it's not dirty. If I wear a t-shirt one afternoon and then change to go out, I probably wear both shirts again (checking for stains or stink). We keep a row of pegs in our room so that we can hang up stuff that is wearable again.

 

We mostly cut our own hair (I get mine cut from time to time, but my style is not something I have to worry about length). I do the boys, and I am starting to do hubby's now that I've had some experience. If we visit my parents, my mom will cut his hair.

 

I buy Shaklee supplements. We don't use essential oils much (I may make some homemade lotion for gifts), but that's because we don't really get sick.

[happypamama]

I do the best I can. I love getting grassfed beef in bulk from a local farmer, but it rarely happens. Sometimes I can get a couple of pounds of grassfed ground beef. Otherwise, I get what is on sale -- food always trumps no food, especially since we don't do well with a lot of grains. I buy whatever fruit is on sale, and in season, it is usually cheaper and better at the farmer's markets. We eat a lot of apples, but we only eat peaches during the couple of months that they are local and amazing. When frozen vegetables (the basic bags, vegetables only, no sauces or seasonings) go on sale, I stock up, because i can add another pound of vegetables to a meal for way cheaper than I can add another pound of meat. do try to buy organic butter, though, and we get hormone-free milk, raw when we can swing it. I did find that a BJ's membership worked out well for us. I like their natural pork, and it is a good price, comparable to the grocery store. Butter and cheese are way cheaper there too. I saved most of the cost of a year's membership in just a couple of months, between butter, cheese, and the toothpaste that DH likes.

 

When things like chicken breast go on sale at my grocery store, I buy enough for about five meals, and I take them home, turn them into meals, and freeze them. Much less tempting to get food out on busy days or weekends when nobody feels like cooking, if we have meals in the freezer already.

 

I use cloth everything, except for toilet paper (and that I get from amazon in bulk). I use vinegar, baking soda, and Murphy's all-purpose cleaner for cleaning. I don't make my own detergents, because we have insanely hard water, and also, our local store's generic brand is good and cheap for those things. I watch amazon for sales on other stuff, like pet flea treatment and bar soap.

 

But really, there is also only so low I can go, without feeling that I am really compromising my family's health. As our kids get older, we are hoping to garden a lot and possibly add egg chickens.

[NicAnn]

We do eat almost all organic, and use almost no chemicals. We use baking soda and and vinegar for cleaning, dr Bronners for cleaning and bathing. Our total budget for food and household is around $400.

I make it work a few different ways. I shop at Costco for the bulk of our food, we are GF but don't buy a lot of packages foods, we eat little meat, I cook from scratch, and I shop several small stores for the best deals. We don't eat a huge variety of foods each week, typically in season produce cooked in various ways.

 

I am extremely concerned about chemicals and environmental hazards, so living like this takes priority over certain other things.

[NicAnn]

Oh yes, and I've learned to utilize Amazon for disposable purchases...which isn't many. We use cloth for everything but toilet paper. I also keep a stock of paper towels just in case- pet messes, stomach illness. I buy our natural soaps and laundry detergent (natural) from there. I used to make our own soap but since we travel so much it has become a hassle.

[Jerico]

I am an all or nothing person. A few years ago i started buying some natural stuff which turned into raw milk, eggs, all organic produce, grass fed beef, natural products, etc. i wish i would have saved all of that money honestly. We definitely could have used it for the couple of emergencies we had. So now, even though raw milk is half the price in our new state, i buy all of my groceries at aldi and nothing all natural. I cannot afford to go down that road again. We could not afford to buy natural, organic and still be generous with having guests over for dinner, or having ample food for the children to eat as much as they want. So thats my parameter. Can i buy this and still be generous with others? If so, i can buy it. If not, i dont.

[ocelotmom]

I also buy whatever Kroger has on clearance in the produce section.  I went on Monday this week and hit some major clearance there!  I got bags of ready to cook organic veggies,organic salad greens  and organic yogurt, all half price or better due to close "sell by" dates.  I got a nice roast (not organic but high quality) for half price in the meat clearance section.  Paired that with my clearance potatoes and some cheap carrots in the crock pot, and my family ate 2-3 meals for under $10 total.  Nothing was wrong with this food.  It was just getting close to the sell by date, so the store needed to move it on out.

 

I wish our grocery store did this. They regularly have 30-50% off clearance meat. Why not the produce, too? 

 

I miss the store that closed a few years ago that regularly had produce deals that were awesome for stocking up.

[Madeline05]

I dont buy organic, we buy mostly frozen veggies because they are cheaper and last longer (still get same nutrients), and we buy in bulk to save on cost for detergent, toilet paper, paper towels. Soups I get no name brand as long as its antibaterical.  Shampoos we use the suave or if i find organic shampoo at TJ Maxx/Amazon i will buy it from there.

[SKL]

For stuff that does not go "in" bodies, yes, I buy cheap and use little.  For example, I spend under $10 on shampoo/conditioner per year.  I use soap very sparingly.  I do buy eco soaps for laundry and hand dishwashing (though I only use dish soap for greasy dishes; otherwise I just use hot water).  We don't use chemicals to clean house, except about once a month on the linoleum floors.  I don't use cosmetics (unless you count my face moisturizer and zit cream, which I use sparingly if at all).  I do use Aveeno products for face and bath soaps, and for moisturizers in the winter.  For me it feels like a reasonable compromise.

 

For stuff that goes "in" bodies, I buy mostly organic for home/school, except for bread.  (I can't find organic bread that lasts more than a few days, and I can't go grocery shopping multiple times per week.)  I don't generally buy meat.  I don't buy snack/treat type foods that are not an essential part of our daily nutrition.  We drink water, except that the girls get milk or liquid yogurt with meals and I drink organic coffee (with milk) throughout the day.  (Yes, that last one is probably extravagant.)

[LucyStoner]

I wish our grocery store did this. They regularly have 30-50% off clearance meat. Why not the produce, too?

 

I miss the store that closed a few years ago that regularly had produce deals that were awesome for stocking up.

Ask. Many stores pull anything less than perfect produce so as to not give their store a reputation for having bad produce. But if you talk to the produce manager, they may be willing to tell you which days they pull stuff and sell it to you by the box for a low price. Some places are donating it though so they might not be selling. Still, it is worth asking.