Reviewing my grocery receipts every month is the key to keeping budget under control, but looking at what I spent on food in March, you’d think I owned stock in ALDI!
I assure you I don’t – rather I’m taking the advice YOU gave me when I first moved to Georgia and my grocery spending was out of control.
I’m also trying to find that balance between shopping for meals now and buying few key items in our pantry, since having a well stocked pantry saves money.
It never ceases to amaze me how much food we go through in a typical month – typing it out like this is really an eye opener! If you’ve never done that before, I encourage you to give it a try sometime. You never know when you’ll find ways to save in the end!
Food Prices and What We Spent on Groceries: March 2016
Herbal Intentions – $12.66
I’ve heard the rumors about pollen in Georgia, and I wanted to be prepared. I bought a pint of local raw honey from a nearby health store and we’re all taking it daily as a way to adjust our bodies to the seasonal allergies here. So far, so good!
By the way, I don’t know if this is a good price or not for local raw honey since I haven’t been here long, but with the markets opening up this month, you can bet I’ll be price comparing!
ALDI – $144.65
yellow potatoes, 2.79
sweet potatoes, 2.29
cabbage, 1.69
chicken leg quarters, 4.06
popcorn, 1.69
brie cheese, 2.99
blue cheese, 1.99
oats x3, 2.39
lemons, 2.49
water chestnuts, .69
bamboo shoots, .99
strawberries, 1.29
whole chicken, 6.38
mandarins, 2.19
goat cheese, 1.99
blueberries x2, 2.29
couscous x2, 1.29
milk, 2.19
rice, 4.89
great northern beans, 1.99
black beans, 2.29
ground black pepper, 2.49
chopped spinach, .99
shrimp, 5.49
chicken sausage, 2.99
zucchini, 1.69
yogurt, 2.99
sour cream x2, .99
peaches, 2.99
pears, 2.49
red potatoes, 2.69
all-purpose flour, 1.39
frozen corn x2, .95
string cheese, 2.79
mini chocolate chips x2, 1.79
cumin, .99
garlic powder, .99
mustard, .99
paprika, .99
chili powder, .99
diced tomatoes x4, .55
onion powder, .99
italian seasoning, .99
whole peeled tomatoes x6, .49
crackers, 2.99
raisins, 2.89
cream cheese, .89
baking powder, .99
dried cranberries x2, 1.29
cashews, 11.99
strawberries x3, 1.29
baby bella mushrooms, 1.79
This was the big purchase at the beginning of the month – it’s that first picture up there PLUS another bag that I had already emptied. It was nuts, but I was trying to be on top of my game. I made a week meal plan (or so) and also wanted to buy things I thought we’d need later on.
The sweet potatoes are mostly for me, since I’ve been making this for breakfast nearly every day of the week. Peaches, pears, blueberries and strawberries for snacking and freezing.
Popcorn is an inexpensive snack, and Mr. Crumbs and I like to have “fancy cheese” and crackers, so that’s why you see brie and goat cheese. The cashews are also for snacking, and the cranberries are for salads.
Oats for oatmeal and recipes, lemons for recipes like this one, as well as cleaning and taking pictures (like this one and this one).
I made an Asian dish with the mushrooms, water chestnuts and bamboo that I didn’t really like, but made couscous that we loved. I also made a skillet dish with the cabbage that was pretty good.
Rice, milk, potatoes and flour are staples. So are the canned tomatoes, and they were discounted even more so I stocked up on as many as I thought we’d use for the month. I made vegetarian white chili with the beans and various produce listed, plus these amazing scones with the mini chocolate chips.
The large amount of spices was because I needed taco seasoning but they didn’t have it. I pulled up my own recipe, bought what I needed and made it instead!
(This was a long list, so please let me know if you want details on anything I missed!)
ALDI – $4.97
pepper jack cheese, 1.89
monterey jack cheese, 1.89
celery, 1.19
I had originally planned on going to Costco after Aldi on the day before (the trip above), but didn’t end up making it there. I reviewed the list, cut out the unnecessary items and filled in the gaps with Aldi.
Walmart – $26.35
gallon dill pickles, 5.22
salsa verde x2, 2.48
franks hot sauce, 6.98
pickled jalapenos, 1.28
shell pasta x3, .43
diced green chilis, .68
dry garbanzo beans, 1.48
sparkling water x2, .98
This is the second half of the “fill in the gaps since I didn’t make it to Costco” trip. Pickles because my boys love them, but also because I needed a glass gallon jar to make kombucha. Salsa verde for recipes, hot sauce because my son puts it on everything (no joke) and pickled jalapenos for making our own salsa.
Shell pasta for homemade macaroni and cheese plus minestrone soup, diced green chilis ad garbanzo beans for tortilla soup and sparkling water for Mr. Crumbs as a treat.
Kroger – $3.84
asparagus, 1.97
cilantro, .79
limes x3, 1
I had planed on making tacos for dinner, but forgot two key components – cilantro and lime! The asparagus was a splurge. I sauteed it up using this method and we had it with our tacos.
ALDI – $37.87
butter, 2.49
great northern beans, 1.99
granny smith apples, 3.49
peaches, 1.78
walnuts x2, 2.99
crackers, 2.99
fresh mozzarella x2, 2.69
goat cheese log, 1.99
strawberries x2, .99
carrots, 1.19
pepperoni x2, 2.19
cranberry cheese brick, 3.49
Butter, carrots, mozzarella and pepperoni (for homemade pizza) are staples.
Peaches, apples, strawberries for snacking; walnuts to top oatmeal in the mornings, fun cheese to have along with our crackers and beans for testing a bean tutorial.
Walmart – $.80
This amazing smoothie calls for ginger root, and I didn’t have it – so I picked some up!
ALDI – $2.84
all-purpose flour x2, 1.39
A staple for making man bread and pizza!
ALDI – $57.17
bacon x3, 2.99
chicken leg quarters, 4.08
diced tomatoes x2, .55
blue cheese, 1.99
brussel sprouts, 2.29
mandarin oranges, 2.29
juice boxes, 1.99
yellow onions x2, .79
proscuitto, 2.99
cabbage, .79
maple syrup, 6.49
baby carrots x3, .49
This trip was to prepare for Easter. We’re not big on ham (or turkey), so we chose chicken. Mr. Crumbs grilled those and we had brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and naturally sweetened carrot cake. That’s the purpose of the carrots and cream cheese recently, lol.
Onions, diced tomatoes and maple syrup are staples.
There are a lot of kids in our neighborhood and when they’re all playing together, other moms are offering the kids juice boxes. Not to be stingy, I picked up some that were 100% juice so we could practice hospitality when the kids are at OUR house.
Blue cheese and the rest of the chicken for testing this one-pan buffalo chicken dish, plus mandarin oranges for snacking.
ALDI – $18.79
colby jack cheese, 1.89
blue cheese, 1.99
goat cheese log x2, 1.99
fresh mozzarella x3, 2.69
I don’t remember the exact reasons for this purchase, but my best guess would be for pizza (mozzarella and blue cheese) and grilled cheese (colby).
ALDI – $29.56
eggs x2, 1.29
all-purpose flour x2, 1.39
pineapple, 1.29
granny smith apples, 3.69
pink lady apples, 3.49
brussel sprouts, .99
butter x3, 1.99
pork sausage roll, 1.99
coffee, 2.69
bananas, .93
milk, 2.19
salt, .39
Eggs, flour, butter, coffee, milk, salt and bananas are staples.
Pineapples were on sale so I picked one up. We were expecting company later that week, so I bought sausage for breakfast (they’re gluten-free).
ALDI – $36.73
multi-grain tortilla chips, 1.69
corn tortilla chips, 1.99
crushed tomatoes, .95
half & half, 1.89
sweet potatoes, 1.99
bananas, 1.22
bananas, 1.20
pepperoni x2, 2.19
oranges, 2.99
fresh mozzarella x2, 2.69
romaine hearts, 1.99
spinach x2, 1.79
strawberries, 1.49
coffee, 2.69
pineapple, 1.29
A last minute trip that was partly for company (chips, strawberries, bananas) and partly for stocking up on good deals (pineapple).
Pepperoni and fresh mozzarella for pizzas, romaine for salads, sweet potatoes for my breakfast addiction.
I bought half and half to test this recipe with it, but it ended up getting poured on top of oatmeal! My son likes to add “cream” to his oatmeal, with peaches and cream being his favorite.
Kroger – $4.95
french bread, 1.49
frozen corn, 1
cilantro, .79
peanut butter, .79
diced tomatoes, .49
diced green chilis, .39
This was a two-item trip for corn and cilantro (taco night!) but I found the managers specials section. The bread, peanut butter, diced tomatoes and green chilis were all marked down!
ALDI – $14.44
sourdough bread, 2.99
baking potatoes, 2.39
black beans, .59
applesauce, 1.39
diced tomatoes, .55
cream cheese x2, .89
cannellini beans, .65
cheddar, 1.89
pepper jack cheese, 1.89
Mr. Crumbs had a hankering for grilled cheese and there wasn’t time to make bread, so we picked some up along with pepper jack cheese.
Applesauce for the carrot cake, cream cheese for the frosting. Potatoes and beans for recipes I was making that week.
ALDI – $23.81
bananas, 1.21
pineapple x4, 1.29
cantaloupe x2, .99
bananas, 1.36
spinach, 1.79
crushed tomatoes, .95
apples, 3.19
green peppers, 1.29
whole milk, 2.19
carrots, 1.19
coffee, 2.69
ALDI had some great specials on produce this week, so I took advantage. Most of these were for snacking and smoothies, although the tomatoes were for pizza sauce and milk, coffee and carrots are staples. I used the bell peppers in a fajita-ish skillet dish one night for dinner.
Publix – $12.00
fettuccine x2, 1
cream cheese, 1.77
parmesan cheese, 7.99
This was an unplanned and last minute purchase. I had originally planned to have fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, subbing spaghetti noodles for fettuccine since that’s what I had on hand. We had enough shrimp and just enough Parmesan to make it work.
And then Mr. Crumbs told me we were having company come over.
I stuck with Alfredo, but picked up fettuccine (didn’t have enough spaghetti for everyone), another brick of cream cheese and enough Parmesan for the whole meal.
Total Monthly Grocery Spending for March 2016: $410.29
Our grocery budget is $330/month, so once again, I’ve gone over. It’s slightly more than February, yet way better than January.
Evaluation time. I’ll leave mine here – you leave your thoughts/comments/ideas in the comment section below and I’ll reply.
#1. I need to shop less often.
I think one reason I went over this month is because I fell into the VERY common trap of “Let’s make this for dinner, but we need one ingredient. I’ll just run out and get it.” Except that I rarely walk out of a store with just that one item – I almost always think of something else I need!
So for April, I’m being for conscious about shopping less often as a whole. I make my meal plans one week or so at a time, so in theory, I should be able to only shop once a week. That’s the goal anyway. Even if I see a good deal at ALDI, swinging in for those items is starting to increase my bottom line.
#2. I need to keep up with my shopping trips.
Waiting until the end of the month to write this post means not remembering the reasons I bought everything and what I made with it all. It makes for a less interesting post, but it also doesn’t help me in my own grocery budget adventures! I want to keep up with my trips weekly, looking over what I bought and why.
#3. We need to eat more from the pantry.
We eat a good bit from the pantry, but we need to REALLY make a conscious effort of this instead of running out to buy ingredients to make more meals. We have plenty of food here, it’s just a matter of being creative enough to turn it into a meal. Gotta start taking my own advice!
#4. We might have to increase our budget?
I’m not entirely ready to take this route yet. It’s not that prices in Georgia are higher than California – I actually think they’re about the same – but it’s more about the quantity of food my family is consuming and the way we’re using it. There’s more to it than this, but it’s on the table at least for us to discuss.
How did you do on your grocery budget for March?
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I don’t think, that your grochery bill is bad at all – as I compare it to ours. In most times there is 3 adults eating in our table, sometimes more – and ours is sure bigger than yours! But you are right: the more you’ll go shopping, the more you’ll spend. I try to keep my trips twice a week – we drink so much milk, that I am not able to store need of all week, otherwise once a week would be better fo me, too.
Thanks Eeva!
I think you’re right in that the fewer “quick trips” you make, the less you’ll spend. That’s my downfall, too. 🙂 Bear in mind that as your kids get older, they will naturally eat more, and your comment about the way your family is eating lately might be a clue that 1 or both is growing. 🙂 I know your perception is the prices are similar to California, but remember that even subtle price differences add up quickly! Even still, your grocery budget is so much better than mine. I feed 2 adults, a teen, and a 5 year old, plus a dog and cat, for $600, to include cleaning supplies, supplements, and paper products.
Yes, subtle changes do add up! Thanks for sharing Lori!
I live in Florida, when I was subscribing to your meal plan for families this is what I would spend on groceries in the month. I think that regionally you might have to adjust the budget.
I’m hoping that my problem is a shopping issue, rather than a pricing issue, but we’ll see!
Do you have any of the prices you were paying for similar items in California? Maybe compare the CA prices with the GA prices to see if the COL (cost of living) is about the same? Also is that before taxes? What is the tax rate? I know in some states like Connecticut the tax rate is really high whereas in Kansas its only 9-10%.
Peggy,
I never did a side by side cost comparison of GA vs. CA because I found that while some items were higher, others were less. In the end, it becomes a wash. Instead, I found better stores and a better method for shopping them. 🙂
Are you having to restock your pantry from the move? If so, you will spend more in the beginning to get a fully restocked pantry. I do agree with what the others are saying (and you said) if you have to run out for “one” ingredient you WILL ALWAYS end up with more than one item. I usually rethink what ever it is and find a substitute I have on hand or make it without the missing ingredient to stay out of the store. Something we have done this year is go to a more monthly based shopping. We shop for the month for the next months meal plan (this way I can utilize the sales to plan May’s meal plan). Since I have started doing this I am able to feed my family of 4 adults for much closer to my budget $400 ($200 from me and $200 from my mom who lives with us) We live in Tennessee and according to the most recent published government data our state is in the top 5 for highest food prices in the country. However, once you learn the sales cycles in your new home, and such you might find you are able to get closer to your targeted budget. I find the food budget is ALWAYS a work in progress to get it smaller!! Hang in and don’t get frustrated that will ruin it for sure!!
Partially yes Rebecca. It’s a combo of buying for now, and buying for later, which is kinda tricky and expensive! I’m trying a monthly-based trip for April and so far so good. Now just to keep it up! Thank you for your kind words and encouragement!
About your honey: if you are buying it to help with allergies, you need to be more concerned about the source and less concerned about the price. Instead of buying it in the store, buy it from a local beekeeper. Ask them key questions–such as where are the hives located? Where/when did the bees gather the pollen/nectar used in this honey? When was this honey harvested? Was the honey filtered? Has the honey been heated at all?
Many professional beekeepers will ship their bees across the country to pollinate crops. Therefore, the honey won’t reflect local pollen for you! You want the beekeeper to keep his hive local to you (within 50 miles at most) all the time. You don’t want the honey filtered–that removes all the pollen. (Straining, to remove bee parts is fine.) If the honey is heated above 110-120, it will destroy the beneficial enzymes. Crystallization rarely occurs in heated honey, therefore crystallization should be considered a good thing! The price of honey reflects the beekeeper’s time and expenses in managing the hive.
I realize this was a bit of a rant, but as a beekeeping family (2 hives), I’m a little sensitive about people wanting cheap honey. Cheap honey comes from overseas and doesn’t always have honey in it.
This is helpful information. We are considering trying bee keeping but haven’t pulled the trigger. My little guy has some allergies and it would seem that honey from our backyard would be a good idea. There is a family about 15 miles away though that gathers and ‘processes’ their honey to sell so I may just stick with him for now going by your 50 miles or less recommendation. I agree that quality local honey is deserving of a fair price!
Kathleen & Laura – Location of the hive was priority over price when we use honey for allergies, but I go for price when it’s being used in baking. This particular jar is set aside JUST for allergy prevention. I haven’t been here long, so talking to a beekeeper isn’t feasible (yet), but I talked to several locals about this brand and did some research before buying. Thank you for sharing your tips!
There is so much more to what Kathleen is saying. I applaud her for keeping it so short! If you are taking the honey for the sole purpose of allergies then you need to make sure that the honey you are consuming is from the same season you are having your allergies. So if your problem is springtime then you need to be consuming honey that was made by the bees during the spring season. And yes, not all honey is created equal.
Oh, it also depends on how much sugar water they feed their bees. Some keepers feel it doesn’t matter because it’s all made into honey anyway. But if you are what you eat……
Thank you Katie! Yes, there is so much more to be said. Some beekeepers, especially those who are in the business of beekeeping (as opposed to hobby beekeepers), feed their bees HFCS–and treat them with antibiotics. It’s buyer beware and ask loads of questions.
Ever since moving to South Florida from NYC it’s been MUCH more expensive to just buy the basics, foodwise. It’s gotten slightly better since there are now more grocery stores (especially ALDI), which makes for more competition. However, I still think I got better deals in NY.
I agree with everyone above about the multiple trips to the grocery store, but I’m also interested in how your bottom line might have changed if you had made it to Costco. We are also a family of four (our kids are 7 and 4) and we aim to spend about $380/month on groceries. I find that if I am able to get to Costco at the beginning of the month, we find it much easier to make our food budget. We live in the Pacific NW, so I don’t know how prices compare, but it would be interesting to see if regular Costco trips could make a dent in your spending. Also, appreciated the comments above on local honey as we are tackling allergies here as well–maybe a future post on that topic?!? 🙂
Our grocery budget is $400/mo including toilertries and household stuff for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids age 4 and 2). But I’ve been going over in my grocery budget since January…like significantly. But on the upside I have a stuffed freezer and pantry. I meal plan every.single.week. But I find myself buying more stuff than we need “because it’s such a good price!”. So for April we decided to stick to $50/wk for everything, which allows for produce and a few other things like cheese, eggs, and misc needs to fill out the meal plan. So far so good!
I know for me, I almost never pay full price for meat. I wait for a sale or get it on clearance and then immediately put it in the freezer. And then when I meal plan for the week (before shopping) i plan meals only using the meat in the freezer. Then I can afford to only focus on sale or clearance meat. And its also not a big deal if i dont find abything one week, i likely will the next! I also use the Kroger coupons from their Facebook page to save (usually about $10/wk at least ). They usually have great markdowns on antibiotic-free and organic meats which I prefer whenever possible.
But I agree with the others, if you are trying to restock your pantry, your budget sounds good to me. It might just take a few months to work out. Best of luck!
With the honey for allergies, how much should you take a day.
I can get good local unheated unfiltered honey but need to know how much for an adult & child .
I am sure you need to be kind to yourself with regards to restocking your pantry & freezer.
It all takes time & money
A “little” bit. Enough to put on your toast in the morning. Or a scant spoonful. It isn’t medicine, it’s food, so there isn’t a “dosage” per se. We found it really helped the two in our family with spring allergies. You don’t have to do it year round, just start a month or so before the trigger plants start to bloom.
Thanks Kathleen
Hi Marthea! We take about 1/2 – 1 tsp per day. It’s not much, and we’ve only eaten half the jar since we bought it. If it’s just the two of you, one jar per season should make a good impact!
Thanks Tiff
Interesting. I always think California is WAY more expensive, but my in-laws are in southern California so maybe that makes a difference. Anyway, eastern/southern food prices are much lower than what we pay here in CO. The only things on your list that I can consistently get cheaper are beans and cilantro! I’d say if you want to cut it down you may have to reign in your fancy cheese habit until you get your pantry well stocked again . . . total bummer, huh? I also buy the five pound blocks of cheese and freeze it in smaller chunks for things like pizza, grilled cheese, and mac n’ cheese so paying a bit more for a treat once in a while is easier. I get them at Sam’s for about $2.20/lb, or for good raw cheddar, Azure Standard for less than $5/lb. I also buy oatmeal and other grains from Azure in 25 and 50 lb bags and it saves a ton. I set aside part of my budget ($70 at present) each month just for bulk purchases and buy a big bag of grain/popcorn, etc. or some meat from Zaycon or a farmer when it builds up enough.
I am having a hard time trying to figure out what to cut from our grocery budget to save $. We spend $800-850 for 4 people (that includes cleaning products, toilet paper etc). Healthy eating is important to me so I buy lots of fruit, veggies etc. I make all our bread, baking etc Any suggestions?
You mention feeding 4 people, but not their ages. As a mom of 3 boys–ages 17, 15, and 11.5, sometimes they simply need more food! We found their eating ramps up right before a growth spurt (so does their need for extra sleep). I’d love to have a grocery budget of $800 (or even less), and I know that some families can do it by shopping at stores like Walmart and Winco, but when I look in their carts, I realize there are differences in what we buy that my family simply cannot eat for that amount. Don’t beat yourself up. We spend on average, closer to $1000-1200 per month–food + toilet paper, not other personal products. (According to the USDA Food Plans, the thrifty plan amount for us is $1020 and the low plan is $1200.) And we eat only organic meats (no pork/shellfish) and non-rSBT dairy, which drives spending up.
To keep my spending in balance, I plan menus a week at a time. I always include potatoes and onions because they are cheap, filling, and nutritious. Beans are another cheap, filling food, and they are good when seasoned right. I buy produce when it’s in season and the more expensive stuff is served in small quantities with the less expensive. Spinach and lettuce, per pound, is expensive, so we balance that with other veggies (cabbage, anyone?) Baking your own bread will reduce your spending, but have you shopped around to be sure you are getting the best price on the grain (or flour)?
Agreed. You can save a ton of money if you do not care about the quality of the food. And if you’re a family that enjoys lots of fresh produce you really need to go to the store twice a week. Oh, and if your kids are active in sports – wow, can they down some food!
I have a tip to help you not run out of cilantro. I do this with parsley as well.
I wash, dry and cut mine up and then put the pieces into ice cube trays. Add water and freeze. Once frozen, I keep the cubes in a freezer bag. (Cilantro in one, Parsley in another). This way I have handy access to either parsley or cilantro whenever I need it.
I think part of it is really finding where the good deals are, and the other part is growing children who eat more.
It took me years, but I’ve now found a local source of honey that is $35/gallon. I know which store has a marked-down produce section (the only one I’ve ever found), which store ever has sales on grass-fed meat, etc. I just found out our neighbor’s boss raises some cattle and is always looking for someone to buy a 1/4 side. Our old supplier stopped and we hadn’t found a new one. All these little out-of-the-way places take time to find, because they aren’t advertised but by word of mouth.
Kids definitely go through more food as they grow. I remember one blogger talking about how she spent only $200/mo on food for a family of four, but digging deeper I discovered that one was a 3 year old boy (who “eats as much as a teenager!), one a nursing baby, and not only do they eat at the in-laws every Sunday and bring home leftovers, but her parents give them large quantities of meat. Anyone who says a preschooler eats as much as a teenager, has never tried to keep teenagers fed.
I still haven’t gotten our grocery expenses down to $330/mo. I have gotten them down to $500/mo for dh, me, and a 4 yo at home, plus occasional food for our college daughter. We eat more meat than you do, though that’s coming down, and we use a lot more dairy. We go through 3 gallons of milk per week and 3 dozen eggs. We also have gluten intolerances so can’t use the cheap white flour. I’m experimenting with emmer, Kamut, and spelt to see if we react to them, but they are significantly more expensive than 89c for 5 lbs of white flour.
Have you thought of going through your receipts from both California and Georgia and seeing if the food is actually the same price?
I’ve also started using PriceChecker, which is an Android app pricebook. It’s been very helpful for me to keep track of sales.
Whoops, sorry, that’s PriceCruncher, not Checker.
Also, do you follow your own monthly meal plan? It seems in your ‘what we spent on food’ posts that you don’t use the same recipes much, particularly when you say things like ‘i need to be better about being creative with what’s in my pantry’.
Hi Marjorie! I do and I don’t. Part of my job as a food blogger is to develop my own recipes… which I can’t do when I’m bound to a meal plan. 🙂 So when I plan my weeks, I take some of the recipes from the meal plan and then work on my own recipes based on what I have in the house and what I think you guys would enjoy. If I wasn’t a food blogger though, I’d follow it to a T!
Great comments Marjorie, and I have to agree. When I think back to CA, I spent 7+ years there “perfecting” my shopping routine. I knew where to go for the best deals and when. Everything is so new here, so naturally my expenses will be a bit more.
The kids are eating more, but so is my husband, lol. I’m okay with increasing the budget accordingly, but I need to first determine if bigger appetites is the true reason for going over budget, or if it’s my shopping (and based on April so far, I think it’s the latter).
Please don’t use us as a goal! Our budget is based on our needs, and your budget should be based on yours. Between preferences, where you live and allergies, no two families should really ever have the same budget.
I haven’t gone through CA receipts yet, but it’s been on my mind. Thanks for the app recommendation!
I saw you had some Brie…if you want to do something crazy you could try to make your own Brie from Kefir cheese and blog about it! I saw it on a long cheese-making post the other day (http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefir_cheese.html) Though, for time constraints, I’m probably sticking to just Kefir cheese. Not sure if the time would be worth it or if there is a “learning curve”!
LOL – I think I’m with you Regina. The one time I made cheese it failed horribly. With ALDI nearby, I might just stick to buying it! 😉
Hi Tiffany,
After looking at this post I have a question. How does one not agonize over the “kind” of real food they buy? For instance, organic, grass-fed, pastured, raw, unprocessed, etc? I mean, I have been on the journey for 5+ years and I agonize over what eggs to buy and feel bad if grass fed beef isn’t in my cart. My husband is finally coming around to acquiescing to a “real food” diet but emotionally this is difficult. He is at the point where he condoned me poring out 2 cases of Diet Pepsi and has agreed to drinking coffee with stevia instead. He is also anti high fructose corn syrup, but if he saw the cost of above mentioned items his head would explode. Any advice?
Hi Angel,
I think this is something a lot of people struggle with. What I think makes it easier to not agonize is to first realize that food is not an idol. It’s SO easy to get caught up in organic/grass-fed/non-GMO and whatever that we lose sight of the role of food in our lives. Food is meant to nourish and fuel our bodies. That’s it.
Take an example of a car. A car is meant to get us from point A to point B. You can buy a 10 year old use Kia or a brand-new Mercedes Benz. One obviously will cost more and might have more bells and whistles, but they still will get you from A to B.
That’s how I view food, and it’s important to establish what you consider top priority for your family, and then let everything else fall in line behind it. For example, if the budget is top priority, you might be more concerned with buying enough food to fit within the budget than the specific quality of the food you buy. However if quality meat is top priority, you might go above and beyond to farmers and co-ops to ensure those are the best you can find, and then let everything else be the weekly grocery store specials.
It also depends on what’s going on in your family at the time too. As the kids get bigger, or nutritional needs change, what you buy and how much you spend might need to change as well.
My motto has always been to “do the best you can with what you have.” It’s important to me that we eat whole foods, and while I would love for all of our food to be organic and grass-fed, it’s just not going to happen – for a variety of reasons. So you could say for my family, the budget is top priority with avoiding processed foods being second place. I have goals for our meat (antibiotic free), I prefer to buy local produce (but that doesn’t always happen) and I’m splitting the difference with eggs (half local backyard eggs / half store bought). Some weeks organic is the same price as conventional. Some weeks I can’t find an organic version of what I want. Sometimes I find a crazy amazing deal on something and stock-up, which is the only reason we can increase the quality of something else that month.
It’s all relative to your own needs and your own family, but if your husband is starting to come around, celebrate it! Definitely don’t let that one go by unrecognized!
Remember that this journey doesn’t rest on your shoulders alone. Talk to your husband about the cost, about the various qualities and what concerns you about various types of food. Then determine together what should be a priority for you guys. 🙂
Tiffany
Thank you! That helps me out things into perspective !
I happily stumbled across this site today and have been poring over the posts. We live overseas in an expat community. Our grocery bills are exorbitant with milk close to $10 per 2 liters and 500g of yoghurt often at the same price. The last time I bought hamburger meat was $17 for 300g. I try and make our lunch box foods and cereals and breads but find myself discouraged trying to cut our grocery bill. I’ve really enjoyed reading about some of the ways I can cut back and will have to keep in mind what is achievable for us here.
So glad you found us Jaimie!