
As I was writing these past couple of weeks, I realized that while I’ve shared my story with other bloggers, I’ve never sat down to write the whole thing out for you! So here it is in all its nerdy, frugal food glory. I hope you enjoy!
Back in 2006, while on a road trip with my soon-to-be husband, Mr. Crumbs brought up the topic of finances. He thought that since we would soon be sharing bank accounts, we should talk about how much money each of us owed.
I remember not being too keen on the idea, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. We were about to share log-in ID’s and passwords and open each others mail. We might as well get it out in the open and over with, right?
Well my friends, I won’t go into the gory details, but let’s just say when you added up everything we owed, it was enough to buy a starter home in the Midwest. A NICE starter home. With upgrades.
And that was scary! Not just that we owed such a large amount, but scary just to look at our debt in terms of totals rather than monthly payments. However, to this day, that discussion was one of the best moves in our relationship.
Fast forward about a year and Mr. Crumbs and I are making ends meet, paying bills on time and paying a little extra each month towards our debtors. We looked for ways to trim our spending, with the first being reducing our dining out bill (which was easily $600). We also traded my always-breaking coupe for a more reliable and comfortable SUV. All in all, were enjoying life as newlyweds.
So naturally, we took the next step as a married couple and bought a house.
And then two weeks later, we found out that we were pregnant.

My Real Life, Frugal Real Food Story
Although we were paying our bills, our sum of debt was still quite large, and quite scary when you consider the mortgage we just added to it and that we were soon going to be responsible for a baby… someone that I heard was quite expensive.
We reigned in our spending almost immediately. There is no way to know what the future holds, but if we were going to ever get out of debt, we had to start cutting some big corners.
- We traded the gas-guzzling SUV for a small, compact sedan.
- We traded his large sedan for an efficient coupe that was perfect for his 100 mile daily commute (round-trip).
- And we cut our dining out budget even more, to just $40 per bi-weekly paycheck.
This was also the time we created our first official grocery budget. After talking about what we considered “fair and attainable,” Mr. Crumbs asked if we could do it all on $400 each month. I said we could certainly try!
A couple of months into our new food and dining out budget, we began to see the savings really add up. We were putting hundreds of extra dollars each month to our debt – not just $10 or $20. It was so freeing to see the balances actually MOVE down instead of slowly creep.
Halfway through the pregnancy, we talked about whether or not I would return to work. I wasn’t sure what to do either way, but I definitely didn’t want to rule out the possibility of staying at home. We decided to experiment with our finances and see if we could survive on one income.
The goal was to save all of my income (and use it to pay off debt and fund a 6-month emergency fund) and live solely on his.
Making the Cuts
In order to make this happen, we had to cut our expenses in half. So we…
- Budgeted tanks of gas per paycheck.
- Combined our cell phones and reduced the minutes to the lowest plan possible.
- Traded in cable for a basic satellite service.
- Reduced our internet to the lowest package.
- Even traded in our large trash can for the smallest.
We lived check to check, penny to penny for just over four months to give ourselves a reality check of what life would be like if I were to stay at home. And it.was.hard. It was all worth it though, because by the time our son was born, we had three months worth of living expenses saved up and had made serious strides towards our overall debt.
Related: The Secret to a Healthy Grocery Budget // 3 Things to Do Before Making a Budget
Seeing the progress we had made financially, it was easy to make the decision to stay at home with my son. I started a small business that earned just enough to pay for diapers and give us some breathing room each month. Our hard work was paying off!
And then when my son was 8 months old, we sold our house and moved to California.
Yes, there were costs associated with moving halfway across the country. Yes, we knew the cost of living would be higher. In fact, the rent on our tiny 800 sqft apartment was as much as the mortgage on our 1400 sqft house! But because we had worked hard at establishing a budget early on, we knew how to make it work. We knew how to live frugally and reap the rewards of saving money. In just one year, we had paid off half of our debt and nearly funded our six-month emergency fund!
Five months later, and just after my son had his first birthday, we found out we were expecting baby #2.
Having baby #2 didn’t worry me. It was the cost of having two kids in diapers that kept the wheels in my mind turning. I was worried that with the cost of diapers (and everything else) going up, we wouldn’t be able to save as much as we had been and it would take us even longer to pay off our debt.
Learning to Save More Money
That’s when I learned how to coupon. I played the drug store game at CVS, buying toothpaste and lightbulbs and gum so that I could earn rewards to buy diapers. Mr. Crumbs thought I was a little crazy at first, but when he saw our lone linen closet fill up with every toiletry imaginable – and our spending NOT go up – he was on board.
Once I had mastered CVS, I expanded my couponing to include grocery stores. I could get boxes of cake mix for a quarter each. Boxes of cereal for 50¢ and granola bars for less than $2. Getting as much food as I could for as little as possible became “my thing” and I was really good at it. Oh good, that Mr. Crumbs asked if we could lower the grocery budget.
Say what?! We’ve doubled the size of our family, yet you want to reduce our food budget?
We gave it a test run for a month and aimed for $300. There was a little less toothpaste, and a little less deodorant, but with some creative planning and shopping in bulk at Costco, we were able to meet the new grocery budget goal. This meant that we could be on target to pay off all of our debt before baby #2 arrived, and with God’s grace, we did!
Just before our daughter was born, we sent off a car payment – the last payment that officially made us debt free!
Related: Homemade Toothpaste // How to Make a Toiletries Budget

Ditching the Boxes
Fast forward to 2012, when Mr. Crumbs said something that would forever change how I viewed food:
“Honey, I feel like we don’t have any food in the house. We’re always eating out of boxes.”
Hmmm… I really wasn’t sure what to think about that. That was the food I was buying with coupons. And I used coupons because we had a strict grocery budget. Was I missing something?
Yes – the food! As I looked around the kitchen and opened all the cupboard doors, all I could see was box, after box, after box. It wasn’t food per se, but that’s what we were eating on a regular basis.
Boxes of cereal for breakfast. Boxes of crackers and granola bars for snacks. And boxes of cake mix for dessert. All bought because we were on a budget.
Trying to be an agreeable wife, I said I would start looking into our food and to try to buy more “real food” than boxes going forward.
Several documentaries later, (including Food Matters, Food, Inc., King Corn and Forks Over Knives) and I was convinced that our boxes need to go. Until that day, I never thought about how my eggs were raised never crossed my mind. Or the living conditions of the chicken I bought. Or how clean the stalls were of the cows who produced the milk I gave my kids.
I also didn’t relate my health to the food I put in my body. I see now that it’s a logical conclusion, but at the time, I didn’t see the link. The food I eat directly relates to the health of my body.
Mr. Crumbs’ gentle suggestion of eating more real food and less boxed food officially became my mission. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was looking for, but lots of things had to change. And the budget wasn’t one of them.
I began following some real food blogs and made small changes in our kitchen that didn’t impact our grocery budget. Then, I read the weekly circulars, read labels before buying anything and started to meal plan. Also, I carefully tracked my spending and told Mr. Crumbs when we were getting lower on funds so we could be on the same page.
Related: Why I Quit Coupons (and Saved More Money) // Best Foods to Make from Scratch // How to Eat Real Food on a Budget
Then gradually over time, by making one small manageable change at a time, we began eating only real food. It took us eight months to go from all boxes to no boxes – EIGHT MONTHS!
It’s also took us nearly an entire year to figure out what number worked best for our grocery budget. Now that we’re in the groove of real food, we’re feeding the four of us on just $330 each month.
Update: Our journey of real food eating and keeping a budget allowed us to reach our dream goal of buying a home with cash! You can read more about that story HERE.
Baby Steps
You would think that it would be easy to just stop spending as much, turn a blind eye and never buy a box again, but it isn’t. Real food is truly a journey, and it’s full of lots and lots of baby steps. I know this first hand. You won’t succeed if you try to completely healthify your kitchen overnight. That’s not me being pessimistic – that’s just being realistic! There’s too much to learn, too much to replace and too much to make from scratch.
But here’s what I do know, what I’ve learned from experience: It is entirely possible to eat real food on a real budget.
You can do it too.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to talk to your spouse and get on the same page regarding a grocery budget. This post on creating a frugal grocery budget will walk you through the first steps. You Need a Budget Software helps us stay on track with our spending.

30 Minute Dinners Sample Meal Plan
Sign up to get instant access to my 30 Minute Dinners Sample Meal Plan, complete with recipes and step-by-step instructions!So that’s my story. Can you relate? Do you have any questions? Please share your story in the comments!
I never couponed per say but I did shop the clearance and sales and ended up with garbage. I eliminated dyes and saw huge strides in my son’s behavior that has me questioning everything. I’m trying to unprocess our lives and become and ingredient only house. I’m tired of the preservatives. I’m going to buy my first bag of einkorn today and I’m hoping I can get my family to love it so I can use it to make all the things!
Hi!! I’m 25 and I just started reading your blog but thank you for your realistic tips, it makes me wanna start my own little garden here in our dormitory. I would like to ask some tips also, I’m working and an Asian and I only have microwave to help me make food which I bring at work.
I’m just starting my journey, but it nice to read about someone else going through the same things.
My husband and I have been married about 1 1/2 years. We have a 6 month old and are already expecting another baby, we bought a house last year while I was pregnant and I am now a stay at home mom.
We are scraping by and I’m always looking to cut out things we don’t need and be more frugal, I do use a sort of couponing, but not paper ones. I use Kroger digital coupons, Walmart savings catcher and Ibotta. They have saved me quite a bit in the last year!
Buying gluten free and organic is not cheap, though there are deals now and then. I make my own cosmetics and very soon, also cleaners. In reality, the cost of quality raw materials is not cheap for making your own food, meals, cosmetics or cleaners. I haven’t made my own nut milk as it is rare to find unsulfured or unpasteurized nuts that is both organic and raw. Getting them from growers is the best thing to do if you want to be assured of quality. I soak my brown rice to remove the phytic acid, so, it is time consuming. The end result of whatever I make is higher quality than store bought. I also can’t make everything all the time, like elderberry syrup for coughs as the raw material is difficult to procure. I once tried to buy manuka honey for its health benefit as most honey is pasteurized except for raw. It took time to realize how to recognize and what that the real deal is. I don’t think a lot of health or natural enthusiasts would spend $50 + just for manuka honey from New Zealand. It is definitely costing me more than $300 a month to DIY but, health is wealth, so money spent now can save in expensive medical costs later.
Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story! What an inspiration! I too went through a coupon phase and then realized that I was buying mostly junk food that the manufacturers wanted me to buy and I was spending a lot of money chasing all of the “great” deals. I have switched to a mostly whole foods diet including gardening and growing as much of our own food as possible. Thanks again for being such an inspiration…I look forward to reading more from your site!!!
Aw, you’re so welcome Laura! Funny how many foodies travel down the same path. Welcome to Crumbs! I look forward to seeing more of you!
Well, I just found your blog and was SHOCKED to see a real food budget of $330 for a family of 4. I just queried a few people and a family of 3 was $900 and a family of 6 was $1200 per month. I sure hope I find some more HOW TO and WHAT in your other blog stories!!
Great couple blog posts so far I have read.
Thanks for sharing!
Inspirational.
Hi Tiffany,
I found your blog in researching trying to eat real food on a budget (surprise surprise!) My hubby and I have been married for 2 1/2 years, and have a 9month old daughter. We live in Australia, and I don’t really know how comparable food prices are from here to the USA. I can tell you that I feel in over my head trying to accomplish the goal of eating well on a single income!!
I’ve recently started my own blog to reflect what I’m learning along the road. We actually HALVED our monthly grocery budget from one month to the next in an effort to keep saving, so far though I have not really managed to come in under budget.
My hubby is a bit of a spender too, so we have a long journey ahead of us to establish a healthy budget and actually stick with it.
Much prayer and discussion, and hopefully we will start to make some progress soon. Thanks for your blog, you are doing a great job!
Blessings,
Nadine
Thank you so much Nadine! Honestly, realizing that we overspend in groceries is the biggest hurdle. Everything you do after that becomes infinitely easier, although baby steps are key as well. I wish you the best of luck in your real food and budgeting journey – please keep us updated with your progress!! 🙂
What a great story!
I’m praying that my husband will get on board with eating real food and paying off our debt.
I’m always encouraged to hear that there are real people that have done it.
Thank you for sharing!
What a great story – definitely matches my switch from coupons to real food, though maybe I started a little earlier. My budget right now is very similar, though I pre-pay for a CSA. It’s a challenge though. Several years ago I was quite good at keeping a budget, then I had a second child. He’s now 2.5, and I must say, last year was not my best for the budget, mostly from exhaustion and a full time job.
I love that family photo – looks like the California hills near where I live (I think much of CA looks like this though!)
Just found your site. I’ve just begun reading but want to say THANK YOU. 🙂 Long story short, after having undiagnosed health problems last year for 8 months I was finally diagnosed with lymes. Along with prayer, I decided to try working with a nutritionist and did a major diet change- no wheat, dairy or sugar (along with multiple suppliments). God has been healing my body and I know I can never go back to the “American Diet”. I’ve been slowly making changes in how I cook for our family (we also have 4 kids) and know it’s a process. I also have been challenged by your “no boxes story”. God bless… 🙂