• We are spending TOO MUCH money on food each month
• How much do you spend on groceries?
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We are spending TOO MUCH money on food each month

I have been reading the recent posts and responses about cutting costs and have a question about food budgets. We are a family of 3 (my husband and I have a 16 month old daughter) that like to eat well but find that we are spending TOO MUCH money on food each month. We generally try to eat all organic products, grass fed meat, pastured eggs, raw milk, etc. but are finding that we cannot make ends meet each month and it always seems to be traced to our food buying. How much do all of you out there think is a reasonible amount to spend on food (not including eating out) per month? $600? $800? $1000? $1200 HELP! anon

Maybe we shouldn't look to skimp on quality, but reframe it in our minds to be ''This is an appropriate use of money''. I frequently struggle financially, but I made the choice to buy the best quality, and I will only skimp if I truly don't have the moolah.

If you want to keep the quality but not go broke, heavily shop bulk aisles and prepare from scratch as much as you can make the time to do so. Decrease packaged foods. From scratch saves a ton of money, but is time-consuming. Preparing a good portion of the week's meals over the weekend makes it easier to accomplish this.

As a single person, I'm spending between $200-300 on organic food per month. This is with some convenience items but mostly thigns from scratch. I work to pay for my food! ;-)

My philosophy is that you are what you eat, so we try to eat well and we save on other things but not on food. But there is shopping wisely too. We buy what's on sale, and we only buy what we are going to cook immediately that day. That is, no stockpiling because it just goes bad if we don't find the time to cook later. We try to buy organic, but not everything. We weigh the added cost versus the benefit. For example, for fruit that we will peel, we don't buy organic. For milk, we buy milk that is hormone and antibiotic free instead of organic. Once it is labeled ''organic'' the price goes up. I buy in bulk at Costco for things we consume quickly and a lot of such as organic yogurt which comes out to $0.79 each cup as opposed to $1.59/cup at the supermarket, and bread. I also make my own baby food, so I don't have to pay the high prices of baby food. Cut out the snack, the cups of coffee, the soft drinks; you'll be amazed at how much these things add up. anon

we avoid wheat, so it gets more expensive. stores don't put grass fed meats (etc.) on sale. organic fruit is $3/# or more at farmers markets. i could save more if i never bought prepared foods (eg $4 for 6oz of organic millet-rice crackers, but at least she eats them!), but then it's a time/money trade off. we grow some foods that aren't space hogs, like pole beans, basil (for frozen pesto), cucumbers, lettuce, and sungold tomatoes ($3/basket, and i get ?100 baskets from my one humongous plant).

i figure i save money on dr. bills and am investing in my family's future health, so i budget for high food bills, and cheap clothes/cars/vacations... anon

We only buy certified organic food (except for eating out) b/c this is the only kind of food where we can know exactly what we're putting in our body (no Safeway tomatoes containing pig genes or strawberies containing fish genes!). We never bought any junk food.

To stay within our budget (we do!) we comparison shop between Trader Joe's & Farmer Joe's, and buy the cheapest organic there is. We usually cook from scratch. maria.k

There's a strategy to healthful foraging, though. If you are shopping for everything at Whole Foods, you are going to pay a premium for most items. A CSA subscription to a local farm will bring you a bounty of fresh produce every week at a fraction of Whole Food's price. It's also coming to you directly from the farm, with almost everything picked that day or the day before, so quality is unparalleled. Things taste infinitely fresher and more flavorful from a CSA box than from a grocery store. Farmer's markets are another good way to go.

Grassfed meat can also be sourced directly from the farm and if you buy a share of a cow, you will pay just dollars per pound for your meat. You'll need freezer space and you'll have to get over any prejudice you might have against frozen meat. It's really just fine. Also, using left over bones from roast chickens, beef, etc... for stock is a big money saver. You can throw them in the freezer, then do a huge batch at once to save time. Stock goes back in the freezer in portion-sized containers for when you need it.

If you are getting pasture-raised eggs, which fetch a premium price, think about using them as a nice evening supper. The French do it, and no one eats better, right? We do: omelets, frittatas, quiche, and chopped hard-boiled eggs in salads. The cooked egg dishes are a wonderful way to use up left-over produce. It's also a fast-food meal for hurried evenings. Vegetable soups make a great, low-cost evening meal and provide left-overs for lunch. They too can be made in large batches and frozen for future use. It's a simple process of sautiing onions/shallots in oil, adding vegetables stock and seasoning, cooking until soft and either pureeing or eating chunky. Dried beans, which can be put to soak in the fridge the night before, are an incredibly cheap source of protein. If prepared properly, no one will feel as if they are budget food.

On that note, our big splurge is on high quality condiments; a little bit goes far to making humble foods taste fantastic. Simple bean salads taste like high-end deli food. A drizzle of nice oil over pasta with some sautied vegetables makes a great meal. Good mustards, oil and acids make for great vinaigrettes.

You can grow some of your own basics, too, even with very little outdoor space. A reasonable herb garden can be done in planters and a small lemon tree in a container can keep you going for several months of the year. Prepared breakfast cereals are an almost obscenely priced, budget breaker. If you read the contents of even the "healthy" breakfast cereals you'll find that they are mostly corn, soy by-products and sweeteners; things we all need much less of in our diets. Find other, more healthful alternatives for breakfast like: yogurt, oatmeal, fruits, even whole grain French toast.

And yes, it sounds like this takes a lot of time. It does take some planning, organizing and dedication. But it sounds to me like you already believe this way of eating to be worthwhile. Doing more of your own cooking can become a whole family project. Even little ones can get in on the action, and teaching children how to cook resourcefully seems like an invaluable lesson. Many things can be prepared in advance. It's easy to build up a cache of frozen items you can heat on busy nights. We're still new to this process, too!

How much do you spend on groceries?

Greetings. My husband and I are trying to develop a food budget for our household of two adults and two elementary school kids and - surprise, surprise - we have a substantial difference of opinion (by a couple of hundred dollars) on what it costs to feed this brood per month. I'm hoping other families might weigh in with what you spend, per month, on groceries and, if possible, on dining out. Thanks in advance for your input.