Or does it?

Often times people with low grocery budgets are criticized for not eating "healthy". Each and every person is different and has a different idea of what "healthy eating" means. For me healthy eating means eating a low fat diet, drinking a lot of water and trying to eat more veggies.

I do other things as well, for example, when I bake I try to use applesauce when if possible and when making homemade spaghetti sauce you'll find carrots, onions, garlic and whatever other veggies are laying around. When I eat carbs I try to make sure they are mostly whole grains like whole wheat or oats. Instead of cooking with a lot of meat I get protein in our diet through milk, cheese or other things.

For snacks I often eat peanuts, raw almonds or flax seed along with a piece of fruit. When I had a higher grocery budget I bought more pre-made stuff made from things I can't pronounce. Now that I lowered our food budget, I don't buy or eat fewer fruits and veggies, I buy and eat DIFFERENT fruits and veggies. Bananas are always cheap and then I buy whatever is in season. Right now that means a lot of carrots and apples. I can't wait for oranges and grapefruit to be "in season".

I'm trying to increase the amount of vegetables in our meals, but so far haven't been able to. This has nothing to do with my low food budget though! Serious lack of planning and thought on my part.

People often comment that they eat "healthy" because they are eating a lot of fruit, but if you are eating a lot of fruit you are also eating a lot of sugar (ie. watermelon). For this hypoglycemic gal that would be a terrible idea! Portion size is another consideration. When I eat an apple, often times I'm actually eating two servings of fruit.

I completely disagree (respectfully of course!) that you have to buy organic fruits and veggies. I disagree that I can't have sugar in moderation. Remember when eggs used to be horrible for you? Well now years later they are good for you if eaten in moderation! Or I've heard you must soak grains for them to be absorbed into the body, but lately I've heard oh no, you don't need to. With our tax refund I am thinking about buying a side of beef from a local rancher - I would love to boost our local economy. If I could find a source for raw milk, eggs, etc. I would consider purchasing those items as well.

If I had a million dollars I'd probably buy a few more fruits and veggies that weren't on sale. However, I wouldn't change many other things; maybe more steak for my husband, maybe more fish for me. I still wouldn't buy organic :-) Famous last words. Please note on your calendars that in April 2010 I bought organic carrots. :-)

About Me

Back in the day, I used to spend $600-$1,000 per month on groceries for two adults, a two year old and a baby. Groceries were a lot cheaper back then too! I'm almost embarrassed to write that, but you can see how far I've come!

Today, for our family of four (two adults, one teenager and a ten year old) I currently spend approximately $300.00 per month on groceries and another $50.00 per month for supplies like shampoo, toilet paper, soap, etc. I use the following techniques:

• I use very few coupons
• shop mostly loss leaders
• buy in bulk
• I rarely buy what I really want to eat…I cook/eat whatever is on sale

1. The $300 food budget does NOT include the following:
   Occasionally we go out to eat, which comes out of the entertainment budget. If we don’t have money in that envelope then we don’t go out to eat.
2. My gardening supplies do not come out of here. Right now it’s a hobby for me. Hopefully some day I’ll save money or at least break even!
3. Dog food comes out of the dog budget.
4. Any alcohol we buy comes out of the entertainment budget.
   

In February 2009, after reading Gayle's website where she spends $60/week CASH to feed a family of six, I was inspired to try this for our own family. I started out with $75 per week and was absolutely sure I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I was amazed at how little I could spend! I found that I could go as low as $40/week. I MADE myself go to two stores every Wednesday and spend $40 on food for the week for our family and $20 stocking up on items needed for my pantry.

I love having a well stocked pantry! I owe my understanding of the pantry principle to the wonderful people on Frugal Families! Therefore, in August I decided to join Sam’s Club and buy some bulk items. I don’t believe we are saving money by going to Sam’s, but I do have peace of mind by having a lot more food in the house. My goal is to get our monthly total down to $216/month or $50/week.

For my reference:

$40/week = $173/month

$50/week = $216/month

$60/week = $260/month$69/week = $300/month

Loss leader – items on the front page (sometimes the back page) of a store’s ad that is cheap and used to entice you to shop at their store instead of somewhere else.

Price book – write down items you buy often so you know when a sale is really a good deal. For example, a whole chicken normally cost $1.49/lb at our store but on sale that price goes down to $.99/lb. It is at this time you buy enough chicken to get you through until the next sale (often times every 6 - 8 weeks).

Actual Menu for November 2009

Note: I didn't usually write down the fruits and vegies that we ate. We generally eat fruit for snacks and have 1 vegie with dinner. My goal is to increase that to 2 vegies with dinner. It's been my goal for a couple of years now. LOL! I also don't include the milk that we drink. To see what I purchased throughout the month of November check out this post.

Nov 1:
B-fast: a variety of leftovers
Lunch: grilled cheese & tomato soup
Dinner: DH made calzones (A LOT leftover!)

Nov 2:
B-fast: homemade pancakes;homemade syrup and whipping cream
Lunch: Kids - homemade pizza rollups DH - calzone, I used allowance and bought fast food
Dinner: Chili from freezerw/ baked potatoes and carrots
*I also boiled 4 pounds ground beef for the freezer
Snacks: homemade yoguart/granola, apples

Nov 3:
B-fast: DH & I steel cut oats (more info here)kids left over pancakes
Lunch: DH, myself & DS- leftover chili DD had school lunch
Dinner: DS & I leftover calzone, DD taco (from the boiled meat yesterday), DH ate at work
Snacks: homemade granola bars

Nov 4:
B-fast: Kids & I homemade cinnamon rolls from the freezer, DH leftover steel cut oats
Lunch: Everyone - leftover tacos
Dinner: Interesting Chinese food - not too good. Oh well.
Snacks: homemade granola bars & fresh pears

Nov 5:
B-fast: DH cold cereal. Kids & I toast
Lunch: DH Chinese food leftovers,DS chili, DD school lunch, I had homemade granola in milk
Dinner: Meatballs in BBQ sauce over rice and green beans

Nov 6:
B-fast: DH cereal, kids and I had bread w/ honey
Lunch: DH free at work, DS&DD spaghettios and pizza rollup. I had PB&banana sandwich
Dinner:FFY (fend for yourself) meatballs, peanut butter tortilla, peanut butter banana sandwich nary a vegetable in sight! OOPS!

Nov 7:
B-fast: Cold Cereal, noodles w/ cheese and homemade granola /milk
Lunch: FFY ramen noodles, fried eggs and toast
Dinner: shrimp fettucine (found shrimp for $1.50 so I splurged!) DS will have a calzone because he doesn't like shrimp and corn.

Nov 8:
B-fast:Cold Cereal & toast
Lunch: scrambled eggs w/ pinto beans and rice YUMMY!
Dinner: DH made hamburgers

Nov 9:
B-fast: Made a lot of waffles
Lunch: DH egg leftovers, DS hot lunch, DD pizza rollup, me - homemade granola and various leftovers!
Dinner: Buffalo Turkey Spaghettifrom Stolen Moments Cooking - this was AMAZING!

Nov 10:
B-fast: Waffles w/ homemade whip cream; DH&I had steel cut oats
Lunch: DH ate at work, leftovers and PB on a tortilla
Dinner: Turkey Ala King

Nov 11:
B-fast:Waffles w/homemade whip cream. Definitely tired of these - the rest will go in the freezer.
Lunch: Leftover turkey ala king
Dinner: Red beans and rice w/ sausage. Yummy!

Nov 12:
B-fast: scrambled eggs & toast
Lunch: DH free at work, kids & I turkey ala king - seriously this needs to be the last time I eat this. I'm going to try freezing it and see if it's weird.
Dinner: Leftover red beans & rice or anything else that can be found

Nov 13:
B-fast: Breakfast burritos
Lunch: various leftovers
Dinner: Homemade spaghetti with a lot of veggies and Italian sausage.

Nov 14:
B-fast:various leftovers
Lunch: various leftovers
Dinner: Wild Rice Soup w/ Turkey sandwiches on homemade bread

Nov 15:
B-fast:Cereal & homemade granola
Lunch: turkey sandwiches (didn't eat those on Sat)
Dinner: Mexican enchiladas in shell noodles. Interesting!

Nov 16:
B-fast: Pancakes
Lunch: leftover Mexican enchiladasDinner: See this is the first day of menu planning - supposed to have fried rice. We have way too many leftovers so we're having FFY (fend for yourself) night.

Nov 17:
B-fast: Kids - Pancakes DH & I steel cut oats
Lunch: DH - free at work, Kids tacos
Dinner: Fried rice

Nov 18:
B-fast: French toast
Lunch: DS school lunch, DD leftover yucky fried rice - thankfully the kids liked it, but DH and I didn't! Not sure what I did wrong - I don't think I've ever made it when it didn't turn out.
Dinner: Nebraska City Meatballs over rice

Nov 19:
B-fast: Leftover breakfasts
Lunch: DH free at work, kids pizza rollups, I had PB sandwich before grazing at Sam's Club!Dinner: DH & DS had leftover meatballs...I doubt any veggies were in sight! DD&I grazed at Sam's Club (again!) and then had junkie fast food at Wendy's.

Nov 20:
B-fast: Leftovers
Lunch: Kids & DH leftover meatballs...they loved these! I froze a few for the kids to have at lunch
Dinner: Teriaki pork roast w/ mashed potatoes and broccoli

Nov 21:
B-fast: PB baked granola
Lunch: noodles w/ cheese homemade yogurt smoothies
Dinner: Beans and Rice w/ tortilla chips

Nov 22:
B-fast: Peanut butter baked granola
Lunch: same as dinner the night before - beans and rice w/ steamed broccoli
Dinner: DH is making pizza

Nov 23:
B-fast: leftover PB baked granola
Lunch: DS - school lunch, DD - pizza rollup, DH&I leftover pizza
Dinner: Veggie Quiche

Nov 24:
B-fast: ?
Lunch: ?
Dinner: making sandwiches for our trip to Denver

We'll be gone Nov. 25-28

Nov 29:
B-fast: Waffles from the freezer
Lunch: Tomato soup & grill cheese
Dinner: DH made pizza

Nov 30:
B-fast: Pancakes
Lunch: Leftover pizza
Dinner: Turkey soup & Homemade croutons

Cost Comparison of Meat when used in a meal. For example, spaghetti, chicken ala king, pizzas, etc.

1 Whole Chicken

• Cost per pound = $.79
• Total Cost of the Chicken = $4.48
• Amount of meat = 4 cups
• Amount of broth = 6 cups
• # of meals from 1 whole chicken for our family = 2 meals plus a few leftovers
• Cost per meal for the meat = $2.24
  

Turkey

• Cost per pound $0.33
• 21 pound turkey $6.88
• Amount of meat = 24 cups
• I'm guessing I got about 10 cups of broth (forgot to measure, but I filled an ice cream bucket and more)
• Cost per meal for the meat = $.57

3 Pounds Hamburger (80% lean)

• Cost per pound = $1.49
• Total Cost = $4.47
• Amount of meat = 8 cups
• No broth today
• # of meals from 3 pounds burger for our family = 4 meals
• Cost per meal for the meat = $1.12

1 pound Hamburger (90% lean)

• Cost per pound $1.99
• Amount of meat = 3 cups
• Cost per cup = $.67/cup
• 2 cups per meal for the meat = $1.34

Though this took a bit of time to figure out, I now own this information for the rest of my life. I ASSUMED that it was cheaper for us to have chicken meals (because of the price per pound), but clearly that's not the case. Chicken might be a bit healthier for us, but the hamburger is boiled and then the grease is drained from it so I can't say I'm too worried about it.