Mothering Forum banner

Let's talk money...

2K views 55 replies 35 participants last post by  Brookesmom 
#1 ·
Let's face it, all this good food costs money...a lot more money than I'd be spending on mac&cheese and hot dogs. How do you deal with this? Is eating well only for the wealthy?

I guess I'm just realizing that I can't afford the pastured beef right now and feeling a bit upset about it.
 
#2 ·
Yeah....we are spending over $800 a month for only 2 people right now. AND dh is not working and I stay at home. Let's just say the Savings account is dwindling and I can't wait until his student teaching is over! Sigh...so expensive. However, when you think about how expensive major health problems are....could be cheaper?
 
#3 ·
Sigh. . . I struggle with this too. I love NT but sometimes I get so frustrated that traditional foods--which are after all mostly peasant food and ought to be the cheapest possible option--end up being so pricey. I especially struggle with this when DH rolls his eyes when I pay $5 for a pound of butter (I don't tell him how much more I could spend if I wanted to get the really good stuff).

I read a thread somewhere else that said that if you're deciding where to spend a limited amount of money, you should start at the top of the food chain. Good meat is more important than good veggies, according to that logic. I think that has a lot of merit, and that's where I try to focus my grocery spending. Meanwhile, I try every frugal grocery and cooking trick that I know of and hope and pray for the local food revolution to really kick into gear.
 
#4 ·
:

I make quality food a priority. I feel like it really, truly does come down to the idea of "pay now, or pay later" ... and I'd rather find ways to pay now and perhaps save my children from future illness, or at least give them a jumpstart in combating any such illness. Not to mention that I, personally, want to be around for as long as possible, so I feel like I am doing what I can to safeguard my own longevity, much in the same way that working to live a "natural" lifestlye does in general (or so I believe).

Having said that, I still feel a lot of guilt when I feed myself or my family (especially my family) something that I know to be unhealthy. We've had a very difficult period in our lives over the last two months, and as a result have been eating a lot of what I consider to be junk. It just makes me cringe, keeps me up at night, and makes me feel absolutely like I am reversing so much of the good I have been trying to accomplish. But I know that every step in the right direction is a good one, so I just focus on that, and find ways to make more of those steps happen.
 
#5 ·
I Just try to still eat cheap.Grassfed soup bones are cheaper than other cuts. They always have plenty of meat on them. I even use them in spaghetti sauce.It gives the sauce the good benefits like broth and lots of tasty meat.When I find the kerrygold butter for less than 3 dollars I buy a ton and freeze it. If you can afford it buy a side of beef. It makes it much cheaper.
 
#7 ·
yup, our second greatest/largest bill besides housing is food. third is cars (gas, maintenance, etc). seriously, it's a lot of money.

but it's worth it. we have no medicines in the house and no medical bills. we have no health problems and what we're doing now prevents medical bills in the future.

so that's huge savings over the long term!
 
#8 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by missi66 View Post
IWhen I find the kerrygold butter for less than 3 dollars I buy a ton and freeze it.
What is the normal price near you? At Trader Joe's here I think it is always $2.49. (I just looked a a receipt to double check) but I think it is usually $3.49 at a few other local stores.
Just curious.

Kaye
 
#10 ·
I don't think eating the good food has to be cost prohibitive. Like missi66 said, soup bones are pretty cheap. Neck bones have wonderful meat and make great stock. Oxtail can be boiled twice for stock, can't get more thrify than that! I pay $2.50 for either one of those.

Since I started making food from scratch, using the whole chicken and using the bones from roasts I have found my food money actually going a littler further. A lot of that has to do with finding a great local meat source though. I really recommend eating local whenever possible.

I don't think the only tangible benefit is health in the future. When I eat a bowl of really good food that I made from superlative ingredients, I am not thinking of health in the future, I am licking my chops!
 
#11 ·
I have seen the kerrygold for 5 dollars.We do not have trader joes here but when we go to california I do stock up and have a ton in a flat ice chest bag in my suitcase. We will be moving to an area with costco soon and I hear they have kerrygold for cheap.I can't wait.
 
#12 ·
we're spending about $500/mo on food for 3 people and we're not even really fully eating 'NT'. that is a lot of money for us, since i still SAH. i've decided it's better to try and eat our dairy and meat pastured organic than to spend the extra $$$ for just organic produce. at the health food store we go to, i still usually get things like oats, rice, and beans from the bulk bins. it's only a little more expensive than conventional (sometimes even cheaper) and we can afford that. organic produce on the other hand is...
:

they do have an organic produce coop though that i've been wanting to join, but it's $50 annual fee and they have produce delivered weekly $27/mixed bag of produce. i thought that sounded pretty decent but dh and my father both thought that was extremely expensive. we may join that coop though in a couple of months if we ever have the money to spare to be able to pay the annual fee.

i was also thinking about buying some of our items from Ozark Organics Coop, but they weren't doing any deliveries the last time i checked because of some business matter. (like moving to another warehouse or new management or something.)

i'm also thinking about doing some potted plants next spring, since growing some of my own produce would be cheaper than buying, although i don't know how much of a dent it would really make in our grocery bill...
 
#13 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by jrose_lee View Post
Yeah....we are spending over $800 a month for only 2 people right now.


DH and I spent $1000 one month recently on eating out, convenience foods, and meals to go.
That was before I started eating better though and learned about NT. Perhaps we'll actually save some money now.


Kim
 
#14 ·
Dh and I also take the theory of pay now ... our food bill is quite high each month, but we know it's worth it. And, if compared with the cost of eating out, if anything we'd break even if not save by eating quality food in-home. (For instance, I pay $7.25 for a pound of ground, organic, pastured-bison at the farmer's market, which sounds expensive; but I can make dinner for us all and usually have a little left over for dh's lunch the next day ... all cheaper than the cost of *one* person's meal out, or as I put it to my dad, cheaper than buying a steak.) Our commitment is to our health, and therefore other things might take a back-seat like going out, going to the movies ... we don't have cable, my mom pays for my cell phone (because we didn't want to try to budget for it and she didn't want me without), etc.
 
#15 ·
Let me clarify on that $800 bill.....

I think the reason we spend so much now is that we are getting our raw milk and butter and honey from a co-op. I'm not sure, but I think they charge a lot. It's $14 a gallon for raw milk and $15 a pound for butter. Raw cream for $16 per quart on the occasion that I actually get it. And the raw, unheated honey is $12 for a quart. Eggs $4.50 a dozen. Maybe these are the usual prices, but it's not hard for us to drop over $100 per week on just those items. And then we still have to buy meat, veggies etc etc etc. We don't even buy ANY convenience items and our bill is outrageous.

We're hopefully moving in a couple months and I'm hoping to find cheaper sources. We might move to Northern California (let's pray the interview goes well). Am I wrong in thinking we can get better prices there?
 
#16 ·
I am making a price book, I shop at about 4 stores plus online plus from a co-op. I buy as much in bulk as I can. I make as much from scratch as I can. I hope to start a garden this spring. Look into buying straight from the source whenever you can. (Like I bought a jar of raw local honey from a little HFS here and now I'm going to call the number on hte label and see if they sell in larger quantities, etc.)

oh, I'm spending about $550 a month right now, but we are not completely NT yet and I'm not done finding the best places for my money yet either. Pre-NT and pre-organics I spent about $200/month. We are a family of 4.
 
#17 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by jrose_lee View Post
Let me clarify on that $800 bill.....

I think the reason we spend so much now is that we are getting our raw milk and butter and honey from a co-op. I'm not sure, but I think they charge a lot. It's $14 a gallon for raw milk and $15 a pound for butter. Raw cream for $16 per quart on the occasion that I actually get it. And the raw, unheated honey is $12 for a quart. Eggs $4.50 a dozen. Maybe these are the usual prices, but it's not hard for us to drop over $100 per week on just those items. And then we still have to buy meat, veggies etc etc etc. We don't even buy ANY convenience items and our bill is outrageous.

We're hopefully moving in a couple months and I'm hoping to find cheaper sources. We might move to Northern California (let's pray the interview goes well). Am I wrong in thinking we can get better prices there?
:

We pay 2.5 for a gallon of raw whole milk
We pay about 23 for a gallon or raw dark honey
Eggs are free range and if we bought them would be a 1 a doz but being they are our chickens who knows what they cost us

We buy grass fed beef burger for about 2 a lb

We live in Idaho but may be moving to California so I will be curious to see what the prices of stuff is there.
 
#18 ·
It is very expensive! But I feel like my the health of our family is worth it. I look around and see so much obesity and sickness. My grandfather is about to start dialysis because of kideny failure resulting from diabetes. I just hope I can save my family some heartache by preapring healthy foods.

We have recently purchased a grass-fed calf. It was 257lbs of meat. It cost about 2.43 per pound. It was expensive on the front end, but it will be a lot cheaper in the long run.

My dad is a hunter. Deer season is coming up here. He will kill a couple of deer for us and we will have those processed as well. If you know a hunter, that is an easy way to get some healthy, inexpensive meat.

I also found a website that listed the top 12-15 fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residue. I make it a priority to buy these most contaminated ones organic. But if money is tight, I buy the other ones non-organic.

If space is available plant a garden. Nothing like fresh, free veggies.

I found a place to purchase organic raw milk for less money than I was purchasing the organic brands in the store. I hope to be able to make yogurt, buttermilk and butter from this.

The best way I have found to ensure buying healthy food: I started cooking this way and now my husband does not like eating the old way.
 
#19 ·
wow, the high is high and the low is such a blessing. We are in the same boat and i do not buy organic normally. I can't seem to get under 200 a week, and i make as much from scratch as i can. i have six to feed and we don't eat out for any evening meals, and us at home not at all. We consume fresh fruit like its going out of style, and then raw milk and grassfed is crazy priced. But we all eat a lot. Next year i hope to have a garden that i can really work on. you guys make me feel a little better.
 
#21 ·
We are usually under $100 a week for food. I get my raw milk from the farm for $6 per gallon. We just began a coop of 6 families allowing us to purchasing whole pasture chickens & free range beef from local farms at a slight discount for buying large amounts. This should also help our bill. I stock up duing sales & love the bulk bins at the hfs. We also joined a CSA but I'm honestly not finding that to be very cost effective


We also have a Frontier coop which I highly reccomend if you are using hfs detergnets & skincare type stuff to open a Frontier account you just need 10 families & $10 membership fee, so only $1 /family. We order just about every month & when you spend $250 shipping is free! We only order if we have a large enought order for the free shipping. We get Dh's organic, fair-trade coffe from there too, spices, teas. I spend about $50/month on Frontier.
 
#22 ·
I found my sources for raw honey and real eggs just by driving around in the country outside the city I live in. The eggs are 75 cents a dozen if I want to drive 15 minutes or $1 a dozen 3 minutes away. The honey is $8 a quart and about 15 minutes away. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

To me, the eggs are the best NT deal possible. Good, real protein. And it's nice to get to see the chickens the eggs are from.

Overall, yeah, it's a lot of money, but with our health insurance a regular doctor's visit is $100, so it's all relative.
:
 
#23 ·
We spend about $100-120 a week at the store, and usually $20-25 at the farmer's market on meat, eggs, and some produce. I usually do ok if I meal plan. I guess it works out to $600 a month on groceries for a family of 3. This month however has been really bad since I am going thru the 1st trimester, and I don't want to cook anymore. I would like to get it down to around $400-500. Then I would be happy!
 
#24 ·
We also spend about $600/month for a family of 3. I pay $4.19/lb for a mix of 80/20 beef/beef liver, $2.50 for a dozen eggs, $10 for a quart of raw honey, $2.50/pound for chickens, $7.00 for a gallon of cow's milk for DH and I am so happy I just found goat's milk for $4/gallon. (All of our meat, eggs and dairy is from pastured animals.) Our grocery bill is our second largest monthly expense.
 
#25 ·
It's so interesting to see what everyone pays for what--there's a real mix out there. Our #s--

$7 for a gallon of organic raw milk
$6/lb for organic pastured beef (would be less if we could buy a side, maybe next year since we're getting a chest freeze)
$4/lb for organic raw milk cheese
$3/doz for pastured eggs

We split a CSA share, and I edit the newsletter to offset the cost, so that's about $200 for the season.
 
#26 ·
I make compromises when I have to. I avoid processed junk and unhealthy oils. I buy organic butter, cream, and yogurt. I don't buy all organic produce, flour, sugar, etc. I have yet to find a source of kosher and organic chickens or beef, so I purchase the "regular" kosher meat and prepare it in NT ways. I buy a lot of bones for broth making, as it's much cheaper than buying "regular" cuts of meat. Frozen raw chicken livers are pretty cheap as well.

ETA I spend about $500-$550 a month for the 4 of us, and $430 of that comes from food stamps. I've sucessfully kept my food budget under $430/month in the past, but that was before discovering NT.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top