How much do you spend on groceries? - Page 2

[blueridgewoman]

Ours is a lot too- due to food allergies, I can't eat grains, beans, nuts, seeds, or legumes or most dairy. So I'm pretty much eating meat, fruits, veggies, and the occasional cultured dairy. I have a raw milk share for my daughter. I spend a lot of money on eggs because we eat a ton of them, so I figure that they should be good quality, and our meat is all grassfed, with the exception of the occasional chicken we buy at the grocery store (which is organic) and fish. We buy a lot of chicken "parts" for broth as well.

Because of the allergies, I also spend a fair amount each month on good quality supplements for myself- CLO, calcium, D, magnesium, Vit E and iron, etc. Esp with calcium and Vitamin E, the supplement is, most of the time, the only good source I have that I'm not allergic to, so I make sure that I have top quality, heavily bio-available supplements.

[Straggletag]

Our is $400 a month for four, one of which is EBF and the other is almost EBF of late (I, as a result, eat like a horse and I still can't keep up my weight). We eat primarily local foods and seasonal ones, which happen to be organic quality or even higher standard, which we get straight from the farms, one or two local health food grocers, and our porch container garden. We also forage, especially for mushrooms, fruit, acorns, and nuts, which surprisingly cuts down the bills, even though its for fun. DH is taking up hunting and has fished, we also have an arrangement with the local PD to collect deer they have to put down (hasn't produced yet, c'est la vie).

The caveat is that we're definitely not eating low carb, gluten free, primal, or WAPF Traditional Foods (tm), and we have no food allergies or sensitivities to complicate our cooking. We lucked out and inherited mostly intact food traditions. My family has always been an old ways die hard sort. They may been predominantly agnostic or atheist for two generations, Protestant at least one generation before that, and still keep a few Catholic feast days (at least the food part), for instance.

So, our diet includes bread and pastry as a staple. We're not shy about coffee, tea, wine, or real beers. It's a meat and dairy heavy diet, game meat if we're lucky. If I weren't in an apartment and could garden more, I'd be canning and otherwise preserving a great deal. I'll also admit that I don't shy from some more processed foods, as the ethnic groceries seem to be full of them, and I'd rather have the particular food item processed a little than not at all. At least all the ingredients tend to be recognizable, if they're written in a language I understand!

[Panserbjorne]

we get food stamps so we spend probably $400 a month beyond that for 2 adults and three voracious children. We are gluten free, soy free and most everyone (one exception) is dairy free. I swear, most of that money goes to coconut products.

We don't do well on grains, so it's rare that we use them, but sometimes we do just because of the cost. Though I tend to go for potatoes when we get to that place before I go for grains.

We eat very meat heavy. I can't do pastured right now, so I do the best I can for abx free/hormone free meats. I get most of my meat from TJ's and whole foods. Although that isn't very sustainable right now either.

We do a lot of fruit and veggies as well. I don't do convenience foods for the most part though I will buy hummus pre-made if it's on sale, I do buy saurkraut instead of making it, and I purchase coconut kefir and yogurt. I used to make it, but I just can't at the moment. However I stock up when they are on sale.

I do a lot of eggs and I order directly from Pete and Gerry's. It's not the best, but I get 15 dozen every other week and they are only $1.50 per. That literally saves my life. I do quite a bit with eggs!

ITA on the simple meals. Although I do get into ruts now and again!



It's tough, that's for sure.

[Karamom]

I have $300 a month to spend on all household expenses which includes food, tp, clothes, anything that's not a "bill." We are a family of four with the children being 3 years and 9months. We live in Oregon.

We also get WIC which I use to buy:
3 lbs of conventional cheese
2 cans of salmon
2 jars of PB
1 lb of beans
5 bottles of juice- used for making water kefir
3 packages corn tortillas
$16 fresh fruits and veggies
4 boxes of cereal
Occasionally I will use to buy conventional milk and/or eggs if I am out of money but need these items.

With my money I buy aprox:
4 gallons raw cows milk
1 gallon raw goats milk
4 dozen pastured eggs
4 lbs conventional butter
3 packages nitrate and hormone free sausages
2 packages nitrate and hormone free bacon
2 conventional whole chickens
4 lbs grass fed ground beef
1 liter olive oil
5 lbs wheat flour
4 boxes organic crackers for the kids
5 lbs of potatoes
about $15 of other fruits and veggies (on top of the $16 from wic)
Then I usually spend about $50 on whatever else we are out of- rice, coconut oil, spices, honey, coffee, tea, etc.

I save a lot of money with deals I find at the grocery outlet. For example, the kids organic crackers are only .79 cents a box there. A lot better than the $4 they cost at the health food store. I also found Niman Ranch sausages for $2.99 a package. They cost $6.99 at the co-op.

Also I said clothes are included in that budget but I should add that we spend very little on clothes. The kids mostly wear hand me downs from their cousins and dh and I wear a lot of old clothes. When I do need something I try to find it at the thrift store.

ETA: I should also note that my dh works for a local pizza place and gets free food so our family eats that 1-2 times a week. Totally not tf!

[sisteeesmama]

I have been trying to keep our budget under $100/week. We used to spend about $200/week but DH took a pay cut so this is what we have to work with just for food, not including things like TP/dish soap etc.

Up until this week we still had our CSA coming in with fruit and veg., so that was a big help.

I just shop the sales around town trying to find the best deals on organic produce.
We had to let our milk share go this month which SUCKS! So we are limiting our dairy to raw cheese and kerrygold butter.
We buy some meat in bulk and others from whole foods and vitamin cottage.

I have been avoiding buying grain-type prducts at all and that keeps our budget in check, just real whole foods and lots of eggs and cheeses and apples and oranges! Oh and turkeys and pork/hams from the local guy from last years stock are on sale right now, so that has been the deal!

[ginnybee]

I guess this will be my first post, as it's totally relevant to the conversations in our home lately. We're a family of 4.5, a few months in to TF eating. My midwife turned me on to it - so now we're eating meat, something that was pretty rare before. We've eaten organic and mostly local for years, though. We're in central Seattle, where groceries are pricey. I am struggling to keep our grocery budget at $600/month, although even with my new discipline it's more like 660, I'd say. That has included our $30/week CSA, which just ended for winter. It doesn't include the 1/4 beef or 20 lbs salmon in our freezer I bought cheap a few months ago. I usually preserve a lot from the farmer's market in the summer, but this year not as much thanks to morning sickness. Still we froze a bunch of berries, made tomato juice, salsa, fruit leather and canned peaches. We have a tiny city garden, but this year's only real producers were chard, cherry toms, and zukes. We gave away our 3 chickens this summer b/c they were just too noisy for our crowded neighborhood. Now it pains me to pay almost 7 bucks for pastured eggs - sometimes organic eggs if we can't afford. I bake my own sourdough bread - we eat a lot of that - PB, tuna or cheese sammies. We buy unbleached flour (mostly for feeding the sourdough now that we're TF), rolled oats, brown rice and sugar (using a lot less of that!) in bulk for the 10% case discount at our coop. Usually make our own yogurt, and just made my first batch of kefir. Since raw milk is 8 bucks a half gallon, I tried making piima milk. I thought we'd go half and half raw/piima milk to save money. I'm pretty flexible, but it tastes like watery sour cream to me and the kids, DH are not having it. Bah. Protein foods: other than beef, salmon and eggs, we eat tuna fish or canned salmon, cheese and 1 pkg bacon a week. This week I bought some pork chops too - I love beef but want a change every now and then. And we usually have ice cream on hand (I used to make our own...).
We do most of our shopping at the co-op - their prices on organics always beat the supermarkets. I hit up the grocery outlet once a month or so - sometimes I can find deals on canned tomatoes, nitrate-free sausage, crackers... I'm curious about Azure Standard - any other Seattlelites know about a drop point?
Disappointing to see that most others are spending about the same we do. Our budget is beyond tight. If I could find time to cook more (snack-y foods and to-go lunches esp.) on the weekends, plan menus ahead of time, and just suck it up and not buy organic exclusively we could spend less.
I am so anxious for the day we leave the city, get some land, chickens and a Jersey cow...

[nerdymom]

Well, I'm reading NT and trying to do some more TF things, but I'm not strictly TF. As I read NT I'm realizing more and more how much I already make is considered TF. Just cooking from perishables and avoiding pre-packaged food seems to be half the battle, and I already do that. That being said, I spend about $350/month on groceries for two adults and one toddler who gets about 1/2 his calories from nursing, including cleaning and paper products. (I make our own laundry soap, clean with vinegar and rarely use any paper products except tp)

I shop at the commissary mostly, as it's tax free and discounted. I have been buying conventional everything as things have been pretty tight. We were doing soy milk because DS and I are sensitive to it, (but not cultured milk products or cheese) but then switched to almond when I learned how harmful soy can be. But after doing the math, we're spending about $6/gallon on almond milk. I know I can get non-homogenized (but still pasturized) milk for about the same price, and I tolerate it much better than conventional milk, so I think we're going to switch. We've also joined a CSA for the next year, I'm not sure how that is going to affect our budget yet, hopefully we will get enough produce that it won't raise our food bill much.

So in a month I normally buy:
Dairy:
8-12 quarts almond milk
3-4 quarts whole milk yoghurt (organic b/c the conventional brands are all low fat)
1 yobaby for grab and go occasions
2-3 lbs butter
2 lbs cheddar
1 lg bag cheese sticks (mozz)
2 pints sour cream

Meat/Poultry:
4lbs ground beef
1 family pack skin and bone in chicken thighs
several cans of tuna and salmon
5 lbs bacon
10-12 doz eggs
4lbs German-style smoked sausage

Fruit/Veg:
Seasonal fruit, enough for 1 piece per adult per day
Seasonal veg, whatever looks the freshest and nicest, several big bags full, try to get three different colors each week.
28 or so onions
2-3 heads of garlic
2 lg bunches celery
1-2 lg bags carrots
2 lbs mushrooms

Other ingredients:
5lbs unbleached flour
5lbs ww flour
Olive oil, 1 liter
2 canned diced tomatos
2 jarred tomato sauce
occasionally flatbreads like ww pita or tortilla
1 doz english muffins
2-3 lbs dried beans and grains (rice, barley, popcorn)
4 cans saurkraut
1 jar creamy 1 jar crunchy peanut butter
4 lbs coffee

Occasional convenience items:
1 lg box goldfish crackers
1-2 bags cold cereal (for me. )

A typical day's menu would be:
Breakfast: some kind of eggs and bacon (fried, scrambled with onions and cheese, veggie omelet) with a starch like homemade bread toast, pancakes or English muffin. On busy mornings Jack gets yoghurt and adults get cereal and yoghurt.
Lunch: leftovers or sandwiches on homemade bread
Dinner: a hot meal with strong protein and veggies. Fresh bread on the side.

[ihugtrees]

Originally Posted by ginnybee

I'm curious about Azure Standard - any other Seattlelites know about a drop point?

We are moving to Whidbey Island, WA in a few weeks, so I am curious about this as well. I searched and searched the website and couldn't find any information on specific drop points??

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by ihugtrees

We are moving to Whidbey Island, WA in a few weeks,

Totally OT...but is this where the Last Mimzy took place?!?

[ihugtrees]

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne

Totally OT...but is this where the Last Mimzy took place?!?

I don't know...I've never seen that movie, although I wanted to!

[Panserbjorne]

TOTALLY worth it! It's FABULOUS and it was especially moving for me (for some reason) as a parent of very sensitive kiddos.

[rhiandmoi]

Where on the Central Coast are you? I might be able to point you in a few directions.

We're not strict TF, I call it more Real Food. I normally do about $60-100 a week in groceries. I shop all around though, and have the opportunity to find a lot of small local suppliers. We're not doing much dairy right now, but I love Strauss milk. It is my favorite of all time.

Anyway, we live in a condo and have a very small kitchen and a stupid side by side, so we can't really purchase a lot in bulk, so I go pretty much the opposite. I try to eat the cupboards bare each week as much as possible and eat as seasonally as possible. I do try to put up some stuff for the 8 or so weeks in the winter where there is nothing really local coming out here, but that's about it. We really have nearly zero storage capability, and I need my freezer space for my beef order.

Starting in the spring, I'm going to get a pastured chicken every other week and hopefully not buy any more store chickens. I have been trying to convince a friend of mine to go in with me on a pig too.

[deditus]

Originally Posted by ihugtrees

I searched and searched the website and couldn't find any information on specific drop points??

You need to call or email them and they will hook you up with the drop points in your area.

[krankedyann]

I spend $400 tops a month for my family of 4 and we are GFCF. That includes seeds for the garden, cleaners, personal care and paper supplies (of which I buy extremely little). I do this by doing mega-bulk buying which is split among many families (I organize the group), using Frontier exclusively for my spices, using UNFI for the things I can't get elsewhere, then I fill in the gaps with Trader Joes, Wal-mart (I don't like it, but we've been unemployed since May so it is what it is) ethnic markets and a local organic salvage grocery store. The salvage store is a HUGE budget help. I cook from complete scratch, even make my own things that people consider to be ingredients, like ketchup, where it is cheaper to do so. Sometimes you can catch the organic ketchup at the salvage for less than I can make non-organic.

We also have 35 chickens and a huge garden. We are not currently producing a majority of our chicken meat, though. We don't have enough space to do 85-100 chickens a year, even in rotation. And the garden didn't do great this year due to the astronomical amount of rain. I planted 38 tomato plants and we wound up with 3 months worth of tomatoes.

ETA: I also shop in unconventional places, like buying my baking soda for cleaning in bulk from a pool supply store.

[deditus]

Originally Posted by krankedyann

ETA: I also shop in unconventional places, like buying my baking soda for cleaning in bulk from a pool supply store.

Ohhh, that's a great idea! I was wondering what I would do when my 12 lb bag from Costco runs out since we don't have a membership there anymore. Fortunately, I think I have a long while before that runs out - I guess I don't clean very much

[krankedyann]

You can also get washing soda from there, too.

[ihugtrees]

Originally Posted by ihugtrees

We are moving to Whidbey Island, WA in a few weeks, so I am curious about this as well. I searched and searched the website and couldn't find any information on specific drop points??

I called, and they have two drop points in Seattle. Not sure if I should give out the info here, but if you call they will give you the contact information for the people in charge of those drop points

[barefootmommy]

Two adults, a 3 year old and a 9 month old... we spend at least $900 a month including diapers. This is Canadian dollars. I could easily spend more if I could.

I buy at local grocery stores that carry organic foods, as well as local farms. We're lucky to live in an area that has strong organic agriculture so it's easy for us to find grass-fed products including raw dairy, but yeah... it's pricey!

Things I've found to help are... eating lots of eggs, they are cheap and good sources of protein and nutrients (cheaper then steaks anyways!!). Lots of broth, I buy chickens whole and not in parts cause it's cheaper. I roast them then make broths. I find it important to eat steak regularly even if it's not grass-fed, I really feel a huge difference when I go without it. I also love Kefir and need to learn to make it myself cause it's pricey to buy....

[MCsMom]

Originally Posted by ihugtrees

We are moving to Whidbey Island, WA in a few weeks, so I am curious about this as well. I searched and searched the website and couldn't find any information on specific drop points??

There is a drop point a few blocks from where you are going to be living :-) Got to come over and chat one of these days, lots to talk about :-)

Yes, I was stalking your posts this evening.

[MCsMom]

Oh, and to keep this thread on topic, we spend about 600 a month. Raw milk is about 4 a half gallon, pastured eggs and meat. Joining a CSA this year, hope it will be fun. We follow the menu mailer quite a bit for our dinners.