Spin-off: What do you spend on groceries if you buy ALL organic/natural foods? - Page 2

[PlayaMama]

$600 per month for me, dh, 5 yo ds and almost 2 yo dd.

we shop, trader joe's, azure standard/unfi, and occasionally whole foods.

i buy everything in bulk and from co-ops that i can (4 gallons of maple syrup for $35/gallon, 25 pounds of organic oats for $16 etc.).

we're trying to get it down to $500 or less but i just can't seem to do it.

[honeybunmom]

For a family of 2 adults, 1 pre-schooler and a 9.5 mos old who puts his 4 teeth to good use, about $160-$250 a week. I've started buying fresh flowers again, so that's in there, too. Recently, though, I've started purchasing some of our organics at Dominicks - like milk, apples, onions, potatoes, string beans. I purchase all of our meats from Whole Foods. However, I am going to try a subscription to a CSA and see how that works for us. I've switched up a bit to purchasing the meats that are on sale in larger quantities.

What we go through a lot of are eggs (some times 2 doz a week) and bread. I have stopped purchasing organic bread. The Rudy's I like to buy is over $5.00 a loaf at Whole Foods. I could buy it in our neighborhood store for $3.89. We've moved, though, so, now, I just focus on no HFCS. Organic eggs range from $2.99/doz for tiny eggs to over $4.00 for large eggs.

I do reference the dirty dozen and purchase organic for things on that list, but, for other items that we eat a lot of, like avocados, I purchase conventionally raised as they are not on the dirty dozen list.

[courtney_c]

We buy mostly whole foods and make things from scratch. We buy raw milk, grass fed beef, pastured eggs, pastured chicken, raw honey, produce, etc from a local farm and/or farmer's market. I buy wheat berries and grind our own flour. We make our own bread, biscuits, muffins, tortillas, granola, granola bars, etc. All dinners are completely from scratch. We buy a few items from Costco (such as organic canned tomatoes, toilet paper, etc). We buy many things in bulk- rolled oats, sucanat, beans, rice, etc. I buy our vitamins and coconut oil on vitacost.com. Our personal care products are from Whole Foods- their 365 brand. Our monthly grocery bill for 4 of us (soon to be 5!) is about $400-450 a month. It REALLY makes a difference to make things from scratch. We hardly buy any processed foods anymore (with an occasional box of organic mac n cheese, organic cereal, and organic crackers for convenience). I have seen a huge drop in our grocery bill since we started doing this.

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by kdmama33

Back when I was still buying only organic foods, only grass-fed meat, as much local as I could, we were spending $800-$1000 per month for a family of five.

This. But, we're also gluten/dairy/nut/egg/refined sugar free, so things get a bit more expensive when you add a special diet on top of an organic only diet. We also probably have to spend another $200ish or so on top of that in fish oil, probiotics, and multivitamins.

It's insane. We have a CSA full year, and we also found a buying club that lets us get a lot of our things in bulk for near-wholesale, so that helps a lot....

ETA: We rarely buy processed foods either. But coconut milk yogurt, coconut milk kefir, a good quality vegan cheese, and locally grown grass fed meats are expensive.

[loraxc]

I would say we we eat about 70% organic. There are certain fruits and veggies I don't buy organic because the price differential is so steep and/or they just don't seem to carry them where I shop (bananas, broccoli and herbs come to mind), but I try. I also do not usually buy organic butter or cheese (but we do buy organic milk and organic yogurt).

I would guess that our bill is about $120/week for a family of four. The usual bill for the big shopping trip is about $80-90, and it seems like we usually have to run out for a few more things (milk, usually) once a week or so. That includes TP, soap, and toothpaste, but not cat food and litter (which we buy at the other grocery store). We are about 95% vegetarian and we make our own bread and have a garden, but I do not can or preserve. I cook from scratch a lot, we don't do a lot of processed food, and we don't buy vitamins or supplements.

[quelindo]

OP here...

I haven't listed what I spend on groceries every month because I haven't been very good at tracking. I *aim* for $600 a month, but that's laughable. I'm sure it's closer to $800 - $1000.

One of my goals for this year is to track more carefully and bring the amount of money we spend on this stuff way down. I re-did my price book (and am actually using it) so it's easier to use. I've started comparing prices with other stores (not just our co-op, UNFI or Amazon). I checked out a salvage store in town that I've been meaning to go to (but they didn't have any organic stuff). I've been searching online for coupons for the few packaged foods I buy. I've started paying attention to the sales flyer that I get for UNFI every month, and buying off THAT...ditto with Frontier. (I can't believe that spices are HALF what they are buying from the bulk bins at our co-op!)

I'm looking a lot more carefully at what we're buying. I dried a ton of strawberries & apples that we picked last spring and fall, so I no longer buy my son the Just Tomatoes dried fruit (that cost about $5 each, and that he can eat in one sitting!) every time we go to the co-op. I've stopped buying coconut milk yogurt. (I was making my own for a while, and may get back to that.) I found a potato pancake recipe we like, so that's a super cheap, relatively healthy and yummy special breakfast for us.

I'm considering buying a SECOND stand-alone freezer so we can buy more meat in bulk. I know eating beans and rice is cheaper, but after being vegetarian and then vegan for 10 years I feel like eating good quality meat is what brought me back to good health. (This is just ME and my personal opinion.) So I'm not about to give up meat or even cut back...I'll just have to work around that.

I forgot to mention that we're gluten-, soy- and corn-free. Also mostly dairy-free. So that makes things a lot more difficult. But I'm determined to do what I can!

[JustSo]

Great thread! I don't feel so out of place here. For 2 adults and a 3 1/2 yo, we spend about $600-800/mo. All organic groceries at our local co-op, plus supplements/oils/toiletries online at vitacost.com. DS has egg/nut allergies, and we have recently gone low-gluten/wheat (not entirely free). DS and I eat organic chicken 2x/mo, DH is pescatarian, so the whole family eats wild-caught fish 2x/mo. We do oat milk, coconut milk, and raw milk kefir.

New Mama... you mentioned you make your own coconut yogurt - would you mind sharing the recipe? I love the SO Delicious yogurt, but it's pretty pricey. Do you use dairy or non-dairy starter?

Originally Posted by New Mama

I've stopped buying coconut milk yogurt. (I was making my own for a while, and may get back to that.)