If you buy almost all organic, what is your monthly budget? - Page 3

[ambersrose]

My family of six (three adults and three kids) spends about $600 a month on groceries.  We honestly only eat about 75-80% organic.  Produce, raw milk and meat are almost always organic but sometimes the processed stuff is only "natural" (like those Seaweed snacks and Snap pea Crisps my kids love).  I try to make all our sweet treats so organic flour and sweeteners are always in the house too.  I don't like Whole Foods and Trader Joes because I find myself buying too much processed foods when I go to there.  It is just too tempting!!  

[Mama Amie]

While we are far from frugal in the grocery department, we do eat very well with lots of back-up stuff in the freezer and pantry for about $250/week for our family of four.  This, however, does not include DH's lunches, as he buys each day.  We also tend to eat out (either a lunch or dinner) about 1-2x per week.  This is probably within the amount above, but might send us up to $300 on a spend-heavy week.  We live in Austin, so Whole Foods is the go-to place.  There are organic offerings at other local grocers, but rarely are they even close to competitive with WF prices.  Whole Foods has MUCH better prices on yogurt ($2 for a 32oz 365 brand compared to average $3+ on most other brands) and almond milk (under $7 for a 2 pack of 64oz cartons which would average over $2 per 32oz box of other brands).  Their produce section is FAR superior to the other local grocers that offer organic (which is usually overpriced and half rotten).  SO...  if you have access to Whole Foods nearby, definitely shop their 365 and Whole Foods labels first, including frozen veggies and frozen dinners (ours has bags of gnocchi with sauce and various asian options for about $4 per bag) which are great for nights where i need to just throw something on the skillet without fuss.  Since my kids are 4.5 and 1.5, it can sometimes be very challenging to spend much time in the kitchen.

I second the COSTCO recommendation.  I know they are all different in what they offer, and it does change somewhat over time/seasonally.  You might bring a list of your usual purchases with their usual prices and do a comparison walk-through first.  I'll provide an actual list of what I buy every week, to give you an idea of how we shop/spend.  This is because I want to show how beneficial it is for us to have the Executive level membership, which runs $100/year, but offers a reward system, which manages to buy our next year's membership each time, plus a little extra to spend in the store.

We buy:

bread- organic wheat, 2 pack for about $7

avocados, clementines, melons(not organic, but much cheaper)

organic chicken ($4.99/lb breasts, $3.99/lb thighs)

organic ground beef ($4.99/lb)

seasonal organic grapes, blueberries, strawberries averaging about $2-3/lb

toilet paper (made with recycled paper) about $11 for 24 rolls, i think

frozen organic blueberries ($13 for 4lb bag)

organic eggs (2 doz per pack at $6)

promised land heavy whipping cream (about $3 for a liter, i think)

coffee- our store has locally processed, organic, fair trade coffee by Ruta Maya at $14 for 2.2 lbs)

organic canned tomato paste and/or diced

black beans canned

veggie straws or pirate's booty for snacks

coconut oil (huge jar for $15)

organic extra virgin olive oil ($12 or $13)

There are plenty of other organic options at our store, as well as various other things we might buy.  I also get prescriptions filled there.  All electronics and office/craft supplies.  Some clothes. I try to buy as much as I can there to maximize the end of term return.

I hope this helps.  I am looking for ways to lower the budget, but I suspect it will stay this way until at least one child is in school.  I know some SAHPs manage to make loads of stuff from scratch and stash months of food in the freezer, but I just haven't figured out how to yet.  Thanks for posting this, though!  I'm learning some good tricks.  :)

[Mama Amie]

one other thing about whole foods and costco- both are happy to refund for anything with no questions.  i often return things that we don't care for when i've bought multiples on sale, and whatnot.

[pek64]

Take some time to check out the prices at various places, and ask about discounts. Whole Foods will give a 10%case discount, in my area. But I still do better with the 20% discount at my natural food store, especially when I include transportation costs. I have to rely on public transportation, and getting to Whole Foods is significantly higher than the local store. Crunch the numbers for your specific location and make the best choice for your family.