[BrooklynDoula]

We have a family of three (ds is 4 though) and we spend about $400 per month on food (shopping at a co-op for all organics but the prices are very reasonable for NYC standards because it is a workers co-op so only a 27% mark up).

My suggestions would be to buy from a co-op if you can, stock up on sales when they happen (we used to shop at a regular store with a good health food section and I would stock up when things like organic whole wheat pasta or canned tomatoes were on sale).

Also, if you have access to decent bulk bins, they often cut down on costs. Things like dried beans and lentils are always cheap. We sprout our own alphalfa sprouts for a nice 'local' and dirt cheap green in the winter. One bag of seeds costs us about $1 and makes about 20 quarts of sprouts!

 

[BrooklynDoula]

For produce, I always follow a $3 rule (nothing more that $3 a pound, ever). Greens are wonderfully nutritious and super cheap (like $1.50 for a huge bunch of organic chard, collards, kale around here). For us, green beans and apples are very inexpensive right now also, citrus is starting to be cheap and readily available.

Oatmeal is also a super money saver over cereals, as someone mentioned already.