One of the reasons I've been reluctant to go organic in the past is the cost. I have a family of 4 and I feed 2 other kids for lunch and snack during the week. I'm trying to buy in bulk and cook more, as well as cutting down on other household expenses like pt, tp and cleaning stuff (not to mention diapers) so I feel good about spending the extra money, but I wondered what's the best way to get might grocery bill down w/o sacrificing health. Amy Dacyson (Tightwad) feeds 8 for less than $150 a month. I feel like I spend almost 300, anyone have some tips? What do ya'll spend ?
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First of all, remember that those were her numbers 15 years ago. Food prices have gone up a lot. And by the end of the newsletter (1995?) she was spending $200. Plus, she fed her diet a SAD and lots of junk. Tons of canned food. Lots of casseroles made with powdered milk sauces. Refined grains.
I spend what I can, and think of it as investment in my families health. I would never start the month with fresh produce and switch them to frozen and canned as the month wore on.
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Peace,
Kimberly...walking my path; loving, living and learning with an amazing man and two incredible boys.
Yes, remember that her $ info is older. She'd spend more today.
But I have to defend Amy here a bit. It's true they used a lot of canned foods and powdered milk, but depending on what's in the can, canned food can have good nurtients as they are canned the same day they are picked. Some vitiamins are lost in the packing waterm , but that doesn't mean canned foods can't offer nutition. Canned tomatoes, for instance, often have much more nutrition than 'fresh' tomatoes. Tomatoes gassed and hauled to the east or midwest frim FL or CA are often going to be tired and old. We've read research many times that show frozen veggies often have far more nutrients than old veggies being trucked every which way across the country, and are days, even weeks old by the time they reach the supermarkets. Local is best, but often difficult.
Amy also didn't give her kids refined grains--she gave them whole grains and legumes, dried beans, rice, cornmeal, oatmeal etc. They never ate fast food. Maybe they got some white rice, but in her books she talks abotu brown rice and buying bulk whole grains. They also had a large garden and berrie bushes on their property. They canned a lot of their own organic fresh food. Her children did not eat refined and processed foods. They cooked from scratch often, if not from all organic scratch. They also made their own yogurt.
Her children are all mostly grown (I think the youngest- the twins, are about 17- 19 yrs old, or thereabouts), and were healthy, and not chubby (as seen from all the published photos of them over the years) growing up.
I've made such a comfy home in this supercrunch forum, I didn't ever notice all the other forums that talk about thriftiness and such. yeah, I knew that was a while ago but I figure prices haven't doubled. I should be able to spend maybe 60 a week for food, yk? Or is that really unrealistic? I'm starting a garden but most likely won't reap the benefits for a while.
I've made such a comfy home in this supercrunch forum, I didn't ever notice all the other forums that talk about thriftiness and such. yeah, I knew that was a while ago but I figure prices haven't doubled. I should be able to spend maybe 60 a week for food, yk? Or is that really unrealistic? I'm starting a garden but most likely won't reap the benefits for a while.
60.00 a week is not unrealistic if you have a garden. You could maybe even get it down to 40.00 a week with a garden for a family of 4
We spend about 400.00 a month in the winter time for a family of 4 and I buy all organic including spices and household products.
but in the summer, because of our garden it is a bout 1/2 that.
Like Kimbermama said think of it as an investment in your family's health. Healthful whole foods are worth it when you think about the benefits of not having to spend 15-25.00 for a co-pay for each child, assuming you have insurance, plus any medicines you might have to purchase.
If you stay away from processed foods like potato chips and soda I notice there is no difference in the price of my bill.
For example where I live it costs around 3.00 for a six pack of soda and 3.00 for organic 100% apple juice, If you choose the apple juice you are making a much healthier choice and not spending anything more. Or if you do like we do and only drink water which is even better for you, you just saved 3.00
Try taking a calculator with you the next time you go shopping add up the price of the items you would normally buy, write it down on a piece of paper then add up all the healthy alternatives and see what the price difference is and where you might be able to make adjustments
And also remember that is is cheaper to make your own snacks then it is to buy them.
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Sophia
"I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me to be the most civilised music in the world."
~Peter Ustinov~1921
Wow! I spend so much more money on food. Eeeks! That is really our largest expense. (It’s probably where we live)
But here are some ideas (depending on what your family will eat):
Soups - they are easy to make in huge quantities and can be very low cost.
Lentil soup is a favorite around her, as is black bean soup.
Rice - organic brown rice is not too expensive (at least here).
Rice with some peas and corn is another favorite of ours, or a veggie stir fry with tofu.
If you guys are into smoothie type things and you can plan ahead it’s easy and cheap to buy bulk fruit when it’s in season, wash it, cut it up if it needs it, and freeze it for the year. (This also depends on how much freezer storage you have)
Cookies and snack bars are easy and cheap to make.
We are also part of a CSA which delivers a box of organic fruit and vegetables once a week. Maybe there is something like that in your area. http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/index.html
There is a good chance the buying directly from the farm it will be less expensive and supporting small farmers is wonderful.
We've been able to make it before on $100 a week, but since J's income went up a bit, we are spending a bit more than that now. I consider good food to be one of the most important investments we can make. In the past, we have given up on the entertainment fund (mag subscriptions, movies, day trips) in order to afford a variety of nutritious food.
I am anxious for Spring to arrive so we can start our garden and hit the Farmer's Market. Our biggest expense is fresh produce, we go through a lot. In the past, when we did not have our own garden, we put the word out to gardening friends and family that we would happily use up any surplus.
The way I see it, paying a little more for groceries evens out when we have to spend a lot less on cold remedies and medical bills, seeing as we are pretty darn healthy.
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We eat gluten free, dairy free and organic (mostly, many GF things are not organic). I bake from scratch everything except pasta and . . . well, I guess just pasta. I also cook from scratch. Part of this is because hidden ingredients drive me nuts. But, most of it is I am cheap. We eat whole foods, close to nature. I cannot garden as I am away from home 12 to 13 hours a day 5 to 6 days a week. (We all are.) I was spending $25 to $40 a week at a local grocer for stuff and $100 to $125 a month with the organic coop. But, recently, the grocer's prices have skyrocketed and I can't keep it under $50 a week now. Luckily, the organic coop has not gone up. I only buy whats on sale if possible and rotate our diet around that. Produce is about the only thing I buy each and every time, not matter what is on sale. But, if I can freeze something, I will stock up then. We go through a lot of baby carrots (4 lbs a week) and a lot of quinoa (5 to 10 lbs a month). Those are our mainstays. Oh, and we are not vege. but I do not buy much meat. DH hunts. This is the ONLY way I can feed us as well as I do. The price increase in the groceries I spoke of is about to kill us. But, I will not sacrafice health.
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Michelle
-- Mom to Beth, 11 and Sam, 8
* plan shopping from not only what your family usually gets, but also from mailer specials. This is especially helpful with produce and meat and saves time you would otherwise spend while at the store looking at all those numbers.
* Go to different stores for different things. For example, I only buy bath and body prducts at Wal Mart, Grains and other bulk items at Sprouts (my local health food store) from the big bulk bins, and all other groceries at the cheapest grocery store around (for me Stater Bros).
*Never throw out left overs...freeze them if you have to. When you run out of foods faster some weeks, force yourself to hit the frozen stockpiles. Make a buffet out of it if you don't have enough left of any one thing.
I wish I had advice. Last month I tried REALLY REALLY hard, and I still spent just over $600 for the month. And that's not even eating all organic (like the meat isn't organic yet). I want to decrease that enough that I can get organic meat. I can't figure out what to do.
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Heather
Birthday boy eating birthday pancakes. Happy 7th to Erik! My blog
gosh, i guess i win the prize, although i know our area is expensive... i think i spend between $150-$200 a WEEK-- and that's on a "good" week!-- between the health food store and trader joe's!!! all the gluten-free flours i need to bake with are really expensive (and you all already know how dh feels about me getting a flour mill!), and although i live in a large metropolitan area, the closest coop is about an hour away! i'm still considering doing it, though... and if i try to make some new dishes-- like, tonight i tried kimbermama's fennel and sweet potato soup-- it's even more expensive, as i have to go to the expensive green grocer (not organic, even!) for "exotic" LOL foods like fennel!
i think that will minimize soon, though, as i get closer to figuring out some kind of "schedule" for meals. right now i'm just going through recipes, trying to find things that i can make quickly/easily, that ds and dd will eat, which are non-allergenic and organic for them, and which i can eat on my anti-candida diet. WHEW! we're also changing over all our "products," although that will get much cheaper, too, as we will just use baking soda, vinegar, etc. *sigh* i am planning on gardening and freezing/canning this summer in our teeny tiny backyard, and i've joined a CSA which will deliver a box of produce May-October, so things will get better!
in thinking about it more as i was washing the dinner dishes now, i know that "convenience" foods play a role here, too. like, we buy terra brand sweet potato, etc. chips at tj's, and i think i could easily make my own, because i know my food processor can easily cut a potato into "chips" and then i could bake them w/ canola oil. and i buy organic vegan food bars at tj's which are *gulp* $1.99 a piece, but those are my major indulgence-- i look forward to it every day! and i buy Enjoy Life brand cookies for the kids at the HFS, and those are super expensive, but again, because of their allergies, they're the only cookies they can have. i do make plenty of baked goods at home, too, and freeze those, but i haven't come close to those cookies. just rambling now....
we've always had an extrememly low food budget, just because I'm compulsive about spending money on food.
the biggest things we've done
pick & choose what we want organic, what we want conventional & what we can skip all together. we never eat strawberries for example, organic is to expensive, conventional too chemical laiden, never been able to grow enough of my on to make it worth while.
find a grocery store with lower prices, local options & discount sections. We always get our bread at the bakery outlet. I've found the cheapest store in town & always shop there.
limit or eliminate meat, dairy, sweets, brand name products. any premade foods, tv dinners and anything with an ad on tv, anything single serving.
always check the pantry before going shopping! Nothing worse than buying something you already had 3 of and forgetting the 1 thing you need for a recipe.
stick to interchangable foods. Rice can be combined with several different other staples to make plenty of meals. same with beans, pasta, potatoes. just vary the spices or cooking style for a different meal.
have a "boring" menu. We pretty much eat the same cycle of meals. Our food budget is always consistant since we're just replacing the things we use regularly. It's also easier to avoid those "treats" since they can't hide in the cart, they stick out among the foods we're used to buying.
Chole
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Amy D. does mention whole grains as being a good investment because of their "protein" content. In the same paragraph she suggests adding a tablespoon of wheat germ to a cup of flour to replace whole wheat flour. I don't think so. Where's the fiber?
Her menu mentions pasta and bagels. I don't think either were whole grain. Nor do I think the bread she bought at the bakery outlet was 100% whole grain. It probably had HFCS in it as well. She mentions white rice.
I don't argue that frozen foods can contain more nutrients than fresh, depending on age. I'll even accept that canned tomatoes aren't an evil food. But most canned vegetables are very high in sodium. High sodium intake predicts high blood pressure later in life, so being thin now doesn't mean anything. Canned fruit has the enzymes cooked out and can't possibly replace fresh, raw fruits. Until recently it has been very hard to find canned fruit that isn't in some kind of "syrup". Only the most expensive brands use sugar instead of HFCS.
Amy D. did garden extensively and they ate a lot of fresh produce, and canned and froze even more. She has that in her favor. She used some whole grains, and she did limit salt in cooking.
I don't think anyone, even the Weston Price folks, would consider the consumption of dried milk healthy. Even if you aren't against drinking cow's milk, the heat treatment of instant milk kills every vitamin and enzyme. They have to add it back in.
It is more expensive to buy foods without high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, artificial colors and flavors, MSG, preservatives, etc. Amy D. cooks with margarine and my guess is that is the 39 cents a pound on sale stuff, not a vegan non-hydrogenated stuff I buy on sale for $2.39 a pound. I doubt she cooks with organic raw virgin cold-pressed coconut oil.
She also didn't buy organic. That can double your food bill. At my HFS yesterday organic Fuji apples were $1.89 a pound. Pesticide laden Fuji apples were 89 cents a pound. Big difference. I choose to have a higher food bill and not put pesticides into my children's bodies. Other organics are also more expensive; organic pinto beans are more than twice the price of non-organic. Same with brown rice.
It is also more difficult when you are dealing with food allergies. We eat almost no pasta, but when I do buy it I have to get brown rice pasta, which is almost twice the price of whole wheat pasta. Brown rice flour tortillas are double the price of whole wheat, so again, we eat them rarely. If you want to splurge on a treat you are talking about $3 for 4 ounces of gluten-free pretzels (obviously, popcorn is a far cheaper treat, but is hard to take places). Wheat free-tamari is far more expensive than a big tin of Kikkoman's.
Then there are ethical choices, like organic/fair trade sugar, tea, and chocolate.
I'm not saying it can't be done. But you do give up some health benefits when on a very low cost diet. We eat the way we do for health now and in the future. Could we spend less and still be healthy? Absolutely. We buy certain snacks, like the pretzels, as alternatives for snacks places like ball games. We could do without. DH could find a way to give up the expensive tea and just drink water. I could stop buying Rapunzel chocolate. We could stop eating avocados and raw nuts (expensive, but full of good fats).
Last edited by KimberMama : 03-17-2006 at 12:33 AM.
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