Is it possible to cut down food spending and still eat healthy?

[rrali33tt]

I have been noticing I have been blowing my food budget out of the water each month. I am only budgeting for me and my fiancee and I spend a rediculous amount of money on food each month ($500+). That includes groceries, lunch and restaurants.

I know that one of the culprits is that I buy lunch everday (my DF brings lunch everyday to work). I buy a salad everyday for 5.75 . I think that if I bought my own ingredients and made the same salad I really would only save $1 per day and $20 per month is not worth it to medue to the added time to make the salads.

Also we have probably removed 90% of all processed foods from our diet. (he still brings turkey sandwiches with cheese to lunch everyday which is the 10%).

I know my food budget has gone up because I had been buying all organic meats and vegetables. Because of the increased cost ( I think last month i spent $700 on food)

I have decided to just buy organic chicken and ground beef from costco. I just can't afford all the organic veggies and fruits when they are twice the price.

DO you have any tips for cutting monthly spending on food and eat healthy at the same time?

I also have no tried to plan my meals so when I go food shopping I don't buy too much that goes to waste.

 

[Gigi22]

Is your current food budget only a food budget, or does it also include non-food items like sandwich bags, plastic wrap, cleaning products, etc? I find the non-food items really inflate grocery bills.

 

[nalajms]

We are a family of 4, with 2 little kids who don't eat much. Our grocery bill for 2012 average $300 a week! I looked closer at what we were buying and my budget now is about $100 per week. This doesn't include eating out

I stopped shopping primarily at Costco. Instead of paying $6 for a bunch of apples, I go to a regular grocery store and buy 4-5 for $3. Yes, the price per point may be more, but lots of times we throw out old apples because no one wants to eat the old ones. Instead of 2 loaves of wheat bread for $5, I get the $1 loaf at shoprite. We never could finish 2 loaves....

Things we still get at costco: croissants, bagels, mixed greens, banana, watermelon, cantaloupe, frozen broccoli, organic eggs.

Everything else I get at Shoprite using coupons, sales, etc. If eggs go onsale (like this week 99c a dz at Walgreens), I'll get a dz to mix in. It's hard to eat fully organic cheaply, unless you can eat less.

For your lunch, you may consider trimming it. A box of organic mixed greens is only $5-6 at costco. That lasts me a week. You can prob bring a bottle of dressing to leave at work. And ask yourself if you really need all the other stuff you put on the greens.

For baby food, I've been ordering thru Amazon. It's the cheapest deal on Plum organics, except when Target has a big sale once in a long while.

 

[nalajms]

We also joined a local CSA last summer. For about $300 I got 15wks of organic veggies. I decided not to do it this year because it was too much food for me...since no one else eats veggies.

And for organic meats, look around and see if there's a local seller. We have 1 poultry farm near us and a dairy farm that sells beef...I don't know if it's the same cows, but I don't ask.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I have been noticing I have been blowing my food budget out of the water each month. I am only budgeting for me and my fiancee and I spend a rediculous amount of money on food each month ($500+). That includes groceries, lunch and restaurants.

I know that one of the culprits is that I buy lunch everday (my DF brings lunch everyday to work). I buy a salad everyday for 5.75 . I think that if I bought my own ingredients and made the same salad I really would only save $1 per day and $20 per month is not worth it to medue to the added time to make the salads.

Also we have probably removed 90% of all processed foods from our diet. (he still brings turkey sandwiches with cheese to lunch everyday which is the 10%).

I know my food budget has gone up because I had been buying all organic meats and vegetables. Because of the increased cost ( I think last month i spent $700 on food)

I have decided to just buy organic chicken and ground beef from costco. I just can't afford all the organic veggies and fruits when they are twice the price.

DO you have any tips for cutting monthly spending on food and eat healthy at the same time?

I also have no tried to plan my meals so when I go food shopping I don't buy too much that goes to waste.

What the heck are you putting in your salad that it would cost $4.75? You could buy all organic ingredients - including for the dressing - and though your initial purchase may be steep (olive oil, balsamic, dried fruit, nuts, cheeses...) you should save a lot more than $1 ea in the long run. You could make freezer packets with many items (chicken, dried fruit, nuts, cheeses), and prep once a week for the lettuce and fresh veggies you like to use on salads. Make enough dressing to last a month. Buy a reusable container for the salad and the dressing. If you want disposables you could buy in bulk at Smart & Final.
If you really want to know how much you're saving, take your lunch to work, buy a salad, and take it home and weigh everything. You'll probably be shocked at how little the costly items weigh, and that the bulk is the lettuce. Restaurant food is designed to look like you're getting more than you are, down to the shape of the container. Do the math with equivalent amounts of your own ingredients.
You can definitely save a lot by avoiding restaurants/takeout/prep, but you need to factor in time savings as well. I have to spend upwards of 4 hours A DAY in the kitchen when I'm making most everything from scratch. That includes clean up.
For example, at my Costco organic chicken breasts are $6 and the 2pk of organic whole chickens is about $2 a pound. That's really $4 a pound because about half the weight is bones/unusable [wings are tiny on organic chickens!] From 2 whole chickens I do the rubber chicken thing, including making homemade stock. It is a wild pain and takes over an hour picking and packaging the chicken after cooking, plus lots of standby time cooking and cooling the chicken, putting the bones in the crockpot for stock, cooking, cooling, packaging that....I have more time than money though, so it is worth the $2/lb savings.

 

[LilyWDW]

I have a "grocery" budget of $500 a month for just myself, but that also includes cat food/litter, paper supplies, shampoo/conditioner and the like, and eating out. I have a medical condition that can be made worse based on the food I eat, so I have to be super careful. What this means is that I normally have to buy "organic" versions of food (which is more expensive) because they do not contain as many problem ingredients for me. I also prefer grass fed beef because I find it tastes better.

When I cut back on my eating out (necessary because I have to be so careful with ingredients) I found I saved a LOT of money. SO, even though the bill for my actual groceries went up some, I ended up coming out even or even ahead for the month.

 

[descovy]

Easiest way to cut down on price is eat less meat.

 

[rrali33tt]

What the heck are you putting in your salad that it would cost $4.75? You could buy all organic ingredients - including for the dressing - and though your initial purchase may be steep (olive oil, balsamic, dried fruit, nuts, cheeses...) you should save a lot more than $1 ea in the long run. You could make freezer packets with many items (chicken, dried fruit, nuts, cheeses), and prep once a week for the lettuce and fresh veggies you like to use on salads. Make enough dressing to last a month. Buy a reusable container for the salad and the dressing. If you want disposables you could buy in bulk at Smart & Final.
If you really want to know how much you're saving, take your lunch to work, buy a salad, and take it home and weigh everything. You'll probably be shocked at how little the costly items weigh, and that the bulk is the lettuce. Restaurant food is designed to look like you're getting more than you are, down to the shape of the container. Do the math with equivalent amounts of your own ingredients.
You can definitely save a lot by avoiding restaurants/takeout/prep, but you need to factor in time savings as well. I have to spend upwards of 4 hours A DAY in the kitchen when I'm making most everything from scratch. That includes clean up.
For example, at my Costco organic chicken breasts are $6 and the 2pk of organic whole chickens is about $2 a pound. That's really $4 a pound because about half the weight is bones/unusable [wings are tiny on organic chickens!] From 2 whole chickens I do the rubber chicken thing, including making homemade stock. It is a wild pain and takes over an hour picking and packaging the chicken after cooking, plus lots of standby time cooking and cooling the chicken, putting the bones in the crockpot for stock, cooking, cooling, packaging that....I have more time than money though, so it is worth the $2/lb savings.

I get everything in my salad LOL - my usual is mixed greens with grilled chicken, cucumbers, celery, bell pepper, red onion, broccoli and sunflower seeds. Sometims I add in edemame or corn.

I suppose I could try to make all my salads in advance on a Sunday. I will have to force myself to do it starting next month to track the spending. I use mint.com so all of my purchases are tracked.

I do buy my organic chicken breasts and whole chickens at costco. (and the ground beef but I dont eat ground beef too often). I have never made my own stock but will have to try that out.

 

[LJSquishy]

Here is a breakdown of your salad:

Mixed Greens - Costco; Earthbound Farm Organic Slring Mix 1lb - $4.49ish

Chicken - Costco; Organic chicken breasts $4.99/lb

Cucumber - Anywhere; Organic $1ea

Celery - Anywhere; Conventional Costco huge bag (5lb?) $6ish or Organic from anywhere $2ish

Bell Pepper - Anywhere; Organic $1 for green, $2 for red

Red Onion - Anywhere; organic $1

Broccoli - Anywhere; Organic $2.49lb or Costco conventional $5ish precut huge bag

Sunflower Seeds - Bulk bin, preferably organic $5lb max

You will only use about 4oz of chicken and the spring mix will last all week plus more. Each cucumber will make 3-4 salads, same with the bell pepper. One red onion should get you through the week. I don't know how much broccoli you put in your salad but I'd think one crown would make 3 salads. Sunflower seeds are pretty cheap and 1lb would last you a month I bet. Dressing cost depends on what you like so I didn't include it. Oh, and the celery is pretty negligible in the price since it will last you a long time plus can be used when making stock (save the ends and leaves you cut off and freeze in a ziplock until you make stock, same with carrot and onion ends!) Costco has giant bags of organic frozen corn also...around $4.49 I think.

It would cost about $3.50 per day maximum for an identical salad if you made it at home using organic ingredients. Plus, you'd have the freedom of mixing it up by making a mandarin orange and chicken salad, or a taco salad, etc. If you find sale prices anywhere, you'll save even more. I think $60 a month savings is HUGE...and that's just from making your own salad. Also, consider an occasional lunch of yogurt, nuts, and fresh or dried fruit (mixed up or separate)...it's a complete meal and less expensive than the salad, even moreso if you buy the Greek yogurt large tubs at Costco (mine sells Fage and Kirkland brand). I like to sprinkle in cinnamon and add diced apple and walnuts to mine (well, when I wasn't eating mostly paleo).

 

[bettymae1121]

And for organic meats, look around and see if there's a local seller. We have 1 poultry farm near us and a dairy farm that sells beef...I don't know if it's the same cows, but I don't ask.

Dairy cows are not used for beef, at least not for humans, it's too tough. Dog food on the other hand...

 

[bumbershoot]

Dairy cows are not used for beef, at least not for humans, it's too tough. Dog food on the other hand...

It could be the males born to the dairy cows. They might keep them instead of selling them early.

 

[Marionnette]

It could be the males born to the dairy cows. They might keep them instead of selling them early.

This exactly. My brother worked a dairy farm in exchange for free housing for years. The males are either castrated and butchered young for veal or they are raised to maturity and then either butchered or used for stud. You need one bull around to keep the herd going.

 

[Marionnette]

Easiest way to cut down on price is eat less meat.

Those were my first thoughts. The OP has chosen to eat organic and that's going to cost $$$. If they want to cut costs without compromising their standards, then eliminating a lot of the free-range, grain-fed, organically-raised meat will help to reduce their costs significantly.

Learn to love beans and soy, OP.

 

[DawnM]

That is a name I haven't heard since we left LA.

However, OP is in NJ. Smart and Finals are located in CA, OR, WA, AZ, NV, ID, and Northern Mexico.

Unfortunately, that is all.

Dawn

What the heck are you putting in your salad that it would cost $4.75? You could buy all organic ingredients - including for the dressing - and though your initial purchase may be steep (olive oil, balsamic, dried fruit, nuts, cheeses...) you should save a lot more than $1 ea in the long run. You could make freezer packets with many items (chicken, dried fruit, nuts, cheeses), and prep once a week for the lettuce and fresh veggies you like to use on salads. Make enough dressing to last a month. Buy a reusable container for the salad and the dressing. If you want disposables you could buy in bulk at Smart & Final.
If you really want to know how much you're saving, take your lunch to work, buy a salad, and take it home and weigh everything. You'll probably be shocked at how little the costly items weigh, and that the bulk is the lettuce. Restaurant food is designed to look like you're getting more than you are, down to the shape of the container. Do the math with equivalent amounts of your own ingredients.
You can definitely save a lot by avoiding restaurants/takeout/prep, but you need to factor in time savings as well. I have to spend upwards of 4 hours A DAY in the kitchen when I'm making most everything from scratch. That includes clean up.
For example, at my Costco organic chicken breasts are $6 and the 2pk of organic whole chickens is about $2 a pound. That's really $4 a pound because about half the weight is bones/unusable [wings are tiny on organic chickens!] From 2 whole chickens I do the rubber chicken thing, including making homemade stock. It is a wild pain and takes over an hour picking and packaging the chicken after cooking, plus lots of standby time cooking and cooling the chicken, putting the bones in the crockpot for stock, cooking, cooling, packaging that....I have more time than money though, so it is worth the $2/lb savings.

 

[tvguy]

You sure that is only a 1 pound bag of mixed greens? The 1 pound bag is only $1.99 at Walmart, your choice, regular or organic.

But, getting to the point, not knowing portions, I figure OP's salad should run her about $1.25 a day, saving her $4.50 a day or $90 a month or $1,080 a year just on salad. Which really is the issue, folks don't realize how much cheaper making it themselves is.

Here is a breakdown of your salad:

Mixed Greens - Costco; Earthbound Farm Organic Slring Mix 1lb - $4.49ish

Chicken - Costco; Organic chicken breasts $4.99/lb

Cucumber - Anywhere; Organic $1ea

Celery - Anywhere; Conventional Costco huge bag (5lb?) $6ish or Organic from anywhere $2ish

Bell Pepper - Anywhere; Organic $1 for green, $2 for red

Red Onion - Anywhere; organic $1

Broccoli - Anywhere; Organic $2.49lb or Costco conventional $5ish precut huge bag

Sunflower Seeds - Bulk bin, preferably organic $5lb max

You will only use about 4oz of chicken and the spring mix will last all week plus more. Each cucumber will make 3-4 salads, same with the bell pepper. One red onion should get you through the week. I don't know how much broccoli you put in your salad but I'd think one crown would make 3 salads. Sunflower seeds are pretty cheap and 1lb would last you a month I bet. Dressing cost depends on what you like so I didn't include it. Oh, and the celery is pretty negligible in the price since it will last you a long time plus can be used when making stock (save the ends and leaves you cut off and freeze in a ziplock until you make stock, same with carrot and onion ends!) Costco has giant bags of organic frozen corn also...around $4.49 I think.

It would cost about $3.50 per day maximum for an identical salad if you made it at home using organic ingredients. Plus, you'd have the freedom of mixing it up by making a mandarin orange and chicken salad, or a taco salad, etc. If you find sale prices anywhere, you'll save even more. I think $60 a month savings is HUGE...and that's just from making your own salad. Also, consider an occasional lunch of yogurt, nuts, and fresh or dried fruit (mixed up or separate)...it's a complete meal and less expensive than the salad, even moreso if you buy the Greek yogurt large tubs at Costco (mine sells Fage and Kirkland brand). I like to sprinkle in cinnamon and add diced apple and walnuts to mine (well, when I wasn't eating mostly paleo).

 

[Happyjen27]

Definitely making your own lunches will have a huge impact. And you'll be able to control the ingredients more as far as organic and freshness is concerned. And even the basics of washing everything, I always prefer my own salads.

Eating less meat will have a big impact, also planning meals in stages. An organic roasting chicken costs me about $13.00. I eat it oven roasted for one meal, then pick the meat off for chicken salad for lunch, and then boil the bones for a soup. That's a lot of mileage out of one bird.

I have found I would prefer to cut other places than fret about the cost of organic food at the grocery store. It's absolutely liberating and beautiful to go to the store and buy what I need to feed my family whole, healthy food and not look at prices. My grocery bill for the 4 of us went from $600/month to about $800/month when I made the switch from just organic meat to all organic everything. It wasn't a huge jump, but, it took so much strain off of me.

 

[Kristina4109]

As much as possible, buy your organic fruits and veggies frozen. Frozen organic fruits and veggies are often more nutritious than the fresh fruits and veggies that are out of season.

 

[Colleen27]

Think outside the grocery store. Depending on where you live, you should be able to get at least some naturally grown, chemical free produce, dairy, and meats from local farmers without paying grocery store organic prices. A lot of small farmers don't use fertilizers and pesticides as a matter of course but cannot afford the expense of organic certification and record keeping, and occupy a middle ground price-wise. Check out LocalHarvest.org to find farmers' markets, CSAs, and other direct-to-consumer sales in your area.

If you have room, starting a garden can also pay off in a big way. I spend between $50-100 on mine each year (seeds, berry plants, and trees - once I have everything in it'll just be the cost of seed) and easily get $500+ worth of produce out of it using in-season farmers' market prices for comparison. Once the berry and fruit trees mature that number will go up dramatically. And I'm not on a farm or a huge lot, just a 1/4 acre of which about 1/4 is currently vegetable gardens and berry patches.

And when you do find good deals, freeze, can, dry, or otherwise store extra for times (like winter) when prices are higher. PickYourOwn.org has an excellent series of food preservation how-tos written for beginners and you can save a small fortune on buying out-of-season organics simply by preserving things when they are in season in your area.

Another thing that has helped us is learning to eat more seasonally. That means fewer salads in the winter, though I do grow some greens indoors so we aren't entirely without, but lots of soups and stews. And during the summer, lots of salads and veggie-heavy stir frys. Gardening can be a great lesson in creative cooking - my eggplant went crazy last year and I've learned a hundred ways to fix it, most of which fed my family a healthy, fresh meal for <$2 per person.

 

[LJSquishy]

You sure that is only a 1 pound bag of mixed greens? The 1 pound bag is only $1.99 at Walmart, your choice, regular or organic.

But, getting to the point, not knowing portions, I figure OP's salad should run her about $1.25 a day, saving her $4.50 a day or $90 a month or $1,080 a year just on salad. Which really is the issue, folks don't realize how much cheaper making it themselves is.

You must have a specially priced Walmart because I have never seen 1lb of organic salad greens (not iceberg lettuce, that has zero nutrients) for $1.99 anywhere, including Walmart. I beg you to take a photo of the product & price tag! I just do not believe you at all, LOL! Are you sure you're not thinking of an 8oz bag?? A 1lb salad bag is giant (Costco also sells an organic Power Greens blend in a 1.5lb bag which is giant).

And, yes, the Costco plastic tub is 1lb. They also have organic spinach in 1lb tubs...I have the spinach one in my fridge right now and double checked the weight to be sure, and it is 1lb.

 

[jsmith]

Im with Colleen 27-do some research on Local Harvest-purchase as much as you can that is locally and sustainably produced. it will be organic although can not be labeled as such as most small farmers can not afford to get organically certified. I purchase meat, eggs, and in season vegetables from local farmers at our certified local farmers market ( make sure the markets you patronize are certified local-a fair number of farmers markets sell factory farm produced products under the guise of the farmers market) or from local farmers I know. We get a grass fed steer from a rancher in Wyoming and split it with my brother and sister in law. I freeze or dry as much as I can-and grow my own greens, herbs , tomatos and rhubarb. We eat out about once a month for a nice meal but choose local places that purchase local sustainably raised products. I also bake from scratch-no knead sourdough bread is extremely easy, has few ingredients and is inexpensive. Its just a matter of getting in the habit of doing these things.
Your purchased salad is probably the most unhealthy meal of your day-unless you are purchasing it from an organic restaurant you are getting factory raised trucked in veggies topped with soybean oil and chemical preservative dressing-blah. Too easy to do it yourself and much much healthier.