We have been all over the place when it comes to deciding on a budget for groceries. Part of this fluctuation in budget amount is due to life events and jobs. When we dropped from two incomes to one we had to reevaluate. When we moved cross country and used up a chunk of our savings we once again had to reevaluate. When we decided to move before our lease was up we once again had to reevaluate (yes I see a trend of less than wonderful decisions but we are happy and doing well so that’s what matters). Now we have a second baby on the way and a big trip coming up so it’s time to once again take a look at our budget and with that how much of it we are spending on food.

In general I am not fond of divulging the actual numbers of our budget because really it’s not the business of anyone else however I make an exception for groceries. I think that sharing the actual numbers of a grocery budget can really be helpful for others especially when you are looking to save money and still eat well. Up until now we have been spending anywhere from $550-800 per month on groceries. You may be wondering why there is such a huge gap and I’ll tell you that gap is in large part due to the desire to make more complicated meals, heading to the market to pick up one or two things that “we just have to have right now” and buying more luxury items (prepackaged items, vegan faux meats, bagels and tofutti every weekend).

After really taking a hard look at what we are buying each month (we started this in January) we have come to see that we are buying items that are necessities, are a little more expensive than we need to and that we need to make some smarter decisions when it comes to shopping in general. As I wrote in my last post we are looking at buying a few more conventional items and we are also spending the next month or so trying out some new to us grocery stores in our area. We have also decided to stick to a strict grocery budget. While it is going to be a challenge at first I know after the first few weeks we will find our groove and it will start to become more natural.

Our Current Grocery Budget & How We Came To It

So as I said above we have been spending $550-800 per month on groceries and I’ll be honest up until January it was definitely closer to the $800 per month side of things. We just can’t be spending that type of money right now. We have a baby (including some birth costs) and a trip to save up for so we really need to make cuts. So our current budget is $460. I know a huge difference from the $800, although for the past two months we have been more at $550-580 so not as big of a drop from that.

How did we decide on this? Well basically we decided meals should be on average $5 (or less) and with seven days in a week and three meals per day plus snacks.

($5 per meal x 7 days x 3 meals) + $10 for snacks = $115/week

Our grocery budget does not include alcohol, coffee or other household items (paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, toothpaste, ect) those all come from different budget categories. A meal for the most part serves 4-6 people so some days we have enough for leftovers for all of us and most days we just have enough leftovers for Neil to take to lunch. Also $5 is just an average; some meals cost us $10 and others will cost $2-3.

How are we going to make this work? That I tell you is the test of the month. We haven’t been on this low of a budget since it was just the  two of us but now we have a toddler who can eat just as much as we can and as this pregnancy progresses so does my appetite. In the end I really think we can make it work. Some of the steps we are taking to be successful include:

• Checking out the weekly flyers for the stores in our area.
• Taking advantage of coupons including Chinook Book coupons.
• Taking advantage of our monthly 10% we get for being members at our co-op.
• Menu planning and making a grocery list.
• Being flexible with our shopping ie. being prepared to swap out items on our list for less expensive items.
• Buying items in bulk to eat all week when it’s more economical. For example: buying a 3lb bag of organic apples for the week at $1.50/lb rather than buying a wide variety of fruit at $2-3/lb
• Eating less diverse meals throughout the week. This one is a bit of a follow up to the step above but by choosing to use the same ingredients in different ways throughout the week I really think we can save some money.
• Create simple meals most nights of the week. This could mean a variation on beans, greens and grains a few nights during the week. The thing is simple and cheap doesn’t have to mean unappetizing and unhealthy. This also doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun meal or two during the week either. Plan a night where you make a really awesome homemade pizza or a special themed meal but make the other nights of your week more simple so you can afford these fun nights.
• Buy less convince foods and novelty items.
• Make more from scratch when possible and when it makes sense. There is no doubt that homemade bread, chia pudding, bbq sauce, soups, spaghetti sauce, and so many other items can be made so much cheaper and healthfully at home rather than buying prepared.
• Only go to the grocery store once per week. The more we travel to the store the more we pick up and the more we spend. One trip to pick up everything on the list and that is it. We eat what we have and wait until the next shopping day comes around before buying more. This will hopefully prevent over spending and the wasting of food.

So this is how we are going to do it. Now the true test will be how successful we are in the end. Things to note while we are planning to stay in our $115/week budget this is an average for the week as we are prepared to spend more some weeks when staple items are needed and less other weeks when we are not in need of staples. I am planning to share our weekly grocery haul and will share our current weeks in the next day or two along with details about or first shopping trip to a new store.

Do you have a set grocery budget? How do you stick to your budget?

One of our family goals for the new year is to get ourselves on a solid budget. We have tried budgeting for years but half way through the month we seem to fall off our budget and then wonder where did all that money go? Now that we have second baby on the way and a pretty big (currently the location is a secret) trip coming up we are feeling a lot of pressure from ourselves to really stick to a budget. Over on Naturally Family we are discussing our budgeting process in more detail but I thought that I would share how we grocery budget here.

Throwback Photo: May 2013 Shopping at PSU Farmers Market

Grocery budgeting has really become a trial and error process for us. One of the big things for us is that we are still getting to know our new home and trying to find the best grocery stores. Up until now we have tended to only shop at Whole Foods, New Seasons (local store similar to Whole Foods), Trader Joe’s and a local co-op.  We shop at farmer’s markets in the spring, summer and fall as well.

The problem with shopping primarily at Whole Foods and New Seasons is that they can be expensive at times. Trader Joe’s while often less expensive is really hit or miss for me when it comes to produce and I know I’m not the only one who gets distracted by all the flashy items that they have for sale and end up walking out with more than I had planned. Our local co-op is nice however limited in the items they carry. That all being said we have yet to venture to the more conventional grocery stores or discount grocery stores, but over the next month or so that is going to change as we check out our other options and compare prices and quality of produce.

Currently 90% of what we buy is organic and while I prefer organic it’s not always the most budget friendly so we are choosing to make compromises when it comes to buying organic versus conventional produce. We are planning to avoid any produce that lands on the Dirty Dozen Plus list as these items contain the highest level of pesticides. We are comfortable with buying off the Clean Fifteen and as for anything else that kind of falls in the grey area/doesn’t make the list we will buy organic when possible.

Dirty Dozen Plus* 

(I say plus here because depending on what source you find the items can vary so anything that lands on a dirty dozen list is on our organics list)

1. Apples
2. Berries (Strawberries, raspberries, marion berries, blueberries)
3. Grapes
4. Celery
5. Peaches
6. Tomatoes
7. Cucumber
8. Nectarines
9. Bell Peppers and hot peppers
10. Greens (Kale, Collard, Chard, Spinach, Lettuce)
11. Summer Squash
12. Cherries
13. Potatoes
14. Fresh Sweet Peas

Clean Fifteen*

1. Asparagus
2. Avocado
3. Cabbage
4. Melon
5. Sweet Corn
6. Eggplant
7. Grapefruit
8. Kiwi
9. Mango
10. Mushrooms
11. Onions
12. Papaya
13. Pineapple
14. Frozen Sweet Peas
15. Sweet Potatoes

*Source

Luckily some of the items that are staples in our house (avocado, mushrooms, and onions) are on the Clean Fifteen list so we can start saving a bit by purchasing conventional. Now the next step in this process is a bit scary to me but we need to branch out and really evaluate our options. That next step is visiting some new grocery stores to really see what they have to offer. I decided to check reviews of stores online (taken with a grain of salt) to see which ones tend to get rated the best in hopes of setting us up for success. Then it’s time to see how prices and produce really stack up. Our first adventure will be this weekend and fingers crossed it will go well.

Where do you do most of your grocery shopping? Do you shop around or do you stick to the same store? Do you buy organic or conventional or both?

I realize now that the topic of Grocery Budgeting needs to be broken up into multiple parts because there is just so much to write about. Rather than write a lengthy post that you won’t read all of (and thank you to those of you who have read this far) I am going to continue our budgeting discussion another day.