Hopefully nobody minds me bringing an old thread back to life. I thought I'd add some random points since I started this thread many months ago:
When I first posted, I had only a rough idea of what our actual monthly grocery costs were, since my pre-2011 expense tracking wasn't as precise as it is now. But for 2011, our average monthly grocery cost is $830/month. That includes $1054 for joining a CSA, which we've only been getting food from for a few weeks now (lots left to go). Subtracting out the CSA expense brings us down to "only" $654/month. Note that is pure
grocery expense---it doesn't include eating out, which we do probably once a week (that gets filed under "entertainment" expense).
Not a very Mustachian number, I know. June was our cheapest month so far, at a hair over $500. I attribute this to a couple things: (1) we had a full month of CSA deliveries, reducing the need to hit the grocery store(s); (2) we didn't have any guests staying with us last month. My wife and I realized this latter item is a big factor, and could arguably be categorized under "entertainment" as well. We have an 18-month-old; both sets of grandparents live 150 miles away but still want to see their granddaughter often, so it seems like we have weekend visitors staying with us at least once a month. To keep costs down, with guests, we do most (if not all) meals in-house, but that's two more adults for which we need to supply several full meals.
As of April, we've eliminated Whole Foods entirely. Food now comes from the CSA, Costco and Jewel in order of preference.
We're trying to relax our meat-heavy tastes. On the one hand, I'd love to eat (almost) all meat all the time, but on the other, I realize it's crazy expensive and also impractical from a global food supply/environmental perspective. The CSA has been helpful getting us to fill up on a lot more "good" carbs (such as leafy greens).
I think my appetite plays a big part in this. I should keep a food diary, but here's what my supper looked like from last night:
- 14 oz organic milk from costco
- two grilled beer brats on buns w/grilled onions and green peppers from jewel
- a big salad with chard, beets and peppers from the CSA + homemade dressing
- a pile of grilled and seasoned potatoes from the CSA (basted in olive oil)
Plus a few random unfinished bites from my daughter's plate. :) My wife at a very similar meal, sans the milk, and probably a smaller potato portion.
A few nights ago, I grilled chicken kebabs (half chicken, half peppers) and lamb steaks. Meat was from the CSA (not sure about the peppers). I had a whole kebab skewer, a lamb steak, big pile of whole wheat "rice pasta" (pasta cut small in the shape of rice) with a healthy amount of butter in it, a massive pile of green beans sauteed in olive oil, and my big glass of milk. Wife's meal was similar, sans the lamb steak and milk.
Having typed that all out, it looks like we eat very luxurious meals. What do you think? Do you think that is a lot of food for one meal? The quantity is typical for me, and it's not like I walk away stuffed and barely able to move. It feels like the right amount of food for me.
I saw someone else in another thread talking about the costs of feeding two adolescent boys. My appetite impressed my friends in high school and college; I've always had a big appetite even by teenage boy standards.
Regarding TVA: according to
Wikipedia, it's a soy-based product. I was under the impression that soy protein is "incomplete" for human muscle-building purposes, something about not having all the required amino acids. I don't have any proof of this, that's just "what I've heard", i.e. whey protein (which I believe is made from cow's milk) is better than soy protein.
It's been suggested many times on this site to get extra protein in the form of powders. I do this, but I'm hesitant to do it too much, since most of them contain a lot of artificial sweetener. I haven't tried unsweetened whey protein, but I've heard bad things... they don't have such a thing at our local Costco.
FWIW, this is the CSA we joined:
Grass Is Greener Gardens.