My family spends a lot on food. i have read the how to kill your $1k grocery bill post (here for a refresher https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/03/29/killing-your-1000-grocery-bill/) and several other posts about it here in the forums. i am having a hard time reconciling how healthy (or unhealthy) food options are when so little money is being spent. Not that quality food has to be expensive but quality has a price. Food is medicine, and i want to be healthy now, ensuring a long and happy life not just retirement.
I guess my question is how do folks with small grocery budgets feel about the food they eat? Do foods with labels saying organic, grass fed, pasture raised appear on the foods you buy? Are some foods eliminated from your diets like wheat, white potatoes, white rice, pasta, industrial and processed meats and dairy? Are you following a specific diet like Keto, Mediterranean, Low Carb, Gluten Free, Vegetarian or Vegan, how does that affect your grocery bill?
Personally we buy organic grass fed meats, free range organic eggs, grass fed milk, lots of salads, and vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds and fruit. i tend toward the lower carb and gluten free diets. i think our average monthly grocery bill is nearly $900 (from personal capital) for a family of 4 - 2 adults and two small kids.
i am not trying to kick the hornets nest with this post, just wondering how others think about food
well - this is awkward.......
When I first joined the forum, I got a lot of grief for my finances in general and food budget in particular. I made some changes saved a good percentage of the food budget.....and quickly gained about 5 pounds in one month. I did a complain thread and was essentially poopooed!
I secretly went back to my usual eating/budget, and I never fessed up to that. :| I have not lost those 5 pounds, but I haven't gained any more either.
Being a busy professional who is a middle-aged woman with a stable weight that I don't have to do anything about is a really important, quality of life issue for me. I don't currently have time or money for any real exercise routine - which is super bad, I know, but I am super busy and don't have any extra money floating around either! I'll have some down time (hopefully!) at year's end and I can try to figure out something better/exercise routine, plan to lose those 5 pounds, etc.
But! I'm never giving up my organic produce again!
Boy can I relate to so much of this! I remember when I first started getting frugal, in 2001. I realized that 2 adults were spending $460/month on groceries, and $400/month eating out, and we were fat.
I spent time and energy losing weight and learning to cook and saving money. It was basically like having a part time job - it's a lot of mental load. Fast forward 18 years and two kids...when I went to lose baby weight, both times, I basically had to throw the budget out the window. There was NO WAY I could work a full time job, take care of babies/kids, count calories, AND keep my budget ultra low.
While I still keep an "eye" on the budget, we spend about $165/week on food ($715/month). I could totally decrease that if I really wanted to, but why? I have managed to maintain a stable, healthy weight (except maybe an extra 5 lbs right now). I am middle aged. I have limitations in my life. My husband could stand to lose about 10, but he's an adult, and I'm not his mother, and I cannot take on that mental load either.
We don't eat much meat - the bulk of our budget goes to produce. I have two CSA/produce delivery services each week. It's important to me. It's local, mostly organic. I can afford to support local farmers and get great produce. It also does not come wrapped in plastic, so win/win!
Even though my kids get free lunch at school, it's a struggle to get the budget any lower. I eat gluten free (not celiac, but 2 years ago I started having terrible digestive reactions to gluten/ wheat. Horrible. Ugh. Maybe it's the glyphosate, but whatever.) I don't eat paleo but I also don't each many carbs each day, prioritizing produce, some fat, some protein.
I do like occasional (2x a month) wild salmon, plenty of healthy nuts, real, actual olive oil - these things are not cheap. I'm okay with that.
Also: my budget is food only. No paper products (I don't track those), no alcohol, no dog food. Just food.
Remember, it's not just WHAT you eat (more meat/ more produce/ organic/ local), it's HOW MUCH you eat (I have two boys, and I exercise an hour a day), it's HOW YOU SHOP (to really save money, start with a price book and you may very well have to look at flyers and shop at multiple stores, which takes time), and WHERE YOU LIVE. This is huge, depending on if you have multiple stores near you or not, or if you live in an expensive city/ Hawaii/ Canada, if you have access to cheaper or Mexican or Asian grocery stores, etc.
@Malkynn I will have to try a version of that pot pie with a gluten free topping, or maybe a cornmeal topping. It sounds delish.