The amount of money that we spend on groceries each month has really been weighing on me lately. I read blogs where families of 8 eat on $400 or less a month, while our little family of 4 (soon to be 5 :) spends a shocking amount more than that. I don't like it! In addition to paying for the birth of our next-born (up front, and in cash, insurance will reimburse us after the birth) and always trying to increase our savings while paying off our debt, this just isn't going to work for me anymore!
I read this blog post and realized my main problem seems to be that I make approximately 573 trips to the grocery store every week to "just grab one thing" I need for a recipe. My good intentions all fall to the floor when I end up in the check-out with a cart full of things that we didn't have to have. If I'm not in the store, then I won't be spending money, right? Insert my "bi-weekly shopping" plan here. I make one good size grocery store trip on Friday, pick up my bountiful baskets on the following Saturday (more on that later) and that is it! NO MORE TRIPS to the store for 2 weeks! And all must be under $200. The planning/OCD freak part of me is all kinds of excited about this.
Here is what 2 weeks worth of groceries looks like for our little family.
$20 for meat, $20 for snacks (maybe got more than I should have...I'll adjust as I get better) and enough fridge and pantry staples to make the 14 dinners I have planned, plus 14 breakfasts, lunches, and 28 snacks for 4 ppl. Wow.
...and here is the bulk of our fresh produce score from BB
I cannot rave enough about Bountiful Baskets. This morning was my first trip, and I am hooked! You go to the website on Monday and make your "contribution" to the coop ($15 for a basket of conventional fruit/veggies and $25 for certified organic.) Then you can do add-ons, like our 5 loaves of organic 9-grain bread for $10. The coop is all run by volunteers, and everyone at our location was so friendly and sweet, what a great experience! I picked up our big basket and attempted to waddle to the car, trying to maneuver the little basketball I'm sporting up front while keeping up with my other two babies behind me. A man runs up next to me, puts down his own basket, takes mine, and carries it to my car. It made my day, I love seeing that chivalry isn't completely dead, and it made me so happy that I (obviously) cried when I got in my car because I'm a big giant ball of pregnant emotions. Whatever.
After all that, I came home and washed/put away everything, and tried making Kale chips for the first time. They are G O O D. Love them. My midwife will be so pleased :)
I'll update towards the end of the 2-week stretch to let you know how we did! I'm feeling pretty confident!
There is no way that you could possibly know just how proud I am of you and your little family - and just how much I do love all of you.
ReplyDeleteAunt DI
Yay for menu planning! I do two weeks at a time and if we need anything random, ya know, like wine... ;) Taylor goes not me! Ha! I spend around $100 for our family of 3 for 2 weeks, sometimes $150...depends on how elaborate my meals are! I love it! And I also do one "household and bodily" shopping trip once a month! Economy size diapers, all the cleaning supplies etc...works amazingly! Why don't we live next door to each other haha
ReplyDeleteI am proud of you for making the effort of stretching your money. I assume that you are taking advantage of grocery coupons and also sales that the stores have. I might add that you do comparison shopping between stores. Love you all!!!
ReplyDeleteDaddy Joe.
Thank you guys, love ya'll too! @Meg, that's impressive! I've read about families our size doing $200 a month...but that requires lots of coupons, and I'm not sure I'm ready to go there yet, haha. There is a house next door to us for sale..come get it!!! :)
ReplyDelete