When we were working hard to pay off debt, we were pretty good at sticking to one big monthly grocery shopping trip. Now that we live much closer to actual stores, we end up going more often, which can be dangerous. Our monthly shopping trip started to be not-so all-inclusive since we could easily get to the store (not an option when we lived in my in-laws’ basement in the boonies while we paid off debt).
I think I did a pretty good job of making our monthly shopping trip big enough to last the whole month. We’ll probably need a few things, but between what I bought and what we have in the pantry and freezer, we should be good! In fact we’re still eating from the 120 pounds of apples that we bought in January!
You might notice that there is no meat listed below in the list of what we bought. That’s not a mistake. And no, we’re not vegetarians (except my daughter). We get our meat in bulk (40-lb boxes) from Zaycon Fresh several times a year. We love the ground beef and the boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Saving money on meat, both by eating less of it and getting it in bulk at great prices, is one of the ways we keep such a low grocery budget for our family of seven. We also have chickens that give us plenty of eggs!
As I mentioned in February’s budget update and in Februray’s mid-month shopping trips video, we are making some changes to the way we eat. We’re not following any particular diet or anyone else’s “rules” about what we can and can’t eat.
The main healthy eating ideas I have in mind are:
Eat more produce, especially fresh produce
Eat intact grains and whole grains
Limit processed foods with added sugar and empty calories
In the video below, I’ll walk you through what we bought and what it cost. I’ll even show you how we got to grind our own peanut butter at the store! Turns out that’s nearly as cheap as the sweetened peanut butter we used to buy ($.09/oz vs $.10/oz)!
What we bought (and what it cost)
Winco = $100
- Frozen cauliflower $1.49 x 3 = $4.47
- Orange juice concentrate $.99 x 4 = $3.96
- Frozen blueberries $1.78 x 2 = $1.78
- Plain yogurt $2.13
- Adam’s crunchy peanut butter $5.48 x 3 = $16.44
- Adam’s creamy peanut butter $5.73
- Peanut butter- fresh (1.86 lb) $3.01
- Whole wheat maccaroni $1.08 x 4 = $4.32
- Whole wheat penne $.88 x 2 = $1.76
- Whole wheat spaghetti $.88 x 4 = $3.52
- Brown rice (2 lb) $1.29 x 4 = $5.16
- Brown rice- bulk (6.5 lb) $4.11
- Almonds- bulk (.71 lb) $3.66
- Sunflower seeds (raw)- bulk (.83 lb) $1.28
- Pumpkin seeds (raw)- bulk (.24 lb) $.57
- Steel cut oats- bulk (1.3 lb) $.83
- Corn meal- bulk (2.5 lb) $1.47
- Zucchini (2.6 lb) $2.04
- Green bell peppers $.35 x 4 = $1.00
- Asparagus (2.14 lb) $3.17
- Onions (3 lb) $1.28
- Wheat bread $1.68 x 10 = $16.80
- Olive oil $8.98
- Celery $.68 x 3 = $2.04
Sprouts = $48
- Strawberries (1 lb) $1.50 x 3 = $4.50
- Asparagus $.98/lb x 2.05 lb = $2.01
- Avocados $.88 x 3 = $2.64
- Bell peppers $.88 x 3 = $2.64
- Butternut squash $.88/lb x 3.5 lb = $3.07
- Cilantro $.34
- Clementines (2 lb bag) $1.88 x 4 = $7.52
- Cucumbers 3/$1 x 3 = $1.00
- Green onion $.34
- Green seedless grapes $.98 x 10.73 lb = $10.52
- Spaghetti squash $.88 x 3.92 lb = $3.45
- Roma tomatoes $.98 x 5.5 lb = $5.39
- Tomatoes $.88 x 3.14 lb = $2.76
- Quinoa $2.49 x .86 lb = $2.14
Sam’s Club = $182
- 2% milk $2.30 x 6 = $13.80
- Whole milk $2.50 x 2 = $5.00
- Sour cream (3 lb) $3.98 x 2 = $7.96
- Cottage cheese (3 lb) $4.38
- Butter (4 lb) $9.68 x 2 =$19.36
- Block cheese (2 lb) $4.98 x 2 =$9.96
- Shredded cheese (5 lb) $11.98
- Shredded mozarella (5 lb) $10.48
- Spinach (16 oz) $3.79 x 3 = $11.37
- Spring mix (16 oz) $3.79 x 3 = $7.58
- Iceberg/ Romaine Mix (2.5 lb) $2.98 x 2 = $5.94
- Bananas (3 lb) $1.38 x 8 = $11.04
- Mandarins (5 lb) $5.98
- Honey (2 x 40 oz) $14.98
- Baking Powder (60 oz) $5.69
- String Cheese (48 ct) $7.59 x 2 =$15.18
- Cranberry juice (2 x 96 oz) $6.98 x 2 = $13.96
- Raisins (60 oz) $6.98
What We’re Eating
So far the biggest changes in our meals compared to past months is that we’re eating more salads and more fresh fruit. We’re also eating brown rice instead of white and whole wheat pasta instead of the regular enriched pasta. So far everyone likes brown rice just fine, but the whole wheat pasta isn’t our favorite (that’s the polite way to say we don’t like it), but we’re eating it anyway.
Instead of fruit snacks or granola bars or other ready-made lunch snacks, I’m sending fruits/veggies and string cheese along with a PBJ or PBH sandwich. I’m using natural peanut butter on sandwiches. The only kid who has noticed (or at least mentioned anything) is my 2-year-old!
I’m not hardcore enough to cut out sugar completely. Anyone who knows me, knows I’ve got a serious sweet tooth! I am trying to limit it to just homemade treats, though.
So far eating healthy on a low grocery budget is working out well!
How about you?
- What are your best healthy eating tips?
- What other healthy things do you buy regularly?
- What do you do with quinoa?
I love it! As a dietitian I wish more people took a more simplistic approach to healthy eating. Eating more produce and less processed food is a great move! And limiting sweets to the homemade variety is one of my tactics too; if you are going to splurge it had better be worthwhile 🙂
I love Sprouts too; does your store give you the $.05 per reusable bag you use?
Do you make a meal plan before you go or do you make plans after you buy? I always see everyone meal planning, but I struggle with it because I like to shop for the best deals. I try to plan after I’ve shopped for the best deals, but then I find I’ll be missing one or two essential items to make a complete meal.
Do you have some sort of dinner meal plan? Just curious, I’m trying to slowly switch my family as well, trying to eliminate a lot of unnecessary carbs and processed foods. I’ve started making more of my own things as well. Just looking for new ideas!
Love these new segments thanks so much!
https://www.aheadofthyme.com/2016/02/quinoa-spinach-power-salad-with-lemon-vinaigrette/
Hi Stephanie! Great job with the new challenge this month. My family also strives to eat whole grains, fruits and veges. I also shop at Winco and recently bought the tricolored quinoa. I made the recipe linked at the top with the tri quinoa. Super easy and surprisingly flavourful.
One thing we also try to do is eat “clean” by staying away from the dirty dozen. It is the top 12 fruits and veges with the highest amount of pesticides. So we try to purchase those items organic when possible and budget allows. The list varies yearly depending on what….I don’t know. Maybe pests?
I love that you are committing to eating healthier yet on a budget. As a note, there are some other ancient grain, quinoa or rice pastas that you might want to try, if you don’t like whole wheat.
We had some grape tomatoes that were starting to shrivel, so I dehydrated them. That’s an option for some older fresh veggies.
Sugar is hard, hard, hard to give up completely. As a compromise, as you suggested, home make your snacks, and later, look into other, less processed sugars, like date sugar, coconut sugar, sucanat or Rapadura sugar. You can also use honey more than you would think, although the fact that it is liquid means it can’t always be a one to one substitute.
Yes! Dehydrating veggies is a great way to save them!
I don’t think I’ll ever give up sugar completely (I have a serious sweet tooth!), but we’re trying to at least be a little more intentional about the sugar we eat. 🙂
So interesting to see you shopping your side of the pond!
I could never eat peppers as I find them very difficult to digest but I think I have solved the problem now. I just pop them into the oven to roast when I am cooking something else. You can eitehr cook them whole or chop them up. Then you can add them to almost anything – soups, casseroles, omlettes etc.
Also those bags of small clementines and anything else that comes in those string bags. I keep the bags, cut off the labels and the metal end bits and make them into excellent pan scourers. They really do work!
Do you buy the cheese ready grated because you need to save time?
Thank you for sharing!
That’s a great tip on using the orange bags as pan scrubbers!!
Yes, the grated cheese is purely for convenience.
Hi there! How do you keep your producd fresh throughout the month? Do those bananas and salads last more than a week or so or will you reatock those again this month? Im loving your grocery posts!
Hi Desiree! I’m hoping that the produce and dairy will pretty well cover the month. We generally don’t have a problem with things spoiling, though this is more salad greens than I’m used to, so we’ll see. I’m trying to have a salad everyday for lunch and also a salad with dinner. My husband can eat a giant mixing bowl of salad without even realizing it. I think it’s virtually impossible for him to fill up on salad.
If I notice the spinach starting to go bad I will freeze it for smoothies, so as long as I catch it before it’s bad it won’t be wasted. Last month we still had some spinach that was still good at the end of the month.
We go through the bananas in about 2 weeks, so they won’t last all month. If there are some that get over ripe then I either make banana bread right away or peel and freeze the bananas for smoothies or to make banana bread later.
As for the grapes, my kids would gobble them up in two days if I would let them, but I’m trying to make them last by putting some in lunches every day. If by chance there are extra, they make a fun frozen treat (just wash and freeze, then eat frozen) and also work in smoothies.
If the asparagus starts to go, I chop it up and freeze it to use in soups.
So *hopefully* we won’t be wasteful, but this definitely is more fresh produce than we usually get! 🙂 I’ll keep you updated!
I am loving your videos, especially your cute kids. I applaud your less processed eating efforts and making videos with kids in tow. It’s really tough to eat healthy and try to save money so good job!
Oh, and the quinoa. It can be used anywhere you would use rice. I use it in soups that call for rice then use 1/2 rice, 1/2 quinoa. I also make quinoa chili bowls with quinoa on bottom, ground beef/turkey flavored with chili powder, and salsa on top. It’s also good for breakfast flavored with things you would use in oatmeal like cinnamon, raisins, honey, etc. Quinoa has a different sort of texture, that some of my family doesn’t like, so often I will substitue 1/2 quinoa with oats or rice.
Lots of great ideas! Thank you! I’m excited to try them!
Thanks Jennifer! 🙂
Great job! We love quinoa and one of our favorite recipes is “little quinoa patties” from Martha Stewart. Google it and give it a shot-a delicious and healthier alternative to a potato pancake type meal.
Thanks Kamille! I’ll check it out!
You have a lot of fresh items in this monthly shop. How will you keep them from spoiling? I’m thinking about all those bananas, grapes, milk and dairy items and fresh produce?
We generally don’t have a problem with things spoiling, though this is more salad greens than I’m used to, so we’ll see. I’m trying to have a salad everyday for lunch and also a salad with dinner. My husband can eat a giant mixing bowl of salad without even realizing it. I think it’s virtually impossible for him to fill up on salad.
If I notice the spinach starting to go bad I will freeze it for smoothies, so as long as I catch it before it’s bad it won’t be wasted. Last month we still had some spinach that was still good at the end of the month.
We go through the bananas in about 2 weeks, so they won’t last all month. If there are some that get over ripe then I either make banana bread right away or peel and freeze the bananas for smoothies or to make banana bread later.
I put some of the milk in the freezer. We usually don’t have a problem getting to the milk, but if we do, here are the things I do with milk that’s about to go bad: https://www.sixfiguresunder.com/almost-expired-milk/
As for the grapes, my kids would gobble them up in two days if I would let them, but I’m trying to make them last by putting some in lunches every day. If by chance there are extra, they make a fun frozen treat (just wash and freeze, then eat frozen) and also work in smoothies.
If the asparagus starts to go, I chop it up and freeze it to use in soups.
So *hopefully* we won’t be wasteful, but this definitely is more fresh produce than we usually get! 🙂 I’ll keep you updated!
Statue that spinach that’s going bad or throw it for a few minutes on a sheet at the tail end of roasting other veggies! Yum!
Don’t forget, the chickens will eat anything that goes bad! We have sheep who get all our spoiled food – anything without meat in it.
Yep! We never throw food in the trash can. Any table scraps or bad food goes in the “chicken bucket” and gets fed to our chickens and ducks. We are eternally amazed at how they turn our gross scraps into yummy eggs! 🙂
I love the idea of keeping chickens for eggs it will definitely help to cut the cost of monthly grocery.
How do you keep your apple so that they don’t go bad quickly?
Mine they don’t last the long, I must be storing them the wrong way.
Hi Cathy! We have an additional fridge that we keep our produce in, so the apples have been in the fridge, which helps them last longer. Another difference may be that I got them at a local orchard (although at the very end of the season, well technically after the season in January), so they may have a longer life because they didn’t have to be shipped from who-knows-where to get to the grocery store. But we keep apples from the grocery store in the fridge for a long time and they stay nice too. We got Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious. The Grannys stay crisper longer than the Goldens, but they are both still pretty good. When they start to get mealy, I will sauce them or slice and freeze to throw into smoothies.
Also storing them in water in the fridge makes them last even longer!
My favorite cooking blog is Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, and she has loads of delicious (and healthy) recipes that use quinoa. Definitely worth checking out if you’re not familiar with her stuff already!
We’ve bought a lot more produce in recent years too—I just have to be super mindful of regularly planning it into our meals so it doesn’t go bad, esp. when we buy in bulk! I make sure to do a good mix between fruits and vegetables that keep for quite a long time (apples, carrots, potatoes, etc.) and produce that doesn’t (mixed greens, berries, etc.). Good luck on your new quest to eating healthier!
Ooo I will take a look! I’ve made some of her delicious desserts before! 🙂 Thanks Torrie!