Spending too much on food....HELP!

amother

Wine

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 1:13 am

I need to rein in spending in general and it seems our biggest expense after mortgage is food.

I am spending probably $2000 monthly on food. We are a family of 5 and we hardly eat out. I see people posting on here that they spend $400 a month feeding families larger than mine and I am floored.

So, I do cook healthfully - I try to use organic produce, eggs, and meats as much as available. I buy very little packaged/ processed stuff. And I can't do pasta based meals (or grains or potatoes as the bulk of the meal) because DH and I are always dieting. Also, we do entertain quite a lot on shabbos so that adds to the cost too. Also we eat minimal dairy since 2 kids and I get really congested from it. 2 kids will eat beans, which seems like a great low cost protein option, but 1 will not, so that makes using them difficult.

I know I am never going to get down to $400/ month with the way we eat but clearly we can reduce greatly with some thought and planning. I just absolutely do not know where to start. How do I start to make a real dent in this? I have heard people say that menu planning ahead helps with costs, but honestly I've never done it and I don't get how it makes any difference?

So any tips??? If I could shave off $500 a month I'd be quite pleased.

Wanted to add that one issue is we throw away a lot of food which is upsetting. Not so much leftovers - those do tend to get eaten. But produce that goes bad before being used. If I buy a lot to last several days, things do go bad. If I only buy as needed I am wasting time shopping all the time and everyone complains we don't have their favorite fruits and veggies to snack on. Is there a trick to keeping produce good longer?

seeker

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 2:35 am

Sorry to break it to you but having organic everything is a major killer.

Produce - some things go bad faster than others. Figure out which those are, and buy only a little of those at a time. You'll still have the others to tide you over between trips. You will spend more time produce shopping but because you'll only be picking up those few things that spoil fast, it won't be so much time, you can just go wherever's closest or most convenient and pick up those couple of things. You only need to do that once or twice a week, assuming you're shopping for everything else about once a week too. Also, google tips on how to store produce, that can help things last longer.
So, for example, I've only bought enough tomatoes to last 2-3 days because they tend to go bad faster. But if we run out of tomatoes before my next shopping run, we'll just eat more cucumbers, carrots, and frozen or canned veggies which I always have plenty of because they don't spoil easily.

Amarante

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 3:04 am

Organic is very expensive I would determine which products make sense to organic and which don't as there are lists of recommendations. For example, berries are important to buy organic.

As to throwing out prodice, that is a huge pit. Try to be more disciplined by planning menus to use up produce that you have bought. If you find that produce is going bad, do something that uses it up. You can make a veggie soup for example easily that can be frozen. Or make a stew that uses up veggies and also can be frozen. Freeze individual portions and you will have lunches or quick dinners. There are many diet friendly recipes for stews and soups.

You should also be a little cold hearted when people complain that their favorite fruit is not available. Tough luck as they can eat an apple or a tangerine. I mention these specifically as it is winter and they last a long time in the fridge and are restively inexpensive.

The obvious is to shop sales and avoid obscenely expensive out of season produce.

There are also produce keepers that keep stuff for a longer period of time. Even fragile stuff like berries can last a long period of time when stored correctly. I buy berries at the farmers market and the woman taught me to layer the berries with a paper towel between each layer which keeps them drier and prevents touching each other. Amazing how much longer they last but even so, berries towards the end of the cycle might not be pristine to be eaten completely fresh but are still great sliced with yogurt or in cereal.

Your not eating dairy is a red herring as dairy meals are actually mor expensive than meat. Or at least when I compare the price of good cheese to chicken.

naomi2

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 4:34 pm

making a menu and shopping list weekly will definitely cut down on the produce wasted.
shobbos is very expensive
and eating meat or chicken every night is also really expensive.
try to make two nights a week cheaper meals. baked potato with tuna and veggies. tuna patties, frozen telapia, omelettes and pancakes, sandwiches, salad with cut up chicken pieces, stir fry with chicken and veggies. all those are cheap and have plenty of protein

amother

Aqua

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 5:15 pm

We are also always dieting and eat healthy, no takeout and spend $1400 for a family of 4 big eaters. This includes cleaning products and paper goods. We shop once a week (or divide shopping into two for fresh milk, bread, produce but still stick to the same $350 budget each week combined between the two runs). This means I have to think long and hard while making the lists and cross things off, add on cheaper alternatives if I'm running low on my budget. Shopping once a week and having the budget in place keeps things focused. Before that it was like a runaway train. Each time I needed a few kirbies the stop at the grocery cost me an extra $35.

Miri7

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 5:57 pm

Buy produce twice a week. Make a note of how much you buy and what goes bad or gets wasted. Then you can get and idea of how much to buy.

Find a couple of recipes that use up leftover produce - soups, gumbo, stir fry. Cook these to use up the produce before it goes bad

Only eat in season fruits and vegetables when possible.

We do things like tacos once a week - fairly inexpensive and easy, and people can add the items they like.

Raisin

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 6:14 pm

if you are dieting maybe part of your exercise routine can be walking to the store more often to pick up fresh produce. bh within the last couple of years 2 or 3 excellent grocery stores opened near my house. I overbuy much less since I know I can easily get more. In fact, I often walk to the further store (ten minute walk) so I get a good walk in.

make bean based dishes for the people who can eat them. The one who can't make sure to make extra chicken or meat the night before.