And here’s the absolute (shameful, yes) truth. I’ve actually cut our food budget by MORE than half!!!! And as embarrassed as I am to admit this…it turned out to be over 70%!!!! It’s ok, you can gasp! Two months ago I set out to completely re-evaluate and re-work our finances and our budget. And I shared a lot of the things I was doing wrong in this post here. What I found was costs due to conveniences were killing our finances! And the number one cost and waste in our household was around food. I wasn’t surprised that a huge portion of our budget went to food, but I had no idea just how much was! But before I dive into those numbers, let me rewind a bit…and if you’re short on time…scroll to the end of this post to see how much I’ve been able to now get our weekly food budget to along with specific shopping lists!
10 years ago, at the beginning of our careers and when Brian and I got married, we had a weekly food budget of $50 (that even included all of our toiletries and eating out). We followed Dave Ramsey’s Envelope system religiously and we intentionally stuck to our budget. During those early (good ‘ole days), we dreamed of our future and all of our hopes and dreams. Early on we both agreed that being “rich” to us meant being able to go to the grocery store without looking at prices. (within reason, I’m not talking about expensive wine and caviar here, but just being able to go to the grocery store weekly and buying what you want without sweating the final price). Those early years led to us being able to buy and renovate our first home along with other good financial decisions. And through the years, we’ve been extremely lucky with careers, now making substantially more than we did 10 years ago. We made it to our own personal definition of “rich”. (Now, again, I don’t mean to imply we are actually “rich”, but we’re so fortunate to have a family salary that is comfortable.) And that leads me to this next bit.
The past five years have brought on a lot of change to our household…a new (old fixer-upper) house, 3 kids, lifestyle changes…health crisis’…job changes and a whole lot of life. I know all of you can relate to the changes and challenges life can bring. And like I shared in this post, all that change can easily lead to a ostrich bird mentality (putting your head in the sand) and like I found out, we ended up in a financial place that was never intended. Our food budget had gotten out of control and last month I was determined to figure out the root of the problem. First thing I did was comb through our spending (looking at bank statements, etc from last year)…this one hurt! And I was shocked. By making purchases out of convenience…going to the grocery store multiple times a week…and eating out regularly…not only were we wasting a ton of money, but we were also being extremely wasteful in the huge amounts of food I was throwing out weekly, mainly due to grocery shopping without an actual plan and grocery shopping with good intentions of cooking, but then never using the food before it spoiled. This hands down is the thing I’m most ashamed of. In a time where food-insecurity is a real crisis…here I was being gluttonous and wasteful. It was a hard truth to face. But…in facing that truth, I was able to change it. So, last month I was on a mission. I scoured the internet for promises of cutting your family’s grocery budget, saving at the grocery store, and how to feed a family for under blank amount. I looked up new recipes…healthy recipes…frugal recipes. I educated myself on coupon cutting…the pros and cons to bulk stores like Costco & Sam’s Club…and more ways to save. Some methods were simple…some were over-complicated. Some made realistic promises. Other’s promised the unattainable. It all became a bit overwhelming and what I quickly learned was that one “method” may or may not be the right fit for our family and our personal needs and specific situation. I knew in order to be successful and sustainable at this…I needed to make the changes that were right for us. And this is what I did to get us there…
First I got very real about how much we were spending on food (looked at last year’s spending). And wrote it all down. On average I was spending $300 a week at the grocery store. On work days, Brian was eating lunch out averaging $45 a week and me and the kids would hit the drive through a couple times a week, averaging about $40 a week. Then as a family or for date night, we were eating out or getting takeout for an average of $60 a week. We were averaging a total of $445 a week on food. With a total of…you ready for this (it’s disgusting), $1,780 a month on food. WHAT!!! HOW?! WHY?! And let me make something clear. While earlier I stated that our version of “rich” meant going to the grocery store and not looking at prices…at $1,780 a month we should have been living on expensive wine & caviar, but we weren’t. And what was even worse, was realizing we were know spending so much of our monthly budget on food, that it was taking away from other things we’ve deemed important to our family…savings, retirement account, kid’s college funds, money for vacation, etc. Essentially we were living beyond our means with our food budget!!! And by ostrich birding and ignoring our finances…the spending clearly had gotten out of control. And while I know all of us have different family salaries and budgets and expenses…so many of you have reached out saying you too have found yourself living beyond your means. Whether that means living pay check to pay check…or simply “wasting” money away on convenient purchases…or if that means going into debt over your spending. I think what we can all agree on is the importance of living within our means and intentionally spending the money we’ve go, regardless of what that budget is. So, while I know my family’s personal budget may be more or less than your own…and our specific situation (a family of 5) may be very different than your own, I hope this post helps inspire and motivates you to make the changes you’ve been wanting and needing to make.
So, once I knew HOW much I was spending, it was time to find ways to cut our budget. The decision was very easy for us to take eating out off the table all together…at least for the time being while we get better control over our finances. So…with eating out off the table…I was determined to figure out what a reasonable budget was for our Family of 5…how much could I spend to feed 2 adults, 2 five year olds and a 1 year old baby (who eats more than my five year olds) 3 healthy meals a day (plus snacks), seven days a week? Early on, I also decided that while cutting our costs was imperative, I wasn’t willing to cut back on the healthy quality of that food…i.e., I wasn’t willing to feed my family processed ramon noodles 7 nights a week just to cut the budget. So, the easiest first step for me, was to evaluate where I was spending the money. I did consider places like Costco and Sam’s Club. And I actually had memberships a couple years ago and what I found for us is that because we still have a young family of kids, we were never quite able to get through all the bulk sizes before they went bad. And Brian and I prefer variety, and weren’t quite willing to eat the same meals day after day. So, that’s what brought me to look at “discount” grocery stores and compare prices to the items I buy weekly from my go-to grocery store. Which led to this series of posts I shared a month ago on Instagram Stories:
What that initial post and trip to Aldi taught me, is that there is huge savings to be had simply by price comparing. Now, a lot of you have since reached out saying that driving around to multiple shops isn’t ideal. And I get that!!! If you’re just saving a couple bucks, then it doesn’t make since in time and gas money. But, what I found is that for me, there are HUGE savings in going to multiple places…and by now being more organized…I share by grocery lists below…I only spend a couple hours Saturday morning doing all my shopping. And surprisingly that is a FRACTION of the time I use to spend in the grocery store! After that first trip to Aldi I was intrigued. So on a following trip, I filled my basket with most of the typical items I bought from my regular grocery store…
Typically, all this would cost me easily $170. At Aldi, it totaled to around $75!!! That’s almost 60% off! (a lot of you shared that you were able to cut costs this same way at Walmart). That’s what got me hooked and also made it apparent to me that going a little out of my way to another grocer was worth it for the savings I was getting. Now, I also want to be clear…while so many of you swear by Aldi and do all your grocery shopping there…that’s awesome and wonderful and no judgement here…what I found for me was that the truth was, not everything is cheaper. Name brands especially not. And while some stuff was cheaper, certain items had way more preservatives than I was comfortable with. And some things I just wasn’t willing to change…like my organic Chicken from Publix…when bought on sale or BOGO it was comparable or even cheaper than Aldi’s. Plus I just love Spring Mountain Farms Chicken and Greenwise Chicken. So for me, that’s not changing. Over the past two months, I have experimented with items from Aldi. Some items I’ve found and loved. Other’s not as much. There produce prices are amazing, and I’ve come to love it, however it does come with some give and take. The two things I’ve learned about Aldi’s produce is A) you’ve got to get their early for the best picks and B) you’ve got to be ultra picky when picking out their produce. One week the eggplants were completely rotting…the next they were gorgeous. So, I can never totally count on all my produce from there. But, like I share above, some items I can count on consistently and are the exact same as other places…like the avocados, but some items are off brand and different labels. The other thing to note, is that the produce does fluctuate in pricing…some weeks the avocados are $.33 each, other times $.69 each. But in that case they’re still typically half or more than half the price of my normal grocer. SO…while ALDI is awesome, and I’m finding great things and saving a lot of money there, it’s not perfect. After 2 months, I’ve found the items that fit for me and my family and I consistently purchase each week (that list and pricing is below).
So, while I’m still making changes to our grocery list and still evaluating what’s working and not in our budget. I’m thrilled to share that this past month, I’ve gotten our food budget to $125 a week tops!!!! And by storing fresh produce and leftovers in these food safe containers I’m able to greatly extend freshness and longevity of the food we are buying!! One week, I spent just $35 on groceries due to food longevity and leftovers!!! But realistically, I think it’s very fair that our weekly food budget be $125 tops. That’s over a 70% savings from what I was doing last year!!!! And here’s the even better part…the past 6 weeks we’re eating better, and cleaner and healthier than ever before! The meals we’re making (you can see those here) are so satisfying and fun and yummy! Brian and I have lost 20 lbs thus far…and meal times as a family are enjoyable again! In addition to price comparing to lower grocery costs, I’ve also learned the value of an organized pantry and important items to always have on hand. Staples like butter in the fridge and frozen peas and frozen corn in the freezer. In the pantry I now always have these items stocked (to pair with our weekly fresh produce) to ensure there’s always something yummy to make:
And for the part I’m sure you’re all really wanting to know…what does my weekly grocery list and budget look like. Below are all the things I’m buying weekly (keep in mind prices do fluctuate, so the prices below are the highest prices paid, typically they were a bit less…and prices at your stores and areas may vary as well). And also, I prefer mixing it up from week to week by designating a "theme" to the menu items…Mexican one week…then change out the tortillas for Naan bread for a Mediterranean inspired weekly menu. And by changing out the protein…salmon, chicken, etc…not only are we getting variety, but also getting healthy, nourishing food for our bodies. You get the jist. But I’d say 98% of these items have been consistent the past 4 weeks!
PHEW!!! That was a long post! Thoughts?! Questions?!! Inspired?! Exhausted?! I’d love for you to share in the comments below!