Cutting Grocery Costs Without Sacrificing Good Foods

Over the last year we’ve been working steadily at cutting our grocery bill in half. In the years before we followed a plan and a strict budget, we easily spent $600 - $700 a month on groceries. Now our monthly total is closer to around $315 and includes many organic products as well as all our paper products like toilet paper, saran wrap and dishwasher detergent etc. I budget $325 a month for groceries and household products but the last few months I have ended up with leftover money. Let me preface this by saying that we haven’t sacrificed quality of foods, nor do we eat cheap meat or boxed/packaged foods. I also don’t cut coupons for food items because coupons are usually for packaged foods which we don’t buy. We eat healthy, balanced meals made from scratch. Yes, it takes more time to prepare all our foods from scratch but the health and financial benefits are worth it. I prefer to do the work in the kitchen to keep my grocery bill down so I can put the money towards other financial goals.

Here’s an overview of how we spend our grocery $ and some tips that have worked for us to cut our costs in half.

Milk: $50/month.

I buy milk weekly at a local grocery store. I’ve recently switched from locally produced, hormone free milk to organic milk and we use about 3 gallons a week. In addition to using it to drink, I use milk to make yogurt and kefir smoothies.

Fresh Produce: $50/month

I know it isn’t the same everywhere in the country, but here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon we have a great farm store called EZ Orchards that sells locally grown (when possible) fresh produce for prices much lower than the grocery stores. I hit EZ Orchards twice a month, buying enough for two weeks at a time and I usually come away with two or three full bags of produce for about $22 each time. I stock up on apples (12 per week), oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, avocados, broccoli, lettuce, celery, carrots, kale, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc.

Bulk Foods: $60

I hit Winco once a month for all the bulk foods I need for the month. This includes butter, flour, bulk dried beans like black and pinto, molasses, popcorn, turkey sausage and ground turkey, pasta, mayo/mustard, peanut butter, tea, coconut milk, powdered milk, chocolate chips and any seasonings or spices. I also buy ziplock bags, saran wrap and aluminum foil at Winco.

Costco: $75

We get coffee, spinach (2 boxes a month), 1 big bag shredded cheese and 1 lb loaves of cheddar (3 per month), whole wheat tortillas, organic raisins, walnuts, flax or almonds (only 1 of these per month), tortilla chips, dishwasher detergent and TP.

Azure Standard: $20 - $25

If you aren’t familiar with this wonderful food co-op that delivers direct to customers or through a local community contact person. Azure Standard is a great way to buy bulk organic foods for low-cost. I try to buy one bulk food item per month. For example this month I bought organic pizza sauce. I spent $23 and it gave me enough sauce for almost a year. Last month I bought a 25 lb bag of organic steel cut oats (our breakfast of choice) which will last us five months or more.

Local Farms: $20

Honey ($8/month), eggs ($12/month). In the summer our local farmer's market (above) is a favorite place to final local farm produce, meats, eggs and cheese. In the summer I increase our budget in this area in order to preserve the summer bounty. In the off-season I buy raw honey and eggs direct from local farms.

Whole Foods/Health Food Store: $50

I usually try to hit a health food store like Whole Foods monthly for items like free range chicken, nitrate free bacon or deli meat, organic maple syrup, organic pasta sauce and applesauce.

Total Monthly Budget: Around $325

Cost Cutting Tips:

• I plan a month’s worth of meals before the start of a new month, listing out all the ingredients needed and shop Costco, Whole Foods, Winco and Azure Standard food-co once a month to buy the necessary ingredients. I shop for dairy and produce every week or every two weeks. For the month I only plan on about 18 dinners since we often eat leftovers, eat with friends or have meals-on-the run like quesadillas or food from the freezer.

• We don’t eat packaged or processed foods, nor do we buy convenience foods like boxed crackers, yogurts in individual cups, ready-made hummus or chicken nuggets. We make all these sorts of things from scratch, usually enough for a month at a time and then freeze them to use all month.

• We don’t eat dry cereal for breakfast. Cereal is expensive and not as healthy as homemade sourdough English muffins, toast with scrambled eggs, hot oatmeal w/ flax, pancakes, yogurt with fruit, etc. We vary the breakfasts we feed our girls but S. and I prefer soaked and sprouted steel cut oats with nuts, raisins, chopped apples and cinnamon.

• We make all bread goods from scratch except tortillas. I make whole wheat sandwich bread 1-2 times a week, pita bread (for sandwiches) once a week, sourdough English muffins monthly, dinner rolls, muffins, crackers, granola and granola bars, etc. weekly.

• We use dry beans instead of canned. I resisted switching to dry beans instead of canned for a long time because the first time I made them they came out mushy. But I’ve since learned how to prepare them the right way and I love the health (less sodium) and financial benefits of using dry beans bought in bulk. I have also started soaking and spouting my beans a few days before cooking for the health benefits. I haven’t yet converted to organic beans but I’d like to once I can figure out how I can afford to with my given budget.

• We use powdered milk in all recipes that call for milk like waffles, pancakes, etc.

• I don’t clip coupons unless I see a great deal. But I do shop the loss-leaders at select grocery stores like Safeway where you can get some incredible deals if you watch for them. Usually this will be for splurge items like ice cream, cereal (on rare occasions) or special chips or crackers.

• We don’t eat meat at every dinner. We usually have meat twice a week and beans, eggs or tofu as the protein the other nights. I also try to stretch meat into two meals so for example, for hamburgers (turkey burgers) I’ll mix the ground meat with ground mushrooms to make the patties half meat and half mushrooms. No one can tell the difference and I’ve cut the amount of meat used for a meal in half.

• We don’t buy juice products. My girls would suck it down if we did and it would cost a fortune for organic juice, plus I prefer they don’t have the added sugar. We also don’t buy soda. We purchase beer or wine on very rare occasions.

• We set money aside in the summer to buy some produce and fruits in bulk and can or freeze enough to last the year. Items we stock up on in the summer include: berries (made into jams or frozen whole), peaches, pears, zucchini and summer squash, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, applesauce and tomatoes (canned in salsa, sauce and diced). Having this on hand helps reduce the amount we spend the rest of the year.

• We try to cook a turkey or whole chicken once a month for a meal and to make chicken salad or have leftover turkey for sandwiches, etc.

• I also try to double whatever I’m making and stick half in the freezer for quick meals later. Things like waffles, muffins, soups, pasta dishes, mini pizzas, etc. make great quick meals when I’m too tired, sick or busy to stick to my planned menu.

Final Note…

I definitely still have a lot to learn when it comes to cutting back grocery costs and creating more foods from scratch and I’ve been blessed with some great mentors and friends who encourage and inspire me in this area. If you have any other cost-cutting tips to share please leave your ideas in the comments.

Here are the girls and I at our favorite local organic blueberry farm. We go often in the summer to stock up on berries that will last all winter in the freezer.