We all need a catalyst, this was mine
On January 1st, I set out to reduce my monthly food budget. Quick estimates of previous spending were atrocious. I was embarrassed and it was definitely the weakest part of my monthly spending. Frequently, I’d be away from home — overcome with hunger — and get whatever I could find.
For anyone who’s struggled to restrain themselves from eating out, the convenience can be captivating. Busy lives offer a perfect excuse for spending the extra money, as there’s less to clean up and a quicker time to satiety. The gratification of fast food, restaurants, and quick junk feels good when you’re always on the go.
Those moments of, “Oh, just this once” or “I better get a quick something to eat,” add up. At least, they did for moi. In some months, every lunch was “out.” $6, $7, $10, and $12 here and there. $500-600 later, I felt horrific guilt. Everyone knows that eating out is expensive, and I was failing at this part.
Finally, I lit a fire under my butt and started the $200 frugal food budget experiment. At the beginning of the year, I was renewed with a sense of purpose to this test. I wanted to push my limits and find a way to hold myself accountable. Frugaling was the perfect place to share that journey.
April food budget breakdown
As in previous months, I’ll share a complete list of days and spending. Everything food and drink-related is included — nothing gets spared. That means that if my good friend has a birthday party and I treat him to a drink, I’m putting it in here. My hope is to illustrate where much of my money goes each month, and to highlight obvious problem areas.
One thing you’ll notice about this month is a hefty increase in sweets and pizzas. From candy bars to donuts here and there, you might be shocked to know that I’ve been plowing through food — good and bad. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly is “causing” the cravings, but it might have to do with exercise levels.
I bike around 30-45 minutes per day and lift weights about 2 to 3 times per week. Together, the calories burned and needed muscle repair seem to be affecting my nutritional needs; in turn, my restlessness for certain carbs.
Noticing emerging patterns
I have failed to meet the $200 food budget experiment every month thus far. This April I spent over $240 on food and drink. I feel embarrassed that I keep saying that, and I struggle to lower it much further. Even though I haven’t reached this goal, I’ve noticed consequences, which is often necessary before change.
Life’s ups and downs are directly correlated with my budget
This month was challenging for me personally. The first week of April often serves as a remembrance for someone who died by suicide. As I navigate that period every year, I try to honor that person’s life in whatever way I can. Interestingly, during this period of April, I was eating healthier options. Later in the month, some of the spending faltered as the stresses of school mounted.
Greater raw food intake
After listening to The New York Times’ columnist, Mark Bittman, speak about the importance of raw foods, I definitely incorporated more. From fresh fruits to vegetables, I sliced and diced my way through the month. While it certainly helped me save here and there, the time it took to prep all that food was challenging when graduate school’s demands heated up. That’s when I turned to more processed foods. Ugh!
Becoming a lazy vegetarian/pescatarian
Meats tend to be expensive. As a consequence, I tended to avoid buying any meats and made a lot of vegetable stir-frys with rice. The combination is frugal, and probably a healthier choice. Although, every now and then I defrosted a piece of salmon for some omega-3s and protein. A secondary reason for this lazy vegetarianism centers on this concept of eating animals. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to enjoy eating another lifeform — something that feels pain.
Exercise undeniably affects mood, food cravings
As much as I try to “be prepared” for the food/mood cravings associated with lots of exercise, I can’t seem to carry enough. I’m on the go all day — from school to work to the homeless shelter. I run and bike everywhere. Moving around all day necessitates a greater caloric intake, but also limits how much I can comfortably carry around. I’m not particularly interested in sacrificing my physical health and back for a frugal month.
Hundreds of dollars added to savings
This portion is the greatest consequence of the entire journey. Over the last four months I’ve socked away cash. In fact, I’ve been able to save about $1500-2000 this year already! While much of these “savings” are artificial, as I’ll need to spend about $1600 on on a summer graduate course, I wouldn’t have had that money if my old eating-out habits were still active. That’s revolutionary for me! I’m happier than ever about my ability to save.
Where do I go from here?
Looking forward, I’m concerned about the $200 food budget experiment. I want to reach this value that’s escaping me. At the same point, we are entering summer in Iowa and farmers markets will be opening up. I’m eager to support locals who are kicking butt and raising terrific produce. It tends to be more organic and cared for, as opposed to grocery store options. If I shop more frequently at the farmers market, I’ll cut down on waste, support local farms, and have better food, but I will have a harder time reaching $200.
At the heart of this internal struggle is a desire to be greener, healthier, and kinder to my environment. I want to care for the earth around me. From my increasing interest in vegetarianism to farmers markets, I want to assimilate these hopes into a frugal food budget.
But Walmart’s (insert your local big-box retailer here) big, bright lights are calling. The stores have “always low prices,” and the produce can often be cheaper than in small co-ops and shops. But what are the consequences? Does frugality compete or cooperate with socially and environmentally responsible choices?
My hope is that if I can prepare even more meals at home, I can justify the farmers market purchases. Additionally, I’m concerned about the amount of treats and sweets I take in. My goal in May is to find more foods that can fill me up, while also providing glucose (more rice, perhaps?).
As always, I’d love for you to join in! Your contributions, comments, and questions certainly help me reflect on my goals. If you’ve done it before and met the $200 food budget, how’d you do it? If you haven’t, why not try it this month?
As a clinical psych PhD student, I find that the hectic grad school life style (“balancing” coursework, lab meetings, seeing clients, working on pubs, prepping for conferences, TAing, trying to have a semblance of a personal life, etc., etc.) makes me more inclined to make less than optimal food decisions. For me, it’s vending machine food. The story line usually goes: I didn’t bring enough food to campus, no time to run home, stressed, oh look! vending machine candy for $1.25! and a soda! wow, I could use more caffeine, it’s only $2.25 total, no big thing…
Sometimes I just don’t WANT the healthy carrots and hummus I brought, because excess glucocorticoids + candy = happy.
Then my partner and I started tracking all of our expenditures, and I was utterly appalled at how much those “little” vending machine transactions added up to. I didn’t even dare tally up how much I could have saved had I just planned better or ate the things I brought. That said, I really like your positive reframe of looking at the big picture, thinking about how much better you are doing compared to several months ago.
So, for me, it often comes down to limbic brain winning out over rational brain. I’m now in vending machine recovery, so we will see how that goes. My partner and I are also vegan for ethical and environmental reasons, and we find that this really makes it easy to save on groceries. I find it’s good for both the wallet and my sense of alignment with my values as a psychologist in training – mainly, to have compassion and do my best to alleviate suffering.
Side note: As an IC native living on the west coast, I always get so excited when you mention specific things about the city, like New Pi or Bread Garden (both of which can be preposterously expensive, but you don’t have a lot of choices downtown). I will hold up my iPad to my partner and be like “omg, he just said HyVee!! I’ve BEEN to that HyVee!!” Haha.
Keep up the good work! I’m really enjoying your blog.
Thanks so much for your comment!
You’re describing the life to a T. All of those different parts are demanding. And the fun never seems to stop. Haha. 🙂 To your point about the happy feeling associated with candy, I think you’re spot on. When the stress hits the fan, even the healthy options don’t seem as appealing. One of the biggest variables, and I talked a little bit about this last month, is sleep. Being tired adds an additional level of difficulty to healthy eating. Sugar suddenly becomes a more appetizing pickmeup.
Love your approach to all this, and thanks for the IC shoutout! 🙂
Sam
Looks like your weakest with your “comfort foods” — pizza and candy — maybe that burger and fries too — I’m guessing? Once you resolve those enticing delicacies, I think you’ll be at your $200 mark in no time. More home cooking…maybe comfort foods from childhood…a casserole, perhaps? Low cost, high comfort! Good job, Sam, you’re almost there! 🙂
Mikel,
The comfort, feel/taste good foods with super convenience ability got me! You’re absolutely right. I started off strong, and didn’t have many sugar cravings, but as the month went on… Ooo weee. 🙂 This month I’ll be working to limit those rash purchases where I can. Thus far, it’s keeping me on better track to meet the $200 budget. We’ll see!
Sam
Sam – I came across this awhile ago and thought I’d share the link. Lots of free, healthy-eating information out there. Might help you with your budget, too! Hope your month’s going well.
http://foodrevolution.org/
Im vegan and since January I’ve been able to keep my $200 budget but I do have to cook in advance etc.
I think if you’re exercising more, eating healthier and saving money you are definitely ahead of the game. $200 is just a goal. It really doesn’t matter if you hit it. What matters is you are making conscious choices and improving your quality of life.
One of our rules from when my husband and I were trying to cut back on food spending was that we only ate out with other people – no grabbing convenience meals or dates just by ourselves. We only ate groceries or restaurant meals with groups. I’m not sure if a rule like this would work for you or if you’ve tried it already? My personality is suited to having extreme rules like this so it worked for us. Of course, we had to prepare by keeping meals and snacks at school for when we were unexpectedly stuck at work. I even used to keep almonds in my purse because I get really grumpy and willpower-less when I’m famished.
Something else I noticed in your spending breakdown was that early in the month you had several grocery transactions per week but by the end only about one per week. Do you end up spending less when you stock up on food once per week so there’s always some available or does that cause you to overbuy? When I studied my grocery spending last year, I noticed that we minimize wasteful spending when I do a ‘big’ shopping trip once per week (right after visiting the farmer’s market!) but still allow myself to do a quick run for 1 or 2 items if they are truly needed in between (to avoid that overestimation mentality).
P.S. We have ceramic knives too and love them!
Hey Emily!
Thanks for your ideas and input. These are some awesome ideas. When it comes to eating out, it’s usually when I’m dead tired and starving, or with friends for a special get-together. I’ve slowly cut back on both the quantity and amount spent each time. That’s helped a ton, but I know that if I didn’t eat out at all, I’d hit $200. Unfortunately, it’s challenging to be in a college town with friends, and NOT eat out — even once. Haha.
Good catch on the multiple trips to the grocery store. That’s partly because I work and live with a grocery store in the middle. Because on my bike with a half-full backpack, I try to get a few things in passing each time. By buying this frequently, it does set me up to spend more, but keeps my weight more manageable. That being said, I’ve tried (at least in this first week) to cut down the number of trips, and I think it’s helping!
Sam
Hi Sam, do you know about Jack Monroe? She’s a British cook and anti-poverty activist who offers really easy and cheap recipes. You can find her on: http://agirlcalledjack.com/. Good luck with your food budget next month!
I had never heard of this website, but I love the concept! I’ll be sure to read more for this month. 🙂
The Sugar Solution is a really good book to understand your metabolism and how to keep your glucose levels more stable and thus less sugar/ simple carb cravings. But do celebrate your success !! You have reduced your budget and are moving forward 🙂
Clare, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of it! Thanks for that suggestion. I’m looking it up now! -Sam
Hi Sam, have you tried cutting down the number of times that you purchase food each month? It looks like you are buying something nearly every day from your list of transactions. If you cut down to one weekly shop, which includes buying food to take to work or wherever for lunch and snacks I’m sure you will be amazed at how you can cut your food bill. Maybe it’s because this approach allows you to analyse the cost of everything against your budget at one time, as opposed to a lot of smaller transactions that are harder to keep track of.
When we lived in our very small flat in London our kitchen and refrigerator were so small that we had to do food shopping every 3-4 days. Not only did it cost us more, but it was also much less convenient. Shopping once/week with a pre-prepared shopping list has made a huge difference.
Hey there!
Thanks for sharing a bit of your experience and story with me. Really means a lot!
As for the shopping trips, you’re right that it was a pretty regular — daily — occurrence. That’s a consequence of buying smaller amounts of food on each trip and because I’m forced to buy less each time. See, because I bike everywhere, I only have my backpack to fill up on groceries. That definitely limits how much I can carry, and exposes me to more chances to buy. Dangerous, I know! This summer should improve the number of trips, as I won’t be working as many hours.
Sam
You might look in to buying your pantry items from someplace online. You can buy lots of groceries from Amazon or even Walmart and have them delivered to your home. I’ve had great success with them. Then you only need to fill your backpack with produce and other refrigerated items. If you could get a good deal on a used bike trailer, that would allow you to do a bigger grocery run once or twice a month, and might pay for itself.
Thinking about your caloric needs and minimal carrying capacity, do you have access to a high powered blender? Can you drink smoothies for at least one meal? Easy to load a smoothie with chopped dates, peanut butter, bananas, ice and veggie milk (coconut might be higher calorie version to try).
Definitely start using a crock pot for lunches, chili, casserole, rice or noodle based dishes, even oatmeal come together really quick, need no observing like a stir fry requires. I agree with the make 1 big purchase per week, using grocery or FM specials. $240 is pretty good in comparison to $500+, but you can do better.
ps If veganism is something you are interested in learning more about, this youtuber has a very easy to follow video cookbook and covers the fundamentals for eating the vegan way. I get the impression he’s an athlete, too. So happy you are thinking about your food choices from an ethical perspective!
https://youtu.be/vlNiHl36gd8
Hi Sam!
I think you’re doing a great job! I came across your February post in March. Your post was so inspiring and thought provoking that I decided to do my own project so I cut my food budget from $800 to $350 for April. I’m 31, live in Los Angeles, and am an constant snacker. I set my goal at $350 because I wanted to trim down slowly and assess where I spent my money. I spent $340.82 in April and have set a goal of $300 for May. The three main things I learned about myself were:
** I could have saved $35.95 by not dining solo. There were days when I didn’t pack enough food so I ended up buying a snack (read: meal). There was one day where I caved (read: felt lazy) and indulged in Sushi Stop–which I regretted the moment I got the bill. Although I do have to give myself props because I realized by the second week that dining solo was unnecessary and I didn’t dine solo in weeks 3-5.
** My meals + coffee breaks with friends total $155.89. Gah. Harsh realization. That’s like more than (!!!) what I spent on groceries ($148.98) for the entire month! Ewk! Bleh! I actually love cooking and I enjoy cooking meals for myself and others. I would rather have spent the money on meals in.
** I stockpile less and a toss out less stuff. This ties into minimalism (a subject that has fascinated me for the past six months) which also ties into my desire to slow down and appreciate life more. I added in the word “less” because I still have a tendency to stockpile and this is evident in the fact that I haven’t used up everything in my fridge and pantry yet. And that’s a new goal of mine: eat the food I have or give it away. I gave away 10 pounds of jasmine rice when a friend of mine mentioned that she just ran out and this still left me with 10 pounds. (Thank you, Mom, and your 50 pound of rice gift!)
Lots of great things happened this month. I tried out more recipes. I save money. I thought more about the value of my money. I thought more about what I was buying. Again, I would never have did my own food budget project it wasn’t for you, Sam. I’m grateful for your blog and the lessons that you’ve shared so far. Keep up the great work!
Cheers,
Sam Le
$200 is my monthly food budget. I make sure I meet it. I stock up on everything except fresh produce at the beginning of the month, and I plan out my meals. That really helps.
With my health I cannot eat dairy or gluten. It’s a mixed blessing. On the one hand, in my part of the country that means I cannot eat out at all. Everything is exposed to butter. So that keeps costs down. (It also means I’m the one not eating at working lunches.) Most processed food is out too, because almost all of it has dairy. On the flip side, many food items are much more expensive. Bread, flours and other grains, except rice (which now needs to be limited due to arsenic) are really expensive. I have trouble getting enough carbs. So I really struggle to stay under $200 a month, even cooking everything from scratch.
It maybe takes a little extra work on the front end, but after learning and gaining experience, I have found dried beans and grains to be the ultimate convenience food, not to mention cheap. I mean, even more convenient than eating out, if you’re just talking the amount of time it takes, and the fact that you don’t have to go anywhere, so you can do other stuff while your food is cooking.
Lentils are the ultimate because you don’t have to presoak them, and they cook up in about 20 minutes. Cook with a bay leaf and salt, while you’ve also got a pot of rice cooking. When they’re both cooked, dinner is ready. Toss the lentils and rice together, top with sriracha or mix in a curry paste or barbecue sauce or whatever you feel like, throw in some lettuce or cilantro for fresh greens, and there you go.
Beans that need soaking like chickpeas, black beans, pintos, etc. take a little more practice, but if you remember to soak them the night before, and learn to use a pressure cooker, you can cook them up in 5-10 minutes the next day for your meal. So easy, cheap, nutritious, tasty, ethical, environmentally-friendly . . .
I’ve enjoyed reading as your thoughts and experience have unfolded around your grocery budget. Especially this post, regarding the bigger picture of where your food is coming from, what sort of food system you want to support. You get to vote with a ballot every now and then, but where you put your money is maybe even a more important vote, and it definitely happens more often.
Thanks as always for your great blog!
Interesting article. I’m always interested in how much people spend on groceries and what they buy. My vote is to spend extra, if needed, for the fresh, local produce.
I can really relate to this post!! I enjoyed reading it.
I’ve also been actively reducing my grocery budget since last month. I walk dogs for a living so I exercise daily. I work over my lunch hour and bring fresh produce to snack on while I walk – unfortunately some days what I bring is not enough so occasionally, I end up grabbing something like a $2 fattening muffin.
Like you, I prefer to support my organic farmer’s market but as you said, it is pricier than purchasing at larger grocery stores (or in my case, the local fruit/veggie store which sells very cheap produce, not always local or organic). So…I decided to split my purchases – I buy certain things at the farmers market and then I go to the cheap local fruit/veggie store and purchase heavily discounted produce – this particular store sells baskets and trays of “almost expired” stuff which in my eyes, I save from ending up in the landfill (basically, one step up from dumspter diving). I can do a LOT with that almost expired produce and use the money I save there to spend more at the farmers market and support the local farmers.
My weakness is coffee. I usually buy fair trade locally roasted organic beans and I also find myself spending money on a cup of good coffee a couple of times a week – which I enjoy sitting on a bench outside before or after my dog walks. If it wasn’t for coffee and (lately) my obsession with a $6 Korean Veggie Bibimbap lunch every couple of weeks, I would likely make my target.
I think you’re doing quite well, don’t give up!! 🙂
If you love candy (as I do), why not buy a big bag of it at your grocery store once/month? The cost per piece is significantly less than what you grab up from a machine or convenience store. It’s a treat, it’s ok in moderation, and you can save a lot of money by acknowledging up front that there’s a place for candy in your life! 😉
BTW, I’m not sure of the psychology here, but knowing I have a candy bar in my backpack and I can eat it whenever I want to, makes me less inclined to do so!
My newest problem is that I just switched to working freelance. My at-home office is also our guest room, so when I work at home, I’m tempted by YouTube, Hulu, naps, tons of things… and rarely get anything done. When I work at Starbucks, I spend $2.50 in the morning, $2.50 in the afternoon, and $5 to $10 on lunch… but actually get stuff done. For freelance work that pays between $35 and $50 per hour before taxes, I usually end up, the way my brain sees it, netting money for the day, since I worked more than I would have at home and therefore made more money.
I don’t like the additional expenses per month (my husband and I were surviving just fine on a grocery budget of about $200 not counting stuff for the baby, and maybe $50 a month eating out, before I quit my job), but I much prefer working at Starbucks (especially since it’s closer to daycare and saves me on gas mileage, but only by about $1.50 a day).
Hi Sam, I think you did very well @ just 25% over budget— few expenses (away from home) are predictable to the penny and, quite honestly, more than ever, I believe that timing of nutritious food = healthcare and your lifestyle is full of daily surprises, I’m sure. I think going vegan is less expensive when eating at home/preparing your own meals. It is heartening to see many athletes now attribute their good health to being vegans. But most of us cannot devote adequate time to meal preparation at home. Hence, I think many of us will be over budget if we have to grab something out now and then, simply to ‘refuel.’
I’m amazed you can’t carry enough with you. Got a backpack? Cargo shorts? Briefcase? Fanny pack (Bum Bag in UK)? Get an insulated lunch bag, add a small frozen water bottle, and anything(except popsicles) will keep fresh all day. Put in some fruit, flatbread sandwich, celery, carrots, hummus, whatever you like.
If you want some dense, satisfying, healthy, portable food, mix up some GORP – Good Old Raisins & Peanuts. I add sunflower seeds for the protein complementarity, almonds for the calcium, a few M&Ms & Cashews for variety. Fill up a small freezer ziplock or pocket case every morning and carry it with you.
Bring a water bottle to avoid buying anything to drink, or a small stainless Thermos of coffee or tea you can rinse & refill with water during the day.
As for purchases, shop the sales once a week. Stock up on good buys. Plan your menu from the ads. Grocers with web sites put sales online. E.G.:
http://flyers.walmart.ca/flyers/accessibility/walmartcanada?locale=en&postal_code=k1y1a1&store_code=1110&type=1
Choose the “accessible” version for readability and copy & paste into your shopping list (HandyShopper is the best because you can sort foods by home location for checking your larder, then sort by aisle when shopping.)
A spreadsheet can be used for a perpetual shopping list accessible from PC or phone. Insert a column for each week’s sale prices and you can keep the old prices for comparison. You can even add calcs for price per lb/kg.
There is a lot of seasonality in food prices due to harvest schedules. I just bought a bunch of peanuts for $2.88/lb. Vary your menu with the seasons.
Then visit the stores, either in one trip or as part of other trips to save gas.
Make a weekly schedule for weekly actions.
Mormons are required to keep a year’s supply of food on hand. To serve them & preppers, there are many companies selling storable foods. Their prices may be better than local stores if you buy enough and they are packaged (usually canned in nitrogen, even wheat grains) to last 5 years+.
If you stock up on any food be sure to use them on a schedule so they don’t expire. Have a meal plan for some days of the week. Flesh out the other days when you see the sales each week.
You can also make some foods more cheaply (& more healthily) than buying, and without too much hassle. Yogurt is easy (use powered milk – no scalding necessary & cheaper), bread, beer, wine, cheese, bean sprouts….
Hey Tom,
Thanks for your great suggestions and a little critique. Sometimes I need that! What I can say is that working about 80 hours per week and not having a car makes it difficult to time sales and grocery store visits. Yes, it would lower my budget even further, but makes the quality of my life plummet fast. I don’t buy very fancy foods — always generic and store brand. I don’t care much about flavor, as long as it’s low-cost. When I’m carrying all of that in my backpack, it gets to be pretty full — especially when you include school supplies that I’m regularly carrying.
As for going to big-box retailers, that’s something I struggle with. I don’t care for their business practices. They don’t pay their employees well, destroy local businesses in the communities they enter, and force creators/farmers to sell for less through their massive pressure. I want to respect the land and people. While frugality sometimes stands in competition to that hope, I try my best to eat healthily and shop conscientiously.
Hope that makes sense. Again, thanks so much for your comment. I’ll definitely be trying to prep a bit more — having some “food stuffs” will absolutely help.
Sam
I also struggled with food this month. My goal was $200 as well, and I spent $280. One thing that tanked my goal this month was miscellaneous snack buying for events (buying a pizza for trivia, getting some chips for game night….). I need to work that into my budget.
Looking into May, I’m excited to start utilizing the farmer’s markets. I have a difficult time getting fresh produce to last, so I’m hoping buying a bit at a time each week will help that. Good luck on your food this month!
Gwen,
You and me both! Once these farmers markets open up, I’ll be regularly shopping through them. It’s wonderful to buy from individuals — people that raise chickens to hatch eggs. And I love talking to the vendors about what they do with their produce. 🙂
You’re nearly there! It’s a tough challenge, and despite failing to get their 4 times in a row, I believe it’s possible.
Sam
After reading your article, I tallied up my expenses for April (I keep a list of ALL my expenses, by the week) and realized food and eating out were, the highest, way over $200. My husband passed away a year ago, so I just cook for myself. I like eating healthy, some meat, but fish mostly appeals to me. Eating breakfast, brunch, lunch or supper out with a friend gives me great pleasure. So, in order to not feel isolated, I’m going to continue doing that. Recently, though, for my birthday, I’d received several coupons for either free meals, free appetizers (which can be a meal) or free desserts, from area restaurants and was able to take advantage of them, often only paying for the tip and/or a very small amount for my meal. Two things here; I only drink water in a restaurant and after I receive my meal, I inventory and first eat what will not transport well (salad, for instance). I then nibble on the rest and take the remainder home, frequently making two more meals from the one. In that way, I feel I get my money’s worth.
Since I love salads and eat lots of raw foods, I have to shop more often, but still being cautious to not overspend. I have, in the past, thrown away half-eaten bags of lettuce, which broke my heart. So, I’ve decided to pretty much eat up what I have before stocking up again.
I’d bought a Nutrii-Ninja for myself for Christmas which has helped me use up wilted veggies. I often pour in some V-8 and add whatever I have in the fridge, such as celery, lemon, kale, spinach and add in some nutritional powder. Makes a savory smoothie with lots of nutrients, but low in sugar, fat and calories. And, less waste.
Since reading your article, I made myself a spreadsheet where I could take my receipt and type in the amount I spend for food, or for clothing, or for housewares, so that I could isolate the food from everything else. I guess I could say you really motivated me to see WHY I spend so much on food and HOW I can cut back. This will be my goal this year.
I am trying to sell my house, moving from IN to VA, and housing will be higher there. So, any way I can save money will be most beneficial AND, I may just as well begin now. I’m also downsizing and decluttering. In my estimation, it all goes together.
Thank you, Sam, for all your interesting, motivational and transparent articles. Discovering your web site came at a time in my life when I most needed it.
Donna,
Your comment blew me away. Thanks for your vulnerability, openness, and caring comment. We’re all in this frugal journey together. 🙂 Keep up the great work, and don’t be afraid to keep me posted along the way.
Sam
Great post! I definitely think that it is hard to be frugal in the food department if you want to eat healthy and make the best socially and environmentally conscious choices. However, it still doesn’t have to be expensive. (In my opinion, frugal and expensive and are two different things because we can know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.) I noticed that when I eat real, whole foods, my appetite and cravings go down because my body is being nourished, even with a lot of exercise. It seems that when I eat junk, then my cravings skyrocket and that is when I start spending more money on food and I feel more lethargic and move less also. I look at food as a necessity. We can’t go long without any. We can however, survive forever without cable, a car, or 20 pairs of shoes. Instead of spending way too much money on things that don’t bring me health or happiness, I literally put my money where my mouth is and don’t worry so much about how much my food costs, but rather, is what I am purchasing the healthiest for me, my community and the planet.
I couldn’t agree more. Food is human fuel, we need it! I actually starting wild foraging Dandelion Greens and frying them up or putting them in my salads, LOTS of vitamins and they are completely free. Doing this gives me a lot of vitamins and I spend less on other greens.
You’re doing an incredible job!! As for fuel, if you can carry an ice pack in a lunch bag, you may want to try cheese sticks and/or hardboiled eggs. Good, cheap fuel, especially if you cut up your own cheese. Eat more eggs either way! Omelettes are a great, cheap dinner. Keep up the great work!
Jessica,
Thanks for the comment and encouragement! I’m working pretty hard to keep everything in check. It’s been tough to stay below the limit. And unfortunately, this upcoming month will be another challenging one to admit. 🙁 June is going to be even harder, as I’ll be traveling to see family and on the go more often. AH!
Sam