The time has come. Time to own up to a reality that is now part of our life. I don’t mean to sound mysterious but perhaps I should start somewhere else before I go any further.
Yesterday I heard a quarrel in the kitchen over the last banana. The voices in the kitchen were trying to determine who was more worthy of this snack, the baby or the 9 year old. I quickly stepped in to find the kids trying to make this decision and scanning the mostly bare pantry (it usually is on the day before I go shopping), pulled out my usual saving grace and offered to pop some popcorn for my hungry children in order to hold them off until dinner. (BTW, all that excessive banana protecting makes for no one eating the bananas the next time you buy them, time to make banana bread.)
I have also found myself of late asking children, “didn’t you already have an apple or is that your second bowl of cereal?” This is our new reality. I was chugging along just perfectly ignoring this situation until it was time to pay the bills last week. I should stop and be thankful that we are able to pay all of our bills but with two houses on the payroll, there is not much left. Add to that the loss of our farm income, leaving our garden and edible plants behind and the fact that food is much more expensive here than in Florida and eating real, nutritious food is becoming a challenge.
Unfortunately, besides turning lights off and limiting my driving, food is becoming the only place I can find to save some money. The farmers markets will not open until Spring and I have the sneaky suspicion that the prices will be somewhat less affordable than Florida. All the small stores I have found that I usually like to give my money to are so much higher in their prices and so I have to limit myself to shopping Whole Foods (mostly the bulk section) and Trader Joes. We have gotten a membership to Costco as I have heard that they have lots of organics now but in the quantities they sell, I will have to start a special budget for it. Of course, we have found eggs from a local farmer and I am continuing my search for local food but for now, I am dealing with what I have.
Why am I sharing this with you? Well, because I know I am not the only one. I know there are so many mommas out there trying to keep bellies full while still feeding them real and nutritious food. I am going back and going through my simplest, belly filling recipes and coming up with a new plan. We don’t eat much out of a box but gone will be the occassional pizza night out or the box of Newman O’s (oh say it isn’t so!). We have gotten a bit comfortable and it sure is easy to open that box of organic cereal early in the morning but that is where my money is being wasted so I need to scale things back, way back.
We have been unable to find raw milk here so far and the low temp is uber expensive but its a place where I can’t find a way to cut out. I am serving less meat and smaller portions of it, lots of soups and homemade bread and or course lots and lots of popcorn. Are you with me here? Is this happening in your kitchen, your pantry, your home too?
I decided the best way to tackle this was not on my own. I am blessed to know so many smart mommas out here in our blogging community and with their help, we will all perhaps find some solutions, new recipes, a new plan on how to do this job of feeding our children and husbands bodies, better and for less money.
In the next coming weeks and months, on Fridays, I will either post a recipe and my progress, budget etc. or I will be sharing a blog post by some pretty amazing guests all of whom are also blogging mommas. You do not want to miss these Friday posts! I am so excited to see what we all come up with. Until then, I wish you are warm bowl of happiness.
*Edit* 2/17/14 This series is now in it’s 3rd week and here is the list of the bloggers that will be guests in the next few weeks. This last week we had Emily of Front Forty Farm and you can see her post and the other 2 weeks postings here.
In no specific order,
Emily – Front Forty Farm
Melanie – Our Ash Grove
Nicole – Frontier Dreams
Tonya – Natural Earth Farm
Taryn – Wooly Moss Roots
Nissa – At Home with the Gadbois Family
Lisa – Hullabaloo Homestead
Adrie – Fields and Fire
Stephanie – Gypsy Forest
This is a great tip particularly to those fresh to the
blogosphere. Simple but very accurate info…
Thank you for sharing this one. A must read article!
ohh I'll be back to read the posts.
I must say I admire your determination and commitment to feeding your family with whole food options and ensuring you stay within budget. It is so easy to grab the ready made boxes and taking shortcuts – especially for the sake of saving a buck or two. But the benefits are endless doing it your way! Thanks for sharing!
I have just gone down to one income and find not only money but time to be an issue. I want to make sure I still feed my daughter a healthy diet but it's so hard to make sure I cook cost-effective, nutritious meals when I'm trying to do everything by myself.
I love your jars that you use for your food! I have been trying to eat more whole foods. What a hard journey when you are busy and tired. I know it is cheaper to go that route. Just trying to figure out how to make it more convenient!
It's great that you're dedicated to provide your family healthy meals! More people are eating organic, so I would hope that it would eventually drive the prices down some, but in the meantime, like you mentioned, there are some ways to cut costs. I find an organic whole chicken can go a long way and make many meals. Buying fruits and veggies when they're in season helps too. I look forward to reading your upcoming recipes and progress!
That is such a great idea. Real food is always an issue for us. I really love food. My children are just so picky. That sometimes I just feed them whatever they will eat. That's not always good.
Desiree, Just start small. Pick one thing and try it making sure they know that nothing else will be made but they must try it. Hungry kids will eat! Does that sound too harsh? I don't mean it to be but to say that sometimes our kids know our weak spots and once they know that we are going to go through with something, they will go along with our plan 🙂 Good luck!
I love this post bc my family and I are moving, and will be using a lot of our savings on the move. I truly want to build that savings back up for securities sake, and so that we can one day buy a house…and it looks like you have some great ideas for places to cut corners. I'll be checking back in!
Jillian, I wish you success in starting your savings!! I need to do the same but with our recent move, it is a bit hard. Everytime I turn around, we need something. Have you ever heard of The Tightwad Gazzette? Excellent books on getting you into the savings mindset!
Thank you for your honesty and great post. I too know how hard it can be to purchase organic foods and I'll be following your blog to see what you come up with.
Welcome Tanya. I hope to see you around here on Fridays!
You are right it is a challenge to feed our families healthy, unprocessed (at least somewhat) food. The junk is cheaper. The cookies, and sugar laden processed food. I think you are doing a great job at looking for places to cut back the best way you can. Creativity is where this war will be won. I have found that trying to make different recipes from similar ingredients helps to make buying in bulk more effective.
How neat! I will be bookmarking this to come back to and learning more about budgeting and recipes! I am constantly hearing that mine are still hungry and it's so hard to get them to reach for healthy and stay on a budget! Thanks for sharing so others can learn too!
You are so welcome Leila!! Hope to see you here Friday!
Thank you for sharing this information. The cost of food in NY is really high as well. I find that I'm clipping coupons and only looking for items on sale a lot more often. My uncle who lives in Atlanta often ships me non-perishable goods and he gets them at such a steal that it's actually cheaper.
Monet, I am from Queens NY and I know how expensive your food is!!! Hope to see you here Friday 🙂
I agree with some of the above comments, I can't wait to see what you come up with! It can be difficult eating healthy on a budget. It can be done, but it takes a lot of creativitiy.
It is hard to stay on a food budget. I've been looking at vintage cookbooks and trying some of the recipes. Many have been cheaper and are very good! Interesting post!
I will be looking forward to your Friday posts. Any tips you sure will definitely be useful to our family.
I love this kind of posts 🙂 you are making my short list of blogs I'll follow!! I know the pain of paying for two houses and we also send our children to private school!!
I have made my own cleaners…. my fav is saving citrus peels and putting them into quart jars, when it is full I fill the jar with white vinegar and put a lid on..place in a dark cupboard for a month…..strain into a spray bottle through a cotton towel, squeeze hard to get all the goodness out… discard peels in compost…now I have a citrus cleaner for a few pennies 🙂
Growing a garden is a great way to have fresh food and then freezing, canning , and drying for winter use!!
I also sell tupperware & norwex to supplement income and also do sewing.
We also grow our own chickens for meat n eggs and have a small herd of milk goats:)
Delightful Cottage, I adore Norwex. I just found out about it last month and can't believe how easy it makes cleaning and with just water 🙂 I like the citrus cleaner too though I have not made it in a few months. So happy to see you here!
I'm glad I found your blog. I'll be checking back. I'm always looking for new recipes and ways to make a lot of food for cheap. Idk where you live, but my tip is to check out the local fruits and veggies storage (don't know what it would be called where you're at). It's where the farmers send their stuff that's not "picture perfect" i.e. that's not going to end up at the grocery stores but is still just fine to eat.
Anna, I love that idea!! Now to find out where exactly that produce goes!!
I understand how it is. I'm always trying to find ways to feed my three children and husband in a healthy manner, without breaking our bank. I love going to the farmer's market for fresh fruits and vegetables. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us every Friday. I love finding blogs that can help my household! 🙂
Thank you for sharing and being honest. There are a lot of us in this situation, and can definitely use a helpful tip now and again. I love reading blogs, online articles, and books to find new ways to save. It's been a struggle getting my kids to understand where I'm coming from…but each day gets easier. Thank you for this information….You're doing an amazing job 🙂
Hi Momma, I love your site and beautiful pictures! So sorry you're struggling! I sincerely hope life gets a little easier! Good for you for keeping nutrition a priority! Blessings to you and your family!
My life is totally different — no kids and New York City — but I want to eat healthy and spend less, too. I'll be stopping by for tips and ideas. Your pictures are great.
We are moving in a few weeks and haven't put our house on the market yet, so we'll have a double house payment until God finds a buyer or renter for this place. It's up to Him. I've prayed and hubby has, too.
I know that things will somehow work out – as I said, everything is in His hands; we just have to trust.
I wish our farmer's markets were big – they're very small, maybe 4 or 5 booths? I know it will soon be spring – I'm looking forward to the fresh veggies.
Sending you prayers and blessings,
Patty
Hi there, I feel for you! It seems so difficult to get healthy things at a reasonable price. I have had the most success with Trader Joe's. Although, I wish there was one closer to my house.
Your pics are gorgeous and your post is awesome. I'm not a mommy but completely understand where you're coming from. Thanks for sharing.
I have that same problem. It is so hard to find affordable fresh produce. Food is where I always try to cut when we need some extra. I haven't tried it yet, but I hear co-ops can be great places to find affordable produce in your area. Check out this website to see if any are in your area 🙂 http://www.bountifulbaskets.org
I love your blog and all of your pictures- they are so professional!! Very neat. We are on a budget too and struggle with the same things! Thanks for sharing:)
I can appreciate this post. Trying to feed my growing (insert teenage appetites here) families fondness to eat has been one of my biggest frugal dilemmas. I try to use up anything we have, my grandma always said, waste not want not, but when they eat it all up there is nothing left. Living in the Midwest, we garden in the spring and summer but as a HS momman canning hits me right when we are starting school so no matter how hard I try, I never fully get it all done. I have found dryind and freezing veggies has extended our harvest so much better, while keeping all the good stuff in there. I look forward to your series.
Blessings!
Dawn
I have been weeding out processed foods in our house and making as much as possible but kinda stopped paying attention to my budget and need to get back on track! In our house, my son never wants the last three bananas eaten…. He knows that's how many I need to make banana bread (I just posted my recipe for a gluten free version today http://domesticdeadline.com/2014/02/19/cinnamon-s…
Hmmm gluten free banana bread? My momma would love that, thank you 🙂
Healthy and budget conscious shopping is a challenge especially if you want to keep kids healthy! Budgeting and shopping are skills that everyone should have but may not, but to parents being overstressed, or simply unskilled themselves. Schools need to teach these things – so everyone has a respect for money and what it can do.
Hi Tricia, I feel for you. I don't have children to feed, just a husband but we're also on a very tight budget and it isn't easy. But cooking everything from scratch and not buying anything prepackaged definitely helps. Good luck, and I'm sure things will get easier once the farmers' market reopens!
I definitely have trouble grocery shopping for REAL FOOD on a budget! We're nowhere near where I want to be yet, but we're making progress slowly. Recipes will be so helpful. Thanks for your post!
Rebecca, recipes will come 🙂
I know several families that choose to live very naturally. Bountiful Baskets is great if they are in your area. We love to have fresh fruits & veggies around the house. I buy less & less snacks all the time, and the kids haven't missed them
We have the same problem with bananas – the fight over bananas and then refuse to touch bananas for the next two weeks problem. Kids are so funny.
Diana, I also have the baby who takes a bite out of the banana and then stashes it under the table or couch, oy!
Thank you for your honesty. Saving money with a bigger family can be tough (mother of 6 here) but so rewarding as well.
so glad you are here with us. Please do share any ideas you have on saving money with us as well.
I haven't read a mention of Aldi yet. They are just a standard grocery, they do not specialize in organics. They are however, very good at adding new items that consumers are showing an interest in. They have all of your basics and their prices are phenomenal. They have Big Box Bulk Warehouse store prices in the setting of a small hometown grocery. All the basics are there, and they stock many of the extras. But you can buy in single quantities. One of the ways they keep prices down is minimal staff and no fancy displays. It's just stuff on a shelf or in the fridge and cashiers. Bring your own bags, bag your own groceries and don't forget the Quarter for the Cart! No bag boys, no cart boys either. You put a quarter in the cart to unlock it, and if you want your quarter back you have to return it to the coral. Aldi is the ultimate in Frugal without Suffering and has been a lifesaver for my family at several different points. They put help leave some nice cash in your pocket during times you don't have to be so tight. 20 years ago they were more staples, but they have fresh produce and meat now also.
Thank you Jennifer, I have never heard of them, they must not be in florida. Something to check out 🙂
I do use canned foods to stretch the budget further. Costco does have organic canned goods, which helps; tomatoes, beans, flour and more. I buy all our nuts there; raw nuts in the baking section are the best price, and then soak and dry them at home. We also eat canned beef (it's from Uruguay, but it's grass-fed) and canned sardines. Canned meats don't have to be low-quality.
Jen, I've never considered eating canned meat. Does the flavor change as for instance the flavor of tuna changes when canned as opposed to fresh tuna? I should revisit the canned section. Years ago I got scared because of bpa being in the lining and so cut out the cans but maybe now it is different. I intend to make my first trip to Costco with our new membership this weekend. I don't have much of a budget for it right now but I will be nearby there anyway so it might be more of a windowshopping kind of excursion to jot down prices 🙂
Love the post, love reading through the comments. would you be able to do a post about how you make your almond milk?
Kait, I definitely will, no worries 🙂
Looking forward to Fridays! I've read through the comments myself to get any new ideas…always trying to learn. I wish so many of us were not in the same boat, but it is *good* that we can help each other out. We eat real foods, but are trying to avoid gluten since it bothers most of us in our home (there are 10 of us). And with a new baby I have to stay away from some foods that bother her tummy. I think compared to most we have a higher food budget, but whenever I read about the prices other people pay for their food I am astonished how "cheap" it is compared to where we live….and I thought we lived in a lower cost of living area.
Some areas that we have cut back on have been to start up with cloth diapers (those disposables really add up!), cut down the heat a notch (nothing wrong with wearing sweaters inside), and hang laundry outside when decent weather (we live in the South). My hubby didn't think we would see a big enough difference to warrant these changes, but boy was he surprised 🙂
We were eating oatmeal almost every day and we were getting burnt out on it as well. Our chickens finally, *finally* came out of molt, so we have eggs coming in. In the meantime I found a great recipe for oatmeal muffins. Though, with the other ingredients like coconut oil, they are not as frugal as just oatmeal, but it got my kids eating oats again, which I believe is still cheaper than buying a boxed cereal (there are 7 of them eating solid foods). I found the recipe here; http://aproverbs31wife.com/oat-flour-muffins/
I use half the honey, or even less, and have added in bananas or pumpkin for different flavors.
Keep up the good work mamas!
Blessings,
Kerri
Kerri, thank you for all the suggestions and the muffin recipe. I miss hanging my clothes to dry. I am thinking I should probably set up a line downstairs in the basement until everything outside defrosts. See you Friday.
I am learning so much from these comments….saw this post from a friend’s Facebook share. For those of you who use Azure or bulk shopping, how do you store massive amounts of flour or the other grains they offer? How long does it keep?
I'm visiting for the first time and I'm really looking forward to this series. My family is struggling with real food v budget too. There's a lot of sprouted bean & lentil soup going on around here!
I don't know if you've ever thought to do this, but you can do it year round, its cheap to start, and cheap to maintain. Get yourself about 5 smallish Rubbermaid tubs, and some carrot seeds. You can grow carrots in the house year round, and stagger it so that you always have some ready for harvest. In the summer they are really easy to move outside. You will have to put holes in the bottom for drainage, but in the winter you can put them on the lid that comes with to catch the water in case you over water, and in the summer, just set the lids to the side, because there will be no worries about messy floors. Unfortunately I let myself get out of this, and I plan on starting back up, Its good fresh food year round that you grow yourself, and its tasty. I mix castings in from my worm tubs to keep good stuff in my dirt to keep it from going stale.
Brandi, I kind of do something like that. Right now in my kitchen I have 3 big terracotta pots, one with garlic planted and the bottoms of green onions purchased at the store and they regrow, another with some herbs (cilantro, parsley, thyme, and culantro that I brought from my Florida herb bed and the last one has celery bottoms regrowing also 🙂 Carrots would be nice
I'm right there with you. We struggle here in Prague – the food is expensive and the quality is low. I always have home made granola around for a quick breakfast (it doesn't have to be expensive) and we eat a lot of vegetarian food. Quality meat is expensive here, and it can also be hard to find. I bulk buy rice and beans from the local Indian and Halal stores, as it's cheaper and higher quality. I also have used the A Girl Called Jack blog lately, because I can seem to get most of the products here too. I don't even buy bananas, as they cost about a dollar a piece for some poor tasting green thing. Salad in the winter? Forget it. I try to have something baked around, even if it's just hobnobs or flapjacks (both oat-based, so healthy ish and cheap ish). I feel like I'm constantly banging my head on the wall, trying to get food on the table. I just keep reminding myself that it could be a lot worse, and it is much worse for many people…
so true Kara, I will visit the blog you mentioned. I guess we all need to be greatful for what we each have 🙂 thanks for the reminder
so happy to have found you from a link shared by a friend. i so hear you….. i am in the same boat. currently scraping money from each paycheck to save for our summer csa membership. a full share of 21 weeks is about $700. but i get three times the amount of produce dollar for dollar if i compare it to shopping in the store. it's a hard stretch but worth it if i plan well. here lately has been a *lot* of stir fry and rice. we're grateful the hens just started laying. and i just got the idea to pull my husbands lunch from our dinner before the kids devour it. makes for easy lunch packing for him, i should have thought of it much sooner! anyhow…. i just subscribed 🙂 looking forward to reading more….
Welcome Stephanie!! I wish I could get hubby to take leftovers for lunch…. maybe I need to keep trying
I'm Charlei's Momma, I was reading and enjoying your pictures and it made me smile to see Tightwad Gazette on the shelf. I just picked up the complete version of all her books together for $1.00 at a yd. sale. I try to skim/read through it again every few years to refresh my memory. I'm always impressed with all some manage to do while others just whine about how they have no money and things are so expensive.
Hi Chris. First let me say how much I love your girl!!! She is such an amazing woman so she must have gotten that from somewhere 🙂 I think I know where. I love hearing from her about your garage sale finds!!! You and I are very similar. I bought the complete version book by book back when I was a totally broke momma with 5 little ones (3 in diapers). I read and re-read them periodically also, it gets me in the saving mood.
she's looking forward to me delivering her the cast iron dutch oven, and copper/with ceramic double boiler I scrounged for them!
lucky girl!!!!
Sounds like our situation right now. I try to buy organic when I can, but there are many times the budget won't permit it, as we're currently unemployed, trying to build a house, and we are a family of 8. I'll be following your Friday series..'
We absolutely struggle with real food budget ourselves. The only way we have been able to cut back our spending is actually to grow our own… pigs, chickens, cows, veggies. We moved from FL (cheap) to NY(expensive!!) and it has been a reality check. Not sure if we will be able to stay here after this job is over because of the cost of living being so stinkin high. Bulk stores can help some, especially if you can find a local one (not like BJ's/Costco) that sells bulk produce/meats. Anyway, we feel your pain over here.
FishDogFarm
Thank you for being so honest about this situation!! We also struggle at time to purchase all the wholesome and nutritional foods we desire to put on the table for our children. Thankfully, we are getting better each year at harvesting from our backyard garden boxes and manage to freeze and can so much to enjoy through the year. I would love to participate in this series and share some of our family favorite recipes!!
oh yes please Julie, feel free to add your link to any recipes in the comments section. I was just visiting you and your recipes look so yummy!!
Right on time! I'm fairly new to this real food on a budget kind of life, but I LOVE IT! Our garden last year gave us a bounty I couldn't have dreamed of, and since I learned to can, our pantry has been a blessing. However, we moved since then, and our garden won't happen this year. And the pantry is getting slim. I love cooking healthy foods for my family, and even started teaching others how to do the same. God has a plan. I think it was in His for me to come across this. Looking forward to Friday! Thank you for sharing!!
Jennifer, we are in the same exact boats, leaving our gardens behind. We will get through this!
I am with you too, the real challenge is trying to eat health (organic) and have a child with food allergies(gluten ) can be difficult too. So I am definably interested in see what you come up with too, save money and eat health too, let's do it…
Jackie, My momma is gluten and dairy intolerant. She eats like she did when she lived in the country with no electricity or running water…simple. I will see what I can include for you 🙂 Hopefully, the other bloggers will have good stuff too. I am not dairy intolerant but if I drink milk that is not raw, my ear hurts bad so I stay away from it and have been experimenting with homemade almond milk that tastes like the one at the store, thicker not runny so it's you I will have in mind 🙂
Jackie, My momma is gluten and dairy intolerant. She eats like she did when she lived in the country with no electricity or running water…simple. I will see what I can include for you 🙂 Hopefully, the other bloggers will have good stuff too. I am not dairy intolerant but if I drink milk that is not raw, my ear hurts bad so I stay away from it and have been experimenting with homemade almond milk that tastes like the one at the store, thicker not watery, so know it's you I will have in mind 🙂
Gluten Free Granola
I buy Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice 6oz bag. I then replace all the grains including oatmeal in a regular granola recipe with this puffed rice. My basic granola recipe says 3 1/2 cups oats. I have had success using 5 cups puffed rice (half the bag) to replace that quantity. The puffed rice shrinks and becomes crunchy during baking, I cook mine low and slow, 250 for an hour and a half, stirring when ever I can. There may be other brands puffed rice out there, but I am in SMALL town coastal Maine, food is very expensive here too
good one!! I have used puffed millet from Arrowhead, the puffed rice would be great. Thank you for sharing alternatives for gluten mommas out there!
I'm with everyone on this…..I can't wait. Feeding our babies right and being on budget is a bear. I'm excited for "Freeing Fridays" as I'm sure these suggestions and recipes will help to free us from some of the stress of trying to do what's best for each of our families and maybe even provide a wonderful sense of community. Thanks so much!!!
Yes, I'm with you on this, it is one of our major challenges in managing a home and it is easy to slip into bad habits. I'll be interested to see what you come up with 🙂
I used to buy cold cereal and have completely cut that out in favor of four breakfasts that we rotate:
–Oatmeal
–Sourdough Waffles (I use soft pastry whole wheat flour)
–Whole Grain Pancakes
-Toast and Peanut butter (from homemade sourdough bread)
To make all those grains a bit cheaper, I buy in bulk fromAzure Standard. This is the cheapest organic food distributor I've come across. But, my budget is still going over, so I am looking forward to reading more!
Missy, thank you for sharing with all of us! See you Friday!
Looking forward to reading where this goes. Teenagers make it difficult to keep food in the house. Popcorn (with butter and nutritional yeast) makes a great snack. Smoothies made from homemade kefir and last year's picked and frozen berries. Cocoa and homemade bread/toast. Homemade tortillas with a l-i-t-t-l-e bit of cheese. Hardboiled eggs, when the hens are laying. Homemade granola bars (even though they call for marshmallows). It's so expensive to feed a family and have any variety. It seems like we always are eating the same thing.
Julie, Have you seen my granola recipe? No marshmallows and use what you got 🙂
Is there a way to search your blog? I would like to find the granola recipe and also you had mentioned popcorn with what sounded like a homemade seasoning that I would like to try. Thanks for doing these posts. Cannot wait til Friday.
Susan, I must confess to not knowing the answer but here are the links. Looking at it, they are a bit hard to find. I need to find the time to reorganize this blog and get things better situated and easier to find. http://farmishmomma.com/?p=204 is the granola and the popcorn is here: http://farmishmomma.com/?p=287 I also love to add dried dill, oh I think I need to go pop some popcorn right now.
I am with you! My husband and I have been talking about more ways we can save but not compromise the way we eat. Looking forward to your Friday posts and all your posts in between. 🙂
I could not agree more! And as we have been hit hard this winter with frigid temperatures our furnace is running over time and eating away at the budget. I am dreaming of when the Midwest will warm up so we can plant our garden and get some relief on the grocery bills. Thank you for your blog! I have been a silent follower for awhile now and love your pictures!
Very much the same here. I live in rural Kent, UK and have managed to get our food bill to about £40 a month – according to Google that's $66.34. We still manage to eat meat from the butcher, fruit/veg from the farm shops, and sustainably caught fish.
I manage to do it by eating less meat, bulking out with veggies/grains/pulses, never wasting a thing, using leftovers as lunch, jacket potato evening once a week, eggs evening once a week, soup evening once a week. Meal planning each week, writing a list and only buying what's on the list.
Do you make your own cleaning products? I've started to, to save money and feel a more natural household. It's saved a lot, and it's easy and satisfying to do! Just moved on to my own toiletries as well. The next step is reusable wipes in the toilet, but we're not quite ready for that yet. Well, maybe we're ready for half the bathroom trips…!
Wow Vicky!!! Thank you, all really great suggestions. I knew you would all come through with solutions 🙂
I now clean glass/surfaces/kitchen/bathroom with vinegar/lemon peel solution that I add tea tree to – it's wonderful. Cola down the loo and to raise damage from saucepans. I also use white vinegar instead of fabric softener, and make an air freshener spray and laundry spray. They all cost pennies and it's lovely to think of the reduction in toxins in our house 🙂
Oh my goodness – I meant £40 a week! Now we've cut the cleaning products, it will be less – my aim is £30 🙂
We are in the same boat! My husband's job changed and it has been a financial train wreck. Things were already scary, but we've found out there is a new level of "broke"! LOL But God has been faithful to provide and we have not gone to bed hungry yet. Maybe not with what we wanted, but no one is starving. This is why am I am so determined to make the garden a priority this year. You might get a kick out of my garden post. I can't wait to read your Friday posts! That's interesting that food is more expensive here, I didn't realize that.
Sharron, How close are you to me? Yes, we are all in this together friend 🙂
We are about 2 1/2 hours away, my parents are about an hour away from you and I lived in that area as a little girl, so fairly familiar with the area.
Looking forward to these new Friday posts 🙂
Oh I can't wait to read these upcoming posts 🙂 We do the same thing here and have the same dilemma (in Ohio). I have searched and searched and finally found Azure Standard. I have to drive 30 minutes once a month at 7:30 pm on Friday night (-2 this last Friday!) but so worth it for the .80 per pound organic apples and $5/lb organic cheese! I could sure use some other pointers though so I will be back to read!
Wow Leslie, those are amazing prices!!! I wonder if I have something like that here in L'ville area?
For anyone in the PA, WV, OH, VA, MD, NJ, DE areas, you might be interested in Frankferd Farms: http://www.frankferd.com/. FF is a family-owned operation in western PA that specializes in organic, local, bulk, & specialty foods. I am sure there are similar natural food co-ops in many other areas of the US. We have a local FF co-op (made up mostly of homeschooling families…but open to everyone!) that delivers to our home every 4 weeks. Local folks place their orders with FF & pick up at our home.
It would be too late for it this year, but I know from following your story for a few years now, that you know how to butcher your own meat. Deer season in your area will be September, October, November if you do rifle and bow both, and I believe you have Whitetail in your area which are much larger and tastier than the deer in Florida. We use ground venison as a substitute for hamburger quite a bit in the winter. It is super low in fat and cholesterol, and the highest of all the ground meats for iron and protein. Very good Real Food. If you do not want your boys to learn to hunt, usually you can find a hunter in your area who enjoys hunting, but has a wife who refuses to cook game. Those hunters are usually happy to find a family who would like to take the game, so that his hunt is being eaten and not going to waste.
If you get in with the right hunter, game can come in for most of the winter from the different seasons with ducks, rabbits, pheasant, quail, turkey and deer.
Just one note of advice if you have not cooked venison before. If you are using actual cuts of meat, not ground meat – treat is like beef, but cook only to medium rare. You will have a delicious venison flavor. If you cook it to medium well to full well done you will develop the iron – ish taste that you get from liver due to the high iron content of venison. Venison is safe to treat as beef.
Jennifer, yes!! thank you for this idea. I know we have white tail because I have seen a half a dozen already and their foot prints in the snow are gigantic! You ladies are wonderful, truly.
As someone who does not live as sustainable a life as they should I would like to say WOW, I've been reading for a while now and I just thought I'd say, you and your family are pretty amazing! Budgets can be pretty nasty, but chin up, I have never heard of someone with so many kids who can do such a good job 😀
I can sympathize! Once a week I bake a large (approx. 25 cups) batch of homemade granola…oats, wheat germ, coconut flakes, nuts (almonds or walnuts), seeds (sunflower, sesame or flax)…flavored with a bit of nutmeg, cinnamon, & vanilla extract…& baked with various sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, coconut oil, agave or butter). For an extra treat, I sometimes throw in a cup of mini-chocolate chips (which I fond on sale at Aldi after Christmas) after the granola has baked & cooled. I have found this to be an economical, hearty & healthy breakfast I can provide for our family of 8. It can be eaten cold or hot. God bless!
sounds wonderful!
Thank you for doing this-I’m anxious to read the entries. I had to resign from my part time job several months ago while also welcoming our 5th child to our family. I agree with you that in the area of foodid where there’s a lot of room for saving money BUT it can be challenging to do so while still feeding your family well.
This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I'm glad to see The Tightwad Gazette up there because the principals in that are timeless and can be applied to any situation. We too have a huge garden (like it sounds like you used to.) We can a lot and freeze and dehydrate. We don't buy that much as far as produce in the winter…canned applesauce, pearsauce, dried fruit etc. augmented with oranges from Trader Joe's and bananas when they hit rock bottom prices at the grocery store (which is anywhere from 15-25 cents a pound.) Kids get plenty to eat, but don't graze on food. Pennies matter. When we are adopting, which costs a fortune, or when our boys went to boarding school we can get pretty darn frugal. (It's easy to get away from it when it's not as necessary.) Actually, we are pretty frugal most of the time anyway and healthy too for the most part. We RARELY eat out. It's expensive, unhealthy and our homemade food tastes better. Anyway, my point is trying to be that I often try to encourage people to attack their food budget because it is the place where most people can save the most money. We don't do lots of things I'd like too like raw milk which I miss. (Too far, too expensive etc.) I'm about to place an order with Azure Standard which can be very costly, but some things are good so if you are careful (and they deliver in your are) it can be fabulous. Also, I think it's important to know that sometimes things have to give and that it's a fallen world so nothing will ever be perfect. So, mostly my kids food is healthy, but sometimes it's not always. We do the best we can and being frugal is a big part of that.
Liz, thank you for your encouragement! I need to look into Azure aparently as you are the second person to mention it. Oh, and I do love the Twightwad Gazette, have all 3 books since I had my first three babies in diapers all at the same time!
Oh Tricia, I am right with you. I feel so bad when I hear myself offering popcorn to my children instead of apples because I must save the last apple for their father's work lunch and grocery day is not until tomorrow. I have five ages five and under, and only three of them eat. But they have big healthy appetites and so do my husband and I. We strive to eat real, natural, wholesome foods, too. You are right, itt is so hard. Honestly though, I think eating processed foods would make our budget skyrocket. We also eat a lot of soup and homemade bread. At least one main meal per week is potato based- loaded baked potatoes, soup or pancakes. We eat a lot of oatmeal for breakfast. Lately we've all been burnt out on oatmeal so I am trying to find new ways to gussy it up without making it too expensive. We do find ourselves eating Aldi's healthiest cereals more often lately because of the oatmeal appetite fatigue, and I know it has raised our bill at least $5 per week. It sounds like not much but when your budget is $100 per week for five people, one of whom is breasfeeding twins, it's so hard to choose what to sacrifice. What's the best nutrition for the price? Most healthy calories for the money? I am glad to know I am not fighting this battle alone, but I'm also sorry for all of the other mamas and families out there who are struggling to eat enough and well. It's not a struggle we should be facing in todays' world.
I'm very much looking forward to what you have to share on this subject!
Emily, I am sending you a cyber hug!! Twins….swoon! Please email me so that I can send you my mothers amazing drinkable oatmeal breakfast!!! It is my favorite and so filling. It is so very sad that food is so expensive considering the amount of good food that is sent to the landfill everyday in this country.
Have you heard of or tried bountiful baskets? Their organic basket goes for $25 and it would be a challenge to feed your family on just one a week, but their regular baskets (with more produce) cost only $15. They often have add-ons like 25 lbs or oranges, herb-packs, granola, coconut oil, etc. When it is not garden season, I use bountiful baskets! http://www.bountifulbaskets.org
Deb, thank you, I will be looking into it 🙂
Very timely series for our family in Oregon
Hello Momma. Please remind me to read the Friday posts. I certainly need help in this department too. Are those celery stalks growing in the pot?
Hi Cindy, Yes, whenever I buy celery, I cut the bottom off as soon as I bring it home, then put the rest of the celery into the fridge. It will regrow in a week or two 🙂 Free food plus I get to play in the dirt.