If you haven't yet read my initial post, What I Would Feed my Family on a Monthly Budget of $250, I would suggest going there first, and then coming back to this post.

First, Some Answers to Your Questions

1. No, this isn't how we regularly eat. I did mention that in the other post, but I want to say it again for clarity. This is make-believe. Our usual grocery budget (which includes about $30-40 of household and toiletries) is $450, NOT $250. The point of doing this was to see IF I could do it and to figure out HOW I would do it, to challenge myself and to encourage and help those who are at a point where they don't have the luxury of upping their budget. In the past, we did eat very similarly to this, but our budget has since been raised now that we are not as strapped as we were.

2. Does our family actually consume this little dairy? No. We would and could (and used to), but we don't anymore. We drink or eat more like the equivalent of 1 gallon of dairy per week (in the form of raw milk, yogurt or kefir), not 1/2 a gallon as outlined in my budget. This is an option that we now have due to a higher budget, and we thoroughly enjoy it, plus I think it's good for us. We also eat more cheese than the other budget contained (we eat 5-6 lbs per month, not 4), probably about the same amount of butter (4 lbs), and then also some extras like sour cream and cream.

3. What is flaxseed egg replacer and how do you use it? See this post for more details.

4. How would you do this when you have food allergies (like wheat or gluten), or when you're on a special diet, like GAPS?

Here are a few helpful posts for those trying to cut costs when eating grain-free:

• Frugal Living with Food Sensitivities
• Building a Grain Free Pantry
• Using Four Frugal Foods from the Produce Section Creatively 

Our family has eaten wheat free for many, many years and this is how I made it work on a tight budget-- we would still eat the other grains I mentioned (oats, brown rice, rice pasta, etc.) plus starches like potatoes and sweet potatoes and squash. For bread, I made mostly sourdough with a combination of rye and kamut, and then also some yeasted breads using only kamut or sometimes adding other inexpensive flours like barley. I bought all of my grains in bulk from the food co-op that we order from to keep it cost effective. Of course, this would cost a bit more than the wheat flour I used as an example in my last post (25 lbs kamut for me, for example, is $19.55 and 25 lbs of rye is $11.65), but I saved money in other areas of the budget to help make it work.

For those who are gluten free, I would give you the same advice. Use different flours (brown rice, sorghum, millet, tapioca starch, etc.) and buy them in bulk, as well as the necessary extras like xanthan gum for binding. Make your own GF mixes to store in your pantry(never buy them- that makes it so much more expensive). You will probably spend even a bit more than I spent doing wheat-free, but it's still do-able. I wish I had more and better suggestions for you, but we have rarely eaten gluten free, so I'm not particularly experienced in this issue. Perhaps you can help each other out in the comments?

Snacks

Several people asked me what we would eat for snacks on this budget. I'll be honest in saying that it would be a struggle to eat decent snacks. Here are a few things that I would make:

• Granola bars
• Extra muffins
• Bread/toast or tortillas with butter or peanut butter
• Possibly cheese slices, if there was enough
• Any extra raw veggies or fruit that weren't used in other meals (but I know there wouldn't be a lot of leftovers)

All the Other Things I Would Do to Save More Money

My initial budget was based primarily on frugal eating and careful planning, which anyone can do. Now I'm going to share with you some of the many other techniques that you can use to find more room in that lean budget, buy better quality foods, and more of them.

Shop my local produce market

I love my produce market. For those local to me, I shop at 2 EE's. They carry a mix of their own, locally-grown and either unsprayed or organic produce in season, and then they supplement this with other local produce, as well as plenty of imports for those who want them. My market in particular has great prices on most of their local and seasonal items, but I find that produce markets in general are MUCH cheaper than any conventional grocery store, and truthfully, I buy hardly any produce from regular stores.

Aside from their better prices on these local and seasonal items, I also purchase bulk cases at a discount. In my $250 scenario, I spent $4.98 on 5 lbs of apples. At my market, I could buy a 20 lb case for between $9-15 (between late summer and early spring, anyways), depending on the variety I chose. That's a huge difference. I can also buy things like potatoes, carrots, onions, as well as seasonal fruit (apples and pears in fall and winter, tree fruits like peaches and plums in summer, plus tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers and all sorts of foods for preserving in summer as well), all in cases of at least 10 lbs and up to 50 lbs.

On a regular basis, I spend about $35-40 every two weeks at this market, shopping mostly seasonal foods or sales, a few discount items, and then a few things we just enjoy, and I walk away with 3-4 shopping bags stuffed with produce. The produce in my initial post cost $36.60. I could have spent the same or slightly more at the produce store and walked away with more and a better selection, especially if I...

Image from raw+peace+love

Buy From the Discount Shelf

I can't tell you what a difference this makes. Did you know that most stores or markets have a cart or a section where they put fruits and vegetables that are very ripe or just starting to go bad, but still have plenty of life left?

We North Americans tend to have a fairly spoiled view of what "good" produce looks like. If a pepper starts to get a soft spot, we're more likely to throw the whole thing out than to cut around the bad spot. If the lettuce has some bad looking pieces on the outside, we might be tempted to compost the whole head, instead of peeling off the bad parts until we get further in. Honestly, I think we're way too picky and that's why we waste so much food.

When I buy bags off of the discount shelf, I expect that I will cut away and throw out some part of the bag, but it's usually minimal. I always look the bags over carefully before choosing which ones I want. There are a few things that I won't buy discounted, because I know they are routinely not worth it (like already soft avocados- in my experience, more bad than good).

Overall, though, I pay at least 50% less (and often much cheaper) for produce that will still go a long ways. I have a friend who consistently buys the bulk of her produce from the discount shelves at various stores, and I know that she spends much less on produce than even I do (since I only buy some of mine this way, not all). I think that our family still eats a little more fresh produce overall and we enjoy more variety and choice, but their family certainly isn't suffering in any way and they still eat an excellent, whole foods diet with fresh fruits and vegetables.

I know that discounted foods aren't available absolutely everywhere- just yesterday someone was telling me that where they're from in Illinois, they just don't see these discounted items. But, they are available far more than you think. Ask the managers at the stores where you shop where they put discounted items or what days they mark them down. If you never see items already discounted, you can also just ask. Just because it isn't marked down doesn't mean it can't be. Trust me on this.

Buy Other Discounted Items

Produce isn't the only place to save in this regard. Many stores will also discount their dairy (yes, including organic or even raw), breads, meats, fish, eggs, and sometimes dry goods and regular grocery. Learn which stores do, learn how and when they mark them down, and then try to shop according to those patterns.

Don't be afraid to buy near-expiry items. Unless they really don't look good, they almost always are. Meat or fish can be used within a day or two, or frozen immediately. Same with milk, pasteurized or raw (and after being frozen, it's still great for making yogurt or kefir, for baking, for pouring over cereal or oatmeal, etc.). Yogurt or other cultured dairy usually lasts far beyond the expiry date, as do eggs. Breads can also be frozen and taste just fine once thawed.

Image by bcmom

Use a Natural Foods Co-op or Bulk Store

Although there are sadly few of these in Canada (at least, not in the West where I live), I have found an excellent one that I can buy from and pick up just across the US border. I buy from a co-op called Azure Standard. This is, hands down, my most cost effective option for purchasing any sort of grains (whole or already ground into flour), dry beans and legumes, other baking staples, dried fruits, raw honey, among other things.

The beauty of food co-ops (or natural bulk-foods stores) is that they regularly offer foods in much larger quantities. I buy my dry beans in 5 lb bags, for example, instead of the piddly little 450g bags I used in the $250 scenario. Here's the price difference:

Pinto Beans

• 5 lbs $6.25 (organic are just over $7)
• 450 g (just under 1 lb) $1.88
• 5 bags of 450g each (to equal 5 lbs) = $9.40

By buying in bulk, I am saving over $3. If I only want to save a little over $2, I can get organic instead. This makes a huge difference in your overall budget!

Take Advantage of Special Store Deals

The particular store that I used as the basis of my $250 budget actually runs a fantastic promotion each month. The first Monday and Tuesday of every month are Family Days. Depending on how much you spend ($25, $50, or $100) your discount goes up. When I spend $100, I save 15%.

In other words, I could have taken that $250 budget, and by buying at least $100 worth of it at the beginning of the month in one shopping trip, taken an immediate $15 off my total. That alone would give me the extra I needed to be able to buy more snack foods, or to help with extras like spices, yeast, baking soda, etc.

This is just one example of a store promotion. Every store is totally different. Maybe your store offers really excellent in-store coupons that you can use. Maybe you get a gift card back when you spend a certain dollar amount on particular days. If the store that you regularly shop at doesn't offer promotions like this, see if you can find one that does and make the switch.

Image by jshontz

Include Home-Grown and Preserved Food

When I made that $250 budget, I did it from scratch, not including anything I already had in my house.

The truth of the matter is, I have jars and jars and jars of preserved foods up above my cupboards. Among them are:

• Apple sauce made with gleaned (free) apples
• Apple jelly (made with the same apples)
• Strawberry jam (made with cheap $1 jam berries bought in season)
• Peaches (I bought cases at the end of the peach season, for $0.60 per lb)
• Dried beans, zucchini and tomatoes (all free from the excess of my garden)
• Salsa (with my excess garden tomatoes, and discounted peppers and onions, made last summer)

I know, you're not going to be growing or preserving much at this very moment (and neither am I). But winter is a great time to start thinking about what you might want to grow or preserve during this upcoming spring and summer season.

If these posts were written in summer, I could also include plenty of fresh produce from my garden that we would eat with meals and snacks, instead of needing to buy as much produce. Though I certainly don't grow everything our family eats, even with a handful of garden boxes, a few containers and a very small in-ground plot, I grow enough that we only buy produce minimally during the growing season. I can't think of a better way to include more fresh, nutrient-dense, organically-grown produce in a tight budget!

There's So Much More to Say

Truly. I could ramble on about this subject all day (and I will just a little bit more, on Monday). Writing posts like these are so hard for me, because a post just feels so short and there's so much more I want to say.

In fact, I did say it. I wrote an entire book on this topic in detail. It's called Real Food on a Real Budget: How to Eat Healthy for Less.

If you want to really delve deeper into the details and techniques of cutting down your budget without compromising the quality of food that you eat, I think you'll find it immensely helpful. If you want to focus first on learning to carefully think through and plan out your meals like I did in my initial $250 budget post, then you might want to start with my book Plan It, Don't Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan. 

What about you? What other types of techniques do you use to take a tight budget and stretch it even farther?

Top image by USDAGOV

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Q&A- My Grocery Budget, Part 2

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Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer

In the new year, one of the major resolutions a lot of people make (after losing weight) is getting out of debt.  A lot of families are reeling from their Christmas expenses -- I think I've read the average family spends over $2000 on Christmas each year! Much of that goes onto credit cards.  When you think about taking several months to pay that off at 18% (or more) interest, that's a lot of extra money that you're spending just to pay the interest.  That doesn't even take into account any late fees or other fees if you can't make the payments or something happens.

The best way to avoid all this, of course, is to stop using credit cards entirely.  It sounds a bit scary, no?  But you can do it!

Our Story

When Ben and I got married 5 1/2 years ago, we had quite a bit of debt.  We had his student loans, our mortgage, and around $10,000 in credit card debt.  Yikes!  I was still in college and Ben was freshly out, and we didn't make a lot of money.  Certainly we couldn't do anything about this situation, right?

It was hard.  I won't lie.  Every time we sat down to look at our budget in the first year or so that we were married, we literally did not make enough to cover our basic expenses, let alone pay down our debt.  I worked part time as a private music teacher while going to school full time and I had to.  We scrimped and saved as much as we could (although in retrospect, not as much as we should have).

After a year and a small promotion it got easier.  And we got smarter about our money.  We ate out less, we cooked from scratch more, we bought used clothes and furniture when we bought at all.  We prioritized saving and paying down debt.  Within about a year, our credit card debt was gone.  We cut them up and haven't looked back!

We paid off the last student loan just before we celebrated our 5th anniversary.  All that's left is our mortgage now.  The total amount that we paid off was around $160,000.  Not bad,  in 5 years!

You Can Do It, Too

Does that sound crazy to you?  It's not.  And no, we don't make a ton of money now.  We don't struggle, but we definitely have to budget very carefully.  If we can do it, anyone can.

The first step is to simply cut up those credit cards!  You don't need them -- there are alternatives out there for some uses (like online transactions).

Some of you are saying, "Now, wait a minute...what about my credit score?  Won't it go down?"  Yes.  But experts like Dave Ramsey say that it isn't really a 'credit score,' it is a 'debt score.'  It measures the amount of debt you carry and how you manage it.  If you don't intend to carry around any debt, then you don't need that score (which largely tells businesses whether or not they should lend you money -- i.e., allow you to go into debt).  Sure, there's the issue of renting homes or apartments, but there are debt-free people who are able to do that with no problem (like Jessica Fisher).  Ask her how it's done; I know it's possible.  Besides, the idea that you "need" a credit card is just a myth (seriously, read those myths!).

Not having a credit card is freeing.  There's no one to pay back at the end of the month; my money is mine.  If you're wondering about emergencies, we immediately saved up $1000 and set it aside just for that, and we don't touch it unless we have to (which has only happened once).  After we paid off the rest of our debt, we saved up a three-month emergency fund (three month's living expenses), and aim to save up six months soon.  There's nothing catastrophic that could occur (that I can think of) that wouldn't be covered either by our insurance or our emergency fund.

Benefits to Not Using Credit

1. Paying Less For Purchases -- When you pay in cash, the transaction is finished.  You've paid what the price tag said.  When you use credit, you will pay 18% or more compounding interest, in some cases paying twice as much over time!
2. Spending Less Money -- Studies have shown that when you have to hand over actual cash vs. a credit card, you spend about 20% less.  There's a psychological factor involved here.
3. No Surprise Fees -- If you forget to mail your payment, you'll pay a late fee (which happened to us by accident sometimes, and could to anyone else, too).  There are various other fees involved, or your interest rate could change.  Bills can surprise you.
4. Protection Against Theft -- If you carry cash, and you lose it or get robbed, you've lost that amount of cash.  But if someone steals your credit card, even if you are not liable for their purchases, they could still use it to get additional information about you and you could become the victim of identity theft.  That's not possible if you use cash.
5. Have More Money -- Many millionaires and successful business owners avoid debt (including Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs) because they know that debt doesn't make sense.  Their no-debt, frugal ways have enabled them to have more money and run successful businesses.  Take a lesson from people who are successful: debt's not the way to get ahead!

Doesn't that sound pretty awesome?

Image by Images_of_Money

How to Stop Using Credit

The most important part is determination.  If you start out saying, "I will avoid my credit card...unless I really need it," you will just keep using it.  You will forget your cash, spend a little more than the amount of cash you have (on things you "absolutely need") or there will be an emergency.  Trust me.

For a long time I knew my microwave wasn't good (a topic I'll talk about in a couple months when Keeper of the Home tackles real food basics), but as long as it was in my kitchen, I was tempted to use it.  "I forgot to get meat out to thaw for dinner!  Well...I'll just use it this once, just to thaw the meat a little."  Once I simply put it away and it wasn't accessible, I found other ways and I didn't miss it.  The same thing applies to using credit: it's convenient and if it's available, you'll use it.  If it's not, you'll find other ways.

1. Cut up those credit cards and call the company to cancel.  Do not be wooed to stay by extra rewards or a lower interest rate; debt is debt (no matter the interest rate) and you won't "save" enough, statistics show, to make those rewards points worth it.
2. Create a budget.  If you know where your money is going, then you'll have planned enough to spend on your necessary expenses (and maybe a few indulgences, if your finances allow) and you won't have to worry about falling short. (Check out our current advertising, Pear Budget, for a simple-to-use budgeting and expense-tracking service)
3. Save up an emergency fund.  You need at least $1000 set aside, and you don't touch it unless you have an emergency.  Not being able to have your weekly date is not an emergency.  The car breaking down is.
4. Set up a system to pay down the debt you have.  You may have to tighten that budget -- if you only allotted for your basic expenses, including minimum payments, you'll be in debt forever.  Try to at least double the minimum, but pay as much as you can comfortably allow each month.  Most or all of your "extra" money should go towards debt.  This is temporary but critical.

It has been so amazing not to have debt.  We know that the money coming in each month is ours and that we don't owe anyone (except for what we actually pay for our electric, insurance, and other services).  When we look at whether or not we can afford something, we can usually find a way to work it out (if it's really important) without having to stop paying any other bills.  We have wiggle room in our budget so that unexpected expenses don't scare us and we almost never have to dip into our emergency fund anyway.

You can have that freedom too!  All you have to do is take the tiny step of not using credit cards, then work towards paying them off, and continue on your journey of paying down debt!

There's a new book coming out on this very topic, from Barry Myers (the Mr. behind Stacy Makes Cents).  It's called From Debtor to Better, and details his advice as both a financial counselor and the head of a family who is personally out of debt (they paid off even their mortgage last year).  It's just launched, so if you're interested in learning more about getting out of debt, you may want to check into this resource.

New Ebook!

Yesterday, I just launched my own new ebook!  It's the latest in the Modern Alternative Mama: In the Kitchen series, and it's called Wholesome Comfort: Whole Foods to Warm and Nourish Your Family.  It's all about real comfort foods -- with no white flour, white sugar, or canned soups that are so common in comfort food recipes!

There are many allergy-friendly recipes, too, and each recipe is designated with little symbols if it's egg, dairy, grain, or nut-free, so you can see at a glance if the recipe is safe for your family.  It contains 42 recipes and sells for $10.95.  During launch week, you can get 20% off with WCLAUNCH20 through Friday 1/20.

Do you still use credit cards?  Or are you on a debt-free journey and want to share some advice?  Tell us your story!

Top image by Images_of_Money

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If you want to learn something, one of the best ways is to learn from someone who has actually done it.

Do you want to learn to get your budget under control, cut your expenses drastically, simplify your life, and live both frugally and generously? My dear friend, Crystal Paine, is just the person to ask. Her story speaks for itself.

She and her husband began their marriage on a penny-pinching, rice and beans budget of as little as $650-900 (total!) some months, while he went through law school, without going into debt at all. They've dealt with multiple moves, job loss, starting up new businesses and having 3 young children during those years, all the while keeping Crystal at home full-time. They have built up two successful businesses, saved up and bought their vehicles and then their house with CASH (yes, cash!), and are committed to continuing to live frugally so that they can give generously.

Today, her new book The Money Saving Mom's Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life and Save Thousands a Year hits bookstores and I am thrilled to be giving away 5 copies to my readers!

My Thoughts on The Money Saving Mom's Budget

When my own copy of the book arrived just before Christmas, I was eager to read it and found that there were many parts of the book that I didn't want to put down. I had initially wondered whether I would learn anything new or be personally inspired by the book, as my husband and I have similar views as the Paine's do on money and budgeting, we aren't in debt, and frugality is something that I love to practice and share about.

However, I found the book inspiring and helpful to read, no matter where you are at in your financial journey.

You see, Crystal doesn't think that having your finances in order is just about having a budget, cutting up your credit cards, and finding ways to trim your spending. Her approach is very holistic and that's what I loved about this book.

The first two chapters were an unexpected breath of fresh air, and focused on goal-setting and simple, clutter-free living. Her premise is that you need to set goals so that you know exactly where you're going and how you're going to get there, and that streamlining your life and eliminating the clutter (physical and mental) is key to being able to achieve those financial goals.

She's right. It's not enough just to say that you want to spend less or that you want to get debt-free, but not change anything about your overall lifestyle in order to accomplish those desires. If you're still living exactly the same lifestyle that got you into that place of financial struggle, then doesn't it make perfect sense to address the bigger picture and not just the money issues?

Although our family is debt-free, with a healthy amount of savings, and we budget our money every month, I was still reminded of things that we could improve on. Her chapter on goal-setting was the most impactful for me. If I can see one major weakness in how we run our finances, it's that we aren't specific or aggressive enough with setting meaningful goals for our income, our savings, or our giving. Crystal and Jesse have done some tremendous things through their careful money-management and I can see how we could steward our money more effectively by being even more intentional with it.

What You Can Expect to Learn From This Book?

• How and why to set financial goals, and practical, down-to-earth suggestions on how to move towards achieving those goals
• How to simplify and de-clutter your life and why it makes a difference financially
• How to budget your time (in order to help you achieve your goals)
• How to budget your money in a step-by-step manner, why it makes sense to use cash, and how to find money you didn't know that you had!
• How to get rid of your debt and go completely plastic-free
• How to cut down on your grocery expenses drastically, both with coupons and without
• How to reduce expenses in most other areas of your life (clothing, household needs, recreation and entertainment, etc.)
• How to cultivate contentment, no matter what your circumstances are, and live more generously

The one area in which I would suggest that this book may not be helpful for some of my readers is when it comes to the chapters on saving on groceries and household goods through couponing.

Now, I am not against using coupons at all. I use them myself sometimes and write a weekly post with Natural and Organic Coupons and Deals for Crystal's blog, Money Saving Mom. I even started up a deals blog a year and a half ago, with a focus on saving money on more natural, healthy living which included couponing as a way to save (although the blog is now under new ownership). Coupons can be a helpful tool when used carefully, in the context of a "real food" budget.

That said, I think that for those who really desire to focus on eating real, whole, and traditional foods and to keep their homes free of toxins by using simple and natural cleaning and beauty products, you may not gain as much from these two chapters. There is a third chapter that focuses on twenty-five ways to lower your grocery bill without using coupons, and I would agree with (and practice myself) many of these suggestions.

A Worthwhile Read

If you are in the midst of serious financial struggles, OR if you want to learn to steward your money more carefully and work towards meeting your financial goals, I think that you will be encouraged by this book and find its suggestions practical and helpful.

Some of Crystal's suggestions may be downright hard and she doesn't try to sugar-coat what it takes to be in control of your money (rather than letting it control you). She is straight-forward and honest and one of the hardest working women I personally know. She isn't advocating quick and easy solutions, but rather a lifestyle of intentionality and conscientious stewardship of the resources that you've been given. She acknowledges that it takes discipline and often sacrifice, but that the rewards of financial peace are worth it. 

An amazing bonus is that ALL of the profits from the sale of this book will be going towards an organization that is dear to my heart, Compassion International. I travelled to the Philippines with Compassion International this past spring, and was blown away by the impact of the work that they are doing in the lives of impoverished children and families, as they meet physical needs, offer hope and transformation, and share the Gospel all over the world.

Would You Like to Win a Copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget? I Have 5 to Give Away!

Here's how to get entered (remember to leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Tell me why you would love to win The Money Saving Mom's Budget, or share one of your financial goals for 2012.

2. Subscribe to Keeper of the Home by RSS feed or by email.

3. Share about this giveaway through your blog or favorite social media (find us on Facebook and Twitter here).

Giveaway ends Friday, January 13, 2012.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book for the purpose of review.  This post contains affiliate links to Amazon, where I receive a small commission of sales, which helps to support this site. 

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Once upon a time, there was this girl who was very careful with her budget. So careful that her husband trusted her implicitly, and she carefully maintained her grocery budget with cash each month, so as not to overspend. She was so insistent that this method worked, she even wrote profusely on the topic.

This worked well for several years. Then this girl discovered that upon returning home from an overseas trip, she was pregnant with her 4th child. Then two homestay students arrived, fatigue and nausea ensued, and general chaos was reigning in most areas of her life as she sought to keep up with everything. Foolishly, one of the things she dropped was her careful cash management system. And didn't pick it up again for 4 months.

Until this month. After being informed by her ever-loving husband that she had gone over budget for 4 months in a row, particularly so this past month, she has learned her lesson well. Her wallet once again contains cash and she has a written list, detailing what she has spent and what she intends to spend and the balance of her budget.

If she sticks to the plan, she and her grocery budget may just live happily ever after.

3 Tips That Will Really, Truly Help You to Stick to a Budget

Image by Images of Money

1. Use cash.

I can't say it strongly enough. Cash is tangible, it hurts to pass it over to the cashier, it's beyond embarrassing to get to the till and realize you don't have enough, and when it's gone, baby it's gone.

Even if your family does the rest of your budget online (as we primarily do, through debit cards, online payments and a budgeting software system), make your grocery budget cash!

Just go to the bank at the beginning of each month and take out what you've got budgeted for that entire month (usually I leave about $25 in the bank, just to cover any small trips my husband might do to grab something random, because otherwise I tend to overlook those and go slightly over budget). Use your choice of a special cash wallet, a basic envelope or baggies system, and divy it up as you prefer (by the week, or kept whole).

For those who are really, really adamant about not using cash, I suppose you could use a debit card and keep a meticulous record of each and every purchase you make, which you have with you ever time you go to shop. It's not ideal, though, in my experience.

Image by Heather McCall

2. Before you spend any of it, determine how that money will be spent.

At the beginning of the month, after I make my first meal plan, I like to sit down and determine what I will spend where, and how much is left for remaining purchases. For example, here's my money breakdown this month:

Budgeted Amount: $400

*Note that it would have been $450, but my husband had already spent $30 the day that I wrote up this budget buying raw milk and cheese, and I'm leaving $20 in the bank account for unaccounted for purchases.*

Azure Standard Natural Foods Co-op order: $170

I make this order monthly, and it usually varies between $80-$180, depending on what we need.

Extra Foods (local grocery store): $88

I had budgeted to spend about $90 before I went, based on the fact that this store gives a 15% discount the first Sunday/Monday of every new month if you spend $100 or more. I brought a calculator and tracked exactly what I bought, and the total came to $103 and then $88 after the $15 discount!

Ennis Meats: $60

This is my meat/deli store out in the country, where I purchase grass fed and free-range meat products, including nitrate-free sausages and that type of thing. I had planned on spending $40-$50, but they had cases of the turkey breakfast sausage we like for a good deal, so I splurged and bought one, but I did so knowing that my budget could handle it.

We had already started the month with some vegetables, and a ton of free local apples and pears (from gleaning in the park, and a friend's yard), so I skipped the produce store for now. We also already have a freezer full of grass-fed beef purchased earlier this summer, plus 11 pastured chickens that I bought off my mom last month.

Budgeted money remaining: $90

I won't shop this week but will try to use up everything that I have. After that, I will do a big produce shop for the rest of the month (probably $35-$40, and I might spend another $20-30 on a case of pears for canning). The produce will last because I use up those things that go bad faster first, saving the hardy fruits and vegetables for later, plus I'm using something called a Blu Apple, which helps to keep produce fresh for longer, reducing waste and trips to the store.

The rest will go towards a smaller shop at my local store for things that we run out of or need to fill in the ingredients list for my meal plans. This will include fresh eggs, I'm sure and a few other random grocery items (and if anyone knows a great source of pastured eggs for a decent price in the Fraser Valley, I'd love to know it- I lost my source of eggs this winter).

If I have extra (which is rare, but it happens sometimes), I will save it up towards future meat purchases. Otherwise, I try to set aside meat money at the beginning of the month, except this month when I was already buying meat and needed a large co-op order.

Image by ilovebutter

3. Go with a detailed list.

Not just a list like this:

• chicken
• broccoli
• pasta
• milk

But a list like this:

• 1 large whole, free-range chicken ($3.99 per lb, so approx. $15-$20 depending on size)
• 2 large heads broccoli ($3)
• 4 packages brown rice pasta ($12)
• 4 half-gallons raw milk ($20)

Now, you don't have to estimate the prices like I do (and yes, those are estimations, but they're very educated guesses because I pay attention to prices). I realize it adds time to your planning. I've come to feel that it's worthwhile, however, because it allows me to guesstimate a ballpark figure of how much I will spend at each store on each trip.

If I'm going to hit up 3 stores while I'm out, I will have a list that tells me I expect to spend:

• $90 at Extra Foods
• $40-50 at Ennis Meats
• $35 at 2 EE's (my produce market/farm)

This way, I can pay attention to how things are adding up as they enter my cart. I will know if I'm overspending before I even get to the counter and I can make a decision to remove something if necessary. Or, if I have underspent at 1 or 2 stores by the time I get to the produce market, I might be able to splurge and stock up on a sale on organic potatoes, or a discounted case of tomatoes to turn into sauce, or simply on an expensive veggie or fruit that we love but rarely buy.

Not only will a list like this help you to be very cognizant of the money that you are spending (before you even hand it over), but it will keep you on track with your purchases. If fresh salmon or mandarin oranges or fair trade chocolate weren't on your list, then unless you know you have the extra room in the budget, you'll rethink them.

You'll also get through the store faster, particularly if you use a list that groups like items together. The list I use is divided by baking items, diary, produce, cleaning, toiletry, canned goods, etc. and it really does help to streamline my time in the store. Having 3 young children who get antsy pretty quickly while shopping, this is invaluable.

It really does work.

This month, for the first time in 4 months, I am on track to finish right on budget, with plenty of food stocked up in the freezer and pantry to go into next month. Can I just tell you that it feels really good?

I know that managing your budget like this requires a bit more thought, more time, more effort.

However, if keeping your food expenses affordable and finding ways to shave down your budget are goals that you have, these techniques will ensure that you stay on track and move steadily towards those financial goals!

How do you manage your grocery budget? What practical things that you do make the biggest difference for you? If you're struggling with the budget, which areas are hardest for you?

Top image by Editor B

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Real Food on a Real Budget: Using Cash

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

Our Sponsor:

• Plan to Eat: Simple meal planning. Your recipes. Monthly planner. Grocery lists.

This week I will be running some excerpts from my new book, Real Food on a Real Budget: How to Eat Healthy for Less. They will be short selections from a few different chapters, just to give you an idea of some of the contents.

Using  Cash

Taken from Chapter 1: Working With a Budget

Once  you  have  determined  what  your  monthly  budget  ought   to  be,  or  how  much  you  have  to  work  with,  here  is  my  biggest piece  of  advice  in  sticking  to  that   budget:  USE  CASH!

I  know  the  reasons  that  people   prefer  not  to  use  cash.  They  don’t   want  to  carry  that  much  around  in   their  purse.  They  prefer  to  put  in   on  a  credit  card  that  earns  points   and  then  pay  it  off.  They  make  all   of  their  expenses  on  debit  and  then   just  keep  track  of  it.  It’s  more  work   to  set  it  up,  take  out  the  cash  at  the beginning  of  the  month,  and  stick  to  the  system.  It’s  embarrassing  to  pull  out  an  envelope  full  of  cash  when  you’re  in  a   busy  line-­up  at  the  grocery  store.  It’s  _______  (insert  your  own   reason  here).

Regardless  of  your  reason  for  not  wanting  to  use  cash,  here  are   the  reasons  that  I  find  it  the  best  way  to  stay  on  track  with  my   own  grocery  budget:

It  is  visible  and  very  tangible. I  can  see  exactly  how  much  I   have  left,  and  I  feel  it  when  I  pull  those  bills  out  to  make  a   purchase  and  notice  how  much  smaller  the  remaining  stack  is.   It  keeps  me  very  conscious  of  what  I  spend.

It  prevents  me  from  making  impulse  purchases  that  I  really   don’t  have  the  money  for. Trust  me-­  it  is  much  more  embarrassing  to  not  have  enough  cash  for  the  food  you’ve  put  in   your  cart  than  it  is  to  simply  count  out  the  correct  amount  in   front  of  curious  onlookers!  When  I  know  exactly  how  much  I   have  to  spend,  I  make  sure  that  I  am  keeping  track  of  what   goes  into  my  cart  before  I  get  to  the  checkout  line.

Even  if  I  forget  that  I’ve  spent  more  than  I  thought,  the  cash  is   no  longer  there  and  I  cannot  accidentally  bust  my  budget. This   is  something  that  would  often  happen  to  me  when  we  used  a   debit  card  for  all  our  purchases.  The  smaller,  quick-­run-­to-­the-­store  kind  of  expenses  would  slip  my  mind  when  I  was   calculating  how  much  money  I  had  left  to  spend,  until  it   actually  came  time  to  add  it  all  up  at  the  end  of  the  month  and   I  would  realize  that,  once  again,  I  had  gone  over  budget.  With  cash,  if  it’s  spent,  it’s  spent.

It  forces  me  to  really  evaluate  each  purchase  as  I  go  to  make  it. Sure,  that  packaged  spaghetti  sauce  would  be  nice  and  easy,   but  for  the  same  amount  I  could  purchase  tomatoes  and   tomato  paste  and  some  veggies,  and  make  a  much  larger   amount  of  sauce  that  would  be  more  nutritious.    And  do  we   really  need  those  store-­bought  muffins  or  could  I  easily  whip   up  a  batch  of  my  own  (but  minus  the  rancid  oils,  white  flour  and  sugar,  preservatives,  etc.)  and  have  a  fun  morning  with   my  5  year  old?  Those  out-­of-­season  peaches  for  $3.50  a  lb  in   May  might  look  awfully  tempting,  but  I  could  buy  a  whole  lot   more  seasonal  rhubarb  and  strawberries  for  the  same  amount   of  money.

It  helps  me  to  set  aside  money  for  larger  purchases,  such  as  a   side  of  grass-­fed  beef  or  buying  organic  grains  in  bulk  or   purchasing  berries  in  the  summer.  By  going  through  my  cash   at  the  beginning  of  the  month  and  separating  it  for  savings,  for   my  raw  milk  share,  for  my  co-­op  order,  and  then  only  spending  what’s  remaining  on  other  groceries  and  produce,  I  can   ensure  that  I’m  actually  using  my  budget  the  way  that  I  plan  to   rather  than  running  on  auto-­pilot  and  finding  that  I’m  coming   up  short  at  the  end  of  each  month.

Do you use cash for your grocery budget? Why or why not?

Post taken from my newest book, Real Food on a Real Budget. Find out more about how you can save money and still eat real, whole, nourishing foods!

Image by francoiskarm

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Introducing My New Book: Real Food on a Real Budget
• Eat More Real Food: Take Inventory of Your Pantry
• Real Food on a Real Budget: Finding Sources for Purchasing Real Food

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

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I am so excited to introduce my newest book to you!

Real Food on a Real Budget has been a bit like having two babies in one year... first, we welcomed Johanna into our family this August. Within a week of her birth, while being told "sit down, rest, stop getting up!" by my loving hubby and midwife, I launched into writing this book.

Just about 9 months later, after much brainstorming, countless hours spent writing (and deleting and then writing again), many late nights and much anticipation, my labor of love is finally finished...

Why I Wrote This Book

As I was brainstorming in those early days, I was trying to think of what would be the most relevant topic I could write on, but it had to be a topic that I knew intimately. In both the USA and Canada, families everywhere have been experiencing the effects of recession and financial struggle. For many families, budget constraints and figuring out how they can save money are of the utmost priority.

I understand this well. 5 years ago, we were living on a minimum wage salary with a new baby. In recent years where we have lived very frugally in order to save up to start our own family business, as our young family continued to grow. This year we are in the process of starting that business, which takes a whole lot of patience and willingness to go without, as you pour every bit of profit back into building up the business.

We have always had a tight grocery budget. We spend 30% less on food than the average family.

And yet, day in and day out, I blog about whole foods, better nutrition, Nourishing Traditions, and tell you that you should be buying higher quality meat, and raw milk, and organics, and so on. How can we afford to eat like this when we're always pinching pennies and watching the budget so closely?

Real Food on a Real Budget is a primer for real families, just like yours, to show you how it is possible to eat real food without spending a fortune.

I am not only passionate about teaching better nutrition and what you should be eating. I wanted to create something that you help enable you to learn how you can actually afford to do this. I believe strongly that healthy living should be accessible and affordable for everyone!

Want to Learn More About the Book?

For a much more detailed explanation of the book, including a brief preview that you can download to take a little peak inside, please visit the promo page:

Learn more about Real Food on a Real Budget

A Few Thank You's

No one ever writes a book alone. If they do, I don't know how they do it!

I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing me to write this book. I am continually amazed and humbled that He has given me the opportunity to run this blog, to know the incredible women who visit here, and to work at something that I love so much, getting to share my beliefs and passions and hopefully encourage women and families. This is all from Him and for Him.

Without my husband, this book would not exist. Literally. You know the phrase, "behind every great man there is an even greater woman"? The opposite is true in our family! He makes sure I get time to write. He encourages me to keep going. He tells me (lovingly) when what I wrote stinks and needs to be re-written, and then beams at me with pride in his eyes when I come back to him with something better. He worked tirelessly to edit and format and prepare this book so that it would be as perfect as possible when you rest your eyes upon it. Thank you, my love!

To my kids, for being gracious when mommy had to work. I love you all like crazy. Abbie, that date with mommy is coming this week, you just wait!

To my incredible designer, Karla Porter of Fruition Designs. I gave her a few vague ideas for this book cover, but I was fairly directionless. The cover you see is the very first draft of what she sent to me. Perfect from the start! I love it, Karla! Thank you!

To my dear friend Jessica, who loves to correct my grammar and tell me I used "it's" the wrong way. :) Thank you for the amazing grasp of the English language that you brought to my book, and for letting me repay in friendship.

To all those who read and reviewed the initial copy- too many to mention, but all of you real foodies and bloggers know who you are. Your feedback was so valuable for me.

Lastly, to my readers, who gave me grace when the book took 4 months longer than I thought it would and just kept gently asking, "Are you still writing that book?" Last night, my husband and I were praying for you all, that this book would impact you and your families, helping you to better steward both your health and your finances, to bring glory to God. I appreciate you all so much!

An Introductory Special

Because I want to see as many people as possible get this book, I'm running a launch week special on it!

The book will regularly sell for $24.95 (digital copy) or $29.95 plus shipping (paperback copy). As a 280-page book, bursting at the seams with tips and ideas to revolutionize your grocery budget and how you feed your family, it's well worth it.

By implementing just a few of the suggestions from the book, you could easily save the cost of the book in one month, or even one shopping trip. If you really put it's suggestions into practice, you should expect to save literally $100s and possibly much more over the course of a year, or start purchasing all the "expensive" real foods you want to serve your family, without a jump in your budget.

For this week, though, I'm offering it at a 25% discount...

Buy a digital copy   $24.97 $18.97

Buy a paperback copy   $29.97 plus $3.99 shipping $25.97 with free shipping (by using coupon code: FREESHIP to save the shipping at checkout)

**Note that this code is provided by Lulu.com, not by Keeper of the Home. If you have any troubles with the code, please email and let me know!**

I hope you love it and that it transforms what you eat and how much you spend!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• Real Food on a Real Budget: Using Cash
• Want to Win a Copy of Real Food on a Real Budget?
• Cook More Real Food: Make a Meal Plan

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• Plan to Eat: Simple meal planning. Your recipes. Monthly planner. Grocery lists.

Image by Bohman

My wonderful hubby, Ryan, is as busy as he can be, working on our new business, Resound School of Music. Nonetheless, he agreed to write this short review post of our favorite budgeting software, You Need a Budget, which keeps us in line each and every month.

Since he's the the one that runs a mean budget around here, I'm going to let him tell you all about it...

*******

Some of you may remember my past review of YNAB (short for “You Need A Budget”), a personal budgeting software created for the those of us who are not Chartered Accounts.

The folks at YNAB have just release a new version, YNAB 3, and have kindly sent us a copy for review. Although YNAB does have some great features, I’m not going to give you a feature by feature breakdown. You can find that here, if you’re interested.

Instead, I’m going to tell you why I like YNAB so much. Although it is a software, it is first a system for sound financial management and faithful resource stewardship. It is based on four rules for personal management, and cannot be operated outside of these rules. These rules are:

Rule #1 – Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck (A process for living off of last month’s income)

Rule #2 – Give Every Dollar a Job (In other words, have a plan for where all of your money goes – even if it’s just into savings)

Rule #3 – Save for a Rainy Day (Basically saving in advance for large expenditures so that they don’t throw you off when they happen).

Rule #4 – Roll with the Punches (Don’t let your failures and mistakes dictate your future. Get up and keep going.)

In a sense, when you use YNAB you immerse yourself in an environment where good financial management principles are continuously being reinforced. It takes some of the fantastic principles that Dave Ramsey and others talk about, and gives the user the tools to put them into practice.

Even though this blog has very little to do with Financial Management (Stephanie's note: but lots about frugality, which is so related!), we’ve promoted YNAB since the beginning because it’s the software we used to implement what we learned from Dave Ramsey, get out of debt and save enough money to start our own business in 2 years.

The folks at YNAB have made a special offer to readers of this blog for 10% off a purchase of YNAB software, which you can take advantage of by clicking on this link.

In the spirit of full disclosure, we are a YNAB affiliate and we do receive a commission for any sales that come through this site. That said, we only affiliate ourselves with products that we love. If you’d like to buy YNAB, and like this blog enough to support it, please purchase it through the links in this post. Otherwise, you can visit YNAB directly at www.ynab.com.

Do you have a favorite budget management tool? How do you keep your finances in line?

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Real Food on a Real Budget: Using Cash

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

Our Sponsor:

• Plan to Eat: Simple meal planning. Your recipes. Monthly planner. Grocery lists.

I ran across this last week at Beauty That Moves (hat tip to Small Notebook), which is part of an excellent discussion of the grocery costs for buying healthful, whole foods:

I wonder how much other families spend on groceries each week. Is that
too bold of a thing to ask? I've been wanting to pose this question for
several days now, yet admittedly, I don't really know why I need the
information. But then I thought, maybe it's not just for me, maybe we
all need the information - from one another. Maybe it would help us to
feel a little less alone as we hand over however much it is to
the cashier in our respective hometown markets each week. I was taught
growing up that our grocery budget is the one area in  our household
finances we have the most control over, and I do believe that still.
But I also am still so amazed at how much so little costs each week,
regardless of not buying packaged foods and doing all of our cooking
from scratch.

I highly recommend that you read the rest of the post fully, as well as look through the lengthy comments below. The discussion is well worth it.

For those of us who are committed to purchasing nutritious and higher-quality foods, it can sometimes be daunting as we face the balance between a commitment to our health, and the financial constraints that most families find themselves in.

I love the question "expense or investment", because I think it's a very valid one that most homemakers have to continue to ask themselves as they make choices about what they will and will not purchase, and how many dollars they will spend. 

Personally, we've chosen to try to take as balanced of an approach as we can at this stage of life. We agreed early on that good food is an investment in our health, and that you either pay now (in higher food prices) or you pay later (in poor health, medical bills and reduced quality of life). However, we're still a young family, working to save money and spend what we have cautiously. We have a specific and not-so-roomy grocery budget, considering the quality and cost of the foods that we value buying. It's a very tough balancing act, month to month, and it only increases as our family grows.

For me, it's a worthwhile tension when I look at the bigger picture, but I definitely feel the stretch of it each and every month, and have had to make many sacrifices- a bit less meat, no convenience foods at all (even healthy ones), almost only homemade treats, raw milk that we ration out over the course of the week, few bought beverages (but lots of water!), everything from scratch...

How do you view your grocery budget? Is it an expense or investment? Do you relate to the grocery budgets and the concerns of the women who commented on the other post?

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Q&A- My Grocery Budget, Part 2

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Our Sponsor:

• Plan to Eat: Simple meal planning. Your recipes. Monthly planner. Grocery lists.

Image by alamosbasement

Monica 

Monica, I purchase my beef and chicken (all of my meat and poultry, actually) through a small, local deli shop. It's located out in the country, about a 20 minute drive from my house. The reason I love it is because they carry animal products that are grass-fed, free of antiobiotics and hormones, as well as some specialty deli products with little or no preservatives (sausage, sandwich meat, ec.). What's equally fantastic is that because they are not certified organic, and they keep their family run business small and modest, the prices are affordable!

I think that finding local shops and/or farmers like this is ideal, and most likely the way that you will get the best deal as well. To find places like this, you really need to start digging around and researching. Ask in local health food or supplement stores, or at farmers markets. Ask other health-minded moms and dads. Ask a naturopath, nutritionist or even a midwife. Also, here's a post I wrote with a lot of online resources that will help you in your search.

As for knowing what's ultimately a good deal or not will depend on just doing a lot of research. Until I began to really pay attention to where I could get good quality meat and poultry and what the typical prices were, it was hard for me to know whether I was getting the best deal or not.

Expect to pay more than at the supermarket (just keep telling yourself how it's worth it!), but know that there are lots of places out there where you don't have to pay an arm and a leg! It helps to buy in bulk, such as buying a 1/4 or a 1/2 of a cow, or buying many whole chickens all at once. I try to save up money throughout the year to make this possible, and another good option is to find another family or two who would like to purchase with you and then split it up, to help keep costs low.

Image by John Beagle

   Here are my questions:

1) How far would you travel
to save money on clothing or even food items? (All of the resale shops
or food outlet stores are a good 30-40 minute drive from where we live).

2)When
do you shop for the upcoming season? (I am afraid that I am already
behind in shopping for this Spring/Summer.  Garage sale season won't
start for another 2 months or so, if I wait until then to buy for this
year my kids will be wearing long sleeve shirts and fleece pants in 80
degree weather! Should I be buying for NEXT year now?

3)How do you find your swap meets,garage sales etc?

Thanks so much!!

Blessings!
Beth

Great questions, Beth!

1) Personally, I don't drive longer than about 20 minutes (each way) to any food store or market. My only exception to this would be if it was somewhere that I only went a few times each year, bought in bulk and stocked up significantly. Then I would consider driving further (and have done so in the past).

For clothes, I might consider going further, if I only went occasionally (again, a few times a year), and then I would make sure that I had saved up or discussed a budgeted amount with my husband and that I had a detailed list of exactly what we did and didn't need, and could stock up on excellent deals (like clothes for next winter, etc.). I just think that if I have to drive further (or more often) than this that it starts to become poor stewardship of my time and gas, and just isn't worth it. Obviously, everyone's situation is a little bit different, and you need to weigh all of these factors as you make your decision.

If you have times when you will be in these areas anyways (to visit friends, do something special with the family, etc.) then take full advantage and plan to stop and shop as well! Killing two birds with one stone is always the best way to do it!

2) Yes, buy for next year now! I try to always be one year ahead, although it's not always possible. At the very least, 1-2 seasons ahead. So in the winter, I will buy for the upcoming spring/summer (if I haven't already), as well as for the next winter (and hey, even the one after that if it's a great deal!). This summer I've been focusing on just filling in the last gaps for fall/winter, and also picking up anything that's a year or more in advance if the price is right. This weekend I grabbed some size 7 jeans and shirts for my daughter at a garage sale. She's only in a size 5 right now, but I paid 5 cents for the jeans, and 25 cents for each shirt, so I figured it was worth it. :)

3) My source for swap meets is local recreation centers and churches. They regularly host swap meets, as often as every month or some of them just once or twice a year. It helps to really ask around to other moms, and even to google "kids swap meet" for the area or city where you live. Try calling some local rec centers or community centers and see if they know of any that are happening!

For garage sales, I don't do it regularly enough to say that I have a real plan for it. We just occasionally pick a Saturday morning and decide to head out and look for signs in nicer neighborhoods. We'll also just stop at a sale if we happen to drive by one that looks worthwhile, even if we weren't planning to go shopping. If you really want to be purposeful about doing it, most local newspapers will have a section with either a map or just a list of the garage sales in the area and you can make a plan that way. Also, Craigslist has become a good source for garage sale info (look for "garage sale" under the "for sale" section of your local area Craigslist site), as tons of people will post up their sales the week or even the day before it happens!

For those who missed it, here is my series on Clothing Kids Without Breaking the Bank:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

How would the rest of you answer these questions? Where do you get your meat and poultry? And what do you think about travelling, buying ahead and finding places where you can score the best deals?

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Q&A- My Grocery Budget, Part 2
• The Makings of a Frugal Garden

Ask Keeper of the Home To Recommend Your Posts

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I think this is the last of the questions from How My Grocery Budget Works (find the first set of Q&A here)... Hopefully I've answered all of your questions!

Janelle wondered... I do have
one question though...what do you say about the warnings about drinking
raw milk while pregnant? Aren't there a lot of risks to that? I've been
staying away from it since I'm pregnant...just to be safe.

Yes,
there are warnings about drinking raw milk while pregnant, but with all
of the research I've done into drinking raw milk in general, they don't
concern me. In fact, I've added more raw milk to my diet since being
pregnant, because I believe it to be such a great source of nutrients,
especially protein and calcium, among many others.

Here is
a post that I wrote a while back on raw milk and it's safety, with a
few links at the end. And for a much more detailed look at raw milk's merits and safety, check out this post from The Nourishing Gourmet. Another great place to go is www.realmilk.com.

Julie asked- I have
purchased sucanat in the past and baked with it, but we go through too
much sugar right now in our baking and tea drinking. But, there aren't coupons out for this stuff and it seems we would need to replace it fairly often. Any suggestions?

A couple of suggestions:

• Buy it in bulk. I know that Azure Standard carries these healthier
  sugars, Sucanat in 50 lb bulk, and Rapadura in 33 lb bulk. I've done
  the price breakdown before, and it definitely makes them much cheaper.
• Try doing baking that includes more fruits, such as bananas or
  apple sauce. This helps to cut down on the need for as much sugar and
  can be a healthier choice.
• Try cutting down sugar in recipes by small increments, and see how
  low you can get it, without compromising taste. Adding things like
  cinnamon, vanilla or some dried fruit (raisins are always good) can
  help to make something taste sweet, while using less sweetener.
• Substitute honey sometimes, if you can get unpasteurized honey for
  a good deal. It is much sweeter than sugar, and so you can usually cut
  down the amount required by half. Here is an old post of mine on how to use honey in your baking. 

Nola asked: I would
love to hear about what raw honey is, vs. not raw, sometime...I've been
trying to find the answer and can't figure it out.

Basically, it's the difference between honey that has been pasteurized, and raised above 120 F. Even in the regular store, packaging should label whether the honey is unpasteurized or not. Raw honey contains many nutrients, as well as enzymes which are killed at high temperatures, so it's always best to choose unpasteurized. My understanding is that the labeling laws are not really clear, so some honeys labeled "unpasteurized" could be somewhat heated, and many of them are also strained and/or filtered, which can remove some of their natural nutrients, though usually not too many. Best buys for honey are usually from smaller companies and a slightly thicker and less clear liquid (the really clear, thin honeys have been processed).

Image by Indigo Goat

Nola also asked: My
question is that in the last part you say you have $50 left and list
some things including toilet paper, ziplocs etc. do you also buy all
your other household supplies out of that? Like I am talking for me
that would be things like the natural cleaning supplies, vinegar and
baking soda for cleaning, kleenex, the odd thing like that?

I suppose I forgot to mention some of those things. Toilet paper comes out of the $50, as do ziplocs. All of our cleaning supplies and even beauty supplies come out of our grocery budget as well. Most of what we use is very simple, especially for cleaning. I buy a lot of baking soda and white vinegar for those purposes. When I do buy beauty products, they often come from Azure, in the co-op part of my budget (toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, diaper cream). Other cleaning supplies, like liquid laundry soap, Bio-Kleen Bac-Out, my all-purpose concentrated cleaner and dish washing soaps, are also part of my co-op orders. And I don't buy Kleenex- I'm the mean Mom who says to just go get some toilet paper cause it's cheaper. :)

How much on average do you pay for beef, whole chickens, etc., and do you eat them for every meal? How much do you eat?  (From milehimama)

First of all, we don't eat meat for every meal. We rarely eat it with breakfast, and with lunch usually only in the context of dinner leftovers, and occasionally some sandwich meat (once or twice a month?). In our dinners, we eat meat about 4-5 times a week. Even then, it isn't usually a meat-based meal (a roast with veggies, chicken breasts with rice, etc.). Instead, it's usually meat added into a meal, or cheaper cuts combined in more complex dishes- so lots of casseroles, soups and stews, meatloaf (with veggies to bulk it up), salads or Mexican dishes where I stretch 1-2 chicken breasts or 1/2-1 lb of beef to stretch and feed us all (maybe even leftovers). So while meats are a very regular part of our diet, I wouldn't say that they compose a really large percentage of our diet.

To make up for this, I use a lot of eggs, cheese, beans, legumes, whole grains, and some nuts and seeds to round out the protein that we eat. I also try to use as much soup broth (made from actual bones) as I can, because this helps our bodies to utilize the protein that we do eat much more effectively.

With this last purchase of grass-fed beef, I bought 100 lbs at $2.09 per lb. This is a pretty good deal, and part of the reason I got it for so cheap is because I opted for the front of the cow, rather than side or hind, which has more utilitarian cuts (ground, stew, chuck roast, etc.). This doesn't bother me, as it's more affordable and suits my style of cooking anyways.

For whole chickens, these days I am paying about $7-12, depending on the size. These are free-range, but not certified organic. You can see in this post how I try to absolutely maximize them and turn one into several meals (which still works with our family size). 

Did I get to all of the questions? Anything else you'd like to know about how I do my grocery budgeting? Ask away!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Q&A- My Grocery Budget
• How My Grocery Budget Works
• Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
• Frugality with Food, Revisited- Part 2

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