OT: Healthy eating on a budget

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  • Ugh…love this compter, lost my post again.  I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the WONDERFUL help.  I was so freaked out when I was first told how much I needed to reduce the grocery bill.  Really…..devastated but..feel like the Lord is really helping me on this, I have been wanting to eat healthier and convinced myself it wasn’t possible on a low budget, it is I just need to have stuff on hand, cook a lot from scratch etc…make more at a time to have for those times when cooking won’t work that day.  It still feels huge but am feeling hopeful, thank you all so much….GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!

    Benita
    Participant

    I often find that for most, not all, but most store brands are just as good as major brands and cost less than major brands with a coupon.

    I know what you mean about people eating ingredients you have planned for another meal. I have been know to hide things!  Also, I will write on the package.  “Do not Eat this!  IT is for dinner on Tuesday!” or something similar.  It helps.  I will also annouce to everyone at dinner or breakfast what I don’t want them to eat because it is for something else. THis started when the oldest two became teenagers and started eating everything in sight!!

    We are a family of 6. Four eat like adults. We live in the Mid-Atlantic region where prices are quite high compared to what I see people post that live in the midwest for instance.We are fortunate that we are not forced to buy only GF products although we do try to be careful of nutritional value in foods. We have a large garden.

      I can get two weeks of food for all 6 of us including some meats at Walmart for about $275. I don’t include cleaners or personal care in that. I buy those things seperately as we use Melalueca for those things. I go about once every 6 weeks or so to Sam’s for some things.  So every other month is a bit higher. I look for some deals at Walgreen’s and the Dollar Tree. All in all we spend about $800 probably. I could probably trim it more, but my husband agrees that I have many other responsibilites and so this is good enough.  I don’t know if this helps or not, but I like getting others perspectives on what they spend.

     

    Sue
    Participant

    On that “100 Days” blog (see earlier post on this thread for link), she mentions shopping carefully at Earth Fare. There is one near us, but I have only shopped there once. I went in to purchase some soda pop sweetened with stevia as a treat, and the items I saw nearby were much more expensive than similar items we usually buy at Wal-mart or Save-a-Lot, so I left with a kind of sticker shock.

    However, the blogger seems to imply that you can shop there on a tight budget if you are careful and only buy exactly how much you need. (Hers was $125 per week for a family of four, back in 2011, I think.) So, I’m wondering, have any of you shopped at an Earth Fare store on a regular basis? How did it impact your budget? Did you still have to buy several other items at another store to save money?

    Sue

    Sue
    Participant

    Bumping this in case anyone can answer my budget question about Earth Fare…..

    Third try on this post, geesh!  Does anyone know of a really good book on natural cleaning products, cheap, making at home or whatever.  I know how to make laundry soap but..I had a good book on a pdf file and I can’t find it Cry

    Sue
    Participant

    I like Nontoxic Housecleaning by Amy Noyes. We got it from the library. It’s a small book, not a lot of discussion about housecleaning, just room-by-room recipes for cleaners and a few helpful hints.

    LindseyD
    Participant

    Mommypotamus has an e-book that has many great, non-toxic cleaning recipes in it. Most use essential oils. I’m posting from my iPhone, or I would give you a link. You should be able to find it easily on her website.

    crazy4boys
    Participant

    I came across this website the other day and while I don’t like (nor can I use) all her ideas, I was able to glean some good ideas. http://www.5dollardinners.com. As a family of 6 with 2 teens I often have to double the recipes (or use the one she says to put in the freezer).

Viewing 8 posts - 16 through 23 (of 23 total)
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