I recently came across Mr. Money Mustache in my internet wanderings. If you haven’t already discovered his site, I highly recommend it. He reminds me a lot of myself – he’s like a guy version of me with a few more rants and some colorful words sprinkled here and there. Oh, and he’s retired too (we’re not there, but we’ve been working from home for a decade now, which is pretty awesome). He also has a wife and a child, which makes him seem much more realistic from my perspective (since we have two children) than some of the ultra-frugal bloggers who don’t have children and live on next to nothing.
Anyway, I was browsing around his site and it got me thinking about our spending. We already save about 40% of our after-tax income. We put more than a full mortgage payment into our mortgage payoff/emergency fund each month. We save for retirement. We have an HSA that would cover several years of having to meet our health insurance deductible. We’re saving for our boys’ education (not a lot, but we put $100/month into each 529 account). All of our “stuff” comes from thrift stores and Craigslist. We are frugal in just about every regard.
Ever regard except food.
Our food budget is very high. My rough estimate is that it was running about $1000/month for the past year or so. We don’t eat out (seriously – we’ve eaten out once since September, and that was to take a dear friend out to dinner for his 90th birthday), so there’s no dining-out expense at all. But still, $1000/month on food is a bit crazy.
I’ve written several times about what we eat. I refuse to compromise when it comes to what my family eats. I cook nearly everything from scratch. We don’t eat foods with long ingredient lists, preservatives, food coloring, artificial sweeteners (and avoid added sugar most of the time too – treats around here usually rely on the natural sweetness in fruit). And almost everything we eat is organic. That means that I almost never shop at the local grocery store here in town, because they carry very few organic items. Instead, I drive into the larger town nearby to shop. And for the past year or so, I’ve been pretty much making it a one-stop shop at the health food store. That – combined with Costco every few months – has resulted in some pretty large grocery bills. We’re squarely in the “liberal plan” on this USDA chart for a family of four. Although I have to assume that most families have a dining-out budget that is higher than zero dollars per month. So that helps me to justify our food bill a bit. But still. It could be much better.
While I’m extremely budget-conscious with pretty much every other aspect of our spending, I had let myself get lax when it came to groceries. Although I would snap up things that were on sale, I would also buy pretty much whatever I wanted to cook, regardless of whether it was on sale or not. I didn’t go online to look at the sale ads for the larger grocery stores in town (they have much larger organic selections than the small store here in our town, but obviously not as much as the health food store where I normally shop – but I should at least be looking to see what they have on sale each week). I basically told myself that it didn’t matter how much we spent on food. We’re very healthy, and I work very hard to keep it that way. I’m convinced that diet is a huge factor in health, which is why I won’t compromise when it comes to our diet.
But I could be much more frugal and still not compromise. I’ve known that for a while, but I’ve justified my lax grocery budget in lots of ways.
- We can afford it (true, but we could save even more if I put more effort into keeping the grocery budget down).
- We deserve to buy great food, since we eat all of our meals at home (also true, but why not focus on great meals that can be made without spending as much money?)
- I love to cook, so a high grocery budget is ok.
- I don’t have time to stop at multiple grocery stores with the boys in tow (I don’t want to drive all over town, but there’s a major grocery store about two blocks from the health food store where I normally shop. Is it really that hard to make one more stop in the same general area?)
- I love to browse food blogs and find new recipes to try, which often means adding new ingredients to the shopping list.
- We’re very frugal in every other area of our lives, so it’s ok to spend a lot on food, which is what matters most to us (true, but if we can eat just as well while being a bit more budget-minded with food, doesn’t it make sense to do so?)
I thought about all of this, and decided to make some changes. That was about three weeks ago, and so far, so great!
- I’m limiting my grocery trips to three times a month instead of once per week (in the summer, I always cut down to about every other week, because our garden gives us so much fresh produce. But in the winter, I’ve typically always shopped every week). To facilitate this, I’ve scheduled my grocery trips on the calendar. I have a visual reminder every day of when my next shopping trip is, and can plan our meals accordingly. I had found that even going every week, I was still spending a lot at each trip.
- I’ve unsubscribed from the food blogs that I used to read every day. I can still go to their sites when I want, but the emails aren’t in my in-box every day, tempting me to try new recipes. This is good in a few ways. First, it keeps me from always adding new ingredients to the shopping list. Second, it saves time in the kitchen because I’m mostly cooking meals that I’ve prepared before. And third, it cuts down on my computer time, which is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong – I love food blogs. But I was spending too much time on them. I already have a Google Docs file with several pages of recipes that the whole family loves – I could cook them every day for a month and not repeat myself at all. There comes a point when enough is enough. For now, I’ve reached that point. I’ll just continue to make the meals I’ve already perfected, and – mostly – avoid new recipes for a while.
- I’ve started preparing meals for the crock pot and freezing them. This has been a huge success. I just bought ingredients to make several more bags, which I’ll be prepping tomorrow or Saturday and stashing in the freezer. The soups and veggie concoctions I prepare are relatively inexpensive (even though all the ingredients are organic) because they mostly rely on root veggies, beans, and lentils. The bullion I had been using was relatively pricey, but I tried making my own and it worked perfectly – for about a quarter the price.
- No more exotic superfoods. (or at least a drastic reduction in how much we buy) Gogi berries are great. But do we really need them? Pecans are delicious, but almonds are a third the price and work just as well – we can save pecans for a rare treat instead of tossing them in the cart every time we shop. Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds can be substituted for a portion of the nuts in many of the nut-based recipes I like, and they’re dramatically less expensive than nuts.
- The money we’re saving is already accounted for – automatically. We upped the contribution to our mortgage payoff/emergency fund by $300/month, because that’s what I’m estimating we can save on groceries. That means the money won’t be burning a hole in our pockets. If it’s not there, we won’t spend it.
- I’ve started looking at the sale flyer for the major grocery store in the area of town where I normally go shopping. It paid off in a big way this week – they had vitamin supplements on sale buy one, get one free. So I stocked up on all of the supplements we already use. For the rest of the year, we’ll be shopping in our pantry for supplements instead of adding them to the grocery list. The vast majority of the stuff in the sale flyer is never going to make it into my cart, since most of it is processed food. But I found a great deal on organic potatoes and apples in addition to the supplements. Definitely worth the extra trip (I spent $167 and the savings total on my receipt was $118 – not bad).
- I’m being much more selective with our produce. Although I only buy organic, I’m focusing on the items that are on sale, and basing our menus around those, rather than creating menus and then just buying the food that I need to make the meals I’ve planned.
- I’ve always shopped with a grocery list, and I’m good at sticking to it – no impulse buys. But I’m usually pretty lax about what I put on the list, and I don’t usually worry about what’s on sale when I’m making the list. I just add things to the list as we run out of them, and I also add things to the list when I come across a recipe that includes a new ingredient. These days, I’m being much more careful about what I put on the grocery list. I’m looking at sales and I’m also questioning whether we really need to replenish each thing we use up.
Basically, I’m getting back to basics a bit more. I will still only buy organic. And I’ll still have a grocery bill that is higher than average (which I think is fine, given that we never eat out). But I’m getting back on track with applying my frugal skills to the grocery budget – just like I do with every other aspect of our spending.
I’m feeling very good about all of this. An extra few hundred dollars a month that we can put towards our goal of paying off the mortgage, and we’ll still be just as healthy and well-fed. It takes a bit more planning and I can’t just throw whatever I want into the grocery cart, but that’s ok. I’ve always justified the higher food bill with the fact that all of our other bills are so low. We do all of our other shopping at thrift stores so that we can afford to buy our food at the health food store – but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I can still buy very high quality food without spending quite so much money.
Many thanks to Mr. Money Mustache for the reminder.
What’s your budget soft spot – if you have one? Do you justify high spending in one area by being frugal in other areas? Have you thought about ways you could still honor the importance of that aspect of your life but spend a little less money on it? And of course I’d love to hear your ideas for saving money on nutritious groceries.
Jennifer @ kidoing! says
Our soft spot is food, too, and small kitchen appliances/gadgets. It sounds like we both have the same approach to food/buy lots of the same products. :) I have heard many good things about Costco, but I haven’t been able to justify the membership expense (and I try to buy locally as much as possible – not sure how local Costco gets). Do you find you make that back in savings?
Frugal Babe says
We are about 45 minutes from Costco now, so we only go once every few months. Even so, we feel that we get a great value from our membership. Our biggest purchase at Costco is always organic frozen berries. I usually buy at least ten bags each of cherries, blueberries, and whatever else they happen to have in stock. It’s dramatically less expensive than the small bags of frozen berries that they sell at the grocery store, and there’s also less packaging waste.
In addition to berries, we also buy bulk bags of baking soda, vinegar, jars of artichoke hearts, cans of olives, and lots of other stuff. We usually fill the whole car up when we go, and end up with a stocked freezer and pantry afterwards. Not everything is organic – I make some exceptions at Costco – but nearly everything is. We avoid all of the packaged, processed food that Costco sells. As with most grocery stores, that is the majority of the selection. But if you’re careful about avoiding the junk, and if you have space to store the food, there’s a lot of good stuff at Costco. I think they allow you to visit as a guest and check out the selection before you commit to a membership. If there’s a Costco near you, that might be an option.
Jennifer @ kidoing! says
I visited Costco once as a guest a couple years ago. Maybe I’ll give them another shot. The one that is closest to me is 30 minutes away and always packed with a dicey parking lot, so it would be a once a month or 6 week trip for us, too. We buy most of our frozen berries from Trader Joe’s – for example 1-16 oz package of wild blueberries from Maine or Canada (not organic, but no pesticides) is $3.49 (we are in PA). I think I mentioned I’m really getting into fermenting veggies. Now, I just need to work the numbers on that fermenting crock! Also should mention that the fermented veggies that I did recently were a huge hit with the kids, so I know it will get some good use. Thx for link to Mr. Money Mustache – will check him out, too.
Frugal Vegan Mom says
I LOVE the MMM blog!
Our soft spot is liquor. I know this is one expense that could be zero, or at least very low, but what can I say we like to drink. Both hubby and I think it’s good for our sanity. We spend about $100/mo. on it, but also hardly ever go to bars anymore now that we’re parents…
Also – I would love to see your Google Docs family recipe collection, is it something you can post here or e-mail? I have such a hard time thinking of things to make that husband would like, and really get overwhelmed browsing food blogs!
Frugal Babe says
Ok, just for you I’m creating a new Pinterest board :) I already had one called “recipes” that I was using to pin recipes I want to try. Now I’m making another one that is based on my Google Docs recipe collection. But on Pinterest it’s all pretty with pictures. Here are the links:
http://pinterest.com/frugalbabe/recipes/ http://pinterest.com/frugalbabe/recipes-we-love/ I'll keep adding to the “recipes we love” board over the next few days until I get them all on there. Hope it helps!
Frugal Vegan Mom says
Awesome, thanks!!
Charlotte K says
The average American spends about 7% of income on food; the average European spends double that. We are underspending and eating poorly. I have no idea where you are on the income scale, but food is one place to spend for quality. I would suggest that you pay close attention to the source of your food. It’s important to pay small farmers & producers good money so that they can continue to produce.
Frugal Babe says
I agree 100%, which is why I don’t really mind spending a good chunk of our income on food. Food totals about 25% of our expenses every month. I have no problem being frugal the rest of our expenses so that we can put more towards food. But I could also stand to be a bit more conscious of cost when I’m shopping for groceries.
I’m a big fan of supporting small, local, organic farms and food producers. Before we started growing a massive garden every summer, we belonged to a local CSA that delivered organic produce to our door every week, and we frequented the local farmers’ market. I definitely think we should be “voting with our dollars” when it comes to food. As far as things that money can buy, there’s really nothing that is more important to me than the food my family eats. So it makes sense that food should take up a good amount of our budget each month.
kat89 says
I think what you’re doing is fine. Organic food is a lot more expensive than conventional food. That’s not going to change for a while. I imagine that one way to cut your bill somewhat is by creating monthly menus. I found that once I started doing this, my food expenses were greatly reduced. I found that I wasn’t overshopping and buying things because they looked interesting.
Frugal Babe says
Monthly menus is a great idea. My freezer-to-crockpot solution has been working great so far this month. It makes it easy to get dinner on the table, and those meals are pretty inexpensive too.
Grubbsrns says
You might like checking out Heavenly Homemakers blog. Very organic/pure food and cost conscious (although her family does eat meat), but she has a lot of good resources for food.
Frugal Babe says
Thanks! Heading over there now to check it out…
Julie @ Freedom 48 says
We try to skip the occasional weekly grocery shop, and just buy $20 in fruit/veggies/milk that week. Otherwise we eat out of the pantry and freezer – use up things we have on hand already, and get creative in making new meals with various combinations of things. It’s fun, challenging, and it saves a lot money!
Frugal Babe says
That’s a great idea too! We live about a 20 minute drive from the grocery stores though, so I try to avoid going in for just a few things. I will occasionally use the tiny grocery store here in town if I just need a couple things to make it through until my next shopping trip. So far, I’m doing pretty well with scheduling shopping trips and “shopping” in the pantry and freezer.
Siebrie says
I regularly read your blog, but I’ve never left a comment before. Out of curiosity: why do you buy vitamin supplements if you buy everything organic, grow your own, cook with many different ingredients, are outside often, etc. I would think all vitamins and minerals would already be part of your diet.
Frugal Babe says
Thanks for reading, and I’m glad you stopped by to comment! We buy several supplements that we feel are a good fit with our lifestyle. I do not believe that everything we need for optimal health is obtained in our food, no matter how well we eat. Others have a different opinion, but this is what works for our family. While we know that it’s vitally important to eat well, we think that it’s possible to improve upon even a good nutritional foundation by supplementing carefully.
Unless you live relatively close to the equator (and get time outside in the sun everyday), pretty much everyone needs to be supplementing with Vitamin D during the winter. Most Americans have historically been deficient in D during the winter months (and some during the summer too, if they wear sunscreen every day), although that may be changing now that so many vitamin supplements include a dose of D3.
I don’t eat meat, so it’s essential that I watch my intake of B vitamins. Nutritional yeast is a good source, and I eat it several times a week. But supplements are another good source.
My husband has had surgery on both knees, and takes glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM. The jury’s still out on whether or not it helps in the long run, but his knee surgeon said that it definitely doesn’t hurt and that he’d take it if it were him. So he takes it.
We all take various Omega3/fish oil/EFA supplements. Our son used to have mild keratosis pilaris (bumpy skin) on the backs of his arms. Once we started adding 1500 mg/day of fish oil, it cleared up completely. He was already eating a very well balanced omega 3/omega 6 ratio, with lots of chia seeds, hemp seeds, avocado, nuts, etc. But the extra EFAs were exactly what he needed.
Again, while we believe that an optimal diet is absolutely necessary (and that a person can’t make up for a bad diet with supplements), we also believe that even a great diet can be improved upon with strategic supplementation. There are plenty of different viewpoints on this subject, but this is what works for us.
Jennifer @ kidoing! says
Hi, I’d love to hear what fish oil you use. We stopped using fish oil and opted for the algae drops last year, but can’t stomach the taste. Thinking about the possibility of going back to fish oil. We don’t eat meat or fish, but may make an exception for this…at least maybe for the kids for the DHA.
Frugal Babe says
For our son, we use Barlean’s orange flavor fish oil – he loves it. For ourselves, we take “Power of Krill” krill oil, and we mix it up with fish oil – whatever brand is on sale that has a good ingredient list and a good dosage of the various EFAs. Right now we have Dr. Michael Murray’s fish oil as well as Sundown Naturals fish oil. I’ve used the algae-based EFAs in the past, but couldn’t justify the extra cost so we went back to fish oil. Krill oil is much more expensive, but we only take those a couple times a week.
Kate says
I just LOVE LOVE LOVE your site. I gain so much knowledge and inspiration. I am amazed that you are saving 40% of your income. I am impressed. How do you stay so focused on your savings goals? I have three kids ages 7,6 and 3. I don’t pay for preschool, no cable, no fancy clothes or expensive activities. Yet, I do get tempted at times to keep up with the mainstream folks. How do you stay on track? Do you ever see a smart child your child’s age and wonder if you are doing the wrong thing by keeping them home? Don’t you think it would be fun to meet out for dinner with other couples?
Frugal Babe says
Thanks Kate – I’m glad you like my site! I don’t know how to answer that question really… for us, staying focused on our savings goals is sort of like brushing our teeth. It’s just something we do. I think it helps that we’re both frugal. It would be a lot tougher if one of us was a “spender”. But we’re both focused on living frugally and saving money. An analogy might be if one spouse were trying to focus on healthy eating and the other always had ice cream in the freezer – it would be a lot harder than if both were on board with the healthy diet.
We really like our simple life, and we try to keep it as simple and uncomplicated as possible. Before we had kids, we would meet other people out for dinner, but now it’s so much easier to have them over here instead. On Saturday we had two couples (and their children, who are roughly the same age as ours) over to hang out for a while. I made these cookies: http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2011/11/black-bean-chocolate-chili-cherry.html (they’re amazing. And the main ingredient is black beans!). Everyone had a blast. Definitely easier than dragging all of the kids out to a restaurant somewhere. We could spread out, the kids could play outside, there was no schedule, no waiting for food to arrive… it was definitely better than going out somewhere.
Another advantage we have is that the activities we enjoy the most tend to be inexpensive or free. Yesterday, we loaded the kiddos into our bike trailer and went for a two hour bike ride. It was awesome, and it was free. We rode to the top of a big hill and then our three-year-old got out and ran around for a while before we rode home. Great way to spend an afternoon, and yet we had a no-spending day yesterday.
I do sometimes wonder if we’re doing everything “right” in terms of raising our boys. I don’t think there are any parents who don’t wonder that. But all of our son’s friends are in daycare at least part time, and when he’s together with them he seems to be at the same level they are socially. We work hard to make sure he has plenty of interaction with other kids and with adults.
I’m glad my site is inspiring to you. There are so many sites that have inspired me over the years, and I’m happy to be able to provide a bit of that for others as well.
Penniless Parenting says
I know you already know about my blog and read it sometimes (I don’t know how frequently), but I wanted to mention for other people that you can read food blogs for inspiration- just stick to frugal healthy food blogs, like mine. ;) I think its great that you want to cut your food budget, not by necessity, but by choice… I have to say I’m a bit surprised though, because I thought vegan diets are naturally more frugal- if you werent vegans, how much more would your grocery bill be?
Frugal Babe says
Thanks for stopping by – your blog is a great resource for people looking for ways to eat a healthy diet on a budget. A vegan diet is definitely less expensive. My husband and sons eat meat though, so our grocery cart is not vegan. And it’s much more expensive than the other stuff I buy. Since I like to “vote with my dollars” when it comes to food (and since I’m lucky enough to be able to do that – as you mentioned, our frugality is by choice rather than necessity), I only buy meat that is organic and free range. And it is crazy how expensive it is, especially when compared with my normal protein sources like lentils and tempeh and sunflower seeds and beans. My new shopping schedule and my focus on bringing our grocery bill under control have been paying off though – my grocery spending is down quite a bit from where it was in January.
Penniless Parenting says
Well, that certain explains things! Grass fed beef, organic, free range everything is EXPENSIVE! Much more expensive than a vegan diet!
Frugal Babe says
It definitely is expensive, which is why a majority of our meals are based on things like lentils and beans and tempeh!
Sarahmeno says
We spend a lot on groceries for the same reasons. We love to cook and eat food that tastes good. We just read An Everlasting Table, which has us thinking differently about cooking. The author is a big proponent of high quality ingredients, but spending less overall and having the meals flow into one another (instead of separate recipes each day). We’ve been doing a lot of what she says and we need a lot less food. It’s based in a very Provençal way of cooking and thinking of food. My husband and I both work full time, so we don’t have time to do the store circuit either.
Frugal Babe says
Thanks – I’m adding that book to my library list :)
Sarah says
I have been able to use your ideas to save some money and help the family… thanks.
I have found some additional savings opportunities and free meals (better than a discount) since I started mystery shopping. It’s pretty easy, I evaluate and report back about the experience and sometimes get a meal for the family, sometimes just for one or two people. I also get savings on other items I would buy anyway have come my way.
I found another site (mysteryshopblog.com) and have discovered some good tips on how to be a smarter mystery shopper.
Anyway, thanks for all you do, I appreciate your blog.