I could go on and on, but one thing that was said at the end really spoke to me. Someone said (and I am paraphrasing), "Don't feel like you have to change your whole life right now. That will be way too overwhelming and then you won't actually do anything. Just start by adding more fruits and vegetables, more leafy greens, and more whole grains into your diet." Hmmm, maybe I can do that...
Off tangent just a bit - my Aidan has major, um, blockage problems. If I don't give him Miralax every day, he has a very rough time. He has always been like this. And, not coincidentally, he eats tons of cheese and refuses to touch anything that is green or leafy. So for the last day I have been mulling all of these things over in my mind and have decided that I am going to do this - I am going to go to the store and make a conscious effort to purchase more of the good stuff, or "real food" as Michael Pollan called it.
Now, fast forward to last night when I was discussing budgets with a friend: Christian and I have followed a budget nearly our entire marriage. While I realize a budget is a huge blessing (because we have no credit card debt and we live within our means), it is also a curse because I
Anyway, I was complaining in a comment on a blog about how I LOVE fresh blueberries and would love to purchase them more often, if they didn't cost $4.99 for an 8 oz package. "Real food" costs much more. My food budget is less than $400 a month (or less than $100 a week for those of you who look at your budgets weekly) for four people. I am not a couponer; it just doesn't do it for me. I try to stretch my dollars so we can eat somewhat healthy all month, but let's just put it this way - it is the end of the month right now and my refrigerator is sparse. (I also want to point out that my husband tells me to increase the amount in our food budget, but I stubbornly refuse because I feel like I should be able make that amount work.) It's frustrating! If I really do what I am wanting, and make sure to purchase more fresh fruits & veggies and other healthy stuff, I will most likely be spending more money. Sigh.
So, what do you think about all this stuff? Do you eat mostly healthy foods at your house? Is your food budget more than mine? Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can change or do in this situation? Am I just a big fat whiner?
(And yes, I realize the irony of this post coming immediately after I have a vlog of myself holding a jumbo-sized box of 100 calorie supposedly "healthy" cookies and such.)
41 people wanted to leave a comment:
This is a huge, huge problem area for us. With our work schedules, and having no kids, we pretty much eat out every day, almost every meal. I need to be better with this.
We have a bigger budget due to more kids. When I had 2 and they were younger, our budget was smaller as they never finished their meals and one dinner stretched into 2. I feel your pain on the healthy food costing more. So backwards, huh?! We eat a mixture of processed foods (snacks, etc) and healthy. I do ad match at walmart and I am like you, do not use coupons. I feel your pain about the constipated kid - have one of my own:)
I know we don't eat as healthy as we could around here. Tyran eats much healthier than the kids and I do. He's gone vegetarian.
My food budget is supposed to be $400 a month but I know I go over that. I'm REALLY bad at budgets. And I mean REALLY bad.
I don't see anything wrong with you upping your food budget especially if it's to allow your family to eat healthier. In fact that's probably an excellent reason to up it. Good luck.
Compared to most households I'd say we eat pretty healthy. There's still room for improvement though. :/ Especially right now 'cause I just don't feel like making things like I normally do.
We do spend a lot on groceries. I'm not sure how much. I had it all figured out last year, but that was last year. If your budget is tight a lot of places have co-ops that are well worth the money. Also, come summer there are usually local farmers markets, etc. that have good deals.
I think, at least for me, what gets expensive is buying the produce and then either forgetting about it or not using it in time and then having to throw it out.
Maybe you should try giving your kid some yogurt with probiotics in it -as well as raw fruits/ veggies -foods with lots of enzymes to help his body break it down itself. Also oatmeal is high in fiber and super cheap!
Health is an investment.
I have about $100 a week for our food budget, but I know that I almost always exceed that. I figure that buying food at the grocery store is almost ALWAYS going to be healthier and cheaper than eating out. We try to eat healthy, but yes, I find my self nickel-and-dimming what all the beautiful fresh fruits/veggies cost, and then feel ubber guilty when some spoil before they get eaten. I would recommend increasing your budget by just $10-$15 a week, and making that all healthy/pure foods. I *might* try the same. :)
We're still in diaper mode, so I work that into our grocery budget. I try my best to stay under $500/mo - but it rarely happens, because I insist on keeping healthy "real foods" around, and I'm willing to pay more for us not to eat box mac and cheese. I'm also willing to pay more for non-toxic cleaners - but I still try hard for the budget. I say your health is worth the extra money - but you can still find the deals! I'm not big on couponing either, but I do it when I remember. On occasion, Smith's has bag salads/spinach for super cheap, and other fruits and veggies take turns being on sale. It's possible! Good luck.
Oh - and check out bountifulbaskets.org. It's $15 every two weeks for a gi-normous amount of yummy (unspecified) produce. We love it.
It does cost more to eat the right things. That is why you see so many of the children from lower income homes battling obesity. The quick "bad" foods are cheap and easy.
I say, good health is worth every dime. You might need to suck it up and increase your food allowance in the budget.
$400 a month for food!? Well, you're probably going to faint when you read this, but here you are: I spend $800 a month on food. At least. Let me tell you how. (By the way, that's the national average. I'm average. ☺)
First of all, we very rarely eat out as a family. That's not to say that we don't eat out. So, I guess I should say we don't go out for dinner. My husband goes out every day for lunch. The kids and I occassionally do as well. So, I would say that's about $200 a month.
Next, my boys like to eat breakfast and lunch at school. That's about $2 a day (each), $10 a week. So, $80 for the two of them each month.
I cook/prepare dinner at least 6 out of the 7 days each week. We usually have Sunday dinner with family.
I plan my meals and so I only shop for what I'm planning on making. I try to be as health conscious as possible, but we do have our fair share of junk food around here. Also, when I buy an ingredient for a meal, I generally buy enough of it to make it at least 3 times. It's how I build my food storage and keep my pantry stocked. Thus the remaining $500+ dollars of the $800 gets spent.
I'm not a couponer either. Just thinking about it wears me out. I would rather do price matching (when I remember) at one store. I'm not one who will go here for dish soap because it's on sale. And then to there because they're having a great sale on milk. I go to Walmart and Costco. That's it. It seems to me you spend more on gas and waste more time gallavanting all over the place for the deals. Where's the real deal in that? Sure you get the receipt at the grocery store that says you bought $157.26 worth of stuff, but only paid $38.95. But does that really make the hours of coupon clipping, driving and shopping worth it. For me, it doesn't.
I feel ya! I try and keep the food under $350 for the month and it is hard. We don't eat a lot of junk or pre-prepared stuff, but we also don't keep a lot of fresh stuff in the house either - short of what I need to prepare dinner and the few fresh fruits Owen will eat. Sorry I don't have any advice for you. I guess I need some myself. My biggest problem is that the fresh stuff goes bad before it all gets eaten so I feel like I'm throwing even more money away.
Oh, and Zoe has "blockage" problems too and gets miralax every day. We'll have to compare notes.
I'm with Melissa & Christa. You can't put a price tag on healthy lifestyles and it's up to you to teach your family how to have one. My kids usually will opt for fresh fruit over processed treats which is more expensive, but it feeds and fuels them better so I am all for it. I would say at least a third of my budget goes to fresh fruits and veggies and I try to serve at least one item of produce at every lunch and two at every dinner. Veggies we do a mix of fresh and frozen, fruits are fresh all the way. (Yet another reason winter is somewhat depressing)
Ultimately you have to do what works best for your family. I would suggest slowly changing your routine and adding one new piece of produce at a time. Just think how much fun you had with that pomegranate and what you can do to interest your family in other healthy choices.
Finally, we've seen the pictures of you and your family and it's not like you are unhealthy individuals, but making a change for the positive never hurt anyone and if it keeps kids just a bit more regular that alone is worth it. It can't be good for him to be having Miralax every day. If the fruits don't work, I'd at least add more fiber to his diet!
Let us know what you decide.
Eating healthy is more expensive. Period. I struggle with this because I know I could cut my grocery budget down a lot further, but it would be at the expense of our health. And we don't even eat as healthily as I'd like.
Do you include non-food (TP, shampoo and etc.) in that budget, or is it just groceries only?
I have finally gotten to a point in the last few years where it is nearly impossible to keep my food budget at 100 dollars a week (I do include non-foods in it, BTW). I am up to around 150.
I have always been very insistent at vegetables always being a big part of dinner. My kids mostly like them, especially steamed broccoli. And those steamable bags (I buy the wal-mart brand) are so great, and cheaper than buying fresh, although I still buy fresh sometimes. We try to have salad at least twice a week, I buy the boxed salads that they have now. They keep better than the bagged ones do, and though they're not as cheap as buying heads of lettuce, I like having four types of lettuce in my salad. So maybe it is cheaper when I think of it that way.
Right now I'm on a mission to eliminate all High Fructose Corn Syrup from our household. It's HARD! And even more expensive.
I go through frequent spurts of WANTING to eat more healthy foods, but the problem is, every time I try to buy fresh fruits and vegetables they ALWAYS GO TO WASTE. It's such a frustrating waste of money that I just don't want to do it anymore. Buying a bagged salad is a special occasion in our house, and I have to try and hurry to think up enough dinners to use it all before it goes bad. Tonight is our third salad night in a row, and I'm pretty sure we still won't quite finish it.
I made a goal to add more fruits and veggies and have them around for the kids- we all need it!
I do coupons, it helps with 3 boys who eat more than their dad does, so that has saved me a ton money, but even with the coupons I allow myself $125 a week. I would rather take the time to shop around and buy on sales then go without....it's just my preference!
Good Luck!
I started eating more salads and adding more grains like quinoa and spelt(cheap, yum-o, AND healthy! Bonus!) to my meals. The whole grains are really filling, pllus they are great for heart health and... digestive health. I just use them in place of white rice (ick).
I have to admit that I use frozen fruits and veggies a lot, because I just forget about fresh produce sometimes, and I end up wasting tons of $$ on rotten produce. So that's one way I save myself a bunch of money.
As others said, it is more expensive to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and if you want the organic, well, just forget about it. We get some fruits and veggies at the grocery store, but buy a lot at product stands - usually not always quite a bit cheaper. I rarely do coupons, but will once in a while. Last year, I got a bunch of cleaning supplies at K-mart when they were having double coupon days. If the grocery stores did that, I be more likely to coupon - then it would be worth it. 9 time of out 10 the store brand is cheaper (and generally not always) just as good even with the coupon. We started trying to plan our meals out for two weeks at a time to help save money. That helps some.
Finally, I totally with you on the blueberry thing. I want some fresh, but it isn't going to happen until May when I can go pick them myself and pay $2 or $3 a pound.
Cynedra
Eating healthy costs more...I have yet to find a way around it besides having a garden during the spring/summer/fall months (which I have yet to accomplish).
Since losing 95lbs 3 yrs ago, we had to increase our grocery allowance, or we would end up in the same fat situation. There are certain things we don't budge on like buying Gala apples b/c we all like the taste better, and getting hubby his cherry tomatoes. I buy a lot of frozen vegetables and include them in EVERY dinner, and save the fresh ones for breakfast & lunch. Also, we are huge fans of couscous and it comes in a wide variety of flavors, and it a great substitute for rice or other higher calorie grains. Just some thoughts :o)
First off, Kudos to you for keeping a budget! I need to get better at that!
I am also slowly learning the value of putting good things in my body. I just have this one body and as I get older I have a greater appreciation for it. NO i probably won't give up bread and pasta, but I am starting to eat fruits and veggies with each meal. And more free range\organic meat and dairy. Just little things to make my body happy. :)
If you coupon right you can save tons of money and even buy healthy stuff. Once you get the hang of it it does not take too much time. I like to buy what it on sale and plan dinners around that instead of planning dinners and then buying things at full price. You can look at alot of weekly adds online if you do not get the paper or pinching your pennies is a great resource! I don't do very well at providing veggies at meals because I don't like them very much but I'll buy a big bag of frozen broccoli at sams and cook it for others. We also stock up apples when they are on a good sale cause they keep pretty well (I love Braeburn) And I buy green leaf lettuce and spinach alot for salads. Go to farmers markets, garden, etc and preserve and freeze all you can to last for winter. (Also...is Aidan still allergic to milk. I know the way allergies present themselves can change. Kallie took A off milk and she was a million times better!)
Good Luck! I know I most of us can improve...thanks for making me think about it a little more.
Buying healthier foods is an investment in your children (and YOURSELF!). To heck with the price of fresh blueberries, it's good for them, and I might add, that is a food to help with "blockages" (Conner has a similar problem, but not as extreme). With that particular issue, I'd ask "how much does a month of daily Miralax cost?" vs. Blueberries.
Increase the budget by a small amount if you can or budget in a monthly "impulse purchase" amount. I mean, $20 a month would be enough for a few impulse buys at the grocery store to try out new foods! Plus, it gives everyone more diversity in the foods they eat - something that is more difficult to overcome if you get set in your ways early in life.
Hope this helps!
I had huge blockage problems last year. So big that I even had ultrasounds and a gallbladder test to look for other issues. What the dr had me do, and finally worked: eat a piece of fruit at every meal. Add a vegetable at dinner. I also had to drink two nalgene bottles of water everyday before 4:00. I'd try having Aiden do this instead of the miralax. It's probably healthier.
I only spend $50 a week on groceries. At least half of that is on fresh fruit and dairy. If I were you, I'd try at least a little bit of couponing. Saving two dollars on one thing will make you feel better about spending $5 on blueberries!
I think I am EXACTLY like you. I thought I was reading a blog post about myself. (except the part where I can eat all I want and not gain weight....you lucky dog.)
Anyway, if you are interested I have a bran muffin recipe from my friend's grandma that is good (I really like them anyway) and in her words, "It changed Hank's life" (her son who used to have blockage problems) You can cook them in the Microwave and just give him one every morning for breakfast. Ta da. Regular.
Well you sound like you are way smarter than I am with money so I won't even try to help you there but I would try some natural methods to help with Aiden's regularity because I have heard your body can become dependent on laxatives and then you can't become regular without it. I would also recommend natural yogurt with the bacterias. We get vanilla yogurt that Dannon makes in the HUGE containers and then I mix in frozen berries. Have you looked into frozen blueberries? They are actually pretty affordable. Anyway, my girls love it. They think it is ice cream because it has the ice from the frozen berries. Who knows if any of this is coherent but I hope you find some solutions to your problems. Don't we all wish we had solutions to our problems!
Food is the one area where I am pretty liberal. I buy mostly store brand and I coupon some, but we ALWAYS have fresh fruit and veggies in the house. And most of our meals are made from scratch. (That's not to say I don't have chicken nuggets and hot dogs in the freezer right now.)
But I didn't make it work overnight. We started small. Because if you go to the produce section and buy everything in sight, you won't use it all and it will go to waste. Start with a couple of things you know you like and experiment from there. That's what worked for us! Good luck!
We have a little bit of a bigger budget, but it is more than just a food budget.. it is "my money" that I can do whatever I want with.. I just have to have food and clothes for everyone than can spend however I want, no guilt as long as I stay in my budget. It is great, I love it.
And I am trying to do better at eating healthy foods.
Oh yah, we could totally eat healthier around here. I am really trying to make more things from scratch though, which also saves a lot of money. We actually spend about $60-$70/week on groceries, but I have a lot of food storage, and when things go on a good sale (case lot sales), then I stock up so I don't have to buy so much normally. I did hear of an awesome co-op in utah. If you are interested, I can let you know. It's really cheap for veggies/fruits, and some meat and hamburger. Well, at least I think pretty comparable.
I spend $150 + a week on groceries. I very rarely buy crap. My kids probably eat one to two apples a day each. Obviously they would prefer to each chips than an apple, but with no chips in the house they don't have a choice.
If I were you... I would up the budget. I had raspberries last night and they were DELICIOUS!
Sorry to hear about the "blockage" problems - I have dealt with that myself with my son, took him off milk (he gets soy milk now) and he is much better though cheese can still cause issues. I try to buy healthier options but I am horrible about adding veggies to my meals because I just don't want to eat them myself but I am trying to do better - baby steps is what it will take.
P.S. I have the Oprah on my DVR so I can watch it and try to be inspired myself...this will make my MIL proud but that is another story its self.
I buy TONS of fruits and veggies ... and as a result, my food budget is way more than yours.
To me, it's worth. We make up for it in less doctor bills. And feeling good about what we put in our mouths.
I have the same budget as you -- including non-food essentials. Went shopping today. I have $40 left for two weeks, and I haven't bought bread or produce yet. (I don't buy them at Walmart b/c I get better quality and prices elsewhere.)
That said....I might just buy bread have have to skip the fresh goodies this time. Save that money in case we run out of milk, or have to buy extra diapers...
It's hard. It's way hard. Last pay day I bought bananas, oranges, and a few bags of broccoli and cheese. The kids and I loved snacking on the stuff, so it was all gone within 5 days. I should probably just suck it up and buy the good stuff, though.
I felt so yucky on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I sat down and talked to my husband and realized I don't eat right (on the run between work and school), I don't exercise enough, and I am very undisciplined with bedtimes. So I am being much more conscious about my food intake. I know it will make a huge difference.
I know there are coupon nuts out there, and I am envious when they say, "I got 7,432 dollars worth of food for only 98 cents!" but I just never got into that groove. I look for deals and do pretty well with an average budget.
I wish I was more conscious of reading food labels & such, but I've got the calorie counting thing down pat with my love for Weight watchers. Most of the low cal stuff has all the junk Michael Pollen doesn't want you to eat.
We don't have a set budget, mostly because my Husband has never had a set income. It varies all the time. Commissions, so..if the money is gone...food storage we go.
Living in a small town and having a large number of friends and acquaintances who live or are trying to live a more natural lifestyle, this subject has been in my thoughts for YEARS now. I do it a bit at a time and we're slowly getting there. I'll never go all natural or all organic...I'm not the sort to go to extremes. But I try to make more informed decisions. We only eat whole wheat pasta now, eat way more fruit & veg, and have switched to some "healthier" snack foods (organic cheddar bunny crackers instead of goldfish crackers for instance, fruit leather instead of candy, etc...).
My next goal (once I get used to having a new baby in the house) is to make a few things from scratch like bread and granola and whatnot.
It's expensive though. Our food budget is way bigger than it used to be. Eating healthy ain't cheap. But then, the cost of poor health is pretty high too so maybe it all balances out? Also, the more healthy foods I eat the less quantity I find I need. Real foods satisfy more and for longer.
My food budget is higher, mainly because there are six of us, but also because we don't really follow a budget. My husband is a CPA, so you'd think we would follow a strict budget. Instead, we are just really careful with how we spend and make sure to stay way within our means.
I do like to eat healthy, and do indulge in impulse buys. I really like to buy frozen veggies; they are cheaper than fresh and pretty much just as healthy.
My husband doesn't really care how much I spend on groceries but like you, I get really mad when I spend more than $100 a week. I've gotten pretty good at staying around that number now but the holidays really threw me off track with having to buy all kinds of extra food for potlucks, etc. Oof.
Ooo, what a fun discussion. The garden idea is great - that would definitely help! Also, I should clarify that my budget does include non-food items. I don't know how I'd keep track of only food, without shampoo, diapers, paper towels, etc. Is your $400 with or without non-food items?
My mom likes to buy healthy food. We eat mostly healthy all the time.
I do eat junk food, though. My mom force feeds it to me now, hoping for me to gain weight.
Right now we're spending between 250-300 on groceries and other non food items that we buy at the same time. Usually it is lower since it is just the two of us, but we're trying to eat healthier and bulk up our food storage. As for couponing.....it's something I think about from time to time, but I can never really get into. Mark and I both work and it just seems like one more thing for me to worry about and spend time on. I would rather just shope carefully and only make 2 trips a month to the store.
Wow ... lots of great comments.
I agree with another person who said that it's an investment. Our rule here is NO BUDGET for fruits, vegetables, or fish. Our kids love blueberries and ask for them often for snacks. I've always felt this was a good investment.
I don't use coupons for food ... mostly because coupons seem to be mostly for processed foods and our rule is to eat everything as close to it's original form as possible.
Good luck ... our challenge is to eat out less often and cook more at home.
Haha, you're just like me. I really would be fine if I never had soda again, eating out isn't a thrill for me, but it's CHOCOLATE! I have an unnatural addiction. Seriously, I'd look like you if I didn't love it so much. :)
Please forgive me, but I've got to say this...your whole family needs to eat fruits and vegetables. It's not just about weight, its about overall health and sometimes your weight can be a misleading sign to your overall health. Children especially need to get used to the taste of f&v. With that said, start small...wasted food is a huge problem. So, don't go crazy in the produce section, just pick out a couple things a week to start and see how your family eats them. Then you can make changes from there. Also, I think you should compare the cost of miralax with that of f&v. Finally, if you're not inclined to coupon just pay attention to the sales. When things go on sale get a few extra and that will leave you with some extra money for f&v. Also, frozen f&v are a better value and still good nutritionally (be sure to watch out for added sugars with the fruits though). Our food budget is small, but we make it work and we eat a lot of f&v.
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