Is It Expensive to Eat Healthy Food? Part One
By
As we dive into our No More Excuses series, I decided to first tackle the excuse that it is “expensive to eat healthy food”. This one seems to be the most popular complaint among those of us who are working to eat and feed our families a healthy diet. I ended up with so much to say on this topic, I divided the material into three separate posts that I will be sharing throughout the week.
To begin part one of these posts regarding the thought that “healthy food is too expensive”, let me just start out by saying, “I hear ya!”. That was my biggest complaint too, my loudest excuse, and one of the main reasons I didn’t think eating a healthy diet was possible for our family. After all, I’m the girl who used to get everything for free or cheap with coupons. The thought of actually spending money on food was painful to me when we started our healthy eating journey. I had no idea where the extra money for healthy food would come from in our already very tight budget.
After lots and lots of research, experimentation, and tweaking of our budget, we finally figured out how to make this work for our family. Ultimately, I had to surrender and let go of the idea that spending money on food was bad, and instead embrace the truth that spending money on good, nourishing food is a wise investment for our family.
But still, it is a fact that coconut oil and olive oil cost more than canola oil and crisco. Real butter costs more than margarine. Whole wheat pasta and real cheese costs more than a box of mac and cheese.
So, does that mean that healthy eating is indeed expensive? I think it’s a matter of perspective. Our grocery budget has definitely gone up since we began our healthy eating journey. The way I cook now is completely different than the way I cooked when I bought processed and unhealthy foods with coupons, but does that mean that our healthy food should be considered expensive?
Pardon my geekiness spewing forth, but just as I did a few years ago, I did a new break down of what it costs to feed my family on an average day. I think it’s very interesting to take a nitty-gritty look at what it costs us to feed one person per day, and to analyze that number to see if in fact I could or should cut back our budget in any way.
We currently spend about $600/month on food. Because there are six in our family, this means that we spend about $100/person/month. This divides into an average of $3.33/day/person, which means that it costs about $1.11 per person per meal.
I don’t think $1.11/meal/person is very expensive, but that’s just my opinion, and as I said earlier, it is a matter of perspective.
As always, remember that there is no comparing or guilt allowed. If you spend more than $1.11 per meal per person – great! If you spend less than that – great! If you could come help me clean my house – great! Oh wait, sorry. I got carried away there for a second. ;)
Above all, we all need to remember that we are all humble people, working to do the best we can with what we have. I feel like there’s a lot left unsaid in this post regarding the expense of healthy food, so stay tuned! In part two of this mini series on Wednesday, I’ll share thoughts on the following three points:
Then, I’ll wrap up the week by sharing some practical ways to eat a healthy, whole foods diet while keeping your costs low.
For today, I’d love to hear a little about your grocery budget break-down. Join my geekiness and do the math. If you care to share, how much do you estimate that it costs to feed one person in your household for each meal?
If you’re concerned that you may be spending too much on food,
I’d encourage you to read this post: Do You Need to Cut the Grocery Budget?I’d also like to encourage you to check out Once a Month Mom’s Get Real 2012!
If you're new to Heavenly Homemakers, you may want to subscribe to receive free updates through RSS feed or by Email. Thanks for visiting!
I spend approximately 275 dollars on food for my family every month for our gluten free diet. We’re 4 eating people (nursing baby doesn’t count), so that averages down to 68 dollars per person per month, and 2.25 per day, and 75 cents per meal.
Ok, we’re not organic, but we’re sugar free and gluten free, which certainly isn’t cheap, and unable to farm, and meat is hideously expensive here and even beans and grains are pretty pricey here…
So I think that’s pretty good.
[Reply]
We are a family of 5. I have 3 girls. I could not believe you spend this amount of money on each member of your family and you have growing boys!! We spend in average 900.00 Which comes out to around 5.14 per person. My daughter and I suffer from migraines and we are in the beginning stages of switching to a heathier diet. I have noticed the increase in our grocery budget so I am looking forward to reading your next post. Thank you for sharing! Christina
[Reply]
Randi Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:43 am
Thanks for adding your comment! I too spend more than $600 for our family of 5!
[Reply]
Cathy Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:37 am
are you including toiletries in your monthly budget or just food? I think Laura only includes food in hers, but I could be wrong about that.
[Reply]
Randi Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:53 am
Yes, only food. I’ve never understood people including toilet paper in their “food” category. I mean, when’s the last time you ate toilet paper or drank shampoo???? LOL!
Cathy Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:56 pm
I always lump them together, I guess because I think of it as grocery shopping, which to me is everything I need from the store.
lyss Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:00 pm
I would like to know if Laura includes toiletries and household
products in her cost. I personally include toilet paper and
shampoo, etc. in my “food” budget simply because I buy those
things at the same stores that I buy my food. I don’t make a
separate shopping trip for non-food purchases. It’s all on
the same receipt, so it’s all in the same budget. :)
lyss Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:53 pm
While I don’t have personal experience with this, a missionary
friend told me that she chews the leaves of the feverfew plant
to get rid of migraine headaches. It might be worth researching
and giving it a try! My friend mentioned that her migraine
problem was related to hormonal changes, and that eating the
feverfew helped each time and eventually got rid of the migraines
completely.
[Reply]
We’re like you- as a family of four, we spend 400.00 or 100/per person. This is 100 to 150 more than when I was couponing. We have changed our taste buds for the most part and I have lost weight and we all feel better, so it’s worth it. It has been a two year process, though (and continuing!).
Love this series – so good to address these issues.
[Reply]
Kirstyn Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 5:16 pm
My husband and I try hard, but I’ve never been able to get us below
$400 on average per month, and more often closer to $450. I know some
of that is meat because we don’t try to skimp on that, but I’m still a
little shocked at the total for only two of us! I make just about
everything from scratch, and am always looking for more ingredients I
can make from scratch, but once I got to a certain point I couldn’t seem
to get it below there. At least I’m not alone. :-)
[Reply]
i spend an average of $200-$250 a week for a family of 9. i cook everything from scratch, don’t buy any junk food, and eat organic when i can. my kids inhale raw fruits and veggies- can’t keep them for more than a minute lol .i shop at walmart becuz i live in a small town and there aren’t any stores other than wally world and 1 more expensive store. so.. we are starting a garden this year.
[Reply]
We spend between $130-180 week for a family of 4 people and 2 dogs. I feel like I shop for 2 different families. My husband gets angry if there are no poptarts or other “treats” in the house, including Doritos at all times. I eat little processed food so I buy real food for me and the kids eat a bit of both. We eat local beef we buy in bulk so that is not included.
.
[Reply]
mindy Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:36 am
The same goes in my house for the poptarts and chips. I don’t eat
hardly any junk food, but I have to buy it or my husband gets upset.
I went grocery shopping once and I forgot to buy all that stuff and I
had to go back and get it. I spent 20 extra dollars just for the record.
That being said I do buy the food to be submissive and I trust that
god wont take him from me because of his eating habits.
[Reply]
Karen Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Sad that husbands get upset when not provided with food laced with chemicals and other deadly things. Let’s believe that they will see the benefits of real food in their wives as they make better choices. And we, as wives, need to make sure we don’t press our revelations about healthy living on those not willing. Instead, set a good example in love and lots of grace!
[Reply]
mindy Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 11:26 am
My husband has come a long way with his eating habits in the past year. It’s hard when your husband grows up on that kind of food. I also did grow up on it too, but then I have learned a lot in
the past few years. He actually likes some of my healthy snacks and
I don’t tell him that when I make cookies I make it with honey, sucanat and
healthy flour. What he does not know won’t hurt him.
We probably average $225 – 250 a week for our family of 8. Let’s call that $1000 per month, which would be $125 per person for a month. That looks like $4 per person per day, which sounds pretty good until you think about lunches: most of the kids buy lunch at school most days, and dh buys lunch at work, so I’m not counting those things. 8-(
But I make breakfast from scratch at least 4 days a week and I make about 5 or 6 dinners a week.
I definitely need some work.
[Reply]
I think the cost per meal per person goes down when you have a bigger family! We are a family of 4 (one baby barely eating solids). Since my husband is a chef he eats dinner at work most days. I figure since I am cooking primarily for me and my daughter I don’t get the savings of buying in bulk. And, since I only have a few dinners/week with the hubby I try to make them nice (not just beans and rice). Also, I try to have people over at least 1/week. So all of that said I spend about $400+/mo. Or as best as I can figure about $1.50/meal. I have to remind myself that if God puts it on my heart to invite people for dinner (especially large families) he will provide the $ to feed them.
[Reply]
I think eating healthy outranks how much it costs. The better you eat the better you feel and the better your health. We are just starting this journey. My son used to say : I don’t want organic mom, I want all the chemicals I used to eating.. Well he is 20 now and in college and now doesn’t care about all that junk stuff. I went and spent $61 this weekend for a family of three and got strawberries, blueberries, 3 bags of salad, 2 bags of carrots, apple/grape packets, bottled milk, juice etc. We have chickens so we have our own fresh eggs without all the junk. I can feel a difference in just a few short weeks. Also have been buying a few of the sodas in the organic dept with the cane sugar. Nice little root beer treat.
[Reply]
I to am on this journey of eating healthier. I bought pounds and pounds of margarine and that thought sickens me now. After I started eating real butter I loved knowing it was the real stuff so I experimented with Canola oil which was suppose to be better than vegetable oil. Then I went to coconut oil and loved that I was serving the real stuff and moved on to the next thing.
I spend the same amount that I used to spend because I cut out the junk with it. Until 2 years ago I had four strapping teenage boys who could eat me out of house and home. I spent $800 a month and that was cooking almost everything from scratch. Then I went to two teenage boys and spent the same amount $800 a month because I was then able to start buying organic beef and vegetables. For the past year and a half we have lived with our daughter and her crew so for 3 1/2 days a week I still spent $800 a month feeding 11 people.
This is a journey. Embrace the journey and like Flylady says, it takes baby steps…
[Reply]
We spend about 750 a month for a family of 7. We are always looking for ways to cut back, but so far, this is as low as we are able to go. Most of our children are still fairly small, so it is hard to imagine what it will be like as they grow up! I make almost everything from scratch, and we try to buy the dirty dozen in organic. Any useful ideas would be helpful!
[Reply]
Anne Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:41 am
You and I have nearly the same size family (mine is a family of 8), so you’re doing way better than I am on keeping the costs down (I’m closer to $1000 groceries/month). That being said, my kids are all teens (except one 12 yr old) and they can EAT. Especially the fresh fruit, they go through it like water, I can never keep enough in the house. I;m talking two enormous bags or oranges, couple bunches of bananas, 3 or 4 dozen apples plus whatever else might be on sale like grapes will be gone before I go to the store the next week. Any sweets they eat (for the most part) are homemade, like cookies, cakes, brownies, etc). Nothing lasts long around here.
[Reply]
Cassandra Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:43 am
I just wanted to say that I think that’s AWESOME! That your children eat so much helthy option!
I have five children and fresh fruit isn’t always the first thing gone, you know? I look forward to the days that they begin to appreciate GOOD food, lol! (My oldest is only 9, and my youngest is 1) My two oldest are just getting the hang of this whole fruit is yummy thing, ha. Here’ shoping the other three follow suit. I will gladly spend the extra money on fresh fruits and veggies if I know they are being eaten and keeping my crew healthy, what a great blessing you have!
<
Cassandra
[Reply]
Anne Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 8:08 am
Thanks Cassandra! I just wish ALL of them ate healthy all the time, but that’s not true. There are a couple of my kids that rarely eat the fruit, but then they do get in other healthy things like fresh milk, fresh eggs, etc. They’re just not fruit-n-veggie types and probably never will be.
I would love to say healthy eating outranks cost, and if there were wiggle room in my budget, that would be true. However, we are a family of 5 living on a Catholic school teacher’s salary. I economize in as many ways as I can, but short of going back to work, shopping all-organic or all less-processed food is just not possible. Every few months, I pick one more “thing” that I used to buy but will make on my own, and for now, that is our very slow journey to better eating.
[Reply]
Margaret Potter Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 9:45 am
Katie, you are absolutely right, everybody’s path is different. Good for you for each step you take! That’s how I do it. I’ve been feeding a family for more than 20 years,and I am still adding things that I make from scratch. Keep doing what you are doing as you can, and know that is is enough.
[Reply]
i recently saw a sign that said something like, “pay for healthy food now, or pay the doctor later.” either way, you are going to end up paying for it. i too, have recently come to see spending money on good food as an investment in the life of my family. i grew up in europe, and there the cost of food is more, but it is in general healthier food and people eat less of it.
i also view spending money on food from local farms as a good investment of my money in the community. i pay more for meat and veggies, but i know exactly where my money is going. i hand over my money to the farmer in person and know that i am helping support his family. i would much rather do that than hand my money over to a big box store.
all of that said, our monthly grocery budget is between $350-$400 for a family of 4. we participate in a CSA for 20 weeks in the summer and buy our meat, milk, and eggs from local sources.
[Reply]
Well, since we’ve moved up to the mountains of North Carolina nearly a year ago we’ve been spending right around $450 each month in groceries for a family of five. I’ve lived on less, but it seems more expensive up here. For the last month hubby has been on this food elimination diet and he’s only been able to eat fruits low on the glycemic index, veggies, and meat. Whoa it is expensive not to eat much carbs. I suppose that I should have kept us on our regular diet but it is just easier just to feed all of us the same thing. I don’t really even want to know how much we’ve spent on groceries this month. We made our regular budget this month and then had a $100 that came in from Christmas that we added in. Now, we are using anything let over in our checking account for the rest of the month to feed us wow… I’m glad hubby has only 5 more days on the diet… I am really bummed that we can’t buy our local meat in bulk. We don’t have a deep freeze and won’t have room for one. :( I’m always working to try to save us money since it is so expensive to live up here, but it doesn’t help that we have to buy a small house that won’t have room for a deep freezer (strange they don’t have garages around here in the snowy mountains) and no room for a garden as well :(
[Reply]
Becky Webb Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:05 am
Whoa, I don’t know where I got the family of five thing, there are only 4 of us but we have a baby on the way!
[Reply]
Melissa Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Interesting, I live in the mountains of NC and nearly everyone I know has a garage! :)
[Reply]
Becky Webb Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Really? Where do you live Melissa? I’m in Boone! We’d been looking at houses and there are so few with garages up here! So strange!
[Reply]
Melissa Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 8:40 am
I live between Asheville and Hendersonville. Maybe since it’s colder in Boone, they opt for a basement instead? Very strange.
Becky Webb Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Maybe, but we are buying a house that doesn’t even have one of those…lol
[Reply]
I wanted to thank you for your encouraging/guilt-free perspective on eathing healthy whole food. I also wanted to comment that for those of us living on the East Coast the cost of real food seems to be much higher. I currently spend $8/gallon on raw milk and that was the cheapest price I could find while still staying with a local, healthy dairy. Free range eggs are $4 a dozen. My husband and I are still committed to feeding our family healthy whole foods and think that it is worth the cost, but our grocery bills have definitely gone up.
[Reply]
Alison Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:09 am
I agree. We’ve switched to glass bottle milk (raw is illegal here) from a good farm & their humane eggs, but it is extremely expensive. I’d like to switch to meat next (I have the farm picked out), but it is a HUGE difference in price. We don’t have Azure here, and I have explored many, many choices & prices. I am content with my choices though, and that makes a difference.
[Reply]
Angela Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:44 am
Yes, contentment is a good thing ;) We also buy some grass-fed pasuerized glass bottle milk. I try to use that for cooking and save the raw stuff for drinking. No Azure standard here either.
[Reply]
Melisa Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:27 am
Are you in Hampton Roads area, perhaps! That’s the same price I’ve found for milk and eggs. Actually,
a friend of mine has started with all kinds of chickens, and she sells me eggs for $2.50/dozen, which is
WONDERFUL! I like to say her henhouse is cleaner than my home! LOL! That’s an exaggeration, but
not by much. But the milk….my heart aches I want it so badly! I am trying to wait until we have our
credit card paid off. I’ve found the farm and can almost taste it! It’s very hard to be patient when I
calculate other drinks I buy for our family (per hubby’s request), like OJ, and see that I’m paying $8/gallon for
stupid orange juice! Oh, Lord, I know your teaching me patience through this…or at least trying to! LOL!
[Reply]
Tituslady Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:08 am
I shop at Earthfare and we pay 4 dollars a gallon for milk, but it’s
not raw =( I know of one lady who sells raw milk, and she claims it
to be organic, and her farm is so nasty =( I’m on the lookout for
raw milk though! You can buy raw goats milk, but it’s not for
“human consumption” so I have to research that more.. BUT we buy
our meat from a farmer and it’s wonderful! I’m looking at going to
the farms market for my eggs and pork!
We’ll get there ladies :D
[Reply]
Jennifer Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:46 am
Hi! I’m in the Hampton Roads area – Virginia Beach. I’d love to hear about the farm that you found for milk. I’m still searching for good, healthy alternatives. We are getting a Whole Foods here soon which I am very excited about. I have also heard wonderful rings about the butcher shop at the Farmer’s Market. Will you share your info?
[Reply]
Tituslady Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:08 am
Oh I’m sorry I live in East TN.
Anne Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:47 am
Hi Angela, I live in the northeast, as well, but the price I pay for raw milk is a good deal less than what you quoted. I’m in southeast PA and I pay $4.50/gallon. For eggs (from farm) I was paying $1.85/dozen, but got chickens in the last year so now we get our own eggs. Curious where you live that the ,ilk is so high?
[Reply]
Alison Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:53 am
I live on the Baltimore/DC corridor. My milk is not raw, but the best I can find – $3.75/half gallon. Gulp. It was hard to write that! We buy 1/2 gallon per week and the weeks I make yogurt I buy an additional gallon. I also buy 3 dozen eggs per week, humanely raised, $3.35/dozen. No wonder I have trouble meeting my budget! I really want to buy 1/4 cow, but I just don’t see where it will fit. Money is finite.
[Reply]
Anne Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 8:13 am
I know, organic milk from the store is so expensive. I buy it for my sister when she visits with her toddler, and yikes! I know at $4.50 a gallon for the raw milk I buy, it is more expensive than its pasteurized counterparts in the grocery stores, but still a pretty good bargain, considering. We go through about 4 gallons a week with my family of 8. When my hens are in full production (warmer weather), we go through about 6 or 7 dozen eggs a week, but right now we’re only getting about half that. I only spend about $32/month to feed them, so I jnow that’s a good bargain.
When my family of 4 first started this journey, I did all the research and did all the reading on foods and what is good and what is bad. I feel we made the transition well and our grocery bill was manageable at about $400 per month.
Now since we have moved and are living as missionaries in a new place with a new vision, building our support back up, eating at $400/month was no longer feasible. I dealt with a lot of guilt when I could no longer buy organic or whole wheat. I cringed every time I saw an ingredient that I detested in something I was purchasing.
Yet our current reality is that we can’t buy the best food right now, no matter how we work our budget, there isn’t any wiggle room. Some weeks I have to decided if I’m buying food or paying a bill on time. So I would say our bill is now about $200 per month for a family of four, and we still eat lots of fresh and made from scratch meals, just not organic. We still are going no sugar and no hydrogenated oils, but the rest I’ve had to learn to leave up to the Lord. He can keep us healthy above all else.
[Reply]
Heather Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:06 am
May the Lord continue to bless your family and provide for your needs for putting Him and others first!
[Reply]
We are in Florida and we spend about $400 a month for a family of three. Our son is just a toddler, but he’s a good eater! We have been working on changing our eating habits one thing at at time over the past year. There are some things that we just aren’t able to do right now, though. Raw milk is $11.00 a gallon. Cheese made from raw milk is $10.00 a pound for soft, spreadable cheese, $18.00 and up for harder cheeses. I just can’t buy those things yet, but we’re working on making room in our budget for them eventually. We get herbs, produce and eggs from an organic U-pick farm. We’ve switched to whole wheat breads and pasta. I feel good that we’re moving in the right direction and I’m willing to pay more for healthy foods as long as it fits in our budget (that we can still pay the mortgage, utilities, etc.!)
[Reply]
ok ladies, how is the world are you doing it???? We spend $200/week (and that’s pushing it)for a family of 5(boys ages 5 and 7 and baby girl age 1).My hubby only eats dinners at home during the week. The things we buy organic are beef(2 lb/week), milk(2 galons/week) , eggs and apples the rest of it i just watch for ingredients.We are constantly running out of food, and this week we spent $260 and i do cook from scratch….ahhhhhh
[Reply]
Randi Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:46 am
Oh, hun, you’re not alone! We spend around $800 for our family of 5, and I cook from scratch, too!
[Reply]
Jenny Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Guess it really depends on where you live! We’re from NE Pennsylvania and my family of 5 is able to live on about $400/month, eating primarily from scratch. We have some dietary restrictions so we spend a decent amount each month on almond milk!
[Reply]
Great post! I definitely agree, but it’s hard for me to read right now. I was doing so well on feeding our family a healthy diet for about $300/month. However, right now we don’t have that (My husband lost his job a year ago, and now he started a business but isn’t bringing home any income). God has provided for us in incredible ways the last year! One way is that almost all of our food (except milk and a few perishables) the last year.
When people ask what we need I ask for simple items to make simple meat/potatoes/homemade bread meals, but we also get a lot of processed and boxed/canned food. I am incredibly grateful for all that has been given to us, but I feel limited.
Thankfully, my mom has provded all of our meat. She lives in Iowa and buys a whole cow and pigevery year that is grass fed and makes sure that the chicken has no antibiotics/growth hormones given to them. It’s very yummy meat, and I’m so thankful I know where it’s from and feel good about feeding it to my family.
[Reply]
Melisa Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:29 am
What an awesome testimony to God’s provision! Thanks for sharing that!
[Reply]
Just a note to all of those living in the DMV area on the East Coast. There is a wonderful company called Quail Cove Farms that provide natural and organic foods and products. There website and service has been such a blessing to my family of 6. Our family budget is 600 dollars a month. We shop at Trader Joes, Organic Food Depot,the Farmer’s Market, and Quail Cove Farms. Occasionally, we shop online at Amazon and VitaCost. The website is http://www.quailcovefarms.com.
[Reply]
Melisa Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:30 am
I love Quail Cove! What do you find a good deal there (just to make sure I am not overlooking anything)?
Glad you shared this.
[Reply]
Melisa Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:32 am
btw, when I saw DMV my mind read “dept. of motor vehicles” ! lol.
[Reply]
we spend about $400/month for a family of 4, but one of those is just venturing into solid foods and mostly breastmilk right now. that also includes diapers, pullups, and dog food for 2 large dogs. we are trying to do more whole foods and have cut back a ton on processed foods, as well as started gardening. our biggest struggle is eating out, even though we agree my homemade food tastes better we just like to go out to eat. but our next goal is cutting back on that and making it more of a treat to go out.
[Reply]
Wow! Reading these responses really shows me how blessed I am! I live in rural Pennsylvania, and we get meat, eggs, and raw milk from local farms at very reasonable prices. It’s a little more than grocery store prices, but not near as high as people seem to be paying in other areas! We also have “scratch and dent” type stores in our area, where groceries are deeply discounted because they will soon be out of date, overstocks, etc. I try to make the most of any bargains there too. Remember, most junky, prepackaged food might seem cheaper, but we’ve found that it’s not as satisfying, and we need to eat more. Also, my daughter mentioned a few days ago, that since we eat more healthy, she doesn’t feel well when she eats too much junk (like when she’s with friends)! It makes a difference, and it’s worth finding ways to make it work as much as possible!
[Reply]
We spend about $300-$500 per month for food for our family of four. We eat probably about 75% organic and do drink raw milk as well. The $500 months tend to be when we have family visiting and/or we’re hosting holiday meals and/or I’m stocking up on 100s of lbs of something to can or dehydrate for later in the year. Sometimes it feels like a lot of work to find what we need for as inexpensive as possible, without compromising on what’s important for our family. In reality, I think it’s no more work/driving around than when I was matching coupons with sales. And I still get that giddy feeling(that I used to get when getting a great deal at the grocery store) when I pick up my Azure order each month. The biggest key for me has been finding the best consistent source for each food item, for quality and price. I wouldn’t trade our good health (or the wonderful taste of real, whole foods!) for the cheap processed food anymore.
[Reply]
To those who think eating expensive costs more, I would offer this:
1. What would you rather spend money on? Your weekly food bill…..or your bills for prescriptions, doctor visits, and time off work due to the obesity, diabetes, and heart disease that comes with unhealthy food?
2. Round everything you buy up to the pound and ask your self if you’re still “saving”. For example. A pack of hot dogs (mmm, nitrates!) costs $2.50 while a tray of chicken thighs costs $8. But the hot dogs are an 8 oz. package while the chicken is a 5 pound tray. That means, the hot dogs actually cost $5/pound while the chicken costs $1.60/pound. Would you buy hot dogs if you thought of them as a five-dollar-a-pound meat?? You could have steak for that price!
[Reply]
Ann Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:59 am
Nice anaology Jill!
[Reply]
We have recently changed our diet to a plant based diet. It seems like we spend a lot less sometimes and more other times. I think the cost will balance out eventually. We save money by buying a lot less meat but when we do eat meat it is organic. We save a lot of money by not buying processed and junk food.
We’ve decided that spending more for healthy food is completely worth it. In the long run will will spend a lot less on treating illnesses as well.
[Reply]
I think I have the worst budget :/ We spend about 150 a week for two adults and a growing toddler. We shop at Earthfare that is the ONLY place we can find organic food other then spaghetti sauce from walmart! Now it’s usually not that high, but we ran out of meat from our farmer, and we have to get more minutes on our phone to call him. You guys know how life goes. Anyhow, we just sacrifice for eating healthy. We never eat out! I make everything at home! We gave that up though before ever eating mostly organic. Earthfare carries “natural” food, and some food does have GMO. So my husband and I have to watch closely what they are selling. Also my hubby is harder to feed. He’s meat and potatoes guy, not veggies and fruit. He likes raspberries, but even at walmart those are 4 dollars a bag. I’d love it if Azure would come to east TN! We are planting a garden this summer so that should help a ton! It’s really worth it for us to eat healthy. I know it’s hard when the money just isn’t there. Some weeks we only have 40 dollars to spend, and that is ROUGH! I am learning more though about cooking from scratch, b/c paying 5 dollars for a loaf of bread is ridiculous for the price I could make it at home! I need to do more bulk buying to. Most of our expenses come from being lazy :( BUT we are so much better then we were three years ago!
[Reply]
Elizabeth Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 11:17 am
I am with you on this. There is only the 2 of us and I spend about 200-250 a week. My dh and i have health issues and require a special diet.
I know people might think that is a lot but it is the best I can do. I cook from scratch and we eat very little processed foods.
That is eating real food and also 50% organic.
Great post.
Elizabeth
[Reply]
I love that jill! My dad lives alone, he has diabetes, heart disease, enlarged prostate, copd, high blood pressure… You get it… Hes a ticking time bomb :(.. He says eating more healthy costs too much, but he eats out at least 4 times a week, and he is on an $1100 a month budget. Thats all together. He gets an 1100 check on the 15th of the month.
[Reply]
Why is there a milky way ad at the bottom of this page….?
[Reply]
ms.p Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 11:56 am
because life is all about choices.
[Reply]
I think the cost of purchasing whole foods, organic or not, mostly depends on where you live. In Louisiana raw milk is illegal to sell. I buy a gallon of pasteurized milk from a local farm for $5.29 a gallon. My family of 7 goes through a lot of milk and only drink 1 glass at breakfast! I shop at WalMart (30 min. drive) once a month and Whole Foods (1 hr. drive) once a month. My grocery bill is close to $1,000 dollars a month! I buy grain and beans in bulk. I buy treats only for special occasions (juice for birthdays, etc). Grass-fed ground beef is $7.99/lb at Whole Foods. I have found a local farm but am waiting for them to have beef available. I have started using 3/4 lb of beef in dishes that call for 1 lb and cooking more dishes without meat. I cook everything from scratch, many recipes from this site. It seems such a shame that it can cost a great deal more to eat foods the way the Lord created them and intended them to be eaten! I am thankful to the Lord that He has provided for my family as we’ve grown. It seems hard to imagine that at one time I had a $50/week grocery budget! Of course, that was as a newlywed with no little ones! I would encourage you ladies to not feel guilty over the way you feed your family. The Lord leads each of us differently and will not call you to eat a certain way without providing the means to do it. We may have to get creative and evaluate what our needs truly are. It can also be a season of growing in patience, waiting to see how the Lord will provide! So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
[Reply]
Kristi Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:45 pm
Can you get Azure Standard there…..it helps ALOT!
[Reply]
Micah Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:27 pm
No Azure Standard here!
[Reply]
For a family of 2 adults and 1 toddler (3 total) we spend $600/month. Part of that is that organic milk is expensive ($8/gallon) and organic fruits/veggies are pretty pricey too-about 3 times what they were where we used to live. Part of it is that I work part time and on top of that I have a number of health problems. My health has gotten much better since we switched to organic whole foods, but I still struggle with it. As a result, I don’t have the energy to make everything from scratch so we buy organic sprouted grain breads, etc.
[Reply]
Ann Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:02 am
Bread is so easy in a bread machine, and I get my bread machines for $10 at thirft stores.
[Reply]
Amanda Rossman Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Good idea-thanks!
[Reply]
My family of ten spends about $800/month. It always feels like a lot when you see that hard earned $ just rolling right back out of the checkbook. It ends up to be about $0.89 per person per meal. Wow!@! I guess that it pretty good!! We eat in similar fashion to Laura, give or take a few bags of m&m’s and such thrown in just for fun. However, of our 8 children, the oldest is 12. They don’t eat all that much per person yet. A family of 10 with older kids would have to spend more I’m sure.
[Reply]
I think it’s cheaper to eat healthy, especially if you don’t eat meat. I went to walmart this morning and at check out I seen a bag of Doritos, they looked so yummy, I was getting ready to buy them but looked at the price, $4.99. Heck no!! Junk food is the most costly thing in the grocery stores today, I think.
[Reply]
My mother and I are currently challenging each other to feed our families for $30 per person per day, which breaks down to $1.42 per meal. That also includes paper, cleaning and personal products,so I guess that total should be lower. I tend to cook from scratch, but I do still use white flour and sugar (however, I tend to eat low carb, so the sugar is greatly limited). I have realized that it takes a great deal of forethought to stick to a strict budget, but challenging yourself makes it a game.
[Reply]
I can’t seem to find beans or rice for a good price! All the whole food stores around here charge 5 plus a bag! Maybe I should try amazon? Spill the beans ladies where do you get them :D
[Reply]
Randi Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Dollar General
[Reply]
Alison Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Aldi, but they are not organic.
[Reply]
Nicole Stoddard Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 3:39 pm
We buy in the bulk section at Fred Meyer, or Grocery Outlet
[Reply]
Thank you for this post Laura. I am so, SO thankful for your blog. It has been an encouraging ministry to me. Since I had my first baby in March 2011 I have been struggling with PPD SO BAD! My husband and my church have been so loving and supportive of me through this struggle. I realized since having a baby and exclusively breastfeeding (even now, 10 months later) my body is DEPLETED of nutrients! I need to nourish my body for the sake of my family, but have felt so overwhelmed every time I try to shop, plan meals, or cook. So I have started following your weekly meal plans exactly and it is helping me so much, I am all ready feeling so much better. I wish I could just give you a big hug! Thanks!
[Reply]
I guess we aren’t doing as poorly as I thought… my goal is $150/wk… though I suspect it is closer to $750 a month than $600 when one adds in the papergoods, diapers, and other misc. expenses… we have 10 kiddos, ranging from 18 years to 2 weeks.. 7 boys 3 girls… no organics, raw milk, etc. it is simply out of budget. We try to consume only 3 gallons of milk per week, no frozen foods, make our own bead and granola, restrict sugar consumption, avoid prepackaged foods, buy in bulk, most everything from scratch… we’d love to eat organics, range fed meat, etc… but if it is between paying the mortgage or grass fed beef… well, we choose to pay the mortgage. We can only do what we can do, right? We just tweak as we can…
[Reply]
Wow, we spend between $850 to $1000 per month on a family of 5 soon to be 6. The range of $1000 is because I’m just now working on buying in bulk and the upfront cost is causing an increase in the budget which will eventually go down. Also, we just switched to an all organic diet which is taking time to acquire all the flours, sugars, salts, etc. Our organic raw milk in Central California is $11.50 per gallon. I buy ends and pieces of raw cheese for $6 a pound but the butter costs $10 a pound which I cannot bring myself to buy. I get a CSA veggie box for $20 a week and just bought a 1/4 side of beef for $5.75 a pound which just went up to $6.50 a pound. It’s very expensive here and we are avoiding wheat and would like to cut it out all together. Also, I have pre-diabetes so I eat a fair amount of protein, nuts, cheese ect. I know this price will come down when I can continue this venture of making everything myself. The end result is we are feeling healthier. Less acid reflux and more energy, also, the kids have been sick less this year. Totally worth the cost but still a bit painful on the pocketbook every month.
[Reply]
Nicole Stoddard Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Yes! The good stuff is expensive in Seattle, too. I can’t bring myself to buy the good butter yet either!
[Reply]
Alisha Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Costco carries organic butter $7.99 for 2 lbs. Not cheap but $4 per lb is about the same price as nonon organic at the regular store.
[Reply]
Kristi Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Yes, being in Southern California….it is expensive…..
[Reply]
Renee Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:47 pm
So expensive!!!! But so thankful for the amazing amounts of produce, fruits, nuts, olive oils and other wonderful foods that we can get here. I guess it’s worth it to eat flavorful food picked ripe and not shipped halfway across the country. Also the weather allowing for 4 growing seasons and fresh fruit all year round.
[Reply]
Ashley Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:21 pm
If you makes you feel any better living in TN is expensive food wise to!
Now our living costs like rent and things are a lot cheaper from what I
heard though.
[Reply]
It really DOESN’T cost that much more to eat healthy. It is all about choices. Our family of 5 (3 boys, one is a teen) has chosen to pay for healthy food rather than pay for medical care. My husband and boys haven’t been to a dr in 3-4 years. (I have hypothyroid, so must go regularly) For the past 5 years, we’ve spent under $1000/month. That was when we transitioned from SAD to healthy, and I didn’t know as much about cooking healthy. For the past 20 months, we’ve been in an apartment, which meant no bulk food purchases, no deep freezer, no garden, and yet we continued to maintain budget–despite prices going up.
We focus on healthy choices: stretching healthy meats to several meals, always making broth from the bones, eating lots of beans, making bread from scratch (for the boys, I’m GF), limiting dairy, and only getting the good stuff, eating seasonal produce, etc. We don’t buy processed junk food, even “healthy” processed food.
I hope this helps someone, and I’m looking forward to Laura’s coming posts, I’d love to get our budget down even further!
[Reply]
For my family of 11 (10 eating right now), we spend about $450 a month on groceries (this includes toilet paper, shampoo, etc.). That being said, we also have goats for milk and chickens for eggs. If we figure in their feed costs, that brings us up to $500 a month. That works out to about 50 cents a meal for each person. We also have company over at least 2 times a month.
We do have venison in the freezer from hunting and chickens that we butchered, as well as veggies and fruit preserved from garden and trees, but even if you figure in the cost of tags, licenses, and butcher costs, canning costs, etc, it would only raise it about $200 a year so minimal in the monthly figure. We buy about 50% organic. We do eat a lot of carbs which I would love to lower, but we don’t want to add to our food budget until we get the credit cards paid off.
[Reply]
I spend between $400 and 500 a month for a family of 6 we do as much organic as possible and no processed junk! So that is about 83 cents a person per meal!
[Reply]
$1.11/ a meal… That is awesome whn you put it that way!! So cool!
[Reply]
When I was couponing, we spent $200 / mo for a family of 5, or $0.45 per meal. We still ate quite a bit of “fresh” food as produce is relatively inexpensive here. But there were certainly more processed foods in our diets. I completely let couponing / frugal shopping go the last few months and we’ve spent $600 / mo for a family of 6 or about the same as you. My goal is to find a balance and spend about $400 / mo. I think that is totally do-able with a bit of focus. And as far as healthy eating goes: ultimately, it is the less costly option. Less health problems, better ability to work hard etc. Eating poorly only lessens your productivity and increases your chance for expensive health problems.
[Reply]
Hello from a new follower- love this post! So many things I kept agreeing with. Looking forward to reading more.
[Reply]
Let’s see family of 4, about 3.16 per person per meal. But hubby eats lunch at work, and both kids are under 3, so they don’t eat much! Its about 400$ a month, some months it’s more. We live in Seattle, so though it is easy to buy pastured meat and organic, it ain’t cheap. Our local health food store (PCC) has pastured eggs from Texas, for 7.50 a dozen. I’m thinking about splurging on them once. . . .but usually we buy free-range/cage-free at about 3 dollars a dozen. They are okay. Non-homogenized and pasteurized milk is about 10 bucks a gallon, yep you read that right! We just get regular organic milk at 5 bucks a gallon. I make getting the pastured meat a priority right now, and eventually when I am ready to spend that much we will buy the better dairy products. I have been getting some eggs from my uncle who has chickens, so that part is a money saver. I would love to do a garden, but as you may guess, the weather here isn’t always great for growing produce!
[Reply]
I am in California….we eat everything organic including raw milk. My CSA is $36 a week plus the milk which is almost $8 per half gallon…ground..beef which is $5.00 per pound, chicken is $7 per pound so to make up for that….I am Azure and Trader Joes all the way…almost everything in bulk for a family of 5. I grind my own flour…bulk grains are so inexpensive…so I am spending about $900 a month and that is if I don’t get lazy and eat at Sharky’s or buy snacks….my kids are required to have fruit first if they want a snack…yogurt next and then something baked or whatever if they are still hungry. They usually never get past the yogurt. We do save money if my hubby goes to WY or SD and gets a deer…I would like an elk next time ;-). I am still always looking for ways to spend less….vegetarian…maybe.
[Reply]
My husband and I spend about 400-450 a month on food… I’ve not been feeling guilty about that, exactly, because it’s WAY down from what we spent separately before marriage (350 each!) and it seems to be on par with other families who eat the same way around here. But it is also frustrating that I can’t seem to get it down any further, despite making all of meals and 95% of typical canned goods from scratch. I think we get fair prices for everything– $4/gal for raw milk, $3.50/lb for grass fed beef, $5/lb for free range chicken. I buy dry goods in bulk, grind my own flour, etc. etc. We’ve come a long way, but I am confused as to why we can’t get it lower when our prices seem to be so much lower for various items than for other ladies here.
We don’t try to stretch meat at all (at hubby’s request), so I’m sure that’s a chunk of it- I figure about $50/month for meat, more or less. Actually, that’s probably it, we don’t skimp on cheese, meat or dairy products, and those add up in a hurry! I guess we’ll just keep working on this. If I can learn how to make mozzarella from our raw milk it’d still be cheaper than buying it at the store, per pound.
Ultimately though, I’ll pay what it takes to eat how we feel safe eating– but I’ll always challenge myself to keep trying to get that budget down. :-)
[Reply]
Thanks for the post Laura, very interesting! I can’t compare grocery money as I live in NZ and so it’s completely different! I’m however on a tight budget, don’t eat organic (the demand is not there and it is too expensive) but we do eat healthy for all meals and just about all meals are made from scratch!
Just one comment, everything talks about the health benefits of eating healthier (AMEN to that!) but if you include exercise into that as well, life is even better! I’ve got so much more energy and stamina to ‘attack’ each day, it is so worth ‘carving’ some exercise time out for the family!
[Reply]
Ashley Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:25 pm
Amen sister! I just started the 30 day shred, and it is helping my
energy a lot! I am trying to walk our pitbull 1.5 miles a day to, but
that doesn’t always happen.
[Reply]
This is a very interesting post and I have read everyone comments (so far). I am on a very strict budget because hubby has been out of work for 15 months and my income is it. I have 2 grown children at home, both in college full-time so I still provide most of their food. We used to spend about $600 per month for the 4 of us and ate 60% organic. I make most things from scratch but cannot take $600 out of my monthly budget for food now. I live in Delaware. We now spend about $200 per month on food for the 4 of us. Very rare to have anything organic although I do splurge on organic celery because I can’t abide regular celery. We eat lower carb, and good, whole grains. We were blessed that I had a huge stockpile at the beginning of this unemployment journey but now it is almost depleted. I am shopping paycheck to paycheck, doing a meal plan and making it as healthy as I can within the budget. That’s the best I can do right now because $200 per month for 4 people just isn’t a lot of money.
[Reply]
Ashley Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 6:27 pm
I’ll be praying for you! That is a TIGHT budget! I know how hard work is
to find to! Can you grow a garden? That might help with the veggies
and even fruit depending on where you live! Also to help with our budget
when times get tough we sell tons of stuff on ebay and craigslist!
[Reply]
I spend about $300 a month for our family of 5. We have 3 boys, ages 3, 6, and 11. They eat all the time…..can’t imagine what I’ll be spending when they’re all teenagers! I don’t buy much produce…..through the winter we eat what we’ve frozen or canned throughout the summer and fall, and during the growing season we eat what we grow in our garden. We pretty much eat what’s in season. We also have 6 chickens to supply us with eggs. We live on a small suburban lot, so we don’t have a huge garden…..but it produces well (thanks to those chickens!). We supplement by buying local produce in season when it’s cheapest. Most of our meat is venison; my dad hunts and shares 4-5 deer with us each fall. I wait for good deals on other meats and stock up when they go on sale. I cook nearly all of our food from scratch. There are times when I get sick of all that cooking and we “fall off the wagon” (buy frozen pizza or get takeout) but almost without fail we are all sick within a couple of weeks! I know our diet contributes so much to our overall immunity and good health. My children have known this way of eating their entire lives, so I can’t really say much about how to make the transition. But we’re not Nazis about it…..my children enjoy store-bought treats once in awhile and soda when we visit a restaurant. Everything in moderation.
[Reply]
I’ve been a fan of this site for awhile…I would prefer to eat healthfully…but we are imperfect people. Just the other day as I was sneaking a spoonful of sugary-frosting-in-a-can, I remembered that the only foods that are really orange are…oranges. From now on, if I can’t pronounce an ingredient, I’m going to *try* not to eat it. Thanks, as always for your daily encouragement.
[Reply]
Alisha Reply:
January 24th, 2012 at 12:02 am
I am the same… if I cannot pronounce it, I don’t eat it!
[Reply]
It’s just me and my husband and we spend on average about $350 a month. I would love to spend $1.11 a person! I cant wait to see what you do that I could do better since we already eat a whole foods diet.
[Reply]