I am writing this down, so that I try to STICK TO IT. As many people right now are, we are on a budget. Big time. Especially now that I am at home with Kalaya and only have my small income from being the youth minister at our church. The "problem" is that we like to eat healthy. That didn't come out right. I'll start over.
This year, I am determined to learn how to use coupons and save money, especially at the grocery store. This is the one area I tend to splurge. In a sense. I try not to buy cheap, processed food. I try to stay away from big brand names and anything that isn't organic. That being said, it gets pretty spendy. I love Trader Joe's and we shop there often. But, I feel like I'm missing out on savings. They do not have coupons. Their prices are decent, but I feel like I could do better.
In the past, I've tried to save money on food as much as I can, while still eating healthy and avoiding processed foods. I love to cook. Food is amazing. There will not be diets at this house. Ever. My only form of "dieting" is to eat more healthy foods and not buy unhealthy crap. (by the way, Santa did not get this message and filled my stocking with candy. Luckily, I tend to stretch that candy out until Easter most years, only eating a little bit at a time. Or, I send it to work with Nelson and it disappears) ANYWAY, back to my new goal. Since I started living on my own/got married and started being in charge of food preparation for a household, I've tried different things to keep costs down. In the beginning, that meant buying store brands only. That was about it. (Hey, give me a break, I was new at it!) I actually managed to only spend about $100 a month on groceries. And I ate like CRAP. My pantry and cupboards were always crammed full with processed, easy-to-cook junk that was cheap. I shopped at the beginning of the month one time and it lasted until the next month. I ate somewhat healthy the first 2 weeks, but then the fresh food got eaten, or, more likely, spoiled and got thrown away. I bought (and ate) a lot of things like Totino's Pizzas, those 5 lb ground beef logs (not in one go obviously), Hamburger Helper, Pasta and Rice-a-Roni, jarred pasta sauces, canned soups and things like store brand ravioli. ICK ICK ICK Not to mention chips, crackers, cookies, etc. The goal of eating was to fill up. Not to nourish. I look back at those couple of years and the more shallow side of me thinks of all that FAT and all those CALORIES. I also think back to all that I did when I shopped was make a random list and buy whatever I thought looked good.
Then I got married and started working full time, almost an hour away. The exciting this was, I had my own kitchen and 2 good incomes to shop with at the grocery store. I started spending time with healthy eaters, who introduced me to organics and healthier foods. But, I was dead tired. By the time I got home from my commute to my hungry husband, we did whatever was quickest and easiest, which usually meant drive-thru. I got optimistic that year and asked for some cookbooks for Christmas. I tried a few recipes. We ended up throwing away a lot of food, because I didn't take the time to prepare the things I bought. I was trying to eat healthier, but I thought that meant things like Lean Cuisine and low fat items. I was going to Curves that year and my mentality about food was more about eating enough to get by, but not too much that I'd gain weight.
Enter living on a teeny budget. We moved to Indiana while Nelson was in grad school and I taught half-day preschool. We lived on $1300 per month. Total. I started planning my meals each week and making lists accordingly. I didn't have an exact budget, but I spent about the same each time. I started buying a lot of organics, because no one wanted them in Indiana and they were actually on sale a LOT. I had more time to cook, because I was working half time. I started trying out new recipes on a regular basis and got more comfortable in the kitchen.
Last year we lived with my parents for half the year and then on our own again. We were back in Oregon and had a higher income. We were at the mercy of my parents for food until December, which was fine, but I didn't have a ton of control over what we ate. I did introduce my dad to some new ideas about food though! (not that he stuck with too many of them....he is a meat and potatoes kind of man!) And, the main thing that happened was that I was pregnant! Being pregnant totally changed my outlook on food. Suddenly it wasn't about counting calories, it was about making sure I was eating enough! (although for awhile it was only about finding something that actually tasted good!) I've pretty much kept this mentality about food, with breast feeding, but I think I will stick with it in the future. I think of eating more as, "Oh, I have to make sure I get enough healthy food today!" rather than, "Oh no, I can't eat any of this today..." It's more optimistic and more fun! I've realized that I can eat lots of healthy foods and still feel good about myself, rather than stressing over eating too many calories. I like to pig out, so I just make sure I have healthy things in the house to binge on, rather than junk food. I try to make sure there's always things like fresh spinach, hummus, cut up veggies, fresh fruit, yogurt, salsa, whole wheat tortillas, etc in the house. Of course, there are definitely times when there's no subbing for things like ice cream, Doritos, and other crap like that. And I eat it, it tastes good and I feel okay about it! But, usually they're not in the house, so I can't have them anyway! And, I've noticed that the less I eat those things, the less I crave them! In fact, things like fast food (other than occasional Burgerville), beef, and highly processed things (like Kraft singles, YECH!) make my stomach upset and I don't want them any more. Haven't been to Taco Bell in months!!! My mind sometimes still thinks I miss that stuff, but my tummy reminds me it doesn't!
SO, with all that being said, here are my goals for food and groceries:
*Keep planning meals ahead, but look at grocery store ads to plan around what is on sale
*Coupons, coupons, coupons!! (the main focus of my goals right now)
*Continue to make meals that don't focus around meat as a "main course"
*Buy things on sale as much as possible
*Have an amount in mind that I want to spend at the grocery store and stay within $10 of that amount
*Don't grocery shop when I'm hungry!!!
*Continue trying new recipes, especially ones that feature veggies as the main ingredient
*Buy organic as much as possible, but only if reasonably priced
*Keep taking walks every day that last at least an hour, if not more
*Fit in Yoga or Pilates 2-3 times per week (small goal to start)
I'm starting this process for my shopping trip this weekend. I'm working on my lists (meal and grocery) right now, using Coupon Mom (amaaaazing!!! watch her videos, she is my new hero!), as well as other sites. I've been debating about which stores to shop at. Initially I was thinking Win-Co, but I've been asking other moms and they say that it's not worth it, because yes it's cheaper, but the quality it lower. I'm not willing to sacrifice quality too much. We've been shopping at Fred Meyer this year, but their "rewards" card is a joke. They don't change prices for it at all. I'm going to try Safeway, which I never thought I'd do, because they always seem so expensive. On closer examination, I think I just have let them take advantage of me. I'm going to use my club card religiously. Did you know you can upload coupons to your club card online so you don't have to clip them??? And they stay on there until you use them and you can check to see which ones you have! It's pretty great. So, Safeway is the first stop for my experiment. I am excited to see how it goes! I was pretty motivated by my friend's post about how she is doing the same thing!! Hopefully I'm not getting my hopes up too much!!!
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