Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Paleo & My Monthly Grocery Budget

So, this month I am going to track *really* track our grocery budget to spending ratio.  I have a figure in mind but I don't monitor it over the course of the month.  I just use my superior mental abilities to know whether or not I'm within my budget.  

Or not.  

THE BUDGET BREAKDOWN
We aim for $400/month.  I don't use a weekly figure because some weeks I shop more than others.  Some weeks I buy meat.  Some weeks I buy lunch meat.  Some weeks I buy shrimp.  Some weeks I buy coffee.  You see?  Not every week is the same so the weekly budget doesn't really make sense for me.  I'd actually prefer to think of the food budget in terms of the year because I think there are seasons of higher/lower spending...like if we purchased a share of a cow.  That would be a significant up-front cost or several payments but it would last a long time.

It's the 13th and so far I have spend $278.27.  That includes our monthly CSA cost and some rare -- monthly or less often than monthly -- purchases like coffee, {not-so-paleo} fish sticks, squeezy apple sauce pouches, almonds, coconut oil, and gluten-free bread.  Coffee and coconut oil are things I might purchase every 3 months.  The rest of those things are probably monthly purchases.  The gluten-free bread was a treat...I might never buy it again for all I know.  For the rest of the month I imagine my purchases will be more proteins, fruits, {a few} veggies {remember, I already paid for our CSA!}, and some dairy products.



Let me break some things down here.  
1.)  Overall, I do the best I can to get things organic.  Our CSA from Spiral Path Farms is organic.  We can't always afford to get grassfed/pastured meats.  The point is to make the best choices that you can with the resources you have available.
2.)  My family is different shades of paleo.

I don't eat grains, refined sugar, or dairy (except for a splash of half/half in my coffee and butter). Except for when I am celebrating my dad's 60th birthday.  In which case I eat ALL of those things.

Hubs doesn't eat any grains, refined sugar, and very little dairy (butter and he tolerates cheese well).  

The cave kiddos don't eat any grains or refined sugar.  They do eat hummus and dairy -- cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, and MILK.  I make every effort to buy *better* dairy products.  I get organic dairy products and am slowly phasing in almond and coconut milk products with good ingredients.  Phasing out milk usually draws a collective *gasp* from people.  Simmer down.  There are plenty of food sources with adequate calcium besides milk.  
Another *gasp.*  Say it isn't so!  
It IS so.  Here's a quick and easy read on non-dairy calcium.  

AFFORDING PALEO
Lots of people who know we are on a budget wonder how we can AFFORD to eat paleo.  Regardless of what your lifestyle is, it will always be a challenge to feed your family on a budget.   CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
Ok.  Here's the thing.  Close your eyes for a moment.  

Closed?  I didn't think so.  Well, I guess you can read the next few paragraphs so you know what to imagine behind your closed eyes.

Imagine the cereal/oatmeal/pop-tart aisle, the cracker/pretzel/chips/granola bar/snacks aisle.  Imagine the pasta aisle.  Imagine the bread/bagel/donut aisle.  Imagine the flour/sugar/brown sugar/artificial sweetener aisle.

Now imagine how many of those items are in your cart and how much they cost.  A LOT.  Right?  

I skip those aisles completely.  That saves me a lot of money that I can spend on nutrient-dense foods and ingredients for making better snacks and treats.  It takes a while to phase those purchases out...baby steps, right?  Only recently did I completely STOP buying a box of cereal each month.  I thought, "How could a household with 2 kids possibly LIVE without a box of cereal?"  Turns out, pretty well.  We've been paleo for almost 2 years and it took me that long to finally abandon cereal.

The other thing is SHOP IN YOUR PANTRY & FREEZER.  During tight months, I dig to the back of the cupboards and freezer for long forgotten packs of ground beef and frozen peas and olives and artichoke hearts to create no-cost-meals.  Well, I suppose technically I paid for them at some point but it was apparently so long ago that it feels free -- and it was free for that month's budget!

So, anyway.  I've got $121.73 left to go.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

*Thanks to Diane at Balanced Bites for the great resources.  She is my go-to source for understanding and implementing paleo. 

*I'm thinking that I'll write about our pantry staples and some of my cave-kiddos fave foods.  Anything you'd like to hear about?






5 comments:

  1. I'm impressed that you have a $400 budget. Mine seems to be closer to $600/mo but of course we eat dairy, cereal, etc. I'm trying hard to stay away from ALL processed food. I agree with meal planning and preparing ahead -- that way it doesn't take me all day to cook and I can still easily get a meal in after work. I'd love to hear more about what your kids eat for breakfast and snacks. Thanks for sharing!!

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    1. Thanks for visiting Amanda! Cutting out processed foods is the BEST decision! Keep an eye out for my go-to kid faves :-)

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  3. I want to see some posts about snacks! Our kids are carb-crazy and since we have issues with nuts (all nuts!) it seems like high protein snacking is difficult.
    We try to do $400 a month (for six!) with WIC checks for two kids on top (which helps a LOT), but lately we're accepting we have to up it to closer to $450, esp since we don't have a garden right now (sigh).

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    1. Kelly! Snacks are coming in the next week or two! Can you use coconut flour? I make a banana muffin with coconut flour. You can use chia seeds to replace eggs in baked goods, too (I recall an egg allergy...).

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