I just read this article on whether a family can eat on $100 a week: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/CanAFamilyEatOn100AWeek.aspx?page=1
With the extra mouths to feed I can understand why this is hard, but for my wife, our dog, and I we are good at staying under $100 a week on food for all of us. We also buy all organic, free range, vegetarian products, and eat very well, which is why I am surprised that it was so difficult for this family to stay under $100. That is until I start to think about the supermarket and the things that are promoted in it.
In just about every major supermarket I go to I find frozen fries and tater tots that take up an equal amount of space as all of the frozen vegetables. Similarly, I find frozen meals that take up more space than any other frozen item. Also, there is usually an entire aisle dedicated to soda. Thinking back, I used to buy frozen fries, until I realized it is pointless. This is something that I now make, and make better than any frozen fries you will find. I also find that there is a large selection of whipped cream. Why do you ever need to buy whipped cream when you can just buy whipping cream and make it yourself. I also find it odd that we have become a culture that forgets how easy it is to make your own popcorn without a microwave or special machine. You can make your own pesto easily, you can make waffles, soda, pizza. My point is, that the supermarket has convinced most consumers that the consumer is incapable of making popcorn, or ice cream, or soda. This happens because there is such a wide variety of each of these items, making it seem as though these are all of your choices.
Whenever you go to the supermarket and buy one of these items that you could have made yourself, for less money and with less processing, it makes you spend more money. Not only are you spending more money for the item that you could have made, but you are actually spending more to get the equivalent nutritional value as the homemade counterpart.
I think popcorn is a good example, if you look at the ingredients on a microwave bag your will notice a ton of things you won't recognize. For me, an entire bag of popcorn does little to satisfy me. However, the popcorn on the stove only has 3 or 4 ingredients. You have some corn oil, popcorn kernals, salt and pepper. When you get to this pure state the popcorn tastes so good you really don't need butter. Not only this, buy I don't need to eat as much to feel satisfied.
Another item that is odd for me is the large selection of instant oatmeal. You can buy a bag of oatmeal that is not considered instant, and make it in the same amount of time as instant oatmeal. I like to buy a 10 grain oatmeal and add flaxseed, it only takes 3 minutes in the microwave to make a quarter of a pound. And a pound of it is much more nutritious and costs half as much as an equivalent pound of instant oatmeal. It takes 2 minutes longer to mix in the milk, butter, sugar, and fresh fruit. But it is much more nourishing, more filling, and costs less.
Hopefully my point is becoming clearer. When people buy instant meals and items they are losing a lot of the nutrients that they would have if they just took the 2 extra minutes to make the item from scratch. This combined with the fact that the instant meal costs more than making the meal from scratch and you can quickly see why it is hard for a family to spend only $100 a week on groceries.
A tip for you when going to the supermarket is to buy ingredients for specific meals. We always plan 5 meals for the week and make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day. Therefore, we are only buying for breakfast and dinner. Also, I think it is important to always be adding in new recipes into your week. You should not be making the same set of dinners every week. Learning new recipes will help you improve existing food. This adds some joy to your cooking. Here is a list of my favorite cookbooks:
Here is a list of breakfast items I like to make:
- Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy (I ate this for breakfast today)
- 11 gain oatmeal, or 5 grain oatmeal. Add flaxseed, add fresh fruit like bananas or berries
- Yogurt (I like to eat vanilla yogurt, buy organic like stonyfield farms, get it in a large container not little packages, add ground flaxseed)
- Frittata
Here is a list of a few easy to make dinner items that cost you very little
- Veggie burgers, don't buy boca or any of that, just make your own. I can make my own in less than 5 minutes and taste better than an actual burger. You can even get creative with them, I add cilantro to the mix, then top with avocado
- Homemade fries, I like to make sweet potato fries
- Tuna burgers are just as easy to make as veggie burgers
- Vegetable curry, Dusti makes an awesome curry dish with rice
- Chili, so easy to make and reheat for later
- Vegetable wraps with legumes
- Fried rice (so incredibly easy)
- Pizza (I like to make caramelized onion with BBQ sauce and garlic slices on it, put some goat cheese on to make it even more delicious)
- Stuffed mushrooms (you can make them quick too)
- Lasagna (throw in mushrooms instead of meat)
- Falafel (easier to make from scratch than you may think)
- Vegetable soups (I like to make my own stock)
Here are some of the drinks we like to keep on hand
- My homemade ginger-limeade
- Cold pressed coffee concentrate
- Yerba Mate (drink this instead of green tea, more antioxidants and caffeine)
- Beer, whiskey, and wine
- Coffee beans for espresso or french press coffee
Here are a list of snacks we like to keep around
- Trail mix, or toasted almonds
- Homemade banana chips
- Homemade pita chips (just make them, they are stupid easy to make)
- Fresh fruit
- Hummus for dipping (this is also stupid easy to make)
Another tip is to not buy treats for your dog, just make them. You can find lots of easy recipes online. I occasionally make our dog a veggie loaf, and she loves it, throw some flaxseed on whatever you make to help their coat shine and help them shed less.
I am by no mean an expert on this topic, we spend more a week than we probably need to. But we are able to eat good food for much less than most people spend on crappy food. I think a lot of the lower costs come from buying better quality food with more nutrients, organic and fresh foods. Also, lower costs come from avoiding the frozen section and making food from scratch. Like I said previously, we also buy food for specific meals, this helps cut costs. But probably the best thing you can do is not shop hungry. When you are hungry and shopping for food or are in a rush you will make more irrational choices.
One last point, to save money on food and to be healthier I think it is important to cut back on your meat intake. I am not vegetarian, but I eat meat maybe once every month, sometimes less. When I cut back to this level I noticed I had more energy. Not only this, but I am doing more for the environment than if I was driving a prius. Plus, the little meat that you do eat tastes so much better when you haven't had it in a while. I will admit that next year I do plan to go deer hunting, so my monthly intake may increase, hopefully. If you are concerned about the environment look into cutting back your meat consumption or buy your meat from a local farmer. A year ago a friend went and helped process a part of a cow he had purchased that was completely grass fed. That is something to consider as well, if you really like meat you can not only buy it in bulk but help process and package it.