clean eating, what's your grocery bill?
- Thread starter Boybert
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Hi Debbie,
I think that if you're buying most of your food in its most natural form (fresh/frozen fruit, veggies, grains, dried beans/legumes, meats, etc) that your food bill could actually be less.
One thing that I do is buy in season (fresh stuff is cheaper that way), try to buy locally produced stuff, and to buy in bulk.
It's usually the non-food items that buy that raise my grocery bill (vitamins, DH's razers, my contact lens stuff, etc). HTH.
I think that if you're buying most of your food in its most natural form (fresh/frozen fruit, veggies, grains, dried beans/legumes, meats, etc) that your food bill could actually be less.
One thing that I do is buy in season (fresh stuff is cheaper that way), try to buy locally produced stuff, and to buy in bulk.
It's usually the non-food items that buy that raise my grocery bill (vitamins, DH's razers, my contact lens stuff, etc). HTH.
toastythemosty
Cathlete
I spent $350 for 2 weeks. YIKES!
Charlotte~~
Charlotte~~
i spend on average about $70/week for good, healthy whole foods. its mainly for me, but my boyfriend will eat some of it (although he's not exactly the poster child for clean eating. he has a frozen pizza cooking in the oven right now. heh).
i rarely eat out anymore. i cook about 95% of my meals myself. its crazy to think that a year and a half ago, that number was reversed. besides cereal for breakfast, i used to eat out constantly and hated to cook. getting a pot of water to boil was a great accomplishment.
back in 2001, i lived in an apartment and never even turned the stove on once for the entire year that i was there.
for me, the cost of clean eating is about the same as what i used to spend in take-out restaurants (maybe even less). plus, i feel so much better knowing *exactly* what i'm putting in my body.
i rarely eat out anymore. i cook about 95% of my meals myself. its crazy to think that a year and a half ago, that number was reversed. besides cereal for breakfast, i used to eat out constantly and hated to cook. getting a pot of water to boil was a great accomplishment.
back in 2001, i lived in an apartment and never even turned the stove on once for the entire year that i was there.
for me, the cost of clean eating is about the same as what i used to spend in take-out restaurants (maybe even less). plus, i feel so much better knowing *exactly* what i'm putting in my body.
I spend about 80-100 dollars a week on groceries for the two of us. At most we will have one meal out a week, so in the long run we probably spend less eating clean than those people who eat out often.
I was pretty much a hazard in the kitchen before starting to eat clean but find now it's not hard or time-consuming to whip up a healthy balanced meal. The key is to keep staples at hand (like those lists below).
I was pretty much a hazard in the kitchen before starting to eat clean but find now it's not hard or time-consuming to whip up a healthy balanced meal. The key is to keep staples at hand (like those lists below).
4
40something
Guest
I'm feeding a family of six, I cook breakfast and supper for six but lunch time meal is just myself and preschooler. I can't get out of the grocery for less than $200 most of the time. More if I'm really out of stuff like laundry detergent and such items. I don't buy pop or junk foods other than graham crackers and ice cream.
Talk about how expensive smoking is for smoker's these days...look at what people are paying for a stupid bag of potato chips that will kill them just as readily as those cig's will.
We also go through probably 5-6 gallons of milk each week too. I should just buy a cow and then I could make cheese too.
Talk about how expensive smoking is for smoker's these days...look at what people are paying for a stupid bag of potato chips that will kill them just as readily as those cig's will.
We also go through probably 5-6 gallons of milk each week too. I should just buy a cow and then I could make cheese too.
lala1
Cathlete
Family of 5 close to 600/month. Now that my son is in college: maybe 400. I have to admit that although I try to keep things in their most natural state, this includes lots of frozen pizza and pop;( . My kids have friends over all the time, and for me this is a small price to pay to know their friends etc. Despite all that, I feel like if I do spend more for healthier food it must make up in health care savings.
nancy324
Cathlete
Until recently, we were living on take-out. Then we decided to try to save money. So the last 3 Sundays we have been buying lots of produce, unprocessed. I couldn't believe I could get a huge head of escarole for only $1.70! That's a lot less than I was paying to buy my lettuce in a small bag for $3.99.
We spend a few hours shopping, washing, dicing and slicing up salad ingredients into individual bags. Nancy & Steve's salad bar has different kinds of lettuces, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, red peppers, onions, red cabbage, green beans, cucumber and anything else that looks good. We also buy chicken and cut it up into bite-sized pieces and cook it. Then we eat at our very own salad bar all week long!
When I come home from work, I just open the bags and throw a little bit of everything into a big bowl, add a can of tuna, salmon or the cooked chicken, and my dinner is fast and still saves money. By doing all the work on Sunday, the rest of the week we are free from food preparation. Also, our food bills are going WAY down. My DH and I are SO thrilled with ourselves. We'll see how long it lasts.
We spend a few hours shopping, washing, dicing and slicing up salad ingredients into individual bags. Nancy & Steve's salad bar has different kinds of lettuces, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, red peppers, onions, red cabbage, green beans, cucumber and anything else that looks good. We also buy chicken and cut it up into bite-sized pieces and cook it. Then we eat at our very own salad bar all week long!
When I come home from work, I just open the bags and throw a little bit of everything into a big bowl, add a can of tuna, salmon or the cooked chicken, and my dinner is fast and still saves money. By doing all the work on Sunday, the rest of the week we are free from food preparation. Also, our food bills are going WAY down. My DH and I are SO thrilled with ourselves. We'll see how long it lasts.
futurefitnessdyanmo
Cathlete
$60-90 a week just for me! YIKES!!! Great question, I've been wondering this myself! For those of you feeding 4 on $200, I'm envious!
amy_b
Cathlete
I feed our family of 5 plus usually an average of 6 guests per week, all meals eaten at home and sack lunches for the kids every day for around $300/week. We live in grand central station and I'm the chef. I should count my blessings, but sometimes, I'm weary.
I do love our wonderful grocery stores, however. They keep me motivated to keep eating healthy. Central Market, Whole Foods, and Costco are making plenty off me.
I do love our wonderful grocery stores, however. They keep me motivated to keep eating healthy. Central Market, Whole Foods, and Costco are making plenty off me.
WannaBeStrong
Cathlete
I usually spend $150 to $200 every other week; and we have six children. Of course, if my eating was extremely clean, I would probably spend more money.
Shirley
Shirley