Final Food Count

**Grainlady** · 01-01-2010, 07:08 AM

My final expenses for groceries for 2 adults for 2009....

I budgeted $2,600.00 ($50/week) and spent $2,517.19. I will be buying wheat (200-pounds) with the $82.81 remaining from 2009, so should come close to zeroing out for the year. We've had too much snow/mud to make the trip to the mill, located out in the county on a dirt road, for the wheat.

The food budget will be reduced 25 percent this year. I'll have $75 every TWO weeks for purchasing all groceries. I will still look for meat that is $2/pound (or less), and spend no more than $10 per week for meat. I stocked up on a case of #10 cans of vital wheat gluten, so I'm going to get better at using "fake meat" as a high-protein meat alternative.

-What do your food expenses look like for the year?
-What foods are you using to cut costs?
-Do you omit, or use less of, recommended amounts of certain food groups?

We follow the old Basic-4 to plan meals. I find My Food Pyramid provides too many carbohydrates for our personal needs. If I increase foods from the servings suggested for the Basic-4, it's additional fruit, vegetables, and nuts.

Breads & Cereals - 4 servings
Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings
Meat & Meat Alternatives - 2 servings
Milk - (adult) 2 servings

**frugal-fannie** · 01-01-2010, 07:23 AM

Great job on the food budget. How much do you spend on the wheat per pound?

**Grainlady** · 01-01-2010, 09:17 AM

Thanks frugal-fannie - but I need to get even BETTER (LOL)! So let the 2010 challenge begin....

Wheat prices vary.... The one I'm picking up at the mill is hard white winter wheat (great for bread) and will cost $19.99 (plus tax) for 50-pounds.

QM · 01-01-2010, 09:25 AM

Grainlady...You never cease to amaze me! I truly wish we were neighbours so I could a thing or two from you.

**tervsforme** · 01-01-2010, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by QM

Grainlady...You never cease to amaze me! I truly wish we were neighbours so I could a thing or two from you.

I TOTALLY agree with you QM! Grainlady is amazing with all she can do with food! I've learned so much from her already, I'm looking forward to learning more in the coming year!

**shoiji** · 01-01-2010, 10:50 AM

I plan on keeping with $150 a month for food, household, and pets. Added to this, I plan on picking up more organic items or less chemical items as they go on sale. While I realize I willl not be able to buy organic all the time, I think that in the long run health wise it will be better. So for me that will definately be a challenge for this year. It really helps that I already have a good stockpile going so I can wait on good sales of organic items. Right now I have organic frozen veggies, canned organic beans and vegetables, organic quinoa, organic noodles, organic shampoo and conditioner.

Also plan on eating more vegetarian meals through out the week. Leaving only two or three days of actual animal protein. Do have quinoa, two packages were purchased on sale.

As far as omitting food groups, well I think the wheat part is something I need to work on. It seems I bloat and gain weight when I eat to much bread. So I will be looking for more gluten free products and will learn to make gluten free bread in the breadmachine. Hopefully I can embrace brown rice more. Just something I need to get more in the habit of making.

Also need to keep the heavily processed foods out of my home. They really just make me want to eat more, plus I have an allergy to potatoes which seems to be in everything under the name of modified food starch.

**nessarowdy** · 01-01-2010, 12:03 PM

Wow, I am blown away by this. And inspired! That is simply amazing! I'm going to try to slowly decrease my food budget, starting by $100 less per month. Which will be a challenge for me! lol

Thanks for sharing your awesome inspiration!
-Vanessa

**pinetree** · 01-01-2010, 01:16 PM

Great job on your food budget, I just started tracking mine so I'm so sure where to start. I am sure I can knock it in half, or at least try.
I am also going to look into your fake meat. Sounds really interesting.

**tervsforme** · 01-01-2010, 07:52 PM

I just looked at my budget and I spent about $315 on average per month, but looking at the individual months I reduced my grocery bill by about 75-100/month since January, 2009, so I'm really happy about that. I buy much less processed food and bake all my own treats and such. I'm going to have to start trying to make my own bread next. I'm going to try to reduce it by another $50-$75 for 2010.

**alotofgooddeals** · 01-01-2010, 08:02 PM

I love reading these post and knowing that my dreams are possible by following all these things that are posted and seeing that it is possible....

**MTS04** · 01-02-2010, 08:36 AM

Grainlady, I always feel smarter for having read your posts. I agree with the others, I wish we were neighbors; I could learn so much from you.

**lilk** · 01-02-2010, 02:43 PM

WTG! I'm going to start tracking what we spend on groceries in 2010. I really need to find out where all the money is going. I have set my budget a $500 for 5 people.(2 adults 2 teen boys, our baby, 3 dogs and a rabbit).I will be buying formula and diapers all hba, food, and animal food with this money. This is just a starting point for me, I'm hoping to reduce it a little each month, until we are comfortable.
Good luck in 2010.