family food budget - advice pls

[Anonymous]

9:29 here: We have subscribed to Even'Star Organic Farm's CSA for the past three winters and summers, and are trying Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative for this summer (mainly because we had a half-share option and the ability to purchase a fruit share; we love Even'Star). Both drop off in various locations around the DC area, and Even'Star sells at the Bethesda / Chevy Chase market on Saturdays.

[Anonymous]

Farmer's markets are absolutely more expensive than anything you find in the grocery store. That goes across the board - produce, meats, dairy, breads, etc.

What I try to do with them is make a judgment call in my mind. The question I ask is this: what are the products where the difference in quality and taste is marked enough to deserve a premium? For me, the answer is tomatoes and peaches, when in season. I pretty much refuse to eat peaches from the supermarket because they have all the deliciousness and texture of a golf ball. A tomato season is a natural wonder. There is also a green available only at the farmer's market called purslane that for the life of me I cannot find anywhere else. It's lemony, toothsome and amazing. For that, I will splurge.

Everything else, for me, I say go ahead and stock up in Costco or anywhere, really. The difference (in my opinion) is not all that. Yes, I'm sure peppers and eggplants and apples from the farmer's market are lovely, but I will live on Costco fare just fine.

[Anonymous]

We shop Costco about every 3 weeks for meats, canned tomato sauce, eggs, and some other stuff like detergent. So I usually don't buy much meat at the grocery store. I make a list for the week of dinners planned, stuff to buy for my and husband's lunches, fruits, healthy snacks for our DD. I try to stick to $150 and that's for only 3 of us. Guess maybe I should look at trying to cut back. I try to use coupons but mostly buy the store brands/generic which are normally cheaper than using name brand product w/ coupon.
Do you have an Aldi grocery store nearby? They are super cheap but don't have many options/choices. They have really cheap produce but it's hit or miss.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I, and an infant spend around +600 per month for food alone. I thought we are pretty decent but looking at the comments, I think i need to reassess our budget. I do shop at WF, traders, SF and eat out every Friday. Wahh..interesting

[Anonymous]

OP, this is just one very small tip, but maybe it will help you.

I bring a salad to work every day for lunch, and in addition to lettuce and the standard salad veggies that I always have on hand, I use whatever is leftover from the previous night's dinner - roasted chicken or a piece of salmon if I have it, and any leftover veggies - and I like just about anything in my salad - peas, beans, corn, green beans, asparagus, cooked broccoli or cauliflower, etc. My family is not big on leftover veggies but I find it makes packing my lunch really convenient in the morning, I don't waste leftovers, and I save $$ by not buying lunches at work. I also try to make "big salads" for me and Dh about one night a week doing the same thing - it clears the leftovers out of the fridge, and I just make something simple for the kids, like pasta.

I also make a lot of big batches of hearty soups with lots of veggies and freeze them. Things like dried beans, lentils, etc are really cheap and they are healthy too. Single-serving frozen containers of soup are great to take to work, and they work for dinner to, with some crusty bread or even a half-sandwich on the side.