I’m always hesitant to start a series because when it comes to remembering the future installments? Yours truly isn’t the best at that. I won’t make excuses, but life happens and work gets busy and I forget – oops! Speaking of, before I forget, if you’re in the mood to watch my everyday eats check out my other Instagram account @heathereatshealthy.
HOWEVER this is something that is a continual learning experience and constantly changing in our home. We reassess our budget a few times a year, and without fail we usually learn that cutting back on grocery spending is a good way to get back on track. This year in particular it’s been an adjustment because Nate and I have made some significant dietary changes (lowering carb intake, cutting back on sugar BIG TIME, looking for ways to increase produce consumption, etc) to lose weight and just be healthier overall. The good news? The changes are working. The bad(ish) news? It leans toward a more expensive grocery budget.
I’ve been looking for ways to decrease spending which automatically means decreasing the amount of time I spend in a store. Not hard considering I really don’t love taking both boys with me at the moment – W is fine, but A is a adamantly independent. Which is a nice way to say that taking my 2-year-old to the store is typically an unpleasant experience, especially if he can’t ride in the special kids carts he likes 🙂
Another big thing has been buying and cooking in bulk. I’ve been hesitant to try this approach because I feel like, as a food blogger, I should be making new things every night. Creativity in the kitchen is something I hold very dear, and I didn’t want to start taking an approach that would interfere with that. Guess what, though? Turns out having kids and cooking dinner during/around witching hour and bedtime routines really reduces creativity levels anyway! The way I see it now is that we get to be creative with cooking and buying in bulk now. Makes it a lot cheaper and a lot easier to get good, healthy food on the table!
Last? It feels silly to say, but portion control. We’re big people who ate a lot in our younger years and just never left that habit behind. Portioning out our food instead of eyeballing it has been helpful for keeping our budget intact and for losing weight. We’re not perfect with it, and truthfully when it comes to vegetables I just eat til I’m full, but it’s getting better. Reducing the amount of animal protein from 8+ ounces to 4 ounces apiece has been an easy way to reduce our spending without sacrificing a whole lot.
So there you have it! I haven’t figured out an exact number, but I’d say we’ve reduced the amount of food and random things we buy by about $100/week, or $400/month, which is a nice savings. If only I could figure out a good way to do couponing without being THAT lady I’m sure we could save even more!
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