Quick Tips for the Grocery Store

For the most part, we are an all organic household.  The food that is...I'm still working on everything else.  We also have a pretty tight budget of $200 per week for all food, household items and gas.  Now- I know to most folks, this sounds like a lot of money.  But if you figure that I'm filling up my gas tank each week at $55, there goes 1/4 of my budget.  This means that I have roughly $150 to spend at the grocery store and this figure includes toiletries and household items.  As you can imagine, it's important to make the most of this small budget.

Sure, I coupon and shop the sales but if you buy organic food the coupons will only get you so far.  With the many changes that my family has made in our diets, I now shop in a completely different way.  Would you believe that I used to stock up on Progresso Soups when it was $10/10 at my local Albertson's?  Seriously- I would buy $30 worth of canned soup at a time AND do this every couple months!  Why?  Well because I thought it was cheap....and it was easy and the husband could easily make it and excuses, excuses, excuses.

Now of course I know how much healthier homemade soup is for you.  And HELLO- could soup be any easier to make?!?  Yeah- you could say I've had an awakening.  So today I'm going to share with you some items that I used to buy on the regular but will never buy again.  I will also be sharing a list of foods that I personally think are worth paying the extra money for and getting organic instead of conventional.

Here we go!


Never Buy This Again!

• Canned soup- so much cheaper & healthier to make your own & yes, this includes anything with the title "Cream of"
• Frozen dinners- create a freezer stockpile by cooking up a double batch & freezing half
• Granola Bars/Pop Tarts/Nutri Grain Bars- just as much sugar as candy
• Sugary Drinks- the only juice allowed in my house is organic OJ & organic Lemonade on occasion
• Pasta Sauce- so easy to make at home
• Desserts- homemade just tastes WAY better & you would be surprised at how easy cakes, pies, brownies etc are to make
• Pre-anything- think pre-shredded cheese, pre-cut apples, pre-shredded carrots, pre-diced onions etc.  Sure it may be convenient but it costs more & they add extra chemicals/additives to preserve it, no thanks!

Worth the Extra Money!

• Organic bread- if you can't make your own, please buy a good quality organic bread!
• Local Meat- do NOT eat factory farmed meat, please- I beg you!
• Dairy- our rule of thumb is simple, "if it comes from an animal it better be organic"
• Organic convenience food/snacks- if you need a few quick cheats (like we all do!) or chips for your salsa, please buy from brands such at Amy's, Late July or Annie's.
• Organic condiments- mayo that actually tastes like mayo- seriously it's amazeballs!

This list is pretty simple and it's my hope that it will get you thinking about ways you could save money and put it towards the better (and many times more expensive) options.  You'll notice that I left off produce and that's because while I feel buying all organic produce is the way to go, I know that for many folks- it's not reality.  I would much rather you buy a ton of fruits and veggies then none at all because you couldn't afford the more expensive counterparts.

You can do this, I know you can!