Sunday, January 31, 2010

Hidden Costs of Eating at Home

One of our goals for 2010 is to avoid eating out all year. Over the past month I've noticed something strange...my freezers are almost empty. I had a large stock pile of meat and vegetables in both of the freezers and today both of my freezers are almost empty!! We are going through a huge amount of food eating all of our meals at home. I didn't even think that my grocery budget might need to go up!

I would love to say that I think our budget will stay the same but honestly I don't think it will. I already make almost every single thing from scratch. I only buy 4 boxes of cereal a month and those are for emergencies like if I get sick or we have to leave extremely early in the morning. I make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all seven of us everyday. My family doesn't do meatless meals unless it's pizza. I'm not ready to fight that battle with the rest of them just yet.

I'm going to work on a monthly meal plan for all of our meals today. I'm also writing down a very specific grocery list and including prices so I know how much wiggle room I have. I'm also going to be checking out some different stores to compare prices. I have found at a local organic store unbleached organic local flour for under $.80lb and 100% grass fed beef for $3.89lb I placed an order for a 50lb bag of flour and will be picking up some meat when I pick up my flour.

Have you noticed your grocery bill creeping up when you only eat at home?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do seem to go through things alot quicker too. Meat goes quick like you said. I just stocked up on chicken but when a package needs to feed 6 people it doesn't stretch too far. Atleast if I'm cooking at home I know what's going into it compared to eating out and I think it's a good influence on the kids to see home cooked meals instead of eating out often.

Frugal Sara said...

Yes, I have noticed our grocery budget going up as well. Mainly because I am trying to make healthier choices for my family. We also want to buy some grass feed beef and that will take a huge chunk of money. That is pretty good you found organic flour for $.80. I just bought some for $1.30 lb.

But in comparison eating out for 6 people would REALLY be expensive and this way we know what we are putting into our families bodies and we can feel good about that.

You are such an inspiration Autumn, you are doing so awesome with the no eating out goal!

The Prudent Homemaker said...

Eating out isn't in our budget, so I don't see any difference for us.

Thoughtyour grocery budget will need to go up to make up the difference for the meals you eat at home now, it will still bless than what you spent eating out!