My family began the switch to real food about a year ago. When we were first starting out I didn't research many options and just bought food at Whole Foods and Kroger or the Farmer's Market. It was almost half way through the summer when I heard of produce auctions. My parents and I went and we came home with a ton of veggies for very little money. I haven't bought onions or peppers since August. I would much rather grow all our veggies but my garden didn't do very well and the produce auction was much much cheaper than our farmer's market.
I also bought many veggies from Amish roadside stands to help round out what I needed to can. The produce might not have been certified organic but I was happy to be supporting local families.
My next step was finding raw milk. We are blessed to have several sources and the milk is only $5 a gallon for grass fed organic raw milk. This was a huge savings over buying $8 a gallon organic milk at the store!!
After finding cheaper veggies and milk I started purchasing items in bulk. My biggest mistake was not shopping around. I just bought what I thought was the cheapest and ended up spending more!! I just found the best place to buy organic bulk flour, sucanat, and various other items that will save me at least $50!!
Meat was our final stop. I have found 100% grass fed beef at our small local organic store for only $3.89lb which is a 50% savings over what I had been buying. I also have a friend who is selling me whole pasture raised chickens for $2lb which is $1lb cheaper than my previous price.
My goal is to feed my family of seven real local food for under $600.00 a month. It is a struggle right now because of lack of produce in our garden but I think will be totally doable once the garden is producing and local fruits are available again.
Do you have any tips on eating real food on a budget?
For more frugal ideas check out Life as Mom
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3 comments:
We buy a whole grass fed cow and split it with a few families. This saves a lot compared with buying it in a store. It also allows us to have better cuts. My husband loves his steaks!
I would love to buy raw milk. If you'd be willing to share your source, please email me @eeyore4356@yahoo.com. Raw milk is the only thing I've yet to come by.
I am wondering what part of Ohio you are located in. I too am from Ohio and we stopped drinking organic milk because it was costing us about $50 a week just for milk. I would love to know where you get your milk, chicken, etc from.
Email me also if you don't mind sharing with me @ jennyzepf4@gmail.com
Thanks so much.
I want to hit the produce auctions more next summer, thanks so much for giving me the info. It would be fun to meet you IRL there one time.
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