Budget // Groceries // Setting a Budget

We have been all over the place when it comes to deciding on a budget for groceries. Part of this fluctuation in budget amount is due to life events and jobs. When we dropped from two incomes to one we had to reevaluate. When we moved cross country and used up a chunk of our savings we once again had to reevaluate. When we decided to move before our lease was up we once again had to reevaluate (yes I see a trend of less than wonderful decisions but we are happy and doing well so that’s what matters). Now we have a second baby on the way and a big trip coming up so it’s time to once again take a look at our budget and with that how much of it we are spending on food.

In general I am not fond of divulging the actual numbers of our budget because really it’s not the business of anyone else however I make an exception for groceries. I think that sharing the actual numbers of a grocery budget can really be helpful for others especially when you are looking to save money and still eat well. Up until now we have been spending anywhere from $550-800 per month on groceries. You may be wondering why there is such a huge gap and I’ll tell you that gap is in large part due to the desire to make more complicated meals, heading to the market to pick up one or two things that “we just have to have right now” and buying more luxury items (prepackaged items, vegan faux meats, bagels and tofutti every weekend).

After really taking a hard look at what we are buying each month (we started this in January) we have come to see that we are buying items that are necessities, are a little more expensive than we need to and that we need to make some smarter decisions when it comes to shopping in general. As I wrote in my last post we are looking at buying a few more conventional items and we are also spending the next month or so trying out some new to us grocery stores in our area. We have also decided to stick to a strict grocery budget. While it is going to be a challenge at first I know after the first few weeks we will find our groove and it will start to become more natural.

Our Current Grocery Budget & How We Came To It

So as I said above we have been spending $550-800 per month on groceries and I’ll be honest up until January it was definitely closer to the $800 per month side of things. We just can’t be spending that type of money right now. We have a baby (including some birth costs) and a trip to save up for so we really need to make cuts. So our current budget is $460. I know a huge difference from the $800, although for the past two months we have been more at $550-580 so not as big of a drop from that.

How did we decide on this? Well basically we decided meals should be on average $5 (or less) and with seven days in a week and three meals per day plus snacks.

($5 per meal x 7 days x 3 meals) + $10 for snacks = $115/week

Our grocery budget does not include alcohol, coffee or other household items (paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, toothpaste, ect) those all come from different budget categories. A meal for the most part serves 4-6 people so some days we have enough for leftovers for all of us and most days we just have enough leftovers for Neil to take to lunch. Also $5 is just an average; some meals cost us $10 and others will cost $2-3.

How are we going to make this work? That I tell you is the test of the month. We haven’t been on this low of a budget since it was just the  two of us but now we have a toddler who can eat just as much as we can and as this pregnancy progresses so does my appetite. In the end I really think we can make it work. Some of the steps we are taking to be successful include:

  • Checking out the weekly flyers for the stores in our area.
  • Taking advantage of coupons including Chinook Book coupons.
  • Taking advantage of our monthly 10% we get for being members at our co-op.
  • Menu planning and making a grocery list.
  • Being flexible with our shopping ie. being prepared to swap out items on our list for less expensive items.
  • Buying items in bulk to eat all week when it’s more economical. For example: buying a 3lb bag of organic apples for the week at $1.50/lb rather than buying a wide variety of fruit at $2-3/lb
  • Eating less diverse meals throughout the week. This one is a bit of a follow up to the step above but by choosing to use the same ingredients in different ways throughout the week I really think we can save some money.
  • Create simple meals most nights of the week. This could mean a variation on beans, greens and grains a few nights during the week. The thing is simple and cheap doesn’t have to mean unappetizing and unhealthy. This also doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun meal or two during the week either. Plan a night where you make a really awesome homemade pizza or a special themed meal but make the other nights of your week more simple so you can afford these fun nights.
  • Buy less convince foods and novelty items.
  • Make more from scratch when possible and when it makes sense. There is no doubt that homemade bread, chia pudding, bbq sauce, soups, spaghetti sauce, and so many other items can be made so much cheaper and healthfully at home rather than buying prepared.
  • Only go to the grocery store once per week. The more we travel to the store the more we pick up and the more we spend. One trip to pick up everything on the list and that is it. We eat what we have and wait until the next shopping day comes around before buying more. This will hopefully prevent over spending and the wasting of food.

So this is how we are going to do it. Now the true test will be how successful we are in the end. Things to note while we are planning to stay in our $115/week budget this is an average for the week as we are prepared to spend more some weeks when staple items are needed and less other weeks when we are not in need of staples. I am planning to share our weekly grocery haul and will share our current weeks in the next day or two along with details about or first shopping trip to a new store.

Do you have a set grocery budget? How do you stick to your budget?

Budget // Groceries // Conventional v. Organic

One of our family goals for the new year is to get ourselves on a solid budget. We have tried budgeting for years but half way through the month we seem to fall off our budget and then wonder where did all that money go? Now that we have second baby on the way and a pretty big (currently the location is a secret) trip coming up we are feeling a lot of pressure from ourselves to really stick to a budget. Over on Naturally Family we are discussing our budgeting process in more detail but I thought that I would share how we grocery budget here.

Throwback Photo: May 2013 Shopping at PSU Farmers Market

Throwback Photo: May 2013 Shopping at PSU Farmers Market

Grocery budgeting has really become a trial and error process for us. One of the big things for us is that we are still getting to know our new home and trying to find the best grocery stores. Up until now we have tended to only shop at Whole Foods, New Seasons (local store similar to Whole Foods), Trader Joe’s and a local co-op.  We shop at farmer’s markets in the spring, summer and fall as well.

The problem with shopping primarily at Whole Foods and New Seasons is that they can be expensive at times. Trader Joe’s while often less expensive is really hit or miss for me when it comes to produce and I know I’m not the only one who gets distracted by all the flashy items that they have for sale and end up walking out with more than I had planned. Our local co-op is nice however limited in the items they carry. That all being said we have yet to venture to the more conventional grocery stores or discount grocery stores, but over the next month or so that is going to change as we check out our other options and compare prices and quality of produce.ProduceRow

Currently 90% of what we buy is organic and while I prefer organic it’s not always the most budget friendly so we are choosing to make compromises when it comes to buying organic versus conventional produce. We are planning to avoid any produce that lands on the Dirty Dozen Plus list as these items contain the highest level of pesticides. We are comfortable with buying off the Clean Fifteen and as for anything else that kind of falls in the grey area/doesn’t make the list we will buy organic when possible.

Dirty Dozen Plus* 

(I say plus here because depending on what source you find the items can vary so anything that lands on a dirty dozen list is on our organics list)

1. Apples
2. Berries (Strawberries, raspberries, marion berries, blueberries)
3. Grapes
4. Celery
5. Peaches
6. Tomatoes
7. Cucumber
8. Nectarines
9. Bell Peppers and hot peppers
10. Greens (Kale, Collard, Chard, Spinach, Lettuce)
11. Summer Squash
12. Cherries
13. Potatoes
14. Fresh Sweet Peas

Clean Fifteen*

1. Asparagus
2. Avocado
3. Cabbage
4. Melon
5. Sweet Corn
6. Eggplant
7. Grapefruit
8. Kiwi
9. Mango
10. Mushrooms
11. Onions
12. Papaya
13. Pineapple
14. Frozen Sweet Peas
15. Sweet Potatoes

*Source

Luckily some of the items that are staples in our house (avocado, mushrooms, and onions) are on the Clean Fifteen list so we can start saving a bit by purchasing conventional. Now the next step in this process is a bit scary to me but we need to branch out and really evaluate our options. That next step is visiting some new grocery stores to really see what they have to offer. I decided to check reviews of stores online (taken with a grain of salt) to see which ones tend to get rated the best in hopes of setting us up for success. Then it’s time to see how prices and produce really stack up. Our first adventure will be this weekend and fingers crossed it will go well.

Where do you do most of your grocery shopping? Do you shop around or do you stick to the same store? Do you buy organic or conventional or both?

I realize now that the topic of Grocery Budgeting needs to be broken up into multiple parts because there is just so much to write about. Rather than write a lengthy post that you won’t read all of (and thank you to those of you who have read this far) I am going to continue our budgeting discussion another day.

[Update] Goal 1: Organized Home.

It’s half way through February and I’m working hard on accomplishing all of my 2014 goals. The first of those goals has been to organize our home. The reality for us is that things have been less than organized and with a toddler once you’re behind it seems like you can never catch up. This month I have been determined to change all that.

I have been working away and while I need to do a quick bedroom pick up that room is 95% completed. I also organized the hall closets, pantry and most of the bathroom. Yesterday was my big organizing day with the main living/dining area. I spent most of the day with Edith’s help cleaning and organizing so that everything has a place and we are not living in chaos of toys, books and other random items.

IMG_0954*I apologize for the terrible iphone photo.

So on our to do list still:

  • Kitchen. This seems to be one of those never ending projects when you are a stay at home parent and the fact we eat 90% of our meals at home. I have organized the cupboards for the most part and the pantry but we still need to figure out a new and more efficient dishes plan.
  • Bathroom. This is one of those places that starts out clean and then the laundry builds up and up and up. Right now I have two loads to put away and about 4 loads to clean. This room was actually cleaned and organized and then we didn’t keep up the maintenance and also ended up with a cloth diaper disaster (more to come on Naturally Family) and a necessary cushion cover cleaning which through off our normal laundry. I also still need to organize the cupboards in there and clean them out because I am sure I have a stash of makeup from 2000 hidden away.
  • Office. This is still our biggest project yet. The office room is downstairs and our main living area is upstairs so it has become the spot where unwanted/used items go to die. We are working on getting the area cleaned up and organized but honestly I think we have to get upstairs done first and the focus down there. I did do a bunch of organizing down there this past weekend but it wouldn’t seem that way- blargh how do we have so much stuff???
  • Storage. We have a storage area that we really need to go through and organize as well. We have boxes of items out there that really should be gone through but since it is semi organized right now it’s the last priority.
  • Car. We need to figure out some organizational plan for the car because it’s either a mess or clean as can be and that can change overnight.

Tips so far:

  • Don’t try to do it all at once. I have always been someone who wants to do everything all at once. If I want our house organized I try to do it all in one day and then I end up two hours in and I’ve worn myself out. So now I try to do things in chunks so that I don’t overwhelm myself and more gets done.
  • Work on one room at a time. This is one of the best tips I have and what has really been working for me. I focus on one room at a time starting with the area that we spend the most time. Once that area is clean I am able to do quick 5 minute clean ups throughout the day and move on to focus on the next thing.
  • Collection boxes. When cleaning/organizing rooms have a few different boxes: one to hold items for donation and a few for different rooms in the house because if your house is anything like ours items from other rooms tend to find themselves where they don’t belong. You should also have a bag for trash, one for recycle and possibly one for items to shred (we get a lot of junk mail).  Once you are done in one room move the boxes to their destination rooms and toss the trash.
  • Five minute clean ups. I have started doing 5-minute cleanups throughout the day. We do a morning one, a before lunch, a before nap, a before dinner and then a before bedtime pick up. This helps to keep things clean and takes little to no time to do.
  • Put it away when you are done. Seriously I am terrible at this and if you ask my mom I always have been. It’s a habit I have been trying to break for years and now that I have a toddler and #2 on the way I am getting much more serious about this. Throughout the day I work with Edith to make sure she puts one toy away before starting to play with another. Since a big part of this process is leading by example it is forcing me to be more accountable for myself as well so I am also practicing what I preach and this has helped to keep things clean and organized.

While this goal is still in progress and honestly I don’t think it ever really is done I am happy with how much we (Neil plays a major part in this too) have done up to right now. We both would like to see this place organized by the end of March and if we stay on track it will be!

Please share your own cleaning and organizing tips in the comments below! I would love to hear what works for you!

2014 Goals

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Goal 1: Organized Home. This past year we have been living in a bit of chaos. When we first moved out to Oregon we found an apartment near Neil’s new job but we quickly found that it was not the right area for us so we never really settled into our apartment. Finally in September we found a new home in an area we love however do to some mover issues it took us nearly a month to completely move in and once we finally did Neil got hit with a huge project that left him working 70-80 hours per week through Christmas. Needless to say unpacking got thrown on the back burner and while we have been able to set up our main living areas (for the most part) our downstairs office room is a disaster, we have no photos hung and we still have closets with boxes in them. That all being said this is the year that we organize our home, settle in and keep up with everything.

Goal 2: Fitness. How could I plan my 2014 goals and not include something fitness related? Well the end of 2012 was not great in the fitness department. Between Neil’s insane work schedule, out of town guests and oh yeah morning sickness my workouts were pretty nonexistent all of December. Here we are in the new year and well I am officially a January joiner. We joined our local community center gym which has a pool and classes as well. While it’s not the most exciting gym it’s $53/month of Neil and I to go and Edith is free to use the pool. So we are getting into a new routine of 2 pool days/week with Edith and I am planning 2-3 gym days. When I can’t make it to the gym I have a number of prenatal workout videos at home that I have from Edith’s pregnancy and some new ones that I am excited to finally start using.

Goal 3: Be More Present. These days I seem to have so much on my mind and often don’t feel like I am staying present. My goal is to spend focused time on the things in the moment and make sure to carve out focused time for the things I love. This means spending my days with Edith being focused on her while also taking time through out the day to focus on our home and keeping it tidy. It also means carving out time each week for me to blog and do any freelance work that I want to do. It also means making sure that each month Neil and I have a date night and since October we have been going strong with this and have had our date night already this month and we have one scheduled for next month already.

Goal 4: Take More Photos. I go through phases of taking lots of photos and then taking very few. I take photos throughout the week with my iPhone but when I say my goal is to take more photos I mean photos with a real camera. I think it’s important to document our lives in photos so that we can look back at things and I also would like to improve my skills and to do so I need to spend more time taking photos. Now I’m not talking hours and hours I simply mean 5-7 days per week taking at least a few quality photos.

Goal 5: Less Screen Time. Since I have been in my first trimester I have been watching too much TV and spending too much time on my iPhone. This year I would like to spend more of my evenings doing something more productive than catching up on TV shows every night. Now I’m not saying no TV just less TV such as one show per night but not until I have done something productive and Saturday nights are fair game to watch a few shows or a movie. Also part of less screen time is spending less time throughout the day checking my twitter, IG, Facebook and e-mail on my phone. Being a SAHM I find myself reaching for my phone all too often because well it’s there and it’s my outlet to the outside world some days. This year however I want to pick my phone up less during the day. I am actually thinking of just leaving it in our bedroom and checking in on it every 90 minutes just to see if I have missed phone call or text.

What are your goals for 2014?

100 Things Before 100

I have been meaning to do this for years and I finally sat down and did it. Here is my list of 100 things I want to do before you turn 100. Otherwise known as a “bucket list”.

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1. Buy an Airstream or something similar.
2. Travel to all 50 states.
3. Take a romantic trip with my husband for our 25 wedding anniversary.
4. Run a half-marathon.
5. Run a race in 10 different states.
6. Practice yoga on a beach.
7. Take Edith on an overnight hike.
8. Go on a two night backpacking trip.
9. Go snowboarding at Mount Hood.
10. Become a postpartum doula.
11. Complete my baby wearing educator certification.
12. Become a birth doula.
13. Become a child birth educator.
14. Practice yoga everyday for one year.
15. Run 1,000 miles in a year.
16. Write a cookbook.
17. Travel to Spain (again) and show Neil all of the places I love.
18. Buy a house.
19. Visit the Portland Art Museum.
20. Go on one date per month with Neil for an entire year.
21. Watch all of the Godfather Movies.
22. Visit Disneyland.
23. Learn French.
24. Visit Ireland.
25. Run a 10k.
26. Write a book (not a cookbook).
27. Move to Montreal.
28. Ride in a hot-air balloon.
29. Pay off my student loan debt.
30. Skydive.
31. Visit all seven continents.
32. Dine at Candle 79.
33. Become a midwife.
34. Become a placenta encapsulation specialist
35. Run a mile in less than 8 minutes.
36. Run a sub 27 min 5k.
37. Run the Disney Princess Half Marathon.
38. Run the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.
39. Do the Goofy Challenge.
40. Become a yoga instructor.
41. Go for a hike in the Grand Canyon.
42. Visit the Red Wood Forest.
43. Have six months of living expenses saved.
44. Run Hood To Coast.
45. Run a Ragnar Relay.
46. Run the Vermont relay 100 on 100.
47. Float in the Dead Sea.
48. Put a piece of bubble gum on the Gum Wall in Seattle.
49. Try hot yoga.
50. Attend Wanderlust Tahoe.
51. Make homemade ice cream.
52. Become a good photographer.
53. Visit Germany.
54. Attend a Portland Timbers Game.
55. Go to a World Series Game (when the Yankees are playing).
56. Attend SXSW.
57. See Chuck Ragan live.
58. Visit Vancouver, BC.
59. Spend a child free weekend at The Essex.
60. Have a second child.
61. Travel to Wawa, Ontario (and visit Emma & Derek if they still live there).
62. Vacation on Lake Superior.
63. Tailgate.
64. Play a round of golf.
65. Become fluent in Spanish.
66. Adopt a dog.
67. Reach my “happy weight”.
68. Gamble in Vegas.
69. Visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
70. Become a NASM certified personal trainer.
71. Visit a Trappist brewery in Europe.
72. Go to a resort in Bali.
73. Write for a magazine.
74. Byline in a healthy living magazine.
75. Byline in a parenting magazine.
76. Try Barre3.
77. Complete the entire Long Trail.
78. Visit all Canadian Provinces.
79. Go for a run in Central Park.
80. Brew my own beer.
81. Have a professional massage once per month for an entire year.
82. Take a cake decorating class.
83. Speak at a conference.
84. Go Wine tasting in Oregon.
85. See Eberts ‘102 Movies You Must See’
86. Watch all Best Picture nominees prior to the Oscars.
87. Host a huge Oscar party.
88. Make a vegan creme brulee
89. Eat every meal at home for a month.
90. Audition for The Amazing Race.
91. Visit Crater Lake.
92. Spend the weekend at the beach in Newport, Or.
93. Take a photo next to the Goonies House.
94. Spend the night in a Yurt.
95. Go fruit picking along the Hood River County Fruit Loop.
96. Hike to the top of Multnomah Falls.
97. Go camping at Acadia National Park.
98. Make pickled green beans.
99. Knit a pair of slippers.
100. Kiss the Blarney Stone.

What’s on your bucket list?

P.S. this was harder than I thought it was going to be!

October Challenge Insta Meals

We are 10 Days into our October Meal Challenge and we are going pretty strong. We have been eating at home more often, although we have been out a few times due to a friend in town and laziness but overall have been doing really well. We have had two coffees out but have been making ours at home which is a huge money saver. We have also been making our own treats as well such as banana ice cream. So far we are about 2/5 through our budget which is pretty good since what we have will last us until at least the 12th and we don’t have any big plans besides a date night for the remainder of the month.

Here are a few of the things we have been eating (sorry for the Insta photos but I can seem to find my camera in the mess of this new house):
Screen Shot 2013-10-10 at 8.12.37 AM

Vegan Poblano Mac and Cheese with Sauteed Spinach

        • Whole Raw Cashews 2.50
        • 2 poblano peppers 1.00
        • vegan shredded cheese 0.45
        • organic black beans 1.19
        • pasta 1.29
        • onion 0.50
        • nutritional yeast 0.50
        • Olive oil 0.50
        • lemon juice 0.25
        • spices 0.25
        • Sauteed Spinach Spinach 1.89
        • Garlic 0.10
        • Olive oil 0.25

Total $10.67; Portions 8; Price Per Portion $1.33 –> This was eaten for dinner, lunch and snacksScreen Shot 2013-10-10 at 8.11.30 AM

PB Banana Chip Ice Cream

  • 3 frozen bananas $1.50
  • 1 tablespoon PB $0.25
  • 1 tablespoon chocolate chips $0.25
  • Water $Free

Total $2; Portion one large portion for one hungry toddler and one hungry adult

Screen Shot 2013-10-10 at 8.11.20 AM

Homemade Pour Over Coffee: honestly we could save even more coffee by buying less expensive coffee but what can I say Neil is a real coffee snob (okay so am I). A nice bag of single origin coffee from our favorite local coffee shop goes for $16-18. Basically that’s 8 pots of pour over coffee (total 20-24oz of coffee divided by 2). So a Mug of coffee in our house goes for about $1 per person which is still about $3 less per person than it would be if we bought a 12oz pour over out.

We do plan on saving a little bit more on coffee because Neil is (finally) getting back to roasting his own beans. Oh the joy of having a husband who likes to be self sustainable! That means we will be cutting our coffee spending in half and to be honest since we already have the green beans to roast it’s basically free this month since we won’t have to take out of this months budget! Our goal is to have Neil roast for the remainder of the month (although I see at least one more bag of roasted coffee in our future). – Side note would anyone be interested in learning how to roast their own coffee?

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Creamy White Bean Hummus Pesto

Full disclaimer on this one I am now an ambassador for Eat Well Enjoy Life Hummus so I received the hummus for free. As you can see on my Instagram I have been gobbling it up with the help of my little mini-me.

  • 2/3 cup white bean hummus – Free (thank you EWEJ!)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth $0.50
  • 6 portions of gluten free pasta $2.60
  • Frozen Asparagus spears $2.10 (got on sale for 1/2 off!)
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn $0.25
  • salt and pepper to taste

Total: $5.45; Portions: 6; Cost Per Portion $0.90

As you can see we have been doing pretty well! We have been eating out of our pantry as much as we can and sticking to more of the basics such as rice, beans and greens. We have only had one night were things went a little awry with our budget due to Neil being sick and desiring some ginger ale, toast, ginger chews and coconut water.

How are you doing so far with your budget?

August Goals

Happy August! We had a rough start to the month with a baby who didn’t want to sleep at all last night. Between screaming, nursing all night and being kicked in the face when E wasn’t nursing I am exhausted but up early so I figured I’d work on my goals. This month is all about workouts, clean eats and organization. It’s also about having fun and relaxing when I can because it is my birth month so I need to have fun right?

King Family Vineyard Wine Lindsay (1 of 1)

So I don’t really have any goals to review from last month. I honestly don’t think I accomplished any and I really don’t remember making any. So we can move right on to August because I know this is going to be a good month.

August Goals:

  1. Run-A-Mile: I brought back my monthly healthy challenges because after two months off I realized that I really need the challenges to keep me motivated. This month I challenging myself and you to run one mile everyday in August. I am off to get the BOB tire fixed so I can be successful!
  2. Write (at least) 5 New Recipes: I have been off my game when it comes to recipe writing but I am ready to get back in the kitchen and get down to business! I have so many ideas from recipes for expecting and new moms, recipes on the cheap and fun, healthy recipes for athletes (or wanna-be athletes). If you have any special request please let me know!
  3. Strength Train 3x/week: One of the things I have not been doing fitness-wise is strength training and I can tell. I used to do strength four days per week and I really noticed how much stronger and fit I felt and looked. I am ready to get back there and finally get rid of this remaining baby weight!
  4. Practice Yoga 1/week: I love yoga but I haven’t been making any time for it and that needs to change. Before and while I was pregnant with Edith I did yoga at a studio at least once per week and at home a few days as well. Now I haven’t practiced yoga in about three months so it’s time to get back at it! I even bought myself a Living Social to a studio in our to-be-new neighborhood.
  5. Organize Our Things: We are moving again. I know we just moved seven months ago but Neil took a full time position (he was on contract when we moved out here) at new job on the other side of town so we are moving closer to his work. That being said I am ready to get things all organized so we can have a smooth move come late September/early October.

I have about five other things I could put on this list but in an effort to accomplish all my goals I am going to stick with these five. A lot of them are fitness related because I have really fallen out of my routine and I need to kick my butt back into gear. I also want to bring back recipes on the blog because I miss writing them and I hope you miss seeing them. Like I said so many ideas that I have been stock piling over the last few months and now it is time to get down to work!

What are your goals for August?