This post is part of our 21 Days to a Better Budget Series! To view all the posts in our series, please click here.
It’s no secret that my family prefers clean eating, but how does this affect our all-cash grocery budget?
Two years ago, after I started following the blog 100 Days of Real Food (I highly recommend Lisa’s book of the same name for some amazing recipes and inspiration! ) I decided that I couldn’t willingly feed my family over half of what was in our pantry and fridge.
This all happened within days after my husband stayed up late watching the documentary Food Matters that we made the crazy (okay, crazy to this former coupon Queen and frugal living enthusiast) decision to throw away almost every piece of food in our home.
No joke. We really did that.
But I didn’t feel as horrible about it as I thought I would. I knew it would take some adjusting to and at the time, there was very little help in figuring out this whole clean eating thing. This was part of the reason behind my decision to start using Erin Chase’s FreezEasy Clean Eating freezer meal plans to help take some of the stress of figuring out what to cook for dinner off my plate.
How to Make Choosing “Cleaner” Food Options Easier
I’ll be honest, your grocery budget may at first take a hit when you switch to a more clean diet because you won’t be using nearly the same amount of coupons but with time, you can get your grocery budget back to normal (and maybe even lower than before!).
Shop Aldi
I’m a huge fan of Aldi and they make eating fresh produce and organic a lot easier on our family’s grocery budget. Aldi definitely has some quirks to it, which is why I think so many people are opposed to shopping there, but if you’re on a tight budget and want to make the switch to eating clean, I highly recommend you start at Aldi.
Apps
I use a few shopping apps that help us earn cash back on the produce we buy. My two favorites are Checkout 51 and Ibotta – Ibotta being my favorite. Also, if you have a Kroger or one of its affiliates near you, make sure you download their app as you can upload coupons to your Plus Card making it easier to shop there.
Stick to the Basics
We purchase mostly the same stuff every week – whole wheat tortillas, all-natural peanut butter, noodles (still working on convincing myself that whole wheat noodles taste better….), real butter, whole milk, frozen veggies and fruits, sour cream, and snacks for my boys like yogurt, cheese, grapes, and minimally processed “junk” food like graham crackers.
Sticking to items that I’ve already researched and label-read every week, helps me to be able to stick to our grocery budget and avoid going over.
Homemade
By far, the best investment that I have made for my kitchen to date is my bread machine . This bad boy cost me $70 but I use it almost every day. We no longer purchase store bought bread and instead make all our bread by hand.
These are a few of the recipes for the breads that we make:
Another thing that we now make homemade is sauces. We make our spaghetti/lasagna sauce from scratch (just peppers, ground beef, tomato sauce, tomatoes, dried herbs, and garlic), salsa from scratch, all those “cream of ________ soups” from scratch, and cheese sauce for our macaroni and cheese (the recipe is found here with our Homestyle Mac-n-Cheese post).
Prepare
One of the biggest struggles that you will more than likely face when you start eating clean is that the food isn’t really prepared for you. Like snacks – you want to snack on that block of cheese you bought with the apples but that requires you to cut up the apples and cut up the block of cheese.
It’s easier to just grab the junk food than to prepare the healthy option when you’re hungry. So, right after you get home from the grocery store, cut up the block of cheese in snack size portions, cut up strawberries and other fruits and veggies, throw the chicken in the slow cooker and then shred it so you can have shredded chicken ready to go for a salad or wrap for lunch.
Make it easier on yourself by preparing your snack options as soon as you get home. This will also make packing your kids’ lunches easier and helps them to reach for healthier snack options as well.
Do you ever buy the “bad” stuff?
Yes. We’re not perfect and there are definitely times when we purchase foods that we know for a fact are really bad for us. Sometimes I feel pretty guilty over it, but I keep reminding myself that by making the habit of purchasing better food options a priority, avoiding the processed junk is a whole lot easier.
This isn’t a fool-proof system but this is what has worked to keep our cash grocery budget low. Buy in season, freeze what you can (like fruits and veggies), make things from scratch, and prepare your food as soon as you get home from the store.
What is your tip for making clean eating easier on your grocery budget?
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Amy @ DebtGal says
We don’t eat 100% cleanly, but I try to keep most things as nutritious as possible. (My husband will NEVER eat whole wheat pasta, and while I can do it, I don’t really blame him.) As you mentioned, it all comes down to meal planning, using coupons and apps (I love SavingStar and Checkout 51), and stocking up when prices are at their lowest. And I totally agree that snacks are the trickiest. I still buy Goldfish for my daughter 🙂
Jessi Fearon says
Goldfish has its way of showing up in our pantry as well Amy! 😉
Sarah@TheOrthodoxMama says
I LOVE this post. We’re in the process of transitioning to clean eating now (after reading Lisa’s book) so I found myself nodding along to pretty much everything that you said. I would add that thinking outside the grocery store has really helped us maintain our budget. I shop each week at our local Farmer’s Market. I have the amount of cash in my wallet that I’m willing to spend and only use that amount. I get all of my eggs, fruits, and vegetables there. We also get a lot of produce from friends and family. Finally, last year we got 1/2 of a deer from a friend of ours. We had agreed that I would just pay for the processing ($25), but in the end I didn’t even have to do that. That was an entire freezer full of meat for free!
Jessi Fearon says
Heck yes Sarah! That’s awesome! And that’s a pretty fantastic processing fee by the way! 🙂
Lauren says
We are using eMeals (Budget Friendly version) too! If I should get the opportunity to be a SAHM, I would love to transition in this direction. I’ll be pinning this post for later!
Jonathan Key says
We love Aldi in our family! This is such a great post sharing it to the EagleSoaringHigher Facebook page.
Rebecca says
Hey Jessi,
Have you tried Spelt pasta? It’s a whole grain but tastes and cooks like regular.
I don’t like whole wheat pasta either but Spelt is doable 😀 Target sells it here.
Jessi Fearon says
No I haven’t but I’ll definitely put it on my grocery list! Thank you so much Rebecca! 🙂