Fun Friday Shopping Totals: See how I feed my family of six (including 3 teens) for around $125/week. See our $125 Budget Weekly Menu here.
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As a result of my recent posts on nutrition, I decided to do a little experimenting this week. On the way to a dentist appointment, I noticed a Whole Foods store, so I stopped in to check out the prices. Some of the prices were not as bad as I expected, so I ended up doing some shopping.
WHOLE FOODS ––Spent $86.60.
Highlights:
organic cherry tomatoes $3/pint ($1.50 more than I pay for non-organic)
4 loaves of Ezekiel 7 Grain Sprouted Bread $3.99 each (reg. $5.99)
Udi’s Gluten Free Pizza $6.99 (unavailable at our regular stores)
365 Organic Sliced Cheese $6.99 (more than double what I pay for regular sliced cheese)
Applewood Farms Organic Lunchmeat $6.49 a pack with coupon (double the price of Hormel Naturals which I usually buy)
Organic Milk $5.99 (same price as Walmart organic milk)
Organic Block Cheese $10.85 (about 3 times what I normally pay for block cheese)
Organic Yogurt 16 oz. container $3.59 (same price at Publix)
Organic Yogurt 6 oz. containers $.66 each with coupon (same price as Publix)
Organic Potatoes $1.69/lb (I pay $.30/lb for regular potatoes)
Celestial Seasonings Tea Bags $2.50 (sale–about the same as Walmart)
PRODUCE MARKET–Spent $4.56.
I found organic onions for $1.75. All other produce is non-organic.
PUBLIX–Spent $54.65.
I was able to find grass fed ground beef on sale for $5.99/lb which is $4 cheaper per pound than Whole Foods, but three times what I pay normally for ground beef.
WALMART–Spent $4.44. (no photo: 4 lb bag of navel oranges $2.98, 1 lb brown sugar $1.46)
Weekly Total: $153.25
Monthly Total: $399.84
Our budget is $125/week for six people, so my overage this week puts me over for the month by $24.85 so far. The good news is that the bread will last us two weeks and part of the ground beef will go in the freezer for later.
I made the most of my shopping at Whole Foods by purchasing items that were on sale and using the available Whole Foods coupons, but the overall bill was pretty hefty. I was able to do it this week because we have lots of food in the fridge and freezer from previous weeks. I may make a trip once a month to purchase the Ezekiel bread since our local stores don’t carry it, but I won’t be shopping there on a regular basis.
Need to lower your grocery bill? Read more about how I stick to a $125 a week budget in my Save More-Clip Less e-book.
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Click here to see previous week’s shopping trips.
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I know this might sound a little unorthodox, but my husband and I have made special provisions in our budget to spend more on food because we are strong believers in organic, clean eating. It does cost more, but I strongly believe that it’s worth it. I have done a lot of research on the topic, and we have both made the decision that we would rather spend a little bit more on groceries and make sacrifices elsewhere so that we can live healthy lives. I used to get whatever was cheapest all the time without much thought to the content. But after the first two weeks of eating clean, our bodies felt incredible and we could not believe how much more energy we had, and even how much of a better mood we were in. I know that cancer is a touchy subject, but I truly believe that a lot of cancers come because of the hormones in our food. So we made the decision to pay a little more for our food and make health a much larger priority. Alright, I’ll get off of my little soap box! Sorry that was so long 🙂
I agree with you Bethany (and I don’t mind you getting on a soap box)–it IS worth it to spend more money on better food. It’s just not a possibility for some people (and for others it is not a priority).
We are trying to move toward healthier eating within the budget constraints we have, but I may raise the budget as more money comes available. For our family it is not a case of being unable to spend more on groceries because we have cable, eat out on a regular basis or have a car payment. We don’t have any of those things, but our income is lower as well (it’s increasing though!). 🙂
So true! I know you are doing your best for your family, Kimberlee! You have such great recipe ideas and its definitely clear to me that you guys eat very healthily, even without the added bonus of clean eating 🙂 it’s definitely a lot more than many families could say and the most important thing is to bring up healthy children with healthy mindsets 🙂
Thanks so much for your encouragement Bethany. 🙂
I like WF, but don’t shop there normally. I do buy certain special things there though. I would like to try the Ezekiel bread too. Sounds wonderful!
The cinnamon raisin toast is delish with some peanut butter and a few banana slices. 🙂
Publix has Ezekiel bread in the frozen section and also puts it on sale sometimes. Just FYI.
I haven’t seen it at my store, but I may ask them to order it for me.
we call whole foods whole paycheck 🙂
Haha! I was going to say something about that in my post, but didn’t. 🙂
Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets? It is a food co-op, they have great produce for a low price. You can also get organic produce too. If they don’t have one in your area they website tells how you can start one in your area, and earn free produce for doing so. We love them! http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ Here is a video that shows what a typical basket contains and explains the program in more detail. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm5vDHViX-4&feature=youtu.be.
Thanks Sheri!