how we save money on food.

We were married for twenty years before we actually used a budget.  It's kind of hard to believe when I think about it now, but I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones out there.

So when we grocery shopped, we just spent money.  I don't have any idea how much.  But for a time we had food assistance, and I honestly can't remember how much it was per month.  Suffice it to say that we were pleasantly shocked how much it was.  That's the first time I was really aware how much we spent on a regular basis on food.  We had WIC, too, which provided things like lots and lots of milk, cheese, whole grain cereals, peanut butter and 100% fruit juice.

Been making a lot of tortillas lately.

When Matt took the job out here in Arizona, we no longer had food assistance and had just taken our first Financial Peace University class.  So we had an idea of the need for a budget and some sort of parameters on our spending, now that we had cut up the credit cards and committed to doing it all with cash.

Our faraway home on Lake Superior.

For the past five years, we have had two homes.  There's the one we live in and call home in Arizona, and the one back in Michigan that I think will always hold a very special place in our heart (I've lived more years in that house than in any other in my life!).  We inherited it from my in-laws and hope to keep it in the family for generations to come.  Anyway, because of our family's choice to keep two homes, our budget is highly committed to the corresponding property taxes/insurance/upkeep that come with having two homes.  

(I think a lot of people's budget and spending decisions boil down to that word.  Choices.  I'm not saying they're necessarily bad or good ones, just that everybody has the things that they deem important enough to spend money on them.)

I pickled a peck of peppers.

So.  Back to the food thing.  Once we budgeted in our tithe, mortgage payment, utilities, various insurances, gasoline, household things like toiletries & cleaning supplies, etc. we came up with a food budget of $175 every two weeks.  I'm pretty sure that's a lot lower than what we used to spend when we weren't keeping track of it, and I know it's less than when we had food assistance.  But we make it work.  And here's how, just off the top of my head.

• We generally don't buy processed, individually-portioned things.  I make a lot of things from scratch.  It takes longer and you have to think ahead a bit more, but in addition to being cheaper, it's also better for us.
• I figure out which stores have the best prices on the things we buy a lot of.  We buy our dried beans and other staples from bulk bins, and we've learned over time which stores in our area have the best prices on the items we buy regularly.
• We price-match at Wal-Mart.  We look at the sale flyers from the other stores in town and get our usual Wal-Mart stuff, as well as the sale items from the other stores.  We just came home with a pile of awesomely-priced produce last night.  (This is probably just mean of me to mention it, but we've gotten five avocados for 99 cents quite a bit lately.  Yum.)
• We use a *lot* of produce.  Here in Arizona, we are blessed with inexpensive fresh veggies & fruit, from California, Mexico, South America and from right here in good old AZ.  We've discovered programs like Market on the Move, where you donate $10 and get about 60 lbs. of produce. And we watch the deals in the grocery stores, too (see above).
• We hardly ever buy meat.  Have you ever noticed how pricey meat is?  We didn't stop buying it because of that, but for health reasons.  But both Matt & I have noticed what a very big help it is to the budget.  There are thousands of recipes online these days to help if you don't know what to make without meat.  No need for a dull diet if you don't eat meat. :)
• We don't eat out much.  When we do, it's usually the dollar menu at a fast food place.  (Not the healthiest option, either, so we don't do it a lot.)  Also, sometimes on a date, Matt & I will go out and share a meal.  It's amazing how full we get when we share.

Some of the bounty we got last night by price-matching at Wal-Mart.

I think the main thing is learning the good deals in your community and taking advantage of them.  I'm pretty sure we have more options, being close to a large city.  But I also believe each community has its own money-saving secrets.  It's kind of a hobby of ours to find the little secrets here and tell other people about them.