Eat Healthy on a Budget (Our Grocery Haul)
I have been blessed with an incredibly wonderful husband. Why is he so wonderful? Well, just look at this picture:
That’s right, it’s a picture of groceries! Groceries my husband purchased at a huge discount at our local discount grocery store! This picture represents most of his recent discount grocery haul (this wasn’t all of it—I couldn’t fit the produce in the picture!).
What He Bought
There are quite a few carbs in these photos—we use a lot of them for snacks and lunches for our children. We figure if there must be carbs, at least let them be organic!
Everyone loves these Barbara’s Cheese Puffs (made with non-GMO corn). He got a quantity discount for getting a whole case.
He also found quite a few gluten-free items that had been discounted:
Our kids actually like seaweed crisps!
These boxes of organic whole wheat shells and cheese are great for kid lunches:
And here is the produce! A head of cabbage, sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash (delicious in this Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole recipe!), apples, peppers, and lettuce:
He also picked up a bag of straws, some wound closures, and some Zarbee’s Naturals Cough and Throat Relief. We often find things at the discount grocery store to stock our natural medicine cabinet.
And, some special treats! We save these for our Friday Cleaning Day treats (after all the cleaning and chores are done) or other special occasions. 🙂
Related Post: The Chore System That Works for Our Family (video)
Total Cost: $88.79
Groceries are expensive, and this recent grocery run really helped replenish our pantry. I would list out everything we got, but I can’t find the receipt right now!
How We Eat Healthy on a Budget
I realize that pre-packaged foods may not be on some people’s “healthy” list, but it’s the best we can do right now. I try to make as much from scratch as I can (including bone broth made from free-range chickens that we get from the Amish), but right now we’re not able to make everything from scratch. So, we do the best we can. Here are some of the ways we’ve found healthier food on a very limited budget.
1. Shop Discount Grocery Stores
We regularly shop at our local discount grocery store, and we also visit other stores in our area. Some are better than others. One of our favorite stores is run by the Amish and also sells raw honey and bulk food items.
2. Shop at Aldi
We really love shopping at Aldi! Unfortunately, the closest one is about 45 minutes away from us. We make sure to go there as often as possible.
3. Find Local Food Sources
In our rural area, we’ve been able to find cheaper prices on things like naturally raised beef and chicken. Most of our meat still comes from the grocery store, though, due to our tight budget.
4. Buy In Season Produce
This is a common tip, but we do try to focus on whatever produce happens to be in season, which makes it cheaper and fresher.
5. Grow Your Own
We just had a very small garden this year, but we were able to grow our own lettuce, radishes, potatoes, cucumbers, and a few other things. We also got apples from the apple trees in our front yard!
6. Stock Up When You Find a Sale
If you find a good deal on meat, cheese, or butter (for a few examples), stock up and store the extras in the freezer!
How do you save money on groceries? I’d love to hear your tips!
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That is really great. I have a small budget as well. I don’t know what I’d do without Aldi. The one closest to us is 40 min away so I try to go once a month and stock up. We have have a small store a town over we get good meat. I enjoy reading your blog.
Thank you, Michelle! We do the same thing at Aldi, stocking up whenever we go. Hope you have a great weekend! 🙂
It is good that the discount stores are stocking more and more healthy food. It certainly makes wise shopping easier and more economical. And praise God for husbands who are willing to shop (mine does, too)!
Thanks for linking up on Mondays @ Soul Survival. Blessings!
I agree, I’m so thankful when they have some decent food at our discount store. And so thankful for a husband who likes to shop!
Joy,
Is this great haul from Big Lots or Ollies?
He did a great job!
No, our nearest Big Lots is an hour and a half away. This is just from a local discount grocery store here in our little rural town. They get some great stuff! We do love Big Lots though, and we try to go there whenever we’re in the city (I’ve never heard of Ollies). I’m glad he enjoys looking for deals! 🙂
Goodness, I thought I lived in a rural town! Our town has 1500 residents and only one grocery store, but I can be at Big Lots, Aldi and even Trader Joes in about half an hour.
Haha! 🙂 We have about 3,500 residents, but we’re far away from any cities. The closest one is an hour and a half away. We only have one grocery store (and no Walmart), but we do have the one nice discount grocery store.
This is a wonderful haul! Thanks for sharing.
I am redoing our grocery ways we have been spending more than we ought to. To be fair though, we have four children with diagnosed food allergens so….it is hard to save money when you don’t know what everyone can eat. But normally, I save money the way you wrote about.
Thanks, Chrissy! I always love seeing what he comes home with. 🙂
I’ve been working on our grocery budget, too, trying to save even more. Oh, food allergies can complicate things so much! We’ve dealt with that at various times (with my husband’s health issues). It does make it harder to keep food costs down.
Your husband is really a wizard with the grocery store! Anyway ,what a diversity compared with Italian food!!
Greetings,
Franca
Yes, I’m thankful that it’s something he likes to do! He kind of views it as a game—to see how much he can get for as little money as possible. I’m sure there is quite a diversity in our food versus Italian food! Italian food has always been one of my favorite flavors! ♥