Written by Kristen @ Smithspirations, Contributing Writer

With it being January, you may very well be trying to cut out the processed foods in your diet and take a more whole foods approach to eating. I don’t think anyone denies that eating well is a great way to boost health, but often finances get in the way of making positive changes. Does eating real, whole, healthy foods have to break the bank?

I’m convinced that it doesn’t! 

Our family lives on a moderate income. My husband is a public school teacher, and while his salary is far from glamorous, it pays the bills. We have a little bit of supplemental income from a few sources, like my home business, but with our growing family of five children, we have to watch our budget in all areas.

By God’s grace, I’ve found various ways to keep our plates healthy while still keeping our budget in check.

This post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through these links come at no additional cost to you but can bless our family with a small commission. Thank you!

Buy In Bulk

Many foods are suitable for buying in bulk and then storing, drying, canning, or freezing for later.

Berries can be frozen, greens and herbs can be dehydrated, and tomatoes and other fruits can be canned. While the initial cost is a little intimidating, buying a quarter, half, or whole animal for freezer meat is much less expensive per pound, and you can also get more bones for making and freezing broth!

Now that we have a grain mill, I buy our grains for flour in large 25 or 50 pound bags and usually get them for 50 cents to a little over a dollar a pound, depending on the type.

Shop Your Backyard

Gardening can be intimidating, but as long as you approach it with some grace, it can be a wonderful way to cut back on your grocery bill! You’d also be surprised by how many backyard “weeds” are actually very nutritious foods! My children can often be found munching on purslane, sorrel, and chickweed from our yard when we are outside, and I sneak them into salads and cooking, too.

Eat What’s Local

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the latest super foods that have to be purchased from expensive specialty stores. But real food can also be really common food that is easy to find. Check local farmers’ markets during the growing seasons and focus on what is abundant and inexpensive. In the winter time, turn your attention to frugal foods like winter squash, carrots, and the humble potato.

Roll Up Your Sleeves

Packaged and convenience food is always more expensive. A bag of frozen french fries costs more than a bag of potatoes. Doing more of the prep work yourself is a fantastic way to save money even if it does require a little more effort. Enlist your children if they are old enough and share the labor while making fun memories together!

Shop Online

Sometimes one of the best ways to save money is to shop online. Foods that don’t spoil easily, like pastas, rice, and beans can be found online at great discounts! Amazon has a huge grocery selection. For example, I get my organic coffee from Amazon with Subscribe & Save. It ships for free, and I get a discount on the price. Win!

Vitacost is another site I like to check when I’m shopping for foods or household items. (If you’re a first-time customer, you can get $10 off with this link!)

Stretch Meat With Beans and Lentils

Meat is definitely one of the priciest items in our grocery budget, but I believe it is really important to our health! I often make meat stretch a little farther by adding cooked beans or lentils to ground beef and using a whole pound of dried beans with a 3 pound roast to make a bulk batch of taco filling.

Now it’s your turn! What are your best tips to help save money while eating real, healthy food?

The post Real Food on a Real Budget appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

Related posts:

Real Food on a Budget Jazz Up Your Summer BBQ Menu With Real Food Recipes 3 Simple Methods to Save Money and Stop Wasting Food

Written by Jenn @ A Simple Haven, Contributing Writer

Anyone else ringing in the New Year with some kind of detox?  After consuming more sugar and white flour in the past several weeks than I have during the rest of the year, my body is crying out for fruits and veggies.

Even if you’re not doing anything drastic, maybe you just want make better food choices in 2014–avoid processed stuff, replace some conventionally-grown produce with organic, eat more locally-grown stuff (good luck in January, right?), or just be mindful of how certain foods make you feel.

However, if you’ve started down the road to eating mostly “real food,” you’ve probably noticed it’s easy spend waaay more than usual on groceries.

The reality is quality food costs more than junk.  It’s a bummer, but it’s true.  And, in many ways, it makes sense.

Is that to say you’ll have to dole out hundreds more to eat well?  Not necessarily.

In my experience, it is possible to eat real food while sticking to a reasonable grocery budget. It just takes a little planning and strategy.

9 Tips for Eating Real Food on a Budget

1.) Meal plan. Just do it

Seriously, it’s the easiest way to mind your costs.  Make a list of favorite meals, write down the ingredients needed, and stick to that list at the store.

Though I’ve never tried it, I’ve heard Plan to Eat is great. You enter your favorite recipes and it produces your grocery lists.  Sounds simple and there’s a free 30-day trial.

2.) Be strategic

As you plan, be mindful of spreading out more expensive items over multiple meals.  For example, roast a whole chicken on Monday, then use it later that week (or month, if you freeze it) for chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, chicken soup, etc.

3.) While we’re talking chicken, buy whole chickens

It’s so much less expensive per pound than breasts and even if you’re not a dark meat fan, in soups, casseroles, and the like, you probably won’t notice it’s not white.

Not a meat eater? Great! Beans are cheap!

Seriously, though, a few hearty vegetarian meals in the rotation will help the budget loads.

4.) Buy in bulk

Whether it’s from a co-op, Costco, or the bulk isle at your local grocery, bulk almost always equals better prices.  Some co-ops I’m a fan of are Azure Standard and Frontier–and, if you’re in the Midwest, Country Life Natural Foods.

Buying a whole or portion of a cow is also super cost-effective.  Check out this site for options near you.

5.) Start a co-op

No Azure Standard drop-offs in your town?  You can start one if you can get enough families ordering.

No room for 25 pounds of almond flour? Find some friends or neighbors to split.

No raw cheddar cheese available locally?  You can found a cheese club that buys in bulk from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania.  Not that I’m in a cheese club or anything…

6.) Price it out

As in, figure out the price per ounce.  Tedious, perhaps, but the only way to know if you’re getting the best deal.

If, like me, you’re not math-minded, it can be hard to tell if that gigantic box of whatever at Costco really is cheaper than a single item at your grocery store. And while co-ops generally offer great prices, they don’t always offer the best price.

Plus, if you price it out and make an awesome spreadsheet of your findings, you’ll end up unintentionally memorizing fun facts like coconut oil is 29 cents per ounce at Costco.

7.)  Start a garden

Unhelpful in January, but awesome come July.  There is nothing like heading to the backyard and coming back with a gigantic dinner salad.

8.) Learn from others

Real foodie folks in your neck of the woods (who are budget-conscious) will often know of local deals or might be willing to split bulk items with you. I’ve also found nutritionally like-minded friends and blogs super helpful in sourcing real-food recipes and budget tips.

Other favorite resources are Plan it, Don’t Panic and Real Food on a Real Budget.

9.) Give yourself a break, prioritize, and be realistic

If you’re on a budget, you simply can’t do it all.  So relax, decide what’s most important, and don’t worry about the rest.

Maybe you can cut back in other areas to increase your food spending a little.  Maybe you don’t eat every single thing local or organic.

Maybe you prioritize quality meats and dairy and do what you can with produce.

What are your best tips for eating real food on a budget?  I’d love to hear.

Especially since I’m apparently only eating quality meat and produce in January. 

Top Photo by

The post Real Food on a Budget appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

Related posts:

Real Food on a Real Budget Create Your Own Health Arsenal: Build A Strong Immune System & Treat Symptoms Naturally Organized Meal Planning Made Simple

Written by Jenn, Contributing Writer

Several months ago, I came across a few blog posts and videos explaining how to set up a household notebook.  While hardly revolutionary, I had never heard of such a thing. Thank you, interwebs.

Since then, I have adopted my own version and don’t know how I’d function without it.  Nearly every piece of paper I regularly need or receive can be contained in my cute little binder from Target.

It helps me live more intentionally, be more organized, and collect less clutter.

I also like that:

• Important receipts don’t get lost.

• Meal plans and ideas are easily found.

• Grocery lists and related food documents (co-op info, etc.) are all in one place.

• I stay on budget better.

• I’m more focused and intentional in my house projects.

• Random kids’ papers have a home.

• My random papers have a home.

It did take some time to set up, but the initial investment was totally worth it.  I refer to it daily, even if it’s just to see what’s for dinner or to drop in a receipt.

Occasionally, I’ll clean out anything that’s dated or needs to be stored elsewhere (kids’ coloring pages pile up after a while).  But generally, my notebook is not something that adds to my workload; rather, it makes my life way easier.

Everyone will likely have different preferences about categories and format.  Here’s what has worked for me so far:

My Household Notebook

Materials:

• 1 Three-ring binder (mine is from Target), cute factor preferred

• Avery Pocket Tab Dividers (These are my absolute favorite).

• Several plastic sheet protectors for important documents

Categories:

Home :: This section contains spring cleaning lists, house project ideas, Christmas and birthday ideas, pet information, and any documents or loose items related to current house projects (swatches, etc.).

I use this section the most on Sunday evenings when I check the house project list to see what I might work on during the week.  I’m usually in the midst of at least a couple of projects and the master list helps me prioritize.

Budget :: This holds my monthly budget spreadsheet (see above), where I attempt to document what I’ve spend each week for groceries and miscellaneous items.  We use a cash envelope system for one area of our budget (where we have the least self-control) but use a credit card for the rest.

Basically, I keep my receipts in the pocket of the tab divider and, about once a week, enter the amounts I’ve spent in the different categories on the printed spreadsheet.  Having this information readily available helps keep me on budget.

Yes, using cash for everything would save me this step.  But we don’t keep a balance on our credit cards and cash doesn’t earn you airline miles .

I also make a short list of anticipated expenses for the month—irregular things like family pics, garden supplies, an upcoming road trip, etc. I don’t (and couldn’t) account for everything ahead of time, but the list helps me prioritize and be more intentional in my spending.

Meals :: This section holds my monthly meal calendar. I only plan for dinners, about two weeks at a time.  I refer to my List Plan It seasonal lists of meals when I’m meal planning—I got mine with Stephanie Langford’s Plan it Don’t Panic eBook (highly recommend) but you could also get them here.

Grocery :: This holds any document related to food or food co-ops I’m in—my crazy cost-comparing spreadsheets, Dirty Dozen list, grocery checklist (another List Plan It favorite), etc.

Kids :: This contains the babysitting info sheet for sitters, kids’ favorite works of art, letters from Grammie, medical papers, and any other kid-related bits.

Personal ::  I admit, I labeled this section “Wifey.” That’s me.

This is dedicated to anything of personal interest that is unrelated to blogging or home decor (I have other binders for those).

Right now, it holds batik bookmarks from our friends in Malaysia, a pamphlet on a local nature preserve, Simple Mom’s reflection questions for New Year’s Eve, a muscle testing info sheet, and some favorite articles on parenting and prayer.  And this fantastic list from Ann Voskamp.

In case you were interested.

So, there it is.  Again, nothing revolutionary, but a great help to me in this season of life.

Do you use a household notebook?  If so, how does it work?

The post What’s So Great About a Household Notebook appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

Related posts:

Organized Meal Planning Made Simple Real Food on a Budget Saving Money in Your Budget by Using More Cloth & Less Paper

Written by Kristen, Contributing Writer

I don’t know of a single family, and especially those with young children, that isn’t looking to save money in one way or another. Sticking with a family budget isn’t always easy, especially with a growing crew of little ones! One area that is continually a challenge is the grocery bill. We have to eat, and we want to eat well for the sake of our health, but the cost of a whole foods diet can sometimes hurt.

Rather than cutting out important healthy foods, have you ever thought about cutting out some of the disposable paper products you buy on your trips to the grocery store to make your budget more manageable? It can save you a surprising amount of money without really creating a lot of extra work! Let me share some ideas.

Switching from Paper to Cloth

This section contains an affiliate link. Purchasing through the link comes at no additional cost to you and may give the author a small commission. Thanks!

Most of us, when we hear about switching to cloth, will inevitably think of diapers, especially if we have a little one in them! But there are so many other places in our home where cloth can easily be used and washed instead of something else that is used and then thrown away. For instance, have you ever thought about using:

• Cloth napkins? We switched to cloth napkins a couple of years ago after it finally dawned on me that it was silly to continually throw paper ones away. We just bought inexpensive ones from a big box store and usually throw them in with the laundry at the end of the day. You can also use washcloths as cloth napkins, turn inexpensive flat sheets into beautiful stenciled napkins, and make cloth napkins a meaningful family tradition.
• Cloth cleaning rags? Paper towels quickly add up, especially when you use them to clean in the kitchen and bathroom. I’ve found that cotton rags and cleaning cloths work just as well as any paper towel! Old cotton t-shirts, hole-y or mismatched cotton socks, and worn out cloth diapers make great cleaning cloths, and they are free!
• Cloth diapers and baby wipes? For years I was totally intimidated by the idea of cloth diapering until a friend told me how much it had changed since my mom’s generation and how many user-friendly options there are today. Now I can’t believe it took me so long to give up disposables! Cloth diapers and cloth wipes are so simple to use and so economical. It’s estimated that a family can save $2,000 or more per diapered child just by using cloth! Check out Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert (affiliate link) if you are still on the fence. It’s a super resource!
• Cloth “tissues”? I always remember my dad and grandfathers carrying around a “hankie” (usually a folded up red or blue bandana) in their back pockets to use as a tissue during the day. While we still mainly stick with boxes of paper tissues in our house, I’ve definitely seen cloth alternatives at work!
• Cloth feminine pads? This is another option that I haven’t tried myself yet, but plan to after our baby is born. Disposable pads are often made with all sorts of bleaching chemicals, and I don’t like to think of those next to my most delicate skin. Cloth pads save money in the end and avoid the toxins, too. Read what Paula of Whole Intentions has to say about the benefits of cloth pads.
• Family cloth? Here’s one that simply won’t happen in most households, and truly, that’s okay! Family cloth is a polite way of describing the cloth alternative to toilet paper. Our family hasn’t gone that route, and I doubt we ever will, but my blogging friend Anjanette wrote a very convincing case for it!

How Much Will You Save?

The exact amount saved from your budget will obviously depend on lots of factors. How extensively you use your paper products, how large your family is, and general lifestyle habits will all play into the savings. For our family, we’ve saved a tremendous amount of money by not buying disposable diapers for the last four years. With another baby on the way (our third in cloth), the savings continue to add! I can’t remember the last time I bought paper towels, and the only time we buy paper napkins or plates is when we are hosting a birthday party or recovering from a new baby addition. The savings have been very real to us!

But that’s not all. Our small town recently updated how they handle trash pick-up, and my husband and I discovered that we can pay by the bag. Since we use so little disposable products and practice composting and recycling extensively, we were able to drop our trash bill from $20-$25 per month down to about $3-5 per month!

But Is the Extra Work Worth It?

That’s a legitimate question. Frugality can be taken to such an extreme that the blessings of convenience are ignored. For our family, we’ve found that using cloth in place of most disposable paper products adds an additional two to three loads of laundry a week, with most of that being diapers. Cloth napkins and cleaning rags don’t even make up a load themselves! Our children are in charge of folding most of the laundry, and these cloth items are usually the job of our four-year-old. Preschoolers can easily handle folding cloth napkins and diapers, and our daughter usually gets a great deal of satisfaction from completing this job by herself.

Of course there are times when it makes sense to just use some disposable items: parties, welcoming a new baby, periods of family sickness, or times of over-commitment. But for the most part, I’ve found cloth alternatives to many paper products to be a fantastic way for our family to save money without working too hard!

Do you use some of these cloth alternatives to paper products in your family? How has is worked for you? Or is the thought of less paper and more laundry totally overwhelming? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

The post Saving Money in Your Budget by Using More Cloth & Less Paper appeared first on Day2Day Joys.

Related posts:

What Makes Us Toxic? {part 1} 3 Simple Methods to Save Money and Stop Wasting Food A Healthy Approach to Hair Care {with a Natural Conditioner and Detangler Recipe}