Our grocery bill has always been on the hefty side.  We are fairly picky about our food.

For example, years ago, while on a “saving” kick, I bought a package of frozen chicken breasts for Chris.  It did not go over well.

Plus, since learning more about food and the treatment of farmed animals, I’ve gotten a lot more picky about what I buy (if I can be).  Chris gets organic, free range chicken breasts.  Harlow’s milk comes from a company that claims to treat its cows like family (I know that sounds hokey, but I looked up the company and read a lot and believe that they are the best option).

We also buy a lot of “prepared” food, such as Morningstar products.

Adding all of this to an already hefty grocery total has sent things spiraling out of control.  Our weekly bill is around $200.  For two people and a baby.  I find this totally unacceptable.

So!  Where does this leave me?  With the September Grocery Budget Challenge!

My Goal for September is to cut our bill down to $120 a month.  I know that sounds like a huge amount to cut out, but I plan to do this a few ways…

• Buy the majority of fruits/veggies at the farmers market instead of the grocery store.  Buying things in season instead of on a whim will help, I think.  Plus, for some reason, I am less worried about buying organic if it is super local… maybe this is bad reasoning, but… there ya go.
• Soup and Veggie Burgers.  They cost so little to make, but sooo much to purchase.  $5 for 4 veggie burgers & $3-$4 for a can of soup.  I can make a huge vat of soup for maybe $10, and a dozen veggie burgers for almost nothing.  Time will be my biggest worry for this goal, however.
• Not buy toiletries/baby products/cleaning supplies on the grocery budget.  For a while, at least, I need to buy things separately to know how much I’m actually spending on FOOD.
• Keep a spreadsheet of purchases.  I’m not sure what this will accomplish, I just feel it will help… something.
• Stop buying some “baby specific” foods.  I’m a marketer’s dream.  A tiny can of organic veggie soup with Elmo pasta in it for $3?  Yes, please!  Ummm… no.
• Impulse buys.  I’m terrible with this, too.  I need to make a list, and stick to the list.

Well, we’ll see how this goes, and I’ll be checking in weekly with my purchases, so stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned… an update on my Hydration Goals.  Since my last update, I have pretty much cut out both ginger ale AND coffee/creamer!  The crazy thing is… in the 1-2 weeks since I stopped, I’ve dropped almost 5lbs, and my skin has cleared up a little!  And that is the ONLY change I have made!  I still eat the way I’ve always eaten, my chocolate habit is as bad as ever (seriously, that will have to be a future goal) and I haven’t even figured out how to hop back on the exercise wagon!  It is sortof terrifying to think that all of that was from what I was drinking!  Voluntarily putting into my body!  Yikes!  I still have about 3 cups of coffee with creamer over the course of a weekend, and I’ll stop at Starbucks every other week or so, if I feel like it, and I do have a 6 pack of Canada Dry in the pantry for “someday” when we want it for our Family Dinner or something, but for now, I’m in disbelief that just what I was drinking was making that huge of a difference.  I’m still not doing great on the “drinking plain water” thing.  I’ve taken to drinking hot tea all day long, and water at night.  Hopefully tea counts towards hydration?