I work in a grocery store in a small town. When I moved here with my family I noticed that because we are a tourist area prices were higher than most other shops in the bigger cities, having moved from a large city I had a bunch of stores to compare prices too. As well as being a frugal shopper I felt prices here were just too high.
Over 12 months later I am now employed at the grocery store I once believed was over priced, not the case anymore.
Prices are insane for healthy food items such as iceberg lettuce and celery ($3.49) for either one, Avacado ($2.49) each, but hey you can pick up a bag of chips for .99 cents or a box of Joe Louis for $1.50. Milk just went up in price 40-60 cents per 4 liter bag, a 1 litre carton went up 10 cents - so 1 litre of whole milk is $2.49 - I can purchase 1 litre of cola for $1.19 - something about this screams wrong to me.
How are parents supposed to stay within a budget and feed their families a well balanced diet when it's becoming more and more difficult to purchase healthy items for their families?
As a family of 5 our average grocery bill excluding cleaning supplies and toiletries and baby items (diapers and wipes) is approximately $250.00 every 2 weeks. We do not buy much in the way of ready to prepare foods such as boxed potatoes, rice mixes, frozen dinners etc, 85% of our purchases are items that we use to prepare home cooked meals from scratch.
Forget about baking, making a batch of cookies or muffins is far more expensive than buying ready made packaged items. I've priced it out - it's scary.
We have decided as a family to plant a small vegetable garden this summer and see if we can keep our produce costs down by growing our own food. On the list so far are zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, peas/beans, herbs of all sorts and we are trying to come up with more ideas so we don't necessarily have to purchase them on a regular basis. In growing our own I am hoping we can take even a small amount off of our grocery bills each month July - September, that's only 3 months but every little bit helps when you are trying to stick to a budget.
What do you grow at your house? Do you have any hints or tips for us? This will be our first foray into the gardening world and we don't want anything too difficult to grow or cultivate.
Wish us luck - and let us know what grocery prices are like where you live! How do you and your family save money in the grocery store ?
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