Cutting my monthly costs...

[LounorteTJ]

Hey guys, I've finally started keeping a budget the last three months and I've noticed that I spend about $450/month on groceries... then another 100 or so eating out.

I eat a paleo diet but its breaking my budget!

any advice?

[skydivingchic]

How many people are you feeding on that? I am in a high cost of living area and feed 2 people a mostly primal diet for $550/month. How strict are you? Paleo/primal diets are expensive, no way around it. Most of the advice you will get on these forums will be for stuff that isn't included in the diet (i.e. beans and rice, whole grains, etc). Ultimately, you will need to make a choice. Personally, we both look better, feel better, perform better, and have better health markers on this diet. We are choosing to keep with it even with the substantial increase in grocery bills we saw when we converted.

Here are a few things we do to save money where we can:
- Shop at Costco or equivalent. This is where the vast majority of our meat, produce, and dairy products come from. It is much cheaper than the regular grocery store.
- We don't worry about grass fed beef. That would add pretty substantially to the food bill. We figure that our diet is "good enough" at this point.
- Eggs, eggs, and more eggs. We go through a LOT of eggs. They are one of the cheapest protein sources around.
- Frozen veggies and fruit are often cheaper and just as nutritious as fresh.
- We haven't done it, but I've seen a lot of people recommend joining a local produce and/or meat cooperative to save money.

I'd also recommend hitting up a few paleo forums as this is a common question and others may have other ideas.

[Sian]

have you tried emeals? go to eMeals - Meal Planning Made Simple and you can choose a paleo menu. it not only gives you a grocery list but also recipes for dinner. you can basically choose your store or any store as the option. it then gives you a grocery list based on what is on sale then gives you a menue based on the items that you purchased.

this should cut your grocery bill in half.

other than that, you would basically do it yourself. purchase items on sale and make a menu from that. this company just does it for you.

[Blessed]

We follow a paleo diet and average 500 a month for 2 adult men, 1 adult female and a teen boy. However we don't do grass fed or free range and we do have a garden in the summer. I have 2 freezers and stock up on mean and veggie sales( and freeze our own) like crazy. 1/2 of us do eat beans on occasion. The biggie for us is stocking up on sales and making our menus based on what is on hand vs. what we may want.

[Jon Spiels]

Your food budget is really big if you are only feeding yourself. Try budget meals and see if it works for you and helps you lessen your food budget...

[thesimplemoneyblog]

Try watching for the weekly ads from grocery stores and check online for any electronic coupons. You might be leaving money on the table for items you already purchase. Tom Thumb in our area has a great "Just For U" program.

Other options are to create a weekly menu and stick to the items you need for the week, so you can minimize any waste from the meals you cook. You can also plan to make more portions, so you can have enough for leftovers and lunches, as that is often a lot cheaper than making new meals and eating out.

Some grocery stores are cheaper on produce while others are cheaper on meats, etc., so be mindful of grocery stores around you and which one(s) are best for different types of purchases.