For alternative grocery shoppers (Kijip!): teach me your methods!

[daisymommy]

For those of you who don't buy all your food in the typical grocery store, help me out here. I started thinking more about this after reading the "grocery bill increase" thread today.

I have bought certain things in non-conventional ways in the past, but I have never made it a long-term habit. For example, we bought a side of beef one year from a grass-fed farm. Vegetables from the farmers market. Had milk delivered for a short time. But it was all scattered--not an ongoing organized effort to stop shopping at the store. I really don't know that I could do it, since it's so ingrained in how I do things. But I'd like to consider it to save money.

So, I'm going to list the things I can think of in my fridge and pantry. Please tell me how YOU get these items if you don't typically store-shop. If you don't use/eat them, just let me know. Or maybe you make something from scratch and don't buy it (tell me that!) or perhaps you use an alternative.

Thanks!



Milk
Sour cream, cream cheese
Yogurt (make, I assume)
Butter
Eggs
Cheese (I buy mine shredded because my food processor stinks; I would love to buy blocks of it, and get a new f.p if someone could rec. a good one for shredding cheese).
Cheese sticks (I'm sure you'll say you cut up cubes off the blocks ;)).
Condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard, etc.)
Beef & Poultry
Fruit
Vegetables
Rice, beans, pasta, oats, grains
Peanut Butter, jelly
Spices
Oil, honey
Baking powder, soda, etc. for baking
Flour & sugar
Tomato products (sauce, paste, diced)
Bread (do you bake your own each week?)
Coffee
Paper products (such as toilet paper)
Cleaning products

Anything else I'm forgetting?
I won't bother listing anything that is painfully obvious to me like Goldfish crackers, Joe-Joes ;), frozen waffles for when I am feeling lazy in the morning, the occasional bottle of juice, etc. We all know I don't *need* them, but I would still go to the store and buy them.

[kijip]

WARNING LONG POST. A-YUP.

Milk- Milkman delivery. It is cheaper than organic at the store.

Sour cream, cream cheese- We don't get sour cream (I hate it and my husband likes it a little too much as does not want it around, lol) but we tend to get cream cheese from our regular food co-op or if we need a lot, we will just get it at Costco.

Yogurt (make, I assume)- I actually tend to buy this at the co-op or make it. We have a simple yogurt maker a friend gave to us.

Butter- In enormous sizes from a restaurant supply store or buy a ton when it hits super sale. There is usually 10 pounds of butter in our house at one time, it freezes fine and we never pay more than a few bucks for organic per pound.

Eggs- cluck cluck! We have chickens with a friend. In winter, we buy a organic valley eggs from the regular co-op, 4 dozen at a time but they last and last.

Cheese - Some from costco in bricks, some from Trader Joes (best fancy cheese prices) and some from the cheese shop near my work.

Cheese sticks - I get these from Costco sometimes and sometimes I buy organic valley ones from the local co-op, loose they are cheaper than the 6-packs they sell, so I will just buy them loose.

Condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard, etc.)- this sort of stuff we tend to have forever and so a few times a year, if that, it gets tossed in the costco cart. We get nice mustards from Cash and Carry for freaky cheap. My dad usually gives us a ton of mustards at Christmas. Go figure.

Beef & Poultry- Beef, we split a side of beef with other families from a farm on the Olympic Pennisula. They charge by the hanging weight and then add a fee for cutting and wrapping it. Occasionally we get some beef for something special from a butcher or from Whole Foods (usually they have a screamin deal on standing rib roasts around Christmas and our beef is usually gone by xMas. Chicken- I watch for sales and then go to town. I recently found a ton of whole organic birds for super mark down and I bought them all. Literally my cart was full. We don't eat meat every meal for sure.

Fruit - we eat what comes in our large CSA box and I buy things like bananas at the co-op. When in season, we hit the by the side of the road stands and the u-pick places and freeze and make jam. We get a few strawberries in the yard and I will buy berries here and there as the mood strikes. Tomatoes we try to grow and we make it well known we will take any freebies from my dad and friend's plants etc. Then we sauce and freeze. I will buy from stands when the price is very low.

Vegetables- we eat what comes in our large CSA box and occasionally supplement with organic frozen veggies from Grocery Outlet or Costco. Sometimes I need something for a recipe or some mushrooms, so we go to the store for that item.

Rice, beans, pasta, oats, grains- We buy in huge, mass quantity as needed. We eat a lot of beans and lentils. We tend to get the best deals from Cash and Carry. I usually buy 25 pounds of different types of rice at a time, several or more pounds of lentils in a few kinds and huge bags of dry beans. Cous cous and quinoa too. Pasta, I tend to just get the ww organic from Costco but if I see the ww kind we like on sale at the drug store (which I do every couple of months), I will stock up there. Every time I fill a prescription, I check quickly.

Peanut Butter, jelly- PB is a Costco buy for us usually unless I spot a deal at Grocery Outlet. Our favorite brand of jelly goes on sale every 2 months at the grocery store near our house, so we will buy it then. I also make freezer jam when berries are everywhere.

Spices- I order the bulk packs from my co-op. They add my request to their order for the store. I have seen the same packs available for purchase online. Sometimes we get some from Cash and Carry. If it is something we don't use a lot, I will just get a little from the co-op bins. For the big bulk stuff we can't use all of, we split with some friends. 1 spice we use and like is not easy to find so we have to make a special point to get it from a local mini-mart.

Oil, honey- oil from Costco or trader joes. Honey usually from random places. We don't use a lot so a few jars from our vacation or a farmer's market last a long time.

Baking powder, soda, etc. for baking - Cash and Carry or Costco. Vanilla always from Costco.

Flour & sugar- Usually from Cash and Carry and some from Costco, like organic sugar.

Tomato products (sauce, paste, diced)- I grew up making from scratch and tend to do that. I try to have pre-made sauce for emergency dinners and such. I keep some cases of organic canned tomatoes in our food storage but we don't eat a ton. If a recipe calls for it or I am out of frozen, I will dig out some cans.

Bread (do you bake your own each week?)- I bake little to nothing. My husband usually makes a couple of loaves of sandwich bread a week. He also makes bagels and the like. We get additional loaves from the bakery by my work when they have twitter freebies or I just want something for a particular purpose. Sometimes we like to buy Dave's Killer or Squirelly bread from Costco, helpful if J skips some baking because the weekend got too busy or it is finals week or whatever. We buy tortillas from a local place that makes them fresh. We buy flat bread, called injera from a local African minimart.

Coffee- We live in Seattle. We tend to get our coffee beans from any of the local places we are near when we recall we are running out. This is my husband's near hobby so I don't worry about it being a cost savings.

Paper products (such as toilet paper)- Some from Amazon, like diapers. We don't use very many paper towels and we don't use cloth napkins. Our TP story is complicated, and I won't share here so as to not sound insane.

Cleaning products - we get vinegar from Costco, we get a few other things when on sale from Target or if we just see a sale on something we use, like bon ami. Dish soap and laundry detergent we can usually find 7th generation at Big Lots. We get dishwasher tablets from Amazon.

Things I did not see above:

Fish- we stock up at the Fish fest and at the fish market when there are sales. My dad is a good fisherman so we benefit from that as well when in season. We usually have some salmon and trout in the freezer. If I need something special and don't want to go to the fish market, I go to the Asian market near my office and get something on the way home.
Pork- We buy bacon in big packages, the unsliced deli size and have the deli cut it and freeze and use slowly. We will get a pork loin or some pork chops periodically from the co-op or if we see a super markdown. When I see marked down sausages, I will buy them and freeze them.
Chocolate- We buy mostly at Trader Joes, sometimes chocolate chips from Costco.

And we get our Goldfish crackers, Clif Bars for the kids, popcorn and even some frozen waffles and juice boxes and Odwalla bottles from Costco. No shame. We eat what we eat. :jammin:

Overall, we don't get too much from our regular grocery store and usually only do one trip to the co-op and/or Trader Joes every few weeks or a month. We basically eat out of our pantry, freezer and the weekly deliveries. Every so often we stop at the regular grocery store and like I said, just check the closeouts. If we are there for few items (say mushrooms and jelly and ice cream, it is not uncommon to leave with packs of organic closeout meats or chicken.

We go to Costco every 1-2 months. Cash and Carry every few. Grocery Outlet when the mood strikes, maybe 5-6 times a year? We stop in Big Lots a couple times a year.

FWIW, our garage is a food storage bonanza.

So that is our WIP food shopping strategy.

[MamaMolly]

Bookmarking...and holy cow, thanks!

[daisymommy]

Oh.My.Gosh Katie! :bighand: :jammin: :bowdown: THANK-YOU!!! I am totally printing that out to keep on hand. If you ever feel the need to add more info, I'm up for reading it!

*How often do you get your co-op products? I'm wondering how often it's needed to be practical.

I hope this is not nosy--just ignore me if it is ;)
*Do you have any idea what you spend on groceries each month? Or is it too difficult because it's broken up into bulk things that get spread out over several months?
*How much do you pay for these items? I don't have anything to compare my methods with, and wonder how much I am overpaying, and how much I could save by shopping the way you do.

I go grocery shopping every 2 weeks for the big trip. But I find myself running back in 2 times each week because of something I forgot, we ran out of something, etc. Not only is it annoying and a huge time waster, I end up seeing something else I don't need and buying that too. Ugh. Any advice??

I need help learning to how menu plan based off of what I buy in bulk, rather than making a weeks menu and then shopping for ingredients. I know that's the backwards route for saving money, but it's all I've ever done. I need to change that. Advice ???

[boltfam]

Oh.My.Gosh Katie! :bighand: :jammin: :bowdown: THANK-YOU!!! I am totally printing that out to keep on hand. If you ever feel the need to add more info, I'm up for reading it!

*How often do you get your co-op products? I'm wondering how often it's needed to be practical.

I hope this is not nosy--just ignore me if it is ;)
*Do you have any idea what you spend on groceries each month? Or is it too difficult because it's broken up into bulk things that get spread out over several months?
*How much do you pay for these items? I don't have anything to compare my methods with, and wonder how much I am overpaying, and how much I could save by shopping the way you do.

I go grocery shopping every 2 weeks for the big trip. But I find myself running back in 2 times each week because of something I forgot, we ran out of something, etc. Not only is it annoying and a huge time waster, I end up seeing something else I don't need and buying that too. Ugh. Any advice??

I need help learning to how menu plan based off of what I buy in bulk, rather than making a weeks menu and then shopping for ingredients. I know that's the backwards route for saving money, but it's all I've ever done. I need to change that. Advice ???


I shop like kijip, too, mainly because I don't have a lot of options for inexpensive, organic food where I live. I get a lot of food at the health food store, because it is actually cheaper there than at the conventional grocery store, and I get a lot from Costco and Amazon S&S (especially coffee).

We did buy a 1/4 cow and 1/2 a pig this year, and for chicken, I shop at meat shops, which also has local, free-range eggs and local milk (not organic but no growth hormones and not homogenized).

We also go in with people from church for bulk grains, oats, spices, legumes, etc. How often we do this depends on when the family who organizes the delivery needs delivery. It usually works out to be every 6 weeks or so. I sometimes run out before then but it works pretty well.

For menu planning, I love the SOS! 6 o'clock Scramble (earth-friendly version) to plan a bulk of our meals. For example, when I buy the big pkg. of organic baby spinach at Costco, I will look through my cookbook for recipes with baby spinach to use that up and then disregard the ones that call for a lot of other ingredients I don't have and won't be able to buy that month.

We do take the cost of our meat and divide it up over the year, which leaves me with about $80 to spend per week. We take our bulk grain order out monthly (meaning when we order, not spread throughout the year), and I can usually get pretty close to meeting the $80/week. This includes diapers and vitamins, too. HTH!

[brittone2]

We were buying 1/4s and 1/2s of beef in NC, and a lot of other pastured products. We had a local co-op that bought from a lot of the same farmers that sold at our farmers market.

In my new home state, I don't have my fantastic co op to shop at anymore (boo!) but we have a wonderful local farm that sells pastured beef, pork, raw dairy, pastured chicken and eggs all at the same place. They have an actual small store on-farm, so shopping there is convenient. Some cuts are a little more than I'd pay elsewhere, but many cuts are less (for far better quality...truly pastured vs. organic). That's where we just stocked up on 50 lbs of grassfed ground beef for 3.50/lb. They do not do 1/4s or 1/2s of beef (I'm pursuing this currently through other leads) however, so I usually only buy *ground* beef from them (the other cuts are rather expensive). Chicken, bacon, etc. are a good price. I pay about the same for thighs and a little less for breasts than I do for organic at Costco, but these are pastured, not just organic.

Once my freezer is stocked, I try to cook from what I have as much as possible. This time of year I use some bulk frozen veggies (organic green beans from costco).

We don't do a lot of grains. If I did I'd buy in major bulk quantities. I have a few friends who use things like Azure Standard or United Buying Club. My kids use Ezekial bread. My local WFs has it way cheaper than any other store. They charge 2.79/loaf whereas every other store in my area it is 4-5 bucks. So when we go to WFs we buy 5-6 loaves and stick it in the freezer. That's where having a price book or an idea of prices really helps. When we find something that is significantly cheaper, like Katie we will buy a good bit of it (knowing we already like the product).

I buy some things in bulk from Frontier. They don't sell a lot of food but I get organic black tea and rooibos tea from them (way cheaper than bags). That's where we also buy our personal care products. I've been using their dehydrated organic bell pepper mix (rehydrate in water) to add to certain recipes because that is WAY cheaper for me than buying organic bell peppers (dirty dozen) this time of the year. I can get a big bag of them for something like $10 and it lasts me forever. I toss them into recipes where I need pepper flavor but not necessarily the texture of a typical bell pepper. I couldn't even *find* organic bell peppers the last time I was at WFs, and the conventional were still a little spendy because of the time of year.

We definitely save money when we bulk cook, which I need to do now that my freezer is stocked. I haven't gotten to do as much in the last year because of all of our moves, etc. but am going to get back to it asap.

That said, we still spend a pretty penny on food, but we do really well overall considering we don't do a lot of grains, we buy a lot of organic/pastured, we eat almost all meals at home and DH brings lunch to work.

we have made yogurt in the past, but I've been buying as of late. We can also buy raw yogurt locally. I also have not found a CSA to join yet. We have some in the area but I haven't committed yet. I miss our CSA in NC.

Oh cheese-my local Costco doesn't usually carry Tillamook but we bought a lot of it from Costco when we were in NC. Cheap per pound for sliced cheddar (hormone free from mostly pastured cows). Otherwise I look for good prices on organic or hormone free and usually shred in the food processor.

[mommy111]

Wow, holy cow!!!!
I was just wondering how much it cost per week or per month. I am at the point where I am struggling with whether to continue organic or to switch to conventional with our not very expansive budget. It woud really help to know how much to budget if we were to eat organic and save in this way. We are in a situation where I think, alas, that our savings and emergency budget that I had really strugged to build before we left for China has been depleted because of someone's dishonesty, another story that I wil not get into.

[Ceepa]

Katie ... wow. Bookmarking.

[kijip]

We spend around $7500 to $8000 a year but that includes the small non-food items we get at Costco, like flowers and pjs for the kids. It does not include non food cleaning items and diapers etc. Only if I am spending $30 or more on non-food items do I ask them to ring it separately and I don't split my receipts cause I am lazy. We have to go by the year because by the month it might be $250 (csa and dairy delivery plus a couple of items) or it might be $1000+ if we buy meat and bulk items and do a costco run in the same month.

We used to spend more like $9000 and we had only 1 child but we started more veggie and vegan dinners and that means the meat we do buy lasts longer. We also used to buy most of our fish at the store and the fish fest and markets are so much cheaper, as in $2 a pound for wild caught Alaskan Salmon at the fish fest. We eat fish a lot, a whole lot, so that change makes things way cheaper. We also switched to a different csa where we find we don't have to buy as many other veggies and fruits during the week. And I started looking at grocery outlet more often. if we were vegetarian or I was trimming splurges like crab and special roasts here and there plus the things like kids clif bars and snack foods for
the boys at Costco we could get it lower for sure.

Sometimes we will will go a year between spice purchases at the co-op. That part we have been doing for the longest. I grew up too poor to stomach paying $7 for a tiny jar of oregano. My parents were all about bulk spices. Other co-op stuff we pick up fairly often, like every few weeks to a month.

It is not the cheapest way to eat but I find that I save money vs. just shopping at the co-op and the store for mostly organic options and according to food surveys I save money over the traditional American shopper, considering I feed up to 5 people, 3 to 4 who eat like adults. I figure it I'd about $6-7 per day per adult mouth and a little less for kids. Plus we do eat out sometimes, so that is another part of our budget and meal plan. And we don't eat a ton of junky calories or prepackaged stuff. Health and time savings is my main goal.

[kijip]

For the need to run back to the store and then buying other unneeded items, my advice is to have a list and to only walk to that part of the store. Be very focused. It is not that we never go to the regular store, it is that we buy very little there. I only add something if it is a food item we eat and it is a screamin deal. I avoid the even the super deals that we don't eat now, after learning my lesson having several pounds of organic hamburger in my fridge for months and months. I thought oh, I will make some beef chili or some meatloaf. Apparently not. It was cheap but we don't eat it. I finally gave it away to my intern at work.

Also, when we meal plan on Sundays I make a shopping list of any stray items based on what I have on hand and what the csa is delivering Monday (i will mark the list by day if something is going to spoil and I don't need it till the end of the week.). As a result, we might make 1 such trip or 2 (sometimes none, but that is more common in the summer when produce is everywhere and cheap) but it is focused with a list of a couple of items and we will walk out having spent a few dollars on garlic and mushrooms.

[brittone2]

$2/lb for wild salmon is amazing. We definitely don't have access to anything that inexpensive. I wish, because we do a good bit of protein around here! My brother goes salmon fishing every year or so with friends but he mostly uses it to stock his own freezer ;) He's going through a divorce currently so maybe he'll start sharing his bounty since he's back to being single ;)

[kijip]

$2/lb for wild salmon is amazing. We definitely don't have access to anything that inexpensive. I wish, because we do a good bit of protein around here! My brother goes salmon fishing every year or so with friends but he mostly uses it to stock his own freezer ;) He's going through a divorce currently so maybe he'll start sharing his bounty since he's back to being single ;)

Gotta love the pnw, this is where the boats with all that wild caught salmon dock.

[brittone2]

Gotta love the pnw, this is where the boats with all that wild caught salmon dock.

Yes, that would be fantastic. We don't really have any *super* inexpensive clean protein sources at that price.

Lucky Seattle dweller!

[sandwish]

Hi Katie,

This is a wonderful thread that I hope to take advantage of. Thank you for your posts.

I am also in the Seattle area and have a ignorant question. What is a co-op exactly? Is that like PCC? Or something different.

Also where is the fish fest? I would love to know of some of the resources you mention. If you could PM me, if you have time, that would be awesome.

We currently go to the market way too many times a week and still don't have much food in the fridge.

[ThreeofUs]

WOW! I definitely am bookmarking and going to try to find the same types of deals. I spend a LOT more than you per year on food, and I really want to carve it down.

It's *really* hard around here b/c the only places to shop are WF and TJs. No co-ops or anything like that (any more, there used to be but they all went out of business). Certainly not like living on a Coast, where fish is fresh and organic a lot easier to find....

I wanna live in the PNW, too!

[daisymommy]

Katie, can I ask a few more questions? I printed out this thread and have been making notes all morning :)

Is your co-op a national one like Frontier or Azure Standard? I have access to a few, but I have no idea what to join or what is good. How often do you get deliveries? Weekly or monthly?

Yogurt--can you get anything organic through your co-op? Is it cheaper than in-store?

Butter--organic for a few dollars on sale?! Woa! Is this instore? a well-known brand or store brand? co-op? I'm paying $5 a pound--eek!

Do you shred your cheese by hand for recipes? If so, what do you use (box grater or food processor?)

What is a good price for organic valley cheese sticks, when you buy them loose?

Peanut Butter at Costco--I only bought this once, tried to stir the oil back in, which was very difficult, and it was totally dried up beneath the oil layer, almost gritty. Did I just get a bad batch? Any tips? Wondering if I should try it again, since the price is so good for organic and in large quantity (my 3 kids eat PB&J every day, so we go through alot!).

Jelly--what is your favorite instore brand? Wondering if it can be found here, and if I can catch it on sale. I went to Costco for my favorite big jar of organic strawberry jelly, and bought the last remaining jars. They won't be carrying it anymore :( and I'll need to find something to replace it.

I'm spending about the same amount you are (when I broke it down by week), buying nearly all organic, pastured meat & poultry, but I feel like I am driving myself crazy, schlepping all over town to various stores, dragging children with me, taking all my time just getting the food. I've got to do something differently just to save my sanity and time. And perhaps I can save some money doing it!

I feel like there was something else...I'll come back if I think of it. Thanks a bundle for helping me get this all figured out!

[chottumommy]

Love this thread. So many ideas.

I just wanted to chime in with a few of my methods. I have never paid more than $80/week for a family of 3 with buying all organic produce.

Milk - We don't drink a lot but get ours from a local farm. 1 gallon a week whole raw milk.

Butter - I get it from Azure Standard (once in 6 months) or from our coop when they have a member 10% off. I usually buy about 5-6 lbs at one shot and make ghee out of it. Ghee (clarified butter) does not have any protein remains and can be kept outside for any length of time. The longer it stays the better it tastes.

Yogurt - make my own at home. I usually buy milk which is about to expire from local coop (this is the homogenized, organic version). Usually they have it at about $1 a gallon and they have atleast a gallon every week at this price. Don't use a yogurt maker or anything but our yogurt is from an Indian culture and is not creamy. I also make paneer (cottage cheese) from this milk and stock it in the freezer. No cream cheese or sour cream.

Meat - We are veggies so no meat cost

Beans, Rice, Wheat, sugar, sea salt, lentils, oils - I only buy non GMO organic and in large quantities from our coop who orders it in 20lb for us at 25% off the normal coop prices. We eat tons of different kinds of beans some of which are available only from the Indian store.

Paper products - no paper in our house including toilet paper except for the guests. I have about 3 dozen stainless steel plates, cups and glasses that I use for entertaining, so I never buy paper plates/cutlery either.

Nut butters - Make my own at home fresh every couple of weeks with my Vitamix.

Jams/Jellies - usually buy it from a local farm. They make in bulk during the berry season.

Fruits - Usually during the season we do a u-pick from local farms around and usually have atleast 10-20 lbs of berries (blueberries, cherries, strawberry) in the freezer for the winter salads, cakes and such. We also pick a ton of apples during the harvest and that lasts well into December.

Herbs - I buy from Mountain Rose Herbs when crunchy cooperative does a coop on these and store for the year. This is all organic and at 40% off. During the summer I pick a lot of basil and make pesto and freeze.

Condiments - we don't use ketchup, mustard or any such condiments at home. Only exception is honey which I buy from Really Raw Honey coop at crunchy coop.

Cleaning products - only use sals suds, vinegar, baking soda and charlies and I usually buy in huge gallons whenever I see it at a good price.

Snacks - I make a lot at home usually in winter during the christmas break and in summer once. These store well and keep for a long time.

Creams/Soaps - I make my own lotion/whipped cream and buy soaps from our CSA person.

Flour - All from Bob's Red Mill, Azure and Indian store in bulk.

Our weekly expense is only milk, veggies and fruits which are from the our local coop/Meijer in winter and from CSA in summer.

[AnnieW625]

Milk-- I used to have a milk man, but we cut that out recently and I found I wasn't saving that much money because they were selling the same hormone free milk at Trader Joe's (I matched plant numbers on the cartons!). We have drive thru dairys (basically drive up convenience stores) and they have great prices on the same milk from the same local dairy. I buy my cheese in bulk at Costco (usually Tillamook brand). I would buy a new processor. We have the basic 7 cup Cuisinart and it works great. You will save money in no time!

Cream Cheese/Sour Cream-- Trader Joe's for the most part. We don't use that much of it that it doesn't make sense to buy in bulk.

Yogurt—I buy Trader Joe’s non fat store brand, but just found that the store brand from Fresh & Easy is the same (and .20 cheaper), and that the store brand Archer Farms from Target is good too. As long as you buy the low fat version it’s pretty good and has regular sugar. We will also buy Yoplait regular from time to time.

Cheese Sticks-- usually Trader Joe's or Lucerne Brand from Vons (Safeway et all); Costco here has a good price on a national brand (not Frigo, but the other one), but I don't like the taste as much as Frigo or the other two. Plus storing 60+ cheese sticks gets a little hard.

Condiments-- I buy Best Foods aka Hellmans mayo or Whole Foods mayo (if I happen to be there), Hunts or TJ's Ketchup as they are both HFCS free, and mustard I just buy store brand where ever I might be; organic if it’s on sale, if not just regular. Dijon mustard from Trader Joe’s.

Beef/Poultry-- ground beef is pretty much all we buy these days, and I get that in the bulk pack at Costco, or sometimes just the 1lb packages at Trader Joe’s. I don’t buy organic. We used to buy tri tips from Costco but I started not liking the quality, and DD1 doesn’t eat red meat unless it’s in a casserole so we don’t buy a lot at all, and we will just order a nice cut of meat when we go out to a nice steakhouse, or go to my grandma’s as she gets excellent meat from a butcher. Neither DH nor I miss it. For chicken we get Foster Farms and I buy that at Costco. Foster Farms was local to me growing up (2 hrs. away), and is now a little less local, but I don’t have issues with them and they don’t plump their chickens and it’s hormone free.

Fruit/Veggie—I just signed up for an organic veggie/fruit delivery service and the prices because it is all organic produce is very reasonable, $30 for a mix of both. I will get my first box next week. Since it doesn’t include every fruit item we need like bananas and or we will eat more than ½ lb of strawberries in a day I will still get those at the regular store. This is the one area that I need to be more vigilant about making sure we eat them all before they go bad.

Rice, beans, pasta, grains—Rice comes from Trader Joe’s. We aren’t big fresh bean eaters so when I have needed them I usually just buy the store brand, and we usually just end up using canned beans from Trader Joe’s or what ever organic line is on sale at the store. For Pasta I either get the whole wheat at Trader Joe’s or the Healthy Harvest or Barilla Plus brands at the store. I found a large box of 7 different boxes of Healthy Harvest pasta at Costco for $7, it was cheaper than the sale price at the store. For oatmeal I buy a big box of Quaker at Costco, it lasts us forever! For instant the only one I will eat now is Trader Joe’s frozen steal cut oatmeal.

Peanut Butter/Jelly—again Trader Joe’s crunchy or the two large jars of Kirkland Organic Creamy, and Kirkland Organic Strawberry Jelly.

Spices—Penzeys or Trader Joe’s. Spices last forever for us, and Penzeys spices stay fresh. We also buy a big thing of Lawrys, and the Montreal Steak seasoning at Costco. We have a Penzeys 20 minutes from us so I go about once a year (I need to go again).

Oil/Honey—usually wherever it is on sale, and I buy canola; and for the honey I can usually find some that is made locally at the normal grocery store.

Baking Powder, etc.—the regular store, sometimes Trader Joe’s, but they don’t carry all of the items all year around. They just started carrying baking powder, and they only keep yeast during the holidays. Another fan of Costco's Pure Vanilla; it's so cheap.

Flour/Sugar—usually Trader Joe’s, but I will buy it at the regular store or Target if I am there, and I need it.

Canned Tomatoes—Whatever organic brand Costco has on sale for sauce, diced, and paste. For making fresh salsa I use El Pato, or Herdes.

Bread— I love Alpine Valley Organic which is sold at our Costco. For tortillas I will buy at the store, but from a baker that is local to Southern California or I’ll buy organic tortillas from Trader Joe’s. For bagels it’s usually Trader Joe’s or Costco.

Coffee—Organic Wake Up Blend from Trader Joe’s.

Paper Products—either Northern, Charmin, or Kirkland Signature for TP. For paper towels we usually buy Kirkland Signature, or Brawny (I like the select a size). We also use paper napkins and I buy whatever is on sale. So either Costco or Target.

Cleaning—I like Clorox drop ins for the toilet tank (another great Costco find), Method shower spray, Method hand soap, 7th Generation bathroom cleaner, and 7th Generation all purpose cleaner. We use Mr. Clean floor cleaner for linoleum. For the dishes we use Cascade liquid, and Dawn. For clothes we have been using Gain, and Bio Kleen (just using this up as it was left over from the diapers). I really like the Gain. Also Costco has a giant size Spray N Wash for dirt cheap a lot.

We spend about $100 to $150 per week on groceries. Because most of our meat comes from Costco I don’t have to buy meat weekly, and if I do it’s usually just ground beef. We spend probably about $8000 a year on food. I should start tracking that though and see how true that estimate is.

[niccig]

I am so impressed by Katie's list - I need to get some more bulk shopping done.

I started a CSA box for fruit/vegetables through DS's school (it's also a fundraiser for the school), and I've found that I've cut back on what fruit/vegie I buy and we use it all up. I don't want any to go to waste. And we're being adventurous with the meals. Tonight is chickpea and kale stew - sounds yummy.

I need to get a better source for chicken/pork/fish. We don't eat a lot of red meat. I used to buy in bulk at Costco, but stopped. I need to either do that or find a farm to order a lot at once.

I get eggs/milk/dairy products at TJs and I don't buy in bulk as don't want to have to throw any out. I would love a delivery of this, but we're addicted to TJ's greek yoghurt...so good.

I need to find a source for bulk grains -we eat a lot of quinoa, steel cut oats etc.

The CSA box has been great for meal planning, so I think we use less food as less waste.

When I make pancakes or waffles on the weekends, I make more, and then freeze the leftovers. Today DS had oatmeal and blueberry pancakes for breakfast that I made 2 weekends ago.

I've also found that since I've gotten busier with going back to school, I don't have as much time to pop in and pick up a few things at TJs/grocery store- and inevitably I buy more than a few things. So, if I don't have something I need, I either substitute or make something else that I do have.

How do I find a co-op - there has to be one around me - SoCal here.
ETA. I searched and found out a group are trying to get a co-op going in my area. There is one, but it's over an hour+ because of traffic. I'll keep an eye on the co-op group and see if it gets off the ground etc.

[dddhokie]

I am curious and completely uniformed in this area...but how do you not purchase paper products, specifically toilet paper? I feel like I spend soooo much of my budget on toilet paper so I would love to be able to cut down on that expense!
TIA!

[chottumommy]

How do I find a co-op - there has to be one around me - SoCal here.
ETA. I searched and found out a group are trying to get a co-op going in my area. There is one, but it's over an hour+ because of traffic. I'll keep an eye on the co-op group and see if it gets off the ground etc.

Azure is a sort of a coop which does operate in SoCal. I'm sure your local LLL members should know of a local coop. And there might be yahoo groups in SoCal which run coops too.

[bostonsmama]

For 2 years we belonged to an organic co-op. We let it lapse for a variety of reasons that may or may not apply or bother you. 1) Driving costs (13 miles from home, 10 extra roundtrip miles from DH's work) & pick up time were inconvenient (pick up after 3pm, and DH gets off work many days at 1-2p, so he had to wait around). 2) We're still only 2 adults, so we either couldn't eat all they gave us, or the small subscription had stupidly small amts of items, like 3 carrots, 1 kohlrabi, 3 purple potatoes, but 7 hot peppers--none of which you could make into a recipe, so I spent more money trying to augment the ingredients. 3) Lengthy prepwork: the lettuce was SO sandy and filled with bugs and slugs--it always grossed me out and required TONS of water to get clean, and the corn (hard to grow organic, admittedly) was so bug-eaten it was more like a cobb than corn. 4) I'm a type-A planner, and I like to plan meals, buy ingredients to fit those meals (not the other way around). I disliked that if I was craving a certain food or wanted to try a new recipe (from Cooking Light), that if those veggies weren't in the delivery (and we didn't get to choose), it couldn't happen. 5) We travel a lot. The subscription offers neither a refund nor an extension of their growing season if you don't pick up for multiple weeks. We did have my mom pick up and keep stuff while we were away, but she thought a lot of it was weird/non-traditional, so most of it went to waste. Not a problem for most people who only get 2 wks vacay a year, but we can travel 2-3 weeks a month every couple months.

I know that our CSA experience is unique, and that major metro areas have much better luck.

I will say that it was the freshest-tasting, most vitamin-packed food I'd ever eaten. It's really hard to go back to supermarket crap. When the length of time from farm to table is mere days (or minutes, like when I pick it from my garden), you really don't need to do much to make it taste good.

We don't shop entirely organic, but we do where we can. We are peanut, dairy and soy-free right now, so that's a huge savings. I make a lot of vegan food and love it.

I get my almond butter from Costco--hands down cheapest. Stir deep!

I get my organic and HFCS-free jams from either Trader Joes or Marshalls/TJ Maxx (believe it or not). They have my fave organic, low-sugar preserves (apricot, blackberry--Grandma Hoerner's) for $3.99 or less. I also get specialty vinegars and oils (walnut, grapeseed) as well as some spices there (Ross included).

I buy organic or hormone-free meat when it goes on super sale at my local high-end grocery store. Stalk your meat man and ask when they mark stuff down. Mine bring out the 50% off and $2-3 off stickies after 3pm the day before exp date.

I shop loss leaders for fish and stick to wild and line-caught (there's a website for sustainability and mercurity toxicity).

We grow a ton of our own veggies organically--and we compost and make our own pesticide from hot peppers, garlic and dish soap. The biggest money savers are eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, jalepenos, and herbs.

I don't grow fruit (it's way hard in our climate)--I buy what I can organic and to heck w/ the rest.

I love the taste of meat that hasnt been frozen, so it would be hard for me to buy half a cow or something. We have friends who do, but they also have a sep freezer and 2 other fridges. When I buy ground beef (rare) or turkey, I like it 93% or leaner, and it's hard to get that from bulk meat shops/pkgs.

[ahisma]

We have a strict $150/week budget, which includes co-op orders and saving for our CSA membership. We buy mainly organic (90%+) and local as much as possible. I think we manage only because we eat mainly vegan (I'm vegan, boys are veggie, DH and DD eat a bit of meat when out and about).

For us, a HUGE saver is eating in season. We're not militant about it - we live in Michigan and eat bananas, you know? But, most of our produce is local and in season. That way, we can afford to do organic and fresh, because we can buy it from the farmer or from a local buying co-op that lets us order from multiple local food producers and pick it up once a month. Also, we try to put away a ton of food during the growing season. Right now we're eating tons of fruit because I went a bit crazy with the strawberries and blueberries this year. There are worse things, right? LOL!

Milk - Health food store (their organic is cheaper than Costco for some reason?)

Sour cream, cream cheese - monthly local co-op order

Yogurt - make it, or organic from grocery store

Butter - co-op for real, health food store for vegan

Cheese - co-op. We just use this to grate it: http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Good-Grips-Box-Grater/dp/B0007VO0CQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1299708435&sr=8-4

Cheese sticks (I'm sure you'll say you cut up cubes off the blocks ;)). - LOL. Yep! Actually my kids won't eat string cheese. I don't get it, I loved that stuff.

Condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard, etc.) - Health food store, or make / can it

Beef & Poultry - okay, this is honestly where we save ALL of our money. There are options through our co-op, but I'm sure it gets pricey

Fruit - We buy them through our CSA in the summer and freeze whole, in jams, etc. We order apples through the fall / winter from the co-op. We get a few boxes of clementines in the winter from the health food store. We buy bananas wherever.

Vegetables - 80% of our veggies are from our garden or our CSA. The rest are from the co-op, health food store, or grocery store. I just bought a pressure canner to can veggies instead of freezing them all. A chest freezer died this winter and we lost about 75 lbs. of tomatoes. :(

Rice, beans, pasta, oats, grains - Bulk bins at the health food store by my school. Most are available local AND organic for about grocery store prices. Love this! We store them in glass jars and glass canisters in the pantry. We switched to buying all of our beans dry when a friend told me about the no-soak bean cooking method. Totally blew my mind:) Pasta is from Trader Joe's.

Peanut Butter - Trader Joes, we go about 4x a year and stock up!

Jelly - we make jam a few times a year

Spices - Health food store, local spice shop. We grow a lot of these too, and just dry them. It is super easy to grow a year's supply or oregano, dill, thyme, basil, etc. We also grow basil for pesto. We make huge batches and freeze it in muffin tins or ice cube trays, then plop some in a pan to thaw for dinner. I love that I can have pesto pasta in about 15 minutes for the cost of a $1.29 bag of pasta from TJ's.

Oil - Costco

Honey - Health food store

Syrup - monthly co-op

Baking powder, soda, etc. for baking - Costco, health food store

Flour - Health food store bulk bin for spelt, co-op for wheat & white

Tomato products (sauce, paste, diced) - We were doing great using frozen tomatoes from this summer until the chest freezer died. :( I really, really try to avoid cans, especially for acid foods. I've been buying some canned tomatoes from the grocery store and using some organic fresh tomatoes when I find a decent price. This summer, we'll be canning all of this. We get some from the CSA, some from our garden, and a TON from a local organic (non-certified) farmer at the farmer's market who gives me a great price when I buy 30+ lbs at a time.

Bread (do you bake your own each week?) - a mix of homemade, local bakery and the store

Coffee - monthly co-op order

Paper products (such as toilet paper) - Costco, sales at grocery

Cleaning products - Vitacost for Seventh Generation products, dishwasher detergent from TJ's

[kijip]

Hi Katie,

This is a wonderful thread that I hope to take advantage of. Thank you for your posts.

I am also in the Seattle area and have a ignorant question. What is a co-op exactly? Is that like PCC? Or something different.

Also where is the fish fest? I would love to know of some of the resources you mention. If you could PM me, if you have time, that would be awesome.

We currently go to the market way too many times a week and still don't have much food in the fridge.

My co-op is PCC, which is essentially a regular store here in town similar to WFs for the non-Seattle people. They are fine with doing case orders. They also have a coupon for members that is good for a discount on one order a month.

The fish festival is in Ballard, in July. There is a website:

http://www.seafoodfest.org/

At the beginning of the day event, the whole salmon are usually on sale for $3-4 a pound. At the end (and yes, they are safely stored!) it is usually $2 a pound. We filet ourselves but if you don't, they can do it for you. I assume they would charge for that.

We use Full Circle Farm for CSA and pay a little extra to have the box dumped at our doorstep on their way to the big pick up sites. They are a farm and an organic food distributor so the box contents are varied seasonally and I can see the contents before it is delivered and swap items, add more or order something from their green grocer. : http://www.fullcirclefarm.com/

We use Smith Brothers for milk delivery: http://www.smithbrothersfarms.com/?gclid=CL_bj6XmwqcCFRpVgwodJ3NJDg

Hopes this helps! Hi from another Seattle mama!

[MommyAllison]

We switched to buying all of our beans dry when a friend told me about the no-soak bean cooking method. Totally blew my mind:)



Please do tell! :)

[kijip]

Is your co-op a national one like Frontier or Azure Standard? I have access to a few, but I have no idea what to join or what is good. How often do you get deliveries? Weekly or monthly? No, it is a pretty big B&M co-op and likely not the cheapest for regular shopping but they do bulk ordering for you if you want. It is close, and convenient and they are nice to the poor people I work with and donate to my org, so I like to support them. I have been a member for 12 years!

Yogurt--can you get anything organic through your co-op? Is it cheaper than in-store? It is pretty much only organic options at the co-op. When I buy yogurt, I buy the plain Nancy's kind in the huge tub and it is usually about $5-6, sometimes it goes on sale for $4-5 but that is before my member coupon and that is size that is twice as big as the large sizes I see at my local stores. Lasts us about 2 weeks or so. Sometimes it also gets put on immediate sale for $2-3.

Butter--organic for a few dollars on sale?! random sales. Every so often organic butter goes 4 for $10 at a few places. Costco has some as well, I think that is like 3.50? I don't remember.

Do you shred your cheese by hand for recipes? If so, what do you use (box grater or food processor?) We use a box grater. T helps. We could use our food processor but I usually don't.

What is a good price for organic valley cheese sticks, when you buy them loose? They are usually 60 cents each. Not cheap! And I get the conventional Frigos from Costco sometimes. I only get the OV when I happen to think of it and we are out. We don't always have these, as we tend to eat more soft cheeses.

Peanut Butter at Costco--I only bought this once, tried to stir the oil back in, which was very difficult, and it was totally dried up beneath the oil layer, almost gritty. Did I just get a bad batch? Any tips? Wondering if I should try it again, since the price is so good for organic and in large quantity (my 3 kids eat PB&J every day, so we go through alot!). We have no issues. Was it the Kirkland brand or the Adams stuff?

Jelly--what is your favorite instore brand? Wondering if it can be found here, and if I can catch it on sale. I went to Costco for my favorite big jar of organic strawberry jelly, and bought the last remaining jars. They won't be carrying it anymore :( and I'll need to find something to replace it. Bonne Maman. It is again HFCS free. We could get more creative but it is good and usually hits sales for $3 a jar or so.

[daisymommy]

Thank-you again Katie, and everyone else as well. The wheels in my head are turning!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Thank-you again Katie, and everyone else as well. The wheels in my head are turning!
My head is spinning. I feel so shallow - ordering my groceries online and driving through the pickup lane this week. :bag

[ahisma]

Please do tell! :)

Oops, I meant to put a link there!

Here you go - No soak beans in 90 minutes: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/how-to-cook-beans-a-faster-foolproof-nosoak-method-102908

All you really need is an oven safe pot with a lid. I've used a dutch oven, a lidded casserole dish and a clay lidded pot - all work great! Basically, you rinse the beans, then put them in a pot and add enough water to reach your second knuckle (starting from the top of the beans). Bring to a boil, then into the oven for 75 minutes.

My dutch oven can go on the stovetop and in the oven, but I've boiled in a pan and switched to a pot / casserole for the oven part before too. If you want them cooked more, just leave them in a bit longer. I've done it at a variety of temps depending on what was sharing the oven and always had fabulous results.

I can buy a pound of local, organic beans for $1.29 and make the equivalent of almost 4 cans of beans. Usually I'll use them within the week, but I've drained and frozen them before too...or just make less. The fresh ones taste 10 times better too!

[niccig]

Peanut Butter at Costco--I only bought this once, tried to stir the oil back in, which was very difficult, and it was totally dried up beneath the oil layer, almost gritty. Did I just get a bad batch? Any tips? Wondering if I should try it again, since the price is so good for organic and in large quantity (my 3 kids eat PB&J every day, so we go through alot!). We have no issues. Was it the Kirkland brand or the Adams stuff?



I can help withe the peanut butter. I buy the TJs natural and it can do the same thing. I stir it through as well as I can and use it. I normally stir it every time for the first few times when it's a new jar. Then towards the bottom of the jar it can be dry as the oil didn't get to that. I drizzle in a little extra vegetable oil and then it's easy to stir that dried stuff into creamy butter.

HTH

[kijip]

My head is spinning. I feel so shallow - ordering my groceries online and driving through the pickup lane this week. :bag

I would totally love that option. We don't have that here in Seattle. We used to order a lot from amazon fresh which was great but not really great for bulk or price.

[kijip]

I am curious and completely uniformed in this area...but how do you not purchase paper products, specifically toilet paper? I feel like I spend soooo much of my budget on toilet paper so I would love to be able to cut down on that expense!
TIA!

Since you asked, I will answer. We used cloth diapers and wipes for our older son (and now again with our younger son). We realized that toilet paper was totally ineffective with him when we were potty training. I have extremely sensitive skin and have never been able to use paper sanitary poducts without irritation. Kleenex bothers my nose, I have always vastly preferred hankies. As a baby my parents had the hardest time diapering me. So when we kept using cloth wipes for our son, we ended up all migrated to cloth wipes. We have to wash my pads anyways. It is called family cloth but it is not something we do to save money. It just works better for us and is more comfortable for me.

Don't worry. I stock toilet paper in the guest bathroom.

I am not an unshowered hippie...I promise.

[sadie427]

I am not an unshowered hippie...I promise.

I promise Katie is not an unshowered hippie too!!!

A few things to add:

Similar to Katie, we have a CSA and a milk delivery (actually the same ones). There's a bit of a learning curve so don't give up right away if it seems like you aren't able to get the right amount of stuff ordered or can't use anything--over time we got used to it and it's working great. A CSA that allows you do do a lot of substitutions online if there are things you won't be able to use is great.

We do a Costco trip once a month or so for certain things like bread, butter, the big Odwalla orange juices, nuts, olive oil, organic greens.

Those of you who are used to buying pre-shredded cheese may find that the regular block cheese that you shred yourself if necessary tastes a lot better--at least I prefer it. If you are willing to splurge on a good hand grater the Microplane box grater is fantastic.

For dried beans, there is also the "quick soak" method (boil for 5 minutes, let sit for an hour, then proceed with the recipe) or use the crockpot, if you don't mind them being a little soft.

For some reason we also didn't like the Costco organic peanut butter--no problems with stirring but didn't care for the taste.

This is probably obvious, but checking the grocery store sale circular online while making my grocery list at home, and checking my freezer and pantry before making the list also helps with saving money.

I also pretty much only buy meat on sale, don't always buy organic but buy minimally processed, hormone and antibiotic free at a minimum. And a few meatless meals a week at least. I am stricter about ground meat for food safety reasons, don't generally get that prepackaged--only buy from a place that grinds it fresh daily on separate grinders--but because ground meat is cheaper it's not a big deal.

[kijip]

I have a friend who depended on pre shredded cheese and she ended up just coming hom with the brick, running it through the food processor all at once and then sealing it up and storing in the fridge. Somewhat the best of both worlds.

For me, we have a mircoplane grater and a couple of box graters, it becomes the dinner prep chore for the non cook. Some of my happiest childhood memories are cooking with my family and I always seemed to be grating the cheese with my mom.

[kijip]

For dried beans, there is also the "quick soak" method (boil for 5 minutes, let sit for an hour, then proceed with the recipe) or use the crockpot, if you don't mind them being a little soft.

I need to try this and the no soak method as well. This would make my life super easy. Thanks.

[MontrealMum]

I live in Canada where all the milk/cheese/dairy is hormone free to begin with so take this with a grain of salt. I will often grate my own cheese in my Cuisinart (it work really well for this) because a bag of grated Kraft or whatever is around $6/7 here whereas a block of cheddar is maybe $2-$3. Now, those are Canadian prices and I KNOW that the US equivalent of grated cheese is not that high so it might not be worth it to you to grate your own. It was shocking to me when I first moved here how much grated cheese cost. Cheese and butter freeze reallly well, too, so if you catch a deal on either that's great!

It is possible to still get milk delivery in my city - this includes milk, limited cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream and sour cream. We do not do this, but the ILs do and it is somewhat cheaper than the regular grocery store. We buy our milk at the grocery store and the pharmacy (where we get points which we can then turn in on other products)

We did have a membership to Cosco but for a family of three is just wasn't worth it, we're too small and we don't entertain enough ;) . If we had maybe 2-3 kids it might have been good, but we found that we were spending more because it was a "deal".

Fruit and veggies come from the CSA in season - but we live in Canada so our season is somewhat limited :) Out of season we deal with normal prices or try to buy frozen if it doesn't matter. We also buy things like mandarines in bulk because they're cheaper, but I don't think you can get those in the US because they're prohibited.

I grow my own spices in the summer and freeze what's left in Aug., but if I need more/something special/or dried fruit or nuts I go to a specific store at our market that has good deals and does bulk.

Our splurge is probably coffee/tea and you don't want to know what we spend on that.

I used to shop the ethnic grocery stores for things like rice/cous cous/legumes but DH has recently found a resturant supply store that is actually close to our home (there are many in Mtl. but most are a long car trip) so we are getting these and other staples there now. Also, a bonus of living in a big francophile city is that if you bring your own bottles to the main SAQ building (alcohol is controlled by the province here, SAQ stands for Société des alcools du Québec) you can bottle all sorts of things for $5 or less :) It's located down near the working port which is where they offload the good stuff from France.

Things like peanut butter I have bought both at our grocery store (which has a great health food section) or at the health food store. It's cheaper at the health food store unless there's a sale. Also, there are more options like almond butter, cashew butter etc...You *can* make your own peanut butter at home but I just don't have the inclination.

We buy things like pork/turkey/chicken from the grocery store or our local butcher but beef we usually do 1/4 of a cow and freeze. We buy wild salmon from the grocery stores here whenever it's on sale. I almost had apoplexy in my mom's grocery store in MI when visiting at the prices of salmon. And that was farmed, not wild. Another bonus of being on the Atlantic.

I either use my own tomatoes or those bought at the market in the summer to make sauce or paste and freeze it for use during the colder months. We don't have a yard so I usually have to supplement from the market.

I always make my own pizza dough (whole wheat), but I'm very lax on making my own bread. I live in Montreal, so that's my excuse :) It's just so easy to get good, quality bread of all types here for very little that's it's hard to pre-plan my own loaves.

What else? I buy basic cooking items, oils, paper products and jellies/jams at the regular grocery store. Also goldfish :) and other crackers and pre-made items. Actually, DH does...he does the shopping. Occasionally I might make my own jam or get it from MIL or one of my friends, but really, I'm buying it. I buy some cleaning products, but mostly I clean with vineager and water. Bought in bulk at the grocery store. Everything else on your list we get at a "normal" grocery store.

I shop the circulars and make the list accordingly. Especially in terms of produce and meats. We have a deep freeze which I use to stock things that are a good deal. We have a variety of chains to shop at as well as ethnic stores and mom-and-pop places, and several year-round open air markets. We're lucky in that way because we're in a big city. I do not know what we'd do if we moved from here.

Our IGA does this "free food" thing where if you spend $50 you get their "free food" of the week. Sometimes it's something we'd never use (iceburg lettuce, ick!) but much of the time it's a staple, so I plan the week's meals around that if necessary. It's been TP more than once and we're still working through a bulk sized ketchup from them :)

We spend probably $150 a week, but it's hard to know as we do stock up when there are sales etc. so it's a bit more math to figure it all out. We also do take-out about 1x a week so that's included in the $150 total. Prices here in Canada (on food items) are much greater than they are in the US so you have to take that into account, though we do stock up on paper products any time we cross the border.

[o_mom]

For 2 years we belonged to an organic co-op. ...I know that our CSA experience is unique, and that major metro areas have much better luck.



Just wanted to clarify that what you are talking about is a CSA, not what I would consider a co-op. A CSA is where you buy a share of the harvest from a local farm and you take whatever is in season.

A co-op is usually more like a buying club. A group of people join together to buy in bulk. Some co-ops are B&M stores, like a grocery where you can buy whatever you want. Others are more like a weekly pick-up.

The one here that I am familiar with (haven't joined) has members source products, figure pricing and collects orders, then places a bulk order with the suppliers. It is a working co-op that requires each member to have a 'job'. Your job might be figuring order totals on say the pork purchases. Or, it might mean sorting the produce for pick-up day, etc. They order from local farmers, but also through Frontier co-op and other suppliers to get not just fresh food, but dry goods, packaged stuff and health and beauty products.

[dddhokie]

Since you asked, I will answer. We used cloth diapers and wipes for our older son (and now again with our younger son). We realized that toilet paper was totally ineffective with him when we were potty training. I have extremely sensitive skin and have never been able to use paper sanitary poducts without irritation. Kleenex bothers my nose, I have always vastly preferred hankies. As a baby my parents had the hardest time diapering me. So when we kept using cloth wipes for our son, we ended up all migrated to cloth wipes. We have to wash my pads anyways. It is called family cloth but it is not something we do to save money. It just works better for us and is more comfortable for me.

Don't worry. I stock toilet paper in the guest bathroom.

I am not an unshowered hippie...I promise.

Thank you Katie! By no means did I think you were an unshowered hippie, but thanks for clarifying. As I said, I'm totally uninformed in the area and it was nice to learn something new today.
But thanks for still stocking TP in the guest room for folks like me :)

[WolfpackMom]

My head is spinning. I feel so shallow - ordering my groceries online and driving through the pickup lane this week. :bag

Have you been to the co-op in Carrborro? I went there for the first time last weekend and was surprised by how inexpensive a lot of things were that were all local/organic. I am house sitting in CH this weekend so I am going to go back out there and do some more investigating!

[brittone2]

Have you been to the co-op in Carrborro? I went there for the first time last weekend and was surprised by how inexpensive a lot of things were that were all local/organic. I am house sitting in CH this weekend so I am going to go back out there and do some more investigating!
Waaaaaaaaaaaah.

<sniff>

I miss NC, and I miss WS co-op :(

[WolfpackMom]

Waaaaaaaaaaaah.

<sniff>

I miss NC, and I miss WS co-op :(

awe :hug:

[brittone2]

awe :hug:

Thanks. I like where I am but I loved NC. Just know I'm insanely jealous.

[sadie427]

I need to try this and the no soak method as well. This would make my life super easy. Thanks.

Try dried pintos cooked with a slice or two of cooked bacon, a whole jalapeño and a few peeled garlic cloves (take the bacon and spices out at the end.). Would make good refrieds in the crockpot because they are already soft, but we eat them whole.

[SoloMelody]

My co-op is PCC, which is essentially a regular store here in town similar to WFs for the non-Seattle people. They are fine with doing case orders. They also have a coupon for members that is good for a discount on one order a month.

The fish festival is in Ballard, in July. There is a website:

http://www.seafoodfest.org/

At the beginning of the day event, the whole salmon are usually on sale for $3-4 a pound. At the end (and yes, they are safely stored!) it is usually $2 a pound. We filet ourselves but if you don't, they can do it for you. I assume they would charge for that.

We use Full Circle Farm for CSA and pay a little extra to have the box dumped at our doorstep on their way to the big pick up sites. They are a farm and an organic food distributor so the box contents are varied seasonally and I can see the contents before it is delivered and swap items, add more or order something from their green grocer. : http://www.fullcirclefarm.com/

We use Smith Brothers for milk delivery: http://www.smithbrothersfarms.com/?gclid=CL_bj6XmwqcCFRpVgwodJ3NJDg

Hopes this helps! Hi from another Seattle mama!

:thumbsup: Thank you from another Seattle mama!
Do you know of any other CSA's around here?

[SoloMelody]

Found it
http://www.localharvest.org/search-csa.jsp?m&zip=98011&lat=47.7555&lon=-122.191345&scale=9&p=1

[sandwish]

Yes, thank you for the details. I actually live within minutes of a CSA and a PCC but am unfamiliar with them and frankly somewhat intimidated. Your posts will encourage me to venture and learn more about them.

We already get Smith Brothers milk. Yeah!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Waaaaaaaaaaaah.

<sniff>

I miss NC, and I miss WS co-op :(
:hug: Maybe you should educate me about WSM. I am not so informed about it, but I do know some of the hula hoopers outside on the grass! :bouncy:

[Sweetum]

wonderful thread...thanks.

About grated cheese - the pre-grated cheese, I believe (please check), is supposed to have something added to it to not have the grated cheese clump up. So, if you were to grate a block and store, it would eventually clump up. So, a better way would be to grate a little at a time.

[brittone2]

:hug: Maybe you should educate me about WSM. I am not so informed about it, but I do know some of the hula hoopers outside on the grass! :bouncy:

THat place made us kinda fall in love with the area when we were down for our first visit as a family (when DH was scoping out PhD programs)

we mostly shopped in h-borough once they opened the store there, but for the first few years we were in the area we always shopped in Carrboro.

They used to give a discount if you were a member (on each purchase) but now if you join you get a rebate type check at the end of the year I think? If you ever leave the area they refund your co-op membership fee.

Of course, you can shop without joining too :) THey buy from as many local farmers as they can. There's a lot of overlap with the same folks who sell at the farmers markets or the farmers who run CSAs in the area.