Back in February, I cut our family food budget down from $600 a month for our family of 11 to $400 – this was done knowing that we’d be moving and I wanted to use up our food in storage.  Usually I’m constantly replenishing and stocking up on whatever’s a good price, but with the upcoming move I obviously could minimize how much stocking up I was doing.

Well, I didn’t do as good a job as I could have with this, because even though I stuck to $400, it still didn’t force me to rely on my pantry as I had hoped.  Last month I went down to $200 for the month, and I’m still not using up the food fast enough.  Once a month I allocate cash for the food budget for the month, and though I had budgeted $200 for this month also (to be taken out today), I realized that I really don’t need to budget that much at all. 

Firstly, we’re only here for another two weeks, so to be consistent I should allocate $100.  But my pantry….well, it’s nowhere near being empty.  So I decided that I won’t do any more shopping, in the hopes that I can whittle this down a little more.  I jokingly told ds18 when he got home to be prepared for my austerity menu.  (Our menus really aren’t austere at all, though I am relying more on frozen and canned fruits and vegetables than usual.)

As we’ve had lots of expenses related to moving, I’m grateful for not having to spend so much on food, and still being able to eat healthfully and well!

Avivah

PS – If you’re in  my area, and always wished you could buy in bulk at the prices that I pay, I’m now selling my remaining bulk foods at less than wholesale costs (ie below what even I or a retail store would pay for it!), here’s most of what’s available:

Spelt berries – 50 lb bag – $50
Spelt berries – 40 lb buckets (5) – $40 each
Millet – 1 1/2 40- lb buckets – approximately 60 lb, $30
Steel cut oats – approximately 50 lb/1.25 square buckets – $30
Rolled oats- 1.25 square buckets – $20
quinoa – approximately 25 lb/1/2 square bucket – $18
popcorn – 1 round 50 lb bucket – $30
cornmeal – 1-0 lb bucket – $25
Sunflower seeds, hulled, raw – 1 40 lb bucket – $35
Pecan meal – 1 -40 lb bucket – $60
Almond meal – 1- 40 lb bucket – $60
Shredded coconut – 1.25 40-lb buckets in volume, but not weight (since it’s not dense like the grains)- $25

There’s other stuff, like beans (individually packed by the pound – .75 lb), bulk spices, and other things I need to inventory.  But this is the bulk of what will be available, I think.  (Square buckets hold 40 lb if the grain is dense; otherwise it’s listed to give a sense of quantity but not weight.)