When I go to the store and see a T-Bone steak at $6.75/lb or a Chuck Roast loaded with fat for over $3.00/lb, it makes me very happy that we do this every year!!

This summer, to help cut down costs even more, I plan to plant my first garden, and teach myself how to can and freeze the produce from the garden. I’m really excited about it!

Another way we have cut down food costs is to cut down on how often we eat out! When we actually took a look at what we were spending by going out to eat, it was a pretty simple decision to stop going out as often. Now we go out twice a month, and call it our Date Night!

For the two of us, we usually average $225 a month for groceries.

Our budget for groceries and household items is $240/mo for 4 of us (kids are 3 and 1 and the 1 yr old eats more than his older sister!). I use cloth diapers the majority of the time so that cuts out a lot of diaper expense! I feel like our budget is high, but we eat as much organic/natural and local as we can. I am part of some co-ops for beef, produce and other items, which saves money.

I’m also willing to pay more for fresh, local produce in the summer.

To cut back the budget, I’ll forego a big shopping trip if I have a well-stocked freezer and the sales aren’t great that week. For instance, today I only got a little produce, milk, and staples because I didn’t think the sales were all that grand.

To the commenter who said she’s willing to pay more to get healthy foods, I 100% agree. I really try to provide us with healthy foods, maybe not organic or specialty, but as healthy as I can afford. We rarely ever get sick. I truly believe it’s partly because of our diet.