Another month has ended for us (my "food month" resets each time we put in a co-op order) and below are the things we purchased. We budget $225 each month for food and that's for 3 of us.
Azure Standard - $135.59
Orange Juice (x2), Vegenaise, Raw Goat's Milk Cheddar 1lb, Newman's Hont O Mint Cookies, Sliced Turkey Breast, Frozen Sweet Potatoes (3 bags), Frozen Peas (3 bags), Tomatoes, Kettle Tias CHips, Peach Nectar (for making Fruit Gelatin!), 9lb Cream Cheese, Whole Milk Yogurt (x2), Goat's Milk Yogurt, Unsulfered Dried Apricots (does anyone else know a good source for unsulfured dried fruits?), Romaine Hearts, Jovial Foods Rice Pasta, Fresh Celery, Applegate Hot Dogs (x2), Plum Organics Sweet Potato Pouches (8 pack) (love these pouches for the diaper bag!).
Safeway - $10
2 Loaves of bread, 2 containers of Sour Cream. *GASP* Did I seriously buy bread this month? Yes, yes I did. Here's why. Me and our little boy are both gluten free but my hubby likes to take sandwiches to work. So yes, to make things simple I buy the bread with the least amount of ingredients I can find so he can take sandwiches. I'm not perfect. It's really really hard to smell fresh bread when you aren't allowed to eat it 
Raw Goat's Milk - $12
This was for 2 gallons of milk for my supposedly dairy-allergic boy. He does excellent with this goat's milk so I guess the doctor was wrong!
Azure Standard - $20
20lbs Fuji Apples. This was part of my order above but these deserved their own picture. Last month I bought 6 pounds of these and they were SO good I wanted a whole box this time!
Something I wanted to mention was a few months ago I purchased some grass-fed organic butter from Tropical Traditions with some credits I had with them. If you are looking for a grass fed or organic butter I want to highly recommend this. We are LOVING it! It's a very rich yellow color which means it came from some very healthy cows. It's got some excellent flavor too!
Total: $177.59
We did great this month! Even for buying a few more of what I would consider "convenience foods". Moving into a much smaller home has us changing a few things with our eating habits to make them even simpler.
We don't buy meat throughout the month, we purchase it once a year. Beef is purchased in 100lb or 150lb bulk buy and is grass fed, chicken is purchased through Zaycon (and some through local Hutterite Colonies). The money for those purchases comes from a different fund figured out by our Budgeting Chart.
We realize our eating and shopping habits are not typical so feel free to ask questions in the comments section! If you'd like to learn more about Buying in Bulk make sure to check out all the resources we have posted.
ANNOUNCEMENT!! (You made it to the end of the post, yay!)
Since I've had so many requests on how we actually eat off of these shopping trips I've decided to undertake a huge new task. Introducing....
These meal plans will be based on a monthly schedule they will be based on exactly what we eat during the month on our own budget plan AND they will include a full shopping list that can be easily adapted for any size family. I'm still getting everything finished up on these but I will have more info for you and they will be available for downloading (hopefully) by the end of this week!
Disclaimer: This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
As far as unsulfured dried fruits, I would recommend getting a dehydrator – you can usually find them on craigslist or at flea markets or yard sales! They’re soooo much cheaper than buying it from the store! You could also try using dry ice, if a local grocer sells it (I live in Florida and Publix sells it).
I love your blog tho! As a family of 4 on a single income that’s less than $30k a year, I totally understand your struggles and am impressed by the things you and your family do! We don’t have much debt, but we’re trying to get rid of waht we do have and save up to buy a house of our own. We’re also both students, so it can get a little crazy around here! I also buy all organic foods for my family, so sticking to a budget is super important!
Thanks for your blog and Facebook page!!
Thanks for the tips Jessie
I actually have a dehydrator we just love but my problem is finding decent fruit up here in the winter to dry! I’m always drying apples and bananas though 
We’re going dairy free for the family (except butter, I just can’t oust that yet, and it doesn’t seem to make us acutely ill), but have you considered that your son has a cow’s milk intolerance or allergy or allergic to cow caseine. I have read that goats are more like humans, so we’re less likely to react to them. I haven’t had a chance to test that theory, since we can’t source raw goat milk here, but I’m wondering if that isn’t the case for your son. Just a thought.
I’m not sure. Technically he’s never had regular cows milk just yet, only the milk that was in formula. However we all know there are so so many things in formula so it could really have been anything (we know for sure he has a corn allergy and corn syrup is in all formulas but one). I think we just had a quick-to-assume doctor. But I am interested to try raw cows milk here in a couple months and see how that goes…
How exciting. I can’t wait to see the menu plans!! I love how you purchase your food. We are trying to switch over to purchase meat, chicken and pork just once a year. We just cannot find where to purchase locally. We are also a gluten free household.
You could try eatwild.com or localharvest.org to find local farms that sell meat.
Thank you Sarah, I have not heard of either of these. I will check them out.
So excited to see what you come up with for the meal plans!
Trader Joe’s has the most delicious unsulphured raisins. I do not know about their other dried fruits but would imagine they are the same. I bet you don’t have Trader Joe’s though
I have to drive 25 miles but I make it worth my while and stock up on the things I buy there.
I don’t, but hopefully we will be able to take a trip to the big city soon and I can stock up
Thanks for letting me know!
I love Trader Joe’s. We travel 45 minutes one way to shop there and stock up. They are the only place we can get gluten free vitamins for our family ( at a reasonable price).
I enjoy all your blogs, I am a single mommy of 3kiddos, all with many food allergies and each with different ones….I like all your recipes…we are going to nothing processed, and all from scratch so I know what is in everything
Looking forward to seeing your meal plans. I’m gluten free and I also purchase ready made bread for non-gf family. Flour is small and can get all over so I wanted to eliminate as much of it from the kitchen as possible. I only keep gf flours in the house.
I love the baby food pouches for convenience food! So nice not to have to dig out a bib, jar, spoon, etc.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! They are so nice for the days that we have to be in town a little longer.
I agree with Jesse. Look for a dehydrator. You can buy fresh fruit or even use apricots that are canned in lite syrup. For less sugar simply rinse the canned fruit before drying it. Dehydrators are fantastic for preserving surplus garden goodies, too!
I didn’t even think about drying my home canned fruit, great tip!
I notice on your shopping lists that you buy large amounts of cream cheese. I love cream cheese, but am curious what you make with all of the cream cheese you buy. Also, does it last a while for you in your fridge?
We go through a lot of cream cheese! This lasts in our fridge for a month or 2, depending on how fast we go through it. I use it in various baked goods (like my gluten free cookies) and I constantly have fruit dip in the house.
sooo about tropical traditions…do you freeze the butter? how long does that stuff keep for?
Yes I freeze any butter that I’m not using at it will last for at least a year in the freezer.
i never knew you could do that! do you freeze it in a bag or in the tub it comes in?
I just throw the tub or box right in the freezer
awesome! thanks!
I would love this so much. I might have to adapt the plan, because I have IC/BPS, so there are certain foods I just can’t eat, but this would help me out greatly, thank you so much.
I wanted to let you know that I love your page, and your FB posts. I’m going through a really hard time in my life right now, and I know it sounds stupid, and kinda silly, but I always feel better after browsing your site and learning something, or getting a better way to do something I have been doing. Thank you. I know that sometimes when you pour your heart into something like this, and no one tells you how much they appreciate it, it can get daunting and seem like a waste of time, but I think what you do on this page, and on FB is wonderful.
Thank you
Hi,
On your butter budget how much per pound are you paying? And what on earth do use 9lbs of cream cheese for?
I use cream cheese in various baked goods, especially gluten free cookies, and I always have fruit dip on hand. I like to have it on hand to make desserts too (cheesecake) since I can’t make a regular cake. I haven’t had to pay anything for butter since I have credits to Tropical Traditions but I think their price is around $7 per pound.
Thank you for the info, I am very interested in ordering from Azure Standard. I am wondering how the food arrives and how far it travels to get to you? I also live in the North and fear the food will freeze in the winter or melt in the summer. Once again thanks for your website, it is great!
Robin, Azure delivers by refrigerated semi truck so you don’t have to worry about the food
Where you get it all depends on where your nearest drop site is that you can get into, I drive 30 miles to get mine. If you give them a call they can get you more info and find out where your closest drop site is 
I love strawberries on my yogurt!