Trying To Feed This Family On A Budget Isn't Easy

 Oy Vey, friends.  I swear the price of groceries is just taking its toll.  I keep trying different things to get this budget under control, but IT IS SO HARD. 

And honestly, it's not easy.  

Last week I went to Costco (and got a lot of things but I'd be embarrassed to tell you what I spent).

I have done Aldi.

I have done the local discount store.

I have done the regular grocery store.

I have done the local butcher/local farm.

I'm telling you, I have really tried it all.

And my budget is blown all the time.  

I feel like I'm failing at this.  But...

I'm not giving up.  I have been scouring YouTube and watching many frugal YouTubers.  I'm going to try a different tactic.  

What I'm not going to do:

Homesteading.  This is not for everyone and we are not farmers.  I did plant my garden.  And I will still visit local farms, but I am not a farmer.  

Processed food.  I do think processed food can be cheaper (and easier), and we do eat some processed food (I am not making my own crackers).  But I would still like to keep most of our meals home cooked.

Meal Kits.  We have food allergies in our family and most of the meal kits I have looked at will not work for us.

Starve these people. I do make a few meatless meals per week, but these people are meat eaters.  The suggestion I keep seeing to only use meat for flavoring is just not going to work here.  

Deplete my entire freezer/pantry stash.  I am going to use this stash, but I will be replenishing things as we go.  I am keeping the food instability of 2020 in the back of my mind.

But I am going to be making some changes on how I shop for our food and home needs.  It's just getting so out of control.  I feel like I'm white knuckling this food budget every month.  There are stresses in life that we can't control.  But this is one of those stresses that I can control.  

So stay tuned for what works and what isn't working.  I will share all the good, the bad, and the ugly.