Ways to nourish your family on a budget....

Since becoming a stay at home mom I have had to really tighten the budget. I would like to share some of the ways that I keep my grocery bill from getting out of hand. We have five children with one due in February of 2009 so it's not cheap to feed all the hungry troops.

Before beginning I just wanted to remind you that even though the prices of our groceries and gas are soaring right now, those of us who are lucky enough to live in the US should remember that the majority of the world pays a lot higher percentage of their income in order to feed their families. This link here shows you families and what they eat for a month, plus what it costs them to buy it.


I'm just going to list a few things that we do to keep costs down, because you can pick up any magazine and get the same money saving tips over and over. I'm going to list some great money saving links at the bottom.

1. Cooking from scratch is the single most thing that I do to cut costs. Besides the money saving aspects of it, my husband has heart trouble and one of our children is on a lot of meds due to epilepsy and cooking from scratch let's you eliminate all of the unnecessary chemicals and salt.

2. I use more of the "pantry principle" that the book "Tightwad Gazzette" suggests. If you don't own that book already it's the best investment you can make to be frugal- or get it from the library for free. In the book she talks about stocking your pantry with the items you use all the time and stocking it with the weekly sales in bulk. Rather than planning week to week solely based on what is on sale, you shop to get the cheapest prices and stock your pantry. I still try to plan a weekly menu because it keeps me on track, but it's loosely planned as things change.

3. Instead of paying for the Grocery Game or (in West MI) the Savings Angel, take advantage of all the websites out there that do the work for you for free, I'll list some later.

4.We plant a garden and I can and freeze as much as possible.

5. We buy 1/2 of a cow and 1/2 of a pig which not only tastes better, but is cheaper by the pound. You can buy what you can afford and split it.

6. A lot of the time I stick to Aldi's or Save A Lot and simply cook from what they carry- just stay away from the junk food. The selection is limited, but you can't beat the prices on their staples.


Here is a free PDF cookbook from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension which is called "Saving Money With Homemade Convenience Mixes.

This website shows you videos with step by step canning instructions plus a wealth of other info about canning.

Here is a link from the Hillbilly Housewife where she explains about the Angel Food Ministries and she even includes monthly menus based on what foods are available. You do not have to meet income guidelines to use this service.

This link from Budget 101 has a whole list of mixes to make from scratch.


Here are some of my favorite blogs and websites, some are for money saving and some are for homemaking or recipes:

Money Saving Mom

A Full Cup

Mommy Snacks

Moms Budget

The Nourishing Gourmet

Keeper Of The Home

Tammy's Recipes

Glimpse of Sonshine

The Centsible Sawyer

Heavenly Homemakers

Life as Mom

Some of My Favorite Resources

This is my first time participating in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays which is hosted by Tammy @ Tammy's Recipes. My "tip" for this week is to share my sources for hard-to-find items. It has taken me a long time to find sources for different kitchen items as I have started to cook everything from scratch. I thought it might save someone else some time to see 25 great resources-ok 24 if you're coming here from Tammy's ;-) (in no particular order) all in one place. Hope you find something new.

1. Pleasant Hill Grain. Great resource for juicers, grain mills, dehydrators.

2. The Homestead Kitchen. Lot's of recipes, photos and links.

3. Juicers For Less. Juicers of course, yogurt making supplies, grain mills.

4. Something Better Natural Foods. Huge supply of organic food, herbs and products. I especially like the fact that they have pictures of each product and lots of recipes. They can ship nation wide.

5. The Vegetarian Express. A vegetarian and vegan food line. But don't over look them if you are not veg, they have bulk herbs, unique seasoning blends, unsweetened coconut which can be hard to find and other cool products like brown sesame seeds for cooking.

6. Azure Standard. The grand-daddy of organic bulk buying. Great prices on organic items, herbs, and groceries especially if you don't live close to a health food store. First time customers can request a free giant catalog. Monthly specials and they ship nation wide.

7. Lehmans. This is probably one of my favorite sites for all things for the home. They started in 1955 in Kindron, Ohio to sell products to the Amish. Today they have a retail store with a cafe in it. They still cater to Amish families so many of their products are old fashioned things that can be hard to find. Here are some highlights of things that they sell: tools, toys made in the USA for reasonable prices, kitchen gadgets, canning items, Zote and Fels-Naptha soaps for those of you who like to make your own laundry soap, recipe booklets for $2.00 that cover all kinds of topics including cheese, yogurt and butter making. They even sell wringer washers like I remember my grandma used to have and root beer making kits. They have a free print catalog for non-electric annual items with any order, and if you spend over $25.00 you can request their "visit us" packet that has local brochures and maps in it. You have to request both items as they don't come automatically.

8. Mountain Rose Herbs. Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking gave me this tip: organic coconut oil by the GALLON for $30.00 plus shipping. WOW I just paid $11.00 for 16 oz. at the health food store. Many other herbal products that are great deals as well.

9. Bulk Herb Store. Tammy at Tammy's Recipes gave me this tip on buying bulk herbal teas. You can get 1/2 pound of pregnancy tea mix for less than $8.00. Lot's of great recipes and herbal mixture instructions. Don't miss their new mama & baby kit. It contains teas, salves and herbs to make different baby products like a baby powder that contains lavender powder. I bet it smells great!

10. Essential Wholesale. Have you ever seen recipes for natural cleaners and soaps but wondered how they could be economical? I used to think that making a cleaner with lavender in it couldn't be very frugal when a 1 oz. bottle can be $7.00 to $11.00. I realize that you only need a few drops, but still.... this site sells everything from 1 oz. size to 55 gallon drums. Obviously it's geared towards people who want to make natural products to sell, but for example: you can get an 8 oz. bottle of lavender essential oil for $24.00. That should last a long time. You can also get soap making supplies and cosmetic products to make yourself like beeswax lip gloss.

11. Naturally Frugal Cleaning. Michelle has a great website with tons of "recipes" for making your own natural cleaners. Huge amount of great resources and tips.

12. The Herbwife's Kitchen. This is a really unique site with a mix of recipes that combine herb use for cooking and healing. Really fun to learn from and read.

13. Tammy's Recipes. Tammy has the most wonderful recipes that taste great, and her pictures & personal anecdotes about her family make for a fun and sweet blog.

14. Passionate Homemaking. Lindsay is a mom who has loads of great information about cooking healthy for your family and recipes. She has great info on soaking grains if you are following the Nourishing Traditions type of diet.

15. Pioneer Woman Cooks. Wow is all I can say! Her pictures are so yummy looking you want to try everything! A must read blog.

16. Bakerella. All things yummy from the oven. Esp. great cupcake recipes.

17. The Nourishing Gourmet. Great recipes and lots of info about nourishing food.

18. The Hillbilly Housewife. Tons of free information and research as well as recipes. I really love the section on making your own convenience foods.

19. Living on A Dime. I ordered Tawra's book and just love it. The ebooks are a great resource. Sign out for her newsletter for free with lots of great tips and recipes each time it arrives in your email.

20. Nourishing Indian Food. If you like the book Nourishing Traditions than you will like this site as it has Indian food with unique ingredients.

21.The Aldi Queen. If you shop at Aldi's then you will like this site with shopping lists and recipes.

22. Vermont Country Store. Looking for a product from yesterday and can't find it?? here's your source. Everything from food, vintage candy from your childhood, herbal salves, modest clothing, perfumes, tools and gadgets. I am going to give my grandma a gift certificate and catalog this year for her birthday as they carry all kinds of products that she has a hard time finding.

23. Sue Gregg. She is a wonderful teacher and her approach to whole foods is very down-to-earth and easy to do. I have my wish list going of all the books I want to purchase. I esp. like her Christian approach (for myself) as I don't care for the "new age" philosophy.

24. Urban Homemaker. Lots of kitchen gadgets as well as books and cookbooks.

25. The Real Food Revolution. Nice blog with recipes and info on "real food" on a budget, losing weight while eating healthy etc.