We came in under budget this month! [z8B6EojdwgX]
$424.92. That's what our family of 5 spent on groceries for the entire month of July. 🤍 And yes... that total also includes cleaning supplies and toiletries, because I make most of ours from scratch and only need to buy the ingredients for those about once a year. People always ask, "How do you spend so little?" The answer isn't couponing. It isn't eating ramen every night. And it definitely isn't going hungry. It's having a system. We shop our pantry before we shop the store. We build meals around what we already have. We keep homemade staples on hand. We make simple meals instead of chasing complicated recipes with long ingredient lists. We cook double of many meals to have a freezer stash for busy nights. This month we moved into a new apartment, so we intentionally used as much of our pantry as possible before grocery shopping again. That meant less food to pack, less food to unpack, and less money spent. I also want to say this because I think it's important... This didn't happen overnight. I've spent years building these habits one at a time, and every family's circumstances are different. If you're in a season where both parents are working outside the home, you may rely on more convenience foods—and that's okay. Convenience has value, especially when time is limited. But even then, spending just a couple of hours meal prepping on the weekend and learning to cook smarter, not harder can make a huge difference. A little planning can set you up for easier weeknight meals, fewer trips through the drive-thru, less food waste, and meaningful savings over the course of a month. You don't have to do everything from scratch to see a difference. Just start with one small habit, then another. Those little habits are exactly what helped us cut our grocery bill by more than 50%, and they're the foundation of my Nourished Home System. If you're tired of spending hundreds at the grocery store and still wondering "What's for dinner?" every night, I'd love to show you the system that's worked for our family. 🤍 Comment NOURISH and I'll send you the link. #nourishedhome #groceriesonabudget #fromscratchmadeeasy