Frugal Foodie vs Frugal Food : An Introduction

Frugal food: the phrase just makes me shudder. It brings up images of planning meals of casseroles and free prepackaged food. I just love food way to much to ever do that.

And boy do I love food, as does my husband. That's why there will always be money in our budget for eating out. I don't think we could survive without the occasional food splurge whether it's a four star meal once a year or our favorite ethic foods once a week. When we travel we often stay in the cheapest room possible so there is more money for eating the local food and drinking the local wine and beer.

So instead of eating frugal food, I consider myself to be a frugal foodie. I work to get the best quality food on the table within the limits of our budget. Which is $300 and includes alcohol. I haven't made it to that number yet but it is my goal and I am getting closer every month. FYI: this is for myself, my husband, and our three year old twins who I count as one adult since TwinB eats almost as much as we do and TwinA lives on air. My husband also makes (excellent) beer as a hobby so that keeps our alcohol costs down.

Some of the things I do to keep the bill down:
-plan dinners a month at a time and shop off of those lists
-eat plain whole food as much as possible. My girls eat plain yogurt with cinnamon or frozen fruit. Ditto for oatmeal. Costs about a fourth of the price of flavored pre mixed and is much better for them.
-am not a slave to couponing... I look out for coupons on the food we eat but otherwise try to avoid ones that will tempt me into products we don't need. I do use coupons to gather free products for our local food bank.
~shop our farmers market when it is open
~buy marked down veggies, fruits, and meats and adjust our menus to include them or and freeze them until I can use them

I look forward to sharing tips, recipes, and generally gabbing about food with you!