The cost of living....

The cost of living...

So at least once a day in fb I bring up what we eat or what I have recently cooked and sometime around that point I have usually done our hardcore shopping... Like 300 to 450 Dollar hardcore. We carb backload except for Michael who pretty much has carbs regardless to keep up that sexy 330 plus. I myself have dropped 40 plus and watched my strength gains go up utilizing it.

Within the past year, as many if you know we have had some financial blows related to our daughter and between that and just trying to get on top and whatnot our grocery funds are limited. Meaning for us quanity usually ranks quality unless it comes to our daughter, in which that case we will cut one place for another. I am honestly stoked to see how well her type of eating works for her than how I was raised. I was raised with moderation eating, which did ok for me, BUT I came from a grandfather who owned a bakery and we frequently snacked on sugary items. I do minimal research at best on foods, but I do try to stay abreast and make right decisions. So onto some specifics....I will breakdown the 450ish I spent on this months food and reasons as to my shopping logic.

Trader Joes: I was always a fan long before I even met my now spouse. I recently have been drawn back because of my research on genetically modified shit. Yes, shit. Have you ever looked into genetically modified anything? It is mutilated and just full of issues. TJ's labels contain no gmo and they are cheap for certain things. I usually get finger snacks for dear daughter and then pita and pretzel chips for the hubs. They also have a kick ass cheese section if we have the spare cash. Always take your bags in there is a .5 discount. They also have cookie butter. Shut.your.face. Seriously the best back loading heaven ever but it does top out around 5, so that vs their peanut butter for 3 and guess what wins. They also have some pretty good sugar free chocolate but it is not the tj label and ever since we found Aldi's chocolate tj is a no go... We do however get our chocolate chips from them because Daughter will have a bite of a cookie on rare occasions and because the hubs likes cookie dough post lifts (and they are a touch cheaper).

Aldi: They are usually a every other month visit. Primarily for sugar, flour, and spices. Oh and chocolate. Omg. Coffee and cream Chocher is ammmmmmazing, I spent 35 there last month but as I said before this varies. Sugar is one thing I hope to be changing soon, primarily to raw but I want to research it a tad longer... We also get our deodorant here or target. We sweat a lot and they sell 19% aluminum which although not all natural this girl is not gonna be stank nasty so I grab it up at 2 a bar or the target Mitchum is 3 at 20%.

Costco: Our money saver. Today I spent 300. This trip is usually 230 to 250 but our daughters juice and yogurt was on sale. On my trip today I got #10 red lean uncut hamburger meat (food handling is a major no no for me, more hands =more contamination risk) 4 pork loins, 4 packs of italian sausages, 2# of sausage, 2# of bacon, and steak (unsure of weight) plus 48 boxes of organic juice for Amelya, 7 containers of heavy cream, 2 bags of Splenda (on sale and we will prob go back at the end of the month which we usually do not do but it is 5 bucks cheaper this month), vanilla (the only baking product NOT from aldi besides coconut oil) 40 cups of Greek yogurt, 4 bottles of fish oil, 3 bricks of cheese, salted and unsalted butta, 10# of rice for Michael (cheap and easy carb), large size sour cream and cream cheese, whole milk for the little and some other randoms. What I listed is our base but we usually get muscle milk bimonthly there too and that adds on 70ish depending on the sale.

Target: 35 today. Eggs are 1.11 there. Yes, 1.11. I buy 16 dozen a month. I also get trash can liners, small bags of whole grain noodles, toothpaste, deodorant, soup and Annie's reheat pasta (only nonmonsato quick reheat I am aware of). If it is not on sale or I do not have a coupon I do not buy it unless it is something for Amelya (shirt, movie, a new snack) or today, headbands to keep sweat out of my face and my new olive oil sprayer (in which i will be using grapeseed oil instead) to avoid chemical laden cooking sprays. I also picked up crossiant rolls for my hubs and the kiddo because they are usually quick and easy to use and I have not mastered the crossiant. I also get all of my crystal lite stuff there because they are only 2.20 there... And our gallon jugs that we rotate out go bpa reasons and to avoid germ growth on the Cpap.

*every month we also have Amelya's meds also, but that is not factored into monthly grocery bills unless it is for the flavoring... I should mention that I choose not to find alternate all natural meds because the treatment risks her heart and I would rather deal with the occasional night terror or snoring.

Hoggs: 12 local honey. I consider this an investment given that I am not touting Amelya to the doctor.

Co op: 35 a month. I love my fruit and vege co op. if you have more than one person in your house, it is a MUST have. ESP with a kid, variety is the spice of life and with a preset basket and the mindset to use it, it can expose you to anything!!! My co op stays local as long as it can meet basket contents.

Dollar tree: 10 every three months... Primarily for razors, Epsom salt and garlic pepper seasoning.

Walmart: 10. I hate Walmart. I avoid it like the friggin plague. It is hard to coupon there and the freak stench is enough to make me want to run out screaming like a friggin banchee. I usually get Purex bar soap and tea tree. The good news is both of those products can be caught on Amazon pretty cheap and cost me maybe .50 cents more and for that, I will pay willingly.

I do want to note that from what I have seen a normal non powerlifting family (is that really normal?) pays closer to the 500 range which is INSANE to me. I also want to make mention I make our shaving cream, cleansers, laundry detergent for us and her , I cloth diaper, I make her wipes. I hand wash dishes (primarily because our dishwasher is a POS) and I mop on my hands and knees because I have a toddler. I also utilize the bleach tabs with less waste and easier to keep out of someone (ahem, Amelya's) hands. The basic needs there are the rinds of lemons and oranges, vinegar (Costco), borax, oxyclean, washing soda, purex bar soap, baking soda, tea tree oil, coconut oil and/or grapeseed oil). *note most oils have different uses, it is good to research these.

I use old rags and washcloths with each having their own room to clean (ie no kitchen rag in the bathroom).

I make my own pie crust, pizza crust, cakes, cookies, quiche, shred my own cheese (did you know preshreeded cheese only has two cups but they claim more?) I buy brick and work on Tricep power and save some cash.

I try to cook once a week and only cook in am so I am not jacking up the power bill by cranking the ac just to cook.

We do have a deep freezer to stock up on sale items.

Lastly, I switched to hair one recently. It costs 11 every other month, if that. No more sodium laurel in my shampoo... She sounds great but laurel makes you buy more product. No thanks. I use it on me and Amelya and that is it... Even with our curls!!

I am avidly trying to stay away from highly processed, fast food, chemical shitstorm, Monsanto ridden foods. It has taken a while to discover this and I am sure it will take a while to get into it being as other than fruits and veges healthy foods cost way more.

Nothing all this cost makes me wonder... And it should you too, why is our current administration all proactive about activity YET it costs double to eat well versus going to little Cesar's or mcd and feeding a whole family for 8-10 bucks. Even if you do not go out why in the world is Monsanto so cheap vs non Monsanto? If you have not researched it, it is time to look into it. Control the food control the masses. I am gonna stop there because I can go on for hours... Tata!