Declaration of WAR!

OK, this is it. My son was sick on Monday so I stayed home with him. Usually, my husband does the grocery shopping on Mondays since he works from home that day. This week, however, he was having minor surgery on his toe. So, I stayed home to watch Max and when my husband got home, I volunteered to do the grocery shopping. Let me preface this by saying that I have recently taken a new job. I love my job and am so much happier than I was at my last job. However, that happiness came at the cost of about $15000 a year in income -yep, that's a lot. So, there I was on Monday, mightily clinging to my high budget mindset, heading off to the grocery store. I picked up this, I picked up that, I stuck to my list....pretty much...and about lost my breakfast in the checkout line. $193.00. Yes, $193.00 for a WEEK'S worth of groceries (not including meat because that comes from a co-op). For a family of 4. I wish I could say that was anomalous but my I got a big glass of "I told you so!" when I got home. My eyes hath been opened...and it's freaking scary out there! Back when I stayed at home, before we started all this gluten free, casein free, corn free, blah blah blah free diet, I cut coupons, I planned meals, I kept a cooler in my trunk and shopped the ads at several grocery stores with a baby Lambert in tow. I spent $75/week to feed our little family of 3 (including diapers and formula). I know eating gf/cf is more expensive...but does it really have to be THAT much more expensive?? I don't think so. Therefore, I have hereby declared WAR on my GROCERY BILL!!!! That is the LAST time I spend $193 at a grocery store without having to strap food to the roof and cram it into every available space in my old car. No more, I say, no more.

So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to cut that sucker in 1/2. I know that is feasible. I canceled my Amazon subscriptions and we're going on a grocery buying fast. I know I have enough food to feed us for the next three weeks so we should just have to re-purchase milk and fresh produce. We just stocked the freezer with meat from our co-op so we're good on meat for the next 2 months. I'll be posting cheap recipes and tips and tricks as I learn them. My husband made a deal with me. If I succeed, we will finally get a new bed to replace our 16 year old back breaker. I'm in. Let's go!!!