I know that food prices are constantly rising and there is a lot of angst about the price of fruit and vegetables. We recently discovered a fruit barn not too far from us and we are very happy with the prices and quality.
I went and bought some fruit and vegetables this afternoon. Here is what I selected.
1kg carrots
7 nectarines
6 potatoes
5 bananas
1 head of broccoli
1 knob of Australian garlic
6 apples
1 lebanese cucumber
This cost me $11.40. I would like to know if anyone could honestly construe that as expensive.
On the way home I stopped to fill the car with fuel. While I was waiting in the queue to pay I noticed the sign above the ice-cream freezer cabinet. “Magnum Temptation $4.00” My bag of fruit and vegetables was cheaper than 3 of these fancy ice-creams! I know which I would rather have.
How do you manage your food budget?
organised castle 
Most of what we eat we grow, so my food bills really are just for protein (which I buy yearly in bulk at reduced prices) and the basics like flour, sugar etc.
Sounds like you have it all sorted. I wish I could grow more but full-time work and the dreadful weather are precluding that at the moment.
Your post today came to mind when I was putting my lunch together this afternoon. I made a sald but suddenly didn’t have any dressing. I almost ran out to the canteen at work but buying something didn’t seem like such a sensible idea anymore. I used the leftover sauce from the homemade lo mein that I had for my main dish. Instant asian salad dressing! Using every little bit helps us keep our food bills low.
Using every bit is certainly the way to go. I am trying to minimise the number of different sauces, dressings etc by using them for multiple purposes. Your idea is perfect – I will remember that, thank you.
It is wonderful that you have an outlet like that to go to. We have a local market every Saturday where i can buy pumpkins for 1 to 2 dollars depending on the size. I ran out and need more for a recipe mid week, paid 2.00 for a quarter of a pumpkin, and i know it didn’t come from the farmer next door either!
Local markets are the next best thing to growing it yourself. You would not have been pleased paying $2 for a quarter!!