Chic for Cheap: On a Grocery Budget but Love to Cook and Stay Healthy? Here are Some Tips!

I'm a food snob. There's no way around it. I like making and eating tasty, fancy food. No ramen for this girl. Even though I'm a food snob and I like to eat out, I'm on a budget and I was finding it really hard to buy groceries for under $100 a week. Actually, we were spending between $200-$230 a week on groceries alone! Well, I have embraced "frugal." It's actually kind of fun to learn how to budget! First, I tried switching to only off brand products- it helped, but not a whole lot. I tried buying less meat and only in season fruits and veggies- again, helpful, but not very. Then I realized, accidentally, that Trader Joe's is surprisingly a lot cheaper than your average Lucky's or (if you live on the East Coast) Shaws. Trader Joe's is unfortunately pretty limited, but if you switch to buying all of your fruits and veggies, as well as dairy and bread solely at TJ's and stick to just buying your meats at your local grocery store, you save a ton of money! We've got it down to $75  week now, which we're pretty stoked about. Try it out. Besides, Trader Joe's is way more fun to shop at- plus you can always pick up some cheap seasonal flowers on your way out.