Recently, I left my job in retail to pursue something I’m really passionate about - which has turned out to be a lot of things one of them food and cooking. With my new found time and even smaller budget, I took a close look at what we were spending on groceries. I was in shock! I was using FreshDirect - a very convenient online grocery store in NYC that delivers everything to your door (for a much higher price I’ve realized). On average I was ordering about $150/week worth of groceries, and we were still eating out a lot, and I was always stopping at the grocery store, spending an additional $40 to make a dinner complete. Once I wasn’t working 50 hours a week, I knew something had to change and I no longer had the excuse of “no time” to justify our excess food budget. I also wanted to make our diet healthier and contribute to our local farms, etc. This is something thats so popular right now, everyone is writing about and attempting to do. I know some of this can make your budget go up - but I think its about compromise, not extremism.

This is the beginning of our experiment - how low can we go? Rising food, gas, and travel prices make things even tighter. But we believe we can prevail: we can live and eat and enjoy our friendships over great food without sacrificing our bank account. I’m going to post our weekly menu, resources, food receipts, videos and images. Please post your suggestions and things you’d like to see!

Disclosure: We are fortunate enough to live in NYC with a great amount of resources and alternatives that make it possible to live on a small budget (minus rent). I’m going to try to shop often at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s which those of you outside NYC are more likely to access. I’m also hoping those of you who do not live in the NY area can contribute to how you cut your food budget and are still able to cook the things you love.