Raising Arrows
How to Afford Groceries for a Large Family
How we manage our finances to make a grocery budget that will comfortably feed a large family in today’s economy.
Let’s start with the premise that children are a blessing. This is foundational to everything else I am going to say. You will continue to find fault with my suggestions if you do not first and foremost believe that each and every life brought into your family will bless your family and not lead to your family’s destruction.
So, the million dollar question…
How do you feed a bunch of kids?
Grocery prices are high right now, so it is imperative we get creative as homemakers. I will be the first one to tell you this is not an easy task. (In fact, just last night I made a very costly mistake by choosing to shop at a store in our new city that had MUCH higher prices than the usual store I shop at–thankfully, I have a very forgiving husband.) Meal planning and grocery shopping have taken more and more thought as my family has grown. Feeding a large family is not for the faint-hearted!
If you are looking for actual numbers, I have a post from 2017 about my Large Family Aldi Grocery Budget and a podcast from the Fall of 2021 on how much we spend to stock our pantry for 3+ months.
I’d also highly recommend you check out my Large Family Meal Planning page!
So, where do you start with figuring out how much it takes to feed your kids?
1. Decide how much you can spend. This has to be a logical number, but it also has to be a personal number. There have been times in our family’s lives when buying a lot of fresh fruits and veggies was out of the question. We thrived on the days when we could gather apples in a friend’s orchard or grow our own vegetables in a garden. When I didn’t have a garden, I loved the summers when members of our church would bring the abundance of their gardens to church to share with everyone! Otherwise, fruits and veggies came from a can. And I’m not the least bit ashamed of that fact.
2. Let go of the guilt. Moms seem to have more than their fair share of guilt to deal with. Feeding our families is a biggie! I know you would love to feed them organically. I know you wish your meat was hormone free. I know you feel like a bad mom when you read all those great blogs about eating whole foods or only raw or mostly organic, but #1 (see above) on this list will ALWAYS trump your perfect mom dreams. Rather than live in a world of discontent, learn to be thankful for the grocery budget you do have!
Fore more insight, listen to this podcast: