Where the money went

          Friday's are payday and the day we do the grocery shopping. This is something everyone does and is thought to be so simple. It hasn't been that simple for me since I started eating and cooking better. When we just ate to stay fed I could get a weeks groceries for $50. And it was all at one store, either Wal Mart or Target. This was before I started to despise the popular super centers for their poor food quality, choices and ohmygod the produce prices! 
          This brings me to point number two, (and a little bit of a rant) I go to at least two different places for my food now. The first being a local farmers market for all of my fruits, veggies, and nuts. "Why go to the trouble? Can't you just buy those at the grocery store?" you may be asking. I'll tell you. Price and quality. The last time I bought produce from the grocery store I stupidly paid $2.99 each for mangos, got my kiwis at 3 for $1, and a little thing of tomatos for $3. And this is only a very small example of the amount of produce I buy each week. A few days later when I ran out of my over priced produce, my mom and I went to the farmers market down the street from my house. I was amazed to see the prices! There mangos are $1 each, tomatos are $1.49 a pound, and my kiwis are 4 for a dollar. Now these are items I buy every week. I know what taste good and fresh, and what tastes like a box. I also know when I'm being ripped off! Why would I buy produce from a big super center that doesn't taste good for twice the money when I can buy it cheaper and it tastes better from the farmers market? Also we have two farmers market's to chose from and the prices are nicely reflected.
          Now, you maybe wondering about that second store. Well, the second store is for meat, dairy, and regular cooking staples. We have a specific grocery store we go to because they have good meat and decent prices (again even they have higher produce prices).
          The name of this post though is "Where the money went" so back to that point. As I said earlier I used to spend $50 a week and we ate frozen and boxed meals a lot. Since I've cut those out and have started cooking from scratch my grocery bill has risen, significantly. This week I shelled out a honking $125 exactly. $40.12 went to the farmers market and $84.88 went to the grocery store. So when you think about it that averages to $17.86 a day to feed a family of four good, healthy, home cooked meals. That's less than a trip to any fast food restaurant. Why did I ever do it any different?