The Food Bill

Recently, it seems our food bill has sky-rocketed. As the chief chef, meal planner and shopper, I have been feeling quite the failure of late in this department. However, last weekend, we started talking about food costs and I had a realization: Our food costs are reflecting all the life changes we have had lately. Here are the changes that I can think of that have driven up the grocery bill:

• We don't go out to eat anymore. Dining out is absolutely painful with two little ones.
• I am home for breakfast and lunch everyday. No more lunches out for me, no more breakfast meetings either. No wonder I go through so many bagels in the morning.
• La Nina is home for lunch 5 days a week now. This explains the peanut butter and jelly consumption.
• Of course, there is Maggie's wheat sensitivity that means we now need to stock two types of pasta, crackers and cookies.

No wonder it seems like all I do is spend money on groceries. No wonder every shopping trip is more than I expect it to be. No wonder I am always out of something. It sounds funny but I never really stopped to think about why the grocery spending went up, but I certainly noticed the increase. The good news is it is truly cheaper to eat at home than it is to eat out. It's a good thing we don't live closer to Whole Foods.