Allergy Free on a Budget

Everyone knows that Gluten Free and Allergy Free Food can be very expensive. A frozen loaf of GF bread can cost $5-6 depending on the store. The kicker! It isn't even as big as a "normal" loaf of bread! A box of 12 quarter sized cookies - $3.85. How can a family survive eating gluten free or allergy free with a limited grocery budget? We have become fans of salvage grocery stores. Never heard of them? Let me introduce you:)

This is a picture of things I have recently bought at our local salvage grocery store. The total shelf value at a typical grocery store would be......$91.10

The items on the table include: 4 boxes of Enjoy Life Cookies, 4 boxes of Betty Crocker GF cake mixes, 10 cream of tartars (for making safe baking powder), 1 bag gluten free oats, 1 bag sorghum flour, 1 jar of Sunbutter, 6 boxes of jello, 1 box of Rice Chex Cereal, 2 GF/Allergy Free Sprinkles, and 2 boxes of Chai Tea.

I paid: $11.65 a 87% savings!!!

Salvage grocery stores specialize in closeouts, scratch and dents, and "outdated" items. Not all items are outdated. As you can see in the next two pictures, the jello and the cream of tartar are not out of date. In fact, they have 2- 3 years BEFORE they "expire".

Many people squirm at the thought of shopping at one of these stores. Really? Out of date food? In reality, many of the dates are just "best by". Not a date that tells you food is no longer edible. The following link explains, that these dates are not mandated by the government. They are determined by the manufacturer. Of course, a "use by" date or a true "expiration" date is different than a "best by" date. You can see in the picture above that the cream of tartar has a "best by" date.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/01/15/cheapest-food-this-side-of-the-dumpster-salvage-grocery-stores/

To be honest, numerous boxes of cereal I purchase have the box tops ripped off. Amazing, right? People actually walk through a grocery store ripping off .10 box tops? To us though it is a blessing as Rice Chex is one of the only cereals my kiddos can eat.

My favorite finds? Bob Red Mill bargains! These two items were a huge blessing! $11.75 of goods for .75!