Gardening to Save Money?

We skipped gardening last year.

Partly this was because my perfectonistic self couldn't do as much in the garden as usual, now that I have a full-time job, so the 2017 garden was stressful. And part of the decision was because we really need a freezer before we do a big garden again.

I also wanted to compare grocery budgets for a garden year and a non-garden year.  I did that today.  I totted up the totals for July, August, Sept, October and November for 2017 and 2018, and compared them.  We spent $135.51 more on groceries in the year that we didn't garden.

That's not much.

But that's not the whole story, either.  First, we currently don't separate out food from other stuff we buy at the grocery store like contact solution, dish soap, toilet paper, etc.  Someday we will make those things a separate line item, and someday will we buy them someplace other than the grocery store wherein they will probably be cheaper. 

The other factor is my head and my husband's vacation.  Gluten Boy adds a LOT of $ to the grocery bill, and he was in Germany Sept 1-21.  I got a nasty concussion on September 12. For the next few weeks while waiting for the love of my life to return home, I was in survival mode. I could barely keep myself fed and clothed.  I cooked up some potatoes and ate those for days. The grocery bill was not exactly normal in September.  In fact, is was dramatically lower than normal because for half of September, I spent every available moment in the dark.  After the concussion, I went to the grocery store exactly once, and that was for absolutely necessities.  (Specifically: Food that can be easily prepared and probably isn't very healthy!)

This year we are planning to do a moderate garden.  Just tomatoes, lettuce, beans, and maybe some basil.  My husband wants to try corn, which we don't usually bother with, but now we will have plenty of room.  It probably won't make much of a dent in the garden, but homegrown tomatoes taste amazing, and we do eat at least a tiny bit healthier when we say, "We went to all the trouble to plant, harvest, and clean these -- might as well eat them!"