Yup, eating LC the way I do costs more money. Hey, take away my bulk purchases of whole grains, the homemade bread, the lightly ground cereals, the home grown 'taters, the bulk bags of non-instant yellow rice, the pastas, bananas by the 20 lbs or case, and add in my own goatmilk, chickens, turkeys and pork, and we ate much cheaper. Of course, we've moved away from the area to a much more expensive region (hay $6.00 bale by the ton, instead of $1.00 max to grow and cut it, food costs much higher due to everything being trucked in, for the most part.)
Do I want to go back? Just did, for a visit, and food costs have risen Back 'Ome as well. That vast discrepancy that I remember just ain't so.
But next week I'm dropping a ram off to the butchers, and I'm hoping to buy another pig come fall. Meanwhile, chicken legs are still on special, and I've got another litter of rabbits coming up for butchering. My daughters' quail and chickens are laying still; so I can still get "free" eggs. And maybe I'll trade some mutton for some goatmeat. The garden is producing some greens, the tomatoes and cukes are almost here, and the broccoli (hope it beats the worms) is heading.
All in all, it costs us a bit more to eat LC, but my size is getting down into off-the-rack (cheaper). Soon I'll be able to go to regular dept stores to do all my shopping, not at Omar the tentmakers.
I consider my improving health a fair trade.