I should add that we often spend less because we have the freezer full of meat. Getting the fresh beef gives us a ton of variety (roast, steak, stew) and our regular grocery trips just amount to produce, butter, sauces, cheese, etc.

You can also often find things like honey in bulk from a local bee farm for cheaper then the store bought stuff.

All this little stuff adds up and I recommend pursuing it. We were getting fresh milk every week from our neighbours while their cows were producing and that stuff was the business. Fresh milk=butter, cream, and cheese.

Oh and also looking into the local berry farms in picking season, or learning how to harvest plants for tea and medicine will go a long way. We have friends that bring us freshly made rose-hip cough syrup, or freshly made apples from a guys orchard.

Basically, get yourself out of the big city and into a small town. Or make the connections and you will not regret it.