I'm Running Out of Food

MagJam2004

Not sure if anyone else is having this problem but with pay day tomorrow, I'm beginning to mentally prepare for the trip to the grocery store. My issue is that I will drop $100 tomorrow and have enough food for the week. Just the week. After the bag of artichoke hearts, 6 or 7 bags of vegetables, the container of special cheese, and the whole wheat bread only touched by virgins on a full moon, my cart is full. More importantly, attempting to craft meals that cover all the bases means by next Friday, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel...am I the only one?

Something has got to give. Either I am horribly ignorant of good shopping technique, which I am more than willing to admit, or I am missing the easy stuff. Like a one-meal deal kind of stew, but without the heaps of cornbread and 3/4 lbs of ground beef per serving. Is there anyone with good, eat off of it for a couple days kind of recipes?

mrsfyredude

... and the whole wheat bread only touched by virgins on a full moon, my cart is full.

I'm sorry, I can't offer any advice at the moment, but this did make me LOL! :flowerforyou:

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Your spending $100 for the week for how many people?? Not just yourself????

I spend about $15.00-25.00 on fruits and vegetables for the week from our farmers market and then spend $60.00 every 2 weeks for eggs and farm raised meats from a local meat market..........

So my average grocery bill for 2 adults and 2 dogs ranges from $45.00 - 55.00 a week.

dawningr

Frozen vegetables, in season fruit only, rice, beans, eggs.

stormbornkraken

I buy 5 dozen eggs (nearly every month) because they are quick, relatively cheap and convenient. Not sure if you are vegan or not but those last for many meals even in my family of four.
Hard boiled for breakfast or on salads for lunch and dinner, scrambled with some black beans, omelet with veggies, etc.

MagJam2004

*facepalm*

nope...just me....

Francl27

I spend about $140 a week for 4 people. Bread, 7 bags of frozen veggies and cheese would cost me $16 maybe... What kind of store do you shop at?

mamma_nee

uuuuuuum where I shop it costs me over 450.00 weekly to buy enough food to feed my family of 4 ! I don`t know how people just getting a job and living on their own are suppose to make it in life !!

jessakittyis

You should shop what's on sale not what you feel like eating. It's fairly easy to look at a store flyer and see whats going to be on sale then look up healthy recipes using whats cheapest. Of course you will still want to buy stuff that's not on sale but it'll help if you take savings where you can get them.

katinachaos

I actually plan my meals on Sunday in front of the computer with the sale ads up. The store I go to (Meijer) can do an online shopping list, so if it's on sale, it's an ingredient in meals for the week. I get together with a friend Monday nights and we prep breakfasts and lunches for the rest of the week (sometimes I do some stuff Sunday instead). Portioned out baked egg muffins or fritattas, hard boiled eggs, and yogurt for breakfasts. Salad in a jar for lunches or leftovers from a big pot of whatever I decide to make from what's on sale. Between the 2 of us we get 5 days of breakfasts and lunches, along with at least a dinner or 2, for ~$50. Sign up for coupons or offers through your stores, too. I actually like having the stuff on sale being what I end up making much less stressful than trying to come up with ideas completely out of thin air.

MagJam2004

Eggs are good.

My wife and I are pricing out the lumber to build a couple box gardens in the backyard to keep up with my sudden spike in spinach consumption. That is one money pit right there, buying tubs of greens all the time.

Jade0529

Buy what is in season regarding fruits and vegetables. Artichoke hearts are not in season and thus more expensive.
Lentils are great for adding a "meat" component to dishes either when you don't want to add meat or want to extend what you have (ie add lentils and use less meat)
When I cook vegetables I always cook onions, garlic and ginger first as they are good for you and inexpensive.
Eggs make a great meal -omelets, Fritata, etc
Home made soups (lentil is one of my favs) are easy to make and stretch your $$ far

Do you own a slow cooker? There are so many meals you can make in that with inexpensive meats for example

MagJam2004

Katinachaos, that is amazing...

The OCD in me just did a cart wheel thinking about it. A quick spreadsheet, a database of prices and food listings and I could even see how much each meal is going to cost in and of itself. And then next...the world.......

I can see what your saying, JessaKittyis. Not following my stomach around the aisles has got to make my life easier.

Mamma_nee, we should have never grown up. It was a trap.

dark12222000

$100 can feed four for two weeks, if used very carefully. A few general principles:

1. Beans and Grains
These can be full of calories since they are primary carbs, so you don't need much. Buy in bulk, and never buy canned. Buy beans dried and then just soak them overnight - they taste better and are much cheaper. Buy rice and couscous in bulk. Don't buy israeli (pearl) couscouse, but buy regular couscous (israeli couscous is delicious, but kinda expensive and not very nutritious)

2. Eggs
Buy Grade B unbleached eggs. Aside from being much better for the environment, they are so cheap as to be almost free. Of course, monitor your intake since they tend to have a fair bit of cholesterol. There is no taste difference between grades or colors of egg, simply size.

3. Local vegetables
It's expensive to buy imported kale, but it's really cheap to get whatever is grown down the street. Chances are you can get a ton of great vegetables for very cheap.

4. If you buy meat, buy unpopular cuts
Beef Tongue, Chicken Livers, etc. These are often the best tasting portion of the animal, but frequently people aren't quite sure how to cook it.

5. Don't buy premade stock, buy bullion.
Stock can be really overpriced for no good reason. You get literally the same thing when you buy bullion, and it takes 40 seconds to convert it to stock. You can also more easily thin the stock out and cut down on your sodium intake.

Finally, a last few major points:
6. Buy bulk
7. Don't buy what is "cheap" in terms of direct cost. You want the best price per weight, not simply the lowest direct cost.
8. Offbrand is not only cheaper, it's usually the exact same product. This isn't always true (pizza crust, tortillas) but it often is (tissues, baking mixes).
9. Membership only places are almost always worth the little bit of money upfront, as long as you go on a regular basis.
10. Compare, compare, compare. Sometimes places like Target are really cheap for some things (Yogurt) and really expensive for others (bread). Don't be shy about going to a few stores to get the best deals.

MagJam2004

No slow cooker, but I do have a stay at home wife? Might be worth exploring.

Lentils have shown up in a lot of things I've read. Tomorrow, they will be bought.

callmeampersand

If you have a Target near you, get their Target Debit Card, it saves you 5% each time you shop, plus they have a free app called Cartwheel where you can get "Coupons" for percentages off certain products, plus then if you go to their website you can print off coupons, then of course regular newspaper coupons. I went from 196 w/tax before any coupons to 161 w/tax and coupons and target debit card discount. It def. starts to add up.

I totally feel you though on having to scrounge for food right before payday, it gets frustrating because i try and eat healthy all week and then by the end of the pay period i am having to eat the unhealthy options just so i dont go hungry lol.

Jade0529

If you have a local second hand store you will probably find a slow cooker there. The ones near me always have at least 1-2 on the shelf.

Your stay at home wife will appreciate the slow cooker. I am sure she works her butt off doing a million things you don't even realize when you are gone

MagJam2004

Dark, I am going to skip the Simon and Garfunkel reference and just say thank you.

Ampersa, I'll see about that. My fear is when you said "Target...Card". I think my wife heard you type it and I'm afraid of having that in the house. Might be worth it for the coupons but might cost more in the kids clothes, household decorations, bathroom rugs, etc....

MagJam2004

Jade, absolutely. I have three kids at home and whatever preconceptions I MIGHT have had were dispelled when she had surgery and I stayed home for a week to take care of those monsters. Stay at home moms rock. Stay at home dads for that matter too.

jwdieter

If the desire is to lose weight, buying super special food won't help. Regular stuff can provide a balanced, healthy diet at affordable prices.

aNewYear123

Get your wife a slow cooker - cooking slowly for a long time (like all day) can turn a cheaper, tougher cut of meat into something very tasty. Shop the sales and forget the 'gourmet' types of fresh veggies, buy whatever is in season or buy frozen. Bread - Stroehmann small is only 110 cals for 2 slices if you are willing to eat white bread, if you want whole grain or wheat there are plenty of options that aren't too bad price/calorie wise for that either, just not the fresh, artisan breads.

Good luck.

golgoroo

If you're lucky enough to have an Asian or other ethnic market in town, veggies there are usually less expensive. And you can get some cool new veggies to try that you'll never see in the chain groceries. Some markets also have fish & various meats. And the spices...oh, the spices! So much fun! :-)

gatorginger

Like many of the others said buy whats on sale that week, if it is something you really enjoy stock up on that when it is on sale. Once an item goes on sale it usually isn't on sale again for 6 weeks so if it is something you can store stock up on it while it is on sale. If it's not on sale and you just got to have it cut back on something else.

I coupon and I spend around $50 a week for a household of 2, I shop at Publix and Winn Dixie. They have digital coupons online for both stores. There are some great coupon blogs out there my favorite two are www.mycouponexpert.com and www.southernsavers.com check them out they tell what deals and coupons are out there

lynleeg88

Your spending $100 for the week for how many people?? Not just yourself????

I spend about $15.00-25.00 on fruits and vegetables for the week from our farmers market and then spend $60.00 every 2 weeks for eggs and farm raised meats from a local meat market..........

So my average grocery bill for 2 adults and 2 dogs ranges from $45.00 - 55.00 a week.

:0

Where do you live??

Me and my husband, minus dog and cat supplies spent about $30 at the farmers market for two weeks, running out so didn't plan that well...not good.

We spent about $150 on groceries if not more at the store. :frown:

Mind you, we had nothing in the house before we went so, it was a stock up run too on toiletries and such too.

OneImaginaryGirl

Don't feel bad. I spend about the same, or more. But I always go to Whole Foods. I try to buy their 365 brand, but that's not always easy. Is your store expensive?

sjp_511

I spend around $150/week for my husband and I. I plan meals for the week then create a shopping list and stick to it. I waste very little food since I have a plan for how to use it. I am horrible at shopping the sales but I do stock up on meats when they are on sale and freeze.

elsyoommen

If you're lucky enough to have an Asian or other ethnic market in town, veggies there are usually less expensive. And you can get some cool new veggies to try that you'll never see in the chain groceries. Some markets also have fish & various meats. And the spices...oh, the spices! So much fun! :-)

Yes - go to ethnic stores for stuff. I agree that East Asian stores (Chinese Vietnamese etc) are great for fish meats and vegetables, and tofu. South Asian (Indian Pakistani etc) stores are great for getting your dried lentils, chickpeas etc. If you are gluten free it is a great place to find chickpea flour and other non-wheat based flours and of course spices, sauces, pickles. Middle-eastern places are great for this too, plus they have a great selection of nuts and dried fruits.

If you live in one of the major Canadian cities you should check out T&T for this stuff. Great place.

mrsjones2point0

I spend about $150 a week for 5 people. I meal plan ahead of time.

Definitely buy a crock pot, you can get them cheap and they are so worth it!

And I haven't tried Asian markets, but our hispanic markets are the best for cheap meats and veggies, oh, and spices in the hispanic food sections of all grocery stores and about half the price of the actual spice section (seriously, check it out, before you go buy a $6 bottle of cumin, go to the hispanic section, it's half the price there).

wozkaa

2 adults, 2 toddlers, 1 dog here.
We are on a pretty strict budget (both adults not working) so when the salad goodies run out it's frozen vege time. I always have a few bags in the freezer, and they can be great to add to bakes/soups/stews as well.
I find the budget has to stretch as DH and I have skim milk, low fat cheese - and the toddlers have full fat milk, cheese & yoghurt. And butter. Thankfully I now make my own yoghurt so that helps.

Lentils, chickpeas etc are great to either have a meat free day a week or add to bulk up protein when using meat sparingly.

I have a slowcooker, and it's really good. I can put things in there when the babies are napping, then go about our business for the day & just prep some veges fresh for dinner. It's a big one, so I can cook a bulk batch of casseroles or just meat depending on what I can get cheapest.

Bellusion

We spend $100/week for a family of 4 (one is a baby so doesn't eat, but the $100 does include her diapers).

1.) Make a menu and a shopping list ahead of time. Base your menu on sales.
2.) Stock up when things are on sale. I just bought 6 boxes of whole wheat pasta because it was on sale. There were no good meat sales this week so I didn't buy any, I had enough in my freezer from shopping the sales.
3.) Do you have an Aldi's? I buy a lot there. It isn't all cheaper, but a lot of it is.
4.) Frozen veggies, dried beans, canned salmon, eggs, brown rice are staples in our house. I eat fresh fruit and a big salad (whatever is on sale/in season) every day, but other than that.. we eat mostly frozen veggies.
5.) If you have to pack lunches (I do for husband), use leftovers instead of buying special foods just for that. I'm a good cook so he doesn't mind at all.
6.) We always buy offbrand unless the name brand is cheaper.
7.) We make almost everything from scratch.

MagJam2004

One Imaginary Girl, Sailor Moon for the win...

You guys have been awesome.

Step one, get online and find some recipes.
Step two, build a week long meal plan, and stick to it
Step three, get my wife a crock pot
Step four, get my wife some flowers and chocolate
Step five, shop around

I've never even considered frozen veggies, so that I will need to try.