Grocery Shopping

I also can't believe how much costs at the grocery store have risen... it takes a lot more money & I walk out with a lot less :ohwell:

I haven't noticed. If anything, I'm spending less this year than I was last year.

Me too, but it's because I am eating a lot less. Things have gotten more expensive, even produce. A bag of apples is $5 at least. We go to Aldi- it is quite a bit of a savings compared to places like Kroger or Giant Eagle or even Walmart.

Due to work hours, we go grocery shopping an hour before closing on a Tuesday night - there is USUALLY (not always) meat marked down for quick sale, and sometimes you can get a hot bbq chicken for half price There is sometimes markdowns on fruit and vegetables and dairy goods but not really that often.

Regarding meat, I do 'splurge' and buy a packet of shredded ham and use that to make a lot of things - mostly for my partner. Otherwise if there isn't anything on special we will normally buy some mince/ground beef as it's cheap, so are sausages (This may be a regional thing though) I'll sometimes get chicken legs for something different, as they're pretty cheap too.


I buy a bag of flour and keep it in the fridge, and every couple of days I make up mini 'damper' pizza type things that are good to give my partner for breakfast and snacks, and they're not too bad with calories either, depending on what I put on top. I pretty much just use flour and water and mix together until it is a dough, though you can rub in some butter to the flour or add a bit of oil if you want. I used some light sour cream & flour the other day, and I've seen people use yoghurt and flour (The dough was nice and light that day, with a hint of sour cream) I'll put a bit of sauce on and then add combinations of tomato, onion, jalepenos, ham and cheese. I make them fairly small because then I can have one


Chilli is another great meal to make cheaply. I make up a batch in the slowcooker and add kidney beans and chick peas usually to get it to go further. It's a great meal to do every so often because it can make enough for a couple of days/meals and you can change it up so it's not the same every time. We often have it plain, but it's nice with rice or pasta, or with nachos. We have even spread it on a pizza base before and cooked it with some capsicum, onion & cheese on top, then added fresh tomato when it came out of the oven - it was awesome!


We do have a lot of meat-free meals too I love making soups - especially tomato based ones and they're also budget friendly!

You could shop at a Farmer's Market for your fruit/vegetables way more affordable, quality is better and you've got more variety.
(Here in California where I live we have that option.)

To cut down on things like protein (meat) and so forth you could buy it straight from the butcher and prepare it yourself.
(Yeah it's a little bit more work then buying it packaged but you save money in the long run.)

Even better you could get involved with a food delivery service where they bring you your food frozen then you can use/prepare that food how you want.

Inflation/High Transportation Gas Prices is what's causing food prices to rise in price.