Rising Cost of Groceries?

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kh0215
kh0215 Posts: 56 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What are you doing to help offset the cost of buying healthy food for you and your family?

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  • jules0516
    jules0516 Posts: 158
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    Since I've went healthy..the rest pretty much have also..so on weekends we don't eat out anymore. Too bad for the kids-but they don't need it either..People can save alot if they'd cut eating out all together or atleast cut down. For a family of 4 at McDonalds or any other place gets expensive quickly.:glasses:
  • emsibun
    emsibun Posts: 208
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    ... Eating half as much as I used too?

    joke :laugh:

    I'll be back in a bit with some serious answers *adopts a more serious face* :grumble:
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
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    ... Eating half as much as I used too?

    joke :laugh:

    I'll be back in a bit with some serious answers *adopts a more serious face* :grumble:

    No joke for me...we really DO eat less. We don't go out to eat pretty much EVER, so I cook a lot at home. Insead of having 3 sides, we have 1. Seriously.
  • sandyw127
    sandyw127 Posts: 131 Member
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    we shop at aldis. and we are eating much less so it goes a little further.
  • JanerZzz
    JanerZzz Posts: 276
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    Going out to eat less. I've been couponing and being strict with my grocery list - making meal plans ahead of time and shopping only once a week helps me stick to the budget. Couponmom.com is a good site to help you find deals, coupons etc.
  • laugustine
    laugustine Posts: 7
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    We also shop at Aldi and Target. You can double up on manufacturer's coupons and the Target coupons and market pantry and archer farms have a lot of good products at Target for less than the name brand. We also are trying not to go out to eat as much, which saves tons of money.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    I love to make large meals on the weekends and then have leftovers throughout the week. This usually averages out to $1 per serving. I also cut down the serving size as it's the easiest and best ways to cut calories and decrease cost.
  • Juniper3411
    Juniper3411 Posts: 167 Member
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    I need to get better about couponing! I know it can be a huge help. I will check out that site! My husband keeps complaining about how much we are spending on food since I started this diet, but I keep telling him that it is worth it. We spend a lot more going out to eat (which lamentabley we still do! But it is mostly just to get out of the house because we have a new baby and I am still on maternity leave!)
  • Suzy12
    Suzy12 Posts: 284
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    I struggle with this too. I like to buy organic, but in Wisconsin, that means flying the goods in and what's the "green" effect of that? And then the weather hasn't helped either. I bought organic celery yesterday, 2 heads, and one was completely eaten up on the inside. I will put in a big garden again this year (plus receive my weekly CSA box) and then I freeze a lot! Green beans are excellent blanched a bit and frozen and that way I'm not buying as much through the winter.

    Any other suggestions? I'm sure open!
  • Mayor_West
    Mayor_West Posts: 246 Member
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    Buy in bulk- Costco, Sam's etc. can have some fantastic bargains.
  • kh0215
    kh0215 Posts: 56 Member
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    I am kinda going the opposite with sides. I am serving more veggies and less meat. I already coupon what I can, but when you eat a lot of "unprocessed" things coupons only go so far.
    I can in the summer. I am thinking about what else I can "put up" during harvest. It is a lot of work though when you are juggling a full time job and three kids and their activities.
    We don't eat out a lot. But in general, the cost of groceries are going up and up.
  • kh0215
    kh0215 Posts: 56 Member
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    I am kinda going the opposite with sides. I am serving more veggies and less meat. I already coupon what I can, but when you eat a lot of "unprocessed" things coupons only go so far.
    I can in the summer. I am thinking about what else I can "put up" during harvest. It is a lot of work though when you are juggling a full time job and three kids and their activities.
    We don't eat out a lot. But in general, the cost of groceries are going up and up.
  • red01angel
    red01angel Posts: 806 Member
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    ... Eating half as much as I used too?

    joke :laugh:

    I'll be back in a bit with some serious answers *adopts a more serious face* :grumble:

    No joke for me...we really DO eat less. We don't go out to eat pretty much EVER, so I cook a lot at home. Insead of having 3 sides, we have 1. Seriously.

    Same here. I do tend to go out once or twice a week, but when I'm home I usually keep it pretty simple, and I only have to buy for one, so...
  • maureenB7
    maureenB7 Posts: 55 Member
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    Shop at Aldi's for some items, wait for Dillon's(Kroger) to have one of their amazing sales and use coupons when possible. Aldi's has great prices on fresh produce most of the time. Some of their Fit & Active products are good and they have 100% money back guarantee if you don't like something. I agree with everyone on the not eating out as much too.
  • kh0215
    kh0215 Posts: 56 Member
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    I don't have access to a Target. I shop at Krogers, and make Walmart price match Audi's produce prices.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    For me I've got a 2500 square foot garden, potatoes, beets, turnip, carrots, garlic, tomato, sunflowers, peppers, zucchini...

    I planted raspberries and rhubarb last year, they're a waiting game, don't produce before the second year, blueberries will be going in this year but they'll take 3 years or more to produce, might as well start now. Also planning to add Stevia to the garden this year, at least the herb bed.

    If you go with a garden, even if its just a window box plant only stuff you know you'll use, nothing hurts more than a bumper crop of something your family won't even use when what you really wanted didn't turn out. I do dedicate a small corner of the garden to experimental plantings, to see how they do in my zone and to see if we like them or not.

    Doesn't allow for bananas or citrus, but will re-examine when the greenhouse is up.

    Buy bulk whenever possible. I buy a 12 pack of canned soup when it goes on for $5 or 6, so 50 cents a can, when regular price on them here is $1.49 each, so $12 saved per case that I purchase. Buy bulk! 1kg of almonds costs me $12, but for the little sleeves at the grocery store that are about 100grams are $1.99 so 19.90... saves me $7 with every 1kg bag I buy. Portion it out when you get home, I use mason jars for this. Baking soda which I use for house-hold cleaning is $5/kg at the grocer's but I can buy it loose for about $2.30/kg and I use lots of it.
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
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    Hopefully my garden will supply at least some of my produce this year. There is a local buffalo farm near me and I'd like to eventually buy half a buffalo. First I'll need a deep freeze.
  • 343paul
    343paul Posts: 24
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    All my food cash ends up in the gas tank. Anything left is BJs wholesale....
  • MOMvsFOOD
    MOMvsFOOD Posts: 654 Member
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    DEFINITELY ALDI!!!!

    CHECK OUT MY BLOG ARTICLE ON STRETCHING THE BUCKS!

    http://momvsfood.blogspot.com/p/systems-for-healthy-wallet.html

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