Reducing Grocery Costs Tips on LCHF Diet
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cookie121110
Posts: 9 Member
I completely understand that eating these types of foods compared to junky processed foods like rice and soups, are going to be more expensive. But does anyone have any tips on reducing the grocery costs?
Right now I shop at Aldis for my canned tuna, meats (unless somewhere else has a better deal), frozen veggies, milk and egg products. I do not like their cheese or lunch meats, so I buy them else where. Do not belong to Sam's Club and do not have a Costco around me.
Just wondering if anyone had any tips?
Also feel free to add me as I've been doing this for 2 weeks and so far have lost 2.4 pounds P.S. My name is Jess.
Right now I shop at Aldis for my canned tuna, meats (unless somewhere else has a better deal), frozen veggies, milk and egg products. I do not like their cheese or lunch meats, so I buy them else where. Do not belong to Sam's Club and do not have a Costco around me.
Just wondering if anyone had any tips?
Also feel free to add me as I've been doing this for 2 weeks and so far have lost 2.4 pounds
P.S. My name is Jess. 0
Replies
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Buy in bulk. Seriously, save up and get a quarter or half a cow from a local farm. Not only are you likely to get better meat, but you also get the per-pound cost savings from buying in bulk. As an added bonus, you can often get the backfat that you can render, or have them render it for you, into lard.
Cut out the middle man. Buy straight from the farm whenever you can. Go to farmers' markets whenever possible, too, or find a co-op. Again, better quality for lower prices, usually. Don't be afraid to shop around and travel a little bit. The time and gas money spent not shopping at a one-stop place is often outweighed by the cost-savings, especially when you're talking a several dollar a pound difference in certain meats.
Shop your local Amish, if you have any. While Ohio and Pennsylvania have the largest communities, the Amish are in communities in a number of states in the US, at least. Other countries may have similar types of populations. Check out any stores they run, as they often carry fairly good quality food for lower prices. It can also be a great place to get various things in bulk that you can't find elsewhere (I've found things like xantham gum and citric acid, which are hard to find anywhere except online).
Buy the cheap cuts, they're better anyway. Sirloin's expensive, but liver, pork belly/side, and whatnot generally aren't. The cheap cuts are often the higher fat ones, which is what you want on LCHF.
Buy in season. This goes for both vegetables and meat. Certain meats, such as lamb, are "seasonal," as well, with prices lower in the spring than in other times of the year. Get the food while its in season and freeze it for other times of the year.
Buy "raw" or "whole" and process yourself. Invest in a dehydrator, and you can buy or grow your own fresh herbs and spices that you can dehydrate and grind yourself. This works especially well for the ones that tend to be pricey or hard to find. Buy fatback and render it yourself into lard (it's really easy, though time-consuming, and you get the added bonus of the scratchings -- a tasty byproduct of the rendering process). The same goes for beef tallow. You can also make your own jerky this way. And gelatin snacks.
Get creative with ground meats. Let's face it, hamburger is one of the cheapest meats you can get. If you're on a budget, you'll likely eat a lot of it. You don't need to choose between burgers and meatloaf all the time. Find recipes out there and it won't get old so quickly.
Remember that cost differences aren't just in the food. Take a good look at your medical expenses in the past years compared to your time on low carb (especially if you stick to whole foods). Don't forget to include the over the counter stuff, too, and times you've taken off for being sick, even if you didn't buy anything or go to the doctor. Odds are, you'll find you've spent less on cold medicine, antihistamines (and tissues!), doctor sick visits, and more, because you're more healthy overall and have improved your immune system.0 -
Wow, thanks for the great reply! I will look into these. 0
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Since having a family, I have found the need to shop sales, especially for meat and cheese. I frequent 3 grocery stores and look at their weekly flyers. When meat is on sale I stock up as much as I have in my budget (and in my freezer). Beef hasn't been on sale in forever so I've been doing more pork or chicken lately. Cheese, Kraft specifically, has been on an AMAZING deal so every week I've been stocking up. I also know when I really do need ground beef and I need to switch it up, where the cheapest place is when I have to pay regular prices. Like Dragonwolf pointed out, you can buy the fatty meats because fat is good! They are generally the cheapest. You can buy the 73/27 ground beef (which I found cheapest at Wal Mart if its not on sale...buy it in the 5 pound tube).
When not doing low carb I eat out way more, so that is also a savings. My grocery bill goes up, but overall I have more money in my wallet. Meal planning also goes hand in hand with this. I know what I'm making for about a 10 day stretch. It depends what I have in hand and what is on sale. This also cuts down on the urge to eat out when I get home from work and just don't want to think about dinner.0 -
I understand the price of the items is higher per volume.. But if you keep your calories modest and your carbs low, them you might not see a huge jump in your grocery bill. When I'm not dieting I eat all the healthy plus starches and sugars and in volumes that equal a days calories in every meal. For me low carb equals lower bill. (Also you tend to eat out less which cuts out lots of cash)
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For ground beef, go in the early morning and look for the marked down packages that have to be sold that day. Where I live, it's almost half price. We buy 80/20 or even fattier if it's available.
Also, the butcher will usually give you fat scraps from steaks/roasts for free. They are going to throw them away. Just ask. Sometimes, they still have meat attached to them!0 -
Butchers are also very happy to give you bones to make broth either for free or a very minimal cost. It's a cheap way to get a delicious drink, soup or stock.
Buy cheap cuts of meat and slow cook or braise them. You can use the bone broth to cook them in for extra flavour.
I have friends with chickens and pay them for their extra eggs. If you can buy them straight from the farmer or farmer's markets they are much cheaper.
I buy cheese on sale, grate it (a food processor make this a quick job) and then freeze it. Don't bother thawing it for cooking, just toss it straight in and it warms up quickly.
Like Dragonwolf suggested, I buy a 1/4 beast in bulk. It's super cheap. You can team up with friends or workmates and split it if it's too much meat. They may also throw in the bones for free if you ask.0 -
cookie121110 wrote: »Wow, thanks for the great reply! I will look into these.
I tried to add you as a friend but it crashes the app. Not sure if it is the website or your settings.
-Dawlfin0 -
dawlfin318 wrote: »cookie121110 wrote: »Wow, thanks for the great reply! I will look into these.
I tried to add you as a friend but it crashes the app. Not sure if it is the website or your settings.
-Dawlfin
I sent you a friend request 0 -
i actually do not think its more expensive overall to eat this way. you have less packaging, less waste. If you buy in bulk, on sale, and in season (for produce).0
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I've thought of buying a whole cow. I don't necessarily have a couple grand to lay out right now and most of the online places are the more expensive grass-fed beef. I'm not that committed to require grass-fed only beef. I am probably going to buy a whole lamb and at least half a hog soon.
That and I am also going to talk to some of the local food stores and meat markets about bulk prices. I do know that my local Publix wasn't eager to give me bulk prices, at least not when I was talking about buying in the 20-40 pound (10-20 kg) range.0 -
If you do buy super fresh eggs you might find peeling them after boiling difficult (I raise chickens so I know from experience) just add a little vinegar to the water and bring it to a boil BEFORE adding the eggs. You'll notice a huge improvement.
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Cherie1n2n3n4 wrote: »If you do buy super fresh eggs you might find peeling them after boiling difficult (I raise chickens so I know from experience) just add a little vinegar to the water and bring it to a boil BEFORE adding the eggs. You'll notice a huge improvement.
We also raise chickens and this is the ONE complaint we get from anyone who uses our eggs. They peel horribly. Make ugly deviled eggs. But we've found if you add baking soda to the water it helps a lot too. Then out of a dozen boiled eggs you might end up with two ugly ones. This seems to work for our chicken, duck and turkey eggs we have.
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we get 1/2 cow & a pig every year
freeze /can what we can
& its there- sure high cost in the begining but then you have it & much better quality
usually LOL0 -
fludderbye wrote: »we get 1/2 cow & a pig every year
freeze /can what we can
& its there- sure high cost in the begining but then you have it & much better quality
usually LOL
We do the same. We buy a whole cow and split it with the in laws. We raise our own pigs for butcher and we raise our own egg layers and fryer chickens, ducks and turkeys.
I know not everyone can but the prices of a whole animal is so much cheaper and i know my animals are healthier as they are fed high quality feed and/or grass fed, no antibiotics or hormones.
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Cherie1n2n3n4 wrote: »I understand the price of the items is higher per volume.. But if you keep your calories modest and your carbs low, them you might not see a huge jump in your grocery bill. When I'm not dieting I eat all the healthy plus starches and sugars and in volumes that equal a days calories in every meal. For me low carb equals lower bill. (Also you tend to eat out less which cuts out lots of cash)
I definitely second this! When I was not eating low carb I was only eating one meal a day usually but it was a HUGE binge of like 4-5 corn dogs and a half a bag of frozen fries or like 4 frozen burritos and a package of rice sides, or a whole frozen pizza (ate a lot of frozen junk). Even though that stuff may be cheaper, I was eating tons of it at once. Since I started eating low carb, my fridge and pantry are more stacked than they ever have been before because the food lasts so much longer. I'm still eating almost 1900 calories a day, which doesn't feel like deprivation at all, but since it's mostly from fat I'm still eating a lot less and getting a lot fuller for a lot longer. Even though my boyfriend is still eating carbs, even he is eating quite a bit less than the huge meals we used to share in. Plus, you get what you pay for. I'd rather invest in real food because before I would just blow money on snacks after grocery shopping anyway. Now if we have extra money to go out for a "treat" I usually buy myself a non-food item instead.
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Dragonwolf wrote: »Buy in bulk. Seriously, save up and get a quarter or half a cow from a local farm. Not only are you likely to get better meat, but you also get the per-pound cost savings from buying in bulk. As an added bonus, you can often get the backfat that you can render, or have them render it for you, into lard.
Cut out the middle man. Buy straight from the farm whenever you can. Go to farmers' markets whenever possible, too, or find a co-op. Again, better quality for lower prices, usually. Don't be afraid to shop around and travel a little bit. The time and gas money spent not shopping at a one-stop place is often outweighed by the cost-savings, especially when you're talking a several dollar a pound difference in certain meats.
Shop your local Amish, if you have any. While Ohio and Pennsylvania have the largest communities, the Amish are in communities in a number of states in the US, at least. Other countries may have similar types of populations. Check out any stores they run, as they often carry fairly good quality food for lower prices. It can also be a great place to get various things in bulk that you can't find elsewhere (I've found things like xantham gum and citric acid, which are hard to find anywhere except online).
Buy the cheap cuts, they're better anyway. Sirloin's expensive, but liver, pork belly/side, and whatnot generally aren't. The cheap cuts are often the higher fat ones, which is what you want on LCHF.
Buy in season. This goes for both vegetables and meat. Certain meats, such as lamb, are "seasonal," as well, with prices lower in the spring than in other times of the year. Get the food while its in season and freeze it for other times of the year.
Buy "raw" or "whole" and process yourself. Invest in a dehydrator, and you can buy or grow your own fresh herbs and spices that you can dehydrate and grind yourself. This works especially well for the ones that tend to be pricey or hard to find. Buy fatback and render it yourself into lard (it's really easy, though time-consuming, and you get the added bonus of the scratchings -- a tasty byproduct of the rendering process). The same goes for beef tallow. You can also make your own jerky this way. And gelatin snacks.
Get creative with ground meats. Let's face it, hamburger is one of the cheapest meats you can get. If you're on a budget, you'll likely eat a lot of it. You don't need to choose between burgers and meatloaf all the time. Find recipes out there and it won't get old so quickly.
Remember that cost differences aren't just in the food. Take a good look at your medical expenses in the past years compared to your time on low carb (especially if you stick to whole foods). Don't forget to include the over the counter stuff, too, and times you've taken off for being sick, even if you didn't buy anything or go to the doctor. Odds are, you'll find you've spent less on cold medicine, antihistamines (and tissues!), doctor sick visits, and more, because you're more healthy overall and have improved your immune system.
I smell a sticky post. Putting it in the queue.
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I don't know, my grocery bill is pretty low. I no longer purchase any types of prepared foods. Today my Costco bill was less than $100. Lettuce, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggs, pot roast..chickens.
No filet mignon. But I eat pretty well.0 -
softblondechick wrote: »I don't know, my grocery bill is pretty low. I no longer purchase any types of prepared foods. Today my Costco bill was less than $100. Lettuce, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggs, pot roast..chickens.
No filet mignon. But I eat pretty well.
+1 Right on!
Haas avocados
Carrington Farms coconut oil-54 oz.
Chosen Foods avocado oil-1L
bulk frozen vegetables
Grass fed Lamb leg
Seasons sardines in olive oil
etc.0
