Groceries Are Killing Me

I too sometimes find that the crap food is sometimes cheaper. Sometimes the good stuff, is cheaper, it depends.

I rarely see fruit sales, like 3 for $5 bag of apples, but I constantly see chip or cookie sales (3 for $5 for example)

I see frozen fruit or frozen vegetable sales, so that is good. Sometimes fresh can be cheaper, again it depends.

Plus I spend a fair amount of time trying to find good coupons and I hate that so many coupons are for products I no longer buy. Juice (not counting OJ) pop, cookies, candy/candy bars, sugary cereal, etc. EVERY so often I come across a coupon that is for something I use and I am like "score!" :laugh:

Basically I shop around all the time. It's not uncommon that I will go to 2-3 grocery stores in 1 day (I tend to shop weekly, since I buy fresh so much) to find the best deals. One store might have cheaper vegetables, the other cheaper fruit, the other store the meat is on sale, etc. It saves money in the end.

That's about my budget as well - but it does feed 2 people! But I'm in Canada (the middle of the prairies) and everything here is more expensive - sometimes when I'm in the States, I just pop into a grocery store to stare at all the cheaply priced dairy products - milk, yoghurt, cheese is at least double the price here. Even when I buy on sale produce at the Walmart Super Center and discounted meat (bulk chicken breast, ground lean hamburger, etc), I rarely walk out of there for less than $200/week.

So true. I'm in Ontario, and a cheap bag of apples alone is 4.99. Food is expensive here, even just the staples. I shop at Costco for bulk. I don't know how people with lots of kids afford to feed them here. It's outrageous how much food costs.

Sadly it does cost more to eat well.

See, I think its a 'wash' on some things. Other things that are affected by regional weather changes is when things might get more pricey.

I live in New Hampshire so from late spring to late fall - fresh produce is extremely CHEAP! I just spent $1.49/lb for sweet red bell peppers that come in a 3/lb bag. And we use all of it well within its freshness too! But, this can only be done by being very attentive to the circulars that come around.

We have four major grocery chains plus two warehouse-member-only facilities, a huge long line of ethnic markets as well, in addition to my garden that is growing right now. If one place has that one item I need, I guarantee that Ill get the lowest price no matter what in two of those places.

For a former household of three, I purchased my meats every three to four months (chest freezer) the sales were rediculously low!!!! Boneless chicken breasts were only $1.62/lb when I purchased a 40+lb box. 80% Ground beef averaged $1.99/lb if I purchased a minimum 10lbs. So on and so forth...

Fresh produce for a former household of three - I didnt spend more than $75.00 each week. That was hitting all of the sales and in some cases a store would price-match!!! Even better!

Winter time though, thats where I have to get really creative. Thankfully it didnt get too bad - we only had two snow storms so that meant vendors could make their deliveries easier, faster and quicker thanks to clean road conditions... so prices actually remained the same give or take.

Once my garden is ready for picking, Ill save about $50.00 per week. Today though, eight months of an empty nest, I dont spend as much but I do buy more vegetables - Im a fan of the rabbit foods for sure!

For me it was a slow process. I can easily spend $600 - 800 a week on groceries. But, that includes my wine and non-food items, like razors, shampoo, cleaning products, all that other stuff that really adds up quickly. Once I thought about that, I realized my food budget wasn't as high as I thought. I still don't know what it really is because I don't take the time to track it. But, it did get cheaper.

Here are some easy things I did:
I buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and fish at Target. The bags are about $6. With both bags, I can eat for almost two weeks.

I buy a lb hamburger and make meatloaf. The meatloaf will last me all week.

Then, I buy veggies fresh, I stop by the store on my way home from work and decide what to accompany my protein with.

I always have either brown rice or potatoes on hand.

I buy tuna fish, bread, peanut butter. And things to make salad, but very basic, just lettuce, some cherry tomoatoes and dressing.

For breakfast, eggs, oatmeal, and I like to buy some small corn tortillas.

With all this, I can pretty much eat well for about 2 weeks or so, and it shouldn't cost $600/week. Maybe closer to $40 or so. I should add that I eat out almost every day for lunch, so this is just breakfast and dinner. I think making my lunch daily was costing me more than buying it.

Once you stock up, you won't need everything every week, so it keeps the weekly grocery bill down. Like, I don't eat oatmeal every morning, so I only buy it once a month or so.

Good luck.

Another thing, while its great to be healthy and eat only certain types of meats and all that, if you're budget is constrained, it's ok to eat whatever is cheap. Right now, I don't have the luxury of eating more costly alternatives. I just eat what is cheap. The other thing I do is I have noticed that at my grocery store, they always have sales on meat on Sunday. So, I'll go in there and I can get chicken for .99/ lb, or a whole chicken for $3. I only buy meat on sale anymore. Even if I don't plan on buying meat during that visit, if I say a great desk, like last week they had a two for one sale, I totally snagged it and had an awesome BBQ. :-)

Thank you for posting this as I have been having the same issue. I can easily spend $150 a week for my husband and myself. There is some good information here so thank you all for responding. I also have a gluten intolerance so I can't get regular oatmeal, bread, etc and gluten free food is nearly twice as expensive as "regular" food. If anyone has suggestions on eating gluten free on a budget I could use some help!

I spend $800 for a family of five and I buy Greek yogurt, fresh veggies, fruit, fish, lean meats, etc. Maybe take a really good look at what you are buying and convenience foods?

That plain yogurt is also good with savory flavors such as Greek or Indian recipes. Yogurt can be used instead of salad dressing, mayo and sour creme in things.
Plain yogurt (Greek is thicker) plus any of these things
minced onion
minced garlic
minced cucumber
minced mint leaves or parsley
minced radish
dill weed
pickles, sweet or sour
minced peppers, hot, mild or sweet
tumeric
pepper
celery (seed or stalk)
onion soup mix
etc......

I do not approve of what I am about to suggest, but I do it myself, so...
If you are in the USA, you can get a membership from Amazon.com - I think it is 70 bucks a year...
I buy food from amazon in bulk, because I can buy organics in bulk from them on a schedule of delivery and it really saves on the cost. actually, many things are cheaper this way, even when you add in the 70buck membership fee- because with the membership there are no shipping fees. Not just food, but also things like tea, supplements etc.
If you have good sun and a south facing window- a 5 gallon bucket- grow tomatoes. They are sooo expensive in the store. And green leafies... (kale, spinach, chard) easy to grow- big on nutrition...

Good luck to you.

I went to Whole Foods last weekend to buy some No Hormone/No Antibiotics beef and chicken. The cheapest beef I could find was $14 a pound, and the chicken was $8 a pound. Obviously, I walked out without any meat.

Either you pay for it now in quality food costs, or you pay for it later in medical bills.

If you buy the family packs at Whole Foods they are VERY affordable (enough chicken for 3 meals for around $7). Also, humanely raised local beef has 1/2 the fat of factory farmed.

Up to you.

I've spent 35 years being a responsible carnivore. If you shop meat based on price you're going to get grain fed government subsidized Tyson-like product. Eat up!

Try making your own yoghurt - google instructions, it is easy and so long as milk is cheaper than yoghurt, you are away!!