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You have to learn to "hop grocery stores, et al." If you try to buy everything at one place, at one time, you'll surely wind up paying double.
Examples (all on one day, within 4 miles of my house):
Item ................................ Store "A" .. Store "B" .... Store"C"
eggs (1 doz; gr A Lg)..... ..... $3.49...... $2.49......... $1.89... (same grade & size / similar outdates)
bacon (standard quality........ 2 for $5... $3.99......... $3.29... (prices are for 12 oz packs)
Orowheat pumpernickel ....... $4.49 ..... $4.29 ........ $3.19*... (*today only)
Chicken breast (bnlss/sknlss) $1.89/lb...$2.29/lb...... $2.49/lb
12 pk Diet Pepsi.................. $5.99...... $4.99 ......... $3.79 (must buy 3)
Half&Half (ultra-past'd) ..... 99 cents*... $2.29........... $1.99.....(*) "for 3 days only;" outdates in mid Sept [so I bought three]
DelMonte Peaches (glass jar) $4.99........$3.89*..........$4.89....(*)"everyday price"
etc., etc.. Note that these price differences are not minor. Twenty years ago supermarket pricing for competition sake was like 10 or 25 cents difference. Not anymore.
Just a typical day. Here, and in my winter digs location; exact same thing.
I think they collude to make sure all markets keep customers coming in. {this probably has to do with the fact that grocery and retail stores are (now, and very covertly) gov't subsidized, this since 2009. Otherwise, half of the grocery stores, and 2/3 of retail stores would be closed and shuttered (Lowe's as well - I know this for a fact). I presume it wouldn't, let's say "look good.")
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 07-23-2015 at 09:59 AM..
My husband and I eat mostly salads, poached fish for dinners. I pressure cook chicken every week, use the broth to cook his noodle soup, he has eggs/toast for breakfast. We shop at Winco and it is really cheap.
How are you affording fish, chicken and eggs on $15 a week? Not to mention vegetables? Please share!!
$20 dollars may be a bit high, but not by much. Lasagna noodles, sauce, hamburg, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and eggs. Even at Wal-Mart prices, this is what I came up with:
This is not even counting any spices or added vegetables like onions or peppers if you use them in your lasagna.
Or, the electricity you use to run the oven.
Get this,
A home made hamburger is a ripoff (just remember, you have to buy stuff for like 4 of these....even if you only want one.)
1/2 lb, 85%.......................$1.90* (you must buy 2 lbs to get this price; freeze the rest? Ziplock, saran, etc))
(good) bun..........................0.45
Lettuce................................0.15
Mayo...................................0.25
Ketchup (good stuff)..............0.18
cheese.................................0.35
onion...................................0.08
heat to cook.........................varies
____________________________________
close to $3.50 .... No tomato, no wrapper; no labor or Dawn dishwashing liquid included.
I easily spend $40 at the grocery store for lasagna.
However it makes 12 servings easy.
I don't know how anyone can make it for less. The meat and cheese are at a minimum of $20.
Me too...one poster said ground beef for $2.99 a lb?? She either hasn't bought ground beef in some time or I want to know where she shops.
The 80%, which I don't buy because too much fat here in NJ is over $5 a pound unless on sale and it hardly ever goes on sale in the summer....burger season
Or, the electricity you use to run the oven.
Get this,
A home made hamburger is a ripoff (just remember, you have to buy stuff for like 4 of these....even if you only want one.)
1/2 lb, 85%.......................$1.90* (you must buy 2 lbs to get this price; freeze the rest? Ziplock, saran, etc))
(good) bun..........................0.45
Lettuce................................0.15
Mayo...................................0.25
Ketchup (good stuff)..............0.18
cheese.................................0.35
onion...................................0.08 heat to cook.........................varies
____________________________________
close to $3.50 .... No tomato, no wrapper; no labor or Dawn dishwashing liquid included.
The charcoal briquettes will cost at least a buck. You need to add the butter that you spread on the bun before grill toasting it. You also forgot the dill pickle. If you know how to cook, you can make a decent burger at home. Or you can eat a reheated abortion at a fast food joint.
Me too...one poster said ground beef for $2.99 a lb?? She either hasn't bought ground beef in some time or I want to know where she shops.
The 80%, which I don't buy because too much fat here in NJ is over $5 a pound unless on sale and it hardly ever goes on sale in the summer....burger season
Me either. That 70/30 stuff shrinks down to nothing. I never use less than three pounds.
And I'm shopping at Publix or Winn Dixie not Whole Foods or Fresh Market.
Cooking for one doesn't have to be expensive, but if you're trying to recreate restaurant food or if you don't like leftovers then it might not work for you.
I've never thought of lasagna as high-end food as someone said above, and I don't generally buy high-end ingredients for it. Plus, if I'm making a 9 x 13 pan of it, I'll eat it for a few days, and the other 2/3rds of it is portioned up and frozen. So whatever it costs to buy the materials, I'm still getting 8-9+ portions out of it.
Last edited by fleetiebelle; 07-23-2015 at 11:36 AM..
For the plaintain lasagna, are you shopping at a Hispanic grocery store? Or in an area where plaintains would be considered a specialty item? (like where I am now, the prices on Hispanic ingredients are RIDICULOUS at the regular grocery stores)
I can see why you spent $20. Go to an ethnic store and get the ingredients. Plaintains are dirt cheap there.
Not going to bother to read all the posts of the same things over and over again.
Last time I made lasagna, I went to the store, and bought only the ingredients needed for the lasagna, except for the various herbs that I already had on hand. I went to the local discount grocery store - Winco, and bought as much store brand/generic brand items as I could, and I seem to remember it being pretty dang close to $20 as well.
BUT, and this is a big one - I ate off that pan of lasagna for lunch and supper for dang near a week. Assuming a cheap take out lunch and supper for even just 5 days of work, at $5/each, I already saved $30 right there. The true numbers are probably even higher, as even a McDonald's lunch meal would often set me back $8-$9, though I would frequently put back an entire Little Caesar's $5 pizza every night, so I was probably saving closer to $45 that week)
Then, as I started to do this more, and started eating healthier (because my doc told me I was well on my way to diabetes and pumping myself full of insulin every day, lol), I also found that I was eating far less at every meal which made these things stretch further still. At one time, I could put down nearly that entire pan of lasagna in one sitting without even trying. Now, a typical spatula's width piece is plenty for me. You'll also find that a lot of the home made stuff is a LOT more filling than a lot of take out stuff.
I used to get breakfast off the roach coach every day at work, at an average of $7 every time there. Now, I get steel cut oats from the bulk aisle, and it costs me about $1/week for breakfast. Heck, I'm already up $64 this week!
As I'm sure others have said, the key here is buy in quantity, over make, and fridge/freeze leftovers, AND have the discipline to not eat it all in one sitting just because it's there like I used to do. It's really hard to come out ahead if you're buying in small quantities just to cover a single meal.
Oh, and one of the best parts? I haven't even looked at Ramen in months!
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