I'm sorry, but it's just not true that you can't get (ingredients, coupons)

[NicoleJ]

decent food for a decent price. I HATE it when I hear people say that they can't afford food that's mostly wholesome. If they would just take a little more time and research prices in their neighborhood, clip coupons, and shop only what is on sale, they CAN do it.

I know this for a fact. I have between $300 - $400/month for a family of five.That's about $60 - $80/per person. That's for food, paper products, feminine products, soap, washing powder, etc. We've given up eating out more than 2x/month and even then, it's somewhere cheap or with coupons (or both if possible).

And I get some things so we don't have to worry when I'm to tired or not in the mood to cook. Frozen pizza, sandwiches, pasta, cereal, etc. I try to only buy clearanced meats (from Giant b/c they're honest about their dates) and I have only RARELY had to throw something away. I alternate between Aldi, superwalmart, Bottom Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General.

[BillyC64]

Originally Posted by NicoleJ

decent food for a decent price. I HATE it when I hear people say that they can't afford food that's mostly wholesome. If they would just take a little more time and research prices in their neighborhood, clip coupons, and shop only what is on sale, they CAN do it.

I know this for a fact. I have between $300 - $400/month for a family of five.That's about $60 - $80/per person. That's for food, paper products, feminine products, soap, washing powder, etc. We've given up eating out more than 2x/month and even then, it's somewhere cheap or with coupons (or both if possible).

And I get some things so we don't have to worry when I'm to tired or not in the mood to cook. Frozen pizza, sandwiches, pasta, cereal, etc. I try to only buy clearanced meats (from Giant b/c they're honest about their dates) and I have only RARELY had to throw something away. I alternate between Aldi, superwalmart, Bottom Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General.

Correct you are Those crybabies need to wipe the tears out' their eyes and look for the deals

[LaceyEx]

Trouble is a lot of people are not smart shoppers and can't see the possibilities.

[arsbadmojo]

I've got the 'whole food' religion bad; and I don't buy meat unless I know who raised it. Living like this does cost a little bit more - it's true. Is it worth it? Heck yes it is. I'll never go back.

I could be more frugal, and I'm getting better and better at doing that, but they don't take "coupons" at the farmer's market, and that's where the bulk of my food comes from. I'm not rich. We're a single income family, we squeak by - some months are really tight, both our cars are 10 years old, that's the way it is. When my daughter is old enough, mom will go back to work and hopefully it will get a bit easier - but the point is - I eat like a king, and if I can make it work, anyone can.

[7G9C4J2]

I think the key to eating both well and frugally is that it requires an investment of time and effort to accomplish the objective, and some folks just aren't willing to put time and effort to that purpose. It is absolutely possible to accomplish, but as Nicole correctly notes, it takes more effort, more planning, and more time.

[HighlandsGal]

I could be better with this -- I think meal planning would help. We often stock up on bulk meats and freeze individually, but often we find recipes we like and go out and buy the stuff to make it, which is not cost effective.

However, we are getting smarter about our meal planning, and still eat well. We do use coupons and shop the sales

[nikkzone]

I think it's actually cheaper to eat healthy and wholesome foods because it's almost always cheaper to buy ingredients and cook from scratch than to buy prepared or convenient foods. Trick is to plan ahead, stock up what's on sale and search and try recipes using ingredients you already have. Recipezaar.com and allrecipes.com are both good websites because you can search under ingredients. You cal also come here and ask your good friends for advises. They are all full of great ideas and always willing to share. We hardly ever eat out any more, but kids love coming home to home cooked meals.

[NicoleJ]

Originally Posted by LaceyEx

Trouble is a lot of people are not smart shoppers and can't see the possibilities.

True. And while I would say that the government needs to sponsor classes or something to teach people, would those prices that are now affordable go up if more people were buying correctly?

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by MidwesternBookWorm

I think the key to eating both well and frugally is that it requires an investment of time and effort to accomplish the objective, and some folks just aren't willing to put time and effort to that purpose. It is absolutely possible to accomplish, but as Nicole correctly notes, it takes more effort, more planning, and more time.

AMEN! People have the abilities they just have to put away the fast food mentalities and enjoy the art of finding, buying, preparing and eating their meals.

[jtur88]

I disagree about potential savings clipping coupons. In general coupons will do one of three things.
1. Offer national name brands at a price fairly close to the everyday price of a generic brand, or
2. Offer smaller packages of products at a per-unit price close to the price you can get anyway by buying the larger size.
3. Tend to be heavily weighted toward convenience foods or minimum-nutrition items.

This is not to say that you can never get a deal with coupons---of course you can. But you could waste more than you save by buying what you don't want or need merely because you have a coupon. It should be noted that in the store flyer, there are normally only a half-dozen or so actual specials, usually on the front and back page. Everything else in the flyer is at everyday price.