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Old 12-06-2022, 01:48 PM
 
846 posts, read 665,481 times
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Food is actually not that expensive if you shop mindfully. I spend <$50 per week on groceries (U.S.) while still being able to eat a healthy diet.

Look at foods from a macronutritional standpoint. Look at the back of the label and see what you're getting for your money.

Examples of foods that offer a lot of macros per dollar:
* Protein: Eggs are dirt-cheap. Protein powder, if bought in bulk. Tofu, dairy and nuts too.
* Fats: This is the most calorically dense macro. Protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram while fat has 9. This means that many fats, even if it doesn't seem like you're getting high volume per dollar, are still affordable from a calorie per dollar standpoint.
* Carbs Breads, pasta, rice, oatmeal, etc. are all dirt cheap.

Use these as a base for the majority of the calories. Then add in fruits, veggies and herbs to your dishes to complement them.

Carbs and fat aren't inherently bad for you. You can eat complex/low-glycemic carbs (i.e. whole wheat bread) if satiety and blood sugar are concerned. You can eat unsaturated fats like canola oil, olive oil, avacados, nuts, etc. Saving money on food doesn't necessitate always having a diet of soda, fast food and walmart brand icecream.

You can mix less calorically dense and more calorically dense foods together to get a good mix of value and nutrition. For example, sauteeing veggies with oil. It has enough calories to be filling, while also having micronutrients and the overall cost isn't too high.

The other factor is not exceeding the calories/macros reach your goal weight/physique. Many people in developed countries are overweight; I know this sounds crass, but people can save money on food by eating normal human portion sizes instead of the large portion sizes Americans have been accustomed to.

Calorie-dense foods don't inherently make you fat; you can get fat on them quickly if you eat them mindlessly, but if you track your calories/macros, you can eat as much as you need without going over.
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Old 12-06-2022, 05:51 PM
 
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I used to spend 200/month on groceries but now spend 250. However, I am older so don’t eat as much as a young person.
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Old 12-06-2022, 05:58 PM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,737,208 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lair8 View Post
I spend <$50 per week on groceries (U.S.) while still being able to eat a healthy diet.
I've budgeted $50-55 for groceries for years now, it doesn't seem restrictive at all. I generally don't hit that.

People can spend less than that if they're actually trying to save money or spend less, and eat healthily.

I generally avoid carbs though, and eggs aren't dirt cheap like they were. The culling from avian influenza did a job on prices, plus a little added tick as state law passed so that all eggs must be cage free... mostly the culling though. Went from $.99 dozen to $3.99 dozen, which is a big jump. I don't eat eggs much though.
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Old 12-06-2022, 07:19 PM
 
Location: USA
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One of my main sources of protein is turkey from the deli counter at the supermarket. It's easy and has many different flavors so it provides a great variety of tastes.

Recently bought some and it was $14.49/lb. Not that long ago it was $9.99/lb. This was shocking. It's going up by around $0.50 a week.
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Old 12-07-2022, 06:36 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,053 posts, read 83,895,248 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timberline742 View Post
I've budgeted $50-55 for groceries for years now, it doesn't seem restrictive at all. I generally don't hit that.

People can spend less than that if they're actually trying to save money or spend less, and eat healthily.

I generally avoid carbs though, and eggs aren't dirt cheap like they were. The culling from avian influenza did a job on prices, plus a little added tick as state law passed so that all eggs must be cage free... mostly the culling though. Went from $.99 dozen to $3.99 dozen, which is a big jump. I don't eat eggs much though.
Eggs did go up, but they are still a dirt cheap.protein source even at $3.99. Say you eat two eggs per meal, that's six meals out of that $3.99.
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Old 12-07-2022, 06:54 AM
 
66 posts, read 46,558 times
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Can't say that it's <$50 per week in my case, but on average it's not a lot more, say $65. I agree that it is possible to have, let's call it a low-budget and healthy diet, and to make the food super delicious by using different mixes of herbs and spices. Generally, I think that most people don't take advantage of the whole new world of recipes that are a only couple of clicks away nowadays.
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Old 12-07-2022, 07:46 AM
 
Location: Arizona
8,222 posts, read 8,545,214 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
Eggs did go up, but they are still a dirt cheap.protein source even at $3.99. Say you eat two eggs per meal, that's six meals out of that $3.99.
When you add bacon or sausage, toast, potatoes, fruit, orange juice, and coffee x7 it comes to a fair amount of money.
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Old 12-07-2022, 10:46 AM
 
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Save money by making sure you were not over charged at the grocery store! I have noticed an uptick in errors during the past 8 weeks. Seven trips to the grocery store and I found over charges on 5 receipts! This occurred at two different grocery stores - so I suspect it is not just one particular store. Review your receipt before you leave the store as it saves a return trip to get a refund.

Mistakes to look for (I do not do self checkout - so some were errors by the person running the register). One receipt the item was scanned twice and on another receipt it was a produce error where I bought sweet potatoes, but, they charged me for pears.

If you have a grocery store (in my case Giant) that offers rewards points for dollars off on your grocery bill know that it can take 24 hours for the points applied to actually show up when you check out. Their corporate computer system does not automatically update and it can take up to 24 hours for your $ savings to show up when you are checking out at the register. I suspect digitally clipped coupons may also be impacted by this latent delay - so make sure to check your receipt.

The biggest dollar loss I have noticed is on weekly sale items, be it buy one get one free or an advertised sale in a flyer and also posted at the point of sale that never was entered at corporate headquarters. It is not the local store, but, the sale data that got entered incorrectly at corporate headquarters (or perhaps their latent computer system that does not change the price on time) that results in not being charged the correct price. I have had this happen at two different grocery stores.

I spoke to customer service when I returned to the store today to get a refund for an overcharge on a receipt from a recent shopping trip. Customer service has always been helpful and quick in refunding an incorrect charge. She suggested if I had the time to speak to the store manager concerning multiple overcharges during the past 2 months. While the individual customer service person deals with refunds all day long, the store manager was not aware of the frequency of the errors that has been occurring in recent months with advertised sale items not ringing up properly at the register. She appreciated me taking the time to speak with her and would relay the issue to corporate headquarters.

So, my advice is to check your receipts carefully and particularly if you notice being overcharged for sale items in the weekly flyer, take the time to speak with the store manager and ask the manager to report the issue to corporate.

Corporate is not going to know they have a problem if store managers do not know they have a problem! It is up to each of us to let the store manager know if there is an issue with continuous overcharging at their store.
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Old 12-07-2022, 10:56 AM
 
14,384 posts, read 20,452,244 times
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Coupons and sales can let you save 50% or more on multiple type of items.
Example this past week was Quaker Oatmeal. No coupon needed and got them for 75 cents a box vs. retail price.

Chicken is one of the remaining reasonably priced foods. This week one of our stores has it at $1.79 per pound.
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Old 12-08-2022, 11:28 AM
 
846 posts, read 665,481 times
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Also, meat isn't a necessity. All nutrients found in meat can also be found via plant sources.
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