Food By The pound? (flat fee, sale, buy)

[BORN IN BROOKLYN 1986]

For those of you who actually purchase food by the pound (here and there) , what are some

tips and tricks you use to keep costs down?

* In b4: "bring you own lunch" (This I know.) *

[barkomatic]

Protein is generally much more expensive than carbs, so I make sure I have a lot of it on my plate. Paying by the pound for mac and cheese or potatoes is way to pricey.

[bellakin123]

I try to get things that aren't too heavy. Sometimes the place in my building sells ribs. You're paying for the weight of the bone and not really getting much meat out of it. I try to stay away from pastas with sauces too, as they can be heavy (weight-wise, that is). For protein I'll choose roasted chicken (a wing and small breast or thigh and drumstick), for carbs I'll take a ladle of rice--it's not that heavy to weigh down the dish and it's filling enough and if there's string beans I'll grab those too, as they aren't too heavy either. Basically, I try not to pick foods that are in sauces or gravies, as that tends to make the dish weigh more. If I get salad, I buy the dressing separately. A pouch is only 50 cents. At the place here at works it's $6.99 per pound and I rarely go over. A sandwich is around the same price, so I basically stay within the same price range.

[Grosvenor]

You can also fill up on vegetables and cut back on meat. For example, a big salad with spinach leaves a few slices of tomatoes or small cherry tomatoes and some other vegetables that don't weigh much is the way to go and as another poster said, get the dressing on the side.

[city living]

I pretty much only buy stuff when it's on sale and if it's a good sale, I will freeze whatever extra stuff I buy.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by barkomatic

Protein is generally much more expensive than carbs, so I make sure I have a lot of it on my plate. Paying by the pound for mac and cheese or potatoes is way to pricey.

That's how I do it. I try to get the stuff that's the most expensive, even when getting a salad. For example, cucumbers weigh a lot, but they are so cheap. Asparagus is expensive, so I get that.

I don't get bone-in meats, as someone else pointed out, or cheap-but-weighty stuff like potatoes and pastas. I also try to be mindful of portion sizes and not go overboard.

[Kefir King]

Count me in too.
I know the price of food, so at $6.99 a pound I am not going to choose much rice, potatoes, pasta, liquidy stews or even chicken.
I WILL choose fish, roasted boneless meat, shrimp, avocado, or like the previous poster, asparagus.
If it's Indian, I run for the lamb curry.

(Only one place long ago charged $2/lb. extra if your plate was all meat or fish...so I always put a Tbsp of rice on top.)

I love the silliness of trying to push JELLO as a dessert...has to be the highest markup in the history of food.

[30to66at55]

and always be aware of the tare weight. Make sure the proprietor is not charging you for the container.

[Grosvenor]

What I find troubling is that sometimes the scales are off and not just by a little either. The one thing you have to watch is when you ask for such and such and get more than what you requested. I have no shame in telling them to remove what I didn't ask for. The old I didn't hear you tactic. On the other hand if the scales are off in my favor then I just pretend that I'm stupid and let them ring it up, pay and walk out with a smile. The other day I got some goodies by the pound and was charged a flat fee for a completely different item that was a good $4.00 off. Suckers.