Aren't food prices seriously insane here? (coupons, buying, costs)

[sonarrat]

It seems like no matter what I do, I can't get my food budget under $1,000 a month, and this is merely to feed two adult males. If we eat out every day, each meal sets us back $20-25, but cooking for ourselves - usually simple dishes like rice with meat and vegetables, or a pork steak with a side vegetable - that hasn't saved us a dime. We eat at places like Popeyes, Mojo Burger, Chavez taqueria, Hong Kong Garden which serve better food than the fast-food chains. When we buy groceries, it's at Sprouts, Safeway, Smart & Final depending on the mix of stuff that I need that day. And we don't buy sodas either.

I'm at a loss as to how to cut our budget without resorting to bad food.

[bobby_guz_man]

How often do you eat out? We eat out once a week, cook the rest. Budget comes in at under $1,000 per month according to the SO easily, if we don't happen to have fancy dinner. For fruits and vegs we mostly shop at the fleamarket, the rest of groceries at Asian markets, though the SO adores Sprouts once in a while as well.

I wonder if the, on the average, the Asian joints are cheaper than Sprouts/Safeway?

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

How often do you eat out? We eat out once a week, cook the rest. Budget comes in at under $1,000 per month according to the SO easily, if we don't happen to have fancy dinner. For fruits and vegs we mostly shop at the fleamarket, the rest of groceries at Asian markets, though the SO adores Sprouts once in a while as well.

I wonder if the, on the average, the Asian joints are cheaper than Sprouts/Safeway?

We've tried eating out 100% and eating in 100%. The spending doesn't seem to change.

[thetrb]

You probably need to buy in larger quantities. If you buy all your non-perishable food at Costco then you can save some money.

[eureka1]

IF you're near a Winco , that's where you should be shopping.

[FioSJ]

the MIL cooks for us every day and we spend less than $150 a week on groceries at the asian supermarket every Sunday and it's enough food to feed us 3 adults for lunch and dinner all 7 days of the week.
we shop at 99 Ranch and our meals are pretty consistently a nice mix of rice, vegetables, and meat.
we also go to TJ's and spend ~$50 per week on other stuff like cereal, yogurt, coconut water, beer etc.

maybe you're buying nicer cuts of meat? we eat a lot of pork and chicken.

[Radical347]

Seems like the biggest culprit is good quality meat. Not necessarily prime cuts, but properly raised animals. You pay up the nose for that. I haven't found a way around that, unfortunately. The only way is if your body type allows you to function on less (or no) meat.

Aside from that...there are certain things that it is easier to cut costs on. Get produce at Farmer's markets, Sprouts, or most Asian markets (Lion is a good one with many locations) except for the Japanese ones...These are pricier. But most have good quality for cheap. Try not to pay over ~$1/lb for any. Cabbage and onions can usually be found for less than 50c/lb. Instead of getting things from a set list, see what the market has that looks good and is priced well.

For grains, Sprouts is best to get them in bulk -- except rice, the Asian markets are best for that.

For the most part, avoid anything packaged or premade. If you want to splurge on these things once in a while, get them at Trader Joe's or Costco (if you have a membership).

And remember this mantra: Safeway is the wrong place for virtually everything.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

We've tried eating out 100% and eating in 100%. The spending doesn't seem to change.

I kind of notice the same thing. Groceries are about the same as eating out, but you can get a lot more nutrition into your diet at home.

[dburbs1975]

Safeway is expensive and the quality is meh. Foodmaxx is decent for produce, but none of those on the peninsula. tell us what is on your shopping list. anything packaged is money lost on low quality calories.

[dogandcat]

There are two of us, and we love to eat really well: meat, fish, cheese, fruits, veggies, good sweets, sometimes wine... We eat 90% times at home, and spend $600-700 per month for it. I always try to use deals when go shopping, and safe tons of money because of promos, digital and paper coupons, and smart combination of different grocery stores (Safeway, Sprouts, Bargain Market, Trader's Joe, Asian, Russian/Mexican). I would say I can safe at least 30% of money for food and drinks because of smart shopping.