How to save money on food?

[Kotenochek 0]

Hi to All.

I have questions to All of You.The question is :How much money do You spend monthly on food and what do you buy to save money?

I love to shop in costco,but the problem is that shop closes early ,so last month going to Safeway we spent bunch of money.I am curious what you buying at costco and what you cook out of it to make it cheaper?

Thank you,

[Jasman0717 9]

We do waste a lot of food I have tried to encourage Claudeth to be a little less wasteful but so far it has done no good. We spend almost $1000 at the grocery store last month for just the two of us

[Thomas-n-Elena 0]

We do waste a lot of food I have tried to encourage Claudeth to be a little less wasteful but so far it has done no good. We spend almost $1000 at the grocery store last month for just the two of us

My wife just read that and said "Wow they eat a lot"

We try to spend less than $400.00 per month for the three of us. We buy some fruit, look for meat on sale, pasta, juice, soda, chips and the required cookies. Occasionally we have to get toilet paper, cleaners, coffee etc. We are very proud of ourselves when we spend less than $75 in week and we treat ourselves by going to dinner out or something fun like that. If you keep it simple and get some recipes (betty crocker and ones like that) you can get inexpensive meals that are good.

[MissStacey 1]

We easily spend $1000.00 a month on food.

I cook often and we entertain a lot. We eat very well.

I'm freaky deaky about expiration dates and things being fresh.

If I lived alone, it would be different- I would rarely cook just for myself.

[Mona_Greg 0]

yes we spend about the same not more then 400$ a month on food for 3 persons , and i believe safeway is one of the most expensive stores i would never shop there , we save a lot with collecting coupons from the internet to print out and looking always for items on sale and try to avoid the name brand products there is most of the time a cheaper version with the same quality with noname available and of course comparing prices in every shop we go to like walmart , aldi or shoppers .

also my husband is in the military and we have the option to go shopping for groceries on every military installation which does not mean it is always cheaper , sometimes even more then outside the base ....

[Nagishkaw 510]

Seriously, about 80$ a month on just me. The pets are a different story.

[Satellite 1]

Just cook traditional Russian meals. Lots of bread and potatoes. Those things are pretty cheap no matter where you buy them. The more you cook from scratch the more you will save. Avoid buying food that is out of season. Stick to chicken and rice over expensive seafood and fine cuts of meat and you'll do just fine.

[Cassie 8]

We spend about $200 a month on groceries (this includes TP, laundry detergent, and some personal grooming items). This does not include what we spend on eating out. I use a lot of coupons, and base most of my week's shopping on what's on sale that week.

[JelloShotGirl 0]

we spend about less than $150 a month on food. my husband has taught me a lot about shopping. first of all try not to eat as much! LOL! I know it is hard! Anyway I have realized that the most expensive stuff is "packaged stuff" . And just buy the no frills brands or stuff on sale and do the coupon thing/ If you stick to veggies, fruits, rice, pasta you will save a lot rather than buying frozen or instant stuff which is very expensive. Instead of the chicken breasts cutlets get the whole chicken (I know I know its more work! taking off all the skin and all) or if u like beef get a cut that u can slice thin and make a stir fry type meal with lots of veggies or u can make a satay(indonesian/malayasian dish) It makes the beef go further and its healthier too. ALso try to find a place that specializes in produce they are usually cheaper than a chain grocery store. Making your own soups and stews are good. Rice is great and I eat it 3 times a day dont be fooled about the carbs I have actually lost weight! Rice is cheeeep!!!!!!!!!!!!also potatoesJust buy a 20 lb bag rice for 5 or 6 dollars on sale. Beans and rice are healthy and very filling! THe prepared foods are the ones that add up, just observe what you buy the next time. When I lived alone I spent more $$ on food myself and the food didnt go so far...now we are together and we spend less on food and I eat healthier . Good luck. Oh yeah forget the juices, we just drink water for the most part...............................

[rouguewave 7]

When I was married, we used to shoppe at Costco and bought lots of things. Meats, poultry (chicken) we'd buy in large quantities and then immediately repackage into smaller portions when we got home. These would go directly into the freezer. I'd typically put them into packages that would make 2 servings, so that it would be convenient when she and I were alone. If her daughter was with us, we'd cook twice the amount (for 4) and repackage the leftovers for lunches.

Sometimes, we'd intentionally make extra large dinner with the intent to have leftovers for lunch. When dinner would be cleaned, it would go straight into plastic containers for each of us to take for lunch.

We had storage space, so we'd buy other things that could be stored and be fine. Paper goods (tissues, toilet paper), dry goods, pastas, canned goods used in normal sized cans (e.g. tomato paste, tomato sauce)

Some of the frozen goods at Costco are good if you have a large freezer. Not the snacks or treats, but things like chicken wings, frozen shrimp, etc. It was helpful if they had resealable packages that we could take for a single meal and leave the rest for later.

We tried the fresh produce but it didn't work, because its such a large quantity that we didn't eat it all before it spoiled. We thought the Costco pizza was actually quite good and worth a meal and lunch later.

As you can tell, we didn't object to leftovers and bringing lunches. I know that some people don't/can't/won't do that. We found it cheaper to take lunch than to buy. Leftovers were usually planned for.

Its been a while, so I can't really say how much we'd spend. But I hope this helps.

[JJWashington 0]

we spend about 600.00 for 4 people and this includes kids breakfasts and lunches at school

[slim 1,525]

I would hate to speculate on our monthly food budget, because I'm a fat guy, but food is one of our biggest expenses. We don't hold back when it comes to victuals. (Or, "vittles" as they say in Russalachia.)

First thing.... STOP BUYING ORGANIC ANYTHING!!! A couple threads over, you were talking about buying organic strawberries from Safeway. Organic anything costs like 6 times as much as chemical infested everything. If you're going to buy the organic stuff (which is a scam, anyway!) buy it from an organic foods or "healthy living" store. They've usually got the best deals when it comes to that #######. A farmers' market or produce market or something of that nature may be available in your area as well.

(Let me just go on record here and say it..... I HATE VEGGIES AND FRUIT! UGH!!!!! Yucky, yucky, yucky!)

Next..... to truly reduce your costs, you need to effectively plan your meals and buy in quantities closest to your needs. You should have a "meal plan" mapped out and know what you need to buy and for which meals you'll need it. Always have a list, and stick to it when shopping. NEVER, ever, ever go to the grocery store on an empty stomach!

Buy things like toilet paper, paper towels, rice, potatoes, meat, cheese, cereal, sauces, canned veggies, soups, Kraft Mac'n'Cheese shells, etc., from Costco. (And those bomb-@$$ Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownies!) Things that are large and will "keep" for a while or can be broken down and refridgerated/frozen. Beer/wine are also usually priced pretty well at warehouse stores. (So is gasoline if available.) You can also stock up on personal items like toothpaste, soap and shampoo, lotion, vitamins, OTC medications, women's stuff, etc. at a lower price than your supermarket.

Buy the perishable goods like milk, eggs, your fresh fruits and veggies at the local supermarket.

Costco's hours shouldn't affect you too greatly as you should only need to go there once or twice a month. Everything else can be purchased weekly or bi-weekly at the local supermarket. (Also, as mentioned in another post, Safeway is pricey. There should be a "discount" supermarket in your area, something like an Aldi or GFS foods. These stores usually have a more generic selection of most items, but everyone buys their produce from the same places... places like the farms of NoCal.)

Food prep (or the lack of food prep) is the biggest money grabber. Pop-Tarts at $3/box will get you by for four days. A loaf of bread, a pack of butter, and a little jelly or cinnamon/sugar for $3 will get you by for more than two weeks. Things like that are huge money savers.

[1HappyGuy 45]

I don't want to know how much we spend, but looking at myself sideway in the mirror, it's a lot.

We shop at Winco in Northern California or Food Max. I don't know if you are in No. Cal. but I would find a large warehouse style grocery store. Safeway is pretty expensive and Costco you buy in large quantities and the prices are not always that good. I use to call Costco the $100 store because I could never leave without spending that much. Then it changed to the $200 store until two weeks ago. We spent $400 and I almost passed out.

[*JG* 2]

Hi to All.

I have questions to All of You.The question is :How much money do You spend monthly on food and what do you buy to save money?

I love to shop in costco,but the problem is that shop closes early ,so last month going to Safeway we spent bunch of money.I am curious what you buying at costco and what you cook out of it to make it cheaper?

Thank you,

We buy rice by the 25lb. bag at our international grocery store. The kind we like is around $8.

We go to the farmer's market a few times a month. There, we buy fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, and spices. For about $60-80, I can usually get enough to last us 2 weeks or more. That is a pretty good deal considering we eat a lot of shrimp, salmon, chicken, pork, oxtail, and goat. This would cost me hundreds in the grocery store.

I go to the Wonderbread Store to buy what they call "day old" bread. It's 3 for $1.00 to maybe 70cents a loaf there, depending. If I'm having a chocolate craving, I also get the 3 boxes of hostess cakes for $5.00 deal too.

Those are my regular trips. If I see a good bargain, I am not beyond varying my routine to cash in on it.

[Imua 0]

Hi to All.

I have questions to All of You.The question is :How much money do You spend monthly on food and what do you buy to save money?

I love to shop in costco,but the problem is that shop closes early ,so last month going to Safeway we spent bunch of money.I am curious what you buying at costco and what you cook out of it to make it cheaper?

Thank you,

I spend too much on food because when you're single it ends up costing more to cook everything from scratch and then throw half away... I don't go out to lunch at work so that does save a lot- usually I buy large bags of bean burritos for $3.99 - two make a good lunch for only $.80.

G and I are both vegetarians and I think when he comes we will eat Nepali style, mostly dal and rice with veggies. Nepalis get anxious if they don't eat dal bhat at least once a day - even if G has had noodles, etc. he feels like he hasn't really eaten if he hasn't had his daily dal bhat. I want to learn to make chili momos, our favorite food.