Cheap Store Food

[jaybird2001wi]

Just wondering if anyone here knows of any secrets behind finding bargains at the grocery store. I am 6'4" 190, but I love to eat and when I am off work I spend my entire day eating nonstop food (love any type of chicken, bakery items, a couple produce items and chicken/pasta stir fry). Anyone know how to find the best deals out there? The Pig is more expensive than Pick n Save and Sentry Foods are seemingly sporadic anywhere.

I have a Pick n Save card but the only food I like that applies to it are any cheese products (yes, I eat cheese and could possibly eat and entire block of sharp cheddar). I just moved to Franklin right off Ryan Rd near 94 and have worked in this area for four years. Whats the secret?

[GAME05]

i'm just a bit bigger and eat all the time. i tend to stay away from red meat and beer which saves me a bit. is there an Aldi's in Wisconsin? $80 per month is usually about right for a month's worth of food for me. i tend to only buy the food that's on special when i shop.

[SeriesFinale]

$80 per month is usually about right for a month's worth of food for me.

Wow. Are you eating nothing but ramen and dented cans of peas?

[owbc]

Here's a few things I've heard of:

 

-I'm not a coupon clipper, but if you go through the ads that come in the mail and get the manufacturers coupons, some stores have a day of the week where they are worth double savings.

-Use the discount card and buy as much stuff that's on sale as possible. If you want to buy an item and don't care what brand it is, buy the one that is on sale (but make sure it is a good sale and not like 20 cents off or something).

-When non-perishables/freezer items have a good sale, buy as much as you can fit in your cabinet/freezer

-Avoid items that are overpriced for convenience (like the pre-sliced or grated cheese or rice that is already divided into servings)

-Buy the larger sizes if possible, they are almost always cheaper

-The generic brand foods sometimes taste exactly the same as the name brands and cost much less, depending on how picky you are

-Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season only. Right now strawberries are about $2 and in the winter they will probably be at least double that. Of course, starting a home garden is the best option, especially for stuff that is really easy to grow like onions, peppers, and tomatoes.

-Stores like Woodman's and Aldi have consistently lower prices than the Roundy's/Sentry chains

-Consider getting a Sam's Club membership (about $35/year)--this is worth it if you buy in bulk and especially if you have a whole family to feed

[brewdude15]

there's an Aldi's here in Fondy.

[bork]

There is an Aldi's on 27th Street in Oak Creek and Woodman's on Howell & Drexel in Oak Creek. Both close by.

 

I do 90% of my shopping at Aldi's. They mostly sell their own brands, but I've found that most taste the same as the name brands (and are usually made by the same plants that make the name brands). They also have weekly specials, where you can find some name brands on sale. Aldi's regular prices will often beat sale prices at other places. Then we go to Woodman's about once a month and stock up on things that Aldi's doesn't carry. (soy products for my son's allergies).

 

Rarely shop at Pick n Save any more except for an occasional sale item. Most things are too expensive. I've found that even the Walmart Supercenter prices aren't that great for groceries.

[Godspeed]

Rarely shop at Pick n Save any more except for an occasional sale item. Most things are too expensive.

 

Agreed. I drive all the way down to Oak Creek from Brown Deer just to shop at Woodmans. Just biding my time until the Menomonee Falls Woodmans gets built. I can't stand all things Pick'nSave. Their selection is barely adequate, their produce is embarrassing, their shelves are continually understocked, and their prices are outlandish. Pricing your own store-brand at levels over name brands at competitors is asinine.

[hawing]

Are Copps and Pick n Save corporately related? like all under the Roundy's umbrella? Because I feel about Copps much the same way that GYPE feels about Pick n Save.

 

My favorite Pick n Save memory is when a location in Waukesha (that backs up to I-94) had a light out in its rear neon sign, so it read "ick N Save."

[bork]

Yes, Roundy's owns Copps and Pick n Save. Roundy's had great prices until that Chicago Investment firm bought them some years ago.

 

Funny story about Chairman Bob (can't stand those ads). He used to visit various Pick 'n Saves during grand reopening events to talk to employees and customers. He got so many negative questions and reponses, that he stopped attending the events.

[ewizabeff]

I used to be the queen of getting by on cheap food from stores like Giant (when I lived out East) and Pick N Save. The problem is, the foods that are really cheap are the ones that are ridiculously processed and not remotely good for you. That being said, obsessedwithbrewcrew's advice is right on - you need to clip coupons, use coupons on sale items on double-coupon days, and stock up on stuff that's on sale instead of buying a little every week.

 

But maybe, someday, you might want to think about what makes that food so cheap:

 

Getting Real About The High Price of Cheap Food

Or read "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan.

[sgtcluels]

Stock up indeed, we still have about 6 bottles of sweet baby rays... they were on super sale.

 

And if you don't feel like reading the movie Food Inc covers most of the topics in Omivores Dilemma. US Food Policy is pretty fascinating.

[wallus]

i'm just a bit bigger and eat all the time. i tend to stay away from red meat and beer which saves me a bit. is there an Aldi's in Wisconsin? $80 per month is usually about right for a month's worth of food for me. i tend to only buy the food that's on special when i shop.

Teach me your ways! I spend MUCH more than that a month.

[fondybrewfan]

I guess I don't see how $80 a month is even possible. My wife and I spend like $150-175 every 2 weeks and I still feel like we didn't get enough food and we are scavenging by the end of the two weeks

[craigharmann]

I guess if my wife and I didn't eat meat, we could maybe do $80 every 2 weeks. But, I like meat a whole lot, so we spend about $150 every 2 weeks.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Eating cheap and eating healthy are nearly mutually exclusive. Anything at all that comes in a box or a can is just loaded down with sodium, even the 'low sodium alternative!'(s).

 

The cheapest way to shop is to go Wal-Mart, and buy the Great Value brand, as long as you don't care about quality.

 

Most of the time, it's exactly the same composition as the name brand equivalent. It's just that neither the name brand or the Great Value are remotely close to healthy.

[craigharmann]

The cheapest way to shop is to go Wal-Mart, and buy the Great Value brand, as long as you don't care about quality.

Actually, many times, the Great Value brand is actually comparable, if not better. Now obviously, if you're wanting to eat healthy, you buy fresh or frozen fruits or vegetables, as opposed to canned fruits or vegetables.

[logan82]

No, the generic brands/store brands are not better than name brands. They are somewhat comparable though. The quality is slightly lower. I have first hand experience with a canning factory. Beans specifically.

 

I would stay away from Wal-Mart meat. They add a lot of food coloring to make meat look better.

[burniebrewer]

I would stay away from Wal-Mart

 

You could have stopped right there.

 

Crazy as it sounds, I've never been to that place.

[logan82]

I would recommend Wal-Mart for box items like cereal or canned goods that are piratically the same anywhere. I would not recommend them for meat of fruit.

[GAME05]

i've priced my meals out before and they're typically $2 each, and despite what i said before, i think i actually have a fairly small appetite that two meals a day is more than enough. Today I had two turkey sandwiches (~$3 if that) and leftover spaghetti (~$0.75). ok, so i guess that's about $110 per month, then. I think it also helps quite a bit that I'm a student so I don't have to pack lunches with sodas or those expensive pudding cups. I've gotten in the habit of making a huge batch of pasta or rice, then freezing serving-sizes, and I've saved a lot of money and time with that. Probably my favourite meal to freeze is three chicken breasts ($3), your basic cream sauce with just butter and milk ($1?), a $1.50 box of pasta and broccoli ($3)--so for something like $9 I'll get five or six meals out of that.

[brewers19]

Eating cheap and eating healthy are nearly mutually exclusive.

Not at all. Some of the healthiest stuff is the cheapest.

 

A big canister of oatmeal will run you about $4 and last two to three weeks. Spruce it up with raisins, brown sugar, fruit bits, nuts, etc. and you've got breakfast taken care of for an entire month for about $20.

Frozen vegetables are a gold mine. Fairly decent variety, they keep in the freezer forever, they're very healthy, and you can get two pound bags of the stuff for little more than a buck.

Replacing one's soda intake with [tap] water is one of the best ways to be healthy and cheap.

 

I'm with GAME05. While I'm usually closer to $100 a month, surviving on $80/month is really not as hard or miserable as people think.

[logan82]

I can easily see the eating on $100 or less a month until you add kids.

 

...or beer.

[nodakfan17]

At the start of each month I purchase a $100 gift card at my local grocery store. This is my food budget for the month and I have never exceeded it. I usually have a surplus at the end of the month and I use that to buy a few snacks or stock up on sale items. I have really kept my spending in check since I started this system a year ago. I use to spend somewhere between $150 and $175 on food each month because ... well, I had to eat, right? Now, I'm more selective about the food I eat and buy and my diet is pretty decent for a guy my age. For the record, I still buy one fast food meal each week and go out for pizza on Thursday nights with some friends. Those meals aren't part of my budget, but I look forward to them every week!

[dadofandrew]

Wal Mat's Great Value brand is usually about half the price as IGA or Pick n Save. For most things, except mac and cheese of course, the quality is very good.

[mothershipconnection]

Eating cheap and eating healthy are nearly mutually exclusive. Anything at all that comes in a box or a can is just loaded down with sodium, even the 'low sodium alternative!'(s)

 

Asians have it figured out. We tend to eat a lot of Korean stuff that m'lady spins in a Japanese way because we have a fantastic Korean market but crap for Japanese around here. Since she does most of the meal planning, we maybe spend $150 a month for the two of us, but we still eat very healthy (just too much in my case). We eat a ton of rice/rice noodles, nappa cabbage, and other cheap vegetable filler. There's enough meat, but it's all $2.99/lb sliced ribeye or lean pork belly that's almost constantly on sale where we shop. It's all about cheap, healthy herbs and seasonings that make dull vegetables taste good without butter and fat.

 

I eat ramen as much as 3/4 nights a week, but it's the relatively healthy non-fried Korean variety (1g fat, 220 cal) that I put an egg, pressed garlic clove, cilantro, hoisin sauce, and sriracha in. Total cost is about $1.20, but you really don't even think of it as eating ramen noodles.