How are you saving money on food?

[Anonymous]

The biggest impact move is to make Aldi your primary grocery store if it's not already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meal plan well so that there aren't a lot of leftovers that get wasted. Use leftovers wisely. Cutting back on food trash saves so much money.

Buy ground meat and mix it 50/50 with beans or lentils. Chili (mixed ground beef or turkey with kidney beans), tacos (mixed ground beef or turkey with pinto beans), meatloaf (mixed ground beef or turkey with brown lentils), etc.

Use frozen vegetables whenever possible, they're a lot cheaper than fresh (especially since they don't go bad so there's generally a lot less waste), and just as nutritious.

When spring comes around, grow your own herbs. It's really not hard, and SO much cheaper than buying bundles of fresh herbs.

This evening I made a vegetarian chili with a small amount of ground beef as part of the flair/topping. Probably 90% beans to 10% beef. As long as there is also some cheese, sour cream, and a tomato and onion mixture, I’m not sure the meat eaters in my family actually care or notice that the base is vegetarian. Some nights I include toasted pepitas with olive oil and salt, plus avocados. I could probably skip the meat those nights, not that pepitas or avocados are cheap.

Totally agree on growing your own herbs!

[Anonymous]

I was already trying to save money, but I'm definitely buying sale stuff whenever possible and substituting sale stuff for regular priced stuff. I'm trying to be flexible. I'm doing without some luxury stuff. Lots of store brands. Digital deals on the grocery sites when available. Trying especially hard not to waste food.

The almost-expired meat thing is legit. I bought two packs of pork medallions for $2.99 each and figured out how to cook them and they were awesome. The Safeway 4 for $20 thing can be a good deal too- I've learned how to cook a few things because of those discounted items.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2024, I went vegan for a whole year for health reasons and my weekly (or bi-weekly) groceries were $50-$75 max. It was incredible.

If you or your family can't give up meat entirely, try the bulk delivery subscriptions. They come out to be so much cheaper per lb., but you do need ample freezer space.

What are some of the bulk delivery subscriptions for meat?

[Anonymous]

Chicken
Pork
Ground beef

Rice
Potatoes
Pasta

Less veggies and fruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I shop at Costco probably once/month.

I subscribe to a grocery delivery service. It seems counterintuitive, but the cost of the service is really minimal when divided over the course of the year and when I know I can get another delivery quickly later in the week I don’t buy as much on a one weekly trip because I have to “ stock up” and then inevitably I wind up throwing things out because our plans change. It’s much more economical to just order a small amount of groceries to be delivered every two or three days.

We buy meat from a farm that cost less than half of what it would in the store, and is still even less expensive than Costco.

Curious which grocery delivery service?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest impact move is to make Aldi your primary grocery store if it's not already.

Or lotte

[Anonymous]

My husband looks at all the promotions and discounts at Safeway, Giant, Aldi, Lidl and Whole Foods. I think it's a waste of time, because he gets tempted by super-processed foods I don't like to have in the house, just because it's on sale, mostly snacks and ready-made meals. It's almost like a little hobby of his.

Maybe it's cheaper, but it's most definitely not healthier than when I was handling the grocery shopping and nearly bought non-processed at Whole Foods.

Also he buys too much meat.

I'm going to have to push him out of the grocery shopping again...

[Anonymous]

My brother is a really successful discount shopper. He has a family of five and almost no income.

He only buys meat on sale and buys a bunch and freezes it—usually big cheaper cuts like pot roast, chicken thighs etc.

Expensive stuff like yogurt he only buys on sale.

Stuff like milk he buys at Costco — it’s consistently cheaper and that doesn’t often go on sale at grocery stores.

He just checks prices on every single thing and has a pretty good sense of what’s a deal. And he’s not buying stuff like cherries and raspberries that are just slays expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest impact move is to make Aldi your primary grocery store if it's not already.

Or lotte

Lotte and Hmart and other Asian markets are no longer for bargain shopping. Their prices are just as high as any other stores now.

[Anonymous]

Most people can't do this, but zi have started grocery shopping every few days instead of big trips, buying only what I feel like cooking/eating for the next day or two, then making sure everyone eats the leftovers before shopping again.

We are saving money and not wasting as much food as when we go weekly or 2x month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I second the Safeway sales tips. I use the app religiously and get the most out of the rewards points. They also have a sale section in the meat and if you hit it right, you can get a sale and then an extra 50% off from a manager’s special.

But Safeway regular prices are so expensive.

[Anonymous]

We throw large parties at least 3 - 4 times a year. This means that I am always buying raw material in bulk - rice, various flours, lentils, whole spices, oil etc - to keep costs down, and I cook all the food myself.

One of the most cost-effective and easy to make foods is to make fresh pasta in bulk. I directly store it in freezer and use it for my parties. Similarly, I make a killer all-purpose meat based pasta sauce that is better than anything you can get commercially. I also make it in bulk too. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/130358/worlds-best-pasta-sauce/

I also Sandra Lee some of my recipes. I make a lovely dessert for large parties - sugared fruit and custard on a flaky crusty sweet pastry square...and I just saw at a bakery that these sell individually from $3-$6.

If you do not need bulk items - just go grocery shopping with a few friends at Costco, and then divvy up the portions. You will see your grocery bills halved, even with the inflation.

[Anonymous]

Ordering groceries online has brought my food bill way down. I order for pickup. It is a combination of not doing any impulse buying and being able to pay really close attention to sales/compare prices (for whatever reason, this is just much easier for me when I look at the sales online).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother is a really successful discount shopper. He has a family of five and almost no income.

He only buys meat on sale and buys a bunch and freezes it—usually big cheaper cuts like pot roast, chicken thighs etc.

Expensive stuff like yogurt he only buys on sale.

Stuff like milk he buys at Costco — it’s consistently cheaper and that doesn’t often go on sale at grocery stores.

He just checks prices on every single thing and has a pretty good sense of what’s a deal. And he’s not buying stuff like cherries and raspberries that are just slays expensive.

This is a really good strategy. I bought a pork butt today because it was on sale for 99 cents a pound at Harris Teeter, and it is in the oven and smells delicious. I'll have pulled pork all week -- roast tonight, then later carnitas tacos, barbecued pork sandwiches, etc.