Tips for curbing spending on food

[Anonymous]

I only buy the meat on sale that week at Whole Foods. That gives me variety for recipes but keeps other cost down

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't bother with the advice to go to Aldis or Lidls. People only shop there when they have to, and you don't. Sure, you'll save a bit of money but you'll get lower quality produce that only last 2-3 days before going off. You don't need the 30-40 a week in savings you might get from Aldi's versus Whole Foods.

Nah. I don’t have to shop there but I do. I’ve had no issues with their fruit going bad before I eat it.

[Anonymous]

Less takeout sounds like the answer. I spend about a third of what you do, but we get takeout/eat out 2-3 times a month at most. Also find some vegetarian and vegan meals you all like — meat is expensive.

[Anonymous]

I know this sounds obvious but planning your meals is key. We were able to cut our grocery bills by about 30% by shopping once during the week and buying exactly what we need for that week. That means even trying to anticipate what you’d have for breakfast and what you need to pack for school lunches . Knowing exactly what we need cut down significantly on wasting food that would go bad ( like those wilted veggies in your refrigerator drawer)

We also cook 3-4 meals a week and have leftovers on 2 days and then either takeout or a meal out on one of the days.

We mostly shop at Walmart through Instacart. It’s one of the few stores on instacart that guarantees in store prices. All other stores increase their prices by about 20% on instacart then you still have to pay the delivery and service fees. I was pleasantly surprised with many great products I found at Walmart: grass fed filet mignon, French cheeses, smoked salmon, prosciutto , …

[Anonymous]

My teenage son stayed over at a friend's house one night. Later that day he commented on that we are an ingredient house not a food to eat house. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said all of the food at his friend's house was either ready to eat or just had to be microwaved. At our house the pantry is full as is the freezer and fridge BUT almost everything has to be assembled and cooked. I guess that is how we save money. We buy in bulk and when things are on sale. I probably have 30 pounds of chicken in the deep freeze, but not a pre-made nugget to be found. I also have eggs, breadcrumbs and oil. So, I can make nuggets but it is a little more work and soooo much cheaper.
Make an effort to buy ingredients, not pre-made meals. You save money because you are doing the prep work.

[Anonymous]

I am not making nuggets when I can stock up on breaded frozen chicken at Costco for $2.20-$3.50 a pound, depending on quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the Aldi hate on here. The one I go to is super popular and has fresh stuff. I’ve shopped there for years initially because they had the easiest to maneuver surface parking lot vs those awful parking garages at all the other stores. I’ve never had a problem with quality, ever.

If y’all want to throw money away, ok. Seems like a stupid way to go.

The two near me are messy and look dirty, their produce goes off quickly. Their berries will not last more than a few days before becoming moldy. Unreliable stocks. Sometimes they have stuff, sometimes they don't, so it's hard to plan a reliable shop around Aldis.

I value quality and Aldi isn't quality. It's a great option when you have to watch every penny. I don't have to watch every penny. Food retailing is so sensitive to pricing that the gap between Whole Foods or Wegmans and Aldis isn't that big, so it's a waste of time and money for me to bother with Aldis. If Aldis was really that great and cheap, all other supermarkets would go bankrupt. But they aren't and that tells you something.

Agreed. Maybe some Aldis are just better than others? Ours is more similar to this PP's. I'm not saving money if the produce goes bad in a couple days and I have to toss it.

Unfortunately we don't have one that close to us anymore but I grew up with Wegmans and still think it's the best balance between quality-selection-prices. It's not the cheapest but for most things we buy the prices are competitive with (or better than) other stores. And I can get everything I need in a single shopping trip, which is really valuable to me now that I have kids.

[Anonymous]

Search up recent threads on this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband informed me that we are currently spending 40k a year on food, drink, takeout and restaurants when all is said and done. Family of 5.

Takeout is probably a big culprit - one night a week is pizza night and another 1-2 are usually Mexican, Chinese or Japanese.

We don’t eat out in restaurants often. Barely get Starbucks. WFH and eat homemade food.

Apart from takeout, how do you become more on top of food expenses and waste? What are some budget friendly meals that aren’t pasta every night? We don’t eat pork, shellfish, and rarely eat red meat.

I do spend a lot on organic fruits and vegetables every week. But we don’t really waste that.

Dh says there’s not really much to cut, apart from waste, because it averages out to 110 dollars a day for the family and that’s not so crazy.

What are you spending on food monthly/annually for a family of 4-5?

Post your latest receipt 🧾

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, how much do you spend on takeout a week?

We spend less than $1000 a month on food for our family of 4, I'm having a hard time even wrapping my mind around how one would spend $40K on food. We almost never get takeout, though. But even if you spend $200 a week on takeout that's only like $10K a year.

DP: It is very easy to spend $500+ a week on takeout. It's just 2 of us now most of the time and most takeout is $70+. If we walk/drive to pick it up, we still tip well, as we want to ensure our favorite restaurants are still around. So after tip it can easily be $90+. If you do a delivery service, with all the fees you can add 20% on top of that. So I can only imagine with a family of 5 how much takeout is. But if you cannot afford it, then you need to cut back. Because while my $100 dinner for 2 also typically means 2 lunches or another 2 dinners for us, I fully recognize I can easily cook a really good quality dinner in under an hour from prep to cleanup for $30 and that will include another2-3 meals for 2 as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teenage son stayed over at a friend's house one night. Later that day he commented on that we are an ingredient house not a food to eat house. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said all of the food at his friend's house was either ready to eat or just had to be microwaved. At our house the pantry is full as is the freezer and fridge BUT almost everything has to be assembled and cooked. I guess that is how we save money. We buy in bulk and when things are on sale. I probably have 30 pounds of chicken in the deep freeze, but not a pre-made nugget to be found. I also have eggs, breadcrumbs and oil. So, I can make nuggets but it is a little more work and soooo much cheaper.
Make an effort to buy ingredients, not pre-made meals. You save money because you are doing the prep work.

Op here. I work full time and have young kids. One has special needs. I’m exhausted and prep as much as I can myself because it saves money and it’s healthier. But I’m appalled at our food spend. I should ask dh how much of that is vacation restaurant spend and I guess have him budget for that separately

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teenage son stayed over at a friend's house one night. Later that day he commented on that we are an ingredient house not a food to eat house. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said all of the food at his friend's house was either ready to eat or just had to be microwaved. At our house the pantry is full as is the freezer and fridge BUT almost everything has to be assembled and cooked. I guess that is how we save money. We buy in bulk and when things are on sale. I probably have 30 pounds of chicken in the deep freeze, but not a pre-made nugget to be found. I also have eggs, breadcrumbs and oil. So, I can make nuggets but it is a little more work and soooo much cheaper.
Make an effort to buy ingredients, not pre-made meals. You save money because you are doing the prep work.

Op here. I work full time and have young kids. One has special needs. I’m exhausted and prep as much as I can myself because it saves money and it’s healthier. But I’m appalled at our food spend. I should ask dh how much of that is vacation restaurant spend and I guess have him budget for that separately

I would also consider food for your nanny as a childcare expense as well. That's not food your family is eating.

Beyond that, I think a really easy switch would be to do what another PP suggested- swap out some of the takeout dinners with some frozen or heat and serve meals purchased from the grocery store. Because I get it, there are nights when I just need a break from cooking too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the Aldi hate on here. The one I go to is super popular and has fresh stuff. I’ve shopped there for years initially because they had the easiest to maneuver surface parking lot vs those awful parking garages at all the other stores. I’ve never had a problem with quality, ever.

If y’all want to throw money away, ok. Seems like a stupid way to go.

The two near me are messy and look dirty, their produce goes off quickly. Their berries will not last more than a few days before becoming moldy. Unreliable stocks. Sometimes they have stuff, sometimes they don't, so it's hard to plan a reliable shop around Aldis.

I value quality and Aldi isn't quality. It's a great option when you have to watch every penny. I don't have to watch every penny. Food retailing is so sensitive to pricing that the gap between Whole Foods or Wegmans and Aldis isn't that big, so it's a waste of time and money for me to bother with Aldis. If Aldis was really that great and cheap, all other supermarkets would go bankrupt. But they aren't and that tells you something.

Agreed. Maybe some Aldis are just better than others? Ours is more similar to this PP's. I'm not saving money if the produce goes bad in a couple days and I have to toss it.

Unfortunately we don't have one that close to us anymore but I grew up with Wegmans and still think it's the best balance between quality-selection-prices. It's not the cheapest but for most things we buy the prices are competitive with (or better than) other stores. And I can get everything I need in a single shopping trip, which is really valuable to me now that I have kids.

Maybe we just have a good one, but Aldi produce going bad quickly is not an issue for my family at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teenage son stayed over at a friend's house one night. Later that day he commented on that we are an ingredient house not a food to eat house. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said all of the food at his friend's house was either ready to eat or just had to be microwaved. At our house the pantry is full as is the freezer and fridge BUT almost everything has to be assembled and cooked. I guess that is how we save money. We buy in bulk and when things are on sale. I probably have 30 pounds of chicken in the deep freeze, but not a pre-made nugget to be found. I also have eggs, breadcrumbs and oil. So, I can make nuggets but it is a little more work and soooo much cheaper.
Make an effort to buy ingredients, not pre-made meals. You save money because you are doing the prep work.

Op here. I work full time and have young kids. One has special needs. I’m exhausted and prep as much as I can myself because it saves money and it’s healthier. But I’m appalled at our food spend. I should ask dh how much of that is vacation restaurant spend and I guess have him budget for that separately

I get being appalled but do you actually need to spend less or can you comfortably afford it?

Have you tried meal kits? On some you can swap in organic meats.

On the fruit and veggies there are some I just won’t buy organic like bananas.

Every single time I got chicken at WF it smelled disgusting and I refuse ever purchase it again after too many bad experiences

We rarely eat red meat but if we do I buy the laura’s brand at Giant.

My experience with Aldis is that their produce like package lettuce salads lasts super long - almost a couple weeks unopened in our fridge and still it is fresh and tastes perfect. Same with any other veggie or fruit I end up putting in the fridge. I shop there for a standard set of groceries and I don’t want to worry about looking at who is having a sale on something that week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get the Aldi hate on here. The one I go to is super popular and has fresh stuff. I’ve shopped there for years initially because they had the easiest to maneuver surface parking lot vs those awful parking garages at all the other stores. I’ve never had a problem with quality, ever.

If y’all want to throw money away, ok. Seems like a stupid way to go.

The two near me are messy and look dirty, their produce goes off quickly. Their berries will not last more than a few days before becoming moldy. Unreliable stocks. Sometimes they have stuff, sometimes they don't, so it's hard to plan a reliable shop around Aldis.

I value quality and Aldi isn't quality. It's a great option when you have to watch every penny. I don't have to watch every penny. Food retailing is so sensitive to pricing that the gap between Whole Foods or Wegmans and Aldis isn't that big, so it's a waste of time and money for me to bother with Aldis. If Aldis was really that great and cheap, all other supermarkets would go bankrupt. But they aren't and that tells you something.

Agreed. Maybe some Aldis are just better than others? Ours is more similar to this PP's. I'm not saving money if the produce goes bad in a couple days and I have to toss it.

Unfortunately we don't have one that close to us anymore but I grew up with Wegmans and still think it's the best balance between quality-selection-prices. It's not the cheapest but for most things we buy the prices are competitive with (or better than) other stores. And I can get everything I need in a single shopping trip, which is really valuable to me now that I have kids.

Maybe we just have a good one, but Aldi produce going bad quickly is not an issue for my family at all.

I went to Aldi last Thursday, 2/15 and all of the produce I bought is still good. I have no idea what people are babbling about that their food isn't good quality and goes rotten. Can you buy some strawberries that seem to go back in 2-3 days, sure, but I've had that happen at Wegmans, WF, Safeway and HT. This is not an Aldi problem. People are just snobs for some reason and are uptight about shopping there, except in my neighborhood where I see plenty of people I know there on a regular basis. NBD.

This thread was asking for tips on curbing spending on food and one of the obvious ones for me would be to shop at a less expensive grocery store, like Aldi. But it seems that people come up with every counter argument to not take the obvious advice, so keep spending I guess.