New poster. I spent about $60 this week (one adult/one tween). I shop ahead, so my list is often strange

Stuff I will use all or part of in the next week:
Chamomile Tea- 1.99
lb pasta -1.19
2 liters of seltzer- 1.18
30 corn tortillas -2.19
lb asparagus 2.99
avocado -1.50
lb tofu -1.99
1lb peaches -.99
sour cream 1.59
mango -.79
dozen eggs -2.69
half gallon milk 2.29
3lb wyman blueberries -10.99
frozen orange juice 1.99
Nori rice seasoning 3.29
refried beans - 1.59

stuff I bought for pantry stock up
5 lb flour - 1.69
can of pineapple - 1.69
3 cans of tuna 3.87
can of jalapenos 1.79
2 lbs pasta - 2.38
cafe bustelo brick 3.49
2 small jars of natural peanut butter 3.98

I also have some produce from my garden. My meals for this week

breakfast
eggs with potatoes or toast
oatmeal w milk
smoothies
grapefruit that needs to be eaten
blueberry muffins


lunches and dinners
rice bowls
tortillas with refried beans
baked tofu with couscous
pasta with sauce and sausage
peanut butter sandwiches
nutella sandwiches (need to bake some bread)
grilled cheese

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're late to the game. Everything, I mean EVERYTHING went up in price while our salaries relatively remain the same. They're all added up.

Whose fault is that?

It’s totally not the Biden admin. It’s all about the vodkaman in Russia.

A combination of COVID, easy fed money, and the war. It would have happened the same way with anyone else in office.

Yes, but the war and easy fed money would not necessarily have happened with anyone else in office.

We’re you hoping for an appeaser to avoid the war? Europe is doing more than us on this front now. And yo hate ok with $2 less in milk for Russian tanks in Western Europe? What were you hoping for?

Also not sure about the easy fed money either - didn’t the first $3 trillion pass under Trump? What is the alternative scenario we would have seen?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suggest starting your own vegetable garden, even on your balcony.

NP. I feel like every year I try to do this and end up spending a ton more than if I just bought the vegetables from the farmers market. Soil, pots, seeds or seedlings. Then add in the ones that fail. Too $$$$. Gardening is a hobby IMO, and not really enough to reduce or supply one with actual food unless you have a lot more space and a green thumb.

Totally. Read The $50 Tomato.

For berries, I get the frozen organic berry mix in the 3 pound bag from Costco. It costs about $11. Buying fresh rasberries, fresh blueberries (organic) will cost around $7-10 per pound.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you have to change the way you shop. You shouldn't make a list and then just go buy what is on it. You need to shop the sales. Look at the weekly circular and see what the loss-leaders are. Buy those and build your weekly menu around it. I usually do my shopping at Harris Teeter. If I want to buy meat that week, I select whatever the loss leader that week is. I supplement with whatever vegetable is on sale that week. Fruit? There is usually something on sale for that too. There is usually SOMETHING on discount or 1/2 price for just about every category every week. I NEVER pay $5 a loaf for sandwich bread - there is almost always some brand that is running a 2 for $6 sale (HT gives you 1 at 1/2 price, which Giant typically does not do). You cannot have brand loyalty - shop the discounts.

Yeah, this is what I do, and my mom used to do with her homemade price book in the 70s. For example, Cabot butter was on sale for $3/lb. Store brand butter is currently $4.50 in my area so I bought 6lbs of butter at $3/lb and put it in the freezer.

OP, you have to change the way you shop. You shouldn't make a list and then just go buy what is on it. You need to shop the sales. Look at the weekly circular and see what the loss-leaders are. Buy those and build your weekly menu around it. I usually do my shopping at Harris Teeter. If I want to buy meat that week, I select whatever the loss leader that week is. I supplement with whatever vegetable is on sale that week. Fruit? There is usually something on sale for that too. There is usually SOMETHING on discount or 1/2 price for just about every category every week. I NEVER pay $5 a loaf for sandwich bread - there is almost always some brand that is running a 2 for $6 sale (HT gives you 1 at 1/2 price, which Giant typically does not do). You cannot have brand loyalty - shop the discounts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things like blueberries absolutely required? We try to get the produce on sale. If apples and plums are on sale, that’s what we have. Other weeks it could be grapes and oranges, etc. while I am closer to aldi now, I used to not be. About once every 3-5 weeks, I’d go to one and get a bunch of things: flour, oil, canned beans, canned tomatoes, eggs, frozen items, etc. could you try that?

Berries in particular are the last thing anyone should be complaining about the price of, especially suburban dwellers .

You moved out there so you could have the giant house on 1/4 acre, maybe use some of that land to grow your food if you're so concerned with the prices. I've got about 1,000sf of yard and I've got more raspberries and blackberries than I can eat all summer long, and it cost me about $20 for a few seedlings.

It just absolutely boggles my mind that people will subject themselves to a horrible commute "for a house with a yard" then do nothing but literally watch the grass grow.

it takes years for berry bushes to grow

It absolutely does not. You put sticks in the ground in the fall and you're picking fruit next summer. You're thinking about fruit trees.

+1
I have a tiny 0.15 acre yard. I put in blueberries the moment we moved in. Now we have blueberries coming out of our ears from the 8 twigs I planted several years ago.

We live in boring suburbia on small lot. Ours are about 7 years old. Last year we got 23 lbs of blueberries and so far this year we've had just under 4 lbs. (My DH is a grading geek and weighs each picking.)

This sounds like a lot of fun. Any advice for getting blueberries going this fall? Recommendations for getting starters?

We just Home Depot/Costco plants. They are planted in full Sun and good draining soil. When they start to ripen you need a net covering cause birds also love blueberries!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are things like blueberries absolutely required? We try to get the produce on sale. If apples and plums are on sale, that’s what we have. Other weeks it could be grapes and oranges, etc. while I am closer to aldi now, I used to not be. About once every 3-5 weeks, I’d go to one and get a bunch of things: flour, oil, canned beans, canned tomatoes, eggs, frozen items, etc. could you try that?

Berries in particular are the last thing anyone should be complaining about the price of, especially suburban dwellers .

You moved out there so you could have the giant house on 1/4 acre, maybe use some of that land to grow your food if you're so concerned with the prices. I've got about 1,000sf of yard and I've got more raspberries and blackberries than I can eat all summer long, and it cost me about $20 for a few seedlings.

It just absolutely boggles my mind that people will subject themselves to a horrible commute "for a house with a yard" then do nothing but literally watch the grass grow.

it takes years for berry bushes to grow

It absolutely does not. You put sticks in the ground in the fall and you're picking fruit next summer. You're thinking about fruit trees.

+1
I have a tiny 0.15 acre yard. I put in blueberries the moment we moved in. Now we have blueberries coming out of our ears from the 8 twigs I planted several years ago.

We live in boring suburbia on small lot. Ours are about 7 years old. Last year we got 23 lbs of blueberries and so far this year we've had just under 4 lbs. (My DH is a grading geek and weighs each picking.)

This sounds like a lot of fun. Any advice for getting blueberries going this fall? Recommendations for getting starters?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:and bought basically nothing. A few staples that we were out of (sugar, flour, butter). A pound of ground chicken for dinner tonight. A gallon of milk. Some fruits and vegetables. And that was it. Skim milk is now $4.55 a gallon!

Is anyone else getting really concerned about this?

butter=$4 (plugra baking=$3.69)+flour=$5 (King Arthur organic=4.67)+sugar=$4(Domino=3.59)+milk(4.79)+fruit(mango, orange, blue, straw, blackberry=$12)=~$30. How are you getting $68? If you run a pastry shop, try restaurant depot.

OK, we have a literalist here. For you, friend, I will recreate my receipt:

Loaf of whole wheat bread - $4.89
Eggs - $3.19
Kefir - $5.00
Butter - $6.49
Skim Milk gallon - $4.49
Cheese - $4.49
Sugar - $2.99
Flour - $2.79
Ketchup - $2.25
Ritz crackers - $5.39
Ground chicken - $4.29
Sliced ham - $5.49
Blueberries - $6.99
Raisins - $4.29
Bag of spinach - $3.29
Bag of arugula - $2.49
Bananas - $1.06

Total - $69.87

This is a standard grocery shopping list for me, give or take, for the last 5 years. Two or three years ago it would have been $20 less. That is my point.

That’s a lot of groceries…to me. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 with 2 teens! Our groceries are $1200-$1500 a month (includes paper goods, like toilet paper and paper towels, as well as laundry detergent, aluminum foil, etc.). I limit myself to once a month at Costco, spending about $400 each time

Family of four with one pescatarian teen and one D1 runner home for the summer. I spent $548 at Wegmans for essentially 1 week of groceries - just food, no household items except trash bags.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:and bought basically nothing. A few staples that we were out of (sugar, flour, butter). A pound of ground chicken for dinner tonight. A gallon of milk. Some fruits and vegetables. And that was it. Skim milk is now $4.55 a gallon!

Is anyone else getting really concerned about this?

butter=$4 (plugra baking=$3.69)+flour=$5 (King Arthur organic=4.67)+sugar=$4(Domino=3.59)+milk(4.79)+fruit(mango, orange, blue, straw, blackberry=$12)=~$30. How are you getting $68? If you run a pastry shop, try restaurant depot.

OK, we have a literalist here. For you, friend, I will recreate my receipt:

Loaf of whole wheat bread - $4.89
Eggs - $3.19
Kefir - $5.00
Butter - $6.49
Skim Milk gallon - $4.49
Cheese - $4.49
Sugar - $2.99
Flour - $2.79
Ketchup - $2.25
Ritz crackers - $5.39
Ground chicken - $4.29
Sliced ham - $5.49
Blueberries - $6.99
Raisins - $4.29
Bag of spinach - $3.29
Bag of arugula - $2.49
Bananas - $1.06

Total - $69.87

This is a standard grocery shopping list for me, give or take, for the last 5 years. Two or three years ago it would have been $20 less. That is my point.

If you have me that list and asked me to estimate I would have said $75

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since when has Giant and Safeway ever been an affordable place to shop? Unless the items are on sale, it's overpriced.

Where exactly do you recommend shopping?

Aldi, H-Mart, and Lidl have much better prices.