Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About once a year I go through the "I'm spending too much on groceries" and try to shop around and check out different supermarkets, including Lidl and Aldis.

Here's the reality: switching to Lidl or whatever from Whole Foods for the *same basket of goods* will not save you very much money. You will save something, but I doubt it's going to be more than 10-15% altogether. Maybe it's worth it to you, but maybe not. For me it wasn't because I also don't really need to save the differential.

What I discovered is that you save money by changing what you eat completely. Don't get the nicer cheeses at $10-12 a block but the cheap ones at $3.50 a block. Get cheap coffee, not imported ones. Eat lots of casseroles made with rice/beans/pasta, and eat the leftovers the next night. Don't buy steaks but have sausages. That's where the savings add up, not going to Lidl to pay $1 less on a specific item. In short, it's more about being smart with what you cook and eat, not being smart in where you shop.

Completely disagree. Take milk, its usually at least $2 less a gallon at Aldi or Lidl than at most stores. We got through 2 gallons a week. In a year, that’s $104+ savings in a year. Multiply that onward: pasta, produce, cheese, eggs, etc. produce is significantly cheaper at aldi and lidl.

It does seem like people are adverse to those stores (or aren’t). If you are - fine but you’re kidding yourself if you think you’re not saving quite a bit at those stores.

Anonymous wrote:I posted the same question 20 mins after you and got blasted for a $19 dinner at McDonald's. My son is a very active teen. He has a 20 piece, medium fry and medium smoothie and it was $19. We spend $4k a month for 2 adults, 2 teens. This includes school lunch, work lunch, groceries, and restaurants. I don't know how some people are spending $300 a week. I just bought ribs to cook for my family and they were $27. I am trying to meal prep and cut way back on eating out, but sometimes we are running from point a to point b so there is no choice.

Anonymous wrote:About once a year I go through the "I'm spending too much on groceries" and try to shop around and check out different supermarkets, including Lidl and Aldis.

Here's the reality: switching to Lidl or whatever from Whole Foods for the *same basket of goods* will not save you very much money. You will save something, but I doubt it's going to be more than 10-15% altogether. Maybe it's worth it to you, but maybe not. For me it wasn't because I also don't really need to save the differential.

What I discovered is that you save money by changing what you eat completely. Don't get the nicer cheeses at $10-12 a block but the cheap ones at $3.50 a block. Get cheap coffee, not imported ones. Eat lots of casseroles made with rice/beans/pasta, and eat the leftovers the next night. Don't buy steaks but have sausages. That's where the savings add up, not going to Lidl to pay $1 less on a specific item. In short, it's more about being smart with what you cook and eat, not being smart in where you shop.

Anonymous wrote:We live 20 minutes from NWDC.

We spend 200/month on takeout/eating out and 1100/month on groceries including personal care items sold in the grocery store.

2 teenage athlete boys.

Mom doesn’t eat much. Probably 90% of that goes to the guys in the household.

Anonymous wrote:About once a year I go through the "I'm spending too much on groceries" and try to shop around and check out different supermarkets, including Lidl and Aldis.

Here's the reality: switching to Lidl or whatever from Whole Foods for the *same basket of goods* will not save you very much money. You will save something, but I doubt it's going to be more than 10-15% altogether. Maybe it's worth it to you, but maybe not. For me it wasn't because I also don't really need to save the differential.

What I discovered is that you save money by changing what you eat completely. Don't get the nicer cheeses at $10-12 a block but the cheap ones at $3.50 a block. Get cheap coffee, not imported ones. Eat lots of casseroles made with rice/beans/pasta, and eat the leftovers the next night. Don't buy steaks but have sausages. That's where the savings add up, not going to Lidl to pay $1 less on a specific item. In short, it's more about being smart with what you cook and eat, not being smart in where you shop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About once a year I go through the "I'm spending too much on groceries" and try to shop around and check out different supermarkets, including Lidl and Aldis.

Here's the reality: switching to Lidl or whatever from Whole Foods for the *same basket of goods* will not save you very much money. You will save something, but I doubt it's going to be more than 10-15% altogether. Maybe it's worth it to you, but maybe not. For me it wasn't because I also don't really need to save the differential.

What I discovered is that you save money by changing what you eat completely. Don't get the nicer cheeses at $10-12 a block but the cheap ones at $3.50 a block. Get cheap coffee, not imported ones. Eat lots of casseroles made with rice/beans/pasta, and eat the leftovers the next night. Don't buy steaks but have sausages. That's where the savings add up, not going to Lidl to pay $1 less on a specific item. In short, it's more about being smart with what you cook and eat, not being smart in where you shop.

Very true.

Are people expected to only eat processed meat? Where are you finding a block of cheese for $3.50?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About once a year I go through the "I'm spending too much on groceries" and try to shop around and check out different supermarkets, including Lidl and Aldis.

Here's the reality: switching to Lidl or whatever from Whole Foods for the *same basket of goods* will not save you very much money. You will save something, but I doubt it's going to be more than 10-15% altogether. Maybe it's worth it to you, but maybe not. For me it wasn't because I also don't really need to save the differential.

What I discovered is that you save money by changing what you eat completely. Don't get the nicer cheeses at $10-12 a block but the cheap ones at $3.50 a block. Get cheap coffee, not imported ones. Eat lots of casseroles made with rice/beans/pasta, and eat the leftovers the next night. Don't buy steaks but have sausages. That's where the savings add up, not going to Lidl to pay $1 less on a specific item. In short, it's more about being smart with what you cook and eat, not being smart in where you shop.

Very true.

Anonymous wrote:About once a year I go through the "I'm spending too much on groceries" and try to shop around and check out different supermarkets, including Lidl and Aldis.

Here's the reality: switching to Lidl or whatever from Whole Foods for the *same basket of goods* will not save you very much money. You will save something, but I doubt it's going to be more than 10-15% altogether. Maybe it's worth it to you, but maybe not. For me it wasn't because I also don't really need to save the differential.

What I discovered is that you save money by changing what you eat completely. Don't get the nicer cheeses at $10-12 a block but the cheap ones at $3.50 a block. Get cheap coffee, not imported ones. Eat lots of casseroles made with rice/beans/pasta, and eat the leftovers the next night. Don't buy steaks but have sausages. That's where the savings add up, not going to Lidl to pay $1 less on a specific item. In short, it's more about being smart with what you cook and eat, not being smart in where you shop.