Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should start a garden this spring/summer--you'll save money on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini.

This is funny. Gardening is an expensive hobby.

It can be but doesn’t have to be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can commiserate. We spend at least that on fruit and veggies. My kids are picky eaters but they will always eat fruit so I stock up. I think of it as an “investment” in their health at this point!

Op here. That is how I am looking at it too - investment in health for the future.
I like someone saying "grow your own vegetables". I am not into gardening but may have to get into it. With job scenarios being so bad, the biggest worry for me is not being able to afford basic food items.

I haven't grown them before but apparently Zuchinni and other squash just grow prolifically in a home garden.

I grow a garden every summer. Zucchini/squash are always hit or miss. Try cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and green beans. Especially cherry tomatoes, so good! Your kids can help pick the vegetables and pull weeds. It’s work, but worth it. Many summer nights I go out and pick what’s available in my yard to make with dinner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should start a garden this spring/summer--you'll save money on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini.

This is funny. Gardening is an expensive hobby.

Only if you buy into all that Instagram nonsense.

+1.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I do a lot of beans too and am not counting that in weekly produce bills. My family love stews and bean bowls.

Is there a chart that shows how much did fresh produce cost prior to tariffs versus now? Or are fresh produce items exempt from tariffs?

Fresh produce prices are more likely to be affected by ICE activities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should start a garden this spring/summer--you'll save money on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini.

This is funny. Gardening is an expensive hobby.

Only if you buy into all that Instagram nonsense.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I do a lot of beans too and am not counting that in weekly produce bills. My family love stews and bean bowls.

Is there a chart that shows how much did fresh produce cost prior to tariffs versus now? Or are fresh produce items exempt from tariffs?

If you’re buying fresh produce, you should be buying locally, or at least domestic, which means it wouldn’t be hit by tariffs. If you’re buying out of season produce being flown in from far away, of course you’re paying a lot.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I do a lot of beans too and am not counting that in weekly produce bills. My family love stews and bean bowls.

Is there a chart that shows how much did fresh produce cost prior to tariffs versus now? Or are fresh produce items exempt from tariffs?

I mean, the most helpful thing you can do is make a list of what you are actually buying each week and the prices of those items. Because you are writing as if you are price sensitive but... maybe you're also buying $25/week of raspberries instead of $5/week of bananas. And we can't know that.

I write the post about what we eat in winter - our meals are TOTALLY different in winter vs summer. We adjust recipes accordingly. We focus on recipes that use a lot of one winter vegetable.

Go to Aldi

This is OP. I do a lot of beans too and am not counting that in weekly produce bills. My family love stews and bean bowls.

Is there a chart that shows how much did fresh produce cost prior to tariffs versus now? Or are fresh produce items exempt from tariffs?

We shop at Aldi and also eat what’s in season. My kids do not get berries weekly even though they’d love them. I have friends who spend $20 a week just on berries that their kids gorge themselves on.

Sadly due to prices our fruits and veggies have become boring. We always have a fruit bowl with apples, oranges and bananas. In the fridge there’s always broccoli, green beans and carrots. The rest comes and goes based on what’s in season. We eat a lot more beans now too (not a vegetable I know).

Sounds about right to me. We spend $100/wk on produce, $100/wk on protein (chicken, beef, eggs), $200/wk on miscellaneous (grains, dairy, snacks, oils/condiments, breads, etc)

Anonymous wrote:You should start a garden this spring/summer--you'll save money on lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini.

This is funny. Gardening is an expensive hobby.

We spend more and I shop mostly at Costco, Wegmans and Whole Foods. I don't buy organic. That's just the price. I have three teenagers and one of them can easily eat a whole pint of berries in one sitting. It goes fast.

Peas for instance, I always buy frozen. Fresh are unaffordable at any time of the year.

Try Lidl for fruit and veges. I only buy whats on sale for the week. This week strawberries, raspberries, and grapes are reasonable. I also bought apples bananas and mangos at regular price. I have a family of 6 so I have to buy tons of each. The total wasn’t so bad.