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.

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.

4 people- 2 male athlete teens.

We spent $14,915 on food last year in the DMV. Shopped mostly at Giant, Trader Joe’s, and Lidl in that order.

Very little on alcohol.

3k of the almost 15k was on takeout/restaurants including food on vacation.

So wait, do you take 2 or 3 vacations a year and add the cost of food on vacations to your annual meal budget? I am just trying to understand.

OP, your real expenses are the takeouts and vacation dining, not what you cook at home or shopping at WF.

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. When I was a broke grad student, the 30 a week made the difference between being able to go out with friends on a Friday night for dinner and a drink or two at a bar afterwards. But with a healthy income, Aldi/Lidls are a waste of time for me.

If you're spending 200 a week average for takeaway, swap that for things like frozen pizza from Wegmans (pretty good) or rotisserie chicken or make spaghetti and meatballs with a spinach salad on the side. That's where you'll save money, avoiding the takeaways and just cooking extra meals at home. Not going to Aldis. You'll probably be surprised by how quickly you'll stop missing takeaway. Save it for a last Friday of the month treat or something like that. If you do that, you'll save 150 out of the 200 on average, each week.

I don't include vacation expenses in my monthly budget as that's a separate line item. Don't do that either.

Another option is Dream Dinners or something similar. Much cheaper and healthier than takeout.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP how do you realize how much takeout costs? It’s $50 per person now with taxes and delivery charges. 50 x 5 x 3 = 750/WEEK on takeout. That more than some people’s rent, and more than double my property taxes. That’s $39K a year plus at least another $12K (easily) for groceries, plus whatever you spend on restaurants which I’m sure isn’t zero. Your husband’s number is an understatement. This is a sickening indulgence.

Op here. We pick up ourselves. It’s never 50 dollars a person. More like 20-25 for one entree each and a shared appetizer or side dish. We always have extra vegetables prepared at home. My kids are young and sometimes they share bigger portions. Takeout is probably more in the 150-250 range depending on the week. And sometimes dh will get himself chipotle or something for lunch. But yes - a big portion is obviously takeout. The total number does include restaurants but apart from vacations (maybe 2-3 weeks per year) we don’t eat out in restaurants often. I don’t think we’re overly indulgent - we’re generally pretty careful and im trying to figure out how to be more cost efficient and healthy.

OP if I were you I would go to Costco and Trader Joe’s and looks through the frozen food section for some “as quick as takeout” things they would appeal to your family. Make a night of trying a bunch and seeing what people like- then have those on hand. Do a month of no takeout and figure out which options you actually miss, add those back in but with less frequency.

150-250 a week on takeout = 7800 to 13,000 a year. That is overly indulgent. You’re asking for tips on how to curb spending on food. Ok, stop doing that.

Anonymous wrote:OP how do you realize how much takeout costs? It’s $50 per person now with taxes and delivery charges. 50 x 5 x 3 = 750/WEEK on takeout. That more than some people’s rent, and more than double my property taxes. That’s $39K a year plus at least another $12K (easily) for groceries, plus whatever you spend on restaurants which I’m sure isn’t zero. Your husband’s number is an understatement. This is a sickening indulgence.

Op here. We pick up ourselves. It’s never 50 dollars a person. More like 20-25 for one entree each and a shared appetizer or side dish. We always have extra vegetables prepared at home. My kids are young and sometimes they share bigger portions. Takeout is probably more in the 150-250 range depending on the week. And sometimes dh will get himself chipotle or something for lunch. But yes - a big portion is obviously takeout. The total number does include restaurants but apart from vacations (maybe 2-3 weeks per year) we don’t eat out in restaurants often. I don’t think we’re overly indulgent - we’re generally pretty careful and im trying to figure out how to be more cost efficient and healthy.

OP isn't going to follow any of the advice on here because she is well off. She is foolishly including her VACATION DINING in her year's food expenditures. Her actual weekly spending is perfectly reasonable.

Telling her to go to Aldi's to save $50 a week isn't going to change anything because the bulk of the food costs is from her VACATION DINING plus holiday meals.

Check out budgetbytes.com for some reasonably healthy and affordable recipes. They break down total cost and cost per serving.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Some great meat free meals that are very easy:
Quiche and a salad.
Breakfast for dinner.
Spaghetti & Frozen meatballs with jarred sauce.
Baked chicken (with a pre-made seasoning mix from Penzey's), baked potatoes and green beans.

Easier and quicker than takeout.

Oops. Not meat free. But all are very easy!

Some great meat free meals that are very easy:
Quiche and a salad.
Breakfast for dinner.
Spaghetti & Frozen meatballs with jarred sauce.
Baked chicken (with a pre-made seasoning mix from Penzey's), baked potatoes and green beans.

Easier and quicker than takeout.

Menu plan before you go to the grocery. Only buy what's on the list.

Try living without takeout for two months and then decide what really makes a difference.

Shop at Lidl, Aldi or Trader Joe's. Only at Giant if it's not at the other three places and only once every week or two.

Those three things will cut your food spending in half. And you'll be eating just as well.

We buy our meat at Butcher Box because I'm not buying meat at Aldi. It is very expensive but worth it. Also more than half our meals are meat free or almost meat free.