Grocery prices - sigh

justforfun87

Wed, May 17 2023, 11:40 am

Every week I promise myself I will do better. I visualize and double check my cart every time. I really try to get the staples at Target/Costco but week after week my bill is so embarrassingly high. I am clearly not cutting enough. Then I sometimes have food waste or the produce wasn't good (sour mandarines) and that compounds the guilt. It seems on average I am spending 450/week on food since Pesach. This is for 5 eaters and some stuff I pick up for a parent as well. Inflation can only be blamed so much. I need more concrete ideas to cut costs. This is Baltimore for reference.

TwinsMommy

Wed, May 17 2023, 12:33 pm

we have 4 big eaters and spend about $250 a week so you can definitely cut. And that's with over $25 a week JUST on soda and tomatoes (my hubby is addicted to both). He also spends about $12 a week on candy, I kid you not. We shop mostly at Walmart. Snacks and cereal stock up once a month at Aldi. Kosher stores only for meat and things we can only get there. We don't do Costco because we just don't want to stock up THAT much with only 2 kids (they're teens, but it's still a small family for shlepping to Costco which isn't super close for us).

One thing I do is do similar shopping trips. For instance this morning I did my monthly stock up at Aldi and I bought the same stuff I usually buy so I knew my bill would be right under $100 without even adding as I went through the store--- I just knew that if I get 15 cereals and this many granola bars and this many of this and that many of that, I'd be right under 100.

We rarely get bad produce---- is all your bad produce from one store?

amother

Copper

Wed, May 17 2023, 1:30 pm

amother Forsythia wrote:

The best way to cut down your grocery bill is to menu plan and buy based on that.

I do the opposite. I menu plan based on what’s on sale. BH I’ve been able to keep my bills under control

amother

Forsythia

Wed, May 17 2023, 1:33 pm

amother Copper wrote:

I do the opposite. I menu plan based on what’s on sale. BH I’ve been able to keep my bills under control

It's the same thing. Buy based on meals, don't just buy all the foods you might want to have in the house. Adjusting your meal plans based on prices is the next level, and will reduce your bills even further.

giftedmom

Wed, May 17 2023, 1:34 pm

amother Forsythia wrote:

Does your family only eat meals?

justforfun87

Wed, May 17 2023, 1:43 pm

amother Forsythia wrote:

Of course not, but snacks can also be planned.

How do you plan snacks? My kids are ravenous when they get home and while I cut out individual chip bags it seems we can't keep enough snacks/ fruit in the cupboards

amother

Copper

Wed, May 17 2023, 2:06 pm

justforfun87 wrote:

How do you plan snacks? My kids are ravenous when they get home and while I cut out individual chip bags it seems we can't keep enough snacks/ fruit in the cupboards

We do a lot of energy bites in my house.

amother

Cyan

Wed, May 17 2023, 2:12 pm

Honestly, your bill doesn't sound so outrageous to me.

We are 2 adults, a preschooler and a baby. My bill was $215, not including chicken or meat (weekday and for chulent). I spent another $50 on chicken, which included some for next weeks dinners and shavous soups (we are hosting).

So for may much smaller family, we spent about $240. Plus Dh spends on bought food cuz he can't always get home for breakfast/lunch.

amother

Crimson

Wed, May 17 2023, 2:16 pm

I spend about the same for my family of six eaters. I find that food went up a lot. I did start buying based on what I'm going to be making for lunch on supper instead of just running through the store and buying what I want. I find that I spend a lot of money on just snacks but the reality is I have four children in school and they need to have snack every day. I also should probably cut down on how much snack they take...
I also find that when I have guests for shabbos then I spend a lot more money. Last week I spent like $500.

justforfun87

Wed, May 17 2023, 2:54 pm

amother Chartreuse wrote:

Do you have Aldi's nearby? Good prices on snacks, cans, pasta, cereal, fruit, etc

Yup! Just went there last week and stocked up and all gone. It is a shlep to get there so I really don't go as often as I would like to. It just becomes too much to shop at Jewish store/Target/Costco/Aldi while working full time within a week so I find it hard to decide when to just call it a loss and get more stuff at 1-2 places vs 4 stores in a week. I realize milk is cheaper here, eggs are cheaper there, wraps are cheaper there, mangoes here, avocado there but it is causing me to get very anxious every week.

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, May 17 2023, 3:11 pm

Would Instacart save you in the long run to be able to get Aldi and Costco more often?

I have Walmart Plus for this reason but found it to be poorly serviced in Baltimore.

amother

Burlywood

Wed, May 17 2023, 3:21 pm

OP you didn’t write anything about your financial situation, but your OP contains words like guilt and embarrassment. Just make sure being frugal isn’t turning into some kind of moral obligation for you. It’s not a mitzvah to pinch Pennies if you don’t have to. Spending less on groceries doesn’t win you an award, and even if imamother makes it seem like it does. Not getting the best price on each item isn’t a crime or sin.

Forgive me if I’m off base.

justforfun87

Wed, May 17 2023, 3:23 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Would Instacart save you in the long run to be able to get Aldi and Costco more often?

I have Walmart Plus for this reason but found it to be poorly serviced in Baltimore.

Instacart I believe adds a 15% tip so not sure how much that really saves?

amother

Dodgerblue

Wed, May 17 2023, 3:46 pm

Make meal plans based on sale items. Many stores have good return/exchange policies on produce that is not good. Why do people's kids eat so many snacks a day? Probably because they are processed/carby and therefore addictive. A fruit and vegetable should be enough per snack (2x daily, once in school and once when they get home) and you can add a healthy unprocessed fat/protein like egg, nuts etc. or chumus/techina/guacamole to go with the vegetable and you may find they have a better appetite for meals too.

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, May 17 2023, 3:46 pm

justforfun87 wrote:

Instacart I believe adds a 15% tip so not sure how much that really saves?

Oh well, I wasn't aware of that. I've never used it!