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I refuse to pay over $10 dollars for a whole chicken. I used to cook one once a week. My spoiled Yorkie won't eat unless he has chicken in his food. I give some to the possums that visit nightly as well. This grocery store we go to usually has chicken legs and thighs for a reasonable price so I buy a big bag and freeze them in one meal freezer bags. This week I could only get legs.
I used to buy some crab once a week, but now it's $18 dollars for a small amount. I did find a good deal at Jewel so I bought a lot for Christmas Eve. With this big snow storm coming it might just be a couple of us, so more for us later.
I did find some whole chickens at Mariano's for $5 dollars a piece. They had expired that day and I took a couple home and put them in the freezer. They were fine and I wish I had bought several more.
We grocery shopped yesterday and our bill was $123 dollars. That will feed us for about 5 maybe 6 days. Nothing is from a can or a box. We never ate that way anyway.
I feel sorry for people who can't afford these crazy prices.
I always buy things from 'scratch', noodles, rice, beans, etc.- I'm so fortunate in that I was raised in a time when you learned how to cook, instead of the boxed/canned/bagged stuff that leaves you hungry an hour after you eat it. I usually cook and freeze single meals since there's only the two of us, and although it creates a ton of work for a few days I can freeze them up and not have to cook for over a month. Yes! lol
Well, the diet has shifted more for health and less for budget reasons. Brisket hasn't been bought in a while, between price going up and selection of packers (the more expensive cuts available instead) being down. Plus, didn't have the storage space for it. But now that I do.....I might......but right now, turkey is competing with it as the big cost meat that can go a long way.
Otherwise, well if health hadn't neutralized the alcohol, maybe that. Hamburger might be on the cut list except, other meats compete for its space in stews, so usually we are only talking a 1/4 lb a week, and I bought a lot when it was cheap.
I was a little upset today to see that flour was no longer in the dollar range but what to do? It's a necessity.
On that note, as a Cowgirl and a cook, if I can't do things one way anymore, I'll look for another. Such as making stews, that's just rather natural to me now.
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Originally Posted by mostie
I always buy things from 'scratch', noodles, rice, beans, etc.- I'm so fortunate in that I was raised in a time when you learned how to cook, instead of the boxed/canned/bagged stuff that leaves you hungry an hour after you eat it. I usually cook and freeze single meals since there's only the two of us, and although it creates a ton of work for a few days I can freeze them up and not have to cook for over a month. Yes! lol
Love it!
Me, I cook a stew for the week or at least for 3 days (like this week). It is one of those interesting coincidences when I do in that Sunday night is usually my Western movie night and cooking during that makes me feel all frontiery. Wasn't planned that way, just worked out that way.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 12-20-2022 at 11:13 AM..
Wow, some of the prices you all have mentioned have made me do this: ! And I thought groceries had gotten expensive up here! (I'm in the boonies of southwestern New Hampshire, just outside of Keene.)
We have rib eye steaks and roast on sale this week (last week, too) for $5.99/lb. Chicken goes on sale just about every week, with different cuts alternating; in the last few weeks I've gotten whole chickens for 89 to 99 cents/pound, same for chicken thighs, and boneless/skinless breasts and thighs for $1.49/lb. (wings too for one week -- they'd been on sale for a couple of weeks before that for $1.99/lb. and THAT was half their normal price!). So anyway, I've been eating a lot of chicken, but I like it a lot and prepare it a million different ways so it's hard to get sick of it.
I used to get salmon on sale for $5.99/lb. (I always stocked up) but the cheapest I've seen lately is $7.99/lb. I love salmon so I hate to see it this expensive ... but it's a whole lot better than $15-$20/lb.!
I live alone and haven't had a lot of house guests recently; my grocery bill is probably in the $300-$400/month range, but then, I've stocked up on chicken as I have lots of freezer space. At this point I probably have a year's worth of meat/poultry in various freezers as well as lots of pasta, beans, flour & sugar, and other pantry staples, so I won't have to buy a lot in the next few months (unless of course wings go on sale for $1.49/lb. again! ). My "retirement incentive" has just 1 more payment to go (I got my full pay for a year and a half for "officially" retiring in summer 2021, although I'm still JUST teaching, which is a very nice change) so that has probably been one reason for my big stock-ups!
Happy holidays, everyone, and may you eat well at least through New Year's! (My 64th birthday, EEEEK!! )
If that is your only criteria, you should be shopping at WalMart. They (and many others) deliver and have organic for much, much cheaper than WF.
The current issue of Consumer Reports (available free at many libraries) has an article on store brands vs name brands. At least one of the WF products was a 'skip'.
I've had really bad luck with the pickers at Walmart re produce. The produce they choose, you wonder if they even look at what they put in the bin. I've had to return avocados (old and mushy), bruised bananas, green potatoes, and bitter lettuce (the prepackaged organic Romaine). I had to throw out an entire package of bitter Romaine lettuce. I've given up on buying produce from Walmart if it's delivered. Better to choose it myself or not purchase it at all.
As for cutting things out: bacon has gone bye bye. I paid over $11/package for mediocre bacon to use in a meatloaf recipe. It was terrible. The good stuff was over $15. I love Chobani yogurt (both plain and flavored), it's now $6.99 per tub. Had to cut back. Got fed up with egg prices so I purchased 5 dozen for $11.99 plus tax (my state taxes food) so it saved more than a little money.
Brand name chips. I don't buy them often anyway, but the prices are so insane now that we don't even bother looking at them. We found Food Lion tortilla chips are every bit as good as Doritos so that is what I buy now.
I still buy Fairlife skim milk, I won't cut that out. I love it, crave it some days LOL.
Rarely ever buy steaks now, BF will buy them if they are on a really good sale.
Mostly it comes down to what's on sale. I used to bet the bagged Italian salad once a week, but the price has gone through the roof. I only get it when it's on sale now.
Don't buy deli anymore. But really, not too many changes.
I don't care about organic so that high cost that is not an issue for me.
I dropped Lean Cuisine also - it wasn't even really worth the cost then and certainly not now.
Same here. I would buy about 5 of them when they were on sale for $1.99 each -- they were my emergency stash. I have replaced them with canned soup and canned chili -- not paying $5 for a Lean Cuisine and I don't miss them.
I have definitely eliminated all those Townhouse club crackers and Wheat Thins and Triscuits -- they are almost $5 a box now and they have made the box smaller. Lidl and Aldi have pretty good crackers so if they are on sale ( 2 for $3) I will buy them just to have around for a light lunch. I made my husband stop buying the big bags of Tostitos when they reached $5 a bag -- it's all terrible stuff for you anyway. I buy the whole wheat bread at Aldi and I can always toast that and have it with cheese if I am craving the crunch. Mostly I have tried to eliminate all WASTE. I used to buy apples and then half of them would get soft and mushy and I would throw them in the back tree line for the critters. Now I only buy 2 green bananas and maybe 3 apples so that I don't throw anything away.
Also I am currently working my way through 2 full freezers and a large stocked pantry. It's not always what I want to eat but a lot of soups and canned chili that I bought in the pandemic hoarding. And I have a couple jars of JIF peanut butter to use up.
Tomorrow I'm making eggplant parmigiana for about $12. That will feed me until Christmas Eve for the most part. I recently made cranberry pumpkin bread and have been eating that for breakfast. It's pretty healthy without much sugar, using unsweetened apple sauce in it. It's very inexpensive to make.
Any chance we could get the cranberry pumpkin bread receipt?
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I probably spend more on my old cat keeping her healthy than I do myself on food.
Awww. Sweet kitty.
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). My "retirement incentive" has just 1 more payment to go (I got my full pay for a year and a half for "officially" retiring in summer 2021, although I'm still JUST teaching, which is a very nice change) so that has probably been one reason for my big stock-ups!
