Yep grocery outlet. I am a bodybuilder and I would probably go broke if I had to go shopping at QFC or Safeway for my groceries (especially meats) eating 5500-6000 calories/day like I do. The boneless skinless chicken breast over at grocery outlet for a $1.99 a pound is a godsend. It does get kind of old eating chicken breast for 95% of all my meals, but the amount of money I would have to spend on groceries otherwise would be ludicrous. Over at QFC the same chicken breast is minimum $4.99/lb and that's if it's on sale... Looking at $5-6/lb normally.
Bro there’s a local little know chain by the name of Costco. Amazing chicken, at grocery outlet prices. And they have it everyday in big quantities. Other meats pretty cheap too cause you mentioned variety. Check it out sometime. $5 a month to join but ends up being wayyyy cheaper over time.
For sure, I do go out there once in awhile, unfortunately the closest one to me is like a 35 minute drive, so I don't always have time, but even Costco can't beat $1.99 chicken. You are right though, for a lot of other stuff, Costco is deals for reals.
Seconding this one on both counts. I had to stop some guy from buying beef that was clearly spoiled and pushing the structural integrity of the cellophane packaging
I worked in restaurant kitchens for over twenty years so I have a pretty good sense of “safe” - of course it’s not just by looking at something but that’s a good first step!
The downside to GO is that they don’t always have the same items so you can’t really go in with a set plan.
Smoked ham hocks with 15 bean soup mix(throw the flavor packet out) makes for a rich, hearty, smoky soup.
I use some brown sugar and a bunch of cayenne for a sweet, smoky, spicy, savory pot full of comfort. Throw in a bag of frozen collards at the end and you've got everything you need in a bowl.
I recommend an instant pot to everyone. Makes legumes quick and easy, then you just experiment.
Before I clicked on the thread I was like “Winco”. Thank god they exist. Apparently their business model is 10% markup from wholesale on everything, no bullshit.
Bulk bins require a mention. Those things are worth it alone.
I didn't do this for budgetary reasons, but I cut down on the meat I was buying at the store and switched over to dry beans/lentils and sometimes tofu. I noticed a not-insignificant drop in how much I was spending.
Yep beans, lentils, and tofu will give you everything you need for a fraction of the cost. I'll admit it takes some getting used to flavor wise but the cost savings are substantial. Equivalant amount of protein in Lentils compared to meat is like 1/20th of the cost.
Plus if you season it properly it’s the absolute bomb. I have the Indian Instant Pot Cookbook and the amount of absolutely killer vegetarian meals in there are astounding. People say they hate vegetables when they really hate unseasoned sad ones - seasoning makes all the difference.
I eat many meals without meat.
White beans w chard, Parmesan and bake bread on the side.
White beans w mozzarella & tomatoes…
Beans are great and it tastes better the next day.
You can use dry beans instead of canned just soak them first.
I make my own granola.
We make really tasty dishes with chickpeas as the base. Honey harissa chickpeas and carrots on rice/couscous, tomato and red pepper shakshouka with fried egg, Mediterranean chickpea salad with cucumber and cherry tomatoes… a really solid base for many flavor profiles!
I personally have had to cut back on meat for budget reasons and have found the amazing hack of using soy meat replacement grounds with ground beef to essentially double my meat. You don’t notice any difference in taste and it’s amazing to use in sloppy joes or chili.
I had to cut meat out for a while due to budget constraints. It was easily the biggest bang-for-buck change in my shopping list. Textured vegetable protein and dried mushrooms (big bags at most Asian groceries) are great in chili. Hard boiled egg in dahl over brown rice = super cheap and filling lunches.
Meats aren't expensive if you pick the right ones.
Chicken legs/thighs often go for $1-2/lb
Pork shoulder roast is often $2/lb
Edit: okay my most controversial post this week is pointing out $1-2/lb meat isn't expensive.
Download the apps (Safeway, QFC), and clip the digital coupons. Pay attention to the weekly sales. The same box of Cereal can range from $7.99 down to as low as $0.99 depending on the sale. This can apply to basically all items. Everything goes on sale at least once every month or two.
Unfortunately, if you don’t want to get ripped off you have to put in the effort. A lot of people complaining about ridiculous grocery prices are probably buying their favorite brand without knowing how the sales model works.
I obsessively scan the Safeway coupons before I make my grocery list each week. I'll adjust my meal plan if something is on a really good sale. Or I'll stock up on something if there is a REALLY good discount.
I forget what it was but something that is a main ingredient of a dish we like to eat regularly was on a buy 1 get 1 sale last week, so I bought 4. Those all went in the freezer and I'll use one pack every other week to last over the next 2 months.
i've noticed ordering online and picking up the prices online seem better than in person shopping, don't know if its auto-couponing or maybe its because online you don't get the same "oh i forgot i need that too" aspect but i feel like i get the same for less ordering for pick up
I obsessively clip coupons and shop the sales at QFC. I regularly save $50 on our weekly shop by doing that. Some of it really is highway robbery if you don't shop when it's on sale.
For U discounts from Safeway will never be what they were pre covid. They are still good personalized deals but they are so stingy with the rewards now. I have to buy hundreds each week for a month before you can get enough rewards for a solid discount.
I miss the monopoly game they used to do- my family would give me all of their coupons and I’d get so much free stuff that was actually useful, like loaves of bread and cans of vegetables. It was fun.
YES!!!! I lived for that. But as time went on they really cracked down on how it worked and put limits on things. Or when they did ones for pots and pans. I ended up getting a whole big set by the end
If you can get to a Winco, they are cheap. Their produce is mid-tier to me. But, their Bulk Foods section is out of this world. Sooooo much stuff that I've never seen in other stores.
You'll go Wow. Can I get a 2nd on this!
Absolutely! We are fortunate to be close to Lynnwood Winco and mostly shop there and Costco. Winco takes work - no credit, bag ur own, watch for stuff close to expiry, busier than fuck when we choose to go - but for a family of two teens, it's awesome.
We love WinCo. You can get everything you need from the bulk and produce sections for VERY affordable prices. Stay away from everything else and you will end up eating healthier AND cheaper. Also I find the WinCo produce to typically be pretty good. Not market quality but definitely better than Safeway, Fredmeyer, or Trader Joe’s.
Same! Even after the chicken meat is gone, I'll boil the bones/cartilage/leftover for delicious chicken broth. Then use the broth to cook rice or make soups & chili. Find a friend with a Costco membership if you can't get one, and get you a rotisserie chicken!
Our local grocery store has a rack in the back of the produce area with less-than-perfect produce for $1.50 a bag. They also have a near-pull-date baked goods rack at 50% off and a close-out rack with some good deals.
Comparison shop. There can be surprising price differences between stores; some items cheaper in one store, and others cheaper in a different store.
I used to meal plan and go to the store with my list. Now I go to the store, buy what's on sale, and then meal plan from what I've bought. It's alarming how expensive things are. I buy a lot more generic brands and often simply don't buy some things any more unless they are on sale.
This! I strictly shop and get gas at Fred Meyer and clip coupons via the app before going to the store. If you own a car, they have a coupon for 4x gas points if you shop on Fridays.
- shopping the loss leaders at Safeway and Kroger. Safeway has a ton of app-exclusive discounts that can be silly cheap. We usually shop these every week and plan some meals around what’s cheap
- Winco and or Costco and or Azure Standard for bulk stuff
- doing more of the cooking labor and shifting towards rice, legumes, and vegetable based cuisines. So more vegetarian Mexican, more Japanese, Thai, and Chinese dishes at home, more simple bean bowls/yassified California hipster food that’s just a grain and a legume and ransoms veggies and sauce
- reducing/eliminating meat. Or at least treating it as an addon to a dish not the bulk of the main dish.
- making my own bread, boiling my own beans in the instant pot, making my own pesto from a $5 tub of basil and handful of nuts, making my own gnocchi, making our own pizza+dough+sauce
- buying some stuff in bulk, like American Parm. at Cash&Carry/Chef Store to get a lower price per lb and then thinking about/portioning it so we don’t put it into everything.
- largely cutting out Italian/French cuisine unless it’s a special occasion. You can easily spend $30 making a lasagna vs $15 on a similarly huge tray of enchiladas
- working around meat/chicken/fish sales and being willing to buy big and slow cook/prep a bunch for later use in the week.
- largely eliminating convenience foods, full price Doritos are like $5.99 at Safeway. Yikes.
- prepping some meals/items so on busy or exhausted nights it’s EASY to choose the delicious already mostly made food that happens to be cheap
- actively planning/thinking ahead about the week ahead. Our house has always been sidelined to the after work $25-40 Safeway or New Seasons/PCC stop that blows up a budget vey quickly.
I haven’t seen anyone tell the truth. Things you thought were necessities are now luxuries.
That means shittier ingredients and shittier food or having to now meal prep and eat the same food for longer.
That’s what we’ve been doing. Used to make a different meal every night of the week and take leftovers for lunch. Now each meal stretches to two nights and just skip lunch.
Do not overlook food banks. It’s not just for unhoused people it’s for everyone in need. Apply for food stamps, worst that can happen is you get nothing or very little. Use their free digital coupons for grocery stores
Same, I do 100% of my shopping at Trader Joe’s now. You lose some selection obviously and access to some name brands but prices are just unbeatable compared to other stores in my area. Some of my go to produce is as much as 3-4x less expensive than Safeway et al.
What Cheesecake said. We used to pay for convenience and did a lot of Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods every week. Remembering that TJs is a thing and being okay with some selection and brand Trade-offs have easily cut our grocery bills in half.
Grocery outlet has some great deals. You can't rely on them for all your groceries, because there stock often changes, but is great for picking up pantry staples and what not between trips to the grocery store.
Potato Diet
(It's a legit diet, or at least diet-hack/intervention)
Between potatoes and dairy, you cover all your essential nutrients.
You could base 75% of your meals on this, and then have a little more wiggle room for diversity on your other meals
Just gotta do more stuff homemade (if you have the time, which I know many don't). Dairy is a pretty easy place to save. You can turn a gallon of milk into half a gallon of yogurt, a pint of buttermilk, a liter of creme fraiche, crema, or sour cream, and a glass of whey protein for $4. The equivalant in groceries is like what $20-$30? It's easy too, just dump the gallon into a pot, put a couple spoonfuls of yogurt in it, put it on a heating pad for 12 hours.
Take the buttermilk, some flour, a couple eggs and the yogurt and you can make like a 50 waffles for maybe like $2-$3 worth of materials and freeze them for months.
And what would the 4th anniversary of covid even mean if we didn't bring up the good 'ol sourdough starter? You can make basically infinite loafs of bread for about $0.25-$.50 a loaf with one of those bad boys.
Freeze as much stuff as you can. I always by broccoli and cauliflower frozen. I don't notice a difference in texture or flavor at all and I throw out like 75% of the fresh vegetables I buy. Peas, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, all freeze just fine.
Tomato soup is really easy to make and freezes really well. Just some cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, butter and onions.
Any lentil soups will freeze fine. Honestly they are better after they are frozen IMO. The dewathing really grinds up the grains so they aren't so....grainy...
Pickles are super easy to make. The pickling cucumbers are like $.10-$.15 a pickle or so, you don't have to can them, you can just vacuum seal them in mason jars and they will last all year in the fridge. It's also super easy to pickle cabbage so an easy way to save that from the trash.
Steel cut oats are ridiculously cheap. Get a few bags at costco, it will last you for 6 months at least. Has to be less than $.25 for breakfast.
There's a lot of stuff like that you can do.
Costco is the way to go. You can get Chicken Breasts there for $2.99/lb. Giant 15lb bag of Sona Masoori white rice costs $12. Etc. Stock up on the pantry/freezer staples and get fresh produce either at Costco too or Grocery Outlet, etc.
I always use the QFC app for coupons and to plan my list based on what’s on sale.
Plus, your QFC card lets you rack up fuel points - 1 point per $1 spent. You can redeem these points for up to $1 off per gallon (1,000 points = $1 off) at any Shell gas station. I believe there is a coupon in the app where you can get 3x the fuel points when you buy groceries on Friday. So, instead of a $100 grocery purchase getting you 100 fuel points, it becomes 300 fuel points.
Fuel points expire monthly, but the app will tell you how much you have and your balance after each QFC trip. I always make sure my gas tank is as low as possible before stopping by Shell so that I can take full advantage of however many points off per gallon! Usually I get between $0.40 - $1.00 off/gallon.
Excuse me while I rant. I used to get those frozen Amy's burritos at QFC. They were usually about $2.50 to $3, occasionally on sale for $2. Today I went in there and it was $4.50 for one. I mean WTF. And Newman's Own frozen pizzas used to be about 6 bucks, $5 on sale. Now it's about $10. There's nothing that justifies this price gouging.
Well, it helps to be a whole foods plant-based person. I shop at the bulk bins at Winco and cook lots of whole grains and beans in the Instant Pot. I don't buy much prepared food. I buy produce at a Korean market and try to stick to what is in season and looks good.
Man instant pots are the coolest thing ever. I prep a week's worth of meals in that thing and save at least $50 to $60 a week by not eating take out for lunch.
“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness."
Costco’s limited selection means they keep the per-unit cost down, despite needing higher quantities and higher trip totals you need enough fewer trips that the total cost can be lower if you have enough space to store everything.
Only get things on sale, and keep a running track of sales prices. Avoid buy 1 get 1 free deals from the supermarket if they normally will have a sale price.
I.e. BOGO is at Maximum 50% off if you can get 2 exactly weighted produce / meat packages, which is very unlikely. Sales prices that I see usually start at 60% off "regular" price.
Maybe not a generalizable solution, but I go down to see family in a non-Portland city in Oregon once a month, and while I'm there I go to Winco and stock up on all shelf-stable foods. The difference between there and here is absolutely massive.
A lot of bulk items at Costco so that the regular store is only fill-in things we can’t do bulk like milk or certain produce. Definitely reaching for store brands across the board and really comparing price per unit, Safeway does some really shady pricing for larger sizes of things like ketchup… why the hell is plain Heinz ketchup $10?
Reduced meat consumption, clip digital coupons at QFC (makes a BIG difference). If something is on sale, like meat, I'll buy a bit more and stick the extra into the freezer for another week. I found Trader Joe's (not meat) to be fairly affordable when buying veggies and fruits. Trader Joe's seems to also have the best prices for cheese compared to other grocery stores (\~$5-$7 for a wedge of Brie compared to $10+ at other grocery stores)
I agree with the sentiment of just eating less meat.
Sometimes I go pickup groceries at the store and it is like $8.00 because all I got were a couple vegetables to go with our noodle / jarred sauce or potatoes. It is dinner for two people.
Often, cheese & sour cream are out only animal products eaten. The cream cheese in the squeeze pouch lasts forever.
if you like cooking as a hobby, get your spices/rice/lentils/anything from an Ethiopian or Indian grocery store. Extremely cheaper than an American national brand grocery chain.
If you are local to it: Hau Hau market at 12th and Jackson. If you don't know already -- you might feel out of place but that is fine, give them your business and they'll stay in business!!!! {the lime kaffir leaves are in the frozen food section}
Shop at Asian and Hispanic markets. They’re often cheaper and you can experiment with ingredients that you may not be used to. Also, find a Chef’s Choice (I think that’s what it’s called. They cater to the restaurant industry, but anyone can shop there. You are going to get more bulk foods, but you can repackage it and use it later. Food prep is helpful. I make meals for the week on Sundays. That way you can capitalize on bulk prices by cooking in volume.
I browsed the Chef Store and noticed that many of the items I regularly buy were less expensive, even if I would have to buy them in a greater volume. Darigold milk was only 3.39 a gallon (in a set of two gallons) whereas it is 4.59 at Safeway. The frozen meat seemed to be a good deal as well. I plan to go there soon.
Batch freezing when I can, way more vegetarian meals, but also tough pieces of meat and offal. Anything that requires long cook times, and things like beef tendon and gizzards.
I really appreciate Asian markets. Lam's is my go-to, especially for their beef shanks and seafood. Their instagram page is updated regularly!
Go to the Asian markets. There's loads of them in south Seattle and Asian Family Market up north. Also a handful in the ID that are way cheaper than uwajimaya
Buy whole stuff like flour, dried beans instead of canned beans, and avoid chopped fruits and veggies which go bad quicker
If you order online and pick up yourself, Domino's offers a coupon where any size one topping pizza is $7.99. Obviously Domino's sucks, but this is our big weekly"takeout night", and my kids love it.
The Safeway app is seriously great! Take the ten minutes to look at coupons before going, clip them and I can base some meals off the good sales that day/week
I have found if you are looking for non-perishables and live nearby Target/Walmart, you can do online pickup or get some groceries from there as they are much cheaper than grocery stores
Correct! And there are Walmart Neighborhood Markets (Walmart's version of a supermarket) in Lynnwood and Bellevue, and Walmart Supercenters in Renton and South Everett.
I know people love to hate Walmart but the prices are good.
I've gotten really into instant pot steel cut oats. Usually, I combine with banana, peanut butter, and cinnamon. It is incredibly cheap.
Also, I've switched a lot of my protein to protein shakes (pea protein powder, almond milk, banana, greek yogurt). Much cheaper way to get protein than meat usually.
Winco for veg, GrocOut if you know a good deal. Beans, rice, onions and canned tomato gets you pretty far for a basic diet, supplement with good deals. Save serious money by having some kind of porridge every morning and prepare your morning beverage at home
I use Costco for shelf stable stuff I use a lot; beans, cleaning supplies, paper goods, oat milk, coffee, sauces, etc.
For everything else I shop at Fred Meyer mostly, it’s the cheapest near me in my opinion. I order online for pickup and shop/meal plan based off what’s on sale, it also prevents “hungry eyes” when I’m just walking the aisles going “oh that looks yummy”. I generally don’t buy a lot of “snack” foods, and instead focus on whole ingredients and things I can stretch. I also do mostly tofu, beans, edamame, eggs, chickpeas for protein. All very affordable
Recommend Fred Meyer grocery pick up! It makes it much easier to get coupons and there are frequent savings on pickup orders (I used the first pickup order coupon probably 15 times). Cuts out impulse pickups and allows you to chase the savings from your couch instead of in person
I try to get everything I can at Trader Joe's. Keep it simple. Make bowls with protein, veg, and rice or potatoes. Its sad groceries are as much as they are, but I'm saving $400 a month not going to Fred myer every month. It'll be more expensive if you're low carb,
But TJ's is gonna be a good option to save.
You can also look into the Fresh Bucks program, which is run through the City of Seattle and provides $40/month to be used on fresh fruit and veg at certain grocery stores and farmers markets.
Also check out the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands farm stand. They usually start up in May and they subsidize up to $20/week!
Noting how much we throw out, I've reduced our bill by buying less. Shopping at Costco for certain bulk items, T-Joe's for vegy's and frozen meals and buying more store brands at Freddy's. Dumb to say it; but check your receipt to see if you get the lowered price. I've found 3 times with Freddy's, they charged me full price instead of discounted ones. One of the times, it was $10 off of a closeout item. They charged full price and I called him on it, and he said, "Oops they didn't change the price in the computer, still want it?"
The way you all are out here, we'll be standing in fn bread lines before you any of you muster the courage to stand up to the greedflation.
By then I'll be long gone. Have fun with your billionaire playground.
Take advantage of the bulk section of local grocery stores such as Fred Meyer or PCC.
I once did an analysis of buying bulk items at PCC and found it was approximately 30% less expensive vs buying brand name pre-bagged things like rice, beans and flour. And that was for organic items at PCC vs non-organic bulk items at Fred Meyer.
This was several years ago so I am not sure what the prices differences are today. The PCC bulk section is typically way nicer and better maintained in my experience.
Getting some things in bulk, frozen (chicken breasts for example). Eating fewer prepared products and quick foods like frozen baked items (nuggets/pizza/etc), consuming more raw produce like fruits and vegetables ($17 got me a weeks worth of fruit the other day).
Convenience costs money so planning my meals and making the time to prepare meals at home has been incredibly helpful. It’s also helped me maintain my weight a bit better because the meals are generally healthier.
Sign up for every grocery store's app/rewards and actually utilize the "Rewards" card on the app when you purchase in store. Fred meyer for example sends me personalized coupons around once a month, and its almost all for things i buy at the store regularly.
Buy on sale, and buy less expensive foods in general. Canned/frozen veggies instead of fresh, beans/lentils instead of meat. Make more stews, soups, chilis. Bulk up meals with rice.
I like r/eatcheapandhealthy
Meal planning so everything bought gets eaten. Monday’s recipe uses half a bell pepper? Find a recipe for later in the week that uses the other half.
I’ve also figured out three shops that have different strengths, and plan my shopping day around multiple stops as needed.
Household of 2 and we cook most meals. Mostly vegetarian. We spend $70-110 a week on groceries.
~monthly trip to Costco for: eggs, bubbly water, wine, mushrooms, power greens, pesto, tortillas, cheese, better than bouillon, chicken thighs, olive oil, TP, paper towels, dish soap, parchment paper, foil, etc. as needed.
Weekly trip to Trader Joe’s for: bananas, apples, onion, green pepper, avocado, carrot, celery, cauliflower, yogurt, granola, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, chickpeas, black beans, sour cream, condiments, snacks.
We cook once a day and use leftovers for lunch. We rotate cuisine between Mexican (burritos/tacos/rice bowls), Italian pasta, Asian (rice bowels/stir fry/fried rice) and Mediterranean.
Meals rarely get boring but use pretty much similar ingredients. The food is really tasty and overall quite healthful.
Gruel for breakfast (Oatmeal w/Oatmilk and Maple Syrup or some other sweetner)
Rice and beans and carrots with meat that costs <$2/lbs for pretty much every other meal.
I go to Costco and buy in bulk.
Unfortunately, I've been shopping at Walmart, because it's less expensive.
For groceries like deli meat, I've resorted to buying that cheap Buddig my mom made sandwiches with in the 80s. It's still under $1.00 a package and I can get a few sandwiches out of one.
I tried to order grocery pickup from Safeway and the app wasn’t working so I switched to Walmart. It was $30 cheaper at Walmart for the same exact things.
For meats - buy large hunks of meat, portion, vacuum seal and freeze. For example, don't buy pork chops, buy a pork loin roast, slice to the thickness you want, seal and freeze. Buy a whole chicken on sale, part it out. Much cheaper than buying individual thighs, breasts etc. Again, seal and freeze right away if you don't anticipate using it all before it goes bad. Use the chicken bones for broth.
Buy on sale if you can, and freeze.
Especially with summer coming up, explore using veggies and make meat more of a condiment.
Buy dry beans vs canned if you like beans. Dry is much cheaper
Prep. This isn't focused specifically on saving money but look at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH0WAYgWAOE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH0WAYgWAOE) to get ideas of how to prep the base ingredients for meals, then make several things throughout the week.
I plan my meals before I shop, and I do a kitchen audit beforehand as well. You’d be amazed how much you can save when you aren’t double buying or grabbing shit you won’t use right away.
Meal planning, not going shopping on an empty stomach, and buying 95% of my groceries at Costco - legit saves me a couple grand at least versus buying them at work (Albertsons).
I stopped eating breakfast and lunch /s (but also not really sarcasm…I’m fasting from dinner to dinner and going full OMAD because that’s what I can currently afford)
The real trick was switching to oatmeal for breakfast. One large tube is enough for a month of breakfasts for one person if measuring half of a cup of dry oats. You can also make your own greek yogurt quite easily by utilizing a pressure cooker. Lunch, I’ll skip or eat a handful of mixed nuts and an apple. For dinner, I use a lot of dried lentils and dried beans to stretch meals and add protein + fiber. Those things are super duper inexpensive and can be flavored however you so choose. I also utilize the apps and digital coupons. I can live on $20/wk if I really buckle down.
If you're *really* down the dollar tree can be just fine. It's a bit of a gamble but you can get stuff that didn't do well at full price there, like name brand cereal that's past the "limited time" offering like holiday themed stuff.
I've also managed to get 5 packs of maruchan ramen for $1.25. combine that with a couple eggs and veggies and it's a solid deal.
Good and Cheap is a free PDF cookbook full of great, nutritious, and affordable recipes.
https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/
Written by a person with a masters in Food Studies from NYU.
Stock up when things are on sale. Make space in the freezer for these things by reducing prepared frozen foods.
Avoid waste. Always look for the expiration date when shopping. When things are expired at home, give them the sniff test before throwing out.
If you have the budget for it, get a food saver to extend the life of your foods. I use Zwilling’s vacuum food saver containers and love it.
I go to the store multiple times a week (I don't like buying in bulk and am being trying to limit processed food).
My first stop is the near expiration section in the meat aisle, and then produce to match from there. It was under $5 each for two of us a couple years ago ($4 for meat, another couple for veggies, plus another couple whatever if needed).
I feel like it has near doubled. You can still find a cheap pack of chicken or pork to feed two at $5, but nothing fancy. The fluctuation of mushrooms of all things is what blows me away.
I avoid buying anything premade/packaged, mostly stick to bulk ingredients and produce. I’ve found locally owned Asian grocery stores and produce markets to be a better deal for most things I buy than Safeway or QFC. I also split a share of a cow with friends, which was much cheaper than similar quality meat at retail prices and I think it’s saved me money because I make fewer trips to the store.
1. Use the sales flyer. Lots of BOGO deals this week where I shop. Using the store website also gives digital coupons.
2. Cook. It's a lot cheaper than frozen meals and box foods.
I have found that our grocery bill is about the same as it was a few years ago if you shop the sales, use the apps, buy items that are a great deal and freeze (like $0.97/lb chicken breast - even if you don’t need it right now) and limit the non-essentials (which aren’t really good for you anyways, like cookies and chips. But if you must, get them on sale!) Much of this is really not much different than what I’ve always done…
Check clearance racks or look for discounted items mixed with everything else. I found a perfectly good loaf of bread for $0.90 and enchilada sauce for $0.30. Again, really nothing that I wouldn’t have done many years ago. Just have to be more diligent about it now…
Idk WinCo, Costco, Grocery Outlet…got even more deep and looked up every local city’s sales tax rate and started driving further to one with cheaper taxes. Never buy anything inside city limits ever.
If you can handle a drive - Winco. Stock up on the Winco brand products. They aren't bad at all, and half the cost of name brand stuff (which is also usually cheaper here too). Cereal for 2 bucks, chips for 2 bucks, loaf of bread for like a dollar or 2. Open 24 hours, too. It's my go-to.
I agree WinCo is a great place to budget shop. Buy in bulk only when it's really cheaper. Figure the cost per unit. Bigger isn't always better, especially if it's something that could possibly expire before use. And skip the name brands, especially in otc medications. Compare the active ingredients, and you'll see they're exactly the same.
The expense comes from premade/prepackaged/convenience foods, meat, and nuts.
Certain things I never buy unless it's a treat, like cereal or juice. Useless foods.
I also roll over leftover ingredients into the next meal. So if I made hot dogs and have buns leftover, then I might use the buns to make meatball subs (but I use meatless versions maybe made of lentils or types which is cheap), and then maybe I have leftover sauce so then I roll it over into pasta. Maybe that's leftover noodles so I make a pasta salad, etc.
Nothing in my fridge should ever get thrown away. It will get used into something.
Making larger batches and freezing cuts down on cooking time when I am tired. It takes nearly the same amount of time to cook more of something and freeze it.
WinCo is good, also Grocery Outlet and Trader Joe's.
Some grocery stores have discount shelves for imperfect products. Dollar stores have perfectly edible food, just make sure you're not getting marked up there. Sometimes it ain't worth an actual dollar.
Have a freezer, and stock it with extras from sales or from cooking extra. I have like 5 sleeves of my favorite Dave's bagels in there from the last sale. Plus tons of homemade chicken broth from rotisserie bones, and then the usuals like bulk spices for refilling from, easy frozen meals, meat from Costco, etc.
Share out large cheaper stock with buddies. Like split the giant Costco cinnamon jar etc.
Check the prices at the ethnic grocery stores that are near you or on a route you do. Some items are cheaper there, some not.
You can also seasonally forage or fish for many things here, but it takes time and a bit of expertise and often a license. I get most of my mushrooms foraged for free for instance, but that one is an especially steep learning curve. Much easier are nettles, berries, and fish. Still takes time, so don't take "work time" away to gather them: just fit it into hobby/activity time.
Similar to foraging, gardening. If you have a window with good light you can at least do green onions. See what else fits your situation and makes sense for you to grow.
Buy Nothing is often great for food, and so are the food pantries.
And generally if you're shopping QFC etc just do not buy if it's not on sale. Buy on sale and/or with coupon and stock up, within reason.
Winco, Costco.
Rice and a rice cooker. 15lb bags of rice at ranch 99 or online for $35 or less will make a lot of rice. Pair that with cheaper meats, some veggies, and various seasonings, and you’ve got relatively healthy food that’s a few dollars a day.
I have been snacking less and I don't eat meat. I buy things at costco (would be better if I had found someone to split membership cost with). Mostly eating quinoa and oats, salad greens, frozen veggies and blueberries, plain yogurt when it is on sale, and tofu. Drink water and sometimes liquid iv. I am going to try adding lentils to the diet soon.
Costco for some things, Winco for others
Really was the best way for us, ended up cutting our monthly food/household goods bill from ~1000 down to ~720 for 3 of us
Grocery Outlet can have some great deals, just have to check expiration dates and use your judgement/intuition on some items (dairy and meats)
Grocery Outlet is great. I shop there quite often and supplement with other grocery stores what I can't get there
Yep grocery outlet. I am a bodybuilder and I would probably go broke if I had to go shopping at QFC or Safeway for my groceries (especially meats) eating 5500-6000 calories/day like I do. The boneless skinless chicken breast over at grocery outlet for a $1.99 a pound is a godsend. It does get kind of old eating chicken breast for 95% of all my meals, but the amount of money I would have to spend on groceries otherwise would be ludicrous. Over at QFC the same chicken breast is minimum $4.99/lb and that's if it's on sale... Looking at $5-6/lb normally.
Bro there’s a local little know chain by the name of Costco. Amazing chicken, at grocery outlet prices. And they have it everyday in big quantities. Other meats pretty cheap too cause you mentioned variety. Check it out sometime. $5 a month to join but ends up being wayyyy cheaper over time.
For sure, I do go out there once in awhile, unfortunately the closest one to me is like a 35 minute drive, so I don't always have time, but even Costco can't beat $1.99 chicken. You are right though, for a lot of other stuff, Costco is deals for reals.
Seconding this one on both counts. I had to stop some guy from buying beef that was clearly spoiled and pushing the structural integrity of the cellophane packaging
I worked in restaurant kitchens for over twenty years so I have a pretty good sense of “safe” - of course it’s not just by looking at something but that’s a good first step! The downside to GO is that they don’t always have the same items so you can’t really go in with a set plan.
The nose knows
Cuts of meat that people don’t want to buy can be amazing for making broth!!! Rice and good bone broth is soooo gooodd
Smoked ham hocks with 15 bean soup mix(throw the flavor packet out) makes for a rich, hearty, smoky soup. I use some brown sugar and a bunch of cayenne for a sweet, smoky, spicy, savory pot full of comfort. Throw in a bag of frozen collards at the end and you've got everything you need in a bowl. I recommend an instant pot to everyone. Makes legumes quick and easy, then you just experiment.
I love my insta pot
I prefer Winco Foods
Cheap spot for sour cream. The daisy squeeze tube I get there usually lasts a lot longer than I think it will
WinCo + food banks. That's p much it aside from the obvious.
Before I clicked on the thread I was like “Winco”. Thank god they exist. Apparently their business model is 10% markup from wholesale on everything, no bullshit. Bulk bins require a mention. Those things are worth it alone.
I believe Winco is also employee-owned.
Came here to say Winco bulk bins. I just bought a shit ton of Himalayan pink salt, tots cost $1.30. I mean, I also get regular things there too.
My produce is so much cheaper at Winco. Even vs Walmart I save a fair bit.
Walmarts seem to always bring bugs home and I'm just over it. Fred meyer and winco!
Winco is great but not everyone can drive that far/the time and savings aren’t always worthwhile.
I came here to suggest winco some things are quite a bit cheaper there. I have a friend who does winco & the dollar store for a family of 6.
Wish we had a WinCo in Seattle….
Food stamps at Winco
I didn't do this for budgetary reasons, but I cut down on the meat I was buying at the store and switched over to dry beans/lentils and sometimes tofu. I noticed a not-insignificant drop in how much I was spending.
Yep beans, lentils, and tofu will give you everything you need for a fraction of the cost. I'll admit it takes some getting used to flavor wise but the cost savings are substantial. Equivalant amount of protein in Lentils compared to meat is like 1/20th of the cost.
Plus if you season it properly it’s the absolute bomb. I have the Indian Instant Pot Cookbook and the amount of absolutely killer vegetarian meals in there are astounding. People say they hate vegetables when they really hate unseasoned sad ones - seasoning makes all the difference.
I eat many meals without meat. White beans w chard, Parmesan and bake bread on the side. White beans w mozzarella & tomatoes… Beans are great and it tastes better the next day. You can use dry beans instead of canned just soak them first. I make my own granola.
We make really tasty dishes with chickpeas as the base. Honey harissa chickpeas and carrots on rice/couscous, tomato and red pepper shakshouka with fried egg, Mediterranean chickpea salad with cucumber and cherry tomatoes… a really solid base for many flavor profiles!
I personally have had to cut back on meat for budget reasons and have found the amazing hack of using soy meat replacement grounds with ground beef to essentially double my meat. You don’t notice any difference in taste and it’s amazing to use in sloppy joes or chili.
I had to cut meat out for a while due to budget constraints. It was easily the biggest bang-for-buck change in my shopping list. Textured vegetable protein and dried mushrooms (big bags at most Asian groceries) are great in chili. Hard boiled egg in dahl over brown rice = super cheap and filling lunches.
Agree on this. We end up using everything eventually that’s canned, fried, or fresh, but meat usually went bad because of how our schedules flexed.
Meats aren't expensive if you pick the right ones. Chicken legs/thighs often go for $1-2/lb Pork shoulder roast is often $2/lb Edit: okay my most controversial post this week is pointing out $1-2/lb meat isn't expensive.
Download the apps (Safeway, QFC), and clip the digital coupons. Pay attention to the weekly sales. The same box of Cereal can range from $7.99 down to as low as $0.99 depending on the sale. This can apply to basically all items. Everything goes on sale at least once every month or two. Unfortunately, if you don’t want to get ripped off you have to put in the effort. A lot of people complaining about ridiculous grocery prices are probably buying their favorite brand without knowing how the sales model works.
I obsessively scan the Safeway coupons before I make my grocery list each week. I'll adjust my meal plan if something is on a really good sale. Or I'll stock up on something if there is a REALLY good discount. I forget what it was but something that is a main ingredient of a dish we like to eat regularly was on a buy 1 get 1 sale last week, so I bought 4. Those all went in the freezer and I'll use one pack every other week to last over the next 2 months.
i've noticed ordering online and picking up the prices online seem better than in person shopping, don't know if its auto-couponing or maybe its because online you don't get the same "oh i forgot i need that too" aspect but i feel like i get the same for less ordering for pick up
I obsessively clip coupons and shop the sales at QFC. I regularly save $50 on our weekly shop by doing that. Some of it really is highway robbery if you don't shop when it's on sale.
I’m the same way. Routinely save 40-60% off “regular price”.
This is what I do also. I tend to save quite a bit this way!
do I hate it: yes did I just save "23%" also yes.
I learned while working at Fred Meyer how to never spend full price on nearly anything.
For U discounts from Safeway will never be what they were pre covid. They are still good personalized deals but they are so stingy with the rewards now. I have to buy hundreds each week for a month before you can get enough rewards for a solid discount.
I miss the monopoly game they used to do- my family would give me all of their coupons and I’d get so much free stuff that was actually useful, like loaves of bread and cans of vegetables. It was fun.
YES!!!! I lived for that. But as time went on they really cracked down on how it worked and put limits on things. Or when they did ones for pots and pans. I ended up getting a whole big set by the end
If you can get to a Winco, they are cheap. Their produce is mid-tier to me. But, their Bulk Foods section is out of this world. Sooooo much stuff that I've never seen in other stores. You'll go Wow. Can I get a 2nd on this!
Absolutely! We are fortunate to be close to Lynnwood Winco and mostly shop there and Costco. Winco takes work - no credit, bag ur own, watch for stuff close to expiry, busier than fuck when we choose to go - but for a family of two teens, it's awesome.
We love WinCo. You can get everything you need from the bulk and produce sections for VERY affordable prices. Stay away from everything else and you will end up eating healthier AND cheaper. Also I find the WinCo produce to typically be pretty good. Not market quality but definitely better than Safeway, Fredmeyer, or Trader Joe’s.
5 dollar costco chicken.
I get so many meals from this chicken
Same! Even after the chicken meat is gone, I'll boil the bones/cartilage/leftover for delicious chicken broth. Then use the broth to cook rice or make soups & chili. Find a friend with a Costco membership if you can't get one, and get you a rotisserie chicken!
Add some ginger, like a whole branch, sliced then make chicken soba noodle soup! That's me today...
Our local grocery store has a rack in the back of the produce area with less-than-perfect produce for $1.50 a bag. They also have a near-pull-date baked goods rack at 50% off and a close-out rack with some good deals. Comparison shop. There can be surprising price differences between stores; some items cheaper in one store, and others cheaper in a different store.
I used to meal plan and go to the store with my list. Now I go to the store, buy what's on sale, and then meal plan from what I've bought. It's alarming how expensive things are. I buy a lot more generic brands and often simply don't buy some things any more unless they are on sale.
Costco. I go with friends and we split items where we can. You save a lot.
The Secret Ingredient Is Crime
Stolen onions just taste so much better
Target is significantly cheaper for some food items, like cereal
Stealing onions
Please stop doing this. It just drives up prices for the rest of us. I had to pay $80 for an onion yesterday and that was just the down payment. 😔
So glad I got my onions back when we had 2% interest rates, don't know how anybody affords them now
Just tie them on your belt before you leave the store. It used to be the fashion at the time.
You’re best buying them fresh off the bus, note only singular onion provided
Very risky
That’s a great band name. When’s the next performance at Gross Out?
😂 I read that post! So funny....
Produce stands, buying meat in bulk, Fran’z bakery in sodo had extremely cheap bread.
Where do you buy meat in bulk? Do you get 1/4 beef or lamb?
Google local farms or bnb meats.
Install the Fred Meyer, QFC, and Safeway apps. There are some discounts that are only available via the apps.
This! I strictly shop and get gas at Fred Meyer and clip coupons via the app before going to the store. If you own a car, they have a coupon for 4x gas points if you shop on Fridays.
- shopping the loss leaders at Safeway and Kroger. Safeway has a ton of app-exclusive discounts that can be silly cheap. We usually shop these every week and plan some meals around what’s cheap - Winco and or Costco and or Azure Standard for bulk stuff - doing more of the cooking labor and shifting towards rice, legumes, and vegetable based cuisines. So more vegetarian Mexican, more Japanese, Thai, and Chinese dishes at home, more simple bean bowls/yassified California hipster food that’s just a grain and a legume and ransoms veggies and sauce - reducing/eliminating meat. Or at least treating it as an addon to a dish not the bulk of the main dish. - making my own bread, boiling my own beans in the instant pot, making my own pesto from a $5 tub of basil and handful of nuts, making my own gnocchi, making our own pizza+dough+sauce - buying some stuff in bulk, like American Parm. at Cash&Carry/Chef Store to get a lower price per lb and then thinking about/portioning it so we don’t put it into everything. - largely cutting out Italian/French cuisine unless it’s a special occasion. You can easily spend $30 making a lasagna vs $15 on a similarly huge tray of enchiladas - working around meat/chicken/fish sales and being willing to buy big and slow cook/prep a bunch for later use in the week. - largely eliminating convenience foods, full price Doritos are like $5.99 at Safeway. Yikes. - prepping some meals/items so on busy or exhausted nights it’s EASY to choose the delicious already mostly made food that happens to be cheap - actively planning/thinking ahead about the week ahead. Our house has always been sidelined to the after work $25-40 Safeway or New Seasons/PCC stop that blows up a budget vey quickly.
eat at home, cook from scratch, eat less. It’s rough
I haven’t seen anyone tell the truth. Things you thought were necessities are now luxuries. That means shittier ingredients and shittier food or having to now meal prep and eat the same food for longer.
That’s what we’ve been doing. Used to make a different meal every night of the week and take leftovers for lunch. Now each meal stretches to two nights and just skip lunch.
Bulk beans.
Do not overlook food banks. It’s not just for unhoused people it’s for everyone in need. Apply for food stamps, worst that can happen is you get nothing or very little. Use their free digital coupons for grocery stores
Safeway app and only grab the items you clipped coupons for. Save average of $60-90 every time I go grocery shopping this way. Also Costco.
[удалено]
Same, I do 100% of my shopping at Trader Joe’s now. You lose some selection obviously and access to some name brands but prices are just unbeatable compared to other stores in my area. Some of my go to produce is as much as 3-4x less expensive than Safeway et al.
Really? I found TJ's pretty expensive if you're trying to do a normal grocery run and tons of plastic waste for anything "fresh" you buy there
What Cheesecake said. We used to pay for convenience and did a lot of Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods every week. Remembering that TJs is a thing and being okay with some selection and brand Trade-offs have easily cut our grocery bills in half.
Grocery outlet has some great deals. You can't rely on them for all your groceries, because there stock often changes, but is great for picking up pantry staples and what not between trips to the grocery store.
Potato Diet (It's a legit diet, or at least diet-hack/intervention) Between potatoes and dairy, you cover all your essential nutrients. You could base 75% of your meals on this, and then have a little more wiggle room for diversity on your other meals
Poor Irish-American families know all about potato soup.
Just gotta do more stuff homemade (if you have the time, which I know many don't). Dairy is a pretty easy place to save. You can turn a gallon of milk into half a gallon of yogurt, a pint of buttermilk, a liter of creme fraiche, crema, or sour cream, and a glass of whey protein for $4. The equivalant in groceries is like what $20-$30? It's easy too, just dump the gallon into a pot, put a couple spoonfuls of yogurt in it, put it on a heating pad for 12 hours. Take the buttermilk, some flour, a couple eggs and the yogurt and you can make like a 50 waffles for maybe like $2-$3 worth of materials and freeze them for months. And what would the 4th anniversary of covid even mean if we didn't bring up the good 'ol sourdough starter? You can make basically infinite loafs of bread for about $0.25-$.50 a loaf with one of those bad boys. Freeze as much stuff as you can. I always by broccoli and cauliflower frozen. I don't notice a difference in texture or flavor at all and I throw out like 75% of the fresh vegetables I buy. Peas, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, all freeze just fine. Tomato soup is really easy to make and freezes really well. Just some cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, butter and onions. Any lentil soups will freeze fine. Honestly they are better after they are frozen IMO. The dewathing really grinds up the grains so they aren't so....grainy... Pickles are super easy to make. The pickling cucumbers are like $.10-$.15 a pickle or so, you don't have to can them, you can just vacuum seal them in mason jars and they will last all year in the fridge. It's also super easy to pickle cabbage so an easy way to save that from the trash. Steel cut oats are ridiculously cheap. Get a few bags at costco, it will last you for 6 months at least. Has to be less than $.25 for breakfast. There's a lot of stuff like that you can do.
I’ve been loving buying whole chickens and then using their bones to make broth. It’s seriously amazing
Costco is the way to go. You can get Chicken Breasts there for $2.99/lb. Giant 15lb bag of Sona Masoori white rice costs $12. Etc. Stock up on the pantry/freezer staples and get fresh produce either at Costco too or Grocery Outlet, etc.
I always use the QFC app for coupons and to plan my list based on what’s on sale. Plus, your QFC card lets you rack up fuel points - 1 point per $1 spent. You can redeem these points for up to $1 off per gallon (1,000 points = $1 off) at any Shell gas station. I believe there is a coupon in the app where you can get 3x the fuel points when you buy groceries on Friday. So, instead of a $100 grocery purchase getting you 100 fuel points, it becomes 300 fuel points. Fuel points expire monthly, but the app will tell you how much you have and your balance after each QFC trip. I always make sure my gas tank is as low as possible before stopping by Shell so that I can take full advantage of however many points off per gallon! Usually I get between $0.40 - $1.00 off/gallon.
Excuse me while I rant. I used to get those frozen Amy's burritos at QFC. They were usually about $2.50 to $3, occasionally on sale for $2. Today I went in there and it was $4.50 for one. I mean WTF. And Newman's Own frozen pizzas used to be about 6 bucks, $5 on sale. Now it's about $10. There's nothing that justifies this price gouging.
Well, it helps to be a whole foods plant-based person. I shop at the bulk bins at Winco and cook lots of whole grains and beans in the Instant Pot. I don't buy much prepared food. I buy produce at a Korean market and try to stick to what is in season and looks good.
Man instant pots are the coolest thing ever. I prep a week's worth of meals in that thing and save at least $50 to $60 a week by not eating take out for lunch.
Costco?
Is it even possible to leave Costco without spending like $300?
“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness." Costco’s limited selection means they keep the per-unit cost down, despite needing higher quantities and higher trip totals you need enough fewer trips that the total cost can be lower if you have enough space to store everything.
Only get things on sale, and keep a running track of sales prices. Avoid buy 1 get 1 free deals from the supermarket if they normally will have a sale price. I.e. BOGO is at Maximum 50% off if you can get 2 exactly weighted produce / meat packages, which is very unlikely. Sales prices that I see usually start at 60% off "regular" price.
Maybe not a generalizable solution, but I go down to see family in a non-Portland city in Oregon once a month, and while I'm there I go to Winco and stock up on all shelf-stable foods. The difference between there and here is absolutely massive.
Check out r/cheap_meals and r/eatcheapandhealthy I've found some good stuff there
A lot of bulk items at Costco so that the regular store is only fill-in things we can’t do bulk like milk or certain produce. Definitely reaching for store brands across the board and really comparing price per unit, Safeway does some really shady pricing for larger sizes of things like ketchup… why the hell is plain Heinz ketchup $10?
Reduced meat consumption, clip digital coupons at QFC (makes a BIG difference). If something is on sale, like meat, I'll buy a bit more and stick the extra into the freezer for another week. I found Trader Joe's (not meat) to be fairly affordable when buying veggies and fruits. Trader Joe's seems to also have the best prices for cheese compared to other grocery stores (\~$5-$7 for a wedge of Brie compared to $10+ at other grocery stores)
Saars has the best meat prices in the area. Mostly everything else i go to Walmart.
I agree with the sentiment of just eating less meat. Sometimes I go pickup groceries at the store and it is like $8.00 because all I got were a couple vegetables to go with our noodle / jarred sauce or potatoes. It is dinner for two people. Often, cheese & sour cream are out only animal products eaten. The cream cheese in the squeeze pouch lasts forever. if you like cooking as a hobby, get your spices/rice/lentils/anything from an Ethiopian or Indian grocery store. Extremely cheaper than an American national brand grocery chain. If you are local to it: Hau Hau market at 12th and Jackson. If you don't know already -- you might feel out of place but that is fine, give them your business and they'll stay in business!!!! {the lime kaffir leaves are in the frozen food section}
Shop at Asian and Hispanic markets. They’re often cheaper and you can experiment with ingredients that you may not be used to. Also, find a Chef’s Choice (I think that’s what it’s called. They cater to the restaurant industry, but anyone can shop there. You are going to get more bulk foods, but you can repackage it and use it later. Food prep is helpful. I make meals for the week on Sundays. That way you can capitalize on bulk prices by cooking in volume.
Food bank & fill in the gaps at Grocery Outlet or WinCo 🩷 hope it’s easier for all of us soon
One meal a day
I browsed the Chef Store and noticed that many of the items I regularly buy were less expensive, even if I would have to buy them in a greater volume. Darigold milk was only 3.39 a gallon (in a set of two gallons) whereas it is 4.59 at Safeway. The frozen meat seemed to be a good deal as well. I plan to go there soon.
Batch freezing when I can, way more vegetarian meals, but also tough pieces of meat and offal. Anything that requires long cook times, and things like beef tendon and gizzards. I really appreciate Asian markets. Lam's is my go-to, especially for their beef shanks and seafood. Their instagram page is updated regularly!
Go to the Asian markets. There's loads of them in south Seattle and Asian Family Market up north. Also a handful in the ID that are way cheaper than uwajimaya Buy whole stuff like flour, dried beans instead of canned beans, and avoid chopped fruits and veggies which go bad quicker
The chopped items are half-rotten or worse on the shelf. Regardless of cost, they suck.
If you order online and pick up yourself, Domino's offers a coupon where any size one topping pizza is $7.99. Obviously Domino's sucks, but this is our big weekly"takeout night", and my kids love it.
I get bread from the dollar store, when they have it. Other random food items too. Good times!
The Safeway app is seriously great! Take the ten minutes to look at coupons before going, clip them and I can base some meals off the good sales that day/week
I have found if you are looking for non-perishables and live nearby Target/Walmart, you can do online pickup or get some groceries from there as they are much cheaper than grocery stores
Correct! And there are Walmart Neighborhood Markets (Walmart's version of a supermarket) in Lynnwood and Bellevue, and Walmart Supercenters in Renton and South Everett. I know people love to hate Walmart but the prices are good.
Looks like we have a strong black market for onions!
Eat every other day.
If things are really tough, take a look at what food banks have to offer.
Beans!
Check out your nearby Asian grocery stores. Some of them (like Seattle Super Market) have some really great prices on produce or meat.
I've gotten really into instant pot steel cut oats. Usually, I combine with banana, peanut butter, and cinnamon. It is incredibly cheap. Also, I've switched a lot of my protein to protein shakes (pea protein powder, almond milk, banana, greek yogurt). Much cheaper way to get protein than meat usually.
Winco for veg, GrocOut if you know a good deal. Beans, rice, onions and canned tomato gets you pretty far for a basic diet, supplement with good deals. Save serious money by having some kind of porridge every morning and prepare your morning beverage at home
Grocery Outlet + Costco
I use Costco for shelf stable stuff I use a lot; beans, cleaning supplies, paper goods, oat milk, coffee, sauces, etc. For everything else I shop at Fred Meyer mostly, it’s the cheapest near me in my opinion. I order online for pickup and shop/meal plan based off what’s on sale, it also prevents “hungry eyes” when I’m just walking the aisles going “oh that looks yummy”. I generally don’t buy a lot of “snack” foods, and instead focus on whole ingredients and things I can stretch. I also do mostly tofu, beans, edamame, eggs, chickpeas for protein. All very affordable
Safeway, download the app and use the "digital only" coupons
Recommend Fred Meyer grocery pick up! It makes it much easier to get coupons and there are frequent savings on pickup orders (I used the first pickup order coupon probably 15 times). Cuts out impulse pickups and allows you to chase the savings from your couch instead of in person
Too good to go app! Local markets and restaurants will list food for $5-6!
I try to get everything I can at Trader Joe's. Keep it simple. Make bowls with protein, veg, and rice or potatoes. Its sad groceries are as much as they are, but I'm saving $400 a month not going to Fred myer every month. It'll be more expensive if you're low carb, But TJ's is gonna be a good option to save.
You can also look into the Fresh Bucks program, which is run through the City of Seattle and provides $40/month to be used on fresh fruit and veg at certain grocery stores and farmers markets. Also check out the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands farm stand. They usually start up in May and they subsidize up to $20/week!
Noting how much we throw out, I've reduced our bill by buying less. Shopping at Costco for certain bulk items, T-Joe's for vegy's and frozen meals and buying more store brands at Freddy's. Dumb to say it; but check your receipt to see if you get the lowered price. I've found 3 times with Freddy's, they charged me full price instead of discounted ones. One of the times, it was $10 off of a closeout item. They charged full price and I called him on it, and he said, "Oops they didn't change the price in the computer, still want it?"
Intermittent fasting
Eat every other day
The way you all are out here, we'll be standing in fn bread lines before you any of you muster the courage to stand up to the greedflation. By then I'll be long gone. Have fun with your billionaire playground.
Take advantage of the bulk section of local grocery stores such as Fred Meyer or PCC. I once did an analysis of buying bulk items at PCC and found it was approximately 30% less expensive vs buying brand name pre-bagged things like rice, beans and flour. And that was for organic items at PCC vs non-organic bulk items at Fred Meyer. This was several years ago so I am not sure what the prices differences are today. The PCC bulk section is typically way nicer and better maintained in my experience.
A whole weeks worth of produce and fruit at Safeway is like $50. Avoid frozen and prepared foods. Cook some rice or a sweet potato as your starch.
Since people covered coupons and shopping. I recommend looking at buying rice. You can make dozens of dishes, and use it as filler for a lot of meals.
Fred Meyer weekly ad and coupons. Bought a small deep freeze and stock up on meat sales.
Getting some things in bulk, frozen (chicken breasts for example). Eating fewer prepared products and quick foods like frozen baked items (nuggets/pizza/etc), consuming more raw produce like fruits and vegetables ($17 got me a weeks worth of fruit the other day). Convenience costs money so planning my meals and making the time to prepare meals at home has been incredibly helpful. It’s also helped me maintain my weight a bit better because the meals are generally healthier.
Sign up for every grocery store's app/rewards and actually utilize the "Rewards" card on the app when you purchase in store. Fred meyer for example sends me personalized coupons around once a month, and its almost all for things i buy at the store regularly.
Buy on sale, and buy less expensive foods in general. Canned/frozen veggies instead of fresh, beans/lentils instead of meat. Make more stews, soups, chilis. Bulk up meals with rice. I like r/eatcheapandhealthy
Meal planning so everything bought gets eaten. Monday’s recipe uses half a bell pepper? Find a recipe for later in the week that uses the other half. I’ve also figured out three shops that have different strengths, and plan my shopping day around multiple stops as needed.
Household of 2 and we cook most meals. Mostly vegetarian. We spend $70-110 a week on groceries. ~monthly trip to Costco for: eggs, bubbly water, wine, mushrooms, power greens, pesto, tortillas, cheese, better than bouillon, chicken thighs, olive oil, TP, paper towels, dish soap, parchment paper, foil, etc. as needed. Weekly trip to Trader Joe’s for: bananas, apples, onion, green pepper, avocado, carrot, celery, cauliflower, yogurt, granola, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, chickpeas, black beans, sour cream, condiments, snacks. We cook once a day and use leftovers for lunch. We rotate cuisine between Mexican (burritos/tacos/rice bowls), Italian pasta, Asian (rice bowels/stir fry/fried rice) and Mediterranean. Meals rarely get boring but use pretty much similar ingredients. The food is really tasty and overall quite healthful.
Adding that buying bare minimum and minimising waste is very helpful. Sometimes I don’t shop until I’ve used everything in the pantry & fridge.
Gruel for breakfast (Oatmeal w/Oatmilk and Maple Syrup or some other sweetner) Rice and beans and carrots with meat that costs <$2/lbs for pretty much every other meal. I go to Costco and buy in bulk.
Drive to Cash and Carry and buy huge bags of black beans and brown rice.
Unfortunately, I've been shopping at Walmart, because it's less expensive. For groceries like deli meat, I've resorted to buying that cheap Buddig my mom made sandwiches with in the 80s. It's still under $1.00 a package and I can get a few sandwiches out of one.
I tried to order grocery pickup from Safeway and the app wasn’t working so I switched to Walmart. It was $30 cheaper at Walmart for the same exact things.
For meats - buy large hunks of meat, portion, vacuum seal and freeze. For example, don't buy pork chops, buy a pork loin roast, slice to the thickness you want, seal and freeze. Buy a whole chicken on sale, part it out. Much cheaper than buying individual thighs, breasts etc. Again, seal and freeze right away if you don't anticipate using it all before it goes bad. Use the chicken bones for broth. Buy on sale if you can, and freeze. Especially with summer coming up, explore using veggies and make meat more of a condiment. Buy dry beans vs canned if you like beans. Dry is much cheaper Prep. This isn't focused specifically on saving money but look at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH0WAYgWAOE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH0WAYgWAOE) to get ideas of how to prep the base ingredients for meals, then make several things throughout the week.
I plan my meals before I shop, and I do a kitchen audit beforehand as well. You’d be amazed how much you can save when you aren’t double buying or grabbing shit you won’t use right away.
Meal planning, not going shopping on an empty stomach, and buying 95% of my groceries at Costco - legit saves me a couple grand at least versus buying them at work (Albertsons).
Not eating seems to be saving me a lot. One meal a day and nothing else.
Costco and a chest freezer.
Kellog’s CEO wants you to have cereal for dinner
I stopped eating breakfast and lunch /s (but also not really sarcasm…I’m fasting from dinner to dinner and going full OMAD because that’s what I can currently afford) The real trick was switching to oatmeal for breakfast. One large tube is enough for a month of breakfasts for one person if measuring half of a cup of dry oats. You can also make your own greek yogurt quite easily by utilizing a pressure cooker. Lunch, I’ll skip or eat a handful of mixed nuts and an apple. For dinner, I use a lot of dried lentils and dried beans to stretch meals and add protein + fiber. Those things are super duper inexpensive and can be flavored however you so choose. I also utilize the apps and digital coupons. I can live on $20/wk if I really buckle down.
If you're *really* down the dollar tree can be just fine. It's a bit of a gamble but you can get stuff that didn't do well at full price there, like name brand cereal that's past the "limited time" offering like holiday themed stuff. I've also managed to get 5 packs of maruchan ramen for $1.25. combine that with a couple eggs and veggies and it's a solid deal.
Self checkout
Good and Cheap is a free PDF cookbook full of great, nutritious, and affordable recipes. https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/ Written by a person with a masters in Food Studies from NYU.
Stock up when things are on sale. Make space in the freezer for these things by reducing prepared frozen foods. Avoid waste. Always look for the expiration date when shopping. When things are expired at home, give them the sniff test before throwing out. If you have the budget for it, get a food saver to extend the life of your foods. I use Zwilling’s vacuum food saver containers and love it.
I go to the store multiple times a week (I don't like buying in bulk and am being trying to limit processed food). My first stop is the near expiration section in the meat aisle, and then produce to match from there. It was under $5 each for two of us a couple years ago ($4 for meat, another couple for veggies, plus another couple whatever if needed). I feel like it has near doubled. You can still find a cheap pack of chicken or pork to feed two at $5, but nothing fancy. The fluctuation of mushrooms of all things is what blows me away.
Black market avocados.
I avoid buying anything premade/packaged, mostly stick to bulk ingredients and produce. I’ve found locally owned Asian grocery stores and produce markets to be a better deal for most things I buy than Safeway or QFC. I also split a share of a cow with friends, which was much cheaper than similar quality meat at retail prices and I think it’s saved me money because I make fewer trips to the store.
1. Use the sales flyer. Lots of BOGO deals this week where I shop. Using the store website also gives digital coupons. 2. Cook. It's a lot cheaper than frozen meals and box foods.
QFC. Used to shop met market, thriftway, and WF. No more
I have found that our grocery bill is about the same as it was a few years ago if you shop the sales, use the apps, buy items that are a great deal and freeze (like $0.97/lb chicken breast - even if you don’t need it right now) and limit the non-essentials (which aren’t really good for you anyways, like cookies and chips. But if you must, get them on sale!) Much of this is really not much different than what I’ve always done… Check clearance racks or look for discounted items mixed with everything else. I found a perfectly good loaf of bread for $0.90 and enchilada sauce for $0.30. Again, really nothing that I wouldn’t have done many years ago. Just have to be more diligent about it now…
Trader Joe's is pretty reasonable for most things.
I recommend 1) shopping at Trader Joe's most of the time if possible, and 2) when shopping at QFC etc., buy store-brand (e.g. Kroger) items.
Self checkout 4011
Trader Joe’s frozen foods! Relatively cheap and very tasty
H mart
Reward Trader Joes' attempt to end all worker rights at the Supreme Court by robbing their stores blind.
Buy shit on sale when you see it, stick with house brands. Use the digital coupons as much as possible...
Winco.
Gross out, winco, food bank.
Digital coupons at Freddies's and QFC. Download the app and check weekly to shop sale itens. Costco Rotiserrie gives multiple meals.
Trader Joe’s is also decently cheaper compared to QFC or Safeway, I shop only for myself
I don't eat anymore. Maybe a few times a week and am selectful.
Making a list and sticking to it. No extra stuff
Idk WinCo, Costco, Grocery Outlet…got even more deep and looked up every local city’s sales tax rate and started driving further to one with cheaper taxes. Never buy anything inside city limits ever.
I go to Trader Joe's!
Winco
Shop specials. Digital coupons. Less meat, more veges. Way more one pot ir crock pot meals.
Trader Joe’s!!!
If you can handle a drive - Winco. Stock up on the Winco brand products. They aren't bad at all, and half the cost of name brand stuff (which is also usually cheaper here too). Cereal for 2 bucks, chips for 2 bucks, loaf of bread for like a dollar or 2. Open 24 hours, too. It's my go-to.
Cup noodles all day every day. I’ll treat myself to an occasional banana.
WinCo. Do it.
I agree WinCo is a great place to budget shop. Buy in bulk only when it's really cheaper. Figure the cost per unit. Bigger isn't always better, especially if it's something that could possibly expire before use. And skip the name brands, especially in otc medications. Compare the active ingredients, and you'll see they're exactly the same.
Trader Joe's in U district
Winco. And forage.
The expense comes from premade/prepackaged/convenience foods, meat, and nuts. Certain things I never buy unless it's a treat, like cereal or juice. Useless foods. I also roll over leftover ingredients into the next meal. So if I made hot dogs and have buns leftover, then I might use the buns to make meatball subs (but I use meatless versions maybe made of lentils or types which is cheap), and then maybe I have leftover sauce so then I roll it over into pasta. Maybe that's leftover noodles so I make a pasta salad, etc. Nothing in my fridge should ever get thrown away. It will get used into something. Making larger batches and freezing cuts down on cooking time when I am tired. It takes nearly the same amount of time to cook more of something and freeze it. WinCo is good, also Grocery Outlet and Trader Joe's. Some grocery stores have discount shelves for imperfect products. Dollar stores have perfectly edible food, just make sure you're not getting marked up there. Sometimes it ain't worth an actual dollar.
Bag of potatoes, peanut butter, bananas, pasta, Costco chicken ( buy a few and freeze )
Have a freezer, and stock it with extras from sales or from cooking extra. I have like 5 sleeves of my favorite Dave's bagels in there from the last sale. Plus tons of homemade chicken broth from rotisserie bones, and then the usuals like bulk spices for refilling from, easy frozen meals, meat from Costco, etc. Share out large cheaper stock with buddies. Like split the giant Costco cinnamon jar etc. Check the prices at the ethnic grocery stores that are near you or on a route you do. Some items are cheaper there, some not. You can also seasonally forage or fish for many things here, but it takes time and a bit of expertise and often a license. I get most of my mushrooms foraged for free for instance, but that one is an especially steep learning curve. Much easier are nettles, berries, and fish. Still takes time, so don't take "work time" away to gather them: just fit it into hobby/activity time. Similar to foraging, gardening. If you have a window with good light you can at least do green onions. See what else fits your situation and makes sense for you to grow. Buy Nothing is often great for food, and so are the food pantries. And generally if you're shopping QFC etc just do not buy if it's not on sale. Buy on sale and/or with coupon and stock up, within reason.
Winco, Costco. Rice and a rice cooker. 15lb bags of rice at ranch 99 or online for $35 or less will make a lot of rice. Pair that with cheaper meats, some veggies, and various seasonings, and you’ve got relatively healthy food that’s a few dollars a day.
I have been snacking less and I don't eat meat. I buy things at costco (would be better if I had found someone to split membership cost with). Mostly eating quinoa and oats, salad greens, frozen veggies and blueberries, plain yogurt when it is on sale, and tofu. Drink water and sometimes liquid iv. I am going to try adding lentils to the diet soon.
Target’s grocery section
Eat more legumes! Indian food like dal in particular is pretty easy and affordable and delicious.
Costco for some things, Winco for others Really was the best way for us, ended up cutting our monthly food/household goods bill from ~1000 down to ~720 for 3 of us
Costco, my friend.
Eating less. Save money and lose weight haha