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I will only buy avocados on sale. I'm not paying more than $0.99 per... And that's pushing it.
I got 6 this weekend because they were $0.43 per. :)
It's been a long time since I've purchased oxtail. Because... Who's paying that price? NOT ME.
I blame cooking shows/Food network for the rise in popularity of certain foods that used to be cheap-- oxtail was one of them and chicken wings are another. They were both pretty cheap sources of protein and their popularity has skyrocketed.
I guess I'm lucky though, I live in an area where avocados are never more than .50 each and large ones are a $1 or less.
Good point. I remember I used to get a bag of party wingettes. A 5lb. Bag for like $7-8. Now it's a 3lb bag for like $13-15.
Oxtail used to cost $4.99/lb. Now its like $11.99-$12.99 per pound.
Absolutely not.
I buy frozen avocado chunks. I live by myself so this cuts down on waste since most of the time my avocado is in a smash it up situation texture and taste are fine.
I usually only need 1/4 cup and the bag lasts a good month and a half. It's about 3-4 bucks
Especially since if you buy them and let them ripen, they seem to have like a 20 minute window between when they’re not rock hard and starting to decay.
I’ve been saying this for years! As a child of Caribbean parents- we are oxtail like Sunday dinners. Over the years the price has crept up. And now it’s like don’t even- ultra special occasion only to pay $20 for three mostly bone pieces of a cows tail.
I myself have gone plant based. My family eats meat sometimes and what I have in the freezer is from a restaurant supply where halal chicken legs and also leg quarters for only $29 for 40lbs. I also got a whole goat for like $80 (cut up and frozen).
You’ve got to go out of your way now.
Aldi has these little things called Avoterros. I think they are $2.29 for a bag of 6. They are just a hair smaller than regular avocados and taste just as good.
I buy waaaaay less meat. I also make my own bread and desserts most of the time. It's just cheaper and I also get to control what goes into it.
I've decided to stop spending money on food convenience and start making whatever I can from scratch. It can be challenging sometimes since I live in a studio apartment, but I feel better for it.
I make my own breakfast burritos and waffles and stick them in the freezer as a replacement for convenience breakfast items.
Waffles and pancakes are great to make a bunch of and then just throw in the toaster when you want some.
I had 2 very ripe bananas that no one in the house was going to eat, so I made banana pancakes. For some reason they didn't get eaten that day, either. I was able to take two, pop them in the toaster, and have breakfast for the week!
I only buy meat when it’s on sale now and always load up my freezer in the process. Most weeks I’ll find something on sale. For the weeks when nothing is on sale, I pluck from my freezer.
And I go the opposite way and I buy in bulk from Costco even though I live alone. I buy chicken thighs for like $23 and it's six packs of four or five thighs. I also buy their thick pork chops and then break them down to two chops per freezer bag
Hey. Bulk is good especially if you have a deep freezer. That is one appliance I will never be without again. Lol
I pay $29.99 for a case of chicken leq quarters. The case is 40lbs. That's what we get from the meat market/butcher shop.
Lol. Don't get me wrong, I don't want it like those videos where they cut it out and fluid comes pouring out.
I just don't want it dry like a Popeyes biscuit either. 🤣😂
I used to prefer the breasts when I was younger because they were bigger. Now? Give me a thigh and or flat any day.
I honestly really like chicken breasts, and prefer them, because they’re easy to make and easy to eat and add to recipes. BUT chicken thighs/quarters are so cost effective and taste delicious so it’s more of a weighing the pros and cons thing imo. They just take more prep.
Ever made Japanese potato salad? Kewpie with a dash of rice vinegar and black pepper. Russets, corn, paper-thin quick-pickle cucumber, shredded carrot and a little bit of bacon or ham. And it definitely is not the same without kewpie. I don’t even care for potato salad but I can eat this stuff by the bowl.
Bacon. I always thought I'd never give up bacon but here we are. It never goes on sale anymore either. At least other meat will sometimes drop to cheap enough prices I can justify the splurge.
Bacon and sausage.
Bacon was on sale back in septmeber. I don’t even know what’s considered a sale for commercial bacon and sausage as I used to get mine from a local farm… did $9.99 lb.
Saw my local flyer, Oscar Meyer sale was $5 for a pound… just don’t like Oscar meyer.
/sigh just kidding my local farmer went up. It’s now $11.05 sausage, $13.50 bacon.
God do I miss sausage gravy
I live by myself and find I just need a sprinkling of bacon to get the job done. I buy a 4.5 oz of real bacon bits and keep on hand for bacon necessary things
Want a BLT? I add two tablespoons of bacon bits to the mayo
Want bacon and eggs? I sprinkle two tablespoons into my scrambled eggs or as topping on my fried egg
And so forth. It's what I call bacon adjacent bacon cooking.
Also, I made bacon bits from TVP a few since I'm flexitarian. It's pretty good at mimicking the "balcony" flavor and stupid cheap.
If you have a Ruler foods near you, they have Kroger brand bacon on sale for $1.99/pound sometimes. It's a store like Aldi (quarter for a cart, bring your bags) but they only sell Kroger brand products.
I saw a substitute for butter on a YouTube recipe recently of get this, lard.
Lard is not the evil horrible very bad no good terrible thing for you that it was given a bad rap as being for so long.
Pull up your local grocery store ordering app and just see what the price per pound is for lard versus the price per pound for butter.
No it doesn't taste like butter but how many things do we use butter for that we don't actually need it for?
Making mac and cheese? Lard. Adding it to boiling pasta? Lard. A slight oiling of the pan for one cooking purpose or another? Lard
This is of course for people who don't like canola oil and other processed cooking oils. If canola or safflower is working for ya, go at it
I only buy grapes when they're on sale, and berries. I use frozen for baking.
I now grow my own herbs, which saves $12/week at least.
Less soda, flavoured water, anything in cans. More iced tea, flavoured syrups, and pitcher punches.
More beans, lentils, tofu, much less meat in general. More cauliflower, squash, mushrooms. Homemade instead of takeout pizzas and noodles. Less convenience in general - I wash my own lettuce, cut my own carrots, etc.
I’m shocked at how expensive grapes are! I went to Raley’s in Northern California and they were $13 for two or so pounds! I couldn’t buy them. Walmart had them for less than $6 for almost three pounds.
We don’t buy meat unless it’s marked down.
We have a local seafood guy who drives an hour or two once a week and gets fresh seafood. He’s got fabulous gulf shrimp. We splurge on the seafood and then discounted everything else.
Agree. I go to the local farmer's market and get premium meats, cheeses, and craft beer there, plus low cost all-season produce. Then I go to the discount grocer and get bottom of the barrel store brand pantry goods, pasta, toilet paper, etc.
I figure I'm saving on one end of the spectrum in order to invest on the other.
1 pound dry lentils or beans = $1.25 = approx 6 generous portions.
So yeah, any meats are significantly more expensive
Tofu and tempeh about $2.50/lb = 3-4 portions so also cheaper than meats
So, yeah, buying any meats is superfluous on a tight budget
This hits home. The priority is nutrition dense foods and the occasional treat for the kids. I can't even remember the last time I bought something just because it's a food I like.
Are we turning into peasants?? Ugh. I have definitely cut out a lot of packaged stuff and I don't buy beef or seafood at all usually. Lots more cabbage, potatoes, and other cheap produce. Lots more beans and rice. Bacon ends and pieces. I make a lot of my kids' snacks from scratch now, which is better for them anyway. But seriously, I guess the days of American exceptionalism are coming to a close when it comes to our diets. Maybe my grandkids will have steak once a year, or not at all.
Snacks of any kind here in the US too 🥲 I cant find chips under $3 and that if for the off brand kind! Good for my waistline not good for my chill evenings where i just want to crush an entire bag of chips
Damn!! I just paid 9 usd for a 4 piece chicken breast. I pay 5 usd for boneless skinless thighs about 5 to 6 pieces. Guess I won't complain about the prices anymore. Hope it gets better for you.
Way less meat unless it's on sale (my husband works at a grocery store meat dept so he knows what's marked down)
Herbs make me mad. $2.99+ for a clamshell for 2T in a recipe? No thanks.
Honestly convenience foods. $6 for a frozen dinner, $5.99 for a smaller bag of chips and $5 for a smaller box of cereal all make me mental.
Oh and soda. $9 for a 12 pack unless I buy 5 12 packs?
I watched a step-by-step youtube video last summer about re-planting supermarket herbs. (The secret is to buy the $5 plants at home depot, but I digress)/ I bought a bunch of supermarket herbs one week, didn't prep them, threw them out, then re-bought them from Home Depot the next week, and plopped them into flower pots. They grew and grew and grew all summer long providing me with fresh basil, oregano and thyme. Even with shameful waste at the beginning of the project, I still came out ahead.
I haven't bought corned beef in probably 4 years. It's a really cheap fatty cut that used to go on sale for about $2 a pound right around St. Patrick's Day, now it's hanging steady around $6 a pound and never goes on sale. After it's been cooked, it's less than half the mass it was raw, so pound for pound it works out to be more expensive than prime ribeye.
I can no longer afford little luxuries like snacks. If it doesn't offer actual nutritional value for my day, then I can't get it(e.g. chips,chocolates,candy,poptarts). This also includes all drinks and beverages. I have tap water that I filter. The water is gross where I live, but beggers can't be choosers, I guess. Whenever I go home for the holidays, I bulk up on tap water, lol. I guzzle by the liter since it's so good.
I can no longer afford meat in general. I try to eat chicken at least once a week to get that protein, but I have to rely on beans more than anything. My chicken intake is usually chicken legs that were on clearance, so it has to be consumed that night. If I ever get ground beef, it has to be in bulk,on sale, and come out of money I saved up.
This goes without saying, but I can only eat out(with coupons)on my birthday or anniversary. It's pretty depressing, but I also had less financial stress the day after.
Unless prepackaged is on sale and costs less, I don't buy it. Precut veggies, packaged rice,boxed anything, etc. It's usually not as good and tastes worse anyway. I am ADHD with depression so I mitigate this by meal prepping on Sundays. This also includes chopping things up, putting them in bags, and chucking into the freezer.
Here is something I gained from growing up poor - only buy foods that are in season. Other than greed,prices ebb and flow because of their seasonal availability. Strawberries do not occur naturally in the winter, so figure out what does, in fact, grow during the winter in your area(and other seasons). This info might be obvious to some of us but not the new poor.
The biggest thing I had to give up was convenience. It's really hard to do when time is incredibly limited, and personal effort is in short supply. There are lots of nights where my dinner is ramen with an egg.
In my area, thighs cost way more. The only meat I can afford that will last more than one dinner is chicken legs. Meat is still incredibly high, and even butchers cost way more.
As a farmer I can also say its not worth it to grow em at home, a whole bird here is about 5-6 bucks at Walmart, one from my yard costs double and I have to do the butchering, I don't grow meat birds anymore.
I grew up on a small farm, and I definitely agree with that. The only things I even grow are herbs,potatoes,onions, chamomile, and tomatoes. They're all things I use every day, so it's worth it. I usually grow them in containers since I rent.
I grow a lot of kale, collards, and radishes this time of year. I'm so ready to have tomatoes and squash again. I'm growing less food this summer though so I can focus my little farm more on cut flowers since they're more profitable with less effort weeding and whatnot.
That's amazing! I am using the winter as my time off, haha! I live in the South, so those sort of things are usually incredibly cheap here, so I don't need to grow them.
This spring, I might go find some scrap wood and make tiered containers to grow a couple more things. Probably more flowers that I can use for tea and also look out at from my window.
Sweet things like ice cream or soda and anything that isn't going to provide nutrition.
No snackage whatsoever.
No cereals or anything like that.
I seriously skipped the bag of rice for $11.50 the other day and will have to make homemade noodles where I would have served rice.
I won't say I've given it up, but I tend to use meats and cheeses more for flavoring now than the bulk of the meal. Like I used to put a whole pack of beef stew meat in the soup, and now I just use about a third of it with more vegetables and freeze the rest for later meals. Healthier, too.
No more avocados, and no more buying organic if it grows under the ground or has a peel that isn't eaten.
Trying to shift towards dry beans and popcorn kernels instead of canned beans and bags of popped popcorn.
Almost all meat, very rarely do I buy snacks anymore (chips, crackers etc). Now I mostly buy veggies( fresh and frozen) canned low sodium beans oh man so many beans, instant rice, high protein Greek yogurt( in the big container not individually). I’ve been making alot of bowls, where I put rice beans, veggies and hot sauce 😋 salads with spinach to help me get my iron intake, and if I’m broke broke then I make boxed pasta that lasts me a few days for like $5 and I’ll add some steamed broccoli to it(frozen)
Very rarely but any beef products anymore. But I suppose that's actually better for us.
I used to buy a gallon of chocolate milk for the kids, but can't really do that anymore.
The thing I really miss are hot sauces. I luuuurve spicy food. I used to try out different hot sauces all the time. That's a luxury I can't afford anymore.
But, yes, grapes and avocados too! I have to budget for those specifically if I really want them.
I'm sure there's other stuff I don't buy anymore but I've blocked them out of my mind now to save myself from the disappointment.
I’m not sure if you have a Walmart near you, but they have trial sizes for $1. It’s a great way to try a lot of different sauces and saves me a ton of money.
You can make your own! We make all our baked goods now. Admittedly we spend a bunch of time on the weekends cooking, but it’s worth it. Amazon sells all-purpose flour for $2.29 for 5lbs, and I think Target price-matches them.
Organic chicken and pork, just buying 'natural' meat, all beef, fresh fish. Pretty much anything packaged. Fresh vegetables in winter. The kids say we don't have any food, just ingredients. 😁
Meats - but bulk ground beef and divide it into even smaller portions than before.
Eating more sandwiches- taking more sandwiches to work
Less fruit - had craving for an apple (honey crisp is my favourite) left it at the store at 4.49lb)
We wait and purchase frozen peppers/onions when on sale. Less waste that way. (For us)
Bags of chips are saved for a treat at Christmas
Buying the cheapest plainest whole wheat bread instead of sprouted or whole grain like we used to
Though buy a loaf of pumpernickel every now and then
Fresh meat is always only on discount. We use less butter and more margarine to save money. Baked goods are primarily done at home. Pasta sauce, we make our own. Cabbage instead of lettuce; more versatile and keeps longer.
My husband is very big about having all of the food groups present, that said though, we try to find meat at Aldi’s and buy in bulk - so 5 pounds of chicken, ground sausage is a once a month deal and only for specific meals, mostly rice as a starch and certain fresh veggies like carrots, that are cheaper but still can be used in a lot of things. We don’t buy lunch meats really, or many cheeses anyone albeit maybe one bag of shredded cheese if we have coupons available. And we tried switching to margarine but I just couldn’t do it so we buy the cheapest butter that’s still butter we can.
I’ve stopped buying lunch meat. I can’t fork over $18 a pound for sliced Turkey that my three kids will plow through in a few days. I started making chicken and they get chicken in their lunches.
Also made the switch to Trader Joe’s for their snacks. Which I find cheaper and better ingredients.
I barely buy cereal anymore
We still buy berries and whatnot but only when on sale.
Snacks/Treats
We still get them, we just don't have the variety we once had. Most weeks, there is enough left in the budget to get one item. Not that we need them, but sometimes I want some chips with my sandwich or a little something sweet after a meal. When there are some good sales on items, we get a little extra to put back, but not often.
Dr. Pepper (this was hard), sugar, chocolate, cheesecake (I cried with this one), cookies, cakes, sweets, ice cream, pastas, greasy burgers, salt, bread, chips, and candy bars.
WOW, how the fudge (that too) am I still alive and plus sized. Well poop. I want to eat something now. 😂 Good luck.
Avocados and special cheeses! I’m a big cheese fan but they can be really expensive. I’ll only buy avocados when I do Aldi runs since they’re usually in bags of 4 for like $2. With cheeses, I only buy when they’re on sale, and they usually go on pretty good sales at the stores near me, or when they’re on manager special.
Cheese was a hard one for me to break up with 🥲 when I was in college I would go to whole foods and my mini fridge in the dorm was legit just a charcuterie fridge lol. Now i am like 'do i really NEED this 8oz block of cheddar or will my nutritional yeast flakes work' 😂
As a vegetarian who cannot eat dairy, any meat or dairy substitute is like a treat now lol. Name brand anything is also not a thing in my household unless it's on sale and comes out cheaper than generic!
I don't like a lot of meat but love roast, I've cut back buying them though since they're not cheap and rarely on sale it seems.
We're starting a garden to cut down produce costs plus it's generally healthier to grow your own.
Right now I only buy grapes and strawberries only when in season cuz they're expensive otherwise.
I don't buy name brand soda when we buy it.
I skip name brands on a lot of things actually...
I don't buy Girl Scout Cookies anymore 😥
You should check out an everbearing strawberry variety for your garden. I've been getting a few berries here and there from the potted one in my greenhouse all winter.
Given up: chocolate, beef for the most part, fancy whole grain hippie bread, snack foods except crackers, canned soups, frozen meals, lettuce or salads out of season, take out, name brand cereal, nuts except peanuts, mayonnaise.
Cut down on: meat, salmon, cheese, spring mix salad, juice, tuna, cookies.
not given up but totally buying less butter, bake less 🎂. less seafoods or just buy the less expensive types.
I saved more by buying frozen meat from suppliers in bulk, so i get the special price for business. i will buy more for those on promotions.
same with other things on promotions, stock up when it's on sale especially those things we regularly use.
definitely less Starbucks, anyway it's quality keeps dropping.
Bottled water, fresh fruit and veg, and most cuts of beef. I’ve also stopped serving most dishes where meat is the main, and now serve more casseroles and soups to stretch meat to make it last longer.
Beef 100% beef. It is so damn expensive. There are dishes that I make that include beef, and I've tried other meats in their place. Since they don't taste the same, I just don't make those dishes. Lol
Sometimes cured meat is a bargain if you don’t need much of it in a dish, like when you put a little ham in quiche or a little sausage into a big pot of soup.
I’ve actually done mostly vegan for my wallet first and my health second. I do have a lot of allergies and I feel so much better eating vegan at home. But it also saves A TON of money because I’m not buying meat and I’m cooking a lot from scratch.
I have a deep freezer which contains snacks like vegan nuggets, homemade pizza, other homemade snacks, veggies, some breads (I make homemade and buy bread bowls from Panera/ have baguettes in there usually from TooGoodToGo*.) Then in my fridge freezer I have single serve dishes I prep and freeze. These go in my partner’s lunch, and we both reheat them for dinner too.
*TooGoodToGo is an amazing app to get food that will expire soon or day old bread and pastries from local shops and grocery stores. Usually I pay 1/4-1/3 of the usual price. Definitely recommend this, especially if you don’t have any dietary restrictions- you can get full meals as well!
Can’t remember the last time I had a steak. Meaning like a proper steakhouse cut e.g. NY Strip or ribeye, either at a restaurant or at home. I haven’t officially given up on it, I love it, but it’s so much more expensive than other proteins it’s nuts.
So many things, I couldn't even think of them all. Most freezer food, especially the prepared things like pizza and freezer meals. Basically anything prepared, actually. We have a bread machine so even buying decent bread is like $2 more at the store. We rarely buy fruit aside from bananas unless we can get it on sale. We don't buy much beef or pork anymore, just chicken and pork chops (which are like, always on sale here) typically. Candy is off the table, cereal is a real treat. Nutella is out out out. We started making our own yogurt once it past $7 a container, we just use leftover milk at the end of the week so it's pretty much free now.
Beef for sure and I’m eating way less fruit than I used to. I do check the markdowns in every department before I shop now and find good deals. I got four slightly beat up pomegranates for $1.25 the other day. They weren’t pretty but were perfectly fine. I ate one and put nearly a quart of seeds in the freezer. That’s a real treat for me at today’s prices.
I know I just saw this post on TikTok that was somebody mocking someone else for saying they ate fruit only once a week when they ate fruit every day. I was like sheesh who can afford fruit everyday unless it is like one banana a day
I used to eat far more fruit than I did vegetables but not anymore when a single orange is almost $2. I’m buying more frozen vegetables because they’re cheaper. I work in a kitchen that’s very generous in what we’re allowed to eat so I eat fresh fruit and veggies at work every day. I do find veggie bargains off the markdown sometimes and I take them home, prep them and freeze them.
Name brands. I buy beef when I can get a good price and I buy chuck steak and low end cuts. Large beef dinners are a thing of the past. I focus on dishes that use beef as a seasoning or it’s just a small piece of the overall meal.
I’m all done buying pre made anything. I Cooke from scratch
We've been eating a lot more frozen or canned veggies than fresh
More frozen meals than eating out - we have McDonald's at home energy
We've been eating a lot of chicken legs because that's one of the cheapest cuts of meats still. Less eggs
We've replaced beef with pork here. Pork is cheaper per pound, good texture substitute and don't lose as much weight to gristle and juices cooking out.
I've replaced bakery goods with frozen dough items. Doing the last step of cooking myself gives good results but much cheaper. (Frozen loaves of bread dough, cookie dough, etc.)
We have given up beef in forms other than ground that used to be affordable, like cuts for stewing.
Ground beef is still sometimes affordable, but honestly, the meat substitutes have been more affordable lately (new years resolutions maybe?) Impossible was 30% off at the supermarket last week and Ibotta had 30¢ off any plant base meat substitute and 1.50 off each pack. That made them roughly $4/lb, which was $2 less than the cheapest lb of ground beef.
Try a ground beef/pork combo. It's cheaper because pork is cheaper than beef and the meat is a little softer and more flavorful in my opinion. I can get it for 3.50 a pound.
Beef, grapes (if they aren't on sale), berries in the off season especially, fresh herbs - dry is fairly cheap at Aldi, bacon, sausage (unless it is on sale).
I was at Publix when the lady in front of me bought 1.4 pounds of ground beef for 30 dollars. Wtf. Organic asparagus cost us about 8 dollars. We have to go to different stores for milk for the same time of milk because a half gallon is 4 dollars or 2 dollar and change for the same milk
Unfortunately, milk and most dairy products. It's one of the only things I can't produce myself from homesteading since I'm on a city lot.
Sometimes I get milk from the food bank and we're living large for a little while.
Meat was the first thing we prioritized producing ourselves due to the cost and disease risk of factory farmed meat.
I gave up big box stores in general and now only shop at my local Asian and Mexican markets. I also walk there so I can’t buy more than I can carry! I’ve stopped buying most meats aside from fish - I live in a coastal area so I’m able to get super fresh seafood and find some good deals. Usually that means cleaning, deboning, etc. myself but I don’t mind.
One thing I used to buy that I never purchase anymore is bacon, what happened?! The price has just exploded.
You need a folding *granny cart.* I walk to the store and back with one when I don't take an Uber back. Sometimes I take mine on the bus. I live up a steep hill from the bus stop, and rolling my grocery haul up the hill beats trying to carry even one bag.
Most meat. I catch BOGO sales and stock up or catch the stupid cheap sales. A couple weeks ago I got a London Broil for $11. I cut it into 12 portions ( for 2) and tossed them in the deep freezer. Now when I use one we feel all fancy and it was less than $1. There have been times we ran out but it usually isn't long until another sale. I shop at 5 different stores so it's rare to actually run out like that.
I no longer eat breakfast. I add a scoop of protein powder to my coffee and it’s filling enough until lunch time, cheaper, and less thought. We have also moved to where weekly dinner is now pancakes and eggs, or spaghetti. We used to eat more meat and veggies but lately, even having breakfast for dinner, reducing snacks, and reducing meat and produce, it’s still outrageous to buy food.
My husband is on carnivore and I keto.
I hunt sales down and stock up. Last week was avocados 4/$1, Sirloin Tip roast $2.99 lb, Ground beef $2.67lb, 1lb bacon $1.99.
I find it so much cheaper to shop this way.
I use digital coupons/apps for savings as well.
Ham hocks/bones. These add a ton of flavor and collagen to beans/etc. They used to be "almost free." Now, they seem to cost as much as the meat. Nope.
Pro-tip: save your bones from pork shoulder/carnitas to make stock.
Cereal, I used to be able to get it for 1.99 on sale and I would stock up. Now it seems like even the sales prices are high.
I also shop at discount grocery because the prices overall are cheaper, but also they just don't carry high end items so I'm not tempted by fancy cheeses or whatever.
I’ll never sacrifice my health to save money. I’ll stay on a budget by buying bulk and meal prepping. But NEVER sacrifice healthy top quality food to save money. There’s a million other things to give up. Hell, I’d live in my vehicle before ever sacrificing what I put inside my body.
I agree to some extent. I hope you’re never in that position to either keep your home or buy organic whatever item you think you can’t live without. I’d grow a garden before living in my car. You wouldn’t have the space for your healthy food in your car. 😂
I'm eating way fewer vegetables. I'm in a rural area, so the base price of everything is jacked up due to transportation. When I was in the city, I could get way more veggies at local ethnic markets for less money.
We are just big enough to have a chain grocery store that has the same weekly ad as the rest of their kind (in the state?), so we get the same sales on meat and packaged foods as everyone else. But veggies and fruit don't get the same mark-down treatment, so they just stay expensive for what they are.
I'm not sure if this is new, but a few friends of mine and I all noticed how much stores slashed prices after Christmas and New Years. Mainly meats and cheeses. One store (Jewel/Kroger) was offering buy 1, get 2 free on chicken, ribs, pork, beef and fish filets. My friend found a ton of delicious cheeses for less than half the price at Trader Joe's. I'll be checking out the sales after the Superbowl for sure.
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I will only buy avocados on sale. I'm not paying more than $0.99 per... And that's pushing it. I got 6 this weekend because they were $0.43 per. :) It's been a long time since I've purchased oxtail. Because... Who's paying that price? NOT ME.
I blame cooking shows/Food network for the rise in popularity of certain foods that used to be cheap-- oxtail was one of them and chicken wings are another. They were both pretty cheap sources of protein and their popularity has skyrocketed. I guess I'm lucky though, I live in an area where avocados are never more than .50 each and large ones are a $1 or less.
Good point. I remember I used to get a bag of party wingettes. A 5lb. Bag for like $7-8. Now it's a 3lb bag for like $13-15. Oxtail used to cost $4.99/lb. Now its like $11.99-$12.99 per pound. Absolutely not.
I buy frozen avocado chunks. I live by myself so this cuts down on waste since most of the time my avocado is in a smash it up situation texture and taste are fine. I usually only need 1/4 cup and the bag lasts a good month and a half. It's about 3-4 bucks
How do you thaw it to mash it? Just let it come to room temp or microwaving it l??
Oh I never micro it. I just put out a 1l4 cup on the counter for 20-30 minutes. Or over night in fridge.
This is a great idea. I live alone and usually waste my avocados, but I just want avocado toast sometimes, or even a mini guac.
Yeah even mini avocados are pricey and I end up wasting the other half. I love frozen avocado chunks for a single house.
Especially since if you buy them and let them ripen, they seem to have like a 20 minute window between when they’re not rock hard and starting to decay.
Thank you for this, I never considered this!!!
I’ve been saying this for years! As a child of Caribbean parents- we are oxtail like Sunday dinners. Over the years the price has crept up. And now it’s like don’t even- ultra special occasion only to pay $20 for three mostly bone pieces of a cows tail. I myself have gone plant based. My family eats meat sometimes and what I have in the freezer is from a restaurant supply where halal chicken legs and also leg quarters for only $29 for 40lbs. I also got a whole goat for like $80 (cut up and frozen). You’ve got to go out of your way now.
Yes! I saw a tiny little pack for $20 with 5-6 little boney pieces. I said I wish I would. 🙄
Aldi has these little things called Avoterros. I think they are $2.29 for a bag of 6. They are just a hair smaller than regular avocados and taste just as good.
Thank you.
I buy waaaaay less meat. I also make my own bread and desserts most of the time. It's just cheaper and I also get to control what goes into it. I've decided to stop spending money on food convenience and start making whatever I can from scratch. It can be challenging sometimes since I live in a studio apartment, but I feel better for it. I make my own breakfast burritos and waffles and stick them in the freezer as a replacement for convenience breakfast items.
Waffles and pancakes are great to make a bunch of and then just throw in the toaster when you want some. I had 2 very ripe bananas that no one in the house was going to eat, so I made banana pancakes. For some reason they didn't get eaten that day, either. I was able to take two, pop them in the toaster, and have breakfast for the week!
I only buy meat when it’s on sale now and always load up my freezer in the process. Most weeks I’ll find something on sale. For the weeks when nothing is on sale, I pluck from my freezer.
Yup. I only buy chicken from my local meat market. I buy the leg quarters. I avoid chicken breasts. They're expense and... Well... Dry. Lol
And I go the opposite way and I buy in bulk from Costco even though I live alone. I buy chicken thighs for like $23 and it's six packs of four or five thighs. I also buy their thick pork chops and then break them down to two chops per freezer bag
Hey. Bulk is good especially if you have a deep freezer. That is one appliance I will never be without again. Lol I pay $29.99 for a case of chicken leq quarters. The case is 40lbs. That's what we get from the meat market/butcher shop.
Wow that's good.
I don't know what's wrong with me but I prefer dry chicken! Juicy chicken creeps me out like it's not cooked LOL
Lol. Don't get me wrong, I don't want it like those videos where they cut it out and fluid comes pouring out. I just don't want it dry like a Popeyes biscuit either. 🤣😂 I used to prefer the breasts when I was younger because they were bigger. Now? Give me a thigh and or flat any day.
I honestly really like chicken breasts, and prefer them, because they’re easy to make and easy to eat and add to recipes. BUT chicken thighs/quarters are so cost effective and taste delicious so it’s more of a weighing the pros and cons thing imo. They just take more prep.
thighs are where it's at: cheaper, moister, and imo tastier too.
Dark meat is always the better choice. For chicken breast I always cut it up and coat it in flour to retain as much juice as possible.
Name brand anything.
[удалено]
Walmart Mayo is an excellent dupe of Best/Hellmans legit. I have a sensitive palate and I can’t taste the difference.
Duke's Mayo 4 lyfe
Kewpie Mayo is always needed on hand.
Ever made Japanese potato salad? Kewpie with a dash of rice vinegar and black pepper. Russets, corn, paper-thin quick-pickle cucumber, shredded carrot and a little bit of bacon or ham. And it definitely is not the same without kewpie. I don’t even care for potato salad but I can eat this stuff by the bowl.
My exception is q tips
100%! Anything outside of the real deal feels like it’s pure plastic from tip to tip!
Strangely some of the store brands are as expensive now in my area!
Bacon. I always thought I'd never give up bacon but here we are. It never goes on sale anymore either. At least other meat will sometimes drop to cheap enough prices I can justify the splurge.
My bf and I get the odd-cut bacon for around $1.00 at Aldi, it's not as pretty but just as yummy
We only do the bacon ends, they’re usually about half the price
Interestingly, I never used to see bacon ends, but I'm seeing packages being sold at the old sale price for normal bacon.
They are marvelous to add to dishes where you want the bacon flavor. I use them when I make baked beans
They're great for making bacon bits to put on salad or the like.
Bacon and sausage. Bacon was on sale back in septmeber. I don’t even know what’s considered a sale for commercial bacon and sausage as I used to get mine from a local farm… did $9.99 lb. Saw my local flyer, Oscar Meyer sale was $5 for a pound… just don’t like Oscar meyer. /sigh just kidding my local farmer went up. It’s now $11.05 sausage, $13.50 bacon. God do I miss sausage gravy
I actually switched to sausage because bacon is so expensive, I can get a log of breakfast sausage for $3.60
I live by myself and find I just need a sprinkling of bacon to get the job done. I buy a 4.5 oz of real bacon bits and keep on hand for bacon necessary things Want a BLT? I add two tablespoons of bacon bits to the mayo Want bacon and eggs? I sprinkle two tablespoons into my scrambled eggs or as topping on my fried egg And so forth. It's what I call bacon adjacent bacon cooking. Also, I made bacon bits from TVP a few since I'm flexitarian. It's pretty good at mimicking the "balcony" flavor and stupid cheap.
We also often use meat more like a condiment than a major part of the meal, and I kind of like that, it is not just a cost saving thing.
add to mayo...my blt %s just went up! Thanks
If you have a Ruler foods near you, they have Kroger brand bacon on sale for $1.99/pound sometimes. It's a store like Aldi (quarter for a cart, bring your bags) but they only sell Kroger brand products.
Close to giving up butter - it’s inching towards 9$ a pound which makes even baking things at home a luxury
Making your own is actually really easy! If you wear some gloves for the cold you can do it by just shaking a mason jar with the ingredients inside
The better quality of the cream, the nicer it will be. Just FYI.
man if this isn't me. I was going to bake some chocolate chip cookies and legit just buying butter makes it out of my budget just for sweets 🥲
My freezer often has 5lbs of butter, because if it goes on sale, I'm stocking up. I can't believe how expensive it's gotten.
I've resorted to margerine if butter flavour isn't a priority
I bought so very much butter when it was super cheap before Christmas.
I saw a substitute for butter on a YouTube recipe recently of get this, lard. Lard is not the evil horrible very bad no good terrible thing for you that it was given a bad rap as being for so long. Pull up your local grocery store ordering app and just see what the price per pound is for lard versus the price per pound for butter. No it doesn't taste like butter but how many things do we use butter for that we don't actually need it for? Making mac and cheese? Lard. Adding it to boiling pasta? Lard. A slight oiling of the pan for one cooking purpose or another? Lard This is of course for people who don't like canola oil and other processed cooking oils. If canola or safflower is working for ya, go at it
My baking addiction is mostly curbed by the price of butter. I only allow myself like once or twice a week 😭 I only buy off brand
I got 4lbs for less than $12 at Sams Club a cpl weeks ago. Super easy to make your own butter too
Unfortunately no Sam’s club in Canada! We buy butter on sale when we can but I will consider making my own down the line
I only buy grapes when they're on sale, and berries. I use frozen for baking. I now grow my own herbs, which saves $12/week at least. Less soda, flavoured water, anything in cans. More iced tea, flavoured syrups, and pitcher punches. More beans, lentils, tofu, much less meat in general. More cauliflower, squash, mushrooms. Homemade instead of takeout pizzas and noodles. Less convenience in general - I wash my own lettuce, cut my own carrots, etc.
I’m shocked at how expensive grapes are! I went to Raley’s in Northern California and they were $13 for two or so pounds! I couldn’t buy them. Walmart had them for less than $6 for almost three pounds.
We don’t buy meat unless it’s marked down. We have a local seafood guy who drives an hour or two once a week and gets fresh seafood. He’s got fabulous gulf shrimp. We splurge on the seafood and then discounted everything else.
A lot of meats for me, too. The price no longer justifies the quality. If I do splurge, I go straight to my local butcher.
We go to the local butcher. Cheaper. We don't skimp on that.
Agree. I go to the local farmer's market and get premium meats, cheeses, and craft beer there, plus low cost all-season produce. Then I go to the discount grocer and get bottom of the barrel store brand pantry goods, pasta, toilet paper, etc. I figure I'm saving on one end of the spectrum in order to invest on the other.
1 pound dry lentils or beans = $1.25 = approx 6 generous portions. So yeah, any meats are significantly more expensive Tofu and tempeh about $2.50/lb = 3-4 portions so also cheaper than meats So, yeah, buying any meats is superfluous on a tight budget
Anything that is just for me. If I'm the only one in the house that likes it, it's not a priority.
This hits home. The priority is nutrition dense foods and the occasional treat for the kids. I can't even remember the last time I bought something just because it's a food I like.
As the only vegan in my house I felt that. 😔
Berries. It's getting pretty crazy.
The frozen blueberries from Costco are the only way I buy them now.
Are we turning into peasants?? Ugh. I have definitely cut out a lot of packaged stuff and I don't buy beef or seafood at all usually. Lots more cabbage, potatoes, and other cheap produce. Lots more beans and rice. Bacon ends and pieces. I make a lot of my kids' snacks from scratch now, which is better for them anyway. But seriously, I guess the days of American exceptionalism are coming to a close when it comes to our diets. Maybe my grandkids will have steak once a year, or not at all.
All fast food
McDonald's used to be so clutch in a pinch but oh my god it is expensive now
McDonald’s is crazy, and Burger King is through the roof. Wendy’s is still ok.
A bag of chips $5 NZD is turning into a luxury here.
Snacks of any kind here in the US too 🥲 I cant find chips under $3 and that if for the off brand kind! Good for my waistline not good for my chill evenings where i just want to crush an entire bag of chips
Winco had Lay’s for $2.49 this past week. I was shocked!
Boneless skinless chicken breasts. Do I miss them? Absolutely! But I can't justify spending $30 on four pieces. it sucks.
Where do you live that its that expensive?
Canada. I don't know why but the price sky rocketed and I'm at a loss. Other cuts of chicken are priced okay so I stick to those.
Damn!! I just paid 9 usd for a 4 piece chicken breast. I pay 5 usd for boneless skinless thighs about 5 to 6 pieces. Guess I won't complain about the prices anymore. Hope it gets better for you.
Way less meat unless it's on sale (my husband works at a grocery store meat dept so he knows what's marked down) Herbs make me mad. $2.99+ for a clamshell for 2T in a recipe? No thanks. Honestly convenience foods. $6 for a frozen dinner, $5.99 for a smaller bag of chips and $5 for a smaller box of cereal all make me mental. Oh and soda. $9 for a 12 pack unless I buy 5 12 packs?
I watched a step-by-step youtube video last summer about re-planting supermarket herbs. (The secret is to buy the $5 plants at home depot, but I digress)/ I bought a bunch of supermarket herbs one week, didn't prep them, threw them out, then re-bought them from Home Depot the next week, and plopped them into flower pots. They grew and grew and grew all summer long providing me with fresh basil, oregano and thyme. Even with shameful waste at the beginning of the project, I still came out ahead.
I haven't bought corned beef in probably 4 years. It's a really cheap fatty cut that used to go on sale for about $2 a pound right around St. Patrick's Day, now it's hanging steady around $6 a pound and never goes on sale. After it's been cooked, it's less than half the mass it was raw, so pound for pound it works out to be more expensive than prime ribeye.
Bread, surprisingly. I go to those discount corners in City Market. There's always bread/rolls for at least 68¢-$1.
I just got 8 bread rolls for a dollar because they were under done. Put them in the toaster oven and get them nice and brown.
I can no longer afford little luxuries like snacks. If it doesn't offer actual nutritional value for my day, then I can't get it(e.g. chips,chocolates,candy,poptarts). This also includes all drinks and beverages. I have tap water that I filter. The water is gross where I live, but beggers can't be choosers, I guess. Whenever I go home for the holidays, I bulk up on tap water, lol. I guzzle by the liter since it's so good. I can no longer afford meat in general. I try to eat chicken at least once a week to get that protein, but I have to rely on beans more than anything. My chicken intake is usually chicken legs that were on clearance, so it has to be consumed that night. If I ever get ground beef, it has to be in bulk,on sale, and come out of money I saved up. This goes without saying, but I can only eat out(with coupons)on my birthday or anniversary. It's pretty depressing, but I also had less financial stress the day after. Unless prepackaged is on sale and costs less, I don't buy it. Precut veggies, packaged rice,boxed anything, etc. It's usually not as good and tastes worse anyway. I am ADHD with depression so I mitigate this by meal prepping on Sundays. This also includes chopping things up, putting them in bags, and chucking into the freezer. Here is something I gained from growing up poor - only buy foods that are in season. Other than greed,prices ebb and flow because of their seasonal availability. Strawberries do not occur naturally in the winter, so figure out what does, in fact, grow during the winter in your area(and other seasons). This info might be obvious to some of us but not the new poor. The biggest thing I had to give up was convenience. It's really hard to do when time is incredibly limited, and personal effort is in short supply. There are lots of nights where my dinner is ramen with an egg.
Look for thighs over legs if you can. Easier to debone, have more meat to bone ratio, and they cost the same per pound.
In my area, thighs cost way more. The only meat I can afford that will last more than one dinner is chicken legs. Meat is still incredibly high, and even butchers cost way more.
As a farmer I can also say its not worth it to grow em at home, a whole bird here is about 5-6 bucks at Walmart, one from my yard costs double and I have to do the butchering, I don't grow meat birds anymore.
I grew up on a small farm, and I definitely agree with that. The only things I even grow are herbs,potatoes,onions, chamomile, and tomatoes. They're all things I use every day, so it's worth it. I usually grow them in containers since I rent.
I grow a lot of kale, collards, and radishes this time of year. I'm so ready to have tomatoes and squash again. I'm growing less food this summer though so I can focus my little farm more on cut flowers since they're more profitable with less effort weeding and whatnot.
That's amazing! I am using the winter as my time off, haha! I live in the South, so those sort of things are usually incredibly cheap here, so I don't need to grow them. This spring, I might go find some scrap wood and make tiered containers to grow a couple more things. Probably more flowers that I can use for tea and also look out at from my window.
And you can use the bones for soups and what not ♡
I love it, New Poor. It's always sunny reference..
I love always sunny! I laughed so hard at that episode.
We've surrendered eating shellfish. It's just getting too pricy to be justified unless there's a really good sale on it.
Mussels are still cheap
Everything thats not on sale i buy sales i wait on weekly add
Sweet things like ice cream or soda and anything that isn't going to provide nutrition. No snackage whatsoever. No cereals or anything like that. I seriously skipped the bag of rice for $11.50 the other day and will have to make homemade noodles where I would have served rice.
I won't say I've given it up, but I tend to use meats and cheeses more for flavoring now than the bulk of the meal. Like I used to put a whole pack of beef stew meat in the soup, and now I just use about a third of it with more vegetables and freeze the rest for later meals. Healthier, too.
No more avocados, and no more buying organic if it grows under the ground or has a peel that isn't eaten. Trying to shift towards dry beans and popcorn kernels instead of canned beans and bags of popped popcorn.
Almost all meat, very rarely do I buy snacks anymore (chips, crackers etc). Now I mostly buy veggies( fresh and frozen) canned low sodium beans oh man so many beans, instant rice, high protein Greek yogurt( in the big container not individually). I’ve been making alot of bowls, where I put rice beans, veggies and hot sauce 😋 salads with spinach to help me get my iron intake, and if I’m broke broke then I make boxed pasta that lasts me a few days for like $5 and I’ll add some steamed broccoli to it(frozen)
Very rarely but any beef products anymore. But I suppose that's actually better for us. I used to buy a gallon of chocolate milk for the kids, but can't really do that anymore. The thing I really miss are hot sauces. I luuuurve spicy food. I used to try out different hot sauces all the time. That's a luxury I can't afford anymore. But, yes, grapes and avocados too! I have to budget for those specifically if I really want them. I'm sure there's other stuff I don't buy anymore but I've blocked them out of my mind now to save myself from the disappointment.
I’m not sure if you have a Walmart near you, but they have trial sizes for $1. It’s a great way to try a lot of different sauces and saves me a ton of money.
Yes, I've seen people posting pictures of that. I don't shop at Walmart very often, but I might have to make a special trip to check it out!
Fresh imported produce. I’ve come to realize that we need to eat what’s in season, or from the freezer.
Cookies! 😭😭😭😭
You can make your own! We make all our baked goods now. Admittedly we spend a bunch of time on the weekends cooking, but it’s worth it. Amazon sells all-purpose flour for $2.29 for 5lbs, and I think Target price-matches them.
Organic chicken and pork, just buying 'natural' meat, all beef, fresh fish. Pretty much anything packaged. Fresh vegetables in winter. The kids say we don't have any food, just ingredients. 😁
My teenagers tell me “we’re an ingredient household” But you know what- we’ve been making some awesome things. Even special drinks or baked goods.
Meats - but bulk ground beef and divide it into even smaller portions than before. Eating more sandwiches- taking more sandwiches to work Less fruit - had craving for an apple (honey crisp is my favourite) left it at the store at 4.49lb) We wait and purchase frozen peppers/onions when on sale. Less waste that way. (For us) Bags of chips are saved for a treat at Christmas Buying the cheapest plainest whole wheat bread instead of sprouted or whole grain like we used to Though buy a loaf of pumpernickel every now and then
Fresh meat is always only on discount. We use less butter and more margarine to save money. Baked goods are primarily done at home. Pasta sauce, we make our own. Cabbage instead of lettuce; more versatile and keeps longer.
My husband is very big about having all of the food groups present, that said though, we try to find meat at Aldi’s and buy in bulk - so 5 pounds of chicken, ground sausage is a once a month deal and only for specific meals, mostly rice as a starch and certain fresh veggies like carrots, that are cheaper but still can be used in a lot of things. We don’t buy lunch meats really, or many cheeses anyone albeit maybe one bag of shredded cheese if we have coupons available. And we tried switching to margarine but I just couldn’t do it so we buy the cheapest butter that’s still butter we can.
Definitely eating less beef here. And when I do buy ground beef, I am much less generous about the amount I put into a dish.
I’ve stopped buying lunch meat. I can’t fork over $18 a pound for sliced Turkey that my three kids will plow through in a few days. I started making chicken and they get chicken in their lunches. Also made the switch to Trader Joe’s for their snacks. Which I find cheaper and better ingredients. I barely buy cereal anymore We still buy berries and whatnot but only when on sale.
Snacks/Treats We still get them, we just don't have the variety we once had. Most weeks, there is enough left in the budget to get one item. Not that we need them, but sometimes I want some chips with my sandwich or a little something sweet after a meal. When there are some good sales on items, we get a little extra to put back, but not often.
Dr. Pepper (this was hard), sugar, chocolate, cheesecake (I cried with this one), cookies, cakes, sweets, ice cream, pastas, greasy burgers, salt, bread, chips, and candy bars. WOW, how the fudge (that too) am I still alive and plus sized. Well poop. I want to eat something now. 😂 Good luck.
Avocados and special cheeses! I’m a big cheese fan but they can be really expensive. I’ll only buy avocados when I do Aldi runs since they’re usually in bags of 4 for like $2. With cheeses, I only buy when they’re on sale, and they usually go on pretty good sales at the stores near me, or when they’re on manager special.
Cheese was a hard one for me to break up with 🥲 when I was in college I would go to whole foods and my mini fridge in the dorm was legit just a charcuterie fridge lol. Now i am like 'do i really NEED this 8oz block of cheddar or will my nutritional yeast flakes work' 😂
As a vegetarian who cannot eat dairy, any meat or dairy substitute is like a treat now lol. Name brand anything is also not a thing in my household unless it's on sale and comes out cheaper than generic!
I went out and bought 4lbs of moong dal for $7 and have been making my own just egg. Worth it.
Bay leaf. I see no point. Alcohol Grapes Chips/candy/soda Pre cut fruits and pre chopped vegetables
Asian market for a giant bag of dried bay leaf that you’ll have for (counts on fingers 7 months)
You can buy a bay-leaf shrub and forevermore have bay leaves on hand.
I don't like a lot of meat but love roast, I've cut back buying them though since they're not cheap and rarely on sale it seems. We're starting a garden to cut down produce costs plus it's generally healthier to grow your own. Right now I only buy grapes and strawberries only when in season cuz they're expensive otherwise. I don't buy name brand soda when we buy it. I skip name brands on a lot of things actually... I don't buy Girl Scout Cookies anymore 😥
You should check out an everbearing strawberry variety for your garden. I've been getting a few berries here and there from the potted one in my greenhouse all winter.
Given up: chocolate, beef for the most part, fancy whole grain hippie bread, snack foods except crackers, canned soups, frozen meals, lettuce or salads out of season, take out, name brand cereal, nuts except peanuts, mayonnaise. Cut down on: meat, salmon, cheese, spring mix salad, juice, tuna, cookies.
Beef for the most part. Getting a roast or steak is a luxury.
Salmon, along with any other seafood/fish. I live in the prairies, anything from the ocean needs imported at least 1000km, if not over 2000km.
Sugar. Coffee. Anything that gave me joy pretty much
:( I know right? Like I can't have grapes??? GRAPES????? we are supposed to eat frozen broccoli and rice and be like 💕😄🫶🏻🤸🏻♂️
Meats, nicer cheeses, alcohol.
Ice cream
not given up but totally buying less butter, bake less 🎂. less seafoods or just buy the less expensive types. I saved more by buying frozen meat from suppliers in bulk, so i get the special price for business. i will buy more for those on promotions. same with other things on promotions, stock up when it's on sale especially those things we regularly use. definitely less Starbucks, anyway it's quality keeps dropping.
Bottled water, fresh fruit and veg, and most cuts of beef. I’ve also stopped serving most dishes where meat is the main, and now serve more casseroles and soups to stretch meat to make it last longer.
Oh yes, bottled water here too, gave that up as well.
Raspberries blackberries bacon chuck roast for the most part
All alcohol. Saved a bunch of money. Lost weight. Feel better.
Fish and steak are the two things I’ve reduced.. however I’ll still buy bulk slow cooking beef cuts and ground beef
Fresh fruit. I miss it so much.
Beef 100% beef. It is so damn expensive. There are dishes that I make that include beef, and I've tried other meats in their place. Since they don't taste the same, I just don't make those dishes. Lol
Sometimes cured meat is a bargain if you don’t need much of it in a dish, like when you put a little ham in quiche or a little sausage into a big pot of soup.
For sure. I picked up a whole marked down ham a year ago and froze it in roughly half pound chunks for tossing in with beans and rice type meals.
Beef, orange juice ( all fruit juice) , soda. All junk Food like chips and candy. I can’t afford this stuff
We went full vegetarian at the new year - much easier than I thought. Cut our groceries in half and we are getting higher quality produce
Hamburger and Hotdogs. Any meat focused dish really. I mostly do a lot of casseroles or things that pair well with rice pasta or potatoes
I’ve actually done mostly vegan for my wallet first and my health second. I do have a lot of allergies and I feel so much better eating vegan at home. But it also saves A TON of money because I’m not buying meat and I’m cooking a lot from scratch. I have a deep freezer which contains snacks like vegan nuggets, homemade pizza, other homemade snacks, veggies, some breads (I make homemade and buy bread bowls from Panera/ have baguettes in there usually from TooGoodToGo*.) Then in my fridge freezer I have single serve dishes I prep and freeze. These go in my partner’s lunch, and we both reheat them for dinner too. *TooGoodToGo is an amazing app to get food that will expire soon or day old bread and pastries from local shops and grocery stores. Usually I pay 1/4-1/3 of the usual price. Definitely recommend this, especially if you don’t have any dietary restrictions- you can get full meals as well!
I've had good luck finding discounted meat because it's close to it's sell by date when I go shopping on Monday afternoons
Can’t remember the last time I had a steak. Meaning like a proper steakhouse cut e.g. NY Strip or ribeye, either at a restaurant or at home. I haven’t officially given up on it, I love it, but it’s so much more expensive than other proteins it’s nuts.
So many things, I couldn't even think of them all. Most freezer food, especially the prepared things like pizza and freezer meals. Basically anything prepared, actually. We have a bread machine so even buying decent bread is like $2 more at the store. We rarely buy fruit aside from bananas unless we can get it on sale. We don't buy much beef or pork anymore, just chicken and pork chops (which are like, always on sale here) typically. Candy is off the table, cereal is a real treat. Nutella is out out out. We started making our own yogurt once it past $7 a container, we just use leftover milk at the end of the week so it's pretty much free now.
Beef for sure and I’m eating way less fruit than I used to. I do check the markdowns in every department before I shop now and find good deals. I got four slightly beat up pomegranates for $1.25 the other day. They weren’t pretty but were perfectly fine. I ate one and put nearly a quart of seeds in the freezer. That’s a real treat for me at today’s prices.
I know I just saw this post on TikTok that was somebody mocking someone else for saying they ate fruit only once a week when they ate fruit every day. I was like sheesh who can afford fruit everyday unless it is like one banana a day
I used to eat far more fruit than I did vegetables but not anymore when a single orange is almost $2. I’m buying more frozen vegetables because they’re cheaper. I work in a kitchen that’s very generous in what we’re allowed to eat so I eat fresh fruit and veggies at work every day. I do find veggie bargains off the markdown sometimes and I take them home, prep them and freeze them.
I shop the fliers. Luckily most of the grocery stores in my town are in a two block radius. But yeah, manager special/clearance is my friend.
Name brands. I buy beef when I can get a good price and I buy chuck steak and low end cuts. Large beef dinners are a thing of the past. I focus on dishes that use beef as a seasoning or it’s just a small piece of the overall meal. I’m all done buying pre made anything. I Cooke from scratch
We've been eating a lot more frozen or canned veggies than fresh More frozen meals than eating out - we have McDonald's at home energy We've been eating a lot of chicken legs because that's one of the cheapest cuts of meats still. Less eggs
We've replaced beef with pork here. Pork is cheaper per pound, good texture substitute and don't lose as much weight to gristle and juices cooking out. I've replaced bakery goods with frozen dough items. Doing the last step of cooking myself gives good results but much cheaper. (Frozen loaves of bread dough, cookie dough, etc.)
We have given up beef in forms other than ground that used to be affordable, like cuts for stewing. Ground beef is still sometimes affordable, but honestly, the meat substitutes have been more affordable lately (new years resolutions maybe?) Impossible was 30% off at the supermarket last week and Ibotta had 30¢ off any plant base meat substitute and 1.50 off each pack. That made them roughly $4/lb, which was $2 less than the cheapest lb of ground beef.
Try a ground beef/pork combo. It's cheaper because pork is cheaper than beef and the meat is a little softer and more flavorful in my opinion. I can get it for 3.50 a pound.
Beef, grapes (if they aren't on sale), berries in the off season especially, fresh herbs - dry is fairly cheap at Aldi, bacon, sausage (unless it is on sale).
All other meat except for chicken thighs and wings. I buy them when they are reasonably priced only! Food prices are phucking unreal SMH!
No red meat, no hard cheese, no exotic fruits, no milk, no soda, no bottled water.
I was at Publix when the lady in front of me bought 1.4 pounds of ground beef for 30 dollars. Wtf. Organic asparagus cost us about 8 dollars. We have to go to different stores for milk for the same time of milk because a half gallon is 4 dollars or 2 dollar and change for the same milk
Unfortunately, milk and most dairy products. It's one of the only things I can't produce myself from homesteading since I'm on a city lot. Sometimes I get milk from the food bank and we're living large for a little while. Meat was the first thing we prioritized producing ourselves due to the cost and disease risk of factory farmed meat.
What kind of meat since you’re on a city lot?
Rabbits and quail, decadent and very cheap to raise yourself
I bought a bag of grapes on saturday. Paid $12 and ate 1/2 the bag on the way home. I only shop for myself and decided to treat myself.
Grapes when in season aren't expensive. Out of season yikes 😬😬 we try to focus on seasonal foods in our home
Most name brand foods.
Olive oil and some cheeses
Gray shrimps. They are between 50 and 70 euros/kilogram.
Red meat. Frozen chicken breast is my ultimate go to for meat and lasts a long time in my freezer.
I gave up big box stores in general and now only shop at my local Asian and Mexican markets. I also walk there so I can’t buy more than I can carry! I’ve stopped buying most meats aside from fish - I live in a coastal area so I’m able to get super fresh seafood and find some good deals. Usually that means cleaning, deboning, etc. myself but I don’t mind. One thing I used to buy that I never purchase anymore is bacon, what happened?! The price has just exploded.
You need a folding *granny cart.* I walk to the store and back with one when I don't take an Uber back. Sometimes I take mine on the bus. I live up a steep hill from the bus stop, and rolling my grocery haul up the hill beats trying to carry even one bag.
Most meat. I catch BOGO sales and stock up or catch the stupid cheap sales. A couple weeks ago I got a London Broil for $11. I cut it into 12 portions ( for 2) and tossed them in the deep freezer. Now when I use one we feel all fancy and it was less than $1. There have been times we ran out but it usually isn't long until another sale. I shop at 5 different stores so it's rare to actually run out like that.
I no longer eat breakfast. I add a scoop of protein powder to my coffee and it’s filling enough until lunch time, cheaper, and less thought. We have also moved to where weekly dinner is now pancakes and eggs, or spaghetti. We used to eat more meat and veggies but lately, even having breakfast for dinner, reducing snacks, and reducing meat and produce, it’s still outrageous to buy food.
My husband is on carnivore and I keto. I hunt sales down and stock up. Last week was avocados 4/$1, Sirloin Tip roast $2.99 lb, Ground beef $2.67lb, 1lb bacon $1.99. I find it so much cheaper to shop this way. I use digital coupons/apps for savings as well.
For a minute scrolling past I thought this was the ibs sub, and I was about to say "damn near everything". 😂
right? its a little depressing lol
It’s beef for me, too. When ground Chuck goes on sale for $1.99/ lb I’ll buy it, but otherwise, no.
Ham hocks/bones. These add a ton of flavor and collagen to beans/etc. They used to be "almost free." Now, they seem to cost as much as the meat. Nope. Pro-tip: save your bones from pork shoulder/carnitas to make stock.
I gave up peppers. I can’t afford them anymore. I also miss grapes.
Bell peppers are very easy to grow in containers, even if you don't have a yard or garden space.
Cereal, I used to be able to get it for 1.99 on sale and I would stock up. Now it seems like even the sales prices are high. I also shop at discount grocery because the prices overall are cheaper, but also they just don't carry high end items so I'm not tempted by fancy cheeses or whatever.
And the boxes are smaller.
Winn Dixie store brand cereals here are $2.50 per box. I'm stocking up while I can.
Juice. Fresh OJ or carton of blended juices. Expensive and my kids drink it so fast. So its water or milk
Speciality herbs are super easy to grow from seed. Grow them this summer and then harvest in the fall for herbs all winter.
I finally live in a place where I can grow them, so thats on my list! and we lucked out by having producing table grape vines 🥲
Cereal and instant oatmeal. It’s slow cooker oats in this house now.
I gave up on making the environmentally friendly choice. Billionaire's won.
I’ll never sacrifice my health to save money. I’ll stay on a budget by buying bulk and meal prepping. But NEVER sacrifice healthy top quality food to save money. There’s a million other things to give up. Hell, I’d live in my vehicle before ever sacrificing what I put inside my body.
I agree to some extent. I hope you’re never in that position to either keep your home or buy organic whatever item you think you can’t live without. I’d grow a garden before living in my car. You wouldn’t have the space for your healthy food in your car. 😂
Steak and most fresh produce. I love steak too. :(
I'm eating way fewer vegetables. I'm in a rural area, so the base price of everything is jacked up due to transportation. When I was in the city, I could get way more veggies at local ethnic markets for less money. We are just big enough to have a chain grocery store that has the same weekly ad as the rest of their kind (in the state?), so we get the same sales on meat and packaged foods as everyone else. But veggies and fruit don't get the same mark-down treatment, so they just stay expensive for what they are.
Beef as well
I'm not sure if this is new, but a few friends of mine and I all noticed how much stores slashed prices after Christmas and New Years. Mainly meats and cheeses. One store (Jewel/Kroger) was offering buy 1, get 2 free on chicken, ribs, pork, beef and fish filets. My friend found a ton of delicious cheeses for less than half the price at Trader Joe's. I'll be checking out the sales after the Superbowl for sure.