I think that saying it's too expensive might also just be an excuse to say 'I'm not ready to do this'. Because when we are ready we do what we need to do and make it work.
It's tough. I'm a student living on around $10/day, which actually is a lot when you consider that mostly, I live off $6/day plus little things like starbucks + tolietries. My issue as someone else said is building up an inventory of spices/etc. that you can use in cooking. I currently have one spice and only three low-cal sauces that can be used in my pantry. Otherwise, I eat mostly vegetarian (it's cheaper since it keeps so well!) with veggies, tons of fruit and some grains. If you stick to your shopping list, only buy what you need with minimal snacks, you can do it and save money... I swear.
My shopping resembles benchmarkman. If you watch the sales, you can definitely do it.
Last edited by loquaciousjogger; 09-21-2009 at 02:14 AM.
I'm actually spending a lot less than I use to on groceries. And I very rarely went out to eat, i am just comparing what i spend at the grocery store. My grocery expenses are drastically cheaper. Mainly because I cook now, instead of buying processed, heat-n-eat junk. And I get a lot more food for the money.
I also don't buy all the 'gourmet diet' focused brands of things either. To me, they are overpriced and not necessary.
My issue as someone else said is building up an inventory of spices/etc. that you can use in cooking. I currently have one spice and only three low-cal sauces that can be used in my pantry.
Find an ethnic market, or even the ethnic section of a regular market, where they have spices in little baggies instead of McCormick bottles. MUCH cheaper.
Hello. I am new here and I don't have alot of money. Thanks for this thread because it is giving me tuns of ideas for shopping. It is easy to buy ramen (3 packs for a dollar) at the dollar store. This gives me 3 lunches. It is easy to buy Kraft Dinner (a dollar fifty at at the dollar store). Protien is very expensive here and even tho it is better for me to have chicken, I can get 3 lunches and 2 dinners for 4 dollars for the price of a couple of chicken peices. so I have to shop better I guess. It is hard when you don't have a tun of money.
I was reading a chicken pasta recipe the other day that called for chicken pieces, but suggested substituting tofu "to save even more money," and it made me laugh because locally tofu costs two to three times as much as chicken thighs.
I'm not saying there wouldn't be other reasons to substitute tofu (for example, being a vegetarian or wanting a vegetarian meal), but on the merits of cost, it wasn't a persuasive argument.
I've been interested in writing a cheap/healthy cookbook for a while now, and have been compiling recipes - but a snag I'll have to address eventually is that food costs vary a lot from region to region. In the US, no matter where you live, some foods (like cabbage and onions) are almost always among the cheapest, but there are so many other foods that will vary by cost depending upon where you live. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work.
I met my husband in Illinois (where I grew up) and I always considered cheese to be rather expensive ("real" cheese was rarely priced under $7 per pound, and any hard cheese aside from American, Cheddar, mozzarella, and processed cheese was generally closer to $10 per pound).
Now we live in Wisconsin (where hubby grew up) and cheese is cheap and GOOD!
I also was used to viewing cheese as a food incompatible with a healthy or at least weight loss diet. I was accustomed to using fat-free cheeses (which tasted a lot like plastic).
It's really hard to find fat-free cheeses where we're living now. My husband says it's because fat-free cheese is sacreligious to Wisconsinites. Maybe so, but because there's all this wonderful, cheap cheese (We went to a local cheese factory outlet, and I bought several varieties of flavored Montery Jack - for between $2 and $2.50 per pound), I've learned to use small amounts of real cheese. Rather than using fat-free imitation cheeses, I find that I can use the same "calories-worth" of real cheese, instead. A pita or tortilla pizza looks a little funny when the cheese is sparse, but to me, it tastes better with a little real cheese than a whole mess of fat-free cheese.
I got off-topic a bit, but my main point is that there are a lot of factors that contribute to food costs, and they're not only different from lifestyle to lifestyle, but also region to region. I suspect that if we moved to another state, we'd find new differences, just like when we moved from Illinois to Wisconsin.
I spoke with someone (I don't remember if it was online or in-person) who exchanged cheese for beef with family members (because one member lived in a beef-cattle raising state and the other in a dairy-cattle raising state), because what was inexpensive to each locally was expensive to the other.
Another money-saving option (especially if you have pantry and freezer storage space) is shopping the sales. Where I live, beef roasts are typically $4.50 or more per pound in most stores, but there are some stores that do routinely sell for less, and there are also periodic sales in others that will drop the price to $2.00 per pound.
If you are willing and able to "shop the sales," and stock up, you can make incredible savings. It seems like a lot of work until you actually get in the habit of doing it. It can, but doesn't have to take a lot of your time.
I think "is healthy eating more expensive," is the wrong question. "How can I make healthy eating less expensive," is a question that everyone (even if they already find healthy eating less expensive) can learn from.
Even when saving money wasn't a top concern, I always found money-saving tips interesting (in a might-come-in-handy-someday, way). Even now, living on a very tight budget, I don't use all of the tips I've learned, but it's nice to know that I will have the information, when I need it.
Find an ethnic market, or even the ethnic section or a regular market, where they have spice in little baggies instead of McCormick bottles. MUCH cheaper.
This week I'll check out the ethnic section more. Sounds like a good idea!
Kaplods, I don't know, tofu around here is generally $1/lb. If you buy it at an asian market, you can get something like 10 lbs for $3. It is insane.
You know that makes me think I need to check my new asian market. The one we used to use was very cheap on produce, but their tofu wasn't much cheaper than in the grocery stores - about $2 to $2.50 per pound and in the same mass-market plastic packages.
Our "new" store has better produce (slightly more expensive, but lasts so much longer), but I never checked the tofu prices. I have heard that they make their own (don't know if this is true), so I really need to check.
I can't stand tofu packaged in plastic containers. To me, it sure seems to absorb the taste of plastic. The waxed paper cartons in the refrigerator case are better, but my only experience with the shelf-stable waxed carton wasn't good.
I was watching a food show on traditional tofu making in which the tofu was packaged and still sold in bamboo containers and I experienced tofu-envy. Because tofu absorbs flavors, it's important to make sure it absorbs the right flavors.
I love restaurant tofu, but I've not had good luck with getting mine to taste like anything but the container it was packaged in.
Wow, maybe tofu in your area is expensive because even the fancy brands of tofu aren't more than $1.50 here.
I would definitely only recommend refrigerated tofu. Our asian market sells it fresh as well as packaged but what cracks me up are the buckets of tofu which are about $3.
I'll have to look for the "bucket o' tofu," because I think I'd be more willing to experiment if I had a good quantity for cheap (and I think it was you who suggested that I freeze it and then press it, for improving texture).
I LOVE ASIAN MARKETS!
I've noticed that often the price is "about the same" as the options in a standard grocery, but the quantity is so much greater that the price per unit is a fraction.
For example.
Soy sauce - for the price of a small bottle of Kikoman's, I can buy a quart bottle of a gourmet soy sauce. Also, instead of three brand choices, I have about fifteen or more. There are flavored sauces, aged sauces, sweetened sauces - from several different countries. I've never found a "bad" one, so I often buy any new one I see to try (my favorite though is mushroom soy).
Fish sauce. Smells horrible, tastes wonderful. I use it in asian recipes, but also in any place I might use worcestershire sauce, because the taste is milder yet more rich. I even add it to chili. The art of using it in non-asian dishes it to use just enough to bring out the flavor, without using enough to identify the flavor as fish or seafood (unless that's what you want - for example, it's really good in scampi recipes).
Vinegars. In most asian groceries, there are even more flavored vinegars than in fancy gourmet shops. With lower acid rice wine vinegars, you can use a lot less oil when making salad dressings. Mixed with fish sauce and sweetener (I use splenda) it makes an excellent dipping sauce for egg rolls, lettuce wraps, viatnamese spring rolls, chicken (any food that you like dipping, actually).
Oils Nut oils and olive oil, especially are really expensive in most grocery stores, but are priced better (at least per ounce) in asian markets. I haven't made nearly as much use of the oils, though as they often come in huge jugs or cans. Now that we're moving into a larger apartment with more storage and pantry space, I probably will.
Rice - Like many things, great prices if you're willing to buy huge quantities. In quantities under 5 lbs, it often isn't cheaper than in chain-grocery stores (although just for the variety of rices, it's worth a trip). However, if you're willing to buy 10 or better yet 20 lbs, you'll save a lot of money. I recommend buying it in the small packages first, to find your favorite.
Mushrooms - whether canned or fresh, you'll get alot more mushroom for the price, and there are more varieties. Check out the canned mushrooms - the cans are bigger, so you have to calculate the per/ounce price, but all of the fancy varieties can be used any where you'd use button mushrooms. Straw mushrooms are especially good sauteed in wine and garlic with onion.
Fresh herbs (especially cilantro and basil) and some vegetables (especially green onions, bean sprouts, many cabbages). Sometimes the prices seem a bit high, until you compare them to what you get in a typical grocery store. The freshness, variety, and quantity usually compare favorably when you compare ounce for ounce. Bean sprouts are about twice the price of the quantity you find in the grocery store (a small bag), but the quantity is about four times as much and they last longer before going "slimy."
Canned juices and juice drinks - These aren't usually cheap, especially when sold individually from the refrigerator case. They're about the same price as any ready-to-drink refrigerated beverage ($1 to $3 per 12 to 20 ounce bottle/can), but the variety!! I don't drink much juice, because of the calorie and sugar content (and the better-for-you fiber in whole fruit), but I do drink 1-2 cans per week. Mangosteen, lychee, guava, and pomegranate are my favorites (Hubby likes pineapple, pear, mandarin orange, and coffee and tea drinks). Read the labels - to check for added sugars, and such.
I dilute the calories per ounce (and make my drink last longer), by mixing the juice with diet lemon-lime soda or seltzer water.
I live in a bit of a cultural mecca but Indian markets are excellent places for spices, beans/lentils and rice as well. Chickpea flour is also very cheap at Indian markets and you can make your own chickpea 'tofu' as well. http://therepublicofbunny.blogspot.c...peayellow.html
Wow, the "chickpea tofu" looks awesome. I can't wait to try making it. I'm so excited about moving into an apartment with a roomy, functional kitchen (only 10 days until the move).
I'm so jealous...I've got zero access to Asian or Indian markets. Tofu? Not sold for many, many miles of my town....I've got to drive 40 miles to get ground turkey for goodness sakes....and it's $5 a pound...
