Dried beans (like lentils) are a great value and you can do so much with them (soups, sides, etc.) Maybe get a bag of split-peas for a soup too? Our Aldi's here have surprisingly good produce, but I don't know about their meats as I don't eat them.

Somehow I found that once I switched to SBD from eating the processed, prepackaged garbage that I was used to eating, I spent less, even though the items can be on the pricey side.

Belle - what is it with people with crappy diets making fun of people with good diets? We get the same thing and have even encountered our two year old getting made fun of by our friend's son because he was eating broccoli.

I hate how it's more exspensive to eat healthy - you would think it would be the other way around!

crappy ingredients are cheaper to use...

dh and I went grocery shopping so we can do 2 clean weeks of phase 1 and we spent 180.00 I made the comment it is expensive to eat healthy and his comment was IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE NOT TO EAT HEALTHY

we don't have a aldis or trader joes here - very few farmer stands are around

A lot of awesome advice! I NEVER go shopping without planning my meals, and shopping accordingly. I'll find about two or three main meals to cook.. for instance, Taco Bake, Old Bay Chicken, and a Soup... I then write all the ingredients down for each recipe, under what recipe it's too be used for. I venture into the kitchen to see if I have all ingredients, and usually only need the fresh veggies. I check them off if in kitchen, and as I buy them in store, I check them off then. This way I make sure to have everything I need to make my planned meals.

I always buy the frozen chicken breasts.. I like the fresh better, but for the price, I find these are cheaper!

I buy both frozen and fresh veggies. Sorry, but I can't make a salad from the frozen to easily! And nothing cheaper for snack than the green beans when in season and looking awesome! I got a huge bag from bulk section for a buck yesterday!

I shop at wegmans exclusively... I've ventured into walmart a few times, and when I need laundry soap and such, I stock up on canned goods as well. But for everything else, I steer clear.

Wegmans has their own brand of food, and of which most theirs is good quality. I LOVE their tuna, and I can get four pack, low sodium in water, for $3... Better quality and taste than the famous bumble bee and starkist crap!
Same with their cheeses, milk, and meat!

Maybe I am the minority but our grocery bill has gone down since doing South Beach! But we are a family of 4.5 and spend over $200 all in for a week. The kids eat what I make that is beachy with the exception of anything that would include Splenda (rare) or if they are home at lunch they will not eat a salad so they have cereal or a sandwich of some kind.
Prior to SB we were well over $250-300 each week. Most things we get at Wal Mart and everything else Trader Joe's. We also hit up Costco once every couple of months, and that is always over $300 but we only buy the things that we've price compared and are actually saving on.
We also eat organic as much as possible.

I agree with you Autumn on the Costco as it seems when we go there and buy in bulk we do tend to save money overall however we haven't gotteninto a steady habbit of a Costco trip

There's no costco here, or a trader joes.

Lori when I'm runnig low on salad IO do a warm salad with frozen bagged leaf or chopped spinach sauteed in a little cookign spray and add white beans jarred garlic and whatever fun frozen/canned stuff I have

Wegman's is a very expensive store....I wonder if you could find the same quality elsewhere for cheaper? I've done a ton of comparison shopping in my town - especially when we had our son and money became a bit tighter. I used to say "I only shop at _____", but after looking around and comparing prices and quality...I find that there are plenty of places that have great quality food for quite cheap. Before I go out, I check the local ads and make my lists according to those ads....therefore every recipe that I make uses produce that is in season and relatively inexpensive.

Walmart is very touch and go - we have 3 Walmarts in our town and each has a different quality level. If I go to the one that is just a few miles farther, I can get great quality -organic- produce at a very inexpensive price.

I buy our meats from a local butcher for the most part and he is much cheaper than the big grocery stores because he does it all himself.

I was whining a few weeks ago about the price of organic/natural food....and my dad told me this: Beggars can't be choosers. Simple. If inexpensive is what a person craves, then one might have to sacrifice in other areas.

Because people don't want to feel threatened to actually think about what they are doing to their bodies, so they take the focus off them and ridicule us.


Yes, beans are a great thing for the budget!

I buy dried beans or organic Whole Foods 365 brand canned beans every week. I use them in everything.

And I even use frozen veggies in salads (thawed)

My Italian side of the family has many ways of using beans, with (whole wheat) pasta, and beans with (brown) rice, adding egg and a little cheese to the pasta or rice for extra protein.

I could probably live on beans and dairy products with careful portions of whole grains, as long as I could have some red meat every once in a while.

He's right! In the long run, if you eat poorly, you'll end up spending much more on health care and your quality of life could be diminished. Unfortunately most people don't tie health costs and missed days from work with their diet. Since eating healthier, I've gone from being sick once a month to being sick maybe twice a year. You can imagine how much I've saved on cold medicines!

We've been going to the farmers market for veg/fruit.

We've also been going to Fresh and Easy here at CA. They give us $5 off $20, excluding milk and alchohol. So, we split our groceries into two piles, and use two $5 off coupons. Has saved us $10 a week. So I spend about $60 a week for two people and two kitties.

Someday soon the coupon gravy train may end, and then I'll be sad.

True true true! We can't afford health insurance so we decided that we will eat as healthy as possible to prevent as much illness as possible. We hardly ever come down with anything, while the people who eat junky food are always catching stuff.