Have you had a major change in your grocery budget?

[cbyrne1174]

That's insane! I only spend $100/week for 2 adults and a 5 year old! I never get fastfood/take out without a coupon. I'll go to Subway if the subs are BOGO (two twelve inch subs for $6 bucks) and I'll get $2 medium lattes from dunkin donuts after 2 pm, but that's about it. More people need to spend on essentials like their poor so if they end up in a bad situation, they know how to be poor. I'M THE QUEEN OF KNOWING HOW TO BE POOR!

-Aldis for food
-Goodwill for clothes
-Always buy a car "certified used" at 2 years old and trade it in as soon as its starts to be a pain
-Buy the cheapest first home that you can stand and force yourself to pay it off before switching to a better one, and enter the market when it's down. After you've outgrown your first home, don't buy another one until you can purchase it without financing it.

If you have to finance something and your financial circumstances change, you're screwed! Something I learned the hard way >.<

 

[Quilter]

That's insane! I only spend $100/week for 2 adults and a 5 year old! I never get fastfood/take out without a coupon. I'll go to Subway if the subs are BOGO (two twelve inch subs for $6 bucks) and I'll get $2 medium lattes from dunkin donuts after 2 pm, but that's about it. More people need to spend on essentials like their poor so if they end up in a bad situation, they know how to be poor. I'M THE QUEEN OF KNOWING HOW TO BE POOR!

-Aldis for food
-Goodwill for clothes
-Always buy a car "certified used" at 2 years old and trade it in as soon as its starts to be a pain
-Buy the cheapest first home that you can stand and force yourself to pay it off before switching to a better one, and enter the market when it's down. After you've outgrown your first home, don't buy another one until you can purchase it without financing it.

If you have to finance something and your financial circumstances change, you're screwed! Something I learned the hard way >.<

Way to go! Good job!

I go back to MI this weekend. Will get to see how it is to shop. I have the past 4 receipts from here and can compare prices. My girlfriend is an Aldi shopper. I’ll show them to her for advice.

 

[VacationForever]

That's insane! I only spend $100/week for 2 adults and a 5 year old! I never get fastfood/take out without a coupon. I'll go to Subway if the subs are BOGO (two twelve inch subs for $6 bucks) and I'll get $2 medium lattes from dunkin donuts after 2 pm, but that's about it. More people need to spend on essentials like their poor so if they end up in a bad situation, they know how to be poor. I'M THE QUEEN OF KNOWING HOW TO BE POOR!

-Aldis for food
-Goodwill for clothes
-Always buy a car "certified used" at 2 years old and trade it in as soon as its starts to be a pain
-Buy the cheapest first home that you can stand and force yourself to pay it off before switching to a better one, and enter the market when it's down. After you've outgrown your first home, don't buy another one until you can purchase it without financing it.

If you have to finance something and your financial circumstances change, you're screwed! Something I learned the hard way >.<

What you have said is great advice for someone young like yourself and starting out in life. Most of the TUGers here are retired or close to retirement and can afford to live better than trying to save on every purchase. We don't get to take our money to our grave...

 

[cbyrne1174]

What you have said is great advice for someone young like yourself and starting out in life. Most of the TUGers here are retired or close to retirement and can afford to live better than trying to save on every purchase. We don't get to take our money to our grave...

Well my dad is 62 and was just furloughed/laid off. I don't see people in their 60s getting hired as easily as someone 15 years younger, even more so now. Unless you are 100% set for life, you should budget.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Way to go! Good job!

I go back to MI this weekend. Will get to see how it is to shop. I have the past 4 receipts from here and can compare prices. My girlfriend is an Aldi shopper. I’ll show them to her for advice.

They don't have plastic bags unless you pay for them. They usually have a bin of their boxes they use to stock. I usually grab and fill up 2 big chip boxes and it ends up being about $100. After my trip, I dont have any plastic bags wasted and I just recycle the chip boxes. Aldi cuts all the corners that should be cut. They keep their products in the boxes that they are shipped in so stocking takes no time, they only sell their own brand of products to cut out the middle man an dnot waste money on advertising, their brand is a good quality unlike Walmart, and they have the customer bag their own groceries and bring back their own cart.

 

[clifffaith]

Looking at March, for which I believe I've seen most credit card statements by now, we spent $687 on groceries compared to $523 in March 2019. I've never bought so much food in my life, nor cooked so much either. ETA: There are two of us. Just checked my "Eat Out" category -- March 2019 $166 (that's at home, when we travel I tally it separately), March 2020 $46.

 

[elaine]

food bill is $250 for 2A, 2 college kids per 10 days, includes $30 wine. It's a bit more than normal because we have to get what's available at one store, whether on sale or not. But, we eat a high quality protein, fresh veggies, salad each night for dinner. And only high fiber type bread, pasta. 1X/week take out BBQ or delivery pizza.
We could spend less, and I could do without a glass of wine before dinner--but it's my C19 coping--OK I did it before C19 as well!

 

[Snazzylass]

This is what I think of, as well. Except for sesame oil that I still use. And I wonder about peanut oil. Also, I've started using avocado oil.

Quilter supplied you with one of the doctors I found recently. I was actually listening to him interview a cardiologist from Great Britain. If you have any health issues at all, you might want to check out a fellow in your own backyard, Dr. Ken Berry. There are others, but he is a great place to start.

 

[Snazzylass]

What you have said is great advice for someone young like yourself and starting out in life. Most of the TUGers here are retired or close to retirement and can afford to live better than trying to save on every purchase. We don't get to take our money to our grave...

mmm...actually, I'd say TUGgers are folks who love a good value! Many are careful and thrifty which is why they have an interest in maximizing their T/S values.
Do what works for you, but there's no need to speak for others I realize that many here are much higher on the food chain than me, but I still enjoy the banter.

 

[Snazzylass]

They don't have plastic bags unless you pay for them. They usually have a bin of their boxes they use to stock. I usually grab and fill up 2 big chip boxes and it ends up being about $100. After my trip, I dont have any plastic bags wasted and I just recycle the chip boxes. Aldi cuts all the corners that should be cut. They keep their products in the boxes that they are shipped in so stocking takes no time, they only sell their own brand of products to cut out the middle man an dnot waste money on advertising, their brand is a good quality unlike Walmart, and they have the customer bag their own groceries and bring back their own cart.

I do love Aldi! We don't have Aldi here but there's no need. We have a plethora of grocery stores in my area. I'm within 5 miles of 3 "Krogers" and that's just the beginning. Aldi will always have a special place in my heart. I've got my married son shopping there now and he's converted his bride.

I am such a crazy big fan of Aldi that years ago when we were in Germany, I yelled, "Dad, stop the car! There's an Aldi!" Wonderful trip, too! With my mom and dad and both my boys

 

[WinniWoman]

Rick has never been a person who likes to go out to eat. He is enjoying eating at home for two solid months. We go to Costco and our local store every two weeks to stock up on supplies. We gave our big freezer to our daughter, so the freezer space is limited.

He still does his Taco Bell drive through lunch, and an occasional Burger King meal, but mostly he is eating peanut butter and jelly for lunches. I eat my plan-provided food (62 pounds down) for most meals, except my lean and green dinner, which I sometimes split between lunch and dinner because 7 ounces of protein and 3 vegetables is a lot to eat at once.

We don't keep track of food costs. But we are feeding my stepdad every night for dinner. We are careful to not infect him with anything. That is why we only go every 2 weeks for food, and it's actually been longer since we did Costco. I really need some things, so we will have to go to early senior hours again.

Our local Costco is not letting us shop during regular hours. They are requiring seniors to go during the early morning hours. I don't get up that early, let alone go that early. I need my coffee in the morning.

That is awful what Costco is going. I don’t shop during senior hours. I shop when I want.

 

[elaine]

Many are careful and thrifty... I realize that many here are much higher on the food chain than me, but I still enjoy the banter.

It pains me to pay full price for chicken. My DH attributes it to the Scottish in me--but we are super thrifty-it's in my nature. We had to tell our friends traveling with us this summer to Europe (now canx), that it was OK if they wanted to stay in a different hotel.

 

[DaveNV]

Our local Costco is not letting us shop during regular hours. They are requiring seniors to go during the early morning hours. I don't get up that early, let alone go that early. I need my coffee in the morning.

I think you're mistaken. How could they control that? If you came in during regular hours, are you saying they'd turn you away? Seems like it'd be pretty difficult to restrict like that without checking your ID for your birthdate.

There is a difference between "Senior Only Hours" and "Senior Hours Only."

Dave

 

[slip]

We were at $100 to $150 for two adults here on Oahu but we did eat out often also. Before the restrictions we didn’t have much food stored. We have since bulked up our food stash but we don’t have a lot of room. We now have enough for us to last a couple weeks. So our grocery bill went up to $180 to $200 a week. I expect us to stay around $170 and then we will have a night or two where we will have takeout or go out when things open back up.

 

[lockewong]

It pains me to pay full price for chicken. My DH attributes it to the Scottish in me--but we are super thrifty-it's in my nature. We had to tell our friends traveling with us this summer to Europe (now canx), that it was OK if they wanted to stay in a different hotel.

My husband is used to me being disappointed by just saving 30% and I do compare unit prices. But, when there is not even one whole chicken available, it gets dicey. I did grab organic chicken legs marked down yesterday. I vacuum sealed three pounds and marinated two. They go on the grill tonight. First good sale since our shutdown. Costco was wiped clean of chicken.

 

[Brett]

That's insane! I only spend $100/week for 2 adults and a 5 year old! I never get fastfood/take out without a coupon. I'll go to Subway if the subs are BOGO (two twelve inch subs for $6 bucks) and I'll get $2 medium lattes from dunkin donuts after 2 pm, but that's about it. More people need to spend on essentials like their poor so if they end up in a bad situation, they know how to be poor. I'M THE QUEEN OF KNOWING HOW TO BE POOR!

-Aldis for food
-Goodwill for clothes
-Always buy a car "certified used" at 2 years old and trade it in as soon as its starts to be a pain
-Buy the cheapest first home that you can stand and force yourself to pay it off before switching to a better one, and enter the market when it's down. After you've outgrown your first home, don't buy another one until you can purchase it without financing it.

If you have to finance something and your financial circumstances change, you're screwed! Something I learned the hard way >.<

yes - and invest the money saved
but I agree some other posters, old(er) retired people enjoy fine food and travel .... can't take it with you

 

[bnoble]

Our food costs are a little below those figures for four adults (two college students, two adults). If you subtract out all the cappucinos, lunches out every day, and one or two dinners out per week we are spending *much* less. We are not trying to cut corners, and are trying to patronize local businesses which tend to be a bit more expensive than the national chains.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Mine has doubled since we have been on SIP.

 

[Quilter]

It pains me to pay full price for chicken. My DH attributes it to the Scottish in me--but we are super thrifty-it's in my nature. We had to tell our friends traveling with us this summer to Europe (now canx), that it was OK if they wanted to stay in a different hotel.

What do you consider full price for chicken? Where do you get the discounted chicken?

 

[1Kflyerguy]

We are spending more on weekly groceries, it was much higher in March as i stocked up. But after early April, its dropped much closer to our pre-covid average. But we are spending much less less than average on dining out. Even when we do take-out, but usually less expensive than actually going out to eat. Probably due to restaurant choices, as well as its cheaper to buy the alcohol at the grocery store than in the restaurant.

 

[presley]

I am spending more on groceries, but less on eating out. Overall, I am spending less money on food. It just feels really weird when I go to the grocery store and feel like I am hardly buying anything and it's over $100. each time.

 

[clifffaith]

We post to our "budget", which is not a budget at all but just a spreadsheet indicating spending and income categories. There is honestly not much food I know the price of -- liters of Diet Cherry Pepsi, Milano cookies and avocados, which SHOULD cost 99 cents, $1.99 and <$1, respectively. Unfortunately 3/$5 for the pop and over $3 for the Milanos has become the norm. When we need chicken I buy a bulk frozen bag, when I buy burger I buy a "tower" of patties, the price is just the price. It is what it is. We occasionally buy fresh pork chops or steak, and the price would have to be something outrageous for us to notice. One time we did notice prices was over 20 years ago we had taken out of state company to the famous Farmer's Market (permanent stalls/shops) in mid-city Los Angeles. We found a table near a butcher shop and were astounded at someone buying 4 raw steaks for about $100.

 

[Glynda]

We have a small freezer but it's packed and I have extras of frequently used packaged items in grocery bags sitting on dining room floor. Our grocery bills are a good bit higher! I wish I could buy more meats to freeze though.

 

[geekette]

That is awful what Costco is going. I don’t shop during senior hours. I shop when I want.

Yep, seems a good time to lie about your age. I can't imagine ALL Costco's doing this, ours has only one new rule, and that's face masks. Don't ask a lady how old she is and please don't guess the age of anyone under a mask.

I don't understand why anyone thinks ALL seniors are up at the crack of dawn. Not my mother, not my FIL. And I won't be, either.

I also don't understand "dinner" at 4 pm, either, so not sure who this early bird target demographic is, but I won't be fitting the profile. There must be some, tho.

 

[geekette]

My food costs are down, way way down. I'm hunkering down and conserving everything, and costs will further drop when my veggies are in harvest. The future is foggy and there remains the possibility for a bankrupting stay in ICU.