First, if you aren't doing it already you might want to make sure you're buying all those groceries with credit cards that give high rewards for grocery purchases. You could at least cut back on spending by earning some money back.
Not saying you should be a vegeatrian but if you filled in more with fruits and vegs then that would begin to reduce your meat spend. Lets not forget about grains, and legumes as well. Split peas...MMMmmm.
This is true. The average vegetarian/vegan spends less on groceries AND is 10-20 pounds lighter than the average nonveg person. There are exceptions of course, but on average eating lower on the food chain is better every way you look at it - better for animals, better for the environment, better for your health, and better for your pocektbook as well.
No, you don't have to become a vegetarian but what about vegetarian for breakfast and lunch? Save the expensive foods for dinner. It's worth a try.
Spending habits is an issue but we try to eat healthy too plus we have food restrictions. One needs to be gluten free and the other diabetic, so we eat more meat protein and less grain/carb than most families. We should eat more vegetables but we don't like vegetables and we don't cook as often as we should.. It is a struggle to keep cost down.
Plant-based proteins are on average much cheaper than animal-based proteins. For example, red beans and rice is far cheaper than a steak. Lentil soup is cheaper than a chicken breast. Split pea soup is less expensive than salmon. Peanut butter and jelly is cheaper than turkey and cheese on rye. Pita and hummus is a great snack that's cheaper than bagels and lox.
I understand you don't really like many fruits, veggies, or grains. But how about beans/legumes? There are tons of different kinds that can be prepared all different ways. They've played an important role in virtually all human societies through human history and are a staple food around the world for a very good reason: they're cheap and healthy and tasty. Get to know more beans.
In regards to taste, many people are overly afraid of salt. Granted, you should avoid highly processed foods with lots of sodium, but table salt is really just fine. Feel free to put it on your veggies. They will taste much better and you will eat more of them with just a dash of table salt right before you eat them.
In regards to cooking, the easiest and healthiest way to prepare most veggies is to steam them. This can be done quickly on a stove top, in a steamer, or in the microwave. It can take just a few minutes and you can even just use frozen veggies. Super quick and easy. Just try for two weeks to add steamed veggies to each lunch and dinner meal with a dash of salt and then after that decide if it's something you can keep doing.
It is my problem. We should be more "cheapskate" but hard to change 2 people who grew up in different families and yet are similar in the way we spend and eat for the last 40 years.
Yes, habits are hard to change but you won't be successful until/unless you try. Studies suggest the most effective method is to do new habits in fairly small bits. For example, don't do a complete overhaul of everything tomorrow. Pick one or two ways to change and work on creating that new habit (example, adding more veggies to your diet) and set a realistic achievable goal. When you reach that goal, set another new realistic achievable goal and set off on that one. Keep going, keep moving forward.
I also think that at least some of this is about household items that are getting categorized as groceries but aren't actually food. So maybe actually track your spending more closely for a few weeks to see where it's all REALLY going. $5k per month is excessive for so few people without any clue about where it's going. I know people who spend that much but they are also foodies who go out to eat expensive tasting menus all the time and have specialty foods shipped to them regularly. They know where's it's going is what I'm saying.
